BLUE MARLIN OF 706 POUNDS LANDED BY LA PLAYITA PANGA

July 9, 2006, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita Los Cabos, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

San Jose del Cabo sportfishing area skies have been clear, with little breeze and temperatures reaching the 100 degree mark. There is no ocean swell to speak of and no tropical storms on the horizon. Water temperatures are averaging 82 to 84 degrees.

The combined La Playita panga sportfishing charter fleets sent out about 72 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 4 blue marlin, 12 sailfish, 18 striped marlin, 38 dorado, 145 bonito, 58 yellowfin tuna, 21 roosterfish, 14 amberjack, 8 dogtooth snapper, 28 huachinango, 88 barred and yellow pargo or snapper.

Live bait available included mullet, caballito and sardinas and many anglers are also catching bolito on the fishing grounds.

The majority of the Los Cabos fishing fleets have been fishing in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, from Chileno to Destiladeras and the most common catches included a variety of billfish, dorado, yellowfin tuna, snapper, roosterfish and bonito.

Though the number of fish was not spectacular, the quality of some of the catches was very impressive.

On July 4th Kevin Murphy with his young son from Chicago went fishing on the ocean for the first time ever. They chartered a 22 foot panga from the Gordo Banks Pangas fleet out of La Playita guided by Capt. Chame Pino. After releasing a striped marlin earlier in the morning they were trolling a 12 inch petrolero lure on their way back in, near San Luis and Iman Banks when they had a huge blue marlin inhale the lure. The Shimano reel filled with 80 pound line was screaming. They had to quickly chase the fish down in order to keep the line tight as the fish made several spectacular greyhound leaps. After 1 hour and 45 minutes they brought this fish along side the boat. With the help from a couple of other local pangueros they managed to gaff and haul the marlin into the panga. It practically filled the entire boat from stern to bow. Back at the beach, hanging this monster up for photos and to be officially weighed was no easy task. Because the fish was so long, the bill had to be doubled back towards the tail so it could be properly weighed without hitting the ground. On my certified scale, the fish ended up weighing in at a whopping 706 pounds!

On July 7 there was another impressive catch from a La Playita panga, a 288 pound yellowfin tuna that hit a dead bolito and took four hours to land by Mike Rosenthal from San Jose del Cabo with skipper Lalo Guluarte. Several other big tuna were hooked from the same area of San Luis this week, but most of them were lost after very extended battles lasting as long as six hours on heavy tackle. It is a good idea to use 80-pound gear with heavier leaders now while trolling the larger baits in this region.

Other fish accounted for included striped marlin, sailfish, dorado and some medium sized yellowfin tuna.

Along the San Jose del Cabo shoreline there was a mix of dogtooth snapper, roosterfish, amberjack and several other smaller varieties of pargo. This action was not wide open but was an extra option for people who wanted to try their luck.

(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.