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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
May 21, 2006
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
May 21, 2006
Anglers –
Though the official start of the summer season has not begun yet the weather this past week felt more like July than it did the month of May. Skies were clear and there was more than enough warm sunshine for everyone, with daytime temperatures reaching
90 degrees. For the most part anglers found comfortable ocean conditions on the Sea of Cortez side of the peninsula, though for this late in the spring the northern winds were still a bit unpredictable. The water temperature break has been in the area of the 95 spot off of Chileno and to the north, this is where the ocean currents have averaged from 74 to 76 degrees, while in the direction of the Pacific the water has been choppy and in the 60s. Southern swells developed, surfers were happy, this is a bit earlier than normal and has attributed to cloudy water conditions. Sportfishing fleets have been concentrating mainly on the fishing grounds from Chileno to Desteladera, the most common offshore species continued to be striped marlin, but in recent days there were finally more signs of dorado and yellowfin tuna appearing in the daily fish counts. Other catches included a scattering of wahoo and along the shoreline there was a mix of pompano, various snappers, sierra and a few roosterfish. The mainstay of the bait supplies was mackerel, mullet and sardinas, though at times adequate supplies were not easy to find.
Concentrations of striped marlin were found anywhere from 3 to15 miles from shore, with anglers reported seeing as many as 20 to 30 stripers tailing on the surface in one morning, often in groups of several fish or more. There were lots of squid and flying fish seen in the area and apparently the marlin are filling up on them, often they proved difficult to entice, though some charters were catching several per day, in fact there were reports of as many as ten marlin caught and released by one boat. Other charters were lucky if they ended up landing just one marlin. The fish were averaging from 100 to 140 pounds and striking on both lures and bait, with bait accounting for more solid hook ups, particular effective were trolled ballyhoo in combination with teasers.
Yellowfin tuna action still was very hit or miss, but was improved over past week, most of the tuna found were landed from the areas of Red Hill to Chileno, 3 to 6 miles from shore, striking on medium sized lures, weighing 10 to 20 pounds and not associated with porpoise most of the time, just blind strikes. Several larger tuna continue to lurk around the Outer Gordo Banks area, they could be seen feeding on the surface at times and this week the local panga fleets did account for several very impressive yellowfin in the 150 to 220 pound range, these fish all were hooked into while trolling larger baits, such as skipjack or bolito, which were found schooling on the Inner Banks and then used for trolling on the Outer Bank.
Dorado were found in limited numbers in the same areas as were the marlin, anglers were lucky to land one of them though, some boats did have as many as two or three, sizes ranged up to 30 pounds. Quite a few mako sharks were found as well this past week, most of them smaller fish in the 30 to 60 pound class, striking on baits after being spotted fining on the surface.
Wahoo counts were down this past week, maybe it had something to due with backside of the full moon and cloudy water conditions. Early in the week there was a fair chance at landing a wahoo by trolling lures or bolito on the Inner Gordo Bank, but by mid-week anglers reported dirtier water and more current, though the water temperature is warming and conditions can change from day to day at this time of year
Red crabs were found thick on the surface of the Inner Gordo Bank on several days, but no consistent action was found for the snapper, it seemed there was just too much natural bait in the water that the fish were gorging on. Whale sharks continued to be seen frequently, in fact a very scary incident occurred on Saturday when a charter boat from the Pisces fleet collided with a whale shark causing a hole in the boat, in a matter of minutes it sunk in the area offshore of Chileno, no injuries were reported to the passengers, as they were quickly transferred to another boat, though who knows how the whale shark faired.
The La Playita panga fleet sent out approximately 93 charters for the week and anglers accounted for a fish count of: 16 striped marlin, 26 dorado, 7 wahoo, 26 yellowfin tuna, 146 pargo (various species), 11 cabrilla, 18 pompano, 6 roosterfish, 8 amberjack, 12 jack crevalle, 22 sierra, 46 bontio and 12 mako sharks.
Good Fishing, Eric
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