Surface Action into Winter off of San Jose del Cabo
Capt. Eric Brictson
January 10, 2010
San Jose del Cabo - Saltwater Fishing Report
January 10, 2010
Anglers –
Crowds of tourists are now relatively light, but with the harsh freezing winter weather now sweeping across much of the U.S. we do expect to see more people seeking out warmer conditions. Despite persistent northern winds that finally resided in the past couple of days, skies have been mostly clear and daytime temperatures are reaching 80 degrees. The annual migration of whales is now in full swing and anglers have had
fair action for a variety of species. The live
bait situation has still not been as consistent and plentiful as we would like, but in recent days has showed encouraging signs, as more schools of sardinas have been found off of the Palmilla Point area.
Daily fish counts have included sierra and roosterfish along the local shoreline, more sierra than anything else, most of these fish are in the 1 to 4 pound range, striking on live bait, Rapalas, hoochies and cast jigs, a handful of small to medium sized roosterfish are also being encountered. Dorado action was good considering the time of year, being found close to shore chasing baitfish and further offshore where striped marlin are concentrated, average size for the dorado has been 5 to 10 pounds, though some fish over 20 pounds are also being accounted for.
Striped marlin action slowed over the recent full moon period, but is now rebounding, fish are spread out through a wide area, from the Pacific towards the East Cape. Many charters reported multiple catch and release on stripers, successful techniques included casting to tailing fish, soaking bait down deep and chasing feeders, sizes ranged up to 140 pounds.
Wahoo are still hanging around, water temperature are progressively cooling, ranging 73 to 77 degrees, warmest areas being outside of Cabo San Lucas. Ocean conditions were more off colored in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, due to winds stirring things up. There were a few wahoo reportedly taken this past week off of Punta Gorda, Cardon and La Fortuna, most of them 10 to 30 pound fish, striking on skirted lead heads or Rapalas.
Yellowfin tuna action has been much slower than they had been, weather being the main factor for the fishing around the Gordo Banks, this is where the big yellowfin have been schooling for the past couple of months, the food source is dwindling rapidly, the action on the Banks was exclusively on baitfish that were caught on the same fishing rounds, namely bolito and skipjack, bolito have all but disappeared now, though some skipjack are still schooling in the area. One local pangero reported having hooked a skipjack on a small sized hoochie and was reeling it in to put on a heavy outfit when a huge tuna with two foot long pectoral fins inhaled the baitfish and quickly broke the light leader, apparently this appeared to be a 300 pound class cow. So there is still a chance at a last season monster yellowfin. Tuna to 80 pounds were landed off of the Inner Gordo Bank after being hooked on chunk bait from freshly caught skipjack. There were also marlin, skipjack, dorado and sharks on these same fishing grounds.
There were other yellowfin tuna schools encountered closer to shore, from Punta Gorda to Iman, sizes ranged up to 30 pounds. These fish were striking on sardinas, but the bite was on and off, not consistent from day to day, maybe with settling conditions this action will improve.
Currents have slacked some and this has opened up more options for bottom fishing, so far the anglers that have tried working yo-yo jigs and baits off the high spots have reported mixed success on amberjack, cabrilla and a few varieties of pargo.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playta/Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 79 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
3 sailfish, 8 striped marlin, 70 yellowfin tuna, 12 wahoo, 232 dorado,15 roosterfish, 210 sierra, 9 amberjack, 4 hammerhead shark, 16 bonito, 14 cabrilla and 18 pargo.
Good fishing, Eric
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