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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
January 18, 2003
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
Anglers -
January 18, 2003
The light crowds of tourists in Los Cabos this month are definitely not a result from there being a lack of warm sunshine, weather conditions have been ideal, sunny days with highs of 85 degrees, what else could you ask for? Water temperatures have ranged from 72 to 75 degrees and are on a slight cooling trend. Early in the week there were several days of strong northeasterly winds, but by the weekend the winds resided and anglers enjoyed very comfortable ocean conditions. The full moon did seem to slow the overall action down some, but on the whole the fish counts were good and there was a wide variety of fish being found. Striped marlin, dorado and yellowfin tuna were the most sought after species, daily catches also included a mix of bottomfish and sierra. Supplies of live bait were plentiful, a mix of sardinas, mackerel and caballito.
Sportfishing fleets were scouting out all possible areas in search of the best action. The Pacific side of Cabo was still the hot spot for striped marlin, with many boats accounting for two, three and even four marlin days. An increasing number of stripers are now also being reported from areas five to ten miles off Chileno to Red Hill. Dorado were scattered throughout the area, with the many of them being found less than one mile from shore. Most charters are catching several dorado per day, quality sized fish, averaging 15 to 20 pounds, with some bulls tipping the scales to 30 pounds. Dorado were hitting on all types of baits, as well as medium sized lures. It is unusual, but also very encouraging to see this many dorado around in the midst of winter.
For the second consecutive week the Inner Gordo Banks was holding schools of yellowfin tuna. Early in the week the bite came to a standstill due to choppy seas and most anglers opted to fish closer to shore where they could escape the rough waters. By the weekend the conditions were beautiful and like clockwork the tuna went back on the bite. Not any big numbers of fish, but definitely quality. Anglers were taking strikes while drift fishing in a chum line with chunk bait. Skipjack were plentiful, hitting best on live sardinas and they were the bait of choice for the chum and chunk technique used for these yellowfin. Boat pressure was light, with only a handful of pangas concentrating on this area. For a chance at landing the larger tuna it was best to not use less than 50 pound line and with the size of these fish most serious anglers preferred using 80 pound. The average yellowfin being caught on the banks was weighing over 50 pounds and the largest fish weighed off of La Playita this past week was a 142 pound tuna landed by Gordo Banks skipper Niko. There were reports of even larger tuna being seen feeding in the chum slicks and big hook-ups were lost after extended battles. If the winds do not become a factor in the coming weeks, we look for this tuna bite to last for a while, possible into spring. Of course everyone has their fingers crossed that the commercial purseiners do not decide to make a move to wrap up these fish with their nets.
Update on the inshore gill net activity is that there are now a handful of pangas working relentlessly out of San Jose del Cabo, setting their nets daily, with much of their work now being done at night. They continue to make big hauls of sierra and other innocent species. Local protests and meetings are now taking place with regard to this problem and possible action could be taken in the near future as to revoking all permits for this destructive form of fishing
Good Fishing, Eric
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