42 SPECIES CAUGHT DURING PANGA AND SURF FISHING TRIPS

Sept. 14, 2004, John Snow, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico Species Fishing Trip Report:

I gave up. Hurricane Javier is pushing up major surf!

Executive Summary: Seven, one to three hour, San Jose del Cabo surf fishing trips with exceptional results on four of the six trips. The major catch were Sally Light Foots and the usual cast of characters. Four, five to seven hour, Panga trips with San Jose del Cabo fishing Captain Pata which had one phenomenal day, one commercial day and two slow days. There were a limited number of Gringos fishing at San Jose del Cabo. The highlight of the week was the vast variety whereby I caught almost one of everything!

Overall came in contact with 42 individual species with two new species – an Oval Chromis and a Spottail Grunt.

San Jose del Cabo weather from a temperature perspective was strict “roasty toasty!” Wind was not a significant factor until the last day as waves hit preceding the arrival of Hurricane Javier.

San Jose del Cabo water temperature was an excellent 85 degrees.

Major targeted game species count from four days of San Jose del Cabo Panga fishing: Dorado – 6 (all in one day); Grouper – 1; Red Snapper – 26 (all in one day); Yellow Snapper – 1; and Yellowfin Tuna - 3. I would rate this week as phenomenal from a variety perspective...

September 9 - 14, 2004:

Species, Executive Summary – 42 40 known and 2 new

*Anchovy, Northern Gulf (Fish Number 135) Beaubrummel Major (Fish Number 114) *Bobo, Blue (Fish Number 96) Bonito, Mexican (Fish Number 64) Chromis, Oval (Fish Number 146) – NEW! Crab, Sally Lightfoot (Fish Number 124) *Croaker, Yellowfin (Fish Number 35) Dorado (Fish Number 82) Guineafowl Puffer (Fish Number 20) Green Jack (Fish Number 65) Grouper, Leopard (Fish Number 58) Grunt, Burrito (Fish Number 1) Grunt, Cortez (Fish Number 76) Grunt, Graybar (Fish Number 83) Grunt, Spottail (Fish Number 145) – NEW! HawkFish, Giant (Fish Number 47) *Herring, Flatiron (Fish Number 19) *Herring, Yellowfin (Fish Number 10) HogFish, Mexican (Fish Number 7) *Bigeye Jack (Fish Number 98) Bullet Mackerel (Fish Number 93) *Mullet, White (Fish Number 21) NeedleFish, Flat (Fish Number 44) Pacific Creole Fish (Fish Number 62) Barred Mexican Pargo (Fish Number 78) Pacific Porgy (Fish Number 2) Rainbow Runner (Fish Number 101) Scad, Shortfin (Fish Number 116) ScorpionFish, Red (Fish Number 6) Sergeant Major (Fish Number 41) Serrano, Barred (Fish Number 17) Skipjack, Black (Fish Number 79) Snapper, Gold and Blue (Fish Number 73) Snapper, Red (Fish Number 16) Snapper, Yellow (Fish Number 4) Spotfin PorcupineFish (Fish Number 46) SquirrelFish, Tinsel (Fish Number 113) TileFish, Pacific Golden Eye (Fish Number 49) TriggerFish, Finescale (Fish Number 9) TriggerFish, Orangeside (Fish Number 26) Tuna, Yellowfin (Fish Number 89) Wrasse, Sunset (Fish Number 105)

*Collected in the bait tank.

Part I, San Jose del Cabo Surf Fishing Report, 100% Catch and Release.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 1, September 9, 2004:

Fishing at Km 14, Twin Dolphins, San Jose del Cabo, one and half hours before sunset, nominal surf, high tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Squid. Catch summary: two Guineafowl Puffers (one black and one yellow and black), 10 inches, and one Spotfin Porcupinefish, 12 inches.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 2, September 10, 2004

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, one and half hours before sunset, pounding raging surf making fishing virtually impossible, high tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Squid. Catch summary: one Sergeant Major, 6 inches.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 3, September 11, 2004

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, one and half hours before sunset, nominal surf but high tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Squid. Catch summary: one Beaubrummel Major, 5 inches, one Graybar Grunt, 6 inches, six Sergeant Majors, to 7 inches, and one Orangeside Triggerfish, 10 inches.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 4, September 12, 2004

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, two hours at sunrise, nominal surf but high tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Lightfoot Sally’s and Squid Heads. Catch summary: one Burrito Grunt, 5 pounds, one Cortez Grunt, 2 pounds, one Giant Hawkfish, 2 pounds, and one Mexican Hogfish, 2 pounds.

