December 9, 2012
Anglers –

Pre Holiday Season crowds have been light, for the people making the trip to Los Cabos they have enjoyed great weather conditions, mostly sunny skies, highs up to 80 degrees and moderate winds, predominately from the north. Currents were quite strong and there was a anticipated drop in water temperature, with cooler early mornings and continual shorter days, it is time when we see rapid changes, local ocean temperatures is now averaging 78 to 80 degrees, which is favored range for many of the more sought after pelagic gamefish. If patterns continue on this same course, it appears we might have longer lasting fall season, another transition period, when water temperatures fall and migratory fish move on and other cold water species arrive. The first wave of whale migration is now being seen in the region, this the time when gray and humpback whales arrive after feeding throughout the summer in Alaskan waters, they typically stay in the lower Baja area until April.

Baitfish have been more scattered, sardina schools are now more prevalent off of the Palmilla Point, other bait options were caballito, mackerel, moonfish, ballyhoo and catching larger baitfish on the fishing grounds, typically bolito, skipjack or chihuil. Mackerel are being found in the cooler Pacific waters, mixed with sardineta. This is also where charters are finding some world class action on early season striped marlin, the old light house has been one of the most productive spots. In the direction of the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo there have been more sailfish than striped marlin, with cooling currents arriving these sailfish surely will start moving to southern waters soon. Overall it was the popular dorado that provided the most consistent action this past week, sizes ranged from juveniles up to 40 pounds, many fish were in the 10 to 20 pound range. These fish were caught on trolled lures, rigged ballyhoo and other baitfish, traveling in small schools most of the time. There were a series of set buoys off of the Desteladera grounds and these were holding better numbers of larger sized fish, long run though, not many charters were even going that distance.

You did not need to travel far to find dorado, some were caught very close to shore, often under circling frigate birds, remember the limit on dorado is two fish per person, smart practice is to release the easily recognizable females with their rounded off forehead, let them grow up and continue to spawn, in order to sustain future stocks. There were sierra now moving inshore as well, they prefer this cooling trend and should appear in big numbers soon, provided great light tackle sport, a few roosterfish were found in recent days, one 30 pound fish was landed right off the panga docks. Larger concentrations of moonfish in the marina now, this always attracts some predators. Make great bottom baits for amberjack, grouper, dogtooth snapper etc…A few nice amberjack were taken off of Iman and we expect this action to improve once the current slacks some.

The dorado took up the slack on where the yellowfin tuna action dropped off, the bite on Iman Bank has declined to an average of one or two tuna here and there, this is for the 10 to 20 pound models, which have been hitting on sardinas, these yellowfin have become more line shy, a times making strong showings, but not wanting to strike a baited hook, other days the tuna would not even show and only a few bonito, dorado and skipjack would bite. This is when anglers started targeting the more cooperative dorado, best chances usually are by either slow trolling baits or using lures, same methods that are used for targeting the elusive wahoo when they are in season, which in the Southern Baja Region typically lasts into the first part of January. So far wahoo action has not been as consistent as we would expect, though everyday there are stories of sliced baits, cut lines, etc, just not that many of these ‘hoo are being landed. Conditions are still favorable, we are optimistic that the coming weeks will produce some exciting wahoo action, these same local grounds is where the existing wahoo world record was caught.

The Gordo Banks is still the spot for anglers trying to join the 200 pound club for yellowfin tuna, this past two month period has produced more cow sized tuna that we have seen for many years. Getting late in the year now and action has slowed down, but everyday there are a handful of quality fish being accounted for, there have been several 200 pound fish landed this week, others weighed in the 100 to 180 pounds class, lots of baitfish on both the Inner and Outer Gordo Banks and the action has been switching back and forth. Other factors can be the presence of very pesky sea lions, they make it practically impossible to troll whole large baits, so being ready to move from one bank to the other has been wise. Most of the larger tuna hooked recently were on chunk baits versus whole baits. There is a new La Playa, Puerto Los Caught Tuna Tournament being held Saturday, excitement is high as there is a new Ford F150 4×4 up for grabs to one angler who catches the largest tuna, other side categories include dorado and wahoo, should be very competitive as well.

The combined panga fleets out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, sent out approximately 122 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
7 sailfish, 5 striped marlin, 3 yellowtail, 575 dorado, 98 yellowfin tuna, 15 wahoo, 12 cabrilla, 6 dogtooth snapper, 16 amberjack, 35 sierra, 6 roosterfish, 45 misc. mixed pargo species and 330 skipjack .

Good Fishing, Eric

December 1, 2012
Anglers –

Normally after Thanksgiving the crowds of tourists visiting Los Cabos drop off, as interests gear towards the upcoming Christmas Holiday. This past week the super bustling tourist activity settled and schedules were lighter. The great news for people arriving is that weather conditions were ideal, high temperatures averaged 85 degrees and winds have been moderate, predominately from the north. Ocean water temperature is holding warmer than usual at 80 to 83 degrees and clarity remain excellent, deep blue water is found close to shore.

The recent full moon phase might have slowed down the all around fishing action some, but most anglers were finding the action be okay. Everyday there have been some impressive fish accounted for, no big numbers, but there has been a chance at big fish and a variety of species, most of them all pelagic gamefish, found near the surface. Most common daily catches included yellowfin tuna, skipjack, sierra and dorado, more elusive were wahoo, sailfish, yellowtail and pargo. Striped marlin were more numerous on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, while yellowfin tuna were easier to find in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

The one area that has produced the larger grade of yellowfin tuna has been the Gordo Banks, this action is not as productive as it was a few weeks back, but each day there have been impressive catches of tuna from 80 to 270 pounds accounted for. On Thursday we knew of at least 8 tuna of 100 lbs. or more weighed in. These larger tuna were striking on trolled skipjack, chihuil and bolito, but more of them have been hooked into while drift fishing, chumming cut skipjack, chihuil, squid, sardina and using strips or chunks for bait, most anglers used 80 pound main line with 80 to 130 leader material. Not very many charters have been concentrating on the larger tuna, because this action was more hit or miss than was the smaller sized tuna and dorado action found closer to shore. There seemed to be many novice anglers in town now and big tuna are not easy to subdue for even the veteran anglers.

