GORDO BANKS PANGAS

December 20, 2020

The local International airport has been very busy this past week, hundreds of travelers are arriving to enjoy the holidays in the warm sunshine of Los Cabos. Despite all these people arriving, not many of them have been taking advantage of the fishing, so fleets have not been overly busy at all, even though the all-around fishing action was very good, especially considering that we are in the midst of winter season. High temperatures have been reaching 80 degrees, mostly clear sunny skies, though early morning have been in the upper 50’s, so remember to bring appropriate clothing. Ocean water temperatures have been averaging 74 to 77 degrees, a bit warmer than we expect for this time of year. Lots of whales are now arriving, giving visitors opportunities to watch these magnificent mammals in their natural habitat.

Anglers are now using sardinas and ballyhoo for bait, with limited numbers of caballito and we have yet to see the large schools of mackerel and sardineta arrive on local bait grounds. Most charters are now concentrated on the fishing grounds from off of Chileno, Palmilla, Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda, Cardona, La Fortuna and Iman. Favorable ocean conditions have been found on these grounds, though further to the north the water has been greenish and cooler. We have still been dealing with north winds, in the normal cycles, a few days of gusty conditions, then we have two or three calm days before the pattern repeats itself. Even on the days it has blown, often this did not happen until later in the morning and anglers were able to find good action closer to shore in more protected areas.

Dorado were found in good numbers, mixed sizes, we have seen larger sized fish this past week, some were in the 20 to 25 lb. range, we have not seen these big bulls on our local grounds for some time. The dorado were hitting on various baits and trolled lures. Lots of sierra now encountered throughout the inshore zone, some of these to over 5 lb., striking readily on the live sardinas, but also on small hoochies and raplalas.

Tuna action was spottier, though they are being seen and are definitely in the area, just have not been whiling to bite on a consistent basis. We did see a handful of nicer yellowfin brought in, weighing in the 60 to 90 lb. range, also some medium sized 20 to 40 lb. fish accounted for. There were other reports of larger cow sized tuna breezing the surface around the Gordo Banks, but we did not hear of any of these big fish hooked into or landed.

More numbers of striped marlin starting to be found on our local grounds, as it is now the time that these billfish shift in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, we also saw at least a coupe of sailfish in recent days. With the surface action being the main thing now, we did not see many of the limited numbers of charters even trying to look for bottom species.

Wahoo were abundant on the inshore grounds now, particularly Punta Gorda, Cardon, La Fortuna, also on the Inner Gordo Banks. This season we have seen more juvenile sized wahoo than we can ever remember, average sized wahoo that are being brought in are in the 5 to 15 lb. range, we are only occasionally seeing any fish in the 30 to 40 lb. class.

On a direr note is the progression of spear fishing we have seen in recent years, it seems each year we are seeing more and more numbers of these operators who advertise these world famous grounds and are making a big business out of this. The major issue is that they do not have any manners at all, in past years spear fishermen would concentrate on other grounds and during different hours. Now they concentrate their activities on the same fragile inshore fisheries where rod and reel angler are. This region cannot sustain such pressure on these same grounds and it is unrealistic that they simply are able to exploit this activity using the same type of fishing license that rod and reel anglers use, this is not the same sport, these people often target the larger female home guard species, that are too weary or wise to chase down a trolled lure or baited hook, but will simply swim towards the pointed spear to investigate and guard their breeding grounds, only to be shot in the head. We also see that many of these fish are being sold illegally, as authorities just seem to turn their heads in other directions. It seems that some control is much needed, perhaps such as dear, elk, moose tags and other hunting sports do and certain zones that they can use and others that are off limits.

Good fishing, Eric

December 13, 2020

There were only minimal numbers of tourists visiting at this time, many people now preparing for the Holiday Season, as well as dealing with the ongoing Covid pandemic situation. Weather was now turning more towards winter like patterns, we saw scattered cloud cover and low temperatures as chilly as 55 degrees, though most days were warming up near 80 degrees. Wind was predominately out of the north, much of the week limiting where anglers were able to comfortably concentrate their efforts, through the weekend the wind did slack and ocean conditions were again more favorable. Water temperatures now averaging in the 75 to 77 degree range, clearer blue water found on our normal fishing grounds, with the off colored currents now near Vinorama and towards Los Frailes.

