March 26, 2023

As we extend further into Spring Break Season we are seeing  more numbers of tourists arriving, many of them younger, college aged, as well as lots of family groups. We are having ideal weather patterns now, lows about 60 degrees, with highs of 80 degrees and mostly clear sunny skies. Winds are still predominantly from the north but not as strong as in previous weeks. Ocean swells are light and water temperatures are averaging 70 to 72 degrees.

Bait supplies have consisted of caballito, sardinas, ballyhoo and slabs of squid. Schools of sardinas have been found near Palmilla and to Cabo Real, caballito in the marina channel area and are somewhat limited.

Sportfishing fleets have been scouting out different areas, not much found further offshore as for billfish or dorado, only an occasional scattered striped marlin or dorado. More consistent action for a variety of species are being found closer to shore. Punta Gorda, Gordo Banks, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman and San Luis Banks are main grounds where boats are now concentrated. All around action is spotty, but has shown signs of improvement and we are seeing some quality fish accounted for, just no big numbers now of any particular species, except perhaps sierra or bonito.

This week we surprisingly saw more wahoo appearing in the fish counts, these fish ranged to 35 lb., were found near Punta Gorda and were striking best on slow trolled baits. Particularly chihuil if anglers were able to obtain these candy baits, elusive, being chummed up on the Inner Gordo Banks, but never a guarantee from day to day, and definitely more of a specialized panga deal, not so much from the cruisers. Still fortunate to land one wahoo, though we did see pangas land as many as three in one morning.

Yellowtail are still in the area, not many charters specially targeting them now. Best chances seemed to be with the live chihuil for bait, drift fishing down deep on the Gordo Banks, but again a lot of patience was needed and the best bait was not easy to come by. Skill was involved as well, even tough for experienced anglers to hook and keep these powerful fish from cutting lines off in the nearby rock piles.

Iman and San Luis Banks produced mainly bonito on the yo-yo jigs, with a few red snapper, yellow snapper, barred pargo, leopard grouper, amberjack, fortune jack, triggerfish mixed in. The best chance for finding yellowfin tuna was on Iman Bank while using strips of squid or sardinas. Bite was sporadic day to day, with a big day being when three or four tuna for the combined fleet were landed. Sizes were repressive fish up to 60 lb. But this was a hit or miss deal, Saturday was the best day this week for the yellowfin, I believe five nice fish were brought to the tables.

Inshore the sierra action was fairly consistent, as long as you were able to obtain live sardinas. The Hotel zone and stretches near Marriott and Secrets produced good numbers of these fish, averaging 2 to 6 lb.

Good Fishing, Eric