YELLOWFIN TUNA LIMITS CAUGHT AT IMAN BANK

Sept. 25, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico Fishing Report:

San Jose del Cabo sportfishing fleets found the most consistent fishing this week to be from the 95 spot off Chileno north to the Iman Bank.

The combined San Jose del Cabo sportfishing panga fleets from La Playita beach sent out approximately 58 charters for the week for a fish count of: 2 striped marlin, 12 sailfish, 2 wahoo, 55 dorado, 310 yellowfin tuna, 18 amberjack, 8 grouper, 12 dogtooth snapper, 18 cabrilla, 65 rainbow runners, 45 bonito and 8 sharks.

Daily fishing at San Jose del Cabo catches have included yellowfin tuna, dorado, sailfish, striped and blue marlin, wahoo, amberjack, grouper, pargo, rainbow runners, shark and others. There were adequate supplies of bait fish available, caballito from the marina and sardinas off of the San Jose Estuary.

San Jose del Cabo anglers were treated to excellent action while concentrating efforts around the Iman Bank. While using sardinas for bait, fishing charters were accounting for limits of yellowfin tuna in the 15 to 50 pound range, with the average tuna coming in at about 15 to 25 pounds. In recent days the fish were becoming more active and feeding later in the morning to midday, when a frenzy developed and you could catch as many as you wanted.

The same spot has seen roaming schools of medium sized dorado move in and out. Anglers in the right place wound up catching good numbers of dodos in a hurry, but overall the numbers of dorado was not high.

Sailfish were also being encountered spread out throughout the area and striking on trolled baits the best.

For the more experienced anglers there was the opportunity of landing quality grouper, amberjack and dogtooth snapper while drift fishing with larger whole baits over the rocky high spots. These fish were particularly difficult to hook into and then muscle away from being cut off in the rocks, and more often than not the fish won. Amberjack to 60 pounds, snapper to 55 pounds and grouper to 105 pounds were accounted for this past week.

San Jose del Cabo sportfishing panga charters launching at La Playita continued to deal with heavy surf conditions, but with extra caution were able to launch successfully everyday except Sunday.

With the higher surf conditions at San Jose del Cabo this week, there has not been any reports of action from shore anglers off of the local beaches. Here in the San Jose del Cabo fishing area, it has been another mild storm season, although with water temperatures averaging 85 degrees there are still several more weeks where we will need to watch the tropical forecast closely.

(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.