GORDO BANKS PANGAS
October 29th, 2023
The weather took a drastic change right after the passing of Hurricane Norma. Hurricane Norma was not as bad as we were all expecting in our area. Surprisingly, we did not get a lot of rain, but we did get high winds of up to 80-100 mph, leading to power outages for a couple of days. Most importantly, our families, the marina and pangas were not harmed, and we are back to business.
The first couple of days after the hurricane, the weather completely changed. The mornings are now considered chilly for us locals with temperatures in the high 60s; the days are very nice with temperatures in the mid-80s. Late October and November are one of the most enjoyable times in Cabo as the weather is perfect for families coming to visit us for Thanksgiving.
Luckily for us and our busy season ahead, Hurricane Norma did not affect the fishing. The first couple days after the hurricane, the water was dirty and green as usual. After a couple of days, everything seemed to be back to normal, if not better than previous weeks. The main target is still yellowfin tuna at Iman and Vinorama Banks. There has been a lot of skipjacks in the same area, so it is a matter of what species gets the bait first. We are still using strips of squid due to sardinas supplies being very limited. Most of these tuna are averaging 20-40 pounds, with some occasional 70-100 pounder in the mix. Most of the boats this week were able to land 5+ tuna per day. Within the same area, we are starting to see more bottom fish action as expected. This week, we saw quite a few amberjack, yellowtail snapper, and grouper, most of them caught on the jig while drifting for tuna.
The big Bisbee’s tournament is now over and that does help alleviate some of the stress on the Gordo Banks. We still have the Western Outdoor News Cabo Tuna Jackpot coming up on November 2nd and 3rd. This will be an interesting one as there were quite a few tuna caught during the Bisbee’s. One of our local guys (Congratulations to Captain Romelio and team North Star) won the Top tuna overall on the Bisbee’s Offshore Tournament with two yellowfins, a 236 and 93.8 pounders. The best chance at finding one of these bigger tuna is trolling live skipjacks or bulito on the Inner and Outer Gordos.
With the change in water temperature, we are starting to see some wahoo show up at the Gordo and Iman Banks. There have been a few hooked fast trolling rapalas and lures, and some others are hitting the jigs on the surface. Most of these fish have been lost near the gaff. For some reason, this tends to be the case with the first showing wahoo of the season; you have to be extra careful and smooth while reeling these fish in.
Overall, we have seen a lot of action and a nice variety over the last week. With similar weather and water conditions ahead, we expect for fishing to remain consistent and more species to show.
Good Fishing, Brian
