Anglers –
June 20, 2015

With the summer season now officially upon us we have seen an increase of crowds, as many school have already ended school semesters are now on vacation. The latest Tropical Storm, “Carlos” dissipated off of mainland Mexico and never amounted to anything for Southern Baja, except for raising the heat and humidity factors, ocean swells barely even were visible and very few clouds were seen. Sunny days, with highs in the lower 90’s, winds predominately from the south, out of San Jose del Cabo, ocean conditions were calm and this is where the water temperatures were up to 80 degrees. Currents have fluctuated, pushing in cleaner water and then perhaps even the next day, shifting currents would sweep in off colored greenish water, this is time of year when we can see these rapidly fluctuating currents, which can affect how active the fish can be in certain areas on a given day.

Anglers were relying on the bait source found in the marina area, caballito and moonfish most readily available. Though there were reports of massive schools of mullet seen along the beaches just on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, have not seen these mullet in significant numbers for some time. Just like clockwork the larger sized roosterfish have arrived and are now patrolling inshore beach stretches, roosters weighing up to 70 lb. were landed and released this past week. Please remember to catch and release these prized trophy gamefish whenever possible, as they are not known for their eating qualities, instead they are sought after for their fighting quality and for being a true gamefish, being found only in few places of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.

Striped marlin were the main species found offshore, at times found very close to shore, striking on trolled lures, as well as on available baitfish. Main center of action was found offshore of San Jose del Cabo and Red Hill. A few sailfish now in the mix as well, swordfish were encountered by sportfishers venturing further offshore, 15 to 30 miles from shore. There have been reports of some blue marlin strikes that were lost. So anything could happen on any given day. Nothing much going on for yellowfin tuna now, though a handful of private charters found yellowfin further offshore traveling with porpoise, this is the season where we see the tuna moving with these mammals.

Dorado action was limited, an occasional larger bull being accounted for, one 37 lb. dorado was brought in La Playita, there were more juvenile sized schooling dorado found, these fish should be released with care, so that they can have the chance to mature, reproduce and help maintain healthy fish stocks.

Wahoo were definitely in the area, but anglers were fortunate to land one, as they were just not striking very aggressively. Most that were hooked into were from Palmilla Point and north of Punta Gorda, weighed to over 40 pounds. With more bolito appearing on the local grounds and favorable water conditions, these fish could go on a big bite anytime.

Panga charters were working inshore reefs and finding some amberjack, pargo, snapper, bonito, cabrilla and others, most of these fish were striking on the larger baitfish or on cut bait, a few of the amberjack were in the 70 pound class. Though last week we saw more numbers of these amberjack, conditions have fluctuated some, mainly clarity of the water, this could be a factor of the bite being off, could turn back on at any time. The roosterfish have been striking fairly consistently, quality sized fish, not uncommon to hook into a half dozen or more of these fish.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 102 charters for the shortened week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 sailfish, 13 striped marlin, 44 dorado, 7 wahoo, 3 grouper, 27 amberjack, 13 cabrilla, 5 dogtooth snapper, 9 pargo colorado, 6 sierra, 15 yellow snapper, 7 jack crevalle, 8 bonito and 88 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
June 13, 2015

Hurricane Blanca passed off to west of Cabo San Lucas last weekend, although everyone was heeding the warnings and preparing for worse conditions, this system never really amounted to much, very little rainfall at all was felt, though on Sunday night there were some wind gusts up to 50 or 60 mph the blew through the Los Cabos Region. Sportfishing fleets were shut down for three days due to stormy conditions, resuming operations on Tuesday. Ocean conditions were a bit stirred up, water was off colored and fleets were searching all the known local grounds for signs of the best possible action. Ocean currents were strong, even though swells diminished, water temperature ranged from 76 to 80 degrees through most of the area. Baits supplies of caballito and moonfish were being found in the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel, only scattered numbers of mullet now showing up and no signs yet of sardinas.

Center of the most consistent action was found around the 25 spot, off of La Fortuna, inside of the Iman Bank. This is where hog sized amberjack have been testing the skill and strength of anglers, with fish to over 60 pounds being accounted for. These fish were striking on live baits while either slow trolling or drift fishing over the rocky structure. The few charters that did use downrigger equipment had particularly good results. Various varieties of cabrilla and pargo rounded out the catches from this area, with one more golden phased leopard grouper being accounted for.

