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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
January 6, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
January 6, 2002
The start of the New Year brought warm sunshine to tourists visiting Southern Baja and offshore ocean conditions were very calm, ideal for fishing, though for anglers the overall bite dropped off substantially compared to how 2001 had ended. Over the full moon period and New Year's Eve weekend the action for yellowfin tuna in the 20 to 80 pound range was excellent on the Gordo Banks, with boats averaging 6 to 12 tuna per day while drifting with sardinas, chihuil and chunk bait, but then a strong dirty current swept into the region and shut down the tuna action on the Banks from New Year's Day through the next weekend.
With the lack of action and unfavorable water condition offshore the fleets have been concentrating much of their efforts closer to the shoreline, where they did find some decent action for sierra, roosterfish, jack crevalle, pargo and dorado. The best technique was found by trolling live sardinas, which have become scarce in recent days and were available only in limited supplies. The jacks, roosterfish and sierra that were providing most of the action averaged less than five pounds, but on lighter tackle did provide fun sport. The same trend for the finding dorado has continued, with the fish being found unusually close to shore, especially off the San Jose del Cabo area, most boats would end up with an average of a couple of the dorado in their combined catch, but some of the more fortunate anglers had as many as eight dorado in one morning. The fish were of respectable size, averaging from eight to twenty pounds. Although the live bait was the more productive method of choice, trolling lures showed some good results as well, with small rapalas, feathers and hoochie skirts being the most popular. Needlefish were a nuisance to anglers who were using sardinas to target the other inshore species and trolling lures instead of the live bait was a good way to stay clear of them.
Billfish activity was most consistent on the Pacific side out of Cabo San Lucas, with the better action found on the further fishing grounds like the Golden Gate Banks, some striped marlin were starting to appear on the Sea of Cortez side and are being hooked from Chileno to the Gordo Banks. The cruiser fleet reported better action outside of the Outer Gordo Banks, 10 to 14 miles from shore, this is where the water was cleaner and slightly warmer. The water temperature has varied from 72 to 76 degrees, but once again is on a cooling trend.
Anglers reported only fair success while bottomfishing, with the most common catch being pargo in the 5 pound class, though several nicer sized cabrilla and amberjack were also accounted for. Retrieving yo-yo style jigs up off the bottom rock plies resulted in the more quality catches, though dropping live sardinas down to the bottom was the way to entice the pargo and triggerfish.
Good Fishing, Eric
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