January 10, 2009
Anglers '
After the heavy crowds of holiday travelers the past couple of weeks there are now much fewer tourists visiting the Los Cabos areas. I am sure as wintertime conditions become even harsher across northern territories that more people will seeking out the warmth of Southern Baja in the coming months. Local weather has been on cooler side this past week, winds from the north have been persistent at anywhere from 8 to 20 mph and it will not be much longer before water temperatures plummet. We are entering another transition period, when the ocean current cools and send certain species on a southern migration while fish that prefer cooler water return. It is also the time now for peak whale activity in local waters, both humpback and gray whales are now being seen in large concentrations.
Schools of mackerel have moved onto the banks off of San Jose del Cabo and this has attracted more billfish, mainly striped marlin, but also surprisingly some sailfish were found in the mix this past week. Dorado were the most common species being hooked into, found from very close to shore to several miles offshore where the baitfish were concentrated. Anglers were finding that the most productive technique was to slow troll bait. January is normally the time when dorado become scarce, but with the water temperatures still averaging 72 to 74 degrees these tropical gamefish have been providing some late season action for the start of the new year. Average catches recently were four to eight dorado per boat and the fish were of very respectable size, several bulls up to 30 pounds were accounted for.
Inshore there was a mix of sierra and roosterfish action being found, the bite has been up and down, slow trolling with sardinas was the best bet. The vicinity of La Laguna, just south of Punta Gorda, was one of the better areas, for a couple of days anglers found wide open action for roosterfish, some of them up to fifteen pounds. Sierras were mixed in and should be showing in greater numbers in the coming weeks, as they do prefer the cooler currents. To the surprise of some anglers, there were several nice sized dorado also caught while trolling in areas within a stone's through of the beach.
Not much being found off the bottom structure recently, a handful of pargo, triggerfish, amberjack and cabrilla, limited numbers and strong currents did not make this a very productive option. As we get further into the winter months certainly more of this type of fishing will be prevalent.
It is not usual to find much wahoo action in early January, but there are some of these elusive speedsters still hanging around, particularly in one small spot close to shore off of Punta Gorda. There were lots of monster sized needlefish to deal with, as well some aggressive birds and sea lions, but anglers slow trolling live mackerel and scaly dead sardina baitfish reported catching as many as four wahoo and losing numerous other strikes in early morning action. The size of the wahoo ranged up to 40 pounds, some were even hooked on casted yo-yo jigs. With the water color now turning more greenish and on a rapid cooling trend, it will not be long before these last schools of wahoo head south in search of their preferred habitat.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playta/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 59 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
4 sailfish, 15 striped marlin, 7 yellowfin tuna, 19 wahoo, 286 dorado, 92 roosterfish, 58 sierra, 8 amberjack, 5 hammerhead shark, 28 triggerfish, 12 cabrilla and 33 pargo.
Good fishing, Eric
