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Fishing Report for San Jose del Cabo, Baja
Capt. Eric Brictson
March 4, 2007
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
March 4, 2007
Anglers -
Moderate crowds of vacationers are now traveling to the Los Cabos area, they have been greeted with clear skies and high temperatures in the upper 70s, ideal weather as spring is just around the corner. The wind did blow predominately from the north and this limited some of the options offshore for anglers, but with most of the consistent action being found in the more protected inshore waters, this did not cause too much of an inconvenience. Water temperatures ranged from 69 to 71 degrees and in recent days the clarity has improved, especially in the direction of the Sea of Cortez where a greenish current had swept in. Bait supplies varied from day to day as to what was available, with the preferred offshore baits including caballito and mackerel, then for the smaller gamefish closer to shore it was the sardinas that proved to be more productive. Whales were prevalent throughout the area and should be hanging around in local waters into April. Many pesky sea lions are also being seen closer to shore, at times following boats around to see what easy prey they can find.
Sportfishing fleets were concentrating their efforts from Chileno, the 95 nd 1150 spots, offshore of San Jose del Cabo and outside of the Gordo Banks. Striped marlin were found spread out anywhere from 5 to 25 miles from shore, by the end of the week most of the stripers were moving further out, in the 10 to 20 mile range. Fish were striking on trolled lures and bait, though anglers dropping back or casting with live baits reported a greater percentage of hook ups.
Yellowfin tuna action was slow throughout most of the region, with only a few reports of tuna up to 30 pounds found traveling with porpoise further offshore, one productive spot was some 20 to 30 miles straight out from Cabo San Lucas, but at this time there was not a consistent bite. There were yellowfin tuna seen on the Gordo Banks, but they would not bite, only a handful were accounted for the week, apparently they are filled up on the plentiful squid and red crabs that were found deep on the same fishing grounds.
San Jose del Cabo Panga fleets concentrated their efforts closer to shore, from Palmilla to Iman. This is where they found a mix of pargo, cabrilla, grouper, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, roosterfish and bonito. The numbers of fish accounted for was not great, but there were some quality specimens taken. Drift fishing with various baits over shallow water rocky areas was producing and anglers also reported varied success while jigging with yo-yo iron in waters from 120 to 170 feet deep. Early in the week there was a great bite for yellowtail off of Palmilla, but it quickly phased out as the fish apparently migrated out of the area, the yellows were readily striking on jigs and averaged 12 to16 pounds. A few huachinango are appearing in the fish counts, but we still have not seen any wide open red crab surface action for them, that could happen at any time, it is always unpredictable.
The few dorado being found have been of nice size and close to shore, at times seen chasing baitfish right in the surf line and if anglers were at the right place they could cast a bait and be hooked up.
After showing up in big numbers last week, the inshore sierra became scattered and we are now waiting for another wave of fish to move in. A few more roosterfish are starting to appear, but most of them were small, we look for this action to improve in the coming month. It is also time to start searching out the spots where the pompano annually congregate, as this is typically the time when they show up.
The La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 68 panga charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a combined catch of; 72 sierra, 34 Mexican Bonito, 31 dorado, 2 striped marlin, 11 yellowfin tuna, 22 yellowtail, 210 pargo, 32 cabrilla, 12 pompano, 45 triggerfish, 8 roosterfish and 26 amberjack.
Good Fishing, Eric
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