 |
Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
February 10, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
February 10, 2002
Ideal wintertime weather greeted tourists visiting the southern Baja Peninsula, sunny skies with highs of 80 degrees. Crowds appeared to be increasing some over previous weeks, as more people are now heading south to enjoy the warm sunshine. Water temperatures ranged from 69 to 74 degrees throughout the range, with the warmest water being located 20 to 30 miles straight outside of Cabo San Lucas. The northeast winds had been light the past couple of weeks but this week that changed, especially over the weekend, when it became very strong and limited anglers opportunities offshore. Despite more people arriving in town and many of them eager to try their luck at an offshore fishing experience, the combination of the north wind and meager fish counts in recent days did not help local charter businesses. Overall catches included yellowfin tuna, striped marlin, dorado, skipjack, sierra, pargo, cabrilla, grouper, roosterfish and amberjack. There was good variety available, though there was just not an abundance of any particular species, with the exception of sierra, if you happen to be in the right place and locate a hungry school. Average daily catches were generally just several fish in combination per boat, with some charters actually reporting no fish at all.
Live sardinas continued to be very scarce, on most mornings it was not even possible to obtain them, but on other days limited supplies were available. On Thursday, a group of pangas from
La Playita was able to find some of the small live bait north of Punta Gorda and in the area of
La Fortuna and they found some fair action for yellowfin tuna. The pangas accounted for as many as four or five tuna each, with the largest fish ranging up to 20 pounds. Reportedly many of the tuna could be seen breezing around on the surface, but with the lack of extra bait for use as chum, they proved to be very picky, moving quickly from one spot to another, feeding on other unidentified baitfish in the area. This was only a one day bite, as little as it was, the next day in the same spot there was only a couple tuna reported for the entire fleet. Of the few boats that scouted out the Gordo Banks, they did not have much to report at all, a couple of the larger yellowfin were seen on the surface, but despite efforts of continued chumming and drifting with chunk bait, no hook ups were reported. A very swift current was running through the area, which made it difficult to affectively have the chum line work It was also tough to fish the bottom with jigs and avoid snagging the sharp rocks with such a fast drift.
Actually there were more dorado taken this week than last, still in limited numbers, and very scattered, striking on lures and bait. Most of them weighed in the 10 to 20 pound class. Many of them were found closer to shore. Water was clear and blue throughout most of the area. The most consistent action was for sierra along the inshore, with hoochie skirts and small rapalas working best, though the numbers of these fish were down compared to how wide open they had been.
Good Fishing, Eric
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
