LOS CABOS PANGA AND SURF TRIPS PRODUCE 26 FISH SPECIES

Nov. 23-Dec. 1, 2004, John Snow, Los Cabos, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico Surf and Panga Species Fishing Trip Report:

Executive Summary: Seven, one to three hour, surf trips with below average results in general, with the exception of the last morning which for some explained reason was “quite good!”. Catch was the usual cast of characters with a few omissions that was dominated by the pesky non-catchable Sergeant Majors. Sally Lightfoots were not available as they have disappeared.

Four, six hour, Panga trips with Captain Pata which had two good days and two horrible weather effected days. There were significantly more Gringos fishing as tourist season continues. The flavor of the week was again Orangeside Triggerfish which could be caught at the level of 500 per day if one were so inclined.

Overall came in contact with only 26 individual species with what I believe to be the Pacific Needlefish being new for me. The bait guys were far to the south and we elected to “make bait” versus travel to San Lucas and back before heading north.

The weather from a temperature perspective was fine with temperatures maxing out in the low-80s. Wind was a HORRIBLE factor on two of the four days. The water temperature was a frigid 77 degrees. Major targeted game species count from four days of Panga fishing: Dorado – 7; Leopard Grouper – 1; Yellow Snapper – 1; and that’s all folks! I would rate this week as far below average from a sportfishing perspective and poor from a species perspective.

November 23 – December 1, 2004:

Species, Executive Summary -- 26, 25 known and 1 new

Cabrilla, Flag (Fish Number 61) Creolefish, Pacific (Fish Number 62) Longfin Croaker (Fish Number 152) Dorado (Fish Number 82) Grunt, Graybar (Fish Number 82) Jack, Green (Fish Number 65) Jack Mackerel (Fish Number 34) Guineafowl Pufferfish (Fish Number 20) Longnose Pufferfish (Fish Number 38) Needlefish, Pacific (Fish Number 170) – NEW? Night Sergeant, Mexican (Fish Number 40) Porgy, Pacific (Fish Number 2) Sergeant Major (Fish Number 41) Serrano, Barred (Fish Number 17) Skipjack, Black (Fish Number 79) Snapper, Dog (Fish Number 52) Snapper, Gold and Blue (Fish Number 73) Snapper, Mullet (Fish Number 27) Snapper, Yellow (Fish Number 4) Squirrelfish, Tinsel (Fish Number 113) TriggerFish, Finescale (Fish Number 9) TriggerFish, Orangeside (Fish Number 26) Wrasse, Banded (Fish Number 13) Wrasse, Cortez (Fish Number 55) Wrasse, Spinster (Fish Number 94) Wrasse, Sunset (Fish Number 105).

*Collected in the bait tank.

Part I, Surf Report, 100% Catch and Release.

Day 1, November 23, 2004:

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, one and half hours before sunset, nominal surf, falling tide, water temperature 78-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 10, Mustad 92553 hook with frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: two Guineafowl Pufferfish, to 6 inches, one Sergeant Major, 7 inches and one Orangeside Triggerfish, 2 pounds.

Day 2, November 24, 2004:

Fishing and tide pool collecting 6 and 8 miles north of La Playita on the East Cape Road, three hours mid-afternoon, rock bottom tide, nominal surf, water temperature 78-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 10, Mustad 92553 hook with frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: one Green Jack, 3 pounds, one Mexican Night Sergeant, 6 inches, two Banded Wrasse, to 7 inches, and one Sunset Wrasse, 6 inches. Note: tide pool produced Tinsel Squirrelfish, 4 inches models as pictured on Mexfish.com.

Day 3, November 26, 2004, 2004:

Fishing at Km 14, Twin Dolphins, one hour mid-afternoon, nominal surf, rock bottom tide, water temperature 78-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 4, Mustad 92553 hook with frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: two Guineafowl Pufferfish, to 6 inches, three Sergeant Major, to 7 inches, one Orangeside Triggerfish, 2 pounds, one Cortez Wrasse, 6 inches, one Spinster Wrasse, 8 inches, and two Sunset Wrasse, 8 inches.

Day 4, November 28, 2004, 2004:

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, two hours at sunrise, nominal surf, high tide, water temperature 78-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 frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: one Longfin Croaker, 8 inches, one Dog Snapper, 12 inches, and one Orangeside Triggerfish, 1 pound.

Fishing 6 miles north of La Playita on the East Cape Road, two hours late-afternoon, rock bottom tide, nominal surf, water temperature 78-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 10, Mustad 92553 hook with frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: three Sergeant Majors, to 7 inches.

Day 5, November 30, 2004, 2004:

Fishing at Km 14, Twin Dolphins, two hours late afternoon, nominal surf, rock bottom tide, water temperature 78-degrees, utilizing a fish finder rig – 15-pound test, 0.5-oz barrel sinker, bead, swivel, 15 pound test and size 10, Mustad 92553 hook with frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: one Sunset Wrasse, 6 inches.

Day 6, November 23, 2004:

Fishing at Km 21, Cabo Real, two hours from sunrise, nominal surf, rising tide, water temperature 78-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 frozen cut Squid. Catch summary: two Longfin Croakers, to 7 inches, one Pacific Needlefish, 26 inches, one Graybar Grunt, 8 inches, one Mexican Night Sergeant, 6 inches, and one Orangeside Triggerfish.

Part II. Fishing with Captain Pata, Panga Solome, La Playita. La Playita Sport Fishing activity was brisk.

Day 1, November 25, 2004:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was less more or less very unfriendly with a strong El Norte that made bottom fishing difficult at best. No live bait available. Water a quality 77-degrees of pristine blue color. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita in solitude. Style was a blend of trolled jigs (non-productive), or bottom fishing, with cut clams or cut squid (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker) and yo-yo iron. Catch can be summarized as follows: one Leopard Grouper, 7 pounds, two Black Skipjack Tuna, to 10 pounds, eight Finescale Triggerfish, to 6 pounds, and more than fifty Orangeside Triggerfish (all catch and release), to 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: nada.

Day 2, November 27, 2004:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was very pleasant with only a very modest wind and no significant waves. No live bait available. Water a quality 77-degrees of pristine blue color. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita in solitude. Style was a blend of trolled jigs (non-productive), flylined Jack Mackerel or bottom fishing, with cut bonito or cut clams (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker) and yo-yo iron with standard gear and Sabiki rigs. Catch can be summarized as follows: one Flag Cabrilla, 3 pounds, four Dorado, to 20 pounds, eleven Pacific Creolefish, to 2 pounds, five Jack Mackerel, to 1.5 pounds, one Longnose Puffer, 1 pound, one Barred Serrano, 3 inches, one Blue and Gold Snapper, 1 pound, four Finescale Triggerfish, to 6 pounds, five Orangeside Triggerfish (all catch and release), to 2 pounds and one Yellow Snapper, 3 pounds. Miscellaneous: one sea lion came to visit briefly and a herd of 5 juvenile somersaulting manta rays passed bye.

Day 3, November 29, 2004:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was HORRIBLE with a HORRIFIC El Norte actually sending six foot waves crashing into the Panga. We bagged it early and came in with the knowledge we had a full fish box. No live bait available. Water a quality 77-degrees of pristine blue color. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita in solitude. Style was a blend of flylined Jack Mackerel or bottom fishing, with cut bonito or cut clams (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker) and Sabiki rigs. Catch can be summarized as follows: three Dorado, to 25 pounds, seventeen Pacific Creolefish, to 2 pounds, thirteen Jack Mackerel, to 1.5 pounds, two Pacific Porgies, to 2 pounds, one Mullet Snapper, 1 pound, two Finescale Triggerfish, to 6 pounds, four Orangeside Triggerfish (all catch and release), to 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: one sea lion to deal with.

Day 4, November 30, 2004:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was HORRIBLE with a HORRIFIC El Norte actually sending six foot waves crashing into the Panga. THE WORST CONDITIONS I have experienced in five years and I believe we were the only sportfishing boat out. We bagged it early and came in with more or less an empty fish box. No live bait available. Water a quality 77-degrees of pristine blue color. Fished an area 10 to 25 miles north of La Playita in solitude. Style was a blend of bottom fishing, with cut bonito or cut clams (five dropper loop, commercial Sand Dab Rig with size 1/0 with 30-pound main line and 8-oz sinker), Yo-Yo Iron (non-productive) and Sabiki rigs. Catch can be summarized as follows: four Pacific Creolefish, to 1 pounds, one Pacific Porgies, 2 pounds, two Skipjacks, to 1 pound, two Gold and Blue Snappers, to 1 pound, two Mullet Snapper, 1 pound, four Finescale Triggerfish, to 6 pounds, twenty Orangeside Triggerfish (all catch and release), to 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: two sea lions to deal with who honked loudly applauding our arrival and made us abandon the Gordo Banks due to fish theft.

(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.