COOLING WATER CHILLS WAHOO ACTION FOR LOS CABOS PANGAS

Dec. 11, 2005, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita, San Jose del Cabo, Baja fishing, Mexico:

About 67 San Jose del Cabo sportfishing panga charters launched off the beach of La Playita this week for the combined fleets, for a fish count of: 2 wahoo, 16 dorado, 245 yellowfin tuna, 110 white skipjack, 28 cabrilla, 12 amberjack, 6 pompano, 55 triggerfish, 42 pargo, 85 sierra and 34 roosterfish.

San Jose del Cabo weather is beginning to feel more wintry, with north winds prevailing and persistently blowing from 10 to 20 miles per hour daily, moderate crowds of tourists, lots of sunshine, scattered cloud cover and high temperatures in the upper 70s.

Offshore fishing conditions were relatively calm and comfortable near Cabo San Lucas and towards the Pacific, but further into the Sea of Cortez, particularly north of Punta Gorda, conditions were sloppy due to the wind.

Water clarity was murky through much of the region, though there was blue water found in areas further offshore and towards the Pacific.

San Jose del Cabo fishing area water temperatures ranged from 73 to 77 degrees. Sportfishing fleets were searching in all directions to find action for striped marlin, dorado, skipjack and yellowfin tuna.

The overall the bite at San Jose del Cabo was much slower this week than last, as the bait situation was more difficult, with some days anglers having trouble obtaining sufficient mackerel or sardinas. Even when bait was found that did not guarantee catching fish, some days they seemed to have lock jaw.

Yellowfin tuna were found throughout the San Jose del Cabo sportfishing region, sometimes associated with porpoise, but more often they were located in schools closer to shore while chumming sardinas to bring them to the surface. Often they would bite early and then shut down by midmorning. Sea lions were also a nuisance, at times making it nearly impossible to land a fish without having it eaten. Tuna were averaging 15 to 20 pounds. White and black skipjack were mixed in up to 10 pounds.

Dorado continued to be hard to find, but every few San Jose del Cabo charter fishing boats did encounter one or two of them by trolling lures or bait, with sizes in the 8 to 20 pound class.

Wahoo are definitely on the decline with the onslaught of off colored and cooling water temperatures, however there were some of the speedsters still hanging around San Jose del Cabo waters. The area from Punta Gorda to Vinorama produced a few strikes on trolled rapalas, skirted lead-heads and baits, so there was at least the possibility that anglers could hook into one or two of them.

A few scouting trips sent out to the Gordo Banks, reported only a few skipjack. This is the same time period that last year there were some nicer sized tuna starting to show up for chunk bait anglers, so we will hope something happens on the banks soon.

Inshore there were a few more sierra and roosterfish showing up, most of them less than 5 pounds. Off the bottom anglers had mixed success for cabrilla, pargo, amberjack, pompano, triggerfish and grouper.

Lots of whales are now moving into San Jose del Cabo waters. The majority were humpbacks, but some grays as well.

(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.