Anglers were using mainly sardinas and caballito for bait, any week now we should see mackerel and sardineta move on to local bait grounds, as this is always the time of year this happens. Most charters are now fishing the areas from Chileno, Red Hill, Punta Gorda, Cardon and Iman. We saw lots of sierra closer to shore, most of these in the 2 to 5 lb. range, striking smaller sized lures and on the sardinas. This week we saw more dorado and they were larger in size, we even saw a handful of bulls over 20 lb. With the ocean still warm for this time of year, we expect this dorado action to continue through the month. Also there were good numbers of wahoo accounted for, striking on trolled Rapalas, various baits and yo-yo jigs. Sizes ranged from small juvenile fish and to over 40 lb., with the majority of the wahoo being smaller in size.

Tuna action has been spotty now for the past several weeks, though in recent days we did see more of the yellowfin being hooked into from near the Iman Bank, drift fishing with sardinas was the best bet for this action, sizes ranged to over 40 lb., with some boats accounting for two, three of four of these fish.

Not much bottom action being done, with few numbers of anglers in town, often choppy ocean conditions making this harder and with the fact that surface action was the most productive action now happening. We did see more striped marlin moving in to local waters, it will not be long now until these billfish make their main migration towards the Sea of Cortez, following their favored food source.

More and more whales are now being sighted as well, as we are now nearing peak season for these migrated mammals.

Good fishing, Eric

December 6, 2020

New month of December saw light crowds of visitors arriving, this is the normal pattern, as after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, there are not that many people vacationing, this year with the global pandemic still peaking, travelers are being extra cautious. North winds continued throughout the week, ocean temperature dropped into the 75 degree range and currents were off colored on grounds to the north. Still mostly clear sunny skies, highs averaging near 75 degrees and we saw low temperatures of 54 degrees, so it is the time of year you need to dress appropriately for early morning outdoor activities.

Anglers were able to find plentiful supplies of sardinas, with caballito, ballyhoo, slabs of squid bring other options. More of the super panga charters are now trying to chum up chihuil baitfish  on the Inner Gordo Bank, though this has not been all that easy or guaranteed with choppy conditions, though these baitfish were now the best bet for enticing the elusive wahoo. Early in the week we saw more numbers of wahoo being brought in, sizes ranged from small 5 lb. juveniles, up to 50 lb. trophy sized specimens. Areas from Cardon, La Fortuna to Vinorama produced strikes while trolling baits or rapalas. Though this same area is now seeing greenish cooler currents push in.

The week also started off with a pair of super cow sized 300 lb. yellowfin tuna being landed from off the Gordo Banks by local pangeros specifically targeting these cows. Lot of patience needed when targeting these fish, they used live skipjack for bait. The rest of the week we only saw a handful of other tuna accounted for, several were near 100 lb. Though overall the action for these yellowfin was very slow and north winds made the whole deal that much more difficult. Everyone is waiting for calmer conditions and it looks as though the coming week will at least start out calmer.

Dorado were even scarcer this past week, only a handful of these gamefish were even found, no large schools at all and mainly smaller sized. The past few seasons the month of December was very productive for nicer sized dorado, so we are hoping this year things are just starting out slow, still early in the month. Billfish action was almost nonexistent off of San Jose del Cabo, more chance now for striped marlin on the Pacific grounds, it will not be long though that the migration of mackerel and sardineta will shift in the direction of the Sea of Cortez.

Inshore the main action found was for sierra, most of these fish ranging in the 2 to 5 lb. range, striking on hoochies, Rapalas and sardinas. Also a few roosterfish accounted for, not the normal season for them, but they can hang around in minimal numbers.

With the windier conditions anglers were not able to try much bottom action, those who did found more bonito and triggerfish than anything else, we did see a few amberjack and at least a couple of dogtooth snapper brought in.

Good fishing, Eric