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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
May 13, 2001
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers - May 13, 2001
This week both the weather and the fishing had set backs, high temperatures peaked near 80 degrees, there was scattered cloud cover and overall conditions were cooler than normal.There also was marine fog and breeze, this all attributed to greenish water once again sweeping into local waters and hampered efforts to reach the favored fishing grounds. Water temperatures ranged from 70 to 75 degrees and swells were moderate, tides were very low early in the morning and made it tough going for the commercial pangeros to net the schooling sardinas, anglers were able to get the bait, but it took patience and supplies were limited. The action on the Gordo Banks, which had been so consistent for months slowed to a standstill, contributing factors seemed to be the back side of the moon phase, the off colored cooler water and minimal bait supplies, but the main reason without doubt was that several full size commercial tuna purseiners wrapped their nets around the banks, well inside of their 12 or 13 miles supposed legal limits. Local fleets had seen the tuna boats in the nearby vicinity on Wednesday and apparently after all of the sportfishing charters had gone in for the day the armada made plans for their evening assault, many of the residents of Punta Gorda reported seeing the lights of them working under the bright moon on the banks throughout the evening. Of course the local authorities were informed of the illegal action, claiming they did not have jurisdiction and could not help with this incredibly unfortunate situation. So now here we are waiting for some more fish to migrate onto the banks and for the weather to improve
In the meantime, despite the poor situation offshore, anglers have found some respectable action off the bottom and along the shoreline. The most common catches were sierra, roosterfish, pargo, skipjack, African pompano, jack crevalle and grouper ( cabrilla ). Fleets were searching for new hot spots and what action they did find was very spread out and in no particular location each day. Trolling with live sardinas produced the best results, with other anglers also having mixed success with rapalas and iron yo yo style jigs. It was now the time when many different options were being targeted in order to find some action. The pompano were being taken close to shore on live bait, in several different areas, best spot was near the shipwreck off of La Salina, just south of Punta Gorda, they averaged 8 to 12 pounds and were fun scrappy fighters on light tackle, not to mention their superb eating qualities. Sierra could be found along the shoreline but are not as numerous now as they had been, though the average size of them is up, ranging from 5 to 10 pounds. Roosterfish are showing in greater numbers throughout the area and the size was also increasing, with many fish in the 10 to 20 pound class being reported. One of the better areas was between Punta Gorda and La Laguna, the schooling mullet are a bit behind schedule on their annual migration and once the schools of the favored baitfish do appear in quantity, the gamefish will most certainly follow.
No good news on any significant billfish action, though most cruisers are heading into the Sea of Cortez in search of action, they did find good numbers of striped marlin at Desteladera Bank, on certain days and many boats reported multiple fish days, but it was not consistent from day to day, just as the weather pattern was off track.
Good Fishing, Eric
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