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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
November 3, 2002
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
November 3, 2002
The month of November is now here and as usual this has meant capacity crowds of anglers for local charter fleets. The panga operators out of San Jose del Cabo have been particularly busy, and for persons that did not have advance reservations, they were scrambling to confirm a boat for the last minute. Weather has been practically perfect, sunny and 85 degrees, though there were rough seas reported on the Pacific side of Cabo, on the Gulf side of the peninsula swells were very minimal, just a slight breeze from the north, just enough to keep conditions comfortable. Despite the heavy pressure from the large crowds of anglers the bait supplies were plentiful, though some waiting in line was involved, sardinas proved to be the bait of choice for the medium sized gamefish that are now most sought after. There were abundant schools of skipjack spread throughout the area, the smaller ones proved to make very good bait. The most common daily catches have been dorado and yellowfin tuna, but there were also a mix of other favorite species, including wahoo, amberjack, pargo, grouper, pompano, sailfish and striped marlin.
Billfish action has switched back to the Pacific, the striped marlin action has dominated the bite.
The water temperature is this areas was cooler, schools of mackerel and squid attract the stripers.
This is also the time that blue and black marlin move out towards warmer waters and greater numbers of striped marlin start to show up from their annual trip north. There were increasing numbers of yellowfin tuna appearing closer to shore, most of the tuna caught were on live sardinas, ranging up to 25 lb., with the common size around 15 pounds. Spots such as Chileno, Red Hill and Iman all were holding schools of tuna, though the bite was not wide open, it did show signs of improvement, most boats accounted for several tuna mixed into their overall catch, but some anglers reported as many as 10 tuna. I have not heard any reports of hog sized tuna in local waters, but I am sure with the big WON tournament right around the corner the teams will be out pre-fishing and scouting out all the known hot tuna spots.
This is the time of year when the wahoo fishing can be fast and furious, but as to date this bite has not lived up to expectations, wahoo had been hitting well before the last full moon, but ever since the bite has been slow. The water is on a cleaning trend now and is still close to 80 degrees, so we do anticipate the wahoo to become active in the coming weeks. The few wahoo that are now being accounted for, have been random strikes, hitting high speed lures and averaged 20 to 40 pounds. Dorado have been a common catch, best method was to slow troll baits, fish were ranging 8 to 20 pounds, with boats averaging 2 to 4 per day. Some anglers reported great success while using small live skipjack as whole baits, drifting down towards the bottom, on spots like Iman Bank. Heavy gear was required, because this area is very rocky and the hooked fish will often win the battle. Angler Steve Avitable had one of the best two days imaginable, while fishing with panga skipper Marcelino Castillo he accounted for a 47 pound pargo (dogtooth snapper), 76 pound amberjack and a 101 pound Grouper, all of the fish were hooked on live skipjack. Steve also had a mixed bag including tuna and dorado to go along with his triple trophy catch.
Surf anglers are catching good numbers of small pompano, along with a handful of sierra, jacks and needlefish. The beach of La Playita seemed to be the most popular place, using small pieces of cut bait.
Good Fishing, Eric
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