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| Around 10% of the world's total fish species can be found just within the Great Barrier Reef. |
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| Starfish can re-grow their arms. In fact, a single arm can regenerate a whole body. |
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| Starfish do not have blood. Their blood is actually filtered sea water. |
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| Starfish don't have brains. Special cells on their skin gather information about their surroundings |
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| Not all animals with the word fish in their names count as fish. |
| Though their names may suggest otherwise, cuttlefish, starfish, and jellyfish aren’t actually fish. Generally-speaking, fishes must have skulls, gills, and fins. Surprisingly, though, not all fishes have proper spines. |
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| In three decades, the world's oceans will contain more discarded plastic than fish when measured by weight, researchers say. |
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| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Just how man species of fish are there? |
| As of 2020, there were 34,000 known fish species around world. That’s more than the number of species in all other vertebrates: birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians combined. |
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| Even Catfish are finicky |
| Taste Buds ? Catfish have a more refined sense of flavor than humans. Our 10,000 taste buds may seem like a lot, but catfish can have as many as 175,000. This helps them find the exact location of their next meal. |
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| A bit of Humor |
| My brother has 2 German Shepherds named Rolex and Timex. You guessed it they are Watch Dogs. |
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From Jan 01, 1999 To Sep 21, 2025
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Mar 21, 2011; 12:47PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
Cabo Fish Report
March 13-20, 2011
WEATHER: I don't think it is possible for weather to become any better than we have had this week. Sunny skies with just a few clouds this weekend, daytime highs in the high 80's, nighttime lows in the high 60's and light winds. Great stuff!
WATER: Surface conditions once again were perfect for fishing with small swells and almost no wind for most of the time, just enough to keep you cool in the middle of the day. We had a plume of cool water running just offshore on the Pacific side that extended to the southeast of us to past the 95 spot. This water was 66 to 64 degrees. On either side of that cool water it warmed up quickly. On the satellite shot for the 18th we saw a flare of warm 80 degree water just to the east of the Cabrillo Seamount and what appeared to be a wide temperature break running from the northwest to the southeast from the Gorda Banks to the seamount with the warmer water to the east. On the Pacific the cool plume ran across the Golden Gate Bank then to the inside of the San Jaime Bank leaving the San Jaime in water that was 69-70 degrees, and the water to the west of there warmed to 72 degrees.
BAIT: The full moon made getting good bait a bit tough but there was some Caballito to be found, just not very many. Some Mackerel were in a few live wells, but not much, and Sardinas were hard to come by. Normal prices were $3 each for the larger baits and $25 for whatever Sardinas you could get.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The only area that seemed to have any consistent action on Marlin this week was outside the 1150 to the Seamount and along the 1,000 fathom curve there. Most boats were spotting several fish each day, with several getting to throw bait on five or more fish, but the best catch result I heard was 4 releases for 5 fish thrown at. Strangely, it was either a long run out there, of a longer stay close to home as a few boats were able to find an occasional Marlin just off the beach on the Cortez side. There were no concentrations of bait except for squid offshore, and that may be what is causing the slow fishing, not enough bait around to bring the fish in.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: There were some Porpoise pods found this week that held fish, and they were scattered all around with the best concentration in the usual areas such as just to the south of the San Jaime and 30 miles to the south of the Cape. The fish were footballs, but at least there were some out there. The first boats on the scene did well, as is normal with tuna, and limits were possible in the right school. Most boats were not lucky enough to be the first one there but were still able to scratch out enough fish to make the anglers happy. As these were small fish, feathers and small cedar plugs worked well.
DORADO: There were a few scattered Dorado found by the boats going offshore for Striped Marlin, and they were all found in the warmer water. There were a couple of large fish at 30 pounds, but the rest were in the 15 pound class. They were definitely incidental fish as there were no schools and no followers with the ones hooked up.
WAHOO: What Hoo? Strange, but true. I thought the full moon would really get the bite on for the Wahoo but it just didn't happen. There were a couple of fish caught that I heard of, but since I did not see them or hear about them from the primary involved, they were just rumors to me.
INSHORE: Inshore seemed the way to go this week if you wanted action. Sierra were still biting well with most of the action occurring on the Cortez side of the Cape up around the Cabo Real beach. Most of the fish were 4 to 7 pounds and Sardinas were the key to good results. On the Pacific side there were some really nice Yellowtail to 35 pounds up past the lighthouse, but you had to work to find the fish as they were following the small bait balls in 150-200 feet of water. A good trip would result in five or so of these great fighters. There were also some Snapper and Grouper in there to liven things up. Most of the Yellowtail were taken on yo-yo'ing slabs or butterfly jigs, but there were a few taken on live bait.
NOTES: It’s not wide open by any means even though some of the booths around the Marina will tell you that it is. Go out with a good attitude and your fingers crossed, plenty of beer in the cooler and some good friends and you will have fun, and just might get dinner and a trophy. That is all you can really expect right now, but that’s not a bad thing. Meanwhile, listen to some good music and plan your trip! This week’s report was written to the sounds of Alison Krauss & Union Station on their 2002 CD “Live”. Until next week, tight lines!
Gordo Banks Panga Report
March 20, 2011
Anglers –
Spring time is now officially here and the weather is on a warming trend
accordingly. Moderate crowds of vacationers are enjoying clear sunny skies with
high temperatures reaching into the mid 80s. Winds have diminished and anglers
found excellent ocean conditions, minimal swells with water temperatures
averaging 69 to 72 degrees.
Supplies of sardinas are holding up, these baitfish were found schooling in
various locations along the shoreline, though they were more abundant north of
Punta Gorda, near Vinorama. There has been a lack of larger baitfish, no
mackerel or caballito to speak of. Red crabs have been found on the San Jose del
Cabo fishing grounds and are being used as bait for red snapper (pargo and
huachinango).
Throughout the month of March anglers found that the most consistent fishing
action was closer to shore. Working the various rock piles with yo-yo jigs and
sardinas produced a mix bag of pargo, yellowtail, amberjack, bonito, cabrilla,
triggerfish and others. While trolling the inshore beach stretches there was
good action for sierra, jack crevalle and roosterfish. Not too many larger sized
fish, most of the fish caught were under ten pounds, but there were a handful of
yellowtail accounted for that were in the 30 pound class and some quality
huachinango (red snapper) up to 10 pounds, at times these true Pacific red
snapper were being found near the surface feeding the abundant pelagic red
crabs.
Yellowfin tuna counts were minimal, on occasions tuna were seen feeding and
breezing the surface on the Gordo and Iman Banks, but only an sporadic fish was
being hooked, very shy, preferring to feed on the available food source on the
fishing grounds, most notably the red crabs. The yellowfin that were being
landed weighed in the 15 to 30 pounds class. At this same time frame last year
there was an abundance of giant squid in the region and anglers were having some
success using the strip squid as bait for tuna in the 50 to 90 pound range. We
have not heard of any giant squid in local waters at this time, even though
conditions seem favorable to attract them.
Quite a few wahoo were reportedly seen free swimming around in small groups,
often close to the shore, a bit strange compared to their normal habitat. Not
many of these wahoo were hooked into, they just were not very interest in any
offerings, the few that were accounted for were on various cut or whole baits.
One wahoo weighing close to 70 pounds was taken from a panga on a trolled lure
near the Gordo Banks and the other wahoo that were accounted for were of good
size.
Striped marlin action was spread out, no large concentrations of fish, the lack
of bigger baitfish has not helped this situation. The local panga fleets were
occasionally hooking into stripers while drift fishing with sardinas for tuna
and other species. The marlin that were accounted for weighed in the 70 to 130
pound range. Some striped marlin were also found in the blue water by blind
strikes while trolling lures. With water conditions now stabilizing and on a
warming trend we expect the offshore surface action to improve significantly in
the coming weeks.
Despite continuing news reports of cartel issues near Mexican border towns and
on the mainland there have been no incidents at all reported from the Los Cabos
area and this region remains a very safe travel destination.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out
approximately 80 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
6 striped marlin, 10 dorado, 13 yellowfin tuna, 28 bonito, 315 sierra, 34
roosterfish, 24 yellowtail, 26 jack crevalle, 468 pargo,17 cabrilla, 4 wahoo, 6
hammerhead shark, 4 dogtooth snapper and 12 amberjack.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Mar 14, 2011; 11:52AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
March 7-13, 2011
Weather: Warm again! All right, our morning lows have been in the mid to high 60's, this morning it was 68 degrees as we drove to the marina. Our daytime highs have been warm as well, getting into the high 80's. It's starting to feel like Cabo again as we have had sunny skies all week long and this beautiful weather!
Water: The swells have been small on both sides of the Cape and the wind has been light so there has been excellent surface conditions this past week. The only problem has been the water temperature. On both sides of the Cape the water has been below 70 degrees, around 68 degrees for the most part. It has been slightly warmer up toward the Punta Gorda area on the Cortez side, and we did see an area of 72 degree water for a little while around the 1150 as well, but things are constantly changing. The water on the Pacific side has been pretty green most of the week and we had the small tsunami swell (2 feet) on Friday that some of the guys are saying caused a bit more off-colored water along the beach as well.
Bait: No change in the bait availability. Caballito, a few Mackerel and a scattering of misc. other large baits could be bought at $3 each and if you were quick and lucky you could get a scoop of Sardinas for $25.
FISHING
Billfish: Striped Marlin are still mostly a non-event for us, unlike a few years ago. Boats are still finding fish around the 95 spot to the 1150 and out past there, but they are not biting very well. A lucky boat would get four fish released this week while most of the boats were lucky to see four fish, let alone get one of them to bite. Rigged dead bait seemed to work better than live bait, and one of the reasons may be the large number of squid in the area. You can see them on the depth finder and they are 9-15 inches long, perfect food and easy for the Marlin to feed on. There have been a few scattered fish found elsewhere, but no concentrations.
Yellowfin Tuna: The few Yellowfin tuna that have been found have mostly been smaller fish in the 20 pound class or smaller. There were reports early in the week of a few schools of fish that were a bit larger, averaging 40 pounds, but they appear to have moved out of the area. Most of the dependable action has been in the Punta Gorda, Gorda Banks area with Sardinas as bait. Even then the bite has been fairly slow. Of course there are always exception in any type of fishing, and there was one day last week, Thursday I think, where 6 boats headed south to try and find the porpoise so they could get Tuna and one of them got lucky, ending up with over 20 fish while the other boats skunked out. That's fishing, but it sounds to me as if that boat won't be getting any radio calls about found fish from any of his buddies in the near future!
Dorado: Repeat of last week with a few flags were flying, but just like last week they were mostly for smaller fish caught by boats fishing right along the beach for Sierra. If you stomped on them they might have been stretched to 21 inches and weigh 3 pounds, sigh. There were a few exceptions as some fish in the 20 pound class were caught in the warmer water where the Striped Marlin were found.
Wahoo: The warmer water areas did deliver a few offshore Wahoo this week, in the same area where the Striped Marlin and Dorado were found. Anyone see a pattern here yet?
Inshore: On again, off again, Finnegan? One day great and the next day the fish had moved on, the day after that they were right off the beach in front of the house. Really no rhyme or reason that we could see other than the movement of the bait. Some Yellowtail to 20 pounds up the Pacific coast and a couple of fish to 35 pounds right off the arch in the afternoon (not legal to fish there anymore, got to move fast if the marines show up). The Sierra were really moving around and a few cruisers gave up on the inshore fish as they were not showing up consistently enough, but the Pangas were doing all right. Once in a while a school of larger fish would be found, fish that averaged 6-7 pounds instead of 3-4 pounds. Snapper bit occasionally as well, but as there were mostly just larger baits available what most folks got to see was their baits being bounced around like a volleyball by the fish. Maybe larger Sardinas? Of course then the problem becomes one of casting a light bait like that far enough.
Weeks Fish Recipe: Really simple and really good! Take any white meat fillet, dip in beaten eggs, roll in mashed potato flakes mixed with a bit of dried oregano, quick fry in avocado oil, place on rice or pasta already cooked and top with a healthy serving of grated Parmesan cheese while still hot, then a bit of marinara sauce! A veal Parmesan made with fish!
Notes: The Tsunami was the big news for the week in our town, and our greatest sympathy for the Japanese, suffering the quake, then the Tsunami and now the reactor problems. The only effect we had from the Tsunami was a raising and lowering of the mean water level a foot each way from each of the four waves that passed. Oh, and of course the Port Captain closing the Port until 10:30, half an hour before the first wave was to appear, then opening it only for outgoing vessels so they would not had a problem with the surge inside the Marina. I can't understand why he waited so long for that, and then of course the port remained closed for the rest of the day. The beach was also closed for the entire day. What? Yep, no one was allowed on the beaches so the resort pools and the grass around them were packed with tourists all day long, even after the tsunami swells had passed. Just a little economic hit for fishing charters that could have gone out in the afternoon and the water taxis, and the beach bars, etc. Oh well.......This weeks music is Dick Dale on his 1993 High Tone Records release “Tribal Thunder”. Until next week, tight lines!
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Mar 7, 2011; 12:01PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
February 28-March 6, 2011
Weather: Our weather is a cycle, cold, warm, cold again. This week it warmed back up and our coldest morning was only 61 degrees while the daytime highs have been in the high 80's, once in a while touching 90 degrees. There were no clouds this week and plenty of sunshine!
Water: The water, just like the weather, changes every week! Where we had very cool water on the Pacific side last week it has warmed up to 71 degrees, and gotten a bit less green. On the Cortez side of the cape it has warmed just a bit as well so that we are now seeing blue water almost everywhere, but 68 degrees inside the 1,000 fathom line. Once you are at the line, outside the 1150 area it warms up to 72 degrees. Surface conditions have been great with small swells and light winds all week, not glassy but perfect for fishing.
Bait: No change in the bait availability. Caballito, a few Mackerel and a scattering of misc. other large baits could be bought at $3 each and if you were quick and lucky you could get a scoop of Sardinas for $25.
FISHING
Billfish: Last weeks fishing was decent for Striped Marlin, but it dropped just a bit this week as the fish moved farther offshore following that 72 degree water. Fish were found at a distance of 35 miles to the east, but not in large concentrations. A lucky boat might have had two hook-ups out of four or five fish seen, most boats were happy to have seen a couple of Marlin to throw bait to. There were still some scattered fish up the Sea of Cortez around the Punta Gorda area as well as the Gorda Banks, but nothing to base a trip on. Boats that went to the Pacific side to look for Marlin did not have a great deal of luck but there were still a couple of fish caught. On a nice note, there was a big Swordfish reported being caught not far out from the lighthouse Friday morning. It was said to be in the range of 300-400 pounds, a very nice, rare fish for our area.
Yellowfin Tuna: In a repeat of last weeks action there were still Yellowfin Tuna to be found in the Gorda Banks, Inman Banks, Punta Gorda area. Most of them were still small fish at 10-20 pounds but there were several fish to 50 pounds caught as well. Just like last week the kite fishing worked on the larger fish and a few boats also caught some of the nice ones using down-riggers with large Sardinas. Surface drifting fly-lined Sardinas was the best method for catching fish, but mostly footballs. Farther offshore there were scattered schools of fish found, but you had to be the firs tor second boat n them, either that or stay until everyone else had given up! There were a couple of fish reported in the 100-150 pound class but I did not see them. With the water moving the fish were moving as well and schools were found scattered along the temperature break at the 1,000 fathom line on both sides of the Cape, outside the 1150 and south of the San Jaime.
Dorado: A few flags were flying this week, but just like last week they were mostly for smaller fish caught by boats fishing right along the beach for Sierra. If you stomped on them they might have been stretched to 21 inches and weigh 3 pounds, sigh.
Wahoo: New moon and I had no reports of Wahoo this week, but I am sure there were some caught somewhere, most likely around the Punta Gorda area.
Inshore: Well, just when we thought the inshore fishing had gone wide open, it started to shut down. Early in the week things were good with plenty of Sierra and good numbers of Yellowtail showing up in the fish boxes. At the end of the week we had clients who were lucky to come back with Trigger fish and a few Sierra. It may be the change in water temperature, while not large, was too abrupt and they moved overnight, or it could be something else. Whatever, the inshore bite really dropped off late in the week. There were some Roosterfish still biting and a few of them were nice fish to 25 pounds, with most in the 10-12 pound class, and there were Bonito as well. Many of the Pangas ran all the way to San Jose to try and get in on the Yellowfin action, but it was a long run up and back for just a few fish. Hopefully as the water change settles down the bite will come back on!
Notes: Quilt back off the bed! Still not going to tempt fate by putting it away, but the warmer evenings have not required it. There are still plenty of Whales to be seen out there, but not for long. Normally we have them here from Christmas through Easter, so if you want to smell one up close and personal, get out there now! Spring break is starting and the town is filling up in the evenings, the beach during the day. Folks everywhere walking, shopping and sightseeing. If you are coming down and plan on eating out at one of the more popular places, reservations are a very good idea. I am still looking for full or part time work here, and have a good crew for deliveries up and down the coast, so if you know of anyone looking for a Captain, let them know I am available, please! My music choice for this week was Leo Kottke from his 1987 RCA release “A Shout Toward Noon”. I also was wowed while watching TV this week by a blues singer from Britain named “Adele”, first I had heard of her, guess I have been out of the loop as she has been around for a few years, but man o man, what a great voice! Until next week, tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
March 6, 2011
Anglers –
Spring was in the air as we entered the month of March, a warming trend swept through the Southern Baja region, pleasant sunny days with high temperatures reaching close to eighty degrees. Crowds of tourists have noticeably increased this past week and everyone seemed to be enjoying the ideal climate. With the spring break vacation period beginning, we do anticipate busy times in coming weeks and the weather is on track to cooperate as well. There continues to be unpredictable winds from varying directions, which always seems to be the pattern during transition period of winter to spring time conditions. This past week we saw improved ocean conditions, currents had brought water temperatures down in the range of 65 to 68 degrees, but at this time there is once again a warming trend and we are seeing temperatures back up in the 70 to 72 range.
With ocean conditions fluctuating rapidly anglers found the all around action to be a bit inconsistent, though there was quite a variety of fish found, with the best reports coming off of inshore rock piles or trolling along the beach stretches. Supplies of sardinas were scarcer, schools of the baitfish were scattered and commercial pangeros encountered stronger tidal conditions while throwing their bait nets. There were caballito available as another option, though the smaller sardinas were the bait of choice for inshore panga action.
This week anglers found yellowfin tuna schooling on the Iman Bank, lots of fish were seen feeding on the surface, but getting these finicky fish to strike a baited hook proved difficult. Using lighter leader material down to 20 to 30 pound resulted in higher hook up percentages. These yellowfin were commonly in the 15 to 30 pound class, with a few of the 40 to 60 pound size models mixed in. Many of the larger sized fish ended up breaking off due to light line, but the problem was the fish would not hit the more visible heavier leaders. If it was not the problem of the fish being so picky and shy, there was even a worse sea lion situation, as a group of these aggressive mammals have been feeding on tuna that anglers are battling to bring to gaff on lighter tackle. Though it definitely is frustrating it adds variety to your fish stories. Recent days have seen average catches per charter at anywhere from one to four tuna, with black skipjack and bonito mixed in the same areas.
There were reports of red snapper being caught close off of the rocky beaches on the Pacific, tossing live baits into the surf zone, always exciting. Sierra have been fairly plentiful for anglers targeting them with sardinas, some nicer sized fish up to six pounds were accounted for. Roosterfish, jack crevalle and a few pompano rounded out the inshore action. The roosters were mostly all juvenile sized, but are a good sign that we should see a big run of the larger roosterfish arrive later in the spring and early summer.
Anglers found less consistent action off of the bottom, though there were some nice yellowtail, amberjack, snapper and cabrilla accounted for. Not in the numbers as previous weeks. It will be interesting to see if the larger yellowtail show in any significant numbers near the San Jose del Cabo area, as the big yellows are now really hitting out of the East Cape and La Paz areas.
Not many dorado found the past week, fewer wahoo, as the water temperature conditions warm we will see these fish become more active. There were scattered reports of striped marlin for the cruiser fleets trolling offshore from 6 to 15 miles, blind jig strikes and casting to fining fish. Still no schooling mackerel found on local fishing grounds.
The combined panga fleet launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 82 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 3 striped marlin, 4 mako shark, 8 hammerhead shark, 122 yellowfin tuna, 14 dorado, 16 cabrilla, 4 grouper, 18 amberjack, 84 yellowtail, 36 pargo, 24 bonito, 9 pompano,148 sierra and 45 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Feb 28, 2011; 12:21PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
February 21-27, 2011
Weather: Well, the cold front finally hit us, and you thought you had all the fun! No, no sledding or snowmen, but it sure felt like it! We had nighttime lows in the mid 50's and when combined with heavy and steady winds at the end of the week it felt like it was going to freeze. We had daytime highs in the mid and occasionally high 70's along with mostly sunny skies. The wind started around Wednesday and at first was only in the late afternoon, but began progressively earlier as the week went on. On Saturday night-Sunday morning it did not stop and all of us snuggled up in our snowsuits and muck-lucks.
Water: Well. Things change week to week and this week the water cooled off quite a bit. Checking the charts, and looking at the temp gauges on the boat the warmest water I could find at the end of the week was 69 degrees! For the most part the water on the Pacific side was cold and green, averaging 65 degrees and dropping to 62 degrees up around the Golden Gate Bank. That was problematic though as the wind brought the seas up so large than no one was going that direction. With the wind from the northwest, even going due south brought rough water so most of the boats were heading out at 150 degrees on a more northerly route from here. The calmer water was closer to shore, and the warmer water was around the Gorda Banks as well. Green water wrapped around from the Pacific side and came across the 95 spot, but all other areas on the Cortez side had blue water, just nothing warm.
Bait: Caballito, a few Mackerel and a scattering of misc. other large baits could be bought at $3 each and if you were quick and lucky you could get a scoop of Sardinas for $25.
FISHING
Billfish: The 1150 was the place to be for Striped Marlin this week as a concentration was found in the area. Boats were able to throw bait on 6 to 8 fish per trip and some of them were hungry. A good day was two releases but most boats were able to get at least one if they stayed and worked the area. The bite was associated with the tide as most of the action was occurring in the afternoon along with the high tide. The bite was later every day. There were also fish found in the Vinorama area past Punta Gorda and around the Gorda Banks. Almost all the fish were caught on live bait with lures bringing them into the pattern and once in a while getting a quick bite without a hook-up.
Yellowfin Tuna: Right place at the right time was once again the word of the week. Fish were found outside the 1,000 fathom line to the southeast and east as well as on the Gorda Banks and the Inman Banks. Those outside were associated with Porpoise and if you found the right school, and were one of the first three or so boats there, you had no problem getting limits of five fish per person. If you were one of the late boats you scratched a bit, but were still able to get fish in the box. Most of these fish were in the 10-18 pound class. Closer to home at the Gorda Banks Sardinas were the key to getting bit. Chumming with Sardinas while drifting brought the fish up, but getting a good catch on the footballs required small diameter flouro-carbon leader and small hooks. These fish were footballs at 10-15 pounds but there were larger fish in the area. Using a kite and flying a Sardine at least 75 yards away from the boat resulted in quite a few fish to 70 pounds.
Dorado: There were a few Dorado caught this week and I saw one boat that was flying two flags, but for the most part these were small fish found close to shore by boats fishing for Sierra. There was one nice fish I saw that might have pushed 50 pounds, and it was caught in the warm water on top of the Gorda Banks.
Wahoo: One fish I saw myself went 90 pounds, sure would have liked to have had a chunk of that meat! Once again caught in the warm water at the Gorda Banks, there were reports of some boats getting as many as four Wahoo in a trip this week. But you had to be early for the numbers, getting there before the rest of the boats. Fish were also found around Punta Gorda and the Inman Banks.
Inshore: Sierra were once again the inshore fish of the week for Pangas fishing out of Cabo, while the boats out of San Jose were doing better on the football Yellowfin. Sierra are schooling fish so if you started out with nice size fish you stuck with the school. If all you were getting were peanuts, you moved and looked for the larger ones. It was not a problem for most of the boats to get as many Sierra as they wanted. But getting the larger fish took some work. There were also Roosterfish to 15 pounds as well as some decent snapper to 25 pounds. Sardinas were the key to the larger Sierra and using the large ones as well as Caballito made for good catches. The smaller Sierra were no problem to catch on swimming plugs and hootchies.
Notes: Just as we took the quilt off of the bed we were hit with a cold front. Maybe it was our fault for taking the quilt off, tempting mother nature to prove how wrong we were! At least the fishing is improving a bit, thanks for that bit of goodness cause the cold weather certainly is no fun for us. Then again, it's all relative, right? Still lots of whales out there, the golf courses are in great shape and the city has not run out of Pacifico or tequila! If you are looking for a quick and easy fish recipe try one of our delivery favorites. When were are taking a boat to or from California we don't feel like spending a lot of time in the galley, so quick and easy is the name of the game. Get a white meat fillet (we like dorado or wahoo), give each side a light coat of mustard, pop it into the microwave for a couple of minutes and there you go! A bit of instant rice or mashed taters and you have a 5 minute meal that is good for you and tasty as well. My music for this week was an album I have not listened to in a long time “Tropico”, a 1978 A & M release by Gato Barbieri. Until next week, tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
February 27, 2011
Anglers –
With the first slight hint of spring weather being felt in Southern Baja,
visiting anglers found very pleasant conditions, mostly clear and sunny days,
highs averaging 75 degrees. Swells were minimal, shifting currents, swift at
times, water temperatures ranged from 68 to 72 degrees, warmer spots in the
direction of the Sea of Cortez , ten to fifteen miles offshore of San Jose del
Cabo. Winds have been variable, most prominent from the south, 8 to 14 mph.
