GORDO BANKS PANGAS
February 18th, 2024
We had some unpredictable weather this week with a few cloudy days and wind picking up mainly from the north. We also had some light showers throughout mid-week that kept the area a bit chilly for us locals. Nonetheless, most of the week was favorable for tuna and marlin fishing. This week was as good as last week and very similar in terms of fish count and size. Many of the local fishermen claim that they haven’t seen such a good tuna run and overall fishing in February in over a decade.
The main highlight this week was the hot yellowfin tuna and marlin bite. We continue to get a decent amount of live sardines every morning, which has been a huge factor in this tuna run. The local bait guys have been netting them throughout the shoreline close to Palmilla and also closer to our marina. This week, most of the fleet concentrated in the Iman area as it produced the best action. A few boats also found some tuna at Vinorama and La Fortuna. The best action was seen on live sardines, though many boats hooked the nicer sized tuna with dead sardines. The average tuna was around 20 pounds, though we did see many in the 40-pound class. Within the same area of Vinorama, Iman, and La Fortuna, we have seen some good bottom action with live sardines and jigs. We are continuously seeing good numbers of nice sized amberjack, grouper, and yellow snapper.
A few wahoo were caught on the same grounds while fishing for tuna. Since they are mostly chasing the live sardines, most of them are cutting us off right away. We did see quite a few lucky boats that landed some wahoo with just a circle hook and no wire. Most of the wahoo feeding on sardines are on the smaller side, with not many surpassing the 20-pound mark. A couple boats landed a few nicer ones while trolling Rapalas and rigged ballyhoo earlier in the morning.
The dorado and marlin bite remains consistent and scattered throughout most of our fishing grounds. The fleet caught many marlin with sardines while fishing for tuna. Within the same grounds, we also saw some nice bull dorado, the biggest one weighing 34 pounds. The best fishing grounds for dorado this week seem to be at Iman and La Fortuna. For Marlin, the best action was found throughout Iman and 5-10 miles straight out from our marina while looking for birds and surface activity.
This week, we had an unexpected tuna bite at Palmilla Point that only lasted 2 days. Many of the boats that focused on this area were able to catch their limit within a few hours. Though the numbers were good, the tuna seemed to be on the smaller side, with most of them averaging 10-15 pounds. The skipjacks took over this area right away, forcing most of the boats to head towards Iman.
Good Fishing, Brian
