Anglers –
December 10, 2016

Though overall we are presently not seeing any significant numbers of tourists, we actually saw quite a few anglers appearing, most of them spur of the moment, ready to try their luck and brave the elements. The most common gamefish being encountered off of the San Jose del Cabo region and towards Los Frailes has continued to be yellowfin tuna, with other species in the mix, including some lightning fast wahoo action found on Tuesday and Wednesday near Vinorama, which was on the two days when the north winds did finally lay down, enabling some local charters to reach these more distant grounds. Weather patterns definitely cooled off this week, we felt l\early morning low temperatures of 50 degrees early in the week daytime time into the 70’s, very persistent north winds, which in turn contributed to a cooling trend of the ocean water temperatures, down in the 75 to 77 degree range, with warmer currents of 80 degrees further offshore. If these north winds slack up some, we could see fall type gamefish action into the New Year, though if winds become too relentless we will certainly see species such as dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo vanish in the direction temperature southern waters. Spots of green water moving in were also reported, a pattern we do see during cooling times. So we are in the midst of another transitions period, waiting to see what exactly unfolds.

Anglers had choices for bait, slabs of squid, caballito and ballyhoo, we expect we will soon find some sardineta and mackerel. Wind from the north played a factor to where fleets were able to fish in reasonable comfort, most charters concentrated on grounds from the Gordo Banks to Vinorama. Yellowfin tuna were being accounted for while drift fishing with strips of squid over high spots, such as Iman, close to shore off Punta Gorda as well. Some of the more productive yellowfin action was encountered associated with fast moving porpoise, with the tuna hitting on strips of squid drifted near the concentrations of the porpoise. The tuna this past week were most commonly in the 15 to 30 lb. range. We did see one 150 lb. tuna caught mid-week from a private boat from off the Gordo Banks.

Dorado became more scattered by the day, not seeing any numbers, an occasional report of a couple of dorado here or there, more often in the direction of Cabo San Lucas, heard of at least one 25 lb. bull. On Tuesday the wahoo went on a frenzy feeding mood near Vinorama, first opportunity in a week or so that charters were able to scout out these further grounds. Slow trolling with trap hooked baits enticed most strikes, though anglers also had hook ups on trolled lures and while casting yo-yo jigs. This action really only lasted two days, as on Thursday the north winds picked up nasty once again. Wahoo ranged in sizes to 45 lb.

Billfish action was slow off of our local grounds, though early in the week we did hear of a black marlin being hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, estimated to be in the 400 lb. class, the fish eventually broke the 100 lb. leader. Should start to see some numbers of striped marlin move in as water cools and food sources such as mackerel appear.

Not much going off the bottom, particularly with the winds creating choppy conditions. Mostly picking away at some shallow water structure species, such as triggerfish, yellow snapper, pompano, bared pargo, cabrilla and a few rainbow runner.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 87 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 260 yellowfin tuna, 9 dorado, 49 wahoo, 12 pompano, 2 amberjack, 11 yellow snapper, 5 leopard grouper, 8 huachinango, 9 sierra, 6 rainbow runner, 8 barred pargo and 170 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
December 3, 2016

Easy to notice now that crowds of tourists have diminished since the passing of Thanksgiving. Normal situation for this time of year. Weather patterns have been on a general cooling trend, relentless north winds were hard to predict and eventually there will be some nicer conditions when the wind resides. Water temperature has also dropped into the 77 to 80 degree range, depending where you were, warmest areas in the direction of San Jose del Cabo.

With the weather not being favorable most days this past week we did see a decline in all around catches. Yellowfin tuna was the main species being found, various locations, early in the week the fleet found the best option to be off of Punta Gorda, within less than one mile from shore, the yellowfin were striking on strips of squid and ranged in sizes up to 30 lb. Later in the week some tuna action was found further offshore associated with fast moving porpoise, same deal with squid being the best bet. None of the large tuna were reported off of the Gordo Banks, changing conditions has put that bite to a standstill.

Dorado became very scarce once again, though we did continue to hear of more do’do’s being found on the Pacific, though with water temperatures dropping quickly in that direction we expect these fish will follow their prefer temperate currents. We were seeing only an occasional dorado for the charters based out of La Playita. Wahoo was the same story, only a fish or so per day being accounted for the combined fleet.

