Anglers –
June 20, 2015
With the summer season now officially upon us we have seen an increase of crowds, as many school have already ended school semesters are now on vacation. The latest Tropical Storm, “Carlos” dissipated off of mainland Mexico and never amounted to anything for Southern Baja, except for raising the heat and humidity factors, ocean swells barely even were visible and very few clouds were seen. Sunny days, with highs in the lower 90’s, winds predominately from the south, out of San Jose del Cabo, ocean conditions were calm and this is where the water temperatures were up to 80 degrees. Currents have fluctuated, pushing in cleaner water and then perhaps even the next day, shifting currents would sweep in off colored greenish water, this is time of year when we can see these rapidly fluctuating currents, which can affect how active the fish can be in certain areas on a given day.
Anglers were relying on the bait source found in the marina area, caballito and moonfish most readily available. Though there were reports of massive schools of mullet seen along the beaches just on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, have not seen these mullet in significant numbers for some time. Just like clockwork the larger sized roosterfish have arrived and are now patrolling inshore beach stretches, roosters weighing up to 70 lb. were landed and released this past week. Please remember to catch and release these prized trophy gamefish whenever possible, as they are not known for their eating qualities, instead they are sought after for their fighting quality and for being a true gamefish, being found only in few places of the Eastern Pacific Ocean.
Striped marlin were the main species found offshore, at times found very close to shore, striking on trolled lures, as well as on available baitfish. Main center of action was found offshore of San Jose del Cabo and Red Hill. A few sailfish now in the mix as well, swordfish were encountered by sportfishers venturing further offshore, 15 to 30 miles from shore. There have been reports of some blue marlin strikes that were lost. So anything could happen on any given day. Nothing much going on for yellowfin tuna now, though a handful of private charters found yellowfin further offshore traveling with porpoise, this is the season where we see the tuna moving with these mammals.
Dorado action was limited, an occasional larger bull being accounted for, one 37 lb. dorado was brought in La Playita, there were more juvenile sized schooling dorado found, these fish should be released with care, so that they can have the chance to mature, reproduce and help maintain healthy fish stocks.
Wahoo were definitely in the area, but anglers were fortunate to land one, as they were just not striking very aggressively. Most that were hooked into were from Palmilla Point and north of Punta Gorda, weighed to over 40 pounds. With more bolito appearing on the local grounds and favorable water conditions, these fish could go on a big bite anytime.
Panga charters were working inshore reefs and finding some amberjack, pargo, snapper, bonito, cabrilla and others, most of these fish were striking on the larger baitfish or on cut bait, a few of the amberjack were in the 70 pound class. Though last week we saw more numbers of these amberjack, conditions have fluctuated some, mainly clarity of the water, this could be a factor of the bite being off, could turn back on at any time. The roosterfish have been striking fairly consistently, quality sized fish, not uncommon to hook into a half dozen or more of these fish.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 102 charters for the shortened week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 2 sailfish, 13 striped marlin, 44 dorado, 7 wahoo, 3 grouper, 27 amberjack, 13 cabrilla, 5 dogtooth snapper, 9 pargo colorado, 6 sierra, 15 yellow snapper, 7 jack crevalle, 8 bonito and 88 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric