With fall season now officially here we are feeling cooler mornings, though days are still quite warm and humid with the passing of all the rain the past few weeks. Last weekend we had TS Newton pass within a couple of hundred miles off to the southwest, all Port activity was closed for Sunday and Monday, though we never felt much from this system besides higher ocean swells, scattered rainfall on Monday and some south wind with some gusts close to 30 mph. Presently the forecast looks good for next week, it feels as though the storm season is now past us, but with ocean temperatures still in the 82 to 85 degree range you can never be certain, we will hope for no late season disasters.
After this latest storm passed the ocean did quickly rebound, water cleared up within a couple of days, even the sardinas which had scattered returned and other bait options were caballito, ballyhoo and slabs of squid.
The majority of local fleets are fishing on the grounds from Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and to San Luis Bank. We saw more numbers of anglers arriving, anticipating some early fall action.
Most common catches were for smaller sized dorado, though there were a few nicer sized bulls up to 40 lb. found mixed in. Many of the smaller dorado were being released, which is a good thing since these are one of the fastest growing fish found and females are always filled with eggs, giving them a chance to reproduce. These fish were striking on various lures and baits, not too finicky.
A handful of wahoo were accounted for, fish in the 15 to 30 lb. range, striking on rapalas and ballyhoo, though still not very active in the warmer water, should become more active as water cools off a few degrees. Billfish were found scattered throughout the region, though not that numerous, we saw sailfish, striped and blue marlin landed from local charters.
There was encouraging news that the yellowfin tuna were biting better the last few days, drift fishing with strips of squid on the Iman Bank was the most successful. We saw tuna ranging from sizes of 10 lb. up to 90 lb., average were 20 to 50 lb. A couple of charters accounted for up to five fish, though overall numbers were not high, you had to be patient and be at the right spot when the bite was on. Best action was found early in the morning.
Off the bottom we saw a few nice amberjack, red snapper and bonito, though this action was not consistent. On Friday everyone was excited when a large pod of killer whales appeared early in the day as boats were on their way to the grounds, very agile and fast, chasing boats at high speed, right up into the prop wash and some great videos were taken.
Good Fishing, Eric
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