Cass Tours Fishing Report - March 17, 2014

San Jose del Cabo
Gordo Banks
Another wave of Spring Break vacationers are arriving in Los Cabos and everyone is enjoying perfect weather conditions, lows in the 60, highs in the low 80s, clear sunny skies, moderate swells and warming ocean temperatures, what else could a person ask for? Past weekend there was a heavy south blow, pushed in cooler waters from the Pacific, but these conditions quickly rebound as winds subsided and average ocean temperatures are now in the 70/72 degree range on the Pacific side of Cabo San Lucas and in the direction of San Jose del Cabo we are seeing warmer 74/76 degree currents.

This big southern blow last Sunday contributed to the large concentrations of striped marlin moving from the Pacific grounds to area just outside the Gordo Banks. Previously the billfish action had been very scattered in this area, but all of sudden the bite broke wide open, fleets from all local ports were congregating on these grounds. Striped marlin were found in big numbers, many charters having more than a half dozen strikes per trip, Multiple marlin per boat was common. The stripers were readily striking trolled lures, ballyhoo, others were seen tailing on the surface and would take live caballito, also anglers did well drift fishing deeper baits. Quite a few thrasher sharks in this area, many were hooked while drifting baits, most of these were lost, very powerful fish, they head straight down and use their extended long tail to their advantage.

Dorado numbers were limited, though some of these gamefish are being encountered each day, at times very close to shore, sizes range 5 to 20 lb. No particular hot spot to find these fish now. Wahoo were sighted free swimming on the popular local grounds, though only a handful were actually hooked into. One wahoo in the 80 lb. class was landed, hooked into on the same grounds as were the striped marlin. Yellowfin tuna were seen breezing at times near Iman to San Luis Banks, but only a few of these 15 to 25 pound tuna were hooked into, either on live caballito or on yo-yo jigs while jigging off of the rocky structure, where the main catch has been for Eastern Pacific Bonito.

The much talked about red snapper bite that occurred last red, as a result of the red crab bloom, this action dissipated quickly as the red crustaceans no longer were found drifting to the surface in masses, as during the previous week. So snapper catches were spotty, an occasional amberjack, cabrilla, grouper or yellowtail were accounted for off the various rocky high spots. The San Luis Banks, as well as times on the Gordo Banks, produced great action for the local good eating variety of bonito, ranging 4 to 10 pounds, these toothy speedsters are fun sport on light tackle.

Along the inshore beach stretches, sierra, jack crevalle were found in certain areas. Good numbers of roosterfish, up to about 12 pounds, were being found the first couple of miles towards the north of Puerto Los Cabos Marina jetty entrance. Sierra were more scattered, still no sardinas being found locally, caballito has been the steady bait source recently.

Getting to be late season now, though there are still lots of a whales being sighted in larger sized pods, these mammals are going to be starting their northerly migration soon. Sea lions are becoming more of a nuisance on the local snapper grounds, wanting to catch their share of the tasty red snapper, always easier grab hold of when the fish is trapped on a fishing line.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 104 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 2 thrasher shark, 82 striped marlin, 4 wahoo, 6 yellowfin tuna, 4 yellowtail, 26 amberjack, 480 bonito, 14 jack crevalle, 12 sierra, 26 dorado, 110 roosterfish, 14 cabrilla, 72 red snapper (huachinango) and misc. pargo..

Cabo San Lucas - Gaviota Fleet
The striper action rebounded considerably this past week and while a few fish were being caught at the Golden Gate Bank on the Pacific side, the better bite came from the 1150 Fathom spot on the Sea of Cortez side. High billfish count for the week came from the "Gaviota X", with a total of 6 releases for 2 fishing days, followed by the "Fish Cabo", reflecting 9 stripers released for 4 fishing days. There are still good numbers of fish being seen at the Golden Gate but the fish were not cooperating. It appears that the bulk of the billfish are finally starting to move into the Sea of Cortez side but given the good water temps and continued feed biomass at the Golden Gate, it will probably be awhile before the fish vacate that area. The overall fish counts for a combined total of 27 days fished reflected 32 stripers, (28 releases) 24 skipjack and 2 dorado.

Cabo Climate: Mostly sunny & warm days with an occasional cloud here & there during the week. Temps ranged from 58 nights to 88 daytime highs. Near perfect weather conditions.

Sea Conditions: Surface breezes to 13 mph, mostly from the easterly directions. Pacific side, from Golden Gate Bank, down across the Jaime Bank, temps were 73-74, pushing up to 75-76 temps from Cabo Falso and into the Sea of Cortez. Warmest waters ranged from just outside the 95 fathom spot to the 1150 fathom spot and ranged from 78-81 degrees.

Best Fishing Area: While the billfish were still at the Golden Gate Bank, they slowed up on biting and the new hot spot was the 1150 Fathom Spot, entering the Sea of Cortez side of Cabo. It's definitely the time of year when the fish typically move into the Sea of Cortez but the move has been unusually slow this year.

Best Bait/Lure: Live caballitos and slow trolled rigged ballyhoo have been the most effective method and the ballyhoo has actually been better than the live bait. The stripers are coughing up squid at the 1150, according to Captain Roberto Marquez, reflecting the main attraction for the presence of the billfish in that area.

Bait Supply: The supply of live caballitos is excellent at the $3.00 per bait rate. Also, the bait vendors are selling the ballyhoo at the same rate, which is rapidly sharing equal footings with the live bait. The new, slow trolling of weighted ballyhoo that stay about a foot under the water have rapidly become very popular and reminds me of many years gone bye when we used to fish that area with flying fish and rigged lisas, (mullet) for billfish, circa the late 60s or so.