Baitfish schools were scattered, long runs were often required to obtain sardinas, these were the bait of choice for the yellowfin tuna schooling around the Iman Bank, most of these fish were in the 12 to 20 pound class. There were better numbers of dorado found the past few days, the majority of these were taken on bait and weighed from 10 to 20 pounds. Dorado were found throughout the region, close to shore, over the high spots and in the open blue water. They were schooling most often in small groups, found at times underneath the circling frigate birds. Wahoo were spread out along the inshore drop off, over structure, feeding on natural food supply. We have seen more wahoo now appearing off of Punta Gorda, and north past La Fortuna and on Iman Bank, sizes varied from 5 pound fish, up to 30,40,50 pounds. Wahoo are elusive fish and there has not been any real consistent action found as of yet this season, but anglers that specifically targeted these fish did have their opportunities.

Not much bottom action now going on, a few yellowtail were taken of the Gordo Banks, a mix of sierra and small roosterfish close to shore. Other action included some sailfish on the same yellowfin tuna grounds and one black marlin that was battled into the night from a 22 ft. panga out of La Playita, they did not return to the docks until midnight, estimated weight was 400 pounds.

The combined panga fleets out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, sent out approximately 144 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
1 black marlin, 8 striped marlin, 9 sailfish, 5 yellowtail, 218 dorado, 290 yellowfin tuna, 28 wahoo, 15 cabrilla, 45 sierra, 4 dogtooth snapper, 34 various pargo, 12 rainbow runners and 260 skipjack .

Good Fishing, Eric

November 23, 2012
Anglers –

Crowds of visitors tapered off this past week, compared to earlier in the month, the majority of United States residents stay on home ground for the Thanksgiving holiday. There were many adventurous family groups that headed south in search of warm sunshine. While much of the U.S. is now feeling the chill factor of winter settling in, the Southern Baja Peninsula has felt very pleasant warm sunny conditions, with high temperatures reaching the mid 80s. Variable winds are becoming more persistent from the north, ranging from 10 to 15 mph, this is the normal pattern throughout the fall and winter months. From Cabo San Lucas to Los Frailes ocean currents have been ranging 82/83 degrees, not much in the way of temperature breaks. Water has been exceptionally clear, sport divers reportedly were able to see the bottom structure of the Gordo Banks sea mount, where the pinnacle rises to within 110 feet of the surface.

The week began with stiffer winds from the north, before settling down mid week. On certain days this limited where charters were able to comfortably fish, when offshore grounds were too rough, there were opportunities in calmer areas closer to shore that were producing catches of yellowfin tuna, dorado, wahoo, sailfish and even a few striped marlin. Finding sufficient supplies of live bait was more time consuming and require long travel distances at times for minimal supplies, it is the period when schooling sardinas begin to migrate further into the Sea of the Cortez. These migratory patterns are now more unpredictable perhaps with the warmer than usual ocean temperatures. Still plenty of skipjack on the fishing grounds, no squid being reportedly encountered in the area.

The yellowfin tuna action on the Gordo Banks slowed way down, though a few of the larger sized tuna were accounted for, there was not much other action reported from thee banks, nor were the fish seen surfacing. There has been no drastic change of conditions and there is plenty of baitfish on these grounds, so we expect the yellowfin are still lurking in the vicinity. The tuna schooling on Iman Bank recently have averaged in the 10 to 20 pound class, mixed with aggressive skipjack, have have become very finicky, yellowfin were seen feeding on the surface, but were very shy towards striking baits with hooks, light leaders proved beneficial in hooking up, catches would vary from one or two fish per boat, to as many as a dozen. Dorado were spread out, most of the time single fish were coming into the chum line, mixed sizes, a handful of nice size bulls were accounted for. There continue to be reports of larger quantities of dorado being found on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, same areas that are also producing some good numbers for striped marlin.

Wahoo became more active this week, anglers trolling chihuil and ballyhoo baits reported strikes, rapalas produced strikes as well, a larger grade of wahoo were appearing, not as many as the small juveniles, one 70 pound class wahoo was accounted for and many others in the 20 to 45 pounds range, still no big numbers, but anglers were reporting multiple opportunities per trip. The area of La Fortuna to Iman Banks was where the majority of the wahoo strikes were taken. Things are shaping up for a good late season bite for these elusive wahoo, boat pressure, water temperature, food source and clarity are all key factors as to when these fish really become the most active, we are anticipating wahoo action through the month of December.

Sierras are being found along the beach stretches now, most of these fish have been smaller sized, just the beginning of the season for this cooler water species. Not much consistent action was found off the bottom, though a few impressive specimens of dogtooth snapper, amberjack, yellowtail and cabrilla were taken.

The combined panga fleets out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina, sent out approximately 182 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of:
3 striped marlin, 36 wahoo, 12 sailfish, 2 yellowtail, 96 dorado, 375 yellowfin tuna, 14 amberjack, 10 cabrilla, 70 sierra, 5 dogtooth snapper, 24 misc. pargo, 16 rainbow runners and 400 skipjack .

Good Fishing, Eric