February 21, 2021

This month is definitely living up to its reputation for being unpredictable, this whole season we have seen more relentless north winds than usual, hard to find a reliable forecast and normal patterns have not followed the standard this year. As we still deal with very light tourism, staying optimistic that soon the situation will improve. We felt another cool trend this week, of course nothing even comparable as they felt in Texas, we did have mostly sunny skies, high temperatures averaging 75 degrees and the morning lows in the mid-50s. Ocean temperature was again cooler, down into the 67 to 70 degree range. The bait was a bit scarcer now, netters were working harder to find the scattered schools of sardinas and few caballito.

The week started out difficult due to windy conditions, though over the weekend winds laid down and the ocean was very comfortable, though quite cool for this area. Charters were searching the grounds from Chileno, Palmilla, Gordo Banks and north towards San Luis. Most consistent action was found while working the bottom structure, with the cold water there was not much surface activity found, as dorado, tuna, wahoo and marlin seem to have been hiding out, waiting for warmer currents to move back in. This will be transition period coming up, as the days progressively become longer and warmer once again.

The bonito were by far the most numerous species found, striking mainly on yo-yo style jigs, averaging 3 to 5 lb. a little smaller than they often run, but these fish are feisty fighters and good eating, prepared just as you would the yellowfin tuna. Despite not seeing any significant numbers of other species, we did see a wide variety of structure species show up on the fillet tables. We saw yellowtail, amberjack, red snapper, yellow snapper, grouper, sheepshead, bluefin trevally (fairly rare in local waters), Pacific tilefish, triggerfish, roosterfish, sierra, black skipjack, spotted rose snapper and even a couple of wahoo and dorado earlier in the week that were out of place in the cold water.

Besides the one Bluefin trevally we saw, there was also a 50 lb. class roosterfish landed and released from a super panga trolling near the marina jetty area, the California sheepshead was also a fairly unusual catch. Pelagic red crabs are starting to appear on the local high spots, when conditions are just right these small crustaceans will drift to the surface, can be scooped up and used for snapper bait, the commercial fleets goes wild when they see these red crabs, as they see big dollar signs and can make great profits when it all comes together.

Still plenty of whales to keep sightseers happy, as well as some turtles, sea lions and manta rays.

Good fishing, Eric

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

February 14, 2021

Half way through the month of February now, we continue to see very light crowds of tourists arriving, we are remaining optimistic that the coming months will see larger numbers of visitors. The weather patterns have been changing day to day, we saw a warming trend, then a cool front moved back through, daytime highs ranged from 75 to 80 degrees, winds have been on and off from the north, a bit unpredictable, currents sweeping through the region, changing water temperature and clarity from locations.

With limited charter activity there has still been plenty of commercial fishing pressure, with the shrimp trawlers working the areas off of San Jose del Cabo where there had been concentrations of mackerel and sardineta, this impacted this bait source and along the shoreline we saw schools of sardinas diminish as well, the smaller baitfish still have been obtainable, just not as abundant as they have been for the past months. It is the season where anglers commonly use yo-yo style jigs, working the various high spots for a variety of species.

The ocean temperature is averaging in the 70 to 72 degree range now, clarity has improved on the grounds north of the Gordo Banks, such as La Fortuna and Iman Banks, though green water has moved in off of Cabo San Lucas. The majority of the charters have been concentrating near La Fortuna and Iman Banks, this is where water clarity was cleaner and the more consistent all around action was found. Early in the week there were a handful of nice yellowfin tuna to over 80 lb. accounted for, though these yellowfin were finicky and only coming up sporadically, found close to shore though, over bottom structure, must be a certain food source that is attracting these fish to this area. The tuna action slacked as wind became more of a factor through the week, thing about this time year, is finding a calm day in order to increase opportunities.

The various rock piles are producing a mix of structure species, recently the most common fish being the bonito, also an occasional amberjack, cabrilla, pargo, red snapper or yellowtail, but by far more bonito than anything else, mainly striking on yo-yo jigs and weighing in the 4 to 8 lb. range. With the cooler water we are only seeing an occasional dorado, we also saw one wahoo early in the week. No billfish being talked about on local grounds out of San Jose del Cabo, though we did hear reports of decent action for striped marlin on the Pacific grounds, such as Golden Gate, where schools of mackerel were now concentrated, though overall the action out of Cabo San Lucas was not as consistent as on grounds in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

The highlight for the week were definitely the few quality grade of yellowfin tuna that were accounted for, as conditions stabilize we do expect these tuna to remain on these same grounds and become more prevalent in the daily counts. As we progress towards spring season we also anticipate to find more wide spread bottom action.

Good fishing, Eric

February 7, 2021

As we start the new month of February there are light numbers of tourists arriving, this is mainly due to ongoing Covid pandemic and the new requirements being put in place for travelers. We are hoping that by spring season we might see an improvement of this situation. The Los Cabos area relies entirely on tourist trade for the local economy and without this income people cannot support themselves and families.

We have felt a warming trend this past week, we saw high temperatures up to 80 degrees, mostly clear sunny skies. Winds were still unpredictable, though the forecast for the coming week looks very calm, favorable to help stabilize ocean conditions. Ocean temperature has been in the 70 to72 degree range, clarity was changing daily with the strong currents that have been pushing through. Overall the water was appearing cleaner on the grounds near the Iman Bank. This is where in recent days the majority of the light crowds of charters have been concentrated.

Every day we were seeing a handful of yellowfin tuna landed, anglers were fortunate to land one of these tuna, some charters even reported a couple of these fish. The yellowfin were very finicky, but could be enticed with persistence and patience using a combination of sardinas, caballito, strips of squid or skipjack. Average size of the tuna were in the 50 to 80 lb. class. On these same grounds and on other rocky high sports anglers found a mix of bottom species. Though the bottom bite with the strong currents running was not consistent, more bonito and black skipjack than anything else, a few varieties of pargo/snapper, an occasional cabrilla, amberjack or yellowtail. Strong currents were a problem this past week, we do anticipate this pattern to change and should help improve the all-around action. Also in recent days red crabs were starting to appear on the surface, these can be used for red snapper bait, with calmer conditions this could develop into something.

Other options were found closer to shore, mainly in the southern zone towards Cabo San Lucas, where sierra, skipjack and triggerfish were the main species encountered, still spotty from day to day, no consistent hot spot now. A few dorado are still hanging around in the cooler waters, found scattered in small schools, most of these smaller sized fish.

Lots of whales throughout the region, peak season will continue for at least another month. Sea lions, turtles and manta rays also providing sightseeing entertainment.

Good fishing, Eric