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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
December 9, 2001
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
December 9, 2001
This year the fall time weather pattern has been mild and warmer than usual, that was until this past week, when an extensive cool front from the west swept through Baja, heavy cloud cover, gusty winds and some scattered rainfall created chilly conditions throughout the lower Peninsula. Daytime high temperatures dropped to the mid 70's and everyone was ready to see the sun shine once again. There were moderate numbers of tourists in town, typically the weeks between Thanksgiving and the Christmas Holidays are not crowded. Numbers of anglers were down substantially from how it was during the busy month of November. Despite the cooler and
choppy offshore conditions, anglers did report some respectable catches for a variety of gamefish. With most common daily catches for the panga fleets being yellowfin tuna, dorado, sierra, pargo and skipjack. Supplies of live sardinas were holding up off the area of La Playita and water temperatures still averaged close to 80 degrees, there is now a band of cooler water just around the corner from Cabo San Lucas and appears to be pushing in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. There were many whale sightings reported this past week, this is also a sign that water temperatures will now continue to be on a cooling trend and it will be another transition period for migrating species of fish.
Pangeros reported the most consistent action being north of Punta Gorda, in the areas of Iman and San Luis Banks. The most productive technique was drift fishing with live sardinas for yellowfin tuna that were ranging from 10 to 25 pounds, the bite was up and down, with the rough seas making for uncomfortable conditions at times. Most boats accounted for about a dozen fish in combination during a morning charter, with about half of them being tuna. Anglers that used number 1/0 or 2/0 bait hooks with 20 to 30 pound tackle reported the most success. Not much action was reported from the Gordo Banks, except for a handful of 40 to 70 pound yellowfin tuna that were accounted for by bait fishermen on the Inner Bank.
Counts of dorado increased during this cool weather period, at times these fish seem to enjoy swimming in the choppy swells. Anglers trolling a variety of lures and bait took many fish in the 15 to 25 pound range. These fish were found close to shore, as well as further out, scattered and in no particular location each day. Though the numbers of them did not reach summertime counts, there were many boats that had as many as three, four or five of these prized sport fish.
Wahoo reports were on the downside due to the rougher sea conditions, but for the anglers that did specifically target them by trolling rapala type lures they did report a few quality fish, most of the ones landed weighed 25 to 45 pounds, there was one estimated 80 pound wahoo caught on Saturday out of La Playita by local angler Carlos, the fish hit a lure in the area of Cardon, it was part of a double hook up, the smaller 20 pound wahoo was released. The windy days made it very tough for anglers to target chihuil in order to troll for wahoo, but there were a few anglers that had some luck with them. Several sailfish were also hooked on the larger trolled baits, as were some larger tuna and dorado.
Inshore fishing showed signs of coming to life, with more schools or sardinas moving into local beach areas, this has attracted sierra, roosterfish, pargo, jacks and croakers. More surf fishermen are now lining the beaches, taking advantage of the improved action. Trolling along the shoreline provided anglers with a calmer second option to the rough offshore waters and also produced some wide open action on sierra up to 5 pounds, with many smaller roosterfish mixed in.
Good Fishing, Eric
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