Schools of sardinas are presently most abundant off the beach stretches north of
Punta Gorda to Vinorama, these baitfish have been available on a daily basis
from the commercial panga fleet out of La Playita.
There was less bottom action found this past week, currents were a factor and
the fact the schools of yellowtail were scattered, there were a wide variety of
species being accounted for, just the numbers of total fish in the box was not
as high as in previous weeks. Amberjack, yellowtail, cabrilla, grouper, pargo,
skipjack and bonito were the most common species now being found off the rock
piles, drifting over depths ranging from 100 to 160 ft. Most charters were
targeting a combination of action, jigging off the bottom, trolling various
surface plugs and lures, as well as drift fishing with sardinas.
With the water temperatures holding in the low 70s off of the San Jose del Cabo
area, there has been improved trolling action, a few wahoo were even landed, a
scattering of dorado and along the shoreline there were roosterfish and sierra
found. Yellowfin tuna were encountered at times traveling with schools of
porpoise, this was 3 to 20 miles offshore, matter of encountering the activity,
boats that first found the tuna had the best chance, fish would go down as
traffic arrived.
The yellowfin tuna action which has been keeping anglers happily busy on the
Inner Gordo Banks for the past two weeks has continued, but has become a bit
tougher by the day recently, not for a lack of fish, as hundreds of yellowfin
tuna could be seen breezing on the surface, in all directions of the bank, just
these fish were not that aggressive towards feeding on sardinas, having a taste
for red crabs, preferring to gorge on these morsels which were now abundant in
the depths on these grounds. Anglers that targeted these tuna, which averaged 15
to 50 pounds, have accounted for average catches ranging from zero tuna, with
only skipjack, up to three or four quality sized tuna. The fish were line shy,
spooky towards heavy leaders, anglers had best hook up ration on 20, 30 or 40
pound leaders.
Not much marlin activity on the Gordo Banks in recent days, as compared to last
week when many stripers were being hooked up on smaller sardina baitfish, there
was a 400 pound class blue marlin that struck a trolled petrolero lure, the out
of season blue was landed and released from this area last weekend off of a
private sportfisher. Water was a bit more off colored on the banks and this
back side of the full moon phase never seems to a favored period. Mackerel
schools need to move into the zone, this will improve the billfish situation.
After having left for a week or so, groups of sea lions moved back onto the
Gordo Banks and played havoc on anglers concentrating on the yellowfin bite.
These sea lions were hungry, aggressively eating all of the sardina baits they
could, then rapidly attacking any hooked fish and making anglers odds that much
more difficult.
The combined panga fleet launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out
approximately 67 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
3 wahoo, 2 striped marlin, 4 mako shark, 18 dorado, 88 yellowfin tuna, 16
bonito, 42 sierra, 24 roosterfish, 14 pargo, 12 amberjack, 14 cabrilla, 22
yellowtail and 18 triggerfish.
Good fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Feb 21, 2011; 11:44AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
February 14-20, 2011
Weather: We had great weather this week with the daytime highs in the high 80's and the nighttime lows in the mid 70's. Mostly sunny skies with just light breezes from the east mostly, with the winds shifting and coming from the northwest at a fairly brisk pace at the end of the week.
Water: Surface conditions on both the Pacific side and the Sea of Cortez were great this week with the exception of the last day of the week as the wind started to blow in the night and the water chopped up on the Pacific side. On the Cortez side the water was calm with swells at their normal 1-3 feet and afternoon breezes from the east causing a very light chop mid-week. The big change from last week was in the water temperatures. On the Pacific side from the Cape to the San Jaime there was a temperature break of about 3 degrees with the water to the south warmer at 70 degrees and the water to the north a cooler 67 degrees. The exact same situation occurred up at Punta Gorda in the Vinorama area with the northern water just a degree cooler at 66 degrees. There was a warm spot that popped up on Saturday at the 1150 that registered 77 degrees and a few boats that became aware went in that direction to check it out but it had spread out and disappeared by late afternoon.
Bait: Caballito, a few Mackerel and a scattering of misc. other large baits could be bought at $3 each and if you were quick and lucky you could get a scoop of Sardinas for $25.
FISHING
Billfish: Well, I don't know if it is because of the full moon or not, but there seems to be a few more Marlin biting this past week that we have had for the weeks prior. We had clients that were seeing fish every day, and hooking up to them, but only about half of those hooked up were making it to the boat for a release. Our best day of fishing this week on Marlin was two fish released for two hooked up. One of them was a very decent estimated #160 Striped Marlin, the other the usual #110. Both fish were caught on slow trolled dead bait, and both were within 10 miles of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. This area seems to have had the majority of fish spotted this week, but they are still not very hungry. A few Swordfish were seen on the surface as well, but boats trying to drop bait down for them were having an issue with strong sub-surface currents and could not get the baits deep enough, finding some Thresher Sharks instead. There were also a large number of juvenile Mako Sharks out there, this cool water seems to be when they show up. Most of them were in the 15-40 pound class and they could be seen jumping and flipping out of the water on occasion.
Yellowfin Tuna: The Yellowfin Tuna bite had been decent if you were in the right place at the right time. The problem was that getting those two things at the same time seemed to be pretty much a crap-shoot. A lot of boats were able to find Porpoise that were holding great meter marks of Tuna, but could not get a bite to save their lives. Some of these pods of fish were within a few miles of the beach, others were over 30 miles offshore. There seemed to be a decent bite to the north on the Sea of Cortez off of San Jose, and some of the fish were a decent 30 pounds, but for the most part the fish that were found were footballs of 10-18 pounds, and a decent catch was a few fish per boat. Those that were lucky enough to draw the lottery numbers were able to limit out on these fish, but as I said, there was no guarantee at all!
Dorado: There were a few more Dorado flags this week, but almost all of them were very small fish, less than 6 pounds. They were caught by boats working inshore for Sierra, as there were always lots of red flags, as well as release flags underneath. Unfortunately we did see a large number of these small fish leave the docks in bags being carried by the crews.
Wahoo: Full moon, guess what? Yep, almost no Wahoo to speak of, although I did hear of a few fish to 30 pounds caught up off the Punta Gorda area early in the week.
Inshore: It seems as if the Sierra have moved up the Pacific coast just a little bit. During the middle of the week a few Pangas were crying that they could not find any, but others were reporting good results just past Migraino. The same situation occurred for the Yellowtail as the bite dropped off on them as well as they continued to move around. Right place, right time and fish that averaged 15 pounds and went up to 30 pounds were bending rods, if you were not lucky then your wrists and arms hurt from yo-yo'ing for hours on small spots of fish. A few nice Pargo and other snapper were caught in the rocks and there was a scattering of other species such as Needle fish, bonito and grouper. The best live baits were Sardinas for the Sierra, rigged on a very light bite wire, and Caballito for the Pargo and grouper.
Notes: Thank goodness it has warmed up! We were able to take the quilt off of the bed. Our house guest for the past two weeks, Sandy West, has returned to South Dakota, stay warm Sandy! There are plenty of whales out there, I was standing at the first tee box at Cabo Real Golf Course on Saturday (starter) and saw a full breach offshore that threw up a splash larger than the 60' sport fisherman that was watching her! While Sandy was here we went out to eat at Maro's Shrimp house (reservations suggested, they are VERY popular) and had five jumbo shrimp and a New York Strip. We all agreed that the New York was one of the best we have ever had! Way to go Maro! We had some Wahoo left early in the week from the chunk we received from the 70 pound fish last week and Mary fixed it with a marinade of Vidalia Onion dressing, sauteed in a skillet. Wow! THE LEFTOVERS WERE GREAT AS WELL! The music for this week is a bit of a throwback for me, back to my jazzy days, a little bit of mellowness with John Klemmer on the Tenor Sax on his 1979 RCA release “Nexus One (for Trane)”
Track #1, Mr. P.C., and #4, Impressions, were written by John Coltrane. Until next week, have a great time and tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
February 20, 2011
Anglers –
Crowds of tourists increased this past week, as the weather conditions warmed
up, we enjoyed clear sunny days that reached 80 degrees and with light winds
this made for great conditions offshore for visiting anglers. Ocean water
conditions averaged 69 to 71 degrees throughout most of the area, with a warmer
current of 73 to 74 degree area 12 to 15 miles offshore of San Jose del Cabo.
