NORTH WINDS TURN SPORTFISHING
WATERS GREEN OFF LOS CABOS

Dec. 5, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico Report:

For the second week in a row at San Jose del Cabo, the north winds were relentless, blowing all night long and throughout most of the day, anywhere from 10 to 20 miles per hour. There was also considerable cloud cover, even threatening rainfall, though none was reported at San Jose del Cabo, just all around cooler days with highs of around 75 degrees.

Water clarity was churned up from the winds as well and reported to be greenish on the Gordo Banks, with the average water temperature around San Jose del Cabo ranging from 73 to 76 degrees. Live sardinas were now being found along San Jose del Cabo beaches from Chileno to Santa Maria, which meant back tracking for anglers launching from La Playita panga fleets and then fishing on the spots from Punta Gorda to La Fortuna.

Ocean swells were minimal off San Jose del Cabo, but the wind chop was significant and anglers were limited where they could actually fish.

Lighter crowds of tourists were seen in Los Cabos this past week as the typical slack period between holidays is now here, we expect in the next couple of weeks there will be increased numbers of people traveling south as the temperatures in the U.S. continue to plummet.

San Jose del Cabo fish counts were down due to the cooler and rough weather, though only a small percentage of San Jose del Cabo fishing boats were getting skunked, most common daily catches included dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo, no huge numbers, but there were some quality fish accounted for.

Dorado counts actually increased this past week. They were found in small schools and striking best on various whole and strip baits, ranging in size up to 30 pounds. Most San Jose del Cabo boat charters had 2 to 5 dorado in their daily catch.

Yellowfin tuna were found in larger schools and for the most part within several miles of the shore. The best bet was with live sardinas, hopefully with enough bait to chum the fish up into a feeding mood. The yellowfin averaged 10 to 20 pounds, but several larger tuna to 50 pounds were found while chunk bait fishing on the Inner Gordo Bank. The problem was having a day when the wind slacked and enabled San Jose del Cabo anglers to effectively chum without drifting too fast.

With the cooler and greener water conditions off San Jose del Cabo, it was not easy to find wahoo, but everyday there was a handful of them being hooked into. The areas from Punta Gorda to Cardon seemed to be the best place for finding the 'hoo at this time. Most San Jose del Cabo wahoo hookups came on either trolled chihuil, sardinas or even on chunk bait. Several were reportedly landed on straight monofilament line without any wire leader.

Beach campers with small skiffs based on the road to the East Capt reported good results on wahoo while trolling Rapalas and other lures, but for some reason San Jose del Cabo panga anglers have not been able to buy a strike from wahoo on lures. The wahoo that are being brought in weighed from 25 to 45 pounds and as long as the water temperatures stays in the range of 73 to 75 degrees there should still be a chance at catching the elusive wahoo through the month of December.

Cruisers out of Cabo San Lucas reported great action for striped marlin, but the fish were unusually far offshore, most of the time some 20 miles out, striking on both live bait and lures.

Off the San Jose del Cabo beaches, anglers reported some small roosterfish, croakers, sierra and pompano, with early morning of late afternoon being best.

(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.