May 4, 2013

Anglers –

Crowds of tourists are lighter than normal for the this spring season, the all around climate has been ideal, with high temperatures in the 80s, moderate winds, favorable offshore conditions, with a variety of gamefish being found, this is the time of year when on any given day the unexpected can happen. Ocean water temperatures are ranging from a chilly 65 degrees on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, up to 74/75 degrees in the direction of San Jose del Cabo. The more consistent fishing action is now being found in the direction of the warmer currents.

Baitfish are being netted in the marina channel entrance, mainly caballito, but there is a mix of jurelito and moonfish, on the offshore fishing grounds there were options for chihuil, skipjack and bolito. Still no signs of finding supplies of sardinas.

Anglers found that rapidly changing conditions was causing the action to change from day to day. There had been the great yellowtail bite throughout the area, especially for the larger fish on the Gordo Banks, then water temps warmed up last week and this bite came to a standstill. To take up the slack the wahoo went on a good bite on the grounds north of Punta Gorda, though this only lasted for a couple of days because ocean conditions turned over some and the news got out that the wahoo were hitting and the whole fleet was putting pressure on that area, we all know that the ‘hoo can become very elusive with increased pressure. On the days that the wahoo were active some charters landed as many as five fish up to 50 pounds, average size was 20 to 30 lb. They were striking on the normal high speed trolling lures, Rapalas, Yo-zuris and skirted lead or jet heads. Some ‘hoo also were striking on trap rigged caballito or ballyhoo.

Despite this up and down action the striped marlin bite has remained steady for very nice sized fish up to 150 lb. The billfish action was now shifting further to the north, currently concentrated off of Vinormama. Good numbers of marlin were in this area and could be encountered tailing on the surface and were striking trolled baits and lures. Many charters were accounting were multiple fish days, though at times the marlin would be spotted and presented baits and showed no interest at all. There has been an abundance of squid in the same region, which the stripers have been gorging on, also the passing of the full moon can cause different feeding scenarios.

We have seen a few more dorado appearing with the warmer water, some charters finding several fish, ranging up to 30 pounds, while others never reported seeing any dorado, still hit or miss for these fish, though we do expect to see increased numbers as the water continues to warm. Late spring, early summer, is when we normally see some of the largest bull dorado of the year appear on the local grounds. No yellowfin tuna action being reported locally, the way conditions are really shaping up favorably, we would expect to hear reports of migrating porpoise traveling offshore and holding tuna schools, the month of May is when we typically see this pattern.

There are still some yellowtail in the area and a few were hooked into the past couple of days while drifting baits deep over the high spots, all were nice sized, 20 to 35 lb., though no big numbers like the previous week. A handful of red snapper were hooked into as well, both on live baits and on yo-yo jigs. So far this season has not produced much for anglers jigging the rock piles, perhaps the month of May will show improved yo-yo action. Always a fun way to target bottomfish, jigging can produce quality action when the fish do decide to strike on the jigs, normally early in the day is best.

Roosterfish action was very good for this early in the season, anglers were hooking into good numbers of these prized fighting gamefish while trolling live caballito along the shoreline, nicer sized fish, some up in the 25 lb. to 30 lb. class.

Despite this now being the very tail end of the whale migration season, we were still seeing quite a few numbers of humpback whales in the area, surely they will be trying to catch up with the main northern migration soon.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 88 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 46 striped marlin, 38 wahoo, 14 yellowtail, 8 amberjack, 42 dorado,12 sierra, 15 red snapper (huachinango), 25 bonito, 13 cabrilla, 42 roosterfish, 35 jack crevalle and 5 mako shark.

Good Fishing, Eric

April 27, 2013
Anglers –

Ideal weather conditions are attracting tourists to Los Cabos, while parts of the United States are still experiencing winter like storms, crazy patterns for sure, makes this a great time to head south for a vacation in paradise, with warm sunshine. Winds have been light and anglers enjoyed great offshore conditions, ocean water temperatures are back on a warming trend in the direction of San Jose del Cabo and towards Vinorama, now up to 75 degrees, while off of Cabo San Lucas and around the corner on the Pacific temperatures are in the 60s. For this reason the majority of sportfishing fleets are fishing in the direction of Gordo Banks and to the north.

Bait sources have consisted of caballito, jurelito, moonfish, chihuil, skipjack and bolito, no sardinas, as these baitfish are not within range at this time. Chihuil has been the most productive offshore bait, they have been found schooling on the Inner Gordo Bank and are being jigging up on sabiki rigs at first light, for sale by the commercial fleet on a limited basis.

Striped marlin action had been spread out more, no concentrations, though in recent days the Desteladera Bank has come alive and charters were accounting for multiple billfish days, two, three or more fish per boat, as the marlin were schooling up in this area where baitfish have been abundant, reports of the billfish feeding on squid. The fish were striking lures, as well as dropped back or cast bait, average size striper was in the 90 to 130 lb. range. Dorado were less numerous, but we have seen more of them showing up in the warmer waters, particularly closer to shore where they could be seen chasing schools of ballyhoo, for the few that were caught, most were in the 10 to 15 pounds class. Only a few wahoo reports heard, we do expect these elusive fish to become more active now that the water is reaching closer to their preferred zone and there is also plenty of food sources to help lure them in. We are now on the full moon phase, things can be more unpredictable, anything could happen from day to day, the way conditions are really shaping up. No yellowfin tuna action being reported locally, you would expect that we should start to see some more reports of migrating porpoise holding tuna schools traveling offshore, perhaps the next couple of weeks this will develop.

Yellowtail action tapered off compared to how red hot it had been last week, these jacks were found close to shore, mixed in where roosterfish up to 30 lb. were also encountered, but larger schools of yellowtail in the 25 to 35.lb. range were being hooked into off of the Gordo Banks, live chihuil for bait was the most productive, the yellows did not want to strike the yo-yo jigs, preferring the deep drifted baitfish. Sea lions have been a factor on the banks, spooking both the baitfish and the yellowtail. The warmer water can cause lock jaw on these fish as well, which do prefer cooler currents.

A mix of bonito, amberjack, huachinango (red snapper) and leopard grouper (cabrilla) have rounded out the structure action and inshore there were sierra, jack crevalle and roosterfish. So all around the options have been producing a mixed bag of species and this should be the same deal in the coming weeks. Anything can happen from day to day, conditions are now very favorable.

Surprisingly there were still quite a few numbers of whales in the area, mostly humpbacks, surely they will be migrating north soon.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 70 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 28 striped marlin, 2 wahoo, 90 yellowtail, 10 amberjack, 76 dorado,13 sierra, 24 huachinago, 44 bonito, 22 cabrilla, 32 roosterfish, 28 jack crevalle and 7 mako shark.

Good Fishing, Eric

April 20, 2013
Anglers –

Paradise like weather conditions in Southern Baja is now attracting moderate crowds of visitors, slack period for tourism, as spring break is over and people are now planning new adventures. Sunny days, with temperatures in the upper 70s and light winds, all made for the perfect time to make a trip south. Ocean water conditions continue to be fluctuating daily, from favorable warming trends and then having currents turn around and cool off. Just a week ago we saw some areas of 75 degrees found offshore, now we are seeing temperatures on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas dip down to 66 degrees and highs of 70 degrees are found in the direction of San Jose del Cabo. There was a couple of days earlier in the week when the south wind blew and pushed in cooler Pacific waters. Ocean clarity has remained clean for the most part, despite being cooler than we would normally expect for this time period.

Striped marlin action were the main species being found while trolling offshore, though the fish are more scattered than in previous weeks. Marlin were found in limited numbers anywhere from 5 to 15 miles from shore, striking lures and baits, at times they were groups of marlin found feeding, other times anglers reported blind lure strikes. Only a handful of dorado are being encountered, most of them under 15 pounds, notably fewer of these fish in the cooler currents. No yellowfin tuna being reported on the local fishing grounds. Only an occasional wahoo strike be reported, we will look to see more activity for these sought after species as ocean temperatures warm back into the mid 70s range.

There were fair numbers of roosterfish being hooked into while trolling live baits close to shore, some of the roosters weighed up to 15 lbs., though as water temps dropped this action also slowed down. Bait supplies consisted of caballito, moonfish, jacks, chihuil and skipjack. Sardinas continue to not be available, due to the schools of these baitfish now being out of normal range.

The most prized catch being encountered in recent days for the local panga fleets have been the yellowtail. These jacks have been found throughout the area, from Chileno, Palmilla, Salinas, Gordo Banks and even right off of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina rock jetties. Very nice quality, most of these fish were weighing 20 to 35 lbs. These fish are striking on various baits, sardineta, chihuil, caballito and moonfish are working. The numbers of these fish have varied from day to day, some charter worked hard to account for one or two of these fish, while other days boats landed limits. Most anglers were fortunate to land just one of these quality eating and incredible powerful fighting gamefish. These jacks are strong fighters that can easily cut off anglers leaders on the nearest rock outcropping. The season is shaping up to be a banner year for yellowtail, La Paz and the East Cape experienced epic action for these prized fish during the previous month. The yellowtail were found close to shore and on the surface sometimes, mixed in with hog sized jack crevalle, though the majority of the yellows were being found in depths ranging 100 to 180 feet. A few cabrilla, amberjack and pargo were rounding out the catches off of the bottom structure. In the upper water column over these same spots there were feisty bonito striking on rapalas, these are the good eating variety and as close to any tuna we are finding at this time.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 72 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 wahoo, 26 striped marlin, 22 dorado, 96 yellowtail, 12 amberjack, 15 sierra, 82 bonito, 13 cabrilla, 115 roosterfish and 8 mako shark.

Good Fishing, Eric