September 14, 2019

Anglers –

At this time the weather conditions are calm, warm and humid. Tropical Storm Kiko is spinning off to the west, far away from any contact with land. Always the time of year when everyone is closely monitoring tropical storm develop from the south, this is also now the five year anniversary of the devastating Hurricane Odile. We are now watching developing of a new system developing below Acapulco, hopefully it moves on a path away from Southern Baja, we will know by late next week. With ocean water temperature now in the 83 to 86 degree range this can be favorable conditions for storms to gather strength.

Light crowds of tourists now, kind of an off season now, but right around the corner will be the busiest Fall period. Local charters have been fishing the grounds from off f Red Hill, Palmilla, to the Gordo Banks, Twenty Five Spot and Iman Bank. Supplies of sardinas were more limited this week, being found mainly schooling off the beach stretches towards San Luis. Caballito, Ballyhoo and slabs of squid have been other bait options, also lots of black skipjack and bolito on high spots. Highlight of the action has been the yellowfin tuna, best spot near the Twenty Five area, drift fishing with strips of quid or sardinas were the most successful methods used. Sizes ranged from 20 to 70 lb. some days tough to land one or two, other days five or more were possible. A bit finicky, as the majority of the fleet is concentrating on these grounds every day, including the charters from Buna Vista area.

Dorado were still scattered through these inshore grounds, though not in the numbers of previous weeks and again most of these fish are juvenile sized, under 5 lb., an occasional respectable sized. Wahoo were in the area, no consistent bite for these elusive fish, one day we will see a handful of fish, the next day nothings, they get more sluggish in these warmer water conditions.

Off the bottom there was a mix of snapper, pargo species, an occasional amberjack, dogtooth snapper, bonito and cabrilla. Using yo-yo jigs and various whole and cut baits off of the many rock piles, this bottom action is not producing many numbers of fish, all top quality eating and a few quality specimens..

Marin action was spread out and we did not have many anglers that were targeting the billfish, as the tuna action seemed more popular. We did see a couple of black, blue and striped marlin accounted for, as well as sailfish.

Off the shoreline, surf anglers reported a couple of snook and tripletail catches, these are the times when prized species can be found close to the shoreline, you have to know what you are doing and put in consistent efforts

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 55 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 2 black marlin, 3 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 2 blue marlin, 110 dorado, 14 wahoo, 115 yellowfin tuna, 3 dogtooth snapper, 8 leopard grouper, 25 Mexican bonito, 14 yellow snapper, 6 barred pargo, 3 pompano, 9 amberjack, 2 surgeonfish, 2 roosterfish and 28 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

Anglers –

September 7, 2019

Tropical weather conditions now upon us, we are seeing on and off sporadic afternoon thunder showers, which are common during this month. The passing of Hurricane Juliette was barely felt, as it had followed a path far off to the west, humidity did increase and there was more afternoon southern breeze. Overall ocean conditions were favorable, moderate swells, though the wind did pick up later in the day. No new storm system on the horizon at this time, though with ocean water temperatures now ranging 80 to 86 degrees, we do need to watch forecasts closely the next few weeks. Light crowds of visitors now, normal slack period, as children are back in school and summer season winds down.

In recent days there have been quality sized sardinas being netted and brought down from the north, anglers are meeting these bait vendors on grounds such as La Fortuna and Iman Bank. Other bait options were slabs of squid, caballito, ballyhoo, as well as bolito and skipjack found on offshore grounds. These same grounds is where the most consistent action has been found for the past month and charters from East Cape are even making the long two hour run daily, guess they must have no better opportunities in closer proximity.

Main action has been for dorado and yellowfin tuna, an occasional wahoo, limited mix of bottom species and some scattered billfish action. Significant boat pressure on these same grounds and combined with large concentrations of natural food sources, the yellowfin tuna proved to be more finicky from day to day. Best chances for the tuna was with sardinas and strips of squid, a few also striking on larger baitfish. Catches ranged from one tuna, to over five per boat, sizes ranged from 15 to 70 lb., a lot of fish in the 20 to 60 lb. class.

