Anglers –
March 10, 2018

We are seeing moderate crowds of anglers, as we near the spring season and continue to see varying weather patterns. The week started off with cooler days and more north wind, but by late week the ocean settled down as wind resided and also daytime temperatures warmed into the upper 70s. Not as many whales are being sighted recently, this could mean that these mammals are beginning their northern migration as they can feel the seasonal changes approaching. Ocean temperatures have ranged from 70 to 73 degrees, greener currents are working south from Los Frailes, near the Gordo Banks at this time.

The main bait source continues to be sardinas, main concentrations now schooling near Cabo Real, also on the beaches north of San Luis, but that area has been more susceptible to increased swells and this made it harder for the bait netters to work that area. Supplies have been sufficient, though patience has been necessary in the morning, as these baitfish are netted each morning and not stored in a large receiver in advance. Offshore, near the Gordo Banks, there were reports of balls of baitfish being encountered, mackerel and chihuil and some of these have been caught on sabiki rigs.

The yellowfin tuna action progressively came to a standstill thorough the week, early in the week there was wind to deal with where the yellowfin were being found near the Iman Bank and La Fortuna, but a handful of tuna in the 20 to 50 lb. were still being accounted for. By late week the tuna developed lock jaw, they could be seen coming up and feeding on free swimming chummed baitfish, but were extremely finicky in striking any offerings, even when going down to 20 lb. leader. With the entire fleet only accounting for a few fish per day in recent days.

Dorado bite had become very slow as well, until later in the week when they rebounded strongly. Most of this action was near La Fortuna while slow trolling or drift fishing with sardinas. Sizes were mixed, with the largest dorado seen being near 15 lb. Many small juveniles being hooked into, remember to practice catch and release on these fish, let them mature and spawn in order to help retain healthy stocks for the future. Despite the cooling waters there were several reports of wahoo being seen swimming in small schools on the same dorado and tuna grounds, though they proved elusive and would not strike.

Bottom action showed better sighs by later in the week, as more anglers were now trying this option since the tuna bite slowed way down. One yellowtail of over 30 lb. was landed off of the same tuna grounds while drift fishing with a live sardina. Also decent numbers of leopard grouper, yellow snapper, a few amberjack and of course triggerfish. We are being optimistic that we will be seeing more consistent action off the bottom rock piles in the coming months, this is the time of year now for that. No signs of red crab activity, but that could happen any time as well, and this could really open up the red snapper action..

Only limited numbers of sierra found close to shore and a few very small roosterfish. A few pompano, surgeon fish, bonito are rounding out the shallow reef species.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for this week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 22 yellowfin tuna, 164 dorado, 4 striped marlin, 1 broomtail grouper, 34 yellow snapper, 28 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 24 huachinango (red snapper), 1 wahoo, 11 bonito, 1 yellowtail, 4 amberjack, 2 pompano, 4 surgeon fish, 31 sierra and 70 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
March 3, 2018

Well the unpredictable month of February is now finally over, we anticipate that the new month will bring more stable conditions, as it normally does, warmer days should be arriving soon. Though the start of this week we saw a cold wave sweep in from the north, gusty winds mid-week which finally resided for the weekend. High temperatures were barely reaching up to 70 to 74 degree mark, early mornings were chilly, down in the 50s. Crowds of tourists appeared to be lighter than usual, with Spring Break just around the corner we should see more people arriving.

Ocean temperatures were ranging from 70 to 74 degrees, with the warmest area now being around the Jaime Banks off of Cabo San Lucas. Off of San Jose del Cabo and to Los Frailes the water averaged 70 degrees, despite strong north winds earlier in the week the water still was fairly clean. We are now also in the full moon phase and this can often impact feeding habits of certain species of gamefish. The main baitfish now being used has been sardinas, the bait netters had been finding these off of the stretches near San Luis, but higher swells made this tougher and once again the majority of the bait is being found along the rocky shore line from Palmilla to Cabo Real, but they took longer than usual to obtain enough bait to supply the fleet sufficiently, but it was worth the wait, because these sardinas are what the yellowfin tuna are hitting on.

