GORDO BANKS PANGAS

December 31st, 2023

Last day of the year and most of the boats at the panga dock are out fishing; great way to say goodbye to 2023. This week, we experienced some colder temperatures with mornings in the high 50s and beautiful sunny days in the mid 70s. These mornings are considered very chilly for us locals.

This has been one of our most productive weeks of the year so far. The main target species this week was yellowfin tuna. The Cabo and San José fleets found nice sized yellowfin tuna, most of them averaging around 30 pounds. These fish were found heading towards Cabo, at Cabeza de Ballena; most of these fish are 13-15 miles from our marina and around 1/2 a mile from the shore. Most reports claimed the best action was found at around 140-160 feet. These fish are mostly caught with live sardinas. We had plenty of nice sized sardina supply this week. The local bait guys have been focusing on netting sardines within the Cabo Real area.

Most of the boats fishing for these tuna have been able to catch their limit within a few hours. Due to the hot bite, this area has been hit hard by both Cabo and San José fleets. On most days, we are estimating around 80-100 boats. The main concern with the high volume and boat proximity are the tangles. Many boats within the fleet reported losing many fish due to other hooked tuna tangling their line or boats cutting their lines. 

Within this same area, we heard of some boats hooking some tuna with small lures and feathers, though not too many as with sardines. Some nice sized dorado are also being caught while drifting for these tuna. Using the same technique and bait, we have also seen a few wahoo accidentally caught, though nothing over 15 pounds. 

For the boats going towards Gordo it has also been good. The local pangeros are finding bigger tuna at the inner Gordo with live and dead sardinas. The best time for these fish is definitely the afternoon. At certain times they can be all over the boat but are a bit finicky and hard to hook. Most of the fish landed are anywhere from 50-100 pounds. A few of the panngeros caught on average 3 per day. Within that same area, we are still seeing some big bulls caught. 

We expect to have a great day of fishing for the last one of the year. The Gordo Banks Pangas crew wishes you a Happy New Year. 

Good Fishing, Brian