Last weekend there was a heavy southern swell that swept through the region, hordes of surfers were out in force to take advantage of the opportunities of riding the ten foot waves. The swell pushed in a different current and turned water conditions over some, particular close to shore and this had a negative effect on the fishing activity, slowing down the all around action that had just shown signs of improvement the previous week. Water temperatures are still in the 74 to 78 degree range and blue water is being found within several miles of shore. Charter fleets are searching in all directions, since there is no one spot that has been consistent on a daily basis. There has been improvement on the live bait situation of larger sized baitfish, mackerel, caballito and mullet have been obtainable from various locations, still no smaller sardinas to report. Giant squid have once again become abundant in local waters and are being used as cut bait mainly by the commercial fleet for bottom action that varied according to strength of currents.
This weekend local residents are gearing up for the traditional national holiday of the "Dia de la Marina". In La Playita they have always taken this fiesta seriously, celebrating with three days of activities, including all night dances, carnival rides, parades, horse races and of course plenty of cerveza. There will be the annual panga dorado tournament on Sunday, May 30. Should be a fun time, but often there can be a shortage of skippers whiling or able to work early in the morning.
Last week the bridge leading to Puerto Los Cabos and the La Playita Panga fishing area was finally opened, this after a series of long delays, once they finish the other off ramps connecting to the new Centenario Blvd. as well as add signs and lighting this will be a much celebrated addition to the entire area.
Anglers had to have more patience this past week and work harder than usual for the mix of species that were available. Some dog tooth snapper were being encountered now close to shore, but they are not numerous yet, slow trolling in areas that are only 20 to 30 feet deep, over rocky caves and ledges, the snapper come up and eat the baits on the surface, often they can be finicky, corralling the bait and at times not even touching them, other times they will inhale the mullet, all depends on their mood, but one thing is for sure, when they feel the hook they will dive as hard as they can like a freight train towards the closest rock and you better be ready to apply maximum pressure in order to have a chance at turning them in time. A handful of amberjack to 30 pounds were hooked into near the same areas where the dogtooth were being targeted.
Wahoo action slowed way down after the big bite the previous week, though a few fish were accounted for by anglers that specifically targeted them with high speed trolling lures or rigged baits. Dorado were also very scarce, only an occasional single do-do being found, no schools yet. Yellowfin tuna were hit or miss, a scattering of tuna were blind trolling Rapalas and other lures and some were found associated with porpoise, again a matter of being in the right place, everyday being different. Most of the tuna now being found were in the 15 to 40 pound range.
Billfish action was mainly for striped marlin, casting baits to tailing fish be the most productive technique. A handful of larger marlin were also hooked into, one black marlin of 450 pounds and several smaller sized blue marlin were reported off of the Chileno and Pacific fishing grounds. Also a few sailfish were getting into the mix, as they prefer the warming waters.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita / Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 49 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
1 sailfish, 9 striped marlin, 4 dorado, 13 yellowfin tuna, 7 amberjack, 11 dogtooth snapper, 48 various pargo species, 13 bonito, 6 wahoo, 46 roosterfish, 10 jack crevalle, 12 cabrilla, 4 pompano and 15 sierra.
Good fishing, Eric
