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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
December 11, 2005
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
December 11, 2005
Anglers –
With the official start of the winter just ten days away the local Los Cabos weather is beginning to feel more wintry, with north winds prevailing and persistently blowing from 10 to 20 miles per hours daily. Moderate crowds of tourists were being greeted with lots of sunshine, only scattered cloud cover and high temperatures in the upper 70s, very pleasant considering the reports of freezing conditions across much of the United States.
Offshore fishing conditions were relatively calm and comfortable near Cabo San Lucas and towards the Pacific, but further into the Sea of Cortez, particularly north of Punta Gorda, conditions were sloppy due to the wind. Water clarity was murky through much of the region, though there was blue water found in areas further offshore and towards the Pacific, water temperatures ranged from 73 – 77 degrees. Sportfishing fleets were searching in all directions to find action for striped marlin, dorado, skipjack and yellowfin tuna, overall the bite was much slower this week than last, as the bait situation was more difficult, with some days anglers having trouble obtaining sufficient supplies of mackerel or sardinas. Even when bait was found that did not guarantee catching fish, some days they bit better than on others when they seemed to have lock jaw.
Yellowfin tuna were being found throughout the region, sometimes associated with porpoise, but more often they were located in schools closer to shore while chumming sardinas to bring them to the surface, often they would bite early and then shut down by mid-morning, sea lions were also a nuisance, at times making it nearly impossible to land a fish without having it eaten. Tuna were averaging 15 to 20 pounds, white and black skipjack were mixed in with the yellowfin and were weighing up to 10 pounds. Dorado continued to be hard to find, but every few boats did encounter one or two of them by trolling lures or bait, with sizes in the 8 to 20 pound class. A few scouting trips sent out to the Gordo Banks, reported only a few skipjacks, no good news there, this is the same time period that last year there were some nicer sized tuna starting to show up for chunk bait anglers, so we will hope something happens on the banks soon.
Wahoo are definitely on the decline with the onslaught of off colored and cooling water temperatures, however there were some of the speedsters still hanging around local waters, the area from Punta Gorda to Vinorama produced a few strikes on trolled rapalas, skirted lead-heads and baits, so there was at least the possibility that anglers could hook into one or two of them, of the 'hoo landed, they weighed from 25 to 40 pounds.
Striped marlin dominated the billfish action, though it was a hit or miss scenario and mostly on the Pacific side of Cabo. El Faro was one of the best places to hook into the stripers, soaking live bait, throwing bait to fining fish and trolling lures all produced strikes on stripers up to 130 pounds, also the area off of Santa Maria, 2 to 6 miles offshore was producing. Live mackerel was the most effective bait, though a percentage was striking trolled lures.
Inshore there were a few more sierra and roosterfish showing up, most of them less than 5 pounds, but scrappy fighters on light tackle. Off the bottom anglers had mixed success for cabrilla, pargo, amberjack, pompano, triggerfish and grouper. Lots of whales now moving into local waters, the majority were humpbacks, but some grays as well.
There were an approximate number of 67 total panga charters launched off the beach of La Playita this past week for the combined fleets. Anglers accounted for a fish count of: 2 wahoo, 16 dorado, 245 yellowfin tuna, 110 white skipjack, 28 cabrilla, 12 amberjack, 6 pompano, 55 triggerfish, 42 pargo, 85 sierra and 34 roosterfish.
Good Fishing, Eric
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