MIXED SKIPJACK AND TUNA FOR LA PLAYITA PANGAS

Dec. 4, 2005, Bob Grimes, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico sportfishing:

For the last several days, there has been good fishing out of San Jose del Cabo at the Iman Bank, and the strong winds that were blowing there last weekend have diminished.

Yesterday Dave and I were at Iman with about 20 other pangas and cruisers, some of whom had come from Cabo San Lucas. There were a lot more skipjack than anything else, but most boats were also catching some tuna of about 10-15 pounds, with some in the 30 pound range. There were also some amberjack, cabrilla, and pargo, most of which were pretty small.

The authorities are saying that they are going to check fishing licenses and limits, but when asked about the limits, it is clear that they do not really know what the limits are. Supposedly the revenue is going to be used to enforce the fishing regulations.

Schools of sierra are starting to move in, and the sportfishing pangueros are already concerned that the local gill netters will be putting out their nets soon to wipe out the sierra and anything else swimming by.

Earlier in the week we were in the Bahia Magdalena area. We drove into a number of esteros as well as along the bay, from the area of Puerto San Carlos to Puerto Cancun. We drove into about 7 or 8 fish camps, each of which had dozens of gill nets, and most of which also had large number of fish traps.

(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.