Billfish action was limited, a few striped marlin were reported off of the San Jose del Cabo region, where there were reports of some schooling sardineta and mackerel, also a indication of cooling currents. Most of the lingering black or blue marlin will soon be moving out of this area, searching for warmer waters. As we wait the arrival of the winter time billfish, the striped marlin.

Strong winds made it difficult to target any bottom action, though a handful of good eating pargo, triggerfish, pompano, cabrilla, amberjack and others were found, no big numbers though. A few sierra and roosterfish were scattered along the shoreline.

We are now seeing increasing numbers of whales started to arrive to their winter calving and feeding grounds, so still a bit early in the season, in another month or so we should be in peak season for seeing these mammals

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 85 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 245 yellowfin tuna, 13 dorado, 6 wahoo, 8 pompano, 4 amberjack, 18 yellow snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 14 huachinango, 4 roosterfish, 7 sierra, 8 rainbow runner, 8 barred pargo, 3 surgeonfish and 145 triggerfish.
Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
November 26, 2016

Hope everyone is enjoying their Thanksgiving Holiday. Crowds of families are now visiting the Los Cabos area, last holiday vacation period until the Christmas Season, so next week the fall season will be winding down, slight break, preparing for the rush of visitors during the last week of the year. The weather recently has been typical for fall, slight chill early in the morning, with lows in the upper 60s. Daytime highs are still reaching into the 80s. Mainly clear sunny skies, some afternoon scattered clouds, the past two weeks winds have been persistent and unpredictable, mostly out of the north, which is normal for this time of year. Winds blew for several days in a row, this limited what option were available for offshore anglers, then we saw winds lay down for a day or two, before picking back up. Ocean swells were moderate, water temperature did drop some with the north winds pushing in cooler currents and water is now averaged in the 80 to 82 degree range, still ideal for the more sought after gamefish species.

Anglers found the most common fish being encountered to be yellowfin tuna, wahoo, dorado, will a few billfish as well. Not much inshore now, though surprisingly there was some roosterfish being found off of the San Jose del Cabo hotel zone, slow trolling bait for fish up to 20 lb. A scattering of early season sierra also showed up, still no signs of any sardina schools moving into the region, this is always the preferred bait for the winter time inshore action. There was some mackerel found of the hotel zone of San Jose del Cabo, early in the season for the mackerel to arrive, maybe these is a sign that water temperatures will cooler off faster than we had thought, a lot will depend on just how persistent the north winds become. Bait suppliers out of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina have been offering live caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid. There are some skipjack and chihuil being found on the offshore high spots, but these baitfish are never a guarantee and even more sporadic if the wind is gusty.

The bite for larger grade yellowfin tuna on the Gordo Banks became tougher through the week, with only a few tuna over 100 lb. reported for the week, most of these caught by hard core anglers specifically targeting these fish. In recent days the best action for yellowfin was closer to shore off of Punta Gorda, drift fishing with strips of squid, also some pompano being hooked in the same area. These yellowfin were in the 10 to 25 lb. range. Often not biting much until late morning, even the wahoo action was better later in the day this past week, with the best area being from La Fortuna to the Iman Bank, Slow trolling caballito or chihuil if possible. Rigged ballyhoo were also working, and a smaller percentage of strikes came on trolled lures. Anglers were fortunate to land one wahoo, though others had as many as three, sizes ranged to 45 lb. We anticipate chances at good wahoo action through the month of December.

Dorado action was good to start the week off, many fish in the 10 to 20 lb. class were accounted for, many charter had their two fish per license limits, this was from Chileno to Iman, reports from the Pacific towards Pescadero, was that the dorado were thick, sounding like reports from years past, when there were so many dorado that it could be hard to catch any other types of fish.

A few black marlin still hanging around in the warmer water, at least a couple if blacks were brought in to the La Playita docks, one of them in the 400 lb. class. No big numbers of billfish now, though a few sailfish and striped marlin were also reported. Only a handful of bottom fish being accounted for an occasional amberjack, pompano, yellow snapper, cabrilla, bonito, huachinango, dogtooth snapper and triggerfish, though no significant numbers of any of these species.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 148 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 black marlin, 2 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 360 yellowfin tuna, 48 dorado, 82 wahoo, 14 pompano, 6 amberjack, 2 dogtooth snapper, 14 yellow snapper, 6 leopard grouper, 16 bonito, 18 huachinango, 18 roosterfish, 16 sierra, 10 rainbow runner, 4 barred pargo, 2 hogfish,8 surgeonfish and 75 triggerfish.

Good fishing, Eric