Dorado were spread out, though a percentage of charters were finding limited numbers of these fish, with a few larger bulls starting to be accounted for. With the water now being an off colored greenish blue, we have not had any wahoo action this past week. Yellowfin tuna were also scarce during this past storm shortening week, though on Wednesday one angler did report losing a nice yellowfin, of an estimated 80 pounds, right as it neared the boat.

Striped marlin were spread out through the region, one charter boat had a double hook up close to shore while trolling ballyhoo, marlin were also found further offshore. There were reports from a couple different private sportfishers of landing cow sized yellowfin tuna while traveling offshore and encountering porpoise.

This is always the time of year when we see big roosterfish moving into the local inshore grounds and in recent days we have seen roosterfish up to 65 pounds landed, still no big numbers, but these fish are definitely in the area now. There were also some dogtooth snapper starting to appear along shore, near the rock outcroppings, these fish will test even the most skilled of anglers.

Presently we are closely monitoring the progress of Tropical Storm Carlos, as this system is forecast to move in the direction of Southern Baja by next Wednesday.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 52 charters for the shortened week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 8 striped marlin, 19 dorado, 3 yellowfin tuna, 1 golden leopard grouper, 34 amberjack, 15 cabrilla, 3 dogtooth snapper, 4 pargo colorado, 2 sierra, 10 yellow snapper, 12 jack crevalle, 8 bonito and 20 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric

Anglers –
June 6, 2015

Tropical storm season has started off with a flurry of unprecedented activity, last week we saw Hurricane Andres pass off to the west, bringing warmer humid conditions and increased ocean swells. At this present time we are following the rapid development of and projected path of Hurricane Blanca, which appears to heading on a track to bring it very close offshore of Todo Santos and then downgrading to a tropical Storm as it makes landfall early Monday morning near San Carlos. We are expecting strong winds, heavy rainfall and ocean swell over 20 foot during the entire day of Sunday. So preparations are now being made, moving boats to safer areas, stocking up on provisions, etc…Normally these early season storm systems will steer more off to the west, as did Andres, but it appears that Blanca has another plan. Being prepared is the wisest thing that can be done at this time. This summer is shaping up to be very busy in the Eastern Pacific, as water temperatures are already near the 80 degree mark.

Sportfishing fleets continued to deal with light crowds, main offshore action was for striped marlin, with many charters accounting for one or two billfish. Dorado were showing up in greater numbers, especially closer to shore, most of the dorado were small in size, though a percentage were in the 10 to 20 lb. range. Striking on various lures and baitfish.

Bait suppliers were netting caballito and moonfish in the marina channel and ballyhoo was another option. No reports of anyone finding any sardinas and with higher storm swells heading our direction we expect baitfish might become a bit more scattered. Still no significant signs of mullet schools being encountered, though some larger roosterfish have been hooked into trolling along the local beach stretches, fish of 40 to 50 lbs. were landed this past week. Some quality sized amberjack to over 60 pounds were accounted for and dogtooth snapper were also hooked into, but lost due to the close proximity of sharp rocky reefs. A mix of pargo, bonito and cabrilla rounded out the action over the shallow structure.

Wahoo bite dropped off compared to last, full moon might have been a factor, though these elusive speedsters remain in the area and conditions are favorable for them to become more active at any time. Most of the wahoo landed recently have been fish weighing in the 15 to 30 pound class, striking on either baits or trolled lures, mainly on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda.

Lots of sharks still being reported, from on the offshore marlin grounds to the inshore structure areas as well, brown, mako and hammerhead sharks have been prevalent, apparently attracted by the plentiful food source now on these grounds.

There were yellowfin tuna seen feeding on the local fishing grounds, though only a handful were hooked into, most of these were in the area from La Fortuna to the Gordo Banks, while using available baitfish, these tuna averaged 30 lb., at least one much larger yellowfin was reported, though we did not receive an exact weight on that fish.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 48 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 11 striped marlin, 64 dorado, 8 yellowfin tuna, 8 wahoo, 16 amberjack, 11 cabrilla, 22 yellow snapper, 8 jack crevalle, 16 bonito and 29 roosterfish.

Good fishing, Eric