WINTER FISHING CONDITIONS ARRIVING AT LOS CABOS

Dec. 10, 2006, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, La Playita Beach, San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos), Baja California Sur, Mexico:

About 69 panga sportfishing charters were launched this week by the combined San Jose del Cabo panga fleets of La Playita, for a fish count of: 32 yellowfin tuna, 7 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 64 dorado, 190 skipjack, 24 cabrilla, 5 amberjack, 135 triggerfish, 16 pompano, 82 pargo, 185 sierra, and 28 roosterfish.

Overall the number of fish caught was less than two weeks ago, which is not unexpected for this time of year during the annual transition from the Fall to Winter fishing season.

Moderate tourist crowds at Los Cabos are being greeted with sunshine and air temperatures of 80 degrees. North winds were not as persistent as last week, averaging 8 to 12 m.p.h. Winds have helped cool and dirty currents to push in from the north. Los Cabos fishing water is now green and murky on the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja peninsula, with the cleaner water now being found off the Pacific Ocean side.

Live sardina baits are being netted from Palmilla to Santa Maria and were still the bait of choice for medium sized game fish. The cooler water has attracted more numbers of sierra and smaller roosterfish.

San Jose del Cabo fishing water temperatures are now ranging from 74 to 78 degrees, with the coolest band being located close to shore. Swells are practically nonexistent along the beaches.

San Jose del Cabo fishing fleets searched in all directions for the best action for striped marlin, dorado, and yellowfin tuna.

Dorado fishing at San Jose del Cabo improved, maybe because more anglers were trolling lures and larger baits, such as bolito or skipjack. Most of the fish were in smaller schools, in the 10 to 25 pound class, with charters that targeted them averaging one to three dorado per day.

Yellowfin tuna were found in various fishing locations from Cabo San Lucas to Santa Maria and north to the Gordo Banks area, sometimes associated with porpoise, but more often located 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 a nuisance, at times making it nearly impossible to land a fish without having it eaten.

The yellowfin tuna were not overly abundant. The average fish weighed 10 to 40 pounds. Over the weekend Los Cabos anglers scouted the Gordo Banks which had not shown any results earlier. With water clarity showing some improvement they accounted for some larger yellowfin from 25 to 90 pounds. Some charter pangas landed up to four or five tuna.

Inshore fishing showed increased numbers of sierra and roosterfish, most of them less than 5 pounds.

Bottom fishing anglers had mixed success with bait and yo-yo jigs for cabrilla, pargo, pompano, triggerfish and grouper.

Wahoo season never really happened this fall season. It will be even more difficult to find any cooperative wahoo this late in the year.

(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.