More numbers of dorado were found a bit closer to shore than where the yellowfin bite was, still big numbers of very small sized dorado, with a smaller percentage of keeper sized dorado in the mix. Sardinas for bait was best bet, also trolling hoochies and feathers, as well as drift fishing with strips of squid.

Off the bottom the highlights were a few hog sized amberjack, up to 95 lb., one 57 kilo grouper hauled up by local hand liner. A scattering of pargo, pompano and triggerfish rounded out bottom action. A few smaller sized roosterfish were found trolling inshore stretches near the local marina.

Marlin anglers were limited, as more anglers were now targeting the tuna, though a couple of black  marlin hook ups were reported, big fish that ended up being lost after hours of battling. Some smaller sized blue and striped marlin were also reported, no big numbers, but every day these billfish are being encountered.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 68 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 6 striped marlin, 5 blue marlin, 275 dorado, 8 wahoo, 145 yellowfin tuna, 6 leopard grouper, 14 Mexican bonito, 15 yellow snapper, 8 barred pargo, 8 pompano, 15 amberjack, 12 roosterfish, 4 jack crevalle and 38 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric

GORDO BANKS PANGAS

Anglers –

September 1, 2019

Since the passing of Tropical Storm IVO last week, where the Los Cabos region did receive some much needed rainfall without too high of wind, weather patterns have been stable, though just now there is a new T S Juliette brewing to the southwest, this system is forecast to follow a path further away from the Baja Peninsula new storms developing at this time. The next three weeks is historically the time frame with the highest chance of hurricanes striking Southern Baja, so we are all hoping that this year we do not have any disasters. We have felt a very slight cooling early morning, but days have been warm and humid with heat index over 100 degrees.

Starting last weekend there was decent action for yellowfin tuna up to 100 lb. on the Iman Bank. Through this week the bite became more sporadic, lots of boat pressure on this one area since this has been location where the best chances of catching nice fish has been. Boats from as far away as the East Cape are making the long run south to fish these same grounds. Drift fishing with strips of squid was the main deal, some limited availability of sardinas, the tuna also were hitting on the live caballito. Anglers were feeling fortunate to land just one yellowfin, a handful had as many as three, and average size were 35 to 60 lb. anglers had better success using leader material of 50 to 60 lb., many of the larger tuna were lost after extended battles. Also one black marlin estimated to be well over 400 lb. was battled for over three hours before finally being lost due to lighter leader.

Dorado were found a little closer to shore than were the tuna, off of Cardon, La Fortuna, Punta Gorda, many juvenile sized dorado in the area, had to search to find any over 10 lb. Overall numbers of dorado were down from previous weeks. Wahoo are in the area, as they were seen free swimming and feeding in the chum, though these fish proved finicky and only a few were actually landed, these fish can become sluggish when water temperature are over 80 degrees.

Off the bottom there was limited action for yellow snapper, red snapper, cabrilla, amberjack and triggerfish, more snapper on yo-yo jigs early in the day, after that tough pickings. Only a few roosterfish found trolling closer to shore, smaller sized, mixed in was an occasional jack crevalle, not much inshore trolling this time of year.

Billfish action also slowed down, more smaller sized striped marlin, a couple of larger black marlin that were lost after long battles. Weather is looking good for the time being, slight swells, warm blue water with lots of baitfish in the area so we are optimistic that reports will improve soon.

The combined sportfishing fleet launching out of the panga area from Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out an estimated 62 charters for the week and anglers reported an approximate fish count of: 5 striped marlin, 3 blue marlin, 185 dorado, 6 wahoo, 70 yellowfin tuna, 6 leopard grouper, 26 Mexican bonito, 14 yellow snapper, 4 barred pargo, 1 amberjack, 2 dogtooth snapper, 3 roosterfish, 5 jack crevalle and 38 triggerfish.

Good Fishing, Eric