GORDO BANKS PANGAS
March 24th, 2024
We can tell Spring Break is here. We are seeing more numbers of tourists arriving, many of them younger, college aged, as well as lots of family groups. We are having ideal weather patterns now, lows of about 60 degrees, with highs of 80 degrees and mostly clear sunny skies.
We had a good variety of species this week. The tuna bite slowed down significantly as the only good days for tuna were Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we had a 70 and 50 pounder; long battles on light tackle. We did see a couple of tuna this weekend as well, though there were only a few caught between 18-20 boats. Captains still report seeing some nice ones boil up on the live sardines, however they will not bite, even with light 30# fluoro. Most of these yellowfins have been spotted at San Luis and Iman.
The fleet managed to catch a good variety throughout the week. We started to see more dorado this week, especially this weekend. The average size seems to be between 10-15 pounds; most of them females. A few wahoo were also landed while drifting live sardines for tuna, though nothing big, most of them 15-20 pounds. A few boats reported losing up to 3-4 in one day as they break off right away.
The focus has been the bottom as we continue to see good numbers of groupers, snappers, and amberjacks. Most of the bottom action is coming from jigs and live sardines. We are mostly catching yellow snapper, but we are starting to see more red snappers in the mix. Throughout the same areas of Iman and San Luis, we continue to catch our bonita limit on most days. Please keep in mind that our white bonita (Pacific Bonito) is very good to eat as it is very similar to tuna and it can be cooked in a good variety of ways, especially raw.
In terms of inshore activity, Sierra and Roosterfish action has remained consistent and very similar to previous weeks. We are mostly targeting the areas of La Laguna, Buzzards, Secrets/ Marriot, and Palmilla. We saw some big Sierra this week at Palmilla, some close to 12 pounds. Most of the Roosterfish are averaging 10-15 pounds.
Good Fishing, Brian
