VERY POOR SURF FISHING AND SLOW
PANGA FISHING FOR 26 SPECIES

May 18-24, 2005, John Snow, San Jose del Cabo sportfishing, Baja, Mexico Species Fishing Report:

Fishing Summary: Three, 60 to 90-minute surf fishing trips at San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos) with poor to nonexistent results, plagued by large pounding surf and new unfamiliar turf. One new species was collected, a Striped Mullet, which had been previously booked as a White Mullet. Four days of panga fishing off San Jose del Cabo with Captain Pata had two strong days, one mediocre day, and one slow day.

Overall, came in contact with only 26 individual species, of which 1 was new to me. The bait guys were present and provided excellent bait. The weather from a temperature perspective was modest, excellent for three days, but ice cold on the fourth day. Wind was not a significant factor. Major targeted game species count from four days of Panga fishing: Dorado 9, Dog Snapper 1, Yellowfin Tuna 2. I would rate this week at San Jose del Cabo as improving but still far below average from a sportfishing perspective.

Species Summary, 25 known and 1 new:

*Anchovy, Slender (Fish Number 28); Cabrilla, Flag (Fish Number 61); **Crab, Red Tuna (Fish Number 137); Creole Fish, Pacific (Fish Number 62); *Croaker, Yellowfin (Fish Number 35); Dorado (Fish Number 82); *Halfbeak, Naos (Fish Number 181); *Herring, Flatiron (Fish Number 19); *Herring, Slender Thread (Fish Number 48); *Herring, Yellowfin (Fish Number 10); Jack Crevalle (Fish Number 37); *Lookdown, Mexican (Fish Number 22); Mullet, Striped (Fish Number 21); Mullet, White – (Fish Number 156); - NEW! Needlefish, Keel Jaw (Fish Number 104); Needlefish, Mexican Giant (Fish Number 87); Needlefish, Pacific (Fish Number 178); Sergeant Major (Fish Number 41); Snapper, Blue and Gold (Fish Number 73); Snapper, Dog (Fish Number 52); Snapper, Mullet (Fish Number 27); Snapper, Red (Fish Number 16); Tilefish, Golden Eye (Fish Number 49); Triggerfish, Orangeside (Fish Number 26); Triggerfish, Finescale (Fish Number 9); Tune, Skipjack (Fish Number 79); Tuna, Yellowfin (Fish Number 89).

*Collected in the bait tank. **Collected at sea with a bait net.

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

Day 1, May 18, 2005:

Fishing at Km 30, Cabo Colorado, one hour at sunset, nominal surf, falling tide, water temperature 75-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 and frozen Sardines. Catch summary: two Orangeside Triggerfish, to 5 inches.

Day 2, May 20, 2005:

Fishing 6 Km north of La Playita on the East Cape Road, one hour at sunset, nominal surf, falling tide, water temperature 75-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 and frozen Sardines. Catch summary: one Pacific Needlefish, 36 inches! and one Sergeant Major, 7 inches.

Part II. Fishing with Captain Pata, Panga Solome, La Playita. La Playita Sport Fishing activity continued slow with about 20 of the 40 Pangas in use each day.

Day 1, May 19, 2005:

Fishing for seven hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun all day and nominal wind. Strong supply of high quality live bait available. Water a quality pristine blue, 75-degrees. Fished an area 5 to 15 miles east and northeast of La Playita which included one hour of “big game hunting”, five hours on Gordo I, and one hour farther north. Style was a blend of trolling of lures (unproductive), traditional bottom fishing with cut bait (cut Squid or cut Clams with a live Sardine thrown in to attract attention), suspending freshly collected live Red Tuna Crabs about 100 feet into the water column, or flylined sardines. Catch can be summarized as: two Dorado, to 10 pounds, six Pacific Creolefish, to 2 pounds and two Red Snappers, to 4 pounds, Miscellaneous: the largest creature in the sea, a Whale Shark passed immediately under the Panga which I estimated to be 20 feet in length. There were about 20 boats on Gordo I with 3 Marlin hook ups but I don’t believe any were landed.

Day 2, May 21, 2005:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun all day and nominal wind, however there was an enormous current flowing south making bottom fishing impossible as the day developed. Strong supply of high quality live bait available. Water a quality pristine blue, 75-degrees. Fished an area 15 miles east and northeast of La Playita which included five hours on Gordo I, and one hour near Gordo Point (nonproductive). Style was a blend of traditional bottom fishing with cut bait (cut Clams, Mullet, or Squid with a live Sardine thrown in to attract attention) or flylined sardines. Catch can be summarized as: one Pacific Creolefish, 1.5 pounds and four Mullet Snappers, to 2 pounds, four Pacific Golden Eye Tilefish, to 3 pounds, five Orangeside Triggerfish, to 2 pounds (catch and release), and two Yellowfin Tuna, to 20 pounds. Miscellaneous: the largest creature in the sea, a Whale Shark passed adjacent to the Panga which I estimated to be 20 feet in length. There were about 20 boats on Gordo I.

Day 3, May 23, 2005:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun all day and nominal wind. Strong supply of high quality live bait available. Water a quality pristine blue, 75-degrees. Fished an area 15 to 25 miles east and northeast of La Playita which included two nonproductive hours on Gordo I. Style was a blend of traditional bottom fishing with cut bait (cut Clams, Mullet, or Squid with a live Sardine thrown in to attract attention) or flylined sardines. Catch can be summarized as: seven Dorado in the 5 to 10 pound range, one Giant Mexican Needlefish, 6 pounds, one Keel Jaw Needlefish, 6 pounds, one Pacific Golden Eye Tilefish, 4 pounds, one Filescale Triggerfish, 3 pounds, and one Skipjack Tuna, 8 pounds. Miscellaneous: a small pod of Dolphin passed bye.

Day 4, May 25, 2005:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun all day and nominal wind. Water turned ugly green with major currents and the temperature had cooled significantly with a major wind from the south cooling the air temperature to a barely tolerable level. Strong supply of high quality live bait available. Fished an area 15 to 35 miles northeast of La Playita. Style was a blend of traditional bottom fishing with cut bait (cut Clams, Mullet, or Squid with a live Sardine thrown in to attract attention) that was nonproductive or flylined sardines (also nonproductive) or mullet. Catch can be summarized as: one Flag Cabrilla, 2 pounds, one Jack Crevalle, 25 pounds, one Blue and Gold Snapper, 1 pound, one Dog Snapper, 40 pounds, one Finescale Triggerfish, 3 pounds, and one Orangeside Triggerfish, 2 pounds (catch and release). Miscellaneous: nada. nd Gold Snapper.

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