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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
February 25, 2007
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
February 25, 2007
Anglers -
As the springs season nears the crowds of tourists are already noticeably increasing in the Los Cabos area and this past week they were greeted with all around great conditions, though for much of the week there were moderate winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour blowing from the north, but overall anglers reported very respectable action considering we are still in month of February. The water clarity has been murky green through much of the region and temperatures offshore are averaging 70 to 72 degrees. Live baitfish became a bit more scattered, both mackerel and sardinas, but on most days sufficient supplies were available.
Striped marlin activity was now mainly concentrated in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, from the 95 spot to the Gordo Banks, though with the clarity of the water being a bit off colored due to strong currents and persistent northerly winds the catches tapered off slightly compared to the previous week. The fish were found generally from 5 to 15 miles from shore and good numbers of them were spotted on the surface riding the swells, they were striking on lures and bait, with live bait accounting for the highest percentage of hook ups. Average sizes ranged from 90 to 130 pounds. The boats fishing offshore did not find much else besides marlin, with only a few dorado here and there accounted for.
The La Playita panga fleets found the most consistent action to be closer to shore, the areas from Palmilla, Punta Gorda to Cardon were most productive, this is where good numbers of sierra up to five pounds were found, mixed in the same spots were various species of pargo, pompano, triggerfish, amberjack, yellowtail and cabrilla. Using sardinas for bait proved to be the best technique, though trolling with rapalas and hoochies did produce for sierra, which have finally showed up in significant numbers off the San Jose del Cabo area. Some anglers reported scattered action on yo-yo jigs off the bottom, but that was when the wind briefly laid down enough for them to effectively work the rock piles. This was the first week when yellowtail have been in the local fish counts, most of the action was off of Palmilla on either yo-yo jigs or live mackerel and fish that were caught ranged 10 to 20 pounds.
Yellowfin tuna were schooling on the Gordo Banks, but it proved to be a lot of work just to hook into one of them, lots of fish were seen feeding and rolling on the surface, but they were difficult to entice. Of the few that were hooked into they were weighing in the 25 to 40 pound range and striking mainly while drift fishing with dead sardinas, not showing any interest in live bait or artificial lures. Panga anglers also accounted for a handful of decent sized dorado close to shore in the areas from La Laguna to Cardon.
Whale watching continued to be at its peak, with big numbers of the mammals being seen on the same fishing grounds along with more pods of porpoise as well as pesky sea lions.
The La Playita area was perhaps the busiest construction site in the country, as the finishing push to open the new Puerto Los Cabos marina enters the concluding stages, the most recent reports from the engineers in charge say that the main entrance channel will be excavated and open to the ocean within two weeks or less. For the panga fleets now continuing to operate in the midst of this massive construction zone they are barely able to function, consensus is that the entire project could have gone much smoother if the fleets were paid compensation for approximately 30 days to shut down their operations and move the boats off of the same beach where all the heavy equipment is working in super cramped quarters. Should become even more interesting during the next couple of weeks.
The combined La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 106 panga charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 6 striped marlin, 8 hammerhead sharks, 5 mako sharks, 55 dorado, 12 amberjack, 38 cabrilla, 185 pargo, 285 sierra, 12 yellowtail, 8 pompano, 14 surgeonfish and 54 yellowfin tuna.
Good Fishing, Eric
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