The bite for the tuna has mainly been off of Vinorama, some fish were also found on San Luis Bank and near Iman. Last Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the action was good for fish averaging 20 to 50 lb., with one yellowfin tuna of 93 lb. weighed in. Fish were finicky and line shy at times, anglers were using 30 to 40 lb. line with best success, sporting tackle for tuna of this grade. The gusty weather shut the action completely down on Wednesday and Thursday, before the bite rebounded on Friday, with charters averaging two five tuna each. Considering this is now off season for yellowfin tuna this action has been a welcome bonus.

Billfish action was limited to sporadic action on the Pacific, no striped marlin now on the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo. Dorado continued to be found daily, though in fewer numbers and most of these fish are small juveniles in the five pound range, with a rare ten pounder mixed in. When the ocean temperature dips down near the 70 degree range species such as dorado generally head on a southern migration, following the wahoo, which have already moved out of the area.

With most charters waiting longer time in order to obtain sardinas and then heading far north towards Vinorama to target the tuna, there was not a whole lot of bottom action even being targeted. Though we did see a mix of yellow snapper, huachinango, leopard grouper, even a couple of broomtails and of course a few bonito and triggerfish. No yellowtail or amberjack reported, nor did anyone report seeing pelagic red crabs, so the red snapper bite was very limited, just one or two fish here or there.

There were some sierra found along inshore beaches from Palmilla to Chileno, but not in the numbers we would expect considering that this is now their peak season. With the colder water we did not find any roosterfish or jack crevalle either. Still plenty of whales in the region, they should be around all of this month.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 74 charters for this week. Anglers reported a fish count of: 105 yellowfin tuna, 112 dorado, 1 wahoo, 2 broomtail grouper, 16 yellow snapper, 19 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 26 huachinango (red snapper), 16 bonito, 32 sierra and 26 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
February 23, 2018

This past week we saw a slight increase in the amount of anglers arriving. As we have become accustomed, the month of February continues to produce a wide range of unpredictable weather patterns. We felt a cold wave sweep in, starting with a couple of days we felt scattered rain, mostly sprinkles, some areas reported a bit heavier precipitation, much cloud cover and daytime highs reaching only into the low 70s. More wind from the north, though it was on and off and not so strong that charter boats had to abort plans. Despite the cooler conditions, the ocean has remained relatively warm, now averaging 70 to 74 degrees, very clean and blue close to shore, strong current running though. Lots of jelly fish in the area now, as there was continued large presence of whales and of course those pesky sea lions, which have been robbing their share of the catch.

Sardinas continue to be the main bait being used, found schooling off of the beaches from Palmilla to Cabo Real, as well as they are now being once again found off of the rocky beach stretches north near San Luis, these being a larger grade of these baitfish. Other options have been slabs of squid as well as on some days varying quantities of mackerel were being jigging up on sabiki rigs, mainly off of Punta Gorda.

The highlight this week was that the yellowfin tuna which had really faded out last week, rebounded this week as water conditions actually improved despite the cooler weather patterns. Fleets found decent action near Vinorama for yellowfin that were ranging in sizes to over 50 lb., quality tuna considering that this is never known as a favorable time frame for this pelagic species. The fish were striking on sardinas, strips of squid, as well as on mackerel, when they were able to be found. Boats were averaging from one or two to five or six fish per morning. Another common fish being found were dorado, most of these were under ten pounds, but we did see some larger fish, included a true 25 lb. bull dorado, which we had not seen for some time. Many people are releasing the small sized dorado, especially the females, remember to practice this conservation of these juvenile fish to help maintain future stocks.

Not much in the way of billfish action now off of San Jose del Cabo, better chances on the Pacific now, we heard of a blue marlin being landed, though most common is the striped marlin this time of year. Bottom action was limited, not much besides a scattering of cabrilla (leopard grouper), pargo and triggerfish, though swift currents made this tough and most charters were going after the tuna and dorado, or fishing for sierra along the beaches.

As long as ocean water conditions remain favorable we do expect that these yellowfin tuna will stay in the area. Hard to predict, but typically in the next few weeks we start to see weather patterns with warming days and less persistent winds. It has been a bonus that supplies of sardinas have held up and seem to be sustainable for the time being.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 59 charters for this shortened week due to weekend travels. Anglers reported a fish count of: 112 yellowfin tuna, 135 dorado, 2 amberjack, 8 yellow snapper, 4 island jack, 8 barred pargo, 11 cabrilla (leopard grouper), 14 huachinango (red snapper), 94 sierra and 18 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric