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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
May 6, 2001
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers - May 5, 2001
The new month of May brought with it a change to the recent warming trend. There was one day when a light to moderate rain fell throughout the morning and the offshore ocean conditions were choppy. It appears that once again the weather pattern is settling down and days are warm and sunny, with high temperatures around the 90 degree mark. The water remained clear and blue, average temperature ranged from 70 to 74 degrees, which was a slight cooling trend from the previous week Springtime crowds of anglers were swarming to Southern Baja and were enjoying good all around action, despite the action having slowed up as compared to the past week, daily catches have included yellowfin tuna, dorado, striped marlin, sierra, pargo, yellowtail, amberjack and skipjack. The supplies or sardinas which had been so thick off of La Playita scattered and after a couple of days of limited amounts, the preferred bait was relocated at Palmilla and north off of Desteladera. Fleets have been fishing the areas between Red Hill and Iman, with the most consistent place continuing to be the Gordo Banks.
The wahoo bite that the panga fleet out of La Playita got into last Friday turned out to be basically a one day deal, as the next day there were only a handful of them hooked. Apparently the water temperature was just not to the liking of the migrating wahoo and they have vanished for the time being. The yellowfin tuna has been the main target species for the pangas and they are being taken at a rate of 2 to 10 per boat, average size was anywhere from 15 to 60 pounds. The larger fish are being caught off of the Gordo Banks, there the fish have been averaging 30 to 60 pounds. The action has been best on the live sardinas, with the first couple hours of the morning being more active. With all of the red crabs still on the fishing grounds, and the mix of other baitfish, the tuna became a little more choosy as to what they wanted to eat. The tuna could be seen in quantity feeding on the surface, though patiencne was needed and they had to be worked for, it was also important to have plenty of bait to chum the fish up into a frenzy. Anglers using the lighter tackle in the 25 to 40 pound class had more hook ups, but this was a factor in having the majority of the bigger fish breaking off.
Dorado counts are increasing, but still are not here in any significant numbers, they are being found mixed with the tuna on the banks and offshore in the open waters by the boats that have been looking for marlin and tuna with the porpoise. The sizes of the ones being caught have averaged 10 to 20 pounds but there was several bulls landed that topped the 40 pound mark. As the water does warm up a few more degrees there should be more of these prized gamefish moving into local waters. Typically the next couple of months is when the largest dorado of the year are taken.
Billfish action has improved for the cruiser fleet, with many boats accounting for multiple fish days, but this action has been mostly for the cruisers that were searching the open waters specifically for the marlin. Several marlin were also landed from the pangas fishing on the Gordo Banks, they proved to be fun sport on the lighter tackle that was intended for the tuna.
Along the shoreline there were some quality sized sierra found, weighing up to ten pounds, they hit on the sardinas and rapalas.Very few roosterfish were seen but quite a few of the African pompano were found hanging around the shipwreck two miles north of La Playita and if you were one of the lucky anglers who was there when not too many other boats were present to spook the fish, the bite was very good on live bait for fish in the 5 to 10 pound range.
Good Fishing, Eric
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