December 28, 2008
Anglers –
This past week there were increased crowds of holiday travelers arriving in Los Cabos to enjoy the warm sunshine with their family and friends. Though the official start to the winter season has now started the weather here in Southern Baja is still very pleasant and daytime highs are reaching near 80 degrees. There were some gusty winds that picked up from the south and then turned around to blow out of the north, this attributed to pushing cooler water temperatures and greener currents. Ocean temperatures now ranged from 68 to 74 degrees, compared to last week when most of the region was holding at above 75 degrees.
The fishing action was very good through the weekend and at the start of the week, before conditions became less favorable. Dorado counts were high, with fish being found close to shore. Striking on practically anything offered. Sizes ranged up to 25 pounds, quality fish for this late in the season. After the cooler water moved in it was a different story, anglers were fortunate to find one or two smaller sized do-dos. In recent days the most consistent bite for dorado, yellowfin tuna and wahoo was found off of Punta Gorda, Cardon and La Fortuna. On Tuesday within one mile of shore off of Punta Gorda there was a big showing of nice sized tuna in the 30 to 60 pound class, fish could be seen feeding in all directions and were striking readily while either drift fishing or trolling with sardinas. Mixed in with the yellowfin were dorado and wahoo, the ‘hoo were shy to strike on any lures or baits that were rigged with wire leaders, preferring the sardina baitfish or chrome patterned yo-yos. Many fish were lost due to cut monofilament lines, but a handful of wahoo in the 20 to 40 pound range were landed.
Other action included a few striped marlin showing up around the Gordo Banks area, some of the season's first sierra and roosterfish moving in along the local beach stretches, also a scattering of triggerfish, cabrilla, snapper and amberjack off the bottom rock piles.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 69 charters for the week with anglers reporting a fish count of: 11 striped marlin, 23 wahoo, 234 dorado, 88 yellowfin tuna, 41 triggerfish, 7 amberjack, 16 sierra, 14 roosterfish, 18 pargo and 9 cabrilla.
Good Fishing, Eric
