Anglers -
Considering that spring break is now over with, crowds of tourists visiting Los Cabos continues to be significant. The weather is still in transition and cannot really decide what to do, this past week there was quite a bit of cloud cover that keep temperatures down some and winds were also picking up from unpredictable directions, at times from the west, then the north, east, before switched to out of the south. This contributed to stirring
up the ocean conditions and the action was changing from day to day. Water temperatures are back on the rise, but this is a slow process, most of the region is now in the 69 to 73 degree range.
Supplies of live bait were sufficient, consisting of mackerel out of Cabo San Lucas and off of San Jose del Cabo there have been plentiful supplies of healthy sized sardinas, with a few mullet mixed in. Striped marlin were the most prevalent fish being found offshore, spread out from on the Pacific to off of Chileno and Palmilla. Most of the marlin are being found from 5 to 15 miles offshore while trolling with lures and looking for signs of tailing fish, ready to drop back live baits. The water is clearing back up in recent days, after having been off colored, this has improved the action and many charters are reporting catching multiple marlin on each trip. Dorado and yellowfin tuna continue to be very scarce in the daily reports, but with the warming trend we expect that these species will soon become more prevalent in the reports.
For the San Jose del Cabo panga fleets they have continued to concentrate their efforts closer to shore for a smorgasbord of excellent eating species. Most of the action was coming from areas within one mile or less from shore in water fifty feet or less. Anglers had best success while using live sardinas, though artificials such as Rapalas, hoochies and various chrome patterned casting spoons also were productive. The shipwreck off of La Laguna / La Salina area was especially productive for African Pompano, though this is a small area and if too many boats fish it at any one time the fish can become spooky. The pompano averaged 10 pounds, but several specimens up to 20 pounds were accounted for. A handful of very nice sized golden jacks were mixed in, as well as a few island jacks. Yellow snapper continue to be the most common variety of pargo found, there were some huachinango, barred pargo, cabrilla, surgeon fish, amberjack, yellowtail, halibut, bonito and triggerfish rounding out the catches. It was not uncommon for anglers to catch at least six different species on one trip.
On the few scouting trips to the Gordo Banks there was not much to report, at this time last year there were some wahoo showing up on the Banks, so we hope that as the water continues to warm and clean up that these prized and highly sought after speedsters will make an appearance.
The La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 88 charters for the week and anglers accounted for a total catch of: 3 striped marlin, 8 dorado, 2 halibut, 3 yellowtail, 11 amberjack, 14 roosterfish, 465 sierra, 12 jack crevalle, 665 combined pargo species, 18 surgeon fish, 66 triggerfish, 64 cabrilla, 14 grouper, 22 bonito, 6 island jacks, 14 golden jacks, 255 African pompano and 4 hammerhead sharks.
Good fishing, Eric
