LA PLAYITA PANGA FISHING FLEET REPORT

March 4, 2007, La Playita Beach, San Jose del Cabo, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Eric Brictson, Gordo Banks Pangas:

The La Playita sportfishing panga fleets at San Jose del Cabo sent out about 68 panga charters for the week, for a combined catch of; 72 sierra, 11 yellowfin tuna, 210 pargo, 34 Mexican bonito, 31 dorado, 2 striped marlin, 22 yellowtail, 45 triggerfish, 8 roosterfish, 32 cabrilla, 12 pompano, and 26 amberjack.

Moderate crowds are now visiting the Los Cabos vacation area of Baja California, and we have clear skies and highs in the upper 70s.

The wind blew predominately from the north limiting some fishing options offshore for anglers. The most consistent fishing was found in more protected inshore waters.

San Jose del Cabo fishing area water temperatures ranged from 69 to 71 degrees and in recent days the clarity has improved, especially in the direction of the Sea of Cortez where a greenish current had swept in.

Live bait supplies varied from day to day, with the preferred offshore baits including caballito and mackerel. For the smaller game fish caught closer to shore, sardina live bait was more productive.

San Jose del Cabo sportfishing charter fleets were concentrating their efforts at Chileno, the 95 and 1150 spots, offshore of San Jose del Cabo, and outside of the Gordo Banks.

Striped marlin were found spread out 5 to 25 miles from shore. By the end of the week most of the striped marlin were farther out in the 10 to 20 mile range. Los Cabos anglers dropping back or casting live baits reported a greater percentage of hookups.

Yellowfin tuna fishing was slow from Cabo San Lucas throughout the Los Cabos region, with only a few reports of tuna up to 30 pounds found with porpoise further offshore. One productive yellowfin tuna spot was some 20 to 30 miles straight out from Cabo San Lucas, but there was not a consistent bite. There were yellowfin tuna seen on the Gordo Banks, but they would not bite, and only a handful were caught, as apparently they are filled up on plentiful squid and pelagic red crabs.

The few dorado being found have been of nice size and close to shore, at times seen chasing bait fish right in the surf line.

The San Jose del Cabo panga fleets concentrated their fishing efforts closer to shore, from Palmilla to Iman for a mix of pargo, cabrilla, grouper, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, roosterfish and bonito. The number of fish was not great, but there were some quality specimens taken. Drift fishing with various baits over shallow water rocky areas was producing and Los Cabo anglers also reported varied success while jigging 120 to 170 feet deep.

After showing up in big numbers last week, the inshore sierra became scattered and we are now waiting for another wave of fish to move in.

Early in the week there was a great bite for yellowtail of 12 to 16 pounds off Punta Palmilla, but it quickly passed as the fish apparently migrated out of the area.

A few huachinango are appearing in the fish counts, but we still have not seen any wide open red crab surface action to attract them. That could happen at any time. It is always unpredictable.

A few more roosterfish are starting to appear, but most of them were small. We are looking for this action to improve in the coming month.

It is also time to start searching out the spots where the pompano annually congregate, as this is typically the time when they show up.

Whales were prevalent throughout the area off the tip of Baja from Cabo San Lucas to San Jose del Cabo. They should be present in local waters into the month of April. Many pesky sea lions are also being seen closer to shore, at times following the fishing boats around to see what easy prey they can find.