Anglers –

March 23, 2019

We saw similar low numbers of vacationers arriving this past week, though we expect to see more spring break tourists arriving soon. Weather patterns had been on a cooling trend and now we are starting to see this turn around, as winds have laid down and days are warming up near the 80 degree mark. Ocean conditions had turned over to be cold and green, but now we are seeing this rebound some, it can be a slow process, water is now averaging 71 to 73 degrees.

Main baits being used now were caballito and ballyhoo, no sardinas being found to speak of and not much going on with slabs of squid now. It is the time of year where anglers use more yo-yo style jigs off the bottom spots.

The all-around fishing did improve the past few days, the highlight being some hog sized amberjack in the 50 to 70 lb. class, also a few nice 25 lb. yellowtail were brought in, so this is encouraging to see these larger gamefish species showing up, taken over the structure near San Luis Bank. Also plenty of the Eastern Pacific bonito to keep anglers busy, a few even up to 15 lb. Some of the big amberjack actually grabbed onto bonito that were hooked up, these are hungry and aggressive fish, very powerful as well.

Only one or two yellowfin tuna seen all week, dorado were scarce as well, perhaps with a slight warming of the water we might see more of these fish, chance that maybe even the wahoo will wake up. The water is still greenish, but not as bad as it had been, it is on a clearing trend now, a lot can happen in a matter of a few days this time of year.

Action was scattered for striped marlin, though as the water clears we should see this improve, even in the off colored water there were reports of striped marlin, just no big concentrations at this time, at least off of the San Jose del Cabo grounds.

Inshore there were good numbers of small sized roosterfish off of the Hotel zone, trolling live bait is what these fish want, without sardinas, the other choice would be caballito or possibly mullet. Only a handful of sierra are being caught, a few up to five pounds.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 60 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 2 striped marlin, 5 dorado, 1 yellowfin tuna, 1 wahoo, 7 yellowtail, 13 leopard grouper, 205 bonito, 34 red snapper, 15 roosterfish, 3 surgeonfish, 4 barred pargo, 9 yellow snapper, 22 amberjack, 9 golden eyed tilefish, 5 glasseye snapper, 12 baqueta grouper, 9 sierra, 8 jack crevalle, 1 broomtail grouper and 110 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

March 16, 2019

Still fairly quiet in town as far as numbers of tourists arriving. Weather patterns were cool throughout the week, most days barely reaching 75 degrees, lows down to 55 degrees. Skies were mostly clear, only scattered cloud cover, winds were swirling from different directions, settling down late in the week. Ocean water temperatures ranged from a chilly 68 degree on the Pacific to 72 degrees in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. Green water was reported throughout the entire region, later in the week areas north of Punta Gorda, towards Iman Bank and Vinorama were showing signs of cleaning up. Very strong currents at times, this has attributing to fluctuating conditions. This pattern can be normal for this time of year as we transition from winter into the spring season. As warmer conditions become progressively more consistent and winds out of the north reside, conditions will improve and this in turn will help the overall fishing action.

All around the fishing was very slow this past week, as anglers were dealing with turned over water conditions and just not much was going on. Scattered bottom action, when seas allowed, not much surface action at all reported, sporadic early in the week, becoming more difficult as the week progressed. Being optimistic that maybe the next day will be better, just the way the ocean conditions were it is not as simple as just completely rebounding overnight, can take a few days once the conditions do stabilize, so we are patiently waiting now for things to improve.

Bait supplies consisting of sardinas, mackerel, ballyhoo and some slabs of squid. Anglers were using yo-yo jigs off the bottom structure, as well as the various whole and cut baits. Triggerfish was the most common species, but there were some bonito, snapper, pargo and leopard grouper also accounted for.

Early in the week there were some striped marlin found, but then with the greenish that bite dissipated. On Monday there was also one nice 75 lb. yellowfin tuna taken from a panga while drift fishing on the Gordo Banks with squid, that same days several of tuna strikes were also lost, then that same afternoon conditions turned over and since we have not seen the tuna. Only a few scattered dorado were found through the week.

Inshore there were some sierra and smaller sized roosterfish found, but this action proved sporadic from day to day as well. This Sunday there is the annual San Jose del Cabo fiesta days fishing tournament, slated for Dorado, tuna and wahoo, could be a tough go trying to find any of these species unless water improves quickly.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 66 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 12 dorado, 1 yellowfin tuna, 12 wahoo, 9 leopard grouper, 85 bonito, 34 red snapper, 44 roosterfish, 4 yellow snapper, 2 amberjack, 8 golden eyed tilefish, 14 glasseye snapper, 16 sierra and 110 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

March 9, 2019

Another quiet week in Los Cabos, as numbers of tourists arriving were light, we should start seeing the first wave of spring break vacationers soon. The weather is feeling more like spring now, high temperatures reaching the upper 70s, while lows are about 60 degrees, actually an ideal climate now. Winds have settled down and we seeing calmer ocean conditions more frequently. Water temperatures have ranged from 70 to 75 degrees, warmest grounds at this time are just north of the Gordo Banks. Green currents are sweeping through inshore zone, water clarity clears up several miles offshore.

Good news was that just in recent days there have been sardinas found schooling near the marina jetty, this has opened some new options, as some nice sierra, jack crevalle and even roosterfish were found along the beach stretches, hopefully these baitfish will remain in the region for the coming months. Other bait options were caballito, chihuil, ballyhoo and slabs of squid.

Most local charters are working the grounds from the Gordo Banks to Iman Bank, some scouting as far north as Vinorama. Most common species this week were the Eastern Pacific bonito, red snapper, mostly smaller fish, but all good eating, striking on yo-yo jigs and various baits. Some red crabs were starting to be seen at times drifting to the surface, this could develop into something if we start to see this on a more consistent basis. An occasional amberjack or leopard grouper was highlighting the bottom action, no yellowtail reported..

The yellowfin tuna became very scarce in recent weeks, though just the past few days there were some tuna seen breezing the surface on the Gordo Banks, as well as on the Iman Bank, very few were actually hooked into, but we did see a handful of yellowfin brought in, these fish were in the 30 to 70 lb. class. Dorado also became very scattered after the inshore water became so off colored greenish, though a few dorado were being accounted for, anglers were lucky to find one, sizes to 15 lb.

The striped marlin were also very scattered, though every day we are seeing one or two landed. Bait schools are more spread out now, so the marlin seem to not be congregating on any particular hot spot.

With the climate continuing to warm up as we progress into the spring season, we should start to see more gamefish appearing on local grounds.  This next week will be fiesta time in San Jose del Cabo, as the annual carnival comes to town, special events panned include off road races and local fishing tournament, divisions for shore fishing, kayaks and offshore boats.

The combined sportfishing fleet out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina reported an estimated 62 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 13 dorado, 4 yellowfin tuna, 1 golden cabrilla, 320 bonito, 210 red snapper, 5 baqueta grouper, 6 leopard grouper, 9 roosterfish, 8 jack crevalle, 5 yellow snapper, 4 amberjack, 9 golden eyed tilefish, 12 glasseye snapper, 35 sierra and 90 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric