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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 26, 2007; 12:19PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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March 24, 2007
Anglers –
This past week marked the official start of the spring season, it is always known to be transition time for the climate and weather conditions in Los Cabos were definitely unpredictable, if not unprecedented. The week started off with several days of very thick unusual early season marine fog, first moving in from the north and rolling its way all the way to Cabo San Lucas. At times it was as thick as pea soup and made navigating any type of vessel dangerous. Also particularly affected the panga fleets that rely exclusively on landmarks to position themselves on their favorite fishing areas. The fog did not reach inland, with a distinct line stopping exactly on the shoreline. During the days of fog there was practically no wind to report, but that changed as fast as the fog disappeared, on Thursday the south picked up steadily all morning and by early afternoon was blowing a nasty 30 miles per hour, this kicked up significant ocean swells and made for very uncomfortable ocean conditions for even the largest of boats. By the next morning the setting had completely calmed down, though not before the water conditions had been drastically changed, the water had been clean, with temperatures up to 73 degrees before the heavy south wind pushed in dirty green currents that dipped back down to a chilly 65 degrees.
The majority of the sportfishing action was taking place from the 95 spot to Desteladera. On most days there were sufficient supplies of mackerel, sardinas and mullet available. Early in the week the cruiser fleet reported great action for striped marlin in the area of Desteladera, the fish were found feeding on schools of mackerel and charter reported common catches of three of four billfish per day. Though this action shut down after the cold dirty water moved in, but then over the weekend showed signs of improvement as conditions were gradually improving. Very few reports of dorado or yellowfin tuna this week, but as conditions stabilize and warm back up we do expect for these species to become more prevalent once again in the daily catches.
San Jose del Cabo panga fleets took advantage of the season’s first significant run of red crabs, as these migrating pelagic langostias were found congregated on the surface on the Gordo Banks and around the area of La Fortuna. Pangueros were able to gather them in nets and use them as bait for various pargo species, particularly for the huachinango or true Pacific Red Snapper. At times the snapper were found right on the surface feeding on the crabs and could be caught by fly lining these small baits, other times light weights were used to get the baits down about fifty feet. This is not the most conventional method of fishing, but this is what these fish are now feeding on and they were not much interested in any other offerings with so many of the crabs available on the fishing grounds. A group of humpback whales were seen gorging themselves on these crustaceans that were so abundant on the Inner Gordo Banks, that is quite a sight to witness, seeing these huge mammals come all the way out of the water with their gapping mouths wide open.
Other catches included cabrilla, grouper, triggerfish, sierra, yellow snapper, barred pargo, bonito, pompano and surgeonfish.
The combined La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 69 pangas for the week, with anglers accounting for an overall fish count of: 4 striped marlin, 18 amberjack, 415 pargo (combined species), 22 cabrilla (1 golden), 9 dorado, 15 bonito, 10 surgeonfish, 8 pompano and 88 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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Mar 26, 2007; 12:17PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
March 18, 2007
Anglers -
With the official start of the spring season set to start this coming week, crowds of spring breakers were greeted with the first significant heat wave of the year, as clear sunny skies reached past the 90 degree mark and it actually felt more like summer than late winter. Ideal weather for vacationers to take advantage of all of the outdoor activities available, not to mention the world-class nightlife. The wind was light for most of the week and anglers enjoyed calm ocean conditions, water temperatures ranged from 69 degrees on the Pacific and up to 73 on the Sea of Cortez side of the Peninsula. Supplies of sardinas were plentiful, with mullet and mackerel also available.
The best area for the marlin action recently was off of the Chileno to Red Hill, anywhere from 5 to 15 miles from shore. The fish were spread out and besides the spotty action for striped marlin there was not much else going on offshore. There was action for yellowfin tuna found 25 to 40 miles offshore, mixed in with porpoise, for the most part these were smaller football sized yellowfin and hardly worth such a long distance run. There were schools of yellowfin tuna on the Inner Gordo Banks, but they were not on the bite, as they continued to gorge themselves on red crabs and squid that were congregated deep on the same fishing grounds. A handful of tuna in the 25 to 45 pound range were accounted for, striking while drifting with dead sardinas, but this definitely was not a consistent bite and anglers had to feel lucky to land just one fish.
