LA PLAYITA PANGAS FISHING FOR TUNA AND DORADO AT GORDO BANKS

Dec. 21, 2006, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas, Los Cabos, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico:

La Playita panga fleets fishing off San Jose del Cabo (Los Cabos) this week launched approximately 31 boats, for a fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 3 sailfish, 86 yellowfin tuna, 44 dorado, 195 skipjack, 28 pargo, 26 triggerfish, 4 amberjack, 12 cabrilla, 14 roosterfish, and 42 sierra.

The winter season starts officially this week. Most days have been clear, with plenty of sun, intermittent cloud cover, and air temperature lows near 60 degrees to highs in the upper 70s.

The San Jose del Cabo fishing week started out with minimal winds, but by midweek the north breeze steadily increased to 15 to 20 m.p.h.

These winds pushed in cooler water. Water temperatures averaged 74 to 78 degrees, the wind also limited where San Jose del Cabo sportfishing fleets could comfortably fish.

Ample supplies of sardina baits were found from La Salinas to Punta Palmilla and mackerel were available from the Can San Lucas marina.

Combined daily catches by the Los Cabos fishing fleet included striped marlin, dorado, yellowfin tuna, skipjack, sierra and a mix of bottom species. La Playita sportfishing pangas found the most consistent action around the Gordo Banks for tuna and dorado. Catches were not huge in numbers. The quality was impressive, with the average yellowfin tuna size in the 20 to 50 pound range and the majority of the dorado taken was in the 10 to 20 pound class.

Some panga anglers accounted for catches of 4 to 8 yellowfin tuna per day, with around half as many dorado (also mahi-mahi or dolphinfish) also caught.

At this time there are sierra and smaller roosterfish being caught near shore, but with offshore fishing still productive, not many charters have concentrated on the smaller species close in.

We expect San Jose del Cabo inshore action on sierra to improve as the water cools and more bait fish move in along the beaches.

Bottom fishing did not produce consistent action. A strong current may have contributed to this.

Striped marlin dominated the fishing on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas, all the way from the Old Lighthouse to the Golden Gate Bank. Cabo San Lucas charter boats were landing multiple marlin per outing. The most successful technique for these Cabo San Lucas fishing boats was drifting with live bait down deep. Striped marlin were also found into the Sea of Cortez side, but in fewer numbers.

(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.