Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
August 24, 2008
Anglers –
It seems as though the weather in Southern Baja is becoming more tropical and humid with each passing week. High temperatures were averaging 90 to 95 degrees, but with 80% humidity it feels much warmer than that. A person must use caution when doing any activity in the direct sun. There have been thunder showers daily in the mountainous areas just north of San José del Cabo, but no rainfall had reached the coastal plains until Friday and now we are bracing for Tropical Storm Julio with some on an off heavy rain, Julio is on a track that will make direct landfall with the Los Cabos area by late Sunday afternoon. Local fleets are busy relocating their charter boats and making all necessary preparations for their personal families and properties. Ocean patterns are much the same, more breeze from the south has created choppy seas on the Pacific, but in the direction of the Sea of Cortez the seas have been relatively calm, on some days too calm, no breeze at all. Water temperatures have ranged from 82 to 88 degrees and blue water has been found very close to shore. The strong southern current continues, but has not been as consistently powerful as in past weeks, this has meant for better opportunities and options for anglers wishing to target larger bottom species. Supplies of sardinas have remained plentiful and there is also a mix of mullet and caballito available.
Sportfishing fleets are fishing in all different directions, from the Pacific, to straight out of Cabo San Lucas, Chileno, Palmilla, Gordo Banks and north to Vinorama. The action has started to heat up the past several days, sailfish, striped, black and blue marlin are all present in local waters and over this recent full moon period many larger marlin were hooked into. Trolling with live skipjack or bolito accounted for the majority of the marlin strikes around the Gordo Banks area, several black and blue marlin weighing 300 to 450 pounds were reportedly landed and many others were lost after extended battles.
Dorado and yellowfin tuna action increased throughout the region. Larger dorado were prevalent on the Pacific and more schooling sized dorado were in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, during the past couple of days many charters reported catching and releasing up to twenty dorado, striking on trolled lures and various baits. Yellowfin tuna were found in the same areas and by the same methods, most of them football sized fish, under 15 pounds. Larger tuna of 60 to 90 pounds were found associated with porpoise, on Wednesday they came as close as 3 or 4 miles from Palmilla Point, it was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Skipack remained abundant throughout the area and there were quite a few bolito as well, though after the sun was higher in the sky they were not easy to catch.
When the currents allowed, anglers had opportunities to drop baits over the rock piles for a chance at hooking into a dogtooth snapper, hauchinango, cabrilla or grouper. Some fish were taken on yo-yo jigs as well, but the problem was that there were too many big skipjack that were also striking on the same jigs. Still a chance at catching a nice sized roosterfish, getting late in the season, but for the few charters that did try trolling baits close along the sandy beach stretches, they hooked and landed roosters to forty pounds plus.
On Wednesday one local pangeruo from La Playita caught a 40 pound whaoo that hit on a small three inch hoochie lure that he was using to target batfish, he also lost another wahoo strike, hopefully this is a sign that wahoo will become active on the local banks.
Surf fishing action near the Puerto Los Cabos rock jetties is heating up as well, several snook up to 20 pounds were reported and tripletail of 10 to 20 pounds were also striking during the twilight hours on fresh cut mullet. Also some small to medium sized jack crevalle and roosterfish provided action from the shore.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 48 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
1 blue marlin, 1 black marlin, 2 striped marlin, 7 sailfish, 6 hammerhead shark, 1 wahoo,
188 dorado, 89 yellowfin tuna, 19 dogtooth snapper, 15 cabrilla, 3 grouper, 34 huachinango, 13 jack crevalle, 22 roosterfish, 4 sierra and 28 triggerfish.
Good Fishing, Eric
