East Cape-Rancho Leonero
Water - Watertemps have stabilized with inshore at 72 degrees; outside 75 degrees.
Water - Watertemps have stabilized with inshore at 72 degrees; outside 75 degrees.
Air - Warm days and cool evenings
The Environment:
Beautiful! In the past few years, the days surrounding Easter have
tended to be windy, but not this year. The water has been generally flat
as a tortilla. We've had warm days and cool evenings.
The Bottom Line: A solid Leonero 8.5 on a '1-10' scale!
Marlin
– Stripers rule! One boat got 5 fish for the day; another hooked 6 and
boated 3. Most fish are hitting rigged ballyhoo. One boat counted over
40 jumpers … many nearly close enough to grab over the gunwale. Not that
we’d suggest that! These fish were only three miles in front of
Leonero.
Dorado
– A continued strong bite in the bay at Rincon, just past the
Lighthouse. Most fish are being taken on fly-lined ballyhoo. There are
toothy needlefish mixed in with the dorado, so it’s a good idea to
double up on the bait … you’ll need it.
Pompano
– Rancho Leonero continue to pick up good sized pompano as well as
barred pargo. You’ll find ‘em by going deep at 60- to 150-feet. Best
areas are directly in front of Leonero, in front of Scott Glen's house
and at the Lighthouse.
Roosterfish and more
Everything seemed to go quiet on the beach with not much action for our
cadre of fly-fishers. This should change as spring normally brings a
lot of activity accompanying the arrival of baitfish schools.
Gordo Banks - San Jose del Cabo
Easter Week is attracting local families to all of the accessible beaches, as this is the traditional time to spend time with family and friends on the shoreline. Practically the whole city shuts down this weekend, as no one wants to miss out on any of the action. This is also transition time for the weather patterns, days are steadily warming, though there has been a mix of cloud cover and cooler Pacific breezes sweeping through actually the ideal climate now, with high temperatures into the 80s.
Many locals always say that the fish go on vacation as well over the holiday, with the recent full moon passing and choppy ocean conditions for a few days, we did see the water clarity become blotchy and the all around fishing action was more scattered. Striped marlin with some dorado mixed in has been the main deal offshore, varying from day to day, at times fish were found within several miles, other days out to 20 miles. There were reports of offshore porpoise activity, but no yellowfin tuna were associated. Anglers were trolling open water with lures and using either rigged ballyhoo or live caballito for bait. The live bait found inside the marina dock area did become scarcer during the moon as well.
Panga fleets looking for the best chances at action for a variety of more preferred good eating species were concentrating on the San Luis Bank. The Eastern Pacific bonito was the most prevalent catch, striking best on yo-yo jigs, though there was also a mix of snapper, cabrilla, amberjack and even an occasional yellowtail, though no real numbers of any of these species, except for the bonito, limits were standard for them. Though there was the ever increasing situation of problematic sea lions hanging around these same grounds, being aggressive and opportunistic of stealing angler’s catches, fifteen of these mammals were counted one day on these same banks, making it nearly impossible to actually reel a fish all the way to the boat.
Not as many wahoo stories being told in recent days, but with water temperatures of 75 degrees, these species are staying in the area. There were reports of increased activity of schooling flying fish offshore, this is usually a favorable sign of spring time and should attract more gamefish into the local waters. Thrasher sharks were also reported from the same billfish grounds.
Inshore action was spotty for sierra, roosterfish and jack crevalle. Quite a few sierra seen, but without sardinas it has not been easy to entice them, a few charters that somehow obtained some frozen sardinas, did well on these sierra. Some days the juvenile sized roosterfish were found just north of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina Jetty’s, these smaller fish were having trouble swallowing the larger sized live baits. Other days the roosters vanished, hard to predict these jacks, sometimes bite best early, other days late, tide can come in to play as when these fish become more active.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 73 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 1 thrasher shark, 1 sailfish, 29 striped marlin, 2 wahoo, 6 yellowtail, 8 amberjack, 25 huachinago, 15 jack crevalle, 12 sierra, 36 dorado, 380 bonito and 16 roosterfish.
Easter Week is attracting local families to all of the accessible beaches, as this is the traditional time to spend time with family and friends on the shoreline. Practically the whole city shuts down this weekend, as no one wants to miss out on any of the action. This is also transition time for the weather patterns, days are steadily warming, though there has been a mix of cloud cover and cooler Pacific breezes sweeping through actually the ideal climate now, with high temperatures into the 80s.
Many locals always say that the fish go on vacation as well over the holiday, with the recent full moon passing and choppy ocean conditions for a few days, we did see the water clarity become blotchy and the all around fishing action was more scattered. Striped marlin with some dorado mixed in has been the main deal offshore, varying from day to day, at times fish were found within several miles, other days out to 20 miles. There were reports of offshore porpoise activity, but no yellowfin tuna were associated. Anglers were trolling open water with lures and using either rigged ballyhoo or live caballito for bait. The live bait found inside the marina dock area did become scarcer during the moon as well.
Panga fleets looking for the best chances at action for a variety of more preferred good eating species were concentrating on the San Luis Bank. The Eastern Pacific bonito was the most prevalent catch, striking best on yo-yo jigs, though there was also a mix of snapper, cabrilla, amberjack and even an occasional yellowtail, though no real numbers of any of these species, except for the bonito, limits were standard for them. Though there was the ever increasing situation of problematic sea lions hanging around these same grounds, being aggressive and opportunistic of stealing angler’s catches, fifteen of these mammals were counted one day on these same banks, making it nearly impossible to actually reel a fish all the way to the boat.
Not as many wahoo stories being told in recent days, but with water temperatures of 75 degrees, these species are staying in the area. There were reports of increased activity of schooling flying fish offshore, this is usually a favorable sign of spring time and should attract more gamefish into the local waters. Thrasher sharks were also reported from the same billfish grounds.
Inshore action was spotty for sierra, roosterfish and jack crevalle. Quite a few sierra seen, but without sardinas it has not been easy to entice them, a few charters that somehow obtained some frozen sardinas, did well on these sierra. Some days the juvenile sized roosterfish were found just north of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina Jