SPORTFISHING MOSTLY SLOWER OFF TIP OF BAJA CALIFORNIA

Feb. 27, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico Fishing Report:

The combined La Playita panga fleet at San Jose del Cabo sent out approximately 81 charter fishing pangas for the week and anglers accounted for a total catch of; 3 striped marlin, 2 mako sharks, 15 yellowtail, 18 amberjack, 24 cabrilla, 160 huachinango, 45 yellowtail snapper, 240 Pargo Colorado, 80 yellowfin tuna, 95 dorado, 18 roosterfish and 180 sierra.

In general San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos) fishing weather has been very pleasant, with signs of spring in the air, temperatures reaching 80 degrees on some days and the dominating northern winds have weakened, leaving anglers with comfortable ocean conditions and minimal swells.

Water temperatures in the fishing area have ranged from 69 to 72 degrees. Supplies of live bait have been adequate, with mackerel and sardinas both available, mackerel are schooling in the normal areas and sardinas are now congregated near Desteladera.

The Los Cabos sportfishing cruiser fleet found striped marlin off of Chileno and the 95 spot, though during the recent passing of the full moon the action did slow compared to the previous week. The fish were found from 5 to 20 miles offshore, striking best on live mackerel, but also hitting trolled lures, weights averaged from 90 to 130 pounds.

Dorado fishing also slowed down, though some charters were accounted for as many as four or five of these highly sought after fish, but most boats are only averaging about one dorado (mahi-mahi) and sizes were mainly under 10 pounds, of course there were some exceptions of bulls to 30 pounds accounted for.

There was not much fishing action out of San Jose del Cabo to report for yellowfin tuna this past week, though some anglers did get lucky and find schools of porpoise that were holding tuna underneath and also the area of Iman Bank reported a couple of good days for football sized fish, but there was no consistency. Sea lions remained a serious nuisance, particularly off of the Cabo San Lucas arch area, where there was a great bite going on for 20 to 30 pound yellowtail, but hardly anyone could land the fish before they were being devoured by the sea lions.

For the San Jose del Cabo panga charter fishing fleets out of La Playita the best bite in recent days was for Pargo Colorado near where the sardinas were now being netted at Desteladera. This is a variety of snapper that move into the coastal areas during the late winter and spring time, typically found in 20 to 40 feet of water, they readily strike on live bait and will also hit on various lures, the problem is that only an average of one or two fish out of ten strikes are actually landed because of their extreme close proximity to the rocky ledges, where these powerful fish will immediately head towards after feeling the hook penetrate their mouth. The pargo were weighing from 8 to 15 pounds, most pangas accounted for three or four of them, some of the more lucky and skillful anglers landed as many as eight fish in one morning. The bite was especially good early in the morning and then would slowly taper off the rest of the morning.

Sierra showed up in greater numbers in the Sea of Cortez during the first part of the week, with local fishing boats landing a dozen fish with no problem at all, they were striking sardinas, trolled lures and flies, but then this action slowed way back down over the weekend. The local San Jose del Cabo rock piles were producing a mix of yellowtail to 20 pounds, amberjack to 15 pound, cabrilla to 15 pounds and huachinango to 8 pounds.

(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.