As the waters on the local fishing grounds warmed a few degrees in the past ten
days, this apparently helped improve the all around fishing action. Definitely
the most talked about bite has been the yellowfin tuna out of La Playita/Puerto
Los Cabos Marina, which were now schooling on the Inner Gordo Banks. Word spread
quickly as charters were catching an average of two to six tuna per morning
while drift fishing with live and dead bait. With as many as fifty charter boats
congregating on this spot it made for heavy pressure and the yellowfin were
finicky. Anglers using lighter leaders of 30 to 40 lb. reported the best
success. As much bait as possible was needed to help entice these fish into a
feeding frenzy where they could be fooled into striking the hooked bait. With
limited supplies of sardinas and high demand, this made for a bait supply
situation, in fact San Jose del Cabo charters were traveling some twenty miles
north , near Vinormama, in order to obtain limited amounts of sardinas. But
these baitfish were necessary in order to catch these tuna, which were averaging
in weight from 15 to 50 pounds, with larger species to over one hundred pounds
seen feeding in recent days.
Could be time to break out some heavier tackle and try chunk fishing with cut
skipjack, one pangero told a story of hooking into a monster tuna on Thursday
while chumming and chunking with fresh skipjack, I guess the gear he was using
was simply not stout enough and they never had a chance at slowing the cow.
In recent days there were increased numbers of striped marlin encountered,
everyday there were handful of these billfish hooked into while anglers were
targeting the tuna with sardinas, these fish ranged from 100 to 120 lb. One
incredible catch of an 80 pound wahoo was accounted for on Thursday by an angler
using only a sardina for bait and mono leader, no wire, this also occurred on
the Inner Gordo Bank.
Earlier in the week there was good action found for yellowtail, amberjack and a
few other bottom species. The area of Cardon was consistent for anglers using
sardinas and yo-yo jigs in depths ranging from 120 to 160 feet. The amberjack
were mostly in the 15 to 25 pound class, yellowtail average 6 to 10 pounds, but
almost every day we saw a one or two thirty pound plus class yellowtail mixed in
with the smaller schoolies. Strong currents continue to make bottom fishing a
difficult and at times unpractical option, as at times it became so swift over
these rock piles that it was not easy to reach bottom and then even harder to
avoid snagging rocks and losing gear.
The combined panga fleet launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out
approximately 75 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
9 striped marlin, 6 mako shark, 8 dorado,166 yellowfin tuna, 22 Mexican bonito,
32 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 5 wahoo, 28 huachinago, 28 amberjack, 14 cabrilla,
142 yellowtail and 15 yellow snapper.
Good fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Feb 14, 2011; 11:46AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
February 7-13, 2011
Weather: Perhaps our cold snap is over for now as we are seeing slow increases in our lows and highs. This week the lowest I registered at home was 58 degrees as opposed to 53 degrees last week. Our highs are actually breaking the low 80's and getting into the high 80's! We had a few clouds pass over us on the 9th but other than that we have had mostly clear skies.
Water: If there is one constant about the ocean, it is that nothing ever stays the same! Surface conditions this week were great on both the Pacific side and the Cortez side of the Cape. Small swells on the Cortez at 1-3 feet, only 3-5 feet on the Pacific and spaced well apart. The big change was in the water temperatures. It has stayed cool, and actually dropped a bit. At the end of the week we had the coldest water in our area at 61 degrees close to the beach up around the Punta Gorda area, and the band of cool water continued to stay very close to the shore as it continued to the south and wrapped around the Cape. By the time it had gotten to our beaches it had warmed to 65 degrees, but that was still cold enough to make my Golden Retriever shiver when she came out, and me not to want to go swimming! As the cool water wrapped around to the Pacific side it plumed offshore. This 65 degree water stretched across the San Jaime Banks and the Golden Gate Banks as well, and everything inside of there was the same 65 degrees. Outside of the shoreline 2 mile wide cool water band the temperature was a consistent 70 degrees.
Bait: Caballito were available at $3 per bait. There were not as many as we hoped to see and not many Mackerel either, but an assortment of other, not so great baits were there. There were decent sized Sardinas available as well if you were one of the first out, and they were $25 a scoop.
FISHING
Billfish: This past week showed that we can be a little optimistic about upcoming weeks. While still not wide open by any means, there are more and more Marlin showing up every day. Many more are being seen that are being hooked up, and most boats are getting a shot at a few every day. That is a big change from what we were seeing just a few weeks ago! If we ever get schools of Mackerel to show up we should see a very significant increase in the number of Striped Marlin associated with them. As it is now, approximately 30 percent of the boats are getting hooked up, and about half of them are getting the fish to the boat. The sad thing is that many of these fish are being brought to the docks. It has been slow fishing for a while and instead of releasing the Marlin, a lot of the boats are trying to get mounts made (guilting the clients into getting one), or taking the meat to sell (against the law), anything to make a few extra dollars without thinking about how much money that fish could bring in if it was caught again. Sigh...
Yellowfin Tuna: Well, the water calmed down, but unlike my prediction last report the fishing for Yellowfin did not improve, or at least hasn't improved yet. There are still scattered schools of fish to be found along the temperature break running below the San Jaime and west of the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks, and some of them are decent fish, up to 80 pounds this week. Unfortunately they are really a hit or miss proposition as they will be in one spot one day and gone again the next. While there have been fish to 80 pounds, most of them have been footballs in the 10-12 pound range. A good catch this week would have been 6-8 fish with a few boats , mainly the first ones on the school, getting limits of five per angler.
Dorado: I would pretty much give up on Dorado for the next few months. If any are caught they will be stray fish, the water is just too darn cold to hold them!
Wahoo: Just coming up on the full moon and guess what? Yep, we had a client on Friday land a 70 pound Wahoo while fishing for Marlin! You just never know. It sure tasted good when filleted, the steaks pocketed with a butter/lemon/cilantro mix, dusted with flour, dredged in beaten eggs, rolled in minced Macadamia nuts, browned in a skillet and finished off in the oven. A peach salsa on top with a side of cous-cous and we were in heaven!!! You can get the recipe on our website.
Inshore: The swells died down and the Pangas were once again able to get up the Pacific coast. The cool water made the inshore fishing better for both Sierra and Yellowtail. We had anglers and friends who did well fly fishing for Sierra using sardinas as chum, limiting out on fish averaging 4 pounds. Others did well in the slightly deeper water yo-yo'ing for Yellowtail that averaged 14 pounds with a few fish going as large as 30 pounds. Of course it was a matter of the right place at the right time as they could move as far as ½ mile up or down the coast overnight. You had to work for them! The were also a few Roosterfish to be found (surprisingly as they normally do not like water this cold). They were not extremely aggressive but we did have one angler who was bit three times on the fly, but they were short strikes and he could not get a solid hook-up. Other fish that were caught were some grouper in smaller sizes and a few very nice Pargo to 25 pounds.
Notes: This week I don't need to have socks on as it has warmed up in the house! Finally done with the front and rear door jambs, thank you Bill Ison, master carpenter! Unbelievable but true, the new Solmar Grande is charging $28 for 2 eggs, potatoes any way you like, and toast with coffee for breakfast. Isn't anyone there in touch with reality, I can go downtown and get the same thing for 30 pesos!! The main Marina has raised their rates 10%, now a charter boat is paying over $1,200 U.S. A month for a 30 foot slip, plus power and water, and if you are a day late with payment they chain the boat to the dock. If you have a charter and come down to find the boat chained, cut the lock and go fishing to earn the money to pay the slip fees they charge you $100 U.S. to replace the lock! Still plenty of whales to look at out there. I am out of here in a few minutes to go play golf at Cabo Real. Let's see, fishing, golf sunshine, warm weather, a nice house, beautiful and mostly understanding wife, great pets, gee, it sucks to be me! My music this week is once again the king of blues, B.B. King on the 2008 Geffen Records release “One Kind Favor”. Until next week, tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
February 13, 2011
Anglers –
It appears the coldest weather has now past, recent days have been mostly sunny, at times moderate cloud cover, overall conditions were on a warming trend compared to last week. Winds were still unpredictable, most of the time coming from the north, at times swinging out of the south. Ocean water temperatures raised a couple of degrees this week, now averaging 69 to 72 degrees, warmest areas now near the 95 spot, outside of Chileno.
