GOOD NUMBERS OF WINTER DORADO PRESENT AT TIP OF BAJA

Jan. 9, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja, Mexico fishing report:

The combined La Playita, San Jose del Cabo panga sportfishing fleet's round up for the fishing week is as follows: A total of 84 panga charters reported catching an approximate total of 160 yellowfin tuna, 252 dorado, 210 skipjack, 95 sierra, 280 pargo (combined species), 24 cabrilla, 80 triggerfish and 2 wahoo. This is excellent action considering the time of year.

San Jose del Cabo water temperatures in the fishing areas have fluctuated from 70 to 75 degrees, with the warmer water and more consistent fishing being found on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula.

Moderate numbers of pangas fishing out of San Jose del Cabo found the all around fishing to be just short of spectacular, considering that it is January and many years the surface action will slow down during this time.

Visitors to San Jose del Cabo are being greeted with paradise-like warm sunshine, very little cloud cover, and day time temperatures are climbing close to the 80-degree mark. The north winds even slacked up some this past week and ocean swells were very minimal, this made for ideal fishing conditions at San Jose del Cabo, and sportfishing fleets reported the action to be better than normal for this time period, with more dorado being caught than is typical for the month of January, along with fair numbers of other species such as yellowfin tuna and striped marlin.

Live sardina continued to be the best bet and were available every day. The only draw back was that the pangueros were netting them from the Santa Maria area and this meant waiting around off the San Jose Estuary area until the pangas brought them back, sometimes not until 7:30 a.m. To pass time, some San Jose del Cabo anglers were fishing with trolled hoochies or casting spoons and catching a few sierra, dorado and skipjack.

Once the bait did arrive. the pangas would motor on north from Punta Gorda to La Fortuna where they were finding the schools of dorado (mahi-mahi) and yellowfin tuna.

Early in the week, there were more numbers of tuna in the 10 to 20-pound range being taken by San Jose del Cabo anglers slow trolling or drift fishing with the sardinas, but by the weekend the yellowfin tuna action slowed down and it was the dorado that picked up the slack, with pangas averaging anywhere from 4 to 6 per morning, with weights averaging from 5 to 15 pounds.

A few lucky anglers encountered an unusual wintertime school of roaming wahoo close off of Punta Gorda, in water so shallow that they could actually see the bottom. Fishing with trolled dead chihuil, they landed a couple of 'hoo in the 25 to 30 pound class, and there were other stories of the wahoo striking on chunk bait, sardinas and cast lures, though most of the hook ups were lost.

The same San Jose del Cabo fishing areas where the dorado and tuna were being found also produced decent bottom action for a variety species, including barred pargo, huachinango, yellowtail snapper, cabrilla and triggerfish. Off the San Jose del Cabo beaches there was early morning fishing for sierra up to 5 pounds reported, along with a few smaller sized roosterfish and croaker.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from San Jose del Cabo and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for San Jose del Cabo may be found at Mexfish.com's main San Jose del Cabo page.