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, one hour prior to sunset, nominal surf rising tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Lightfoot Sally’s and cut Squid. Catch summary: one Tinsel Squirrelfish, 6 inches and one Sunset Wrasse, 10 inches.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 5, September 13, 2004

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, one hour prior to sunset, intermittent crashing surf rising tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Lightfoot Sally’s (forgot my bait; one hour to catch 3!) Catch summary: one Burrito Grunt, two pounds, one Giant Hawkfish, 1 pound; and one Spotfin Porcupinefish, 4 pounds.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 6, September 14, 2004

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, San Jose del Cabo, one hour prior to sunset, massive crashing surf preceeding the arrival of Hurricane Javier, rising tide, water temperature 85-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 6, Mustad 92553 hook with cut Lightfoot Sally’s. Catch summary: skunked.

Part II. Fishing with Captain Pata, Panga Solome, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo. La Playita Sport Fishing was slow with about 25% of the boats launched. The road had been washed downstream in three places but had been restored to its historical dirt condition. Only a handful of Gringos present.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 1, September 10, 2004.

Fishing for five hours (late departure – no boat – and early return) with Captain Pata. Ocean was “rocky and rollin’ (which required a magical launch supported by no less than 25 locals who quickly turned into disappointed spectators) on the way out but flattened as the morning progressed. San Jose del Cabo Wind was modest El Norte but subsided later in the morning. Excellent supply of live bait consisting of large sardines. San Jose del Cabo Water a quality 85-degrees of pristine blue color. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita. Style was a blend of trolled jigs (two dorado – boring!), flylined sardines or bottom fishing with yo-yo iron (one grouper), or live sardines or cut squid (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker). Catch can be summarized as “back to normal” as follows: six Dorado, to 15 pounds, two Green Jack, 3 pounds each, one Leopard Grouper, 10 pounds, four Pacific Creole Fish, one Rainbow Runner, three pounds, one Black Skipjack, 10 pounds, one Yellow Snapper, 3 pounds and 15 Orangeside Triggerfish, to 2 pounds (all catch and release). Miscellaneous: large schools of feeding Green Jacks which attracted a lot of predator interest!

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 2, September 11, 2004.

Fishing for five hours (late arrival of bait) with Captain Pata. Ocean was more or less flat calm with intermittent rolling large waves. Wind was not a factor. Modest supply of live bait consisting of large sardines and frozen Monterey Sardines (new species). Water a quality 85-degrees and varied from pristine blue color to off green. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita. Style was a blend of trolled jigs (not productive), flylined sardines or bottom fishing with yo-yo iron (non-productive), or live sardines or cut squid (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker). Catch can be summarized as “sluggish” as follows: one Green Jack, 3 pounds, one Mexican Bonito, 2 pounds, three Flat Needlefish, to 4 pounds, two Finescale Triggerfish, to 3 pounds, 8 Orangeside Triggerfish, to 2 pounds (all catch and release), one Yellowfin Tuna, 30 pounds (caught on my small reel requiring one hour to land). Miscellaneous: large schools of feeding Green Jacks which attracted a lot of predator interest!

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 3, September 13, 2004.

Fishing for five hours (early departure of Captain Pata) with Captain Pata. Ocean was more or less flat calm with intermittent rolling large waves. Wind was not a factor. Excellent supply of live bait consisting of large sardines. Water a quality 85-degrees and varied from pristine blue color to off green. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita. Style was a blend of flylined sardines or bottom fishing with yo-yo iron (non-productive), large chunks of cut Bonito, or live sardines or cut squid (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker). Catch can be summarized as “average” as follows: three Pacific Creolefish, to 2 pounds, one Mexican Bared Pargo, 10 pounds, one Barred Serrano, 6 inches, two Black Skipjacks, to 10 pounds, one Gold and Blue Snapper, 1 pounds, three Orangeside Triggerfish, to 2 pounds (all catch and release), two Yellowfin Tuna, to 20 pounds. Miscellaneous: one modest sized Tortuga passed under the boat.

San Jose del Cabo Fishing Day 4, September 14, 2004.

Fishing for five hours (early closure) with Captain Pata being a commercial “red snapper” day. Ocean was flat calm with no wind and no waves creating “broiling” conditions after 10:00 a.m. Poor supply of live bait available consisting of massive amount of very small sardines which soon went “south” but were replaced with better materials by cruising bait salesmen checking on us. Water a quality 85-degrees and varied from pristine blue color to off green. The bait was south so we fished an area 5 miles south of La Playita. Style was a blend of flylined sardines and small mullet (non-productive) or bottom fishing in 300 foot water with live sardines or cut squid (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker). Catch can be summarized as “excellent” as follows: one Oval Cromis (NEW!), 6 inches, one Pacific Porgy, 3 pounds, one Red Scorpionfish, 2 pounds, twenty six Red Snappers, to 3 pounds, and one Bullet Tuna, 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: nada.

(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.