 |
Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
June 16, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
Anglers -
June 16, 2002
This next week will bring the official start of summer, recent weather patterns seemed to be more spring like, with cooler winds persistently blowing this past week, stirring up offshore conditions and once again pushing in cooler water from the Pacific. Water temperatures fluctuated greatly, just as it had been on a warming trend, over the weekend it cooled down to an average of 68 to 70 degrees off of Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo, with warmer water of 74 to 78 degrees being reported from the Los Frailes and Cabo Pulmo area. Most all sportfishing fleets have been targeting the areas further into the Sea Of Cortez, this is where the most consistent action was found. Dorado, striped marlin, amberjack, pargo and roosterfish were the most common daily catches. Caballito, mackerel and mullet were available for live bait. Sardinas proved to be scarce, as they were only found on a limited basis. The beach of La Playita attracted huge schools of mullet and smaller baitfish, which in turn are bringing in more numbers of roosterfish, jack crevalle and sierra.
Due to rougher offshore conditions anglers opted to fish closer to shore and had good results on roosterfish while slow trolling with live mullet. The bite seemed to go on and off, as the fish just were not as active in cooler water temperatures. Though several anglers reported the catch and release of as many as eight roosters in span of two hours, the average catch was more like two, three of four fish, with most fish being in the 15 to 25 pound class, but fish of 30 to 50 pounds were not that uncommon. Though the majority of fleets are now promoting catch and release of roosterfish, anglers do need to remember to always insist to your crew that you plan on safely releasing any roosterfish that you catch.
Local La Playita panga fleets reported good numbers of amberjack on the Inner Gordo Bank, they could be seen schooling not far under the surface and in the same vicinity of a monster whale shark. The fish were line shy though, and the most affective way to hook them was while drifting a live mullet on light tackle of 20 to 30 pound test. Pangas reported from 2 to 7 fish per day, most were weighing 20 to 30 pounds, but larger ones were mixed in, including one impressive 76 pound amberjack that was skillfully landed on 20 pound tackle by Sherry Bravo of the San Diego area.
Dorado were spread, being found from close to shore, to far offshore, but were found in small groups, and often times would not willingly take bait offerings. Most of the dorado caught were quality fish of 20 to 25 pounds. As the water does warm back up we will most certainly see improved counts of theses prized gamefish. Yellowfin tuna still have not shown up in any significant numbers, with few reports at all coming in and most of them from the East Cape region.
The pargo bite slowed down as well due to the cooler water temperatures, though several of the nice dogtooth snapper were landed off the inshore wreck just south of Punta Gorda.
The best action for dorado and striped marlin is now towards the Los Frailes area, this has meant for longer boat rides, but anglers were rewarded with some world class action, though on a few days the south wind was relentless during the boat ride home. It was an advantage for anglers to charter a fast twin motored cruiser to reach the fishing grounds quicker. It is only a matter of time before the current shifts and brings the fishing action closer to home.
Good Fishing, Eric
More Fishing Reports:
|
|
|
|
