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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
February 3, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
February 3, 2002
Tourism throughout the Baja Peninsula continues to be slower this season than it was during the same period of 2001. Until the recession in the United States shows signs of improvement all businesses related with tourism are likely to suffer. This past week there was a cold front that swept in from the west, offshore conditions were choppy and majority of fishing charters found more comfortable and reliable action close to shore. Live mackerel were readily available for anglers launching from Cabo San Lucas, but out of San Jose del Cabo bait was not so easy to find and the smaller sardinas in particular were in short supply. The warm water that was hanging around out front of Cabo is drifting on and the average temperatures are now ranging from 69 to 72 degrees. Blue water is now being reported throughout the area within a few miles of shore. Fleets out of San Jose were scouting the waters from Chileno to San Luis and found that the action was very spread out and the most reliable bite was close to the shoreline for sierra.
Even without the live bait anglers found wide open action for sierra, once located they would hit aggressively on trolled hoochies and rapalas. Most of these fish ranged 1 to 3 pounds, but there were some 5 to 10 pound fish also mixed in. Though sierras are not the normal species that anglers visiting Cabo would expect to target, they are fun to catch on light tackle and excellent eating. With the north wind blowing much of the week this limited what options were available. Not many other types of fish were hitting close to shore, just an odd roosterfish, jack crevalle, pompano and pargo, the sierra definitely dominated all action.
There were still some dorado being caught, the majority by the boats that trolled lures further offshore, with the cooling waters there were not many reports of more than two or three being found by any one charter. Most of the dorado caught weighed 10 to 20 pounds, with a few larger bulls reported. Bottomfishing was made difficult by the persistent winds also, difficult to reach the more productive locations, working the iron yo-yo style jigs off of the rocky bottom was the most successful technique for a combination of fish, including pargo, cabrilla, amberjack, yellowtail, pargo, bonita and skipjack. Several yellowfin tuna of the football sized variety were hitting the same lures that were used for the other bottom species, but there were no reports of the larger tuna on the Gordo Banks showing back up. Strong currents, along with the sloppy seas made it that much harder to effectively fish off the bottom, once the weather does settle down there should better opportunities.
The bite for striped marlin tapered off this past week, with the full moon and unfavorable cooler conditions both contributing to lower catch rates. The most consistent place for the stripers was reported to be in the area off of the old lighthouse, from 10 to 14 miles offshore.
Good fishing, Eric
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