Finding any sufficient supply of sardinas became difficult this past week, minimal supplies of this bait source were netted near Palmilla, hardly enough to have the needed chum for possibly chumming up the yellowfin tuna that have been schooling off of Santa Maria, these tuna were in the 15 to 25 pound class, but were very finicky and lots of bait was needed to have the best opportunities.
The most consistent fishing action has been closer to shore, over rocky structure, typically in depths ranging from 100 to 150 feet. Anglers used a combination of sardina, red crabs (when available) and yo-yo style iron jigs to catch a wide range of species, including red snapper (huachinango), cabrilla (leopard grouper), amberjack, yellowtail, yellow snapper, triggerfish, bonito, black skipjack and shark. These fish were all great eating species, averaging less than ten pounds, but also a few larger fish to over 20 pounds were accounted for. On an average morning charter groups could expect to catch three, four or five different types of fish and anywhere from 5 to 15 total landed.
Stretches close to shore were holding sierra, roosterfish and at time yellowtail. Slow trolling with sardinas was the most productive method of finding action, though anglers also reported success on hoochies and Rapalas.
Pelagic red crabs are being found on the local fishing grounds, this has been more of a commercial pangero deal than sportfishing. Each day these pelagic crabs are found on the surface, varies daily as to exactly where. These small crustaceans are what the red snapper are being caught on, pretty much exclusively since this is what these true red snapper now have a taste for.
Striped marlin activity has been scattered, though anglers wishing to target these billfish have had an average of a couple opportunities per day on stripers ranging up to 120 pounds, much of this action was found 8 to 15 miles off of the Palmilla to Chileno region. Strikes came on trolled lures, rigged ballyhoo and dropped back baits. We expect as water temperatures raise some and attract more offshore bait species, such as mackerel, sardinetas and flying fish, we will see improved action offshore.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 44 charters for the past week, with anglers reported a fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 22 bonito, 15 amberjack, 22 cabrilla, 183 yellowtail, 114 huachinago (red snapper), 46 sierra, 32 roosterfish,14 dorado, 44 yellowfin tuna, 26 triggerfish, 3 mako shark, 1 wahoo and 45 black skipjack.
Good fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Jan 31, 2011; 11:34AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
January 24-30. 2011
Weather: It was a cool week here in Cabo as clouds moved in early in the week, and with them came a breeze from the north. Our daytime highs were in the mid 70's on Tuesday and Wednesday, raising to the high 70's and once touching 80 degrees later in the week. The clouds stayed around for several days then went away so it warmed up again. Our nights were cool, in the low 60's for the most part, but getting down to the high 50's once or twice, definitely sweater and coat weather for us that live here.
Water: The water close to home is 68-70 degrees, we needed to go almost 30 miles to the south to find water that warmed up to 72 degrees most days this week. With the cloud cover we had, it was difficult to get a good sea surface temperature shot, and that made planning a trip more dependent on other captains water reports than normal. We were also seeing bands of algae bloom water almost everywhere, but particularly outside the 1,000 fathom line. There would be a ¼ to ½ mile wide band of red water, then blue water, then red again. There were also instances of this occurring closer to shore on both sides of the cape. Early in the week surface conditions were choppy due to the northerly winds, but not uncomfortably so, for the most part the seas were smooth with just a bit of wind riffle on them, no real whitecaps.
Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait. There were decent sized Sardinas available as well if you were one of the first out, and they were $25 a scoop.
FISHING
Billfish: I hate to say it, but our Striped Marlin season, which we have been hoping would improve, is beginning to look like a bust. Normally by this time of year the bait has reached at least the Finger Banks, a good 50 miles to the north, and we would be seeing action on the Golden Gate Bank, but so far there has been nothing there. It looks as if the past four years were an anomaly and are not going to repeat soon. On the positive side, we still have Striped Marlin, just not in the numbers we had been getting used to. Instead of almost being able to guarantee a fish during a trip, the hook-up ratio has begun to be around 10%, quite a difference. There was a report of a local fleet boat hooking up to a small Blue Marlin this week, and also reports of several Swordfish being caught.
Yellowfin Tuna: Long runs for a small chance at medium sized fish were reported by captains that tried for Yellowfin this week. A few of the private boats reported runs as far as 70 miles out. Going that far out occasionally resulted in fish to 50 pounds, but it was not a sure thing, and that sure is a long way to go on a guess, or a wing and a prayer as it may be. There were scattered pods of Dolphin found between 5 and 18 miles out on both the southern and southwestern directions, but not all of them held fish, and sometimes when they did the fish just would not bite. When a bit did occur, it was usually on a cedar plug in natural color, or small dark colored hootchies.
Dorado: Dorado are becoming scarce as the water becomes cooler. There are still a few being caught, not no numbers of them. A great catch this past week would have been two fish, most boats were lucky if they got one. My guess on the success ratio for Dorado this week would be maybe 5%. Most of the ones that were found were found either very close to the beach on the Cortez side or 30 miles to the south.
Wahoo: While Wahoo are never really a common fish, this past week they were practically a rumor, just a word to say as no one really found any. That is except for one of the fleet boats! One of the charter guys managed to land a monster Wahoo that was reported to be 130 pounds. I did not see the fish myself, but it was a cousin of a Captains I know and trust, so there is a pretty good chance the report is true. Word was that the fish was caught only 12 miles off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side while looking for Tuna.
Inshore: For some reason even the inshore bite was off this week, and boats that had been doing well on the “go-to” Sierra were having a difficult time getting more than a dozen fish in the boat. The key to getting even that many was reported to be live Sardinas, as the rapalla style swimming plugs and hootchies were just not working very well. A few of the Pangas tried way up the beach on the Pacific side and reported the algae bloom had brushed the shore line 20 miles in that direction as well. For the boats staying closer to home, an occasional Yellowtail, and lots of small Bonita provided the bulk of the action, Roosterfish were noticeably absent close to home, but there were reports of a few decent sized fish showing up in the surf around Palmilla Point.
Notes: I am just getting over a cold, thank goodness it waited and did not get me until I was back from Oklahoma! I hate riding on airplanes, a girl the next row over was sniffling and sneezing the whole trip, and I am sure that is where I got it. Oh, well, feeling better now, I just wish the fishing was following in my footsteps, that would mean it would be getting better as well. On a positive note, there are plenty of whales out thee, the Medano Beach is in wonderful shape and the swells coming in are small, the water perfect for swimming! Remember, you can't catch anything if you sit in a beach chair all day! My music this week was a mix, one song, “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, by Stevie Ray Vaughn has been on my mind all week as a driving song, and of course I missed one of my favorite musicians in concert this week at the University of Washington, Mark O'Conner, so I listened once again to his Warner Bros. release “Heros”! Until next week, tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
January 31, 2011
Anglers -
Light crowds of tourists are now visiting Southern Baja, they have been greeted with cooler winter time conditions, scattered cloud cover with moderate winds and daytime highs in the low 70s. Still this would have to be considered nice weather for mid winter. Ocean water temperatures are averaging in the 67 to 69 range through most of the region, this is five degrees cooler than what conditions were at the same time last year.
The San Jose del Cabo fleets have been concentrating their efforts in the direction of the Iman Bank in recent days, this is where they have found schooling yellowfin tuna, ranging in sizes up to 20 pounds, also a scattering of dorado and various bottom dwellers. Trying to land hooked tuna before a pack of aggressive sea lions got a hold of them was a major issue, most charters were having as many fish broken off by these sea lions as they were actually landing. Boats were averaging 2 to 8 yellowfin per morning. This is not bad considering the time of year and condition of the water. Using sardinas for bait was the most productive technique, these baitfish remained plentiful off of the beach stretches north of Punta Gorda. Most of the dorado that are now encountered have been juvenile sized, though occasionally a larger bull of 20 pounds was found.
Closer to shore there have been good numbers of sierra, again most of these fish were in the 1 to 3 pound class, some schooling yellowtail of 2 to 6 pounds were found in various inshore locations as well, both of these species hit best on sardinas, but would also strike Rapalas and cast jigs.
There is not much going on the Gordo Banks now, this area is not known for the best action when the water temps are cooler, though the commercial fleet have been finding the pelagic red crabs in this area and are netting them to be used for snapper bait on other fishing spots.
Striped marlin action continues to be off this year, some scattered fish are being found, but no large concentrations, as the water conditions warm and more numbers of larger baitfish arrive we expect this action to improve.