The most productive fishing action was closer to shore off the shallow rock piles, this is where a mix of species were encountered, including yellow snapper, amberjack, cabrilla, yellowtail, surgeonfish, sierra, barred pargo and even one 20 pound wahoo was hooked on a cast lure in the same area. Panga skipper Jesus Pino found an extremely rare species floating on the surface, still alive, but apparently very weak, it was identified as a Pacific Fan Fish and could be the first such specimen found this far north in the East Pacific. Anglers reported having fair success working yo-yo iron jigs for amberjack, pargo and cabrilla, with chrome patterns being more productive.
On Saturday, March 17, there was a local Governor Cup Tournament held off of Palmilla beach. All species except marlin were included and first and third place were captured by the local Playita team of Hugo Pino and his two sons for a 96 and 50 pound grouper landed off of the Iman bank while fishing with live chihuil. Second place went to an unidentified team with a 53 pound mako shark. Overall it was a successful event, though it was unfortunate to see the local pangueros killing so many juvenile hammerhead sharks that were abundant on the Iman Bank, but were practical of newborn size, averaging about three feet or less.
The combined La Playita Panga Fleets for the week sent out approximately 78 charters and anglers accounted for: 240 pargo, 135 sierra, 38 dorado, 19 yellowfin tuna, 38 amberjack, 5 yellowtail, 18 pompano, 26 cabrilla, 8 grouper, 2 striped marlin, 1 wahoo, 28 surgeonfish, 28 hammerhead sharks and 1 Pacific Fan fish.
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 26, 2007; 12:07PM - 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
Cabo Fish Report
March 19-25, 2007
WEATHER: Last week was hot but this week was a bit more normal for the time of year with our daytime highs averaging the mid 80’s instead of the mid 90’s and the nighttime lows were in the low 70’s. Part of the reason was the frontal system that moved into the area on Wednesday evening, the winds kept the temperature down a bit. No rain arrived with the system but it did bring in a few clouds so we had partly cloudy skies in the middle of the week. We ended on a warm note as the winds died down and things warmed back up.
WATER: The strong winds brought with them cooler water from the north so we saw a decrease in the water temperature on the Pacific side of the Cape. Just on the tip of the Cape we had water temperatures that dropped as low as 62 degrees on Friday while the Pacific for the most part stayed at a fairly decent 67-68 degrees from the coast and to the west side of the San Jaime and Golden Gate Banks. On the Cortez side we had warmer water at a 71-72 degree range from the Gorda Banks and southwest to the 1150 area and it extended eastward from there. The water immediately to the south of the Cape were in the 64-67 degree range and very green. Blue water was warm water and that was the key to the fishing this week. Find the warmer water and you found the fish.
BAIT: This week the bait was 90% Mackerel with 10% Caballito and they were the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: There were two area that produced billfish this week and they were both in choppy water areas. On the Pacific side of the Cape the San Jaime produced consistently with some boats able to release up to 4 fish per day. There were also small 20-40 pound Mako sharks in the area. On the Cortez side, the Punta Gorda area up around the Los Frailles produced Striped Marlin as well as a few reported Blue Marlin. In both areas the water was choppy due to the wind, but the fish were there.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Boy, this week was a repeat of last week as far as the Tuna were concerned. There were reports of fish found on both the Cortez and the Pacific side out around 25 to 40 miles. Quite a few boats went looking for the Tuna but only a lucky few got into them. I heard of a lot of 40 mile trips that did not see any fish or found Porpoise but couldn’t get bit. The lucky boats found fish that were small, most of them were footballs in the 10-pound class, but there were a few fish that pushed the 25-pound mark. Little tuna, yes, but at least there were some found. Hopefully there will be some bigger ones in the area soon. Cedar plugs were once again the key to getting bit, feathers were not doing very well and I did hear of one boat that broke out the Rapallas and did well on the jointed lures.
DORADO: No change from last week as the lucky boats were catching one fish a day but they were good size, in the 30-40 pound class. There was no concentration of fish and they were scattered.
WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo this week.
INSHORE: Even the inshore fishing was spotty this week. There was some Sierra, a few Yellowtail and a scattering of bottom fish, but no great catches to be had.
NOTES: There was almost no change in this weeks fishing from the results we were having last week. The only difference was that the water conditions were a bit on the choppy side during the middle of the week, still fishable and as a matter of fact the boats that did go out on Wednesday and Thursday seemed to have better luck than the boats that went out in less windy conditions. Until next week, keep your fingers crossed that things improve!
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Mar 19, 2007; 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
Cabo Fish Report
March 12-18, 2007
WEATHER: It seems like summer already since the daytime temperatures have been in the mid 90’s! Our evenings have been a bit cooler with early morning readings of 65 degrees but the warm air in the daytime has been nice, especially since we have had very low humidity. The week has been a good one with partly cloudy skies and no rain, just enough wind in the afternoons to keep things from getting too warm and almost no wind at all in the mornings.
WATER: The warmer water this week was mostly on the Cortez side of the cape at an average temperature of 73 degrees while the Pacific side was averaging 70 degrees. There is a plume of cooler water running from the tip of the Cape out about 10 miles but other than that there has been no pronounced water changes. Surface conditions have been good with light chop and swells on the Pacific side and winds from the west-northwest, the Cortez side has been fairly flat with wind from the north once you get up around the Punta Gorda area. On Sunday there was a heavy fog bank to the east, it is unusual to get fog this heavy here in March so who knows what is going on, other than the water is a bit warmer and the air temps a bit higher than normal for this time of year, maybe an El Nino year?
BAIT: This week the bait was 90% Mackerel with 10% Caballito and they were the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Marlin fishing has remained slow for almost everyone but at least there are fish out there. Striped Marlin have been found this past week at the San Jaime and the Golden Gate Banks as well as inside the banks 4 miles off the beach. The high spots are concentrating the bait and the closer fish have been holding on the temperature break. While there are a lot of fish out there the bite is still slow, probably due to the massive amounts of squid in the area. Almost every fish that has been caught has spit up lots of squid. The water is starting to warm up and there was a report of a Blue Marlin being hooked up at the San Jaime bank this week, 7 jumps and then a spit hook on a fish estimated at 300 pounds.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: Tuna were scarce once again but there were reports of fish found on both the Cortez and the Pacific side out around 25 to 40 miles. Quite a few boats went looking for the Tuna but only a lucky few got into them. I heard of a lot of 40 mile trips that did not see any fish or found Porpoise but couldn’t get bit. The lucky boats found fish that were small, most of them were footballs in the 10-pound class, but there were a few fish that pushed the 25-pound mark. Little tuna, yes, but at least there were some found. Hopefully there will be some bigger ones in the area soon. Cedar plugs were once again the key to getting bit, feathers were not doing very well and I did hear of one boat that broke out the Rapallas and did well on the jointed lures.
DORADO: Lucky boats were catching one fish a day but they were good size, in the 30-40 pound class. There was no concentration of fish and they were scattered.
WAHOO: I did not hear of any Wahoo this week.
INSHORE: Even the inshore fishing was spotty this week. There was some Sierra, a few Yellowtail and a scattering of bottom fish, but no great catches to be had.
NOTES: One item of note about this past week was the number of Mako sharks that have been caught on the Pacific side. There appears to be a concentration of them on the San Jaime Bank, but they are small fish in the 20-40 pound range. Unfortunately they are very good eating so the boats hooking them up have kept almost all of these small fish. Until next week, keep you fingers crossed that we will have tight lines!
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Mar 12, 2007; 11:03AM - 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
Cabo Fish Report
March 5-11, 2007
WEATHER: We had mostly sunny skies this week with just a few overcast days, and they were just overcast in the mornings. Our daytime highs were in the mid 80’s while the nighttime lows were in the mid 60’s. No rain of course and the winds were mixed with the prevailing winds from the northwest at 10-15 knots, but just in the mid day, they died off in the evenings.
