BIG COUNTS OF YELLOWFIN TUNA CAUGHT ON THE IMAN BANK

Sept. 5, 2004, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, San Jose del Cabo fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Weather conditions can change very rapidly during the tropical summer season and this past week that is exactly what happened at San Jose del Cabo. After enduring extended periods of stifling sunshine the Southern Baja area turned extremely cloudy and wet from the development of Hurricane Howard which passed within 400 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

Though there was not much wind felt, though there was plenty of moisture and a good share of road flooding damage reported. Ocean conditions off San Jose del Cabo deteriorated in a hurry on Wednesday and the storm pretty much shut down sportfishing operations for the rest of the week. Rain squalls were off and on, but they were consistent enough where fleets could not chance sending charters out.

The week started off with excellent San Jose del Cabo fishing, where yellowfin tuna counts skyrocketed and a mix of wahoo, dorado and billfish keep things exciting.

The best action for the yellowfin tuna was found on the Iman Bank. San Jose del Cabo tuna averaged 15 to 30 pounds, but bigger fish to 80 pounds were mixed in. The bite was a bit late, as the yellowfin did not really come up to the surface until late morning, but when they did decide to feed, the surface exploded with action and anglers found them selves in a wide-open frenzy.

Live sardinas were plentiful near San Jose del Cabo before the storm struck and they proved to be the hot ticket for the tuna, drifting with chunk bait also worked and accounted for a higher percentage of the larger fish landed. Pangas accounted for an average of 12 to 16 tuna per morning, with a couple of dorado or wahoo also in their combined catch.

Wahoo were striking in the same San Jose del Cabo fishing on high speed trolling lures like marauders, rapalas and yozuris, but the action was not as consistent as for the tuna, on some mornings anglers would report having several chances at wahoo, while on other days they could not buy a strike and had to settle for the more aggressive tuna.

San Jose del Cabo billfish action consisted of sporadic action for sailfish, blue, black and striped marlin.

The Gordo Banks continued to hold large concentrations of bolito, small yellowfin and skipjack and was the place to troll these candy live baits for a chance at hooking into the monster marlin.

Sailfish were striking in the area of Iman, on both sardinas and on trolled lures and most of them were released, some of them topped the 100-pound mark.

San Jose del Cabo dorado were more scattered, but small schools were being found, the majority of them medium sized, 10 to 20 pounds, perhaps this latest storm will have stirred up more floating debris and attract more dodos.

San Jose del Cabo beach fishing reported several more snook up to 30 pounds on live mullet and in the evening there were a handful of tripletail up to 15 pounds reportedly caught off of the San Jose del Cabo Estuary.

(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.