IMAN BANK PRODUCED BEST ACTION FOR LOS CABOS SPORTFISHING PANGAS

Oct. 2, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, San Jose del Cabo, Mexico Fishing Report:

The first week of fall saw Hurricane Otis develop off the Southern Baja Peninsula and pass within one hundred miles of San Jose del Cabo before stalling off the Pacific coast.

The combined San Jose del Cabo La Playita sportfishing panga fleets sent out approximately 34 charters for the storm shortened week and anglers accounted for a fish count of: 6 sailfish, 3 wahoo, 14 amberjack, 10 dogtooth snapper, 18 dorado, 90 yellowfin tuna, 12 grouper, 16 bonito, 22 rainbow runners and 4 hammerhead shark.

The first part of the week, San Jose del Cabo anglers capitalized on calm weather and some excellent fishing action. There was great variety of species to be found. Ocean conditions were favorable, fishing water temperatures were close to 85 degrees and bait supplies of sardinas and caballito were plentiful.

On Friday the first rain squalls moved into the Los Cabos fishing area, and throughout the weekend the cloud cover stayed, with isolated areas receiving up to several inches of much needed rainfall. There was only minor flooding reported and the main impact was that it shut down all fishing operations for several days. San Jose del Cabo sportfishing fleets expect to have operations up and running the first part of the coming week.

The sportfishing panga fleets from San Jose del Cabo continued to find the most productive fishing grounds to be around the Iman Bank and many of the East Cape boats were also concentrating their efforts on this spot. Using a mix of live sardinas, jacks and fresh cut squid anglers found excellent action on yellowfin tuna up to 40 pounds, amberjack to over 60 pounds, dogtooth snapper as large as 50 pounds, sailfish up to 90 pounds, dorado to 20 pounds, as well as a mix of other species, including a handful of wahoo.

Drift fishing with larger whole baits down deeper near the rocks was the best way to hook into the amberjack, grouper or dogtooth snapper, but heavy line and leader was a necessity in order for anglers to have a chance at keeping these powerful fish from reaching the rock piles and cutting off lines.

The best billfish action in the San Jose del Cabo area was found near Cabo San Lucas, with striped marlin being the most common species, also a mix of blue marlin and sailfish. The fish were coming up to strike on lures, but dropped back live baits proved to be even more successful.

(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.