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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
September 22, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
September 22, 2002
With welcome relief and right on schedule fall weather has arrived in Cabo, high temperatures reached the upper 80's and the early mornings were down into the lower 70's. Last week tropical storm Iselle swept past the southern tip of Baja before paralleling the Pacific coastline towards Magdalena Bay. There was a couple inches of much needed rainfall scattered throughout the area and swells did pick up for several days, shutting down sportfishing fleets temporarily, this was following by strong winds out of the south for a few more days, but by the end of the week conditions had settled down and the ocean swells were minimal with very slight breezes. The clarity of the water had become dirty following the storm, now it has turned back to the normal deep blue color. Water temperatures are averaging around 80 degrees or more. Fleets had a few tough days finding action during the windy days after the storm passed, the tuna were far offshore and only the larger boats were able to reach them, inshore there were some smaller yellowfin tuna along with occasional dorado and wahoo, and there was some bottomfishing mixed in.
Yellowfin tuna continue to dominate the offshore action, they are being found from 20 to 35 miles out, so this has been something that only the cruisers were able to target. Most of the tuna are being found associated with porpoise and have been weighing from 30 pounds on up to over 100 pounds, they have been hitting on all sizes of lures, as well as live baits. The panga fleets have been catching some smaller tuna close to shore, but they are not numerous, and they are patiently waiting for the larger tuna to come within range.
The billfish bite that was very good before the latest storm slowed way down due to the dirty water, but now once this full moon phase passes we expect this situation to improve. There has been large schools of skipjack, bolito and football yellowfin tuna reported on the Gordo Banks, so most certainly the marlin are not far away. A strong current had been ripping through the region and seemed to also be having a negative effect, but now it has slackened some and should help improve the bite.
Panga fleets were picking away at a mix of dorado, ranging up to 25 pounds, tuna to 10 pounds, and some of the better action was found off the bottom spots near La Fortuna and Iman. Grouper to 64 pounds were landed, as well as amberjack to 30 pounds and pargo to 25 pounds. These fish were not numerous and had to be worked for, with a mix of yo-yo jigs, live and cut bait, but for the anglers that did target these rocky areas, they were rewarded with some quality fish.
Though there are good sized schools of baitfish off of the San Jose Estuary and La Playita areas the fishing off the beach did not show much results other than some smaller croaker and jack crevalle, maybe once that the Estuary opens back up to the ocean this will get the snook in the feeding mood.
Good Fishing, Eric
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