There were a handful of yellowfin tuna found traveling with porpoise offshore, hit or miss deal, but some of these tuna were in the 30 to 60 pound class. Other schools of tuna were seen at times on the local fishing grounds, but they disappeared as fast as they had appeared. These fish become even more finicky in cooler conditions.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 51 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 114 yellowfin tuna, 24 bonito, 6 amberjack, 15 cabrilla, 62 pargo, 16 dorado, 14 roosterfish, 29 yellowtail and 110 sierra.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Jan 24, 2011; 12:41PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
January 17-23. 2011
Weather: Cabo has been having typical winter weather as our nights have been in the 60 degree range, from 57 degrees to 64 degrees early in the morning, and the daytime highs ranging from 78 degrees to 86 degrees. It sure beats what I am experiencing here in OKC where we are seeing a range from 19 degrees to 56 degrees!
Water: Water temperatures have been between 68 and 71 degrees wherever you went this week. The slightly cooler water was closer to shore on both the Pacific side and the Cortez side. Once you reached the Banks on the Pacific side, or past the 1,000 fathom line to the south or the Cortez side the temperature went up to 70-71 degrees. Conditions on both sides were decent for fishing, without anyone getting blown out, but the swells were a bit larger on the Pacific side.
Bait: Caballito and Mullet were available at $3 per bait. There were decent sized Sardinas available as well if you were one of the fist out, and they were $25 a scoop.
FISHING
Billfish: Striped Marlin action was still extremely slow this past week, I don't know if it will pick up soon or not, but we all have our fingers crossed that whatever the reason for the slow action, it will correct itself soon. On the positive side, there are a few fish out there, and at least some of them are willing to bite if you get a bait in front of them. The fish that have been seen have been scattered around, from the inshore water on the Pacific side to the offshore water on the Cortez, and everywhere between. I believe that this means that the bait has been scattered as well because normally we will find concentrations of Marlin where the bait is at. No such luck on either count for us the past couple of months though, except for a few scattered days. On another positive note, there was a small Blue Marlin reported earlier in the week, one that was estimated at #180, so there is a chance at something else if you get lucky! Even with the scarcity of Marlin right now, the chances are 10% of getting a release on one, better than most places I know of!
Yellowfin Tuna: The tuna bite has been off and on again, one day here, the next day there, and occasionally nowhere! At the end of the week there were fish found at approximately 15 miles to the southwest, outside the 1,000 fathom curve below the San Jaime Bank. Not a lot of fish, but at least the boats that found them early got into some decent action. The fish have not been large, mostly footballs, but some in the 30 pound class have been mixed in there as well. Dark colored feathers have worked, but the best lures have been cedar plugs.
Dorado: With the cool water the Dorado have packed their bags and moved south. A few of them could not find their luggage and got hungry, so we did see a couple of flags this week.
Wahoo: Most of the Wahoo got free tickets to travel to warmer climes, getting discounts on seats by buying in bulk. That's my story and I am sticking to it. Only three of these speedsters were caught this week that I heard of, and all of them were early in the week when the full moon was up. All the other “Wahoo” flags I saw were for Sierra.
Inshore: Roosterfish close to the beach on the Pacific side past the lighthouse early in the week, as well as off the beach on the north side of Chileano on the Cortez side provided action. Also early in the week there was a good Amberjack bite off of almost all the points. The most common inshore catch was Sierra, and the bite was good on them for the boats that targeted these fish. Small hootchiesand “rapalla” style swimming plugs did well, but the best action occurred for the boats that were able to get Sardinas for bait early in the morning. A scattering of Yellowtail to ten pounds rounded up the inshore action this week.
Notes: I am in Oklahoma City visiting the family right now, and have been here since Thursday. Thanks to my wonderful wife I have been kept updated on the fishing action and what has been going on around town. The music for this report was the sound of my mom, dad and sis talking and cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Until next week, give your family a hug and enjoy your time with them! Tight lines!
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
January 21, 2011
Anglers –
Los Cabos continues to greet light crowds of vacationers with clear sunny skies, daytime high temperatures have reached into the mid 70s and conditions have been very pleasant for this winter season. Winds out of the north have not been too strong, as they often can be during this time. Ocean swells are minimal and anglers are enjoying favorable times on the water. Water temperatures remain cooler than they were at this same time period of 2010, now averaging 67 to70 degrees. This is now peak season for the annual whale migration, also there are plenty of sea lions and manta rays.
There have been sufficient supplies of sardinas available, recently these baitfish have been schooling off the beaches north of Punta Gorda and the Palmilla area. For the first time in several years the pelagic red crabs have been coming to the surface on the local fishing grounds such as the Gordo Banks and Desteladera. These crabs were being scooped up with small bait nets and are being used for the true red snapper (huachinango). These are prized snapper, averaging 5 to 10 pounds, occasionally reaching 14 pounds. The schooling snapper will often follow these migrations of red crabs and also come to the surface to feed, quite a sight when the water's surface actually turns into a big spot of red mass. Perhaps the cooler water temperatures has triggered this event and surely the fact that there have not been giant squid in the region has given a chance for this activity to develop.
There have been yellowfin tuna found on the Iman Bank, a bit finicky in the cooler waters, also with aggressive sea lions lurking on the same fishing grounds, though persistent anglers were hooking into these fish while drift fishing with both live and dead sardinas. The tuna were averaging 20 to 50 pounds, with a few larger specimens accounted for, charters reported landed one to four of these yellowfin per morning. Boat pressure was light, with minimal crowds of anglers now in town.
Other options included trolling sardinas closer to shore for good light tackle action for sierra, most of these fish were smaller sized, but a handful of these fish weighed over five pounds. Yellowtail of 2 to 8 pounds were found in migrating schools, rapidly moving location from day to day, but once found these fish provided fun action on both live baits and yo-yo style jigging. A mix of cabrilla, grouper, amberjack, bonito, yellow snapper and triggerfish area accounted for from shallow water rocky areas.
Dorado were found spread out through most of the zone, more often closer to shore where baitfish concentrations were holding. Often becoming more active later in the morning when the oceans surface was warmed some by the rising sun. Striking on a wide range of baits and lures, most of the dorado were smaller schooling size fish under 10 pounds, but there were occasional1exceptions of fish over 25 pounds being landed.
The combined panga fleet launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 56 charters for the past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 111 dorado, 45 yellowfin tuna, 16 roosterfish, 254 sierra, 11 amberjack, 23 bonito, 18 cabrilla, 68 yellowtail, 6 grouper, 124 and 26 yellow pargo.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Jan 17, 2011; 01:03PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
January 10-16, 2011
Weather: We have continued the cool weather as our daytime highs have been in the low 80's and the early morning, dark outside lows have been down to 57 degrees. Cold, but not too bad, on my trip back to Cabo it was 38 degrees in Guerrero Negro in the morning! We had clear skies with just a light wind from the northwest except for the 12th and 13th when we had some clouds and no wind.
Water: We had cool 68 degree water close to shore on the Cortez side and warmer 70 degree water offshore of there to start the week. On the Pacific side it was an average of 70 degrees until you got outside of the San Jaime Banks, then it dropped to 66 degrees. At the end of the week the warmer water from the south moved up and it was 70 degrees across the board almost as far as the boats could go, with the exception of a plume of 68 degree water that pushed down from the northeast and ran from the 1150 spot to the Cabrillo Seamount.
Bait: Bait was difficult to get this week as the bait boats don't seem to be able to find anything to catch. In order to get ten decent bait many boats had to go to three or four bait catchers, and still ended up with a few grunts or look-downs in the tank. Regardless of the types of bait, the boats still wanted $3 per bait. There appear to be better and more bait available in San Jose, but there is a territory dispute going on and the local guys are not letting the San Jose guys come here to sell, sigh. And of course they are not willing to go up there to get any, sigh. And it is an hour run for us to get up there, then an hour run back, sigh.
FISHING
Billfish: Let's see, a private 10 boat tournament for Striped Marlin and on the first day only one was caught. That one was caught close to home. Tell's the story of our marlin bite for the week. There are a few being seen but not many of them will bite. This has to be the slowest Marlin action I have seen in years.
Yellowfin Tuna: There were scattered fish, just as we had last week. Sometimes we could fins them out past the 1,000 fathom line to the south, other times just four miles off of the lighthouse on the Pacific side. The key was to be the first boat to find the fish, then you had a chance. If you were not the first boat then your chances were really lowered. None of the fish this week were large fish, the biggest I heard of was 35 pounds. Most of them were in the 12-20 pound class with an occasional school found that averaged 20 pounds. Many of the boats were flying tuna flags for Bonito. There were plenty of them around due to the cooler water. Average size for them was 4-5 pounds with an occasional school of 15-20 pound fish. Working yo-yo's over the rock piles around Punta Gorda kicked out some Yellowfin but the majority of fish caught there, as on the Pacific coastline, were Bonito averaging 15 pounds.
