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

November 29, 2020

Moderate crowds of tourists visited this Thanksgiving week, enjoying the fall conditions and multitude of outdoor activities. We felt persistent north winds through the week, finally tapering off some over the weekend. These conditions made for rougher seas, especially on the grounds to the north of Punta Gorda. Scattered morning cloud cover, giving way to plenty of warm sunshine, as daytime highs were in the low to mid 80s and ocean temperature was also averaging about 80 degrees. Still good amounts of sardinas found schooling around marina jetty, also caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid being offered.

Overall the fishing action was tougher this week, a lot of this due to the winds beating the northern grounds. On Monday there were two impressive cow sized yellowfin tuna brought in, one of 200 b., found outside of San Luis Bank during normal mid-day hours, the other tuna, which was hooked into on the Gordo Banks later in the afternoon and fought for 3 ½ hours before finally being boated, brought back in the dark after 8 p.m., this cow was estimated at well over 300 lb. It hit on a trolled skipjack for a team of local La Playita anglers, headed by legend Eduardo Aripez.

The rest of the week the tuna action was scarce, there were a couple of days when fleets found some smaller sized yellowfin associated with moving porpoise and a handful of tuna in the 40 to 70 lb. class were hooked into while soaking baits on the grounds from Iman to San Luis, but again most of the entire week these areas were very choppy due to the winds.

Dorado were scattered, some days we saw more than others, though again most of these dorado were under ten pounds. Wahoo action was encountered on the grounds north of Punta Gorda, to Vinorama, but action was spotty, mix sizes of fish were taken, from sierra sized 4 lb. fish, up to trophy sized tournament contending wahoo of 60 lb. These fish hit on Rapalas, sardinas, yo-yo and more anglers are now starting to try their luck at obtaining chihuil and using them for trap hooked trolling baits.

Not a whole lot of bottom action being done, winds did not make this an easy option, highlight were a handful of amberjack and dogtooth snapper, but more triggerfish, bonito or small pargo/snapper, compared to anything else. Closer to shore and mainly towards Cabo San Lucas we were seeing some sierra, most of these taken on sardinas, hoochies or small rapalas, sizes up to five pounds.

We have heard of wide open action for striped marlin being found on the Pacific banks, though off of San Jose del Cabo we saw more sailfish, a pair of black marlin, one blue marlin and also a few striped marlin were brought in from pangas, no big numbers like on the Pacific.

Good fishing, Eric

November 22, 2020

Weather has been great, warmer than usual fall conditions continue. There has been some persistent wind out of the north, but close to shore anglers were able to find fish in more protected areas. Water temperature now in the 79 to 81 degree range, slightly warmer than we would expect during this time frame. As the busy fall season now winds down, we are dealing with the second wave of Covid pandemic worries, though locally we have not seen a surge in cases and safety protocols have been strict, people are living in fear as to what is going to happen in the coming months.

Schools of sardinas remain healthy near the marina jetties, also some caballito being found. Other bait options included ballyhoo and slabs of squid. The majority of charters are now heading towards the north, from the Gordo Banks, Iman, San Luis and to Vinorama, while a few boats are working areas from San Jose del Cabo, south towards Cabo San Lucas. Action has been somewhat spread out, no particular hot spot. Most popular grounds this week were Iman and San Luis, this is where the better chances at hooking into the yellowfin tuna was.

The tuna proved increasingly finicky this past week, most days the yellowfin were seen in good numbers coming out of the water, putting on a show boiling on the chummed sardinas, but were extremely line shy. It did not make sense to use leader lighter than 40 lb., because chances of landing these fish on too light of line was minimal, the average fish that were being landed were in the 50 to 75 lb. class, some larger and a few in the 20 to 30 lb. range as well. Overall anglers were doing very well if they landed one or two of these tuna, though there are definitely lots of these fish in the area and on any given day could become more cooperative.

Through the first half of the week there was very good action for wahoo found near Vinorama, these fish were coming up on the chummed sardinas and hitting the small baits on straight mono, not the normal way we usually fish these toothy gamefish, skippers were using small long shanked hooks to help from getting cut off, the wahoo did not like the wire leaders. Many of the wahoo were hooked up on cast yo-yo type jigs, at least as many hook ups were lost as were brought to gaff. Of course the word on this good action traveled fast, scores of spear fishermen also headed to this inshore spot and the bite slowed way down just as fast as it had developed.

Dorado were scarcer this past week on the grounds off of San Jose del Cabo, most of the fish we did see were very small, though we did hear of better numbers towards the Pacific.

On the Gordo Banks there have been anglers targeting cow sized yellowfin, a couple of big fish were lost after extended battles, we did not hear of any other monster yellowfin being landed. There were at least a couple of black marlin that were brought in, these fish were in the 300 to 600 lb. range. We do believe that more big tuna are still on these grounds and certainly another will be hauled in before long.

Not much being found off the bottom besides triggerfish, bonito and mostly smaller sized snapper. Along the shoreline there have been sierra, but not consistent from day to day, still early in the season for these cooler water species.

Good fishing, Eric