LOTS OF GIANT HUMBOLDT SQUID CAUGHT OFF LOS CABOS

April 3, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo fishing, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

The La Playita sportfishing panga fleets at San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos) sent out approximately 55 charters for the week and anglers accounted for a catch of: 18 roosterfish, 14 jack crevalle, 28 pompano, 10 yellowtail, 22 amberjack, 26 dorado, 360 sierra, 28 giant squid, 65 pargo, 1 golden cabrilla, 36 cabrilla, 45 yellowtail snapper and 14 yellowfin tuna.

There were moderate north winds that gusted up to 12 miles per hour on certain afternoons in the San Jose del Cabo sportfishing vacation area, but generally anglers enjoyed calm oceans, except for those who were further offshore, this is where the winds were reportedly to be stronger.

Fishing water temperatures ranged from 65 to 72 degrees, with the warmest areas now about 15 to 25 miles offshore from San Jose del Cabo. Consistent fishing action was found for species that were close to shore or off the bottom and offshore produced not so consistent action for striped marlin, dorado, yellowfin tuna and even a few wahoo.

Good supplies of sardinas were now being netted from the San Jose del Cabo Estuary area. The San Jose del Cabo sportfishing panga fleets found their best action to be close off Palmilla to Regina Hotel. This is where the best action for sierra was. There were a couple of days where the sea lions were a major nuisance. The same area produced a scattering of bottom fish on yo-yo jigs, amberjack, pargo, cabrilla, grouper and yellowtail. Numbers were not high but the fish that were accounted for were of high quality. The rock piles to the north of Punta Gorda were not producing much action at this time.

The giant Humboldt squid made another appearance on Wednesday off of Red Hill and boats loaded up on plenty of fresh calamari, squid averaged 20 to 35 pounds.

Yellowfin tuna were encountered traveling with schools of porpoise offshore, anywhere from 15 to 30 miles offshore, but this action was not consistent, with the seas rough at times. The first few fishing boats that did locate the porpoise had instant strikes, but then the tuna would go down and the bite would be over with just like that.

Dorado activity was even less consistent than the yellowfin, and most were of smaller size. Some of the weed debris found also attracted other species, including wahoo and yellowtail.

San Jose del Cabo surf fishing action off La Playita showed signs of picking up. Sierra and jacks were caught early in the morning and the afternoon bite included at least one quality sized Cortez halibut of 15 pounds, hooked while using live sardina for bait.

The most incredible fish story for the week had to of involved a person who was not even fishing. He was actually surfing off of the San Jose del Cabo Estuary. He noticed a monster sized snook that was trying to navigate the shallow stretch of water from the ocean up into the Estuary itself and had become somewhat trapped by the low water. The surfer, Nathan Browne, quickly threw his board to the side and wrestled the snook up onto the dry sand. The snook weighed all of 30 pounds. Nathan actually holds the existing IGFA record for 8 pound line for snook, that is listed as a 41 pound fish.

(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.