LOS CABOS SPORTFISHING SLOWS DOWN IN COOLING WATER TEMPERATURES

Nov. 21, 2004, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

Groups of anglers continued to keep local San Jose del Cabo sportfishing fleets busy, though the numbers of actual tourists in town does not seem to be very high. We anticipate more numbers of families will be traveling to Los Cabos during the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays.

Overall San Jose del Cabo fishing was much tougher this past week, though most people did catch at least several fish and there were many quality fish landed. It was not consistent from day to day and the numbers were generally down compared to local standards.

The live bait situation was very poor to say the least, with sardinas becoming almost nonexistent and most charters opted to just head out to the fishing grounds without waiting for up to an hour for very few small types of bait. Over the weekend there were reports of mackerel now being available from the Cabo marina. This was encouraging news. If we can get the bait boats to motor them north to San Jose del Cabo that would be even better. There were good numbers of small skipjack to be caught on small hoochie skirts and they were being used as both whole and chunk bait with fair success. Also the San Jose del Cabo pangueros were working hard to catch chihuil for bait to be used for specifically targeting wahoo.

San Jose del Cabo weather remained on a cooling trend as we approach the start of winter, more overcast skies and wind from both the north and south, though the days are still reaching into the low 80s.

San Jose del Cabo Water temperatures have dropped as well, now averaging from 73 to 75 degrees.

The majority of the San Jose del Cabo fishing fleets are now fishing the areas to the north of Cabo San Lucas, into the Sea of Cortez. This is where the water temperature is now the warmest. Of course the persistent winds have limited where anglers were actually able to reach and effectively fish on certain days.

San Jose del Cabo wahoo action did show significant improvement the past several days and more of them were landed in recent days than earlier in the month. Although numbers were not high, most boats targeting them did have at least a couple chances per day and many panga anglers reported having a half dozen strikes per morning. The actual percentage of wahoo landed was not high and no boats reported more than two or three fish. One wahoo landed for every couple of San Jose del Cabo boats was more like the average. The action was definitely best while trolling bait, not much on the lures, although on one day several wahoo were landed on yo-yo style lures. The best bite was found close to shore from Punta Gorda to La Fortuna and Iman Banks, in about 120 to 150 feet of water. This is where large schools of skipjack were concentrated and attracted the wahoo. The size of the 'hoo averaged 25 to 35 pounds, though there were several specimens up to 50 pounds accounted for.

With the lack of live sardinas for bait, San Jose del Cabo action for the yellowfin tuna slowed way down, especially for the football sized fish that had been so abundant. On some days when the wind was not too strong and anglers could effectively chum and chunk bait fish on the Gordo Banks. There were a handful of larger yellowfin tuna landed. Sizes ranged from 45 to 100 pounds. Again, the number of these fish were not high and no San Jose del Cabo boat charters reported more than a couple of them in one day.

Dorado rounded out the surface action, as they were found scattered throughout the San Jose del Cabo area, striking on lures as well as bait and averaging 8 to 20 pounds, with some boats reported as many as 3 to 5 dorado in one day.

San Jose del Cabo billfish action was limited and included striped marlin, sailfish and at least a couple of monster black marlin that were hooked into on tackle that was geared for targeting smaller species and they ended up in disappointment as the tackle was just overmatched.

(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.