January 17, 2011
Anglers –
Though this winter season has been cooler than it has been for the past couple of seasons, visitors are still able to enjoy sunny skies with temperatures reaching into the 70s. Crowds have been moderate, people are having a fine time participating in the many outdoor activities available, while much of the United States is enduring harsh wet and icy conditions. Ocean water temperatures are some five degrees cooler than they were at this same period last year, now averaging 67 to 69 degrees, with some warmer currents found close to 20 miles offshore.
Sardinas have been available in good quantities on most days, being found near Palmilla and north towards Vinorama. No mackerel or sardinetas off of the San Jose del Cabo area at this time. Local fleets have been finding the most consistent action within several miles of shore.
Most common catches recently have been for sierra, pargo (yellow snapper), skipack, dorado, amberjack, yellowtail, triggerfish and bonito. Surprisingly, considering the cooler water temperatures, there have been quite a few dorado around, though most of these fish have been under ten pounds, good time to catch and release the smaller females. Some charters are catching up to a dozen of these schooling dorado, using sardinas for bait has been the most successful. The same areas are producing a wide variety of structure species, a mix of leopard grouper, amberjack, yellowtail, bonito and snapper are being hooking into off the rock piles on both bait and yo-yo jigs, it was not uncommon to catch six to eight different species off of the same spot. No large yellowtail being found, they have been the fire cracker models of 4 to 8 pounds.
A handful of yellowfin tuna were caught earlier in the week, these fish were in the 15 to 20 pound range, but with the water on a continuing cooling trend this action is now fading out. Until water conditions warm up a bit most of the action will be closer to shore for sierra of off the bottom rocky areas for a variety of species, all of which are good eating.
Plenty of whale watching to be done now, the peak migration of both humpback and gray whales will occur during the next couple of months. There have been some sea lions lurking on the fishing grounds that have been very aggressive, repeatedly stealing anglers fish as they were trying to reel them to the boat, it has not really mattered what type of fish, dorado, snapper, yellowtail, they liked them all.
The combined fleet of pangas launching out of La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 57 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 wahoo, 16 yellowfin tuna, 172 dorado, 212 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 17 amberjack, 25 cabrilla, 66 pargo, 18 bonito, 68 yellowtail and 18 triggerfish.
Good Fishing, Eric
