VERY SLOW SPECIES FISHING AT LOS CABOS

July 4-7, 2005, John Snow, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico sportfishing Report:

One 90-minute surf fishing trip with zipo results plagued by large pounding surf spurred on by 25 m.p.h. winds. One new species was collected, a White Grunt, provided by the bait guys.

For three days of Panga fishing with Captain Pata we had to scratch all three days and actually for the first time in over 300 trips with Captain Pata, the Panga Salome got skunked.

The water at San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos) continues to be cold, has enormous waves pushed on by 20 – 30 m.p.h. winds and is "green" and cold. Weather was excellent with no wind but starting to get toasty for two of the days, then an El Sur arrived adding a significant cooling factor. Overall, I came in contact with only 11 individual species, a record low by a factor of two, of which 1 was new to me. The bait guys were present and on able to provide mullet. Major targeted game species count from three days of Panga fishing: Red Snapper, 6. I would rate this week the absolute work week I have had in 5 years of fishing out of La Playita. And Gringo's present, almost zero.

Fish Species, Executive Summary, 11, 10 known and 1 new: Cabrilla, Flag (Fish Number 61); *Croaker, Yellowfin (Fish Number 35); *Grunt, White (Fish Number 141) – NEW!; *Herring, Slender Thread (Fish Number 48); *Mullet, White (Fish Number 156); *Salema, Longfin (Fish Number 90); 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). *Collected in the bait tank.

San Jose del Cabo, Surf Fishing Report, 100% Catch and Release:

Day 1, July 6, 2005:

Fishing at Km 30, Cabo Colorado, ninety minutes at sunset, nominal surf, falling tide, water temperature 73-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: skunked. Note: the snaggers (2) collected four of five and had a 30 pound Toro on the beach when I arrived. This is the first actual catch I have observed from the beach via the pseudo live mullet beer can routine. These guys complained to me about the poor water quality as well.

San Jose del Cabo, Part II, Fishing with Captain Pata, Panga Solome, La Playita. La Playita Sport Fishing activity continued exceedingly slow with about 10 of the 40 Pangas in use two days and only 5 on the third day.

San Jose del Cabo, Day 1, July 4, 2005:

Fishing for five hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun. Poor supply of live bait available being limited to mullet. Water an ugly green, 74-degrees. Fished an area 15 to 20 miles northeast of La Playita spending the majority of the time on Gordo I. Style was either flylined mullet (nonproductive), yo-yo iron, or traditional bottom fishing with cut clams, fish scraps or squid. Catch can be summarized as: one Flag Cabrilla, 2 pounds, five Red Snappers, to 20 pounds, and one Orangeside Triggerfish, 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: nada.

San Jose del Cabo, Day 2, July 5, 2005:

Fishing for six hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was quite friendly being more or less flat calm with good sun. Poor supply of live bait available being limited to mullet. Water an ugly green, 74-degrees. Fished an area 15 to 20 miles northeast of La Playita spending the majority of the time on Gordo I. Style was either flylined mullet (nonproductive), yo-yo iron, or traditional bottom fishing with cut clams, fish scraps or squid. Catch can be summarized as: two Mullet Snappers, to 3 pounds, two Red Snappers, to 12 pounds, two Finescale Triggerfish, to 4 pounds, and two Orangeside Triggerfish, 2 pounds. Miscellaneous: spent some time having our bait attacked by Yellow Surgeonfish but the hooks were too large and El Capitano is not so interested in this species.

San Jose del Cabo, Day 3, July 7, 2005:

Fishing for five hours with Captain Pata. Ocean was simply horrible starting with enormous waves making the launch suspect and the rapid arrival of a 25 m.p.h. breeze from the south. Poor supply of live bait available being limited to mullet. Water an ugly green, 74-degrees. Abandoned effort to go to Gordo I as the sea was too ruff; fished an area 15 to 20 miles northeast of La Playita within 2 miles of shore. Style was either flylined mullet to the bottom, yo-yo iron, or traditional bottom fishing with cut clams, fish scraps or squid. The wind did eventually die somewhat making fishing tolerable but the green cold water continued to plague local conditions. Catch can be summarized as: NADA – a first!

(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.