WATER: On the Pacific side of the Cape we had water at 72 degrees from the shore to five miles out, then there was a band of cool water at 68 degrees with a strong hint of green pushing toward the south in a band that was approximately 10 miles wide. To the west of that cool band the water warmed up again to 73-74 degrees. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water was almost uniformly 71-72 degrees from the shoreline to out past the Cabrillo seamount and it had just the slightest tinge of green to it. The strong temperature and color break that we had last week just off of the Punta Gorda area has spread apart a bit and drifted or been pushed to the north and is now in the East Cape area.
BAIT: This week the bait was 90% Mackerel with 10% Caballito and they were the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The week started just the same as last week ended, spotty Marlin fishing everywhere. Thankfully things picked up as we ended the week with the fish fairly close to home and starting to bite again. On Saturday we had three boats out and they all hooked up to Marlin with one boat in by 10am having released two Marlin, one client fighting a Striper on the fly for 45 minutes before breaking him off and the other boat releasing one fish. They are fairly close to shore with all these fish within that warm water band on the Pacific side close to shore. I heard tales of a Blue Marlin being caught this week, it was reported to have been in the 450-pound range but I did not see the fish myself. At least things are happening again!
YELLOWFIN TUNA: The Tuna were still scarce this week for most of the boats going offshore, but there was a decent bite on smaller fish between 10-20 pounds on the Cortez side up between Chileno and San Jose. They were biting on Sardines and were close to the shore, for the most part no any farther than 3 miles out. The key was to have plenty of the Sardines to chum with then to drift with line ones pinned to the hook. The Gorda Banks, specially the Inner Gorda, were also delivering a few fish with the same methods.
DORADO: The Dorado bite is still off since the water is cool, but there are a few being found out there. Once again they are being caught in the warm water band close to the beach on the Pacific side far more often than elsewhere.
WAHOO: There was a little bit of Wahoo action this week reported from the Gorda Banks area but that was all that I heard about.
INSHORE: Inshore was definitely the way to go earlier in the week, as the offshore fishing was so spotty. Anglers scored well on Sierra and on Pargo to 15 pounds around the rocks. African and Gaff-top-sail Pompano were bonuses and the use of chum definitely increased the odds of hooking up to them. A few Dorado were caught inshore and anglers fishing cut bait on the bottom did fairly well on smaller Grouper to 10 pounds.
NOTES: Thank goodness the offshore fishing improved this weekend. Now if only the Yellowfin start to show again things will be fine. The Gray whales have almost disappeared but there are still some Humpbacks offshore. Until next week, tight lines!
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Mar 5, 2007; 07:04PM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
March 4, 2007
Anglers -
Moderate crowds of vacationers are now traveling to the Los Cabos area, they have been greeted with clear skies and high temperatures in the upper 70s, ideal weather as spring is just around the corner. The wind did blow predominately from the north and this limited some of the options offshore for anglers, but with most of the consistent action being found in the more protected inshore waters, this did not cause too much of an inconvenience. Water temperatures ranged from 69 to 71 degrees and in recent days the clarity has improved, especially in the direction of the Sea of Cortez where a greenish current had swept in. Bait supplies varied from day to day as to what was available, with the preferred offshore baits including caballito and mackerel, then for the smaller gamefish closer to shore it was the sardinas that proved to be more productive. Whales were prevalent throughout the area and should be hanging around in local waters into April. Many pesky sea lions are also being seen closer to shore, at times following boats around to see what easy prey they can find.
Sportfishing fleets were concentrating their efforts from Chileno, the 95 and 1150 spots, offshore of San Jose del Cabo and outside of the Gordo Banks. Striped marlin were found spread out anywhere from 5 to 25 miles from shore, by the end of the week most of the stripers were moving further out, in the 10 to 20 mile range. Fish were striking on trolled lures and bait, though anglers dropping back or casting with live baits reported a greater percentage of hook ups.
Yellowfin tuna action was slow throughout most of the region, with only a few reports of tuna up to 30 pounds found traveling with porpoise further offshore, one productive spot was some 20 to 30 miles straight out from Cabo San Lucas, but at this time there was not a consistent bite. There were yellowfin tuna seen on the Gordo Banks, but they would not bite, only a handful were accounted for the week, apparently they are filled up on the plentiful squid and red crabs that were found deep on the same fishing grounds.
San Jose del Cabo Panga fleets concentrated their efforts closer to shore, from Palmilla to Iman. This is where they found a mix of pargo, cabrilla, grouper, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, roosterfish and bonito. The numbers of fish accounted for was not great, but there were some quality specimens taken. Drift fishing with various baits over shallow water rocky areas was producing and anglers also reported varied success while jigging with yo-yo iron in waters from 120 to 170 feet deep. Early in the week there was a great bite for yellowtail off of Palmilla, but it quickly phased out as the fish apparently migrated out of the area, the yellows were readily striking on jigs and averaged 12 to16 pounds. A few huachinango are appearing in the fish counts, but we still have not seen any wide open red crab surface action for them, that could happen at any time, it is always unpredictable.
The few dorado being found have been of nice size and close to shore, at times seen chasing baitfish right in the surf line and if anglers were at the right place they could cast a bait and be hooked up.
After showing up in big numbers last week, the inshore sierra became scattered and we are now waiting for another wave of fish to move in. A few more roosterfish are starting to appear, but most of them were small, we look for this action to improve in the coming month. It is also time to start searching out the spots where the pompano annually congregate, as this is typically the time when they show up.
The La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 68 panga charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a combined catch of; 72 sierra, 34 Mexican Bonito, 31 dorado, 2 striped marlin, 11 yellowfin tuna, 22 yellowtail, 210 pargo, 32 cabrilla, 12 pompano, 45 triggerfish, 8 roosterfish and 26 amberjack.
Good Fishing, Eric
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson
Owner/Operator
800 4081199
Los Cabos 1421147
ericgordobanks@yahoo.com
www.gordobanks.com
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Mar 5, 2007; 09:57AM - 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
Cabo Fish Report
February 26-March 4, 2007
WEATHER: The skies finally cleared up this week and the weather is getting warmer every day. Our daytime highs have reached into the low to mid 80’s and the nighttime lows have been in the mid 60’s for the most part. The winds have been shifting almost every day wit the majority of the time form the northwest but now and then coming from the southeast as well.
WATER: We had some great shots of the water temperatures at the end of the week and they changed a lot from what we were observing during the early part of the week. Up past Los Frailles on the Cortez side of the cape the water has been a cool 68 to 69 degrees and green, but as soon as you moved to the south, just to the north of the Gorda Banks, the water became blue and the temperature raised to 73 degrees. At the end of the week this warm water extended down the cape and across to the Pacific side but only ran up the Pacific coast in a band five miles from the beach for 40 miles. West of the warm water band the water dropped to 70 degrees and was slightly green.
BAIT: This week the bait was 90% Mackerel with 10% Caballito and they were the normal $2 per bait.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: Marlin fishing was really spotty this week. At the end of the week the high boats were coming in with two flags flying but most of the boats were bare on the outriggers. Out of 8 boats arriving back at the marina yesterday I saw three with Marlin flags but only one had two flags, the rest of the boats had been skunked. What action did occur happened just outside the Lighthouse on the Pacific side. A few fish were caught on lures and a few more on bait, but the fish were not really interested most of the time. Perhaps the full moon on Friday night had an effect on their feeding.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: This was another scarce species this week. A few fish were caught among scattered Porpoise well to the south. They averaged 15 pounds. There were also a few fish caught up at Gorda Banks about the same size, but I did hear rumors of one decent fish at 112 pounds coming off of chunks.
DORADO: One Dorado flag was flown for every 15 boats coming in yesterday; I guess that tells the tale.
WAHOO: I thought that the full moon would have brought in a few fish but perhaps the water is still too cool for them. Anyway, there were a few Wahoo strikes I heard of but I saw no fish landed.
