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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
March 19, 2006
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
March 19, 2006
Anglers –
This is now the beginning of Spring Break period and just like clock work there were crowds of college students and families flooding into the Los Cabos area to take advantage of the great weather and all of the outdoor activities, not to mention the world-class nightlife. For added excitement this week there was the annual San Jose del Cabo Carnival going on, beware of the crowds. Last week we felt a cool front from the north sweep through the region, but in recent days the weather has completely turned around, with spring like conditions warming temperatures in the upper 80s. Water temperatures averaged 70 to 72 degrees on the Sea of Cortez side of the Peninsula, while around the corner on the Pacific it continued to be in the 60s. Live bait became more scattered, especially for the preferred offshore bait of mackerel, there were also caballito, mullet and sardinas available.
The full moon seemed to effect the fishing this past week, as the striped marlin bite tapered off compared to the previous week, plenty of stripers spotted, but at times it was difficult to entice them into striking, particularly for anglers that did not have live mackerel. The best spot for the marlin action recently was off of the Chileno to Red Hill areas, anywhere from 5 to 15 miles from shore. North winds were not as strong as they had been and over the weekend anglers encountered ideal ocean conditions. Besides the spotty billfish action there was not much else going on offshore, just an occasional dorado or two found and still no reports of any yellowfin tuna, it has proved to be a mystery why the yellowfin have been so scarce the past couple of months. There are more pods of porpoise now being seen in local waters so hopefully this is a sign that tuna activity will not be far behind.
With the lack of consistent offshore action, many charters and particularly the panga fleets were fishing closer to shore for a mix of sierra, jack crevalle, amberjack, yellowtail, grouper, bonito and pargo. The most common fish was sierra, striking best early in the morning on sardinas, with Palmilla Point to Chileno being the most consistent spots, sizes were typical, ranging from 2 to 5 pounds. On some days anglers accounted for a handful of quality amberjack, cabrilla and yellowtail while using yo-yo jigs off the rock piles, fish weighed in the 15 to 30 pound range, but this bite was not consistent from day to day. On a couple of days pelagic red crabs floated to surface on the Gordo Banks and anglers who happened to be there at the right time were able to use them as bait for huachinango and other pargo species.
Not much to report for surf fishermen, just an odd jack crevalle or sierra, we look for action to pick up off the beach as the weather continues to warm.
The combined La Playita Panga Fleets for the week sent out 62 charters and anglers accounted for: 142 pargo, 240 sierra, 6 dorado, 22 amberjack, 16 yellowtail, 14 pompano, 32 cabrilla, 8 grouper, 6 striped marlin.
Good Fishing, Eric
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