Dorado: Once in a while a fish in the 10-12 pound class was caught, bu these appeared to be stray fish, and were found close to the beach. There were no concentrations found this week, not even under floating debris. Cold water normally equals slow Dorado fishing and that is what we are seeing now. Give us another couple of weeks and Dorado will almost completely disappear.
Wahoo: Just like last week, as usual this time of year, lots of Wahoo flags flying everywhere and people get excited. Then they are educated about “Mexican Wahoo” Lots of sierra, but nothing really big, mostly 2-5 lbs.
Halibut: Just joking!!
Inshore: On one day, off the next, or maybe it was just a matter of the right place at the right time, but the Sierra bite was either wide open or non-existent. Personally, I think the schools were moving around really fast and if you could not find them in one spot, you had to cruise the beach fast in order to find out where they were. Once you got into them, limits were easy to get, but the fish were small at 2-5 pounds. Just like last week, the offshore fishing was slow so there were a lot of large boats working the shoreline for Sierra as well just to give their clients a chance to put some fish on the table. The Yellowtail bite was fair, with fish that are small by northern standards but decent by ours at an average of 12 pounds. A few Grouper and Amberjack rounded up the inshore catch reports except for an abundance of Bonito!
Notes: Lots of Whales out there!! A few of the restaurants are advertising “Marlin Tostados”. Please let them know, when you see those signs, that you will not eat there due to the marlin being on the menu! Thanks!
If you are getting your own fishing licenses, you must have pesos!!! The people that sell the licenses around the marina can no longer take dollars from anyone. Get pesos the day before! No one has change for your US $100 at 6AM. 140 pesos per person per day, 290 pesos for weekly and 540 pesos for a yearly. Unless of course you buy them on Friday, that guy doesn't add a surcharge.
My music for the day is the sound of the pre-game show turned up loud in the living room. No one has any belief in the Seahawks! Come on, let's show them!!! Go Hawks!
If you can't wait until Monday, the blog is updated on Sundays! Available only at
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
January 17, 2011
Anglers –
Though this winter season has been cooler than it has been for the past couple of seasons, visitors are still able to enjoy sunny skies with temperatures reaching into the 70s. Crowds have been moderate, people are having a fine time participating in the many outdoor activities available, while much of the United States is enduring harsh wet and icy conditions. Ocean water temperatures are some five degrees cooler than they were at this same period last year, now averaging 67 to 69 degrees, with some warmer currents found close to 20 miles offshore.
Sardinas have been available in good quantities on most days, being found near Palmilla and north towards Vinorama. No mackerel or sardinetas off of the San Jose del Cabo area at this time. Local fleets have been finding the most consistent action within several miles of shore.
Most common catches recently have been for sierra, pargo (yellow snapper), skipack, dorado, amberjack, yellowtail, triggerfish and bonito. Surprisingly, considering the cooler water temperatures, there have been quite a few dorado around, though most of these fish have been under ten pounds, good time to catch and release the smaller females. Some charters are catching up to a dozen of these schooling dorado, using sardinas for bait has been the most successful. The same areas are producing a wide variety of structure species, a mix of leopard grouper, amberjack, yellowtail, bonito and snapper are being hooking into off the rock piles on both bait and yo-yo jigs, it was not uncommon to catch six to eight different species off of the same spot. No large yellowtail being found, they have been the fire cracker models of 4 to 8 pounds.
A handful of yellowfin tuna were caught earlier in the week, these fish were in the 15 to 20 pound range, but with the water on a continuing cooling trend this action is now fading out. Until water conditions warm up a bit most of the action will be closer to shore for sierra of off the bottom rocky areas for a variety of species, all of which are good eating.
Plenty of whale watching to be done now, the peak migration of both humpback and gray whales will occur during the next couple of months. There have been some sea lions lurking on the fishing grounds that have been very aggressive, repeatedly stealing anglers fish as they were trying to reel them to the boat, it has not really mattered what type of fish, dorado, snapper, yellowtail, they liked them all.
The combined fleet of pangas launching out of La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos sent out approximately 57 charters for the week, with anglers reporting a fish count of: 1 wahoo, 16 yellowfin tuna, 172 dorado, 212 sierra, 18 roosterfish, 17 amberjack, 25 cabrilla, 66 pargo, 18 bonito, 68 yellowtail and 18 triggerfish.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Jan 10, 2011; 12:22PM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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CABO SAN LUCAS FISH REPORT
Capt. George Landrum
Fly Hooker Sportfishing
www.flyhooker.com
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
Jan 3rd to Jan 9th 2011
Weather: Well we are starting off the year with another cold snap. Started to get warm again for few days with the weather patterns coming up from the south and bringing in the warmer weather. Afternoon temperatures in the hi 80's. Very cloudy for a few days, thought it was going to rain, but this is the desert, it went around us as usual. The cloud cover kept us warm. Yesterday the wind started blowing all day long and beat the heck out of my tomato plants. Personally I didn't notice much after 2:30. Was kind of busy with the biggest upset in the NFL. (YEAH!!!) I promise not to make this a Seahawk brag report. This morning, all is calm, and cold. Back to 57 degrees at 6AM on the dock. The satellite shots show clear cool skies for the rest of the week.
Water: Pretty much 70 degree water all around us, with the cooler 65 water up towards Finger Banks. The warmer weather patterns that came up from the south pushed the cooler waters north. The guys were reporting blue water, but you had to go out 35 – 40 miles to find or stay close to home.
Bait: Mackerel, Caballito and assorted and sundry other larger baits were the normal $3 per bait. There were some Sardinas at the usual $25 per scoop.
FISHING
Billfish: Same as last week. Although I did hear of a few small blue marlin released this past week. In the 150 to 200 lb range. This past week was probably the slowest for Striped Marlin that I have seen in some time. There were fish out there, but for some reason, perhaps the cold water, they did not want to bite. A few boats were able to get a released fish or two, but they were few and far between. For the most part, seeing the fish was the best anglers were able to do.
Salmon: haha not really
Yellowfin Tuna: Tuna fishing did not change in the past week, it was still a hit-or-miss proposition as the fish moved a lot. But the ones they did find were on the Pacific side. If you did make the 35-40 mile run to find the blue water, then you had to find them, they were footballs and mixed with bonita. The blue waters closer to shore held bigger 20-30 lb yellowfin, but you had to fight with lots more boats to get any. First boat on the school got lots, as more boats showed up, they only got a few .Then there is always the guy that has to run through the middle of the school to get one fish and break up the bite for everyone.
Dorado: We are almost ready to hang it up as far as trying to target Dorado this new year. There are still fish out there as many boats have shown this week, but there are no consistent concentrations to be found. That is not to say there are none out there, a few boats came in with great catches this week, some with four of five fish to 30 pounds, some with just a couple, but most of the boats did not get any at all. Near the beach on the Cortez side, or out with the porpoise were both areas that had some Dorado, and one boat found a floating log at the 1,000 fathom line outside the 1150 area that held a nice concentration of fish, but it was gone the next day.
Wahoo: As usual this time of year, lots of Wahoo flags flying everywhere and people get excited. Then they are educated about “Mexican Wahoo” Lots of sierra, but nothing really big, mostly 2-5 lbs.
Inshore: Lots of sierra biting inshore and always the go to if the yellowtail and amberjack aren't biting. Even some of the cruisers are stopping for sierra, just to make sure their clients catch something! I asked about what's biting up around Gordo Banks and I was told Sierra, sierra, sierra. The San Jose boats are all coming down here for the better bite in the Pacific.
Notes: Happy Ending Bar is getting cleaned up by employees and tourists alike.
Saturday, Jan 15th at 3:30PM, there will be a memorial Service for long time Cabo resident and fish chick “Little” Carol Chriss who left us this past ChristmasThe boat Winner 7 will be taking her son out to spread ashes. Mike is planning on have his Catamaran over there also for everyone who wants to join in. Celebration of Life at Baja Cantina afterwards.
If you are getting your own fishing licenses, you must have pesos!!! The people that sell the licenses around the marina can no longer take dollars from anyone. Get pesos the day before! No one has change for your US $100 at 6AM. 140 pesos per person per day, 290 pesos for weekly and 540 pesos for a yearly. Unless of course you buy them on Friday, that guy doesn't add a surcharge.
My music for today is Tawny snoring at my feet, but only half asleep, she knows it's beach day!
And yes this is Mary writing the report. George is on a delivery and will be back tomorrow!
If you can't wait until Monday, the blog is updated on Sundays! Available only at
http://captgeo.wordpress.com/
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