INSHORE: A repeat of last week, and it looks like this was the way to fish for the past week, as almost all the action was inshore. Sierra, African Pompano, Yellowtail, Bonito, Skipjack, Jack Crevalle and an occasional Amberjack were the fish that were most commonly caught by anglers fishing from Pangas this week. Sierra were the inshore fish of the week as everyone was able to get good action from them using small hootchies in bright colors (green, a very bright green, was a favorite) as well as small Rapallas. Diamond jigs and iron slabs worked for the Yellowfin while cut bait was the ticket for good Pompano action. The Bonita, Skipjack and Jack Crevalle were all over dark colored hootchies trolled in water just a little farther off the beach.
NOTES: It was slow fishing this week here in Cabo, everyone was scratching hard to find fish. I hope it changes this coming week as I have quite a few trips on the books and I hate going for a boat ride. I realize that it happens, but it is always supposed to happen to someone else! With fingers crossed for the coming week, tight lines until the next posting.
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Feb 26, 2007; 11:45AM - 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
Cabo Fish Report
February 19-25, 2007
WEATHER: Once again we had a partly cloudy week, but the skies did clear at the end. Our daytime highs were in the high 70’s and the nighttime lows in the low 60’s. No rain this week but it sure looked like it was going to on Tuesday!
WATER: Once the clouds cleared away at the end of the week we got a decent picture of the water temperatures. The Sea of Cortez stayed a pretty uniform 71 degrees all the way out past the Cabrillo Seamount and up past Punta Gorda. On the Pacific side there was warmer water, to 73 degrees, from the San Jaime bank and to the south. The Golden Gate Bank was at 71 degrees and close to shore on the Pacific and extending to the south-southeast of the Cape for at lest 40 miles was a five to ten mile wide band of green water at 68-70 degrees.
BAIT: Locally the only bait that I saw being sold was Mackerel and they were the usual $2 per bait. There were some Sardinas available up toward San Jose at the usual $20 per scoop.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: For most of the week the Marlin action remained in the vicinity of the 95 Spot and the 1150 with most boats getting bit on live bait thrown to Marlin spotted on the surface. There were a couple of days early in the week when a concentration of feeding fish was found up close to the beach on the Pacific side but these fish moved out rapidly. Close to home there have been scattered tailing fish found but no heavy concentrations. The bite seemed to be early, if you got out a bit late there was nothing going on.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I had a couple of productive trips early in the week for Yellowfin and got into lots of porpoise that held Tuna on top of the San Jaime Banks and 10 miles to the west, at 32 miles out. Most of the fish were in the 25-pound class but we did get a couple of small 15 pound fish and a couple that went 45-50 pounds. The only lure that was consistent on them was the cedar plug, at least when the fish were marking deep on the depth sounder. When the fish popped up and started to boil they would hit anything. Later in the week a friend went and worked the same area and the fish had moved on. He said that the water was 73 degrees and blue but barren of life signs. Some boats were catching school tuna and footballs up around the Gorda Banks but that appeared to be a hit or miss thing as there were quite a few reports of boats only catching Bonita while using Sardinas for bait. A few boats caught a lot of these and then chunked them and were able to get a few of the Yellowfin to 40 pounds.
DORADO: There was no change this week in the Dorado report. Dorado continued to decline in numbers for almost everyone. There is always a lucky boat or two that manages to get onto a decent bite around floating debris and that happened to a couple of boats this week, but on the average it looked as if there were about two Dorado for every three boats. The action (what there was of it) was on the Cortez side of the Cape out around the 1150
WAHOO: A couple of boats reported getting bit off n trolling lures by Wahoo but I did not hear of anyone bringing any in.
INSHORE: Sierra, African Pompano, Yellowtail, Bonito, Skipjack, Jack Crevalle and an occasional Amberjack were the fish that were most commonly caught by anglers fishing from Pangas this week. Sierra were the inshore fish of the week as everyone was able to get good action from them using small hootchies in bright colors (green, a very bright green, was a favorite) as well as small Rapallas. Diamond jigs and iron slabs worked for the Yellowfin while cut bait was the ticket for good Pompano action. The Bonita, Skipjack and Jack Crevalle were all over dark colored hootchies trolled in water just a little farther off the beach.
NOTES: It appears that we are getting into that time of the year when the water becomes inconsistent in color and temperature. Normally that means that there will be Swordfish found on the surface so we are all hoping to start seeing a few of them soon. We were seeing large amounts of Humboldt Squid to 60 pounds feeding on red crab on the surface 10 miles offshore on the Pacific early in the week and caught a few. Great Calamari! Until next week, tight lines!
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Feb 20, 2007; 01:41AM - Gordo Banks Pangas San Jose Del Cabo
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric
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Gordo Banks Pangas
San Jose del Cabo
February 17, 2007
Anglers -
As moderate crowds of tourists continue to travel to Los Cabos they have been greeted by the typical late winter unpredictable weather, otherwise known as transition time, changing daily, a mix of warm sunshine, cool cloud cover, chilly early mornings, but comparatively very pleasant conditions compared to anywhere else in the Western Hemisphere. Last week anglers reported that the bite was improving steadily with each passing day, all this changed over the weekend, by Sunday afternoon the wind really kicked up out of the south, howling to over 20 miles per hour, this pushed in cooler and greener Pacific waters and had fishing fleets searching throughout the area for signs of activity.
Water temperatures averaged 69 to 71 degrees, which is about average for this time of year. Everyone is optimistic that with some steady warm weather that the conditions will turn more favorable quickly. Baitfish have remained plentiful, mainly a mix of sardinas and mackerel, at times the baitfish had to be searched for, but most of the time sufficient supplies were available. For the most part sportfishing fleets having been fishing in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, this is where the striped marlin action has shifted and where the all around offshore action has been most productive.
Local panga fleets have concentrated their efforts from the Inner Gordo Banks and north to the Iman. The most common daily catch has been yellowfin tuna, weighing in the 20 to 40 pound range. At times there have been large schools of tuna seen feeding in these areas, but the fish have not always been eager to cooperate with anglers offerings. The commercial pangueros have reported excellent success on afternoon outings for the last several days, with catches per panga averaging from 150 to 300 kilos of fish, which are all sold to local markets in the whole at the rate of about one dollar per pound. The actual daily catch for panga sport anglers has been more like one of two tuna and possibly a mix of few different bottom species, which have included amberjack, pargo, cabrilla, bonita and grouper. The yellowfin have been striking best on fresh sardinas, either dead or alive, while chumming and drifting over the high spots and lighter fluorocarbon leaders have proved to be more successful.
Dorado were still being found throughout the area, but the numbers were limited, as can be expected when the water temperature is near 70 degrees. Surprisingly, of the dorado that have been boated, most of them were weighing 15 pounds of over, including some bulls topping 30 pounds. Striped marlin action moved further offshore, this is where cleaner water was being found, so this was primarily for cruisers that were able to handle the rougher ocean conditions.
Perhaps the most significant event to report for this week was the construction progress on the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, the entire project has regrouped and is now working over time in order to meet extended deadlines, reach goals and be able to actually have the marina open and operational within a matter of weeks. It seems almost unbelievable that this seemingly never-ending project will finally be nearing completion. For the panga fleets still based on the beach of La Playita their operations are becoming more cramped and difficult with each passing day and everyone is hoping for the project to progress and finish as quickly as possible.
Inshore fishing has remained limited, with a scattering of sierra being found by early morning shore anglers, there were some small to medium sized roosterfish accounted for as well. Commercial shrimp boats have invaded local waters, resting inshore during the daytime and dragging their gear at night. Whale watching continues at its peak, predominately humpbacks, but also some gray whales mixed in.
Local La Playita panga fleets launching from La Playita reported approximately 64 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 2 sailfish, 9 striped marlin, 134 yellowfin tuna, 42 dorado, 28 pargo, 18 amberjack, 16 cabrilla, 12 hammerhead shark, 22 bonito and 365 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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Feb 19, 2007; 10:52AM - Cabo Bite Report
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: George Landrum
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FLY HOOKER SPORTFISHING
Captain George Landrum
gmlandrum@hotmail.com
www.flyhooker.com
Cabo Fish Report
February 12-18, 2007
WEATHER: It was partly cloudy all week and we actually had just a bit of what some people might call rain on Saturday afternoon. If you are from the Pacific Northwest you would call it slight precipitation, but it was enough to spot windshields and get the docks wet. Our daytime highs were in the low 80’s and the nighttime lows in the 60-degree range.
WATER: The cloud cover did not allow any decent water temperature images this week but at the end of the week the water was calm everywhere. At the beginning of the week the winds were blowing heavily from either the northwest or the southeast and you could always get away from the choppy conditions. On the Pacific side there were large swells early in the week but they had disappeared by the weekend. Water temperatures appeared to be much cooler from the beach to 15 miles out on the Pacific side with 64 degrees seen in the middle of the week in this area. Farther offshore the water warmed up to 74 degrees for a day or so and this was the warm water area we had been watching last report. It continued to advance toward us but as it swung past the Cape it cooled to 72 degrees and remained offshore. At 30 miles the water warmed to 74 degrees, and that was directly south of us. On the Cortez side of the Cape the water had temperatures around 70 degrees.
BAIT: Just like last week, there were Mackerel at $2 per bait and there were occasional Sardinas available up at San Jose if you were there early and they were the normal $20 per scoop. There were a few Caballito in with the mackerel but there were no large numbers of them.
FISHING:
BILLFISH: The Billfish action this week moved to the Cortez side of the Cape as is normal this time of year. With the water a little bit better color than on the Pacific side the fish seemed to be holding in the area bounded by the 95 spot, the 1150 and San Jose. Most of the fleet boats worked this area all week with mixed results. At least 40-50 boats were getting hit on trolled lures and occasionally the feeders would pop up and a few lucky boats were able to get in on the action. There appeared to be quite a few squid still in the area and as a result the lure strikes were still not very aggressive, a lot of the fish were coming unbuttoned. Tossing live baits at feeders resulted in better hook-up ratios and a few tailing fish were found as well.
YELLOWFIN TUNA: I only heard of three areas this week that held Yellowfin Tuna. One of them was the area of the San Jaime Banks early in the week. A few brave boats were able to punch through the 25-mile wide area of nasty water and get to the warmer, calmer water in that area and they found plenty of school Tuna in the area. Best results were had on cedar plugs and since there were only a few boats working them the fish stayed up and the boats did well. A friend of mine found Porpoise off of the Lighthouse ledge early in the week and managed to load up on football fish using hootchies. At the end of the week the warmer water 30 miles to the south produced Yellowfin in the 15-20 pound range for boats that got to them early.
DORADO: Dorado continued to decline in numbers for almost everyone. There is always a lucky boat or two that manages to get onto a decent bite around floating debris and that happened to a couple of boats this week, but on the average it looked as if there were about two Dorado for every three boats. The action (what there was of it) was on the Cortez side of the Cape out around the 1150
WAHOO: Once again none were caught this week that I am aware of although I am sure there were a few. The new moon on the 17th may have had something to do with this.
INSHORE: The Sierra bit started to sizzle this week with a lot of the Pangas coming in with limits of five fish each (or in some cases, more) for their anglers. Along with the Sierra came a mixed bag of inshore species including an occasional small Roosterfish. A few amberjack mad a showing as well and a decent Pargo bite was had in the rocks close to home. Yellowtail finally made a decent showing; all it took was for the water temperature to get right. Catches of 2-10 fish in the 8-25 pound class were made on jigs worked yo-yo fashion and live bait dropped down to 50 or 60 feet. The rocky points produced best on these fish for boats working water between 100-200 feet deep.
NOTES: Last week the Whales were everywhere, this week they seemed to have almost disappeared. Not really, as there are still plenty of them to be found, but the heavy concentration we saw last week seemed to have moved on up the Pacific side heading north. I have five days of fishing this coming week so hopefully I will be able to provide some more, good, updated information in the next report. Until then, listen to some classical guitar on the CD “Celebration”, a 2000 release by Kimberly Productions with Miguel De Hoyos on the guitar. Until next week, tight lines!
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