BIG STRIPED MARLIN COUNTS ON PACIFIC SIDE OF BAJA

Nov. 27, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

The combined San Jose del Cabo sportfishing panga charter fleets out of La Playita sent out approximately 98 charters for the week with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 6 striped marlin, 2 sailfish, 45 sierra, 8 roosterfish, 16 amberjack, 7 grouper, 8 dogtooth snapper, 16 rainbow runner, 26 cabrilla, 12 wahoo, 52 dorado, 210 white skipjack and 590 yellowfin tuna.

After about six weeks of seeing near capacity crowds at San Jose del Cabo, tourism is now slowly down as people start to make plans for the holiday season. San Jose del Cabo fishing weather continued to be clear and sunny, with some wind out of the north and south in the afternoons, and days in the 80 degree range.

Anglers fishing on the Pacific continued to report incredible action for striped marlin from the Golden Gate Bank to Finger Bank. There were reports of individual charters catching and releasing over 20 stripers in one morning. The marlin were also found in other areas closer to Cabo San Lucas, though not in the same concentrations.

A group of anglers were in the midst of a wide-open marlin bite on a bait ball when a huge whale came up from no where, devouring practically the whole bait school. Needless to say, that was the end of the marlin feeding frenzy.

Dorado and wahoo remained scattered and spread out. Wahoo especially were hit or miss.

The San Jose del Cabo charter fishing panga fleets out of La Playita were finding yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 25 pound class as the most consistent catches. The tuna were being caught on live sardinas, which were being netted in the area of Red Hill to Cabo Real. The best fishing spots for the yellowfin tuna were from La Fortuna to San Luis. Typical catches per panga were 4 to 12 yellowfin tuna and maybe one or two dorado mixed in. The average tuna was around 15 pounds, but several up to 50 pounds were landed from the same area.

Another fishing option on the days when the strong current slacked, was to drift over the rock piles and soak larger baits down near the bottom. This produced some quality catches of dogtooth snapper, grouper, amberjack and cabrilla.

San Jose del Cabo shoreline fishing action is now coming to life, with sierra and jacks dominating. Coastal areas on the Pacific and to off of San Jose del Cabo were reported good numbers of sierra up to 6 pounds striking on Rapalas, hoochie skirts and sardinas.

(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.