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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
February 12, 2006
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
February 12, 2006
Anglers –
Crowds of visitors seemed to have slacked a bit this past week, perhaps the reports of the La Nina ocean conditions are persuading anglers to put their travel plans on hold for the time being. After the ocean showed a warming trend earlier in the week, it was once again cooling off over the weekend, with the average temperature now ranging from 66 to 68 degrees and the warmest water of up to 70 degrees found outside of Jaime Bank. For comparison at this time last year the water was 70 to 72 degrees throughout the area and for that reason the fish counts for yellowfin tuna dorado were much better. Overall the weather has been very pleasant, plenty of sunshine, very few clouds, and daytime highs reaching near 80 degrees. Winds were predominately from the north, anywhere from 8 to 15 miles per hour and had most effect on the Pacific where fleets reported high swells to over ten feet and nasty white caps, inside the Sea of Cortez conditions were much calmer. Bait supplies remained adequate for mackerel and sardinas, also a few mullet showing up along the shoreline. As a bonus this is now peak time for whale watching, both humpback and gray whales are now showing in good numbers and are providing excitement for visitors.
Striped marlin were providing fair action for anglers offshore, both the Pacific and Sea of Cortez were producing, the areas from the Golden Gate to Chileno and the 95 spot were holding fish, though the bite was on and off, with numbers substantially lower than previous weeks. Still the marlin were out numbering both yellowfin tuna and dorado catches, as those species remained scarce, with the exception of an occasional dorado school found, particularly for those anglers who were in the right spot when the fleet discovered a dead whale and porpoise some 25 to 30 miles outside of Cabo San Lucas, this area was attracting schools of hungry dorado, but with the strong current, the action did not stay within range for long. There were also several reports of scattered tuna action found further offshore traveling with porpoise, but this action was not consistent.
With the offshore action not being very reliable, many anglers were opting to fish closer to shore or try their luck off the bottom. The better action was found close to shore for snapper, sierra, jacks and other pargo species. Though the bite varied from day to day and certain areas had lots of boat pressure that quickly spooked the fish. Best action was on whole or cut baits, rather than lures, on the Pacific fleets had to carefully work in high surf conditions, but inside the Sea of Cortez there was no surf to speak of. San Luis Bank was producing huge numbers of Mexican bonito, they were weighing 2 to 8 pounds and striking on yo-yo lures and rapalas near the surface. Close to shore in the same area there was some good sierra action found, though one day they would bite and then in the same place the next day the fish would not be interested. San Luis showed signs of coming to life, as schools of bolito were now moving in and one panga from La Playita reported hooked into a couple of larger yellowfin tuna, both were lost, one of them as it was nearing the boat and it was estimated to weigh about 100 pounds.
Not much action was being found deep off the bottom, just an occasional cabrilla, yellowtail snapper, huachinango, triggerfish, or amberjack for anglers working yo-yo jigs or bait. Besides the bonito the most numerous species being caught by the panga fleets were yellowtail snapper, grunt, croaker, sierra and golden jacks.
The La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 62 charters for the week and anglers accounted for an overall catch of: 480 Mexican bonito, 65 black skipjack, 165 pargo, 3 grouper, 12 amberjack, 120 sierra, 18 cabrilla, 35 triggerfish, 26 grunt and 16 golden jacks.
Good Fishing, Eric
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