December 1, 2012
Anglers –
Normally after Thanksgiving the crowds of tourists visiting Los Cabos drop off, as interests gear towards the upcoming Christmas Holiday. This past week the super bustling tourist activity settled and schedules were lighter. The great news for people arriving is that weather conditions were ideal, high temperatures averaged 85 degrees and winds have been moderate, predominately from the north. Ocean water temperature is holding warmer than usual at 80 to 83 degrees and clarity remain excellent, deep blue water is found close to shore.
The recent full moon phase might have slowed down the all around fishing action some, but most anglers were finding the action be okay. Everyday there have been some impressive fish accounted for, no big numbers, but there has been a chance at big fish and a variety of species, most of them all pelagic gamefish, found near the surface. Most common daily catches included yellowfin tuna, skipjack, sierra and dorado, more elusive were wahoo, sailfish, yellowtail and pargo. Striped marlin were more numerous on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, while yellowfin tuna were easier to find in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.
The one area that has produced the larger grade of yellowfin tuna has been the Gordo Banks, this action is not as productive as it was a few weeks back, but each day there have been impressive catches of tuna from 80 to 270 pounds accounted for. On Thursday we knew of at least 8 tuna of 100 lbs. or more weighed in. These larger tuna were striking on trolled skipjack, chihuil and bolito, but more of them have been hooked into while drift fishing, chumming cut skipjack, chihuil, squid, sardina and using strips or chunks for bait, most anglers used 80 pound main line with 80 to 130 leader material. Not very many charters have been concentrating on the larger tuna, because this action was more hit or miss than was the smaller sized tuna and dorado action found closer to shore. There seemed to be many novice anglers in town now and big tuna are not easy to subdue for even the veteran anglers.
Baitfish schools were scattered, long runs were often required to obtain sardinas, these were the bait of choice for the yellowfin tuna schooling around the Iman Bank, most of these fish were in the 12 to 20 pound class. There were better numbers of dorado found the past few days, the majority of these were taken on bait and weighed from 10 to 20 pounds. Dorado were found throughout the region, close to shore, over the high spots and in the open blue water. They were schooling most often in small groups, found at times underneath the circling frigate birds. Wahoo were spread out along the inshore drop off, over structure, feeding on natural food supply. We have seen more wahoo now appearing off of Punta Gorda, and north past La Fortuna and on Iman Bank, sizes varied from 5 pound fish, up to 30,40,50 pounds. Wahoo are elusive fish and there has not been any real consistent action found as of yet this season, but anglers that specifically targeted these fish did have their opportunities.
Not much bottom action now going on, a few yellowtail were taken of the Gordo Banks, a mix of sierra and small roosterfish close to shore. Other action included some sailfish on the same yellowfin tuna grounds and one black marlin that was battled into the night from a 22 ft. panga out of La Playita, they did not return to the docks until midnight, estimated weight was 400 pounds.
The combined panga fleets out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, sent out approximately 144 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
1 black marlin, 8 striped marlin, 9 sailfish, 5 yellowtail, 218 dorado, 290 yellowfin tuna, 28 wahoo, 15 cabrilla, 45 sierra, 4 dogtooth snapper, 34 various pargo, 12 rainbow runners and 260 skipjack .
Good Fishing, Eric