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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 Nov 04, 2025
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Sep 2, 2014; 12:09AM - *GORDO BANKS PANGAS* San jose del cabo August 31, 2014
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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
August 31, 2014
Anglers –
The week started off with weather changes on Sunday, the arrival of high
swells created by Hurricane Marie, this forced closure of all water
activities for three days. Swells generated by this powerful category five
hurricane reached its peak on Sunday evening and through Monday, nearing 20
ft. high, causing some erosion problems, but overall everyone felt
fortunate that this storm system stayed several hundred miles off to the
west and did not cause much damage. Isolated thundershowers were recorded,
heavy downpours at times, lightening strikes, with some power outages.
Schools were all closed on Monday as a precaution
Skies are now clear and sportfishing fleets are back in operation. Just
before the swell arrived, on Saturday, the fishing action had improved and
the season’s first super cow sized yellowfin tuna was weighed in late that
same day, just before the Port was closed the following morning. The tuna
was caught by a group of three La Playita pangeros, they were trolling a
larger sized live skipjack for bait on the Outer Gordo Bank and after a two
hour battle landed the monster, which officially weighed in at 335 lb. So
the cows have returned and since the reopening of the port there have been
several more landed, mainly by the hard core La Playita pangeros, several
very large fish were lost after extended battles. Sardinas were found
schooling again around the Puerto Los Cabos Marina Jetty and these baitfish
were the bait of choice for the better chances of all around action.
Fleets reported finding mixed sizes of yellowfin tuna off of Santa Maria,
Red Hill, Gordo Banks and Iman. The Iman was producing football sized
yellowfin and another grade of tuna in the 40 to 70 pound class, a bit
finicky, hitting best on lighter tackle, then the problem is fighting
heavier fish that are hooked on too light of tackle. The chance at the cows
has been on the Gordo Banks, with fish reportedly holding on both the Inner
and Outer Gordo Banks. Heavy dive boat pressure has been a negative factor
on the Gordo Banks.
The majority of the dorado that are now being encountered are smaller
juvenile sized fish, most of them females, which should actually be
released and given a chance to mature and spawn in order to help maintain a
quality fishery. A major problem is getting the people interested in
thinking about the future, instead of the mentality of what they can get
for today. Officials would be smart to enforce a temporary closure of all
dorado fishing until a later date in the Fall.
An occasional wahoo being reported, but there was more activity from these
fish before the recent storm passed through. Billfish action has been
spread out as well. Best bet has been to target the yellowfin of varying
sizes. Not much reported off the bottom, an occasional dogtooth snapper or
cabrilla. No inshore action to speak of, as is normal for late summer.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 47 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
1 striped marlin, 4 sailfish, 170 yellowfin tuna, 20 bonito, 8 cabrilla, 76
dorado, 2 wahoo and 4 dogtooth snapper.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Aug 25, 2014; 01:07AM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo August 24, 2014
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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
August 24, 2014
Anglers –
For adventurous travelers who enjoy humid tropical weather conditions, this
is a great time to visit the Southern Baja Peninsula. Daily forecasts have
called for chances of scattered thunder showers, which has been the pattern
throughout August, though most of the rainfall recoded, fell over the
mountainous regions and the majority of the time in the direction to the
north of San Jose del Cabo. Conditions can change rapidly, this past week
there were threatening skies at times, but only isolated showers, winds
were light and ocean conditions were comfortable. Moderate swells at the
present time, though early next week a large storm swell is predicted to
impact the area and waves could be as big as twenty feet. This storm surge
is being produced by Tropical Storm Marie, which is now positioned to the
southwest, rapidly gaining strength and will be passing close by, offshore
of Cabo San Lucas. High chances of rainfall in the coming days as well, be
prepared to button down the hatches, because this is the time of year that
when it does rain, it can really pour.
Good news that more schooling sardinas have been appearing, smaller sized
baitfish were being found around the marina jetty, now larger sized
sardinas are schooling inshore off of Red Hill, it has been a long time
since these baitfish have even been found in local waters. It is hard to
say what the arrival of the big swell will do, likely scatter these
baitfish. Water clarity has been clear and blue, this will likely become
stirred up closer to shore. Ocean temperatures are ranging from 84 to 88
degrees, warmest zone towards Los Frailes.
Sportfishing fleets have been only moderately busy, as the epic bite off of
Southern California is keeping anglers busy. This past week there were a
variety of gamefish encountered, most common targeted species were
yellowfin tuna, dorado, billfish, snapper and wahoo. With the availability
of live sardinas this opened up more options for finding cooperative
schools of yellowfin tuna, anglers found the most consistent grounds to be
off of Palmilla and Red Hill, though sometimes these schools of tuna would
sleep in and only bite mid day, Santa Maria and the Gordo Banks also were
holding yellowfin tuna. Fly lining sardinas on lighter tackle was the best
method to entice action. The majority of these yellowfin tuna were of the
football sized variety, 5 to 12 lb., though there was a larger grade of 40
to 55 lb. tuna being found on the Gordo Banks, though this bite was even
more unpredictable and the fish became even increasingly shy as more and
more dive boat operators are chartering group tours that anchor and
concentrate on these already heavily pressured fragile fishing grounds.
Dorado action was more concentrated to the north of Punta Gorda, small to
medium sized fish, striking baitfish and trolled lures. Wahoo became a bit
more active in this same region, even though water temperatures are higher
than their preferred preference. Wahoo in the 20 to 40 pound class were
striking on rigged ballyhoo, as well as trolled Rapalas, no big numbers,
but a couple of charters did account for up to a pair of nice wahoo, that
is always a bonus.
Best bottom action recently has been for the chance at hooking into a heavy
dogtooth snapper, now holding on the shallow to medium depth rocky high
spots, including the Gordo Banks, Iman and La Fortuna. Currents have been
swift, which does make this style of drift fishing more difficult.
There has been a variety of billfish now found in local waters, namely
striped, blue and black marlin, as well as sailfish. Some offshore charters
had as mainly as three of four fish, striped marlin and sailfish being the
most common, but also some blues and blacks lurking, this is the time of
year when some of the biggest marlin are encountered. As anglers Vern and
Gerry Eickhorn, from Canada, will attest to. The Eickhorn’s were fishing
aboard the super panga “Killer II” with skipper Chame Pino, when they were
trolling a live skipjack on the Gordo Banks around 10 a.m., they hooked
into a huge black marlin that they battled, along with other additional
back up help for some 12 hours while using 80 pound tackle, the group was
never able to get the giant fish alongside the boat, it would stay just far
enough away for anyone to be able to grab the 20 foot leader. This was one
of those gladiator battles, addition supplies were dropping off, water,
food, etc…none of it mattered, as the fish eventually broke the line and
gained its freedom. Sure made for a good fish story though and some video
footage helped verify that the marlin was estimated to weigh in the 800
pound range.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 70 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
5 striped marlin, 12 sailfish, 280 yellowfin tuna, 9 cabrilla, 84 dorado,
15 wahoo, 15 dogtooth snapper and 4 amberjack.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Aug 18, 2014; 12:23AM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo August 16, 2014
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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
August 16, 2014
Anglers
Light crowds of visitors this past week, as many families are now busy
preparing for the start of fall school semesters. Another factor for the
limited crowds of anglers is that Southern California is now enjoying an
epic El Nino season, where they are catching yellowfin and bluefin tuna,
dorado and yellowtail, all in local waters. Weather patterns in Southern
Baja continues to be unpredictable, forecasts have called for scattered
thundershowers for much of the past two weeks, most of this activity has
been over the mountain regions in the afternoon and not on the coastline,
though there were isolated heavy showers over the coastal stretches as
well. Ocean conditions have varied from day to day, swirling seas with
increased swells, breezes from the north, east and south, then the next day
would be calm. Charter fleets were able to launch every day, though on
certain days it was wise to stay in closer proximately in case the weather
turned unfavorable. There is a newly formed Tropical Storm Karina, now
heading westward and far away from having any impact on land.
Ocean temperatures ranged from 82 to 88 degrees through most of the area,
clean blue water was found within one mile of shore, lots of schooling
skipjack now on the fishing grounds, sardinas are now being netted from the
Puerto Los Cabos Marina Jetty area, very small in size. This has been the
bait of choice for enticing the schooling football sized yellowfin tuna off
of Palmilla Point, the tuna are also now found schooling off of Punta Gorda
and La Fortuna, the key is obtaining the sardinas, this is a limited
resource that really needs to see Government restrictions enforced in order
to maintain a sustainable fishery.
This week local San Jose del Cabo fleets found action close by, with
Palmilla Point being one of the more productive spots, anglers were fly
lining live sardinas for yellowfin tuna in the 6 to 14 lb. class., some
days there were quite a few skipjack to deal with, other times smaller
sized schools of dorado would appear and to keep things interesting there
were chances at hooking into a wahoo, striped marlin of sailfish. Hard to
predict the exact time of day that this inshore action would be best, one
morning it would be very early when the fish were most active, then the
very next day they would not get going until 11 a.m., who’s to figure why?,
current, tides, barometer, full moon, a lot of factors involved.
The Gordo Banks is starting to come alive, with cow sized yellowfin tuna
making an appearance, but not in the biting mood yet, another grade of tuna
in the 40 to 60 lb. range was also holding on these grounds and several of
these were landed, early in the day striking on chunked skipjack or
sardinas for bait. A handful of wahoo strikes off of these banks as well
and at times the dogtooth snapper were in the mix. These grounds are coming
alive, anything could happen on any given day. A black marlin estimated to
be in the 450 lb. range was battled for two hours from a local panga, only
to have the hook pull free as the fish was near the boat.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 69 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
2 striped marlin, 8 sailfish, 320 yellowfin tuna, 5 cabrilla, 8 jack
crevalle, 66 dorado, 7 wahoo, 12 dogtooth snapper, 18 red snapper, 150
skipjack and 6 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Aug 12, 2014; 04:28PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo August 10, 2014
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric Brictson
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GORDO BANKS PANGAS
San Jose del Cabo
August 10, 2014
Anglers
Southern Baja California official kicks off Tournament season with the
Bisbee event out of East Cape now going on. Weather patterns remain very
tropical, no new storm systems threatening at this time, though forecasts
have anticipated scattered thundershowers throughout this week, so far we
have seen little moisture fall near the the coast, though over the
mountainous terrain they have received more and at times some serious hard
rainfall with lightning and thunder, though in isolated areas. Very warm
temperatures persist, though we have felt slight relief with increased
cloudiness and breezes from the south, off the Pacific.
Swells increased some and then dropped off just as quickly. Ocean water
temperatures are now averaging in the upper 80’s throughout the region.
Water clarity varied, southern breezes will push in off colored currents,
though for the most part blue water has been found within a few miles of
shore, which is normal for the summer season.
Bait situation has consisted of limited amounts of sardinas, these
schooling baitfish are just moving back in to the Puerto Los Cabos Marina
jetty area, small juvenile sized, but have been the ticket to getting into
a local yellowfin tuna bite that has developed off of Red Hill and
Palmilla, football sized tuna, found close to shore, striking on the live
fly lined baits. Hard to say how long this bait resource will hold up, they
should actually close this zone from commercial netting of these baitfish,
in order to give them a chance to mature, spawn and reproduce, a lot easier
said than done, when anglers are relying on these baitfish to provide them
action for larger gamefish and particularly when these inshore tuna do want
to hit on any other offering besides these small sardinas..
The bite for the larger grade of yellowfin tuna continues far to the north,
near Los Frailes, not within range of a normal charter from San Jose del
Cabo, actually closer for the East Cape fleets, though a handful of
charters from the San Jose are making the long trek, be prepared for gas
surcharges if wanting to fish those grounds, where tuna ranging up to 50
pounds have been accounted for. Limited sardinas being offered and more
charters were looking for slabs of giant squid, sold at times in local
super markets.
Dorado schools were scattered, mostly small sized fish, lots of females,
good practice to always release these juvenile dorado to give them a chance
to mature, reportedly these popular gamefish are one of the more rapidly
growing fish, gaining five pounds per month.
This past week these fish became scarcer, though at times were found in
schools, striking on lures and various baits. Wahoo remain in the area,
though often become more sluggish in such warm ocean conditions, every day
we are seeing one or two of these speedsters mixed in the fish counts.
Trolled lures accounted for more of the wahoo strikes, though a handful
were hooked into for anglers using chunk or whole baits.
Bottom action remain slow, an occasional snapper, cabrilla, amberjack, with
more triggerfish than anything else. A few dogtooth snapper found off the
rock piles, deep water grouper and snapper keeping commercial fleet busy,
rapid currents making this a tough option for drift fishing. Best chance at
hooking into fish while using yo-yo style jigs has been very early in the
morning, after the sun comes up this action completely comes to a
standstill.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 69 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
1 blue marlin, 6 striped marlin, 9 sailfish, 175 yellowfin tuna, 6
cabrilla, 12 jack crevalle, 36 dorado, 11 wahoo, 3 dogtooth snapper, 11 red
snapper, 4 amberjack,10 bonito and 2 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Jul 20, 2014; 10:33PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo July 20, 2014
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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
July 20, 2014
Anglers –
The summer season continues to progress along, crowds of visitors remain at
moderate levels, weather patterns are becoming increasingly more humid and
tropical, presently we have no new tropical storms that have developed off
of mainland Mexico, where ocean water temperatures are ripe for development
and we are seeing local thunderstorms arise practical each afternoon over
the foothills and north of the International Airport.
Oceans swells have resided, winds have been variable, some days gusting
from the east and then the south. Overall the fishing action was scattered
and spotty from day to day. Very strong southern current sweeping through,
this will put baitfish down and cause fish to go into the lock jaw mode.
Water temperatures are ranging from 85 degrees and even warmer throughout
the region, definitely no talk of the water being too cold now, in fact it
is the opposite, warmer than what would be considered ideal.
San Jose del Cabo charters are finding the most productive grounds to be
north of Punta Gorda, from Iman to Vinorama and further towards Los
Frailes. In the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel area los carnaderos (bait
fishermen) are finding caballito and moonfish, ballyhoo have been another
option. There have been schools of sardinas moving into the Los Frailes
region the past couple of weeks and they are being vigilantly watched over
by locals and authorities alike. Limited amounts of these prized evasive
baitfish, which have been absent from local waters for over six months, are
now being netted and hauled by commercial pangeros towards the Vinorama
grounds, a handful of San Jose del Cabo charters have obtained these baits
and are using them to entice the yellowfin tuna which have been schooling
with black skipjack within a couple miles of shore north of Vinorama. The
tuna are quality fish, averaging 30 to 40 pounds, these fish were coming up
to chummed sardinas sporadically and there were many more skipjack than
tuna being hooked into, in fact in these shallow waters the triggerfish
were aggressive and had to be dealt with as well. This sardina situation is
very limited and day to day as to when there might be a complete shut down
by authorities. The handful of charters making the long run and being able
to secure sardinas did accountant for one, two, three and in some cases
even more of the yellowfin, having to battle a couple of dozen skipjack in
the mean time.
There were several stories of large sized hammerhead sharks, up to ten feet
long, having followed in hooked tuna and then taking advantage of an easy
meal at the fishermen’s loss. Dorado were found on the same grounds as
well, most of them were smaller sized, though a few larger bulls up to 40
lb. were mixed in. On occasion anglers ran across large schools of juvenile
dorado, this would be great fly rod catch and release action.
Off the bottom, the strong current made for very fast drift fishing with
limited results, only a few snapper, triggerfish, amberjack, bonito and
cabrilla being accounted for, this was a early morning bite on yo-yo jigs
and bait and dependant on fluctuating currents.
Billfish action included blue and striped marlin, as well as sailfish, no
numbers to speak of, scattered action, found by trolling lures and bait,
within several miles of shore, do not have to venture far offshore this
time of year, though with swell and current activity, inshore clarity can
become murky, usually within several miles anglers can find blue water
conditions.
Inshore there was spotty action for roosterfish, jack crevalle and a few
dogtooth snapper, though with the lack of schooling mullet along the
shoreline, this bite has been sub par, considering this is peak season for
these mentioned species.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 58 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
34 yellowfin tuna, 5 sailfish, 8 striped marlin, 8 amberjack, 9 cabrilla,
13 jack crevalle, 155 dorado, 2 dogtooth snapper, 16 bonito, 350 black
skipjack and 6 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Jul 11, 2014; 11:03PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo July 4, 2014
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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
July 4, 2014
Anglers –
Light crowds of visitors have been greeted by tropical weather patterns as
we start the new month of July. Very humid conditions now, created by the
recent development of Tropical Storm Douglas, which followed a path off to
the northwest. This system brought scattered moderate to heavy
thundershowers across Southern Baja on Thursday morning, many outdoor
activities were cancelled, including local sportfishing charters, though by
mid-day skies had cleared and presently the forecast appears more
favorable. This is now the season where it is hard to predict the weather
more than a couple of days ahead of time.
Swells increased with this distant tropical disturbance, but diminished as
the storm’s distance away increased. Ocean conditions were calm, with a
rolling swell, no wind to speak of in recent days. Water temperatures were
80 degrees or warmer throughout the region and clean blue water was found
close to shore.
Anglers were able to find a mix of caballito, moonfish, as well as some
mullet on most days and there was reports of sardinas now schooling in the
vicinity of Los Frailes and further north, so that is an optimistic sign.
Most common species being found out of the San Jose del Cabo area have been
school sized dorado, at times very abundant and other days a bit more
scattered. Majority of these dorado were juvenile sized, particularly the
ones found close to shore, a handful of larger dorado up to 20 pounds have
been encountered further offshore. Anglers were having good success on the
schooling fish while trolling with hoochie type lures and strip baits.
Only an occasional yellowfin tuna accounted for out of Puerto Los Cabos,
though charters making the long haul from the East Cape, where they have
been able to find live sardinas, have found decent action on tuna in the 15
to 30 pound class near the San Luis Bank, these fish want the sardinas and
have been hard to entice on anything else.
Roosterfish were found patrolling the shoreline, though the action has been
hit or miss, recent trend showed these jacks more active early in the day,
so far we have not seen the epic bite that there was last season. Jack
crevalle were numerous along the shoreline and a few sierra were found as
well. Surf fishing anglers have reported some quality sized snook to over
40 pounds during the last few week period, these prized fish hit on various
baitfish as well as a variety of artificial casting lures.
Near Iman, to the San Luis and Vinorama high spots there was good action
early in the morning for red snapper (huachinango), with a mix of some
amberjack, cabrilla, bonito and triggerfish. Anglers did well early in the
day on yo-yo jigs, as well as drift fish whole and cut baits, though this
action tampered way off as the sun rose higher in the sky. This was time
when most charters were shifting attention to trolling offshore waters for
possible dorado and billfish. There was a mix of sailfish, striped and blue
marlin now on local grounds, though not in any significant numbers, as more
bolito and skipjack begin to congregate on the local fishing grounds we
expect action to become more consistent.
Still have not seen any big inshore run of dogtooth snapper, sporadic
action only, though this is the month when this action can be at its best,
before moving to offshore structure later on in the summer.
Local panga charter fleets launching out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent
out approximately 46 charters for the week, with anglers accountjng for a
fish count of: 3 sailfish, 4 striped marlin, 3 yellowfin tuna, 26 bonito,
55 red snapper (huachinango), 13 amberjack, 18 roosterfish, 3 sierra, 225
dorado (many juveniles released), 10 cabrilla and 18 triggerfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Jun 13, 2014; 01:30PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo June 13, 2014 Anglers –
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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
June 13, 2014
Anglers –
NEXT FISH REPORT WILL NOT BE POSTED UNTIL FIRST WEEK OF JULY
Last week we saw a cold Pacific current sweep in as far north as Los
Frailes, this dropped ocean water temperatures down into the 68 degree
range, relentless south winds contributed to turning the water a greenish
color and scattered the fishing action to few and very far between. The
climate was a very pleasant though, as the cool Pacific air was refreshing.
Now once again we have had a complete turnaround of conditions, with the
months second major Hurricane forming, Cristina developed off the mainland
and is presently following a path which will bring the system within a few
hundred miles of the Southern Baja Peninsula. This has pushed ocean
temperatures back up to 82 degrees, clean blue water close to shore and
high swells of 8 to 10 feet. Coinciding with the full moon, there was a
very high surge on the evening tide. Looks like this is all the impact we
will feel, high humidity, some increasing late afternoon southern wind and
a small chance of isolated showers, high swells are forecast to taper off
starting on Saturday.
So we do have great water conditions now, though swells are high and the
current is swift, still making for spread out sporadic action. Though there
were encouraging signs in the past couple of days, a variety of fish are in
the area and we have seen the roosterfish bite pick back up after having
come to a standstill, anglers trolling with caballito and moonfish had
great action on roosterfish to 50 pounds along the beach stretches north of
Punta Gorda. After this swell resides it should be a great time to target
the inshore dogtooth snapper action. We have noticed more mullet activity
along the shore, this attracts more of the inshore gamefish and this is big
amberjack season as well. A handful of very impressive fish were landed by
beach anglers in recent days, including snook weighing 45 pounds and a few
halibut, as large as 30 pounds, not a common local catch, but the way this
whole year has been, nothing is out of the question. Beach anglers were
using mullet and various casting lures for this action.
Dorado became more active with the warmer waters, though not being found in
big numbers, there are some nice sized bulls in the area, one dorado
pushing fifty pounds was reported and we saw several others in the 20 to 30
pound class. Dorado were encountered close to shore, as well as offshore,
striking lures and bait. Marlin bite was more scattered, no real
concentrations now, though they are being seen throughout the zone, not
always hungry, we have heard that the striped marlin bite off the East Cape
now is very good, though they are having a hard time finding other species
in that area, only roosterfish and marlin.
Yellowfin tuna are making a presence on the outside of Cabo San Lucas,
traveling with porpoise and also tuna in the 20 to 40 pound range are
hanging around north of Punta Gorda, several were hooked into on rapalas
and slow trolling larger baits.
Bottom action came to halt with the persistent windy conditions, but as
this pattern settled anglers were returning to that option, only limited
success on snapper, cabrilla or amberjack, a few yellowtail in the 30 pound
range were accounted off of the Gordo Banks in the cold water, yo-yo jigs
off the bottom was the method that produced these yellows, that was a one
day deal though.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 91 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
5 yellowtail, 19 yellowfin tuna, 3 striped marlin, 1 halibut, 18
amberjack,14 cabrilla, 8 sierra, 16 jack crevalle, 44 dorado, 6 dogtooth
snapper, 66 bonito and 22 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Jun 8, 2014; 03:29PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo June 9, 2014
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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
June 9, 2014
Anglers –
We are in the later part of the spring season, with moderate sized crowds
of tourists now visiting, this is always the time when families are busy
finishing school semesters, preparing for graduations, summer adventures,
etc. Local weather patterns made a complete circle this past week. We had
just seen the season’s first Hurricane form to the south of Cabo San Lucas,
Amanda, this system pushed tropical humid air over the Southern Baja,
stormy conditions which never amounted to much, besides some higher ocean
swells, in recent days we are feeling strong southerly winds push cooler
Pacific air and ocean currents in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. There
is much marine moisture, creating morning clouds, being swept away by
gusting winds later in the day.
Ocean water temperature in the past couple of days has plummeted from 80
plus degrees, to 72 degrees throughout the inshore region from Cabo San
Lucas to Los Frailes, some 10 to 15 miles offshore of Vinorama to La
Frailes is where the 80 degree temperature break is now lurking. This
colder current is a dirty greenish color as well, unfavorable conditions
contributed to scattered much of the baitfish and gamefish from this zone.
As conditions settle, conditions will rebound, as this is the time of year
where things can change quickly overnight.
There are many species of gamefish that have been encountered in local
waters this spring, though none of the species have been particularly
abundant, with the exception of the offshore action for the striped marlin,
which at times was very close to shore, then further out, this action has
been very consistent for nearly two months, just tapering off this past
week, as food sources migrate so do the gamefish. Sailfish, thrasher shark
and scattered dorado were also found on these same billfish grounds. No big
schools of dorado, mostly solitary fish, a couple of bulls up to 40 pounds
were accounted for this week, this is now the season for the larger bulls.
Before the ocean water turned over and became greenish throughout the
inshore zone, we were seeing a handful of yellowfin tuna and wahoo in the
fish counts, most of these fish were taken while trolling the grounds from
San Luis to Vinormama, some fish weighing near fifty pounds were landed. We
should see this action return as the ocean conditions clean. The activity
will be determined by what exactly happens with these strong Pacific
currents, something we deal with every year at this time.
Roosterfish are dominating the inshore scene, fish to over fifty pounds
were landed this week, trolling with live moonfish has been the ticket to
taking a monstrous strike. Changing conditions slowed this action and
pushed it further to the north, but surely will shift back our direction
soon enough. Still waiting to see schools of mullet move in along local
beach stretches, their migration is late this year, last year we never saw
mass abundance of mullet, though it sure was an epic year for big numbers
of larger sized roosterfish, these are prized fighting, unique gamefish,
not known for eating quality, with limited habitat, should be protected,
caught and released with care, in order to mature, reproduce and fight
another day.
Bottom action has produced mixed success and recent winds had shut that
option down, though there have been some impressive specimens of dogtooth
snapper, amberjack and cabrilla accounted for, spotty limited numbers
though, drift fishing with bait or working the yo-yo jigs were best
options.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 82 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of: 2 thrasher shark, 8 yellowfin tuna, 9
striped marlin, 5 sailfish, 7 wahoo, 10 amberjack,13 cabrilla, 12 sierra,
24 dorado, 8 dogtooth snapper, 25 bonito and 88 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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Jun 6, 2014; 11:26AM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo June 1, 2014
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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
June 1, 2014
Anglers –
The Eastern Pacific Tropical Storm season officially began May 15 and this
past week Hurricane Amanda formed off of mainland Mexico, rapidly becoming
the most intense May cyclone ever recorded in the Eastern Pacific. Amanda
was immense, almost reaching category five strength. Luckily this storm
stayed south of the Baja Peninsula and weakened, it is now a remnant low.
This system brought humid tropical conditions, much outer storm band cloud
cover, some isolated showers, ocean swells were as high as 6 to 8 feet, but
the main impact felt in the Los Cabos area was just the high humidity,
warmer tropical weather. Winds were light and ocean conditions were very
pleasant in recent days.
Ocean currents were averaging 76 to 80 degrees, with the warmer water now
found in the direction of the Sea of Cortez, off of San Jose del Cabo and
towards Los Frailes. There are reports of more skipjack and schooling
bolito found on the offshore grounds, we have not seen the larger
concentrations of mullet along the shoreline yet, we are now in the season
where this inshore activity can break wide open on any given day. Moonfish,
caballito and ballyhoo have been the most common baitfish available from
local bait sources.
This weekend there is the traditional holiday of “Dia de la Marina” this
has always been one of the grandest celebrated events for the locals of the
La Playita community, this year’s event will include, the crowning of the
princess, late night dances and fishing tournaments for off the shore
anglers, as well as from boats. Good luck finding a parking spot though,
continued development has made this small location much more congested.
Offshore action remained very good for striped marlin, the grounds straight
off of San Jose del Cabo, from 10 to 17 miles has been the most productive
zone recently, marlin were found tailing on the surface, free jumping and
at times feeding, these fish have been feeding on squid and have been
moving accordingly, following this abundant food source. Many charters
accounted for multiple marlin days, stripers were weighing up to 140
pounds. Mixed in were thrasher sharks, readily striking on the same
moonfish and jacks for bait, even on rigged ballyhoo, these sharks have
made a strong showing this season, many were being hooked into on the same
billfish grounds, most of them were weighing in the 80 to 120 pound range.
More dorado were appearing n the fish counts, some nicer sized fish up to
25 pounds, these fish were still scattered, some charters finding several
fish and other never seeing one. Smaller schooling dorado were showing up
on the banks to the north, small juvenile sized dorado that should be
released with care so that they are able to reach maturity and maintain
healthy fish stocks.
Yellowfin tuna have been reportedly seen in different areas, most of these
were small to medium sized fish, but more often than not these fish were
not eager to strike. Only a scattering of yellowfin tuna were being
accounted for, most of these striking trolled rapalas or hoochies, weights
ranged to 30 pounds, but this was just for one fish here or there. Same
deal for wahoo, these elusive gamefish are in the area, but actually
hooking and landing one is a harder proposition, most of the wahoo we heard
about were from areas north of Punta Gorda, weights ranged to over 40
pounds.
Roosterfish dominated the inshore action, big roosters are now patrolling
the shoreline, sizes to over 50 pounds were caught and released throughout
this past week, no significant wide open numbers, but charters targeting
these jacks reported having multiple chances at predominately larger size
fish.
Anglers working the bottom structure had mixed success, accounting for
limited numbers of amberjack, dogtooth snapper, cabrilla, grouper and
bonito. A few nice snapper and ambers were landed, but these fish had to be
worked for, many other stories of heavy fish that were lost after reaching
the rocky outcroppings and cutting lines, no fooling around when hooking
into one of these brutes, immediately the hook up turns into a tug of war
battle.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 94 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of:
11 thrasher shark, 8 hammerhead shark, 34 yellowfin tuna, 41 striped
marlin, 12 wahoo, 3 sailfish,24 amberjack,8 grouper,15 cabrilla, 6 sierra,
105 dorado, 9 dogtooth snapper, 40 bonito and 125 roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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May 28, 2014; 07:46PM - GORDO BANKS PANGAS San Jose del Cabo May 25, 2014
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Category: Mexico Cabo San Lucas
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Author Name: Eric Brictson
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GORDO BANKS PANGAS
San Jose del Cabo
May 25, 2014
Anglers –
The month of May is always a great time, with an all around climate,
steadily warming days, increasingly tropical feeling and many opportunities
for anglers, from offshore, bottom structure to trolling close to shore.
All this to take advantage of, crowds are now moderate, as people remain
busy, finishing school semesters, graduations, not to mention that this is
a very popular time for marriages.
Perfect time to head south and visit the Los Cabos area, in another month
the weather is much warmer and the humidity rises. Recent daytime highs
have been hovering around 90 degrees, scattered cloud cover, at times quite
tropical, on Thursday we even had some rainfall, did not amount to much,
but this was unseasonable and combined with the gusty winds from the
southwest, resulted in many anglers canceling charters for that morning,
even though by mid morning the front had moved through and the conditions
ended up just fine. Crazy weather patterns this whole year, seems like a
possible El Nino current has been developing, ocean temperature are now in
the 80 to 82 degree range off of San José del Cabo and towards Los Frailes,
even warmer outside near the Cabrillo Seamount.
Bait sources remained as they have been, live moonfish and on some days
limited caballito have been available, along with ballyhoo for rigging. On
the fishing grounds more schools of skipjack and bolito were reported and
this will be another option opening up for anglers targeting larger sized
gamefish. This is also the time we should see migrations of mullet
appearing in local waters. We have heard no good news on any resources of
sardinas being found anywhere in the Southern Baja, will be interesting to
see if we have a fall run for these sardina baitfish.
The steady bite for striped marlin which was within a couple of miles of
the marina channel entrance, slowed way down, this is where the billfish
were feeding on smaller sized squid, apparently this food source must have
moved elsewhere. Now the main action for striped marlin was 15 to18 miles
straight outside of San Jose del Cabo, in the vicinity of the 1150 Spot.
Large concentrations of marlin were found, feeding, tailing, free jumping,
striking more often on baitfish, either slow trolled, or drift, with
sinkers down deep, or fly lining near the surface. Many charters Accounted
for multiple billfish, even four, five or six stripers per day was not
uncommon. Sizes ranged from 80 to 130 pounds. There were quite a few
thrasher sharks on these same grounds, most weighing in the 70 to 150 lb.
range and giving anglers their best workout for their money in battling
these powerful fighters to boat side.
We have heard of the yellowfin tuna action that has developed in the Los
Frailes area, tuna ranging to over 100 pounds were found associated with
porpoise, finicky to bite at times, but consistent trolling has been
producing decent numbers for charters based out of the East Cape. Though
this action is still out of range for San Jose del Cabo charters, we are
hoping this activity shifts towards the south, to our normal San Luis, Iman
and Gordo Banks grounds. This is the time of year when anything could
happen on any given day.
Dorado remain scattered, some days there have been a handful found on the
same marlin grounds and to the north where panga fleets have been working
the various high spots, there have been schooling dorado encountered,
mostly smaller sized. Hard to say what is going on with the dorado, we have
heard reports of larger concentrations found off the East Cape as well,
this can be the typical pattern, then the action moves our direction. Some
anglers found wahoo between San Luis and Vinorama, trolling ballyhoo and
rapalas seem to have taken the majority of strikes, still lucky to get one
of these elusive fish, sizes ranged from 15 to 40 lb. Several wahoo hit on
yo-yo jigs while anglers were drifting over high spots, targeting
amberjack, snapper and grouper, which proved very hit or miss, a handful of
quality specimens were accounted for the anglers that were persistent.
Roosterfish action was found along the coastal inshore stretches, but with
the lack of any concentrations of mullet, this meant that the roosters were
scattered and the action varied from day to day where they could be found,
most of the roosterfish that did strike on trolled baits weighed in the 20
to 40 pound class.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos
Marina sent out approximately 90 charters for this past week, with anglers
accounting for a fish count of: 7 thrasher shark, 4 yellowfin tuna, 52
striped marlin, 14 wahoo, 2 sailfish,12 amberjack,9 cabrilla, 4 jack
crevalle, 8 sierra, 44 dorado, 2 dogtooth snapper, 75 bonito and 72
roosterfish.
Good fishing, Eric
--
GORDO BANKS PANGAS
Eric Brictson / Operator
619 488-1859
Los Cabos (624) 142-1147
e-mail:gordobanks@yahoo.com
WWW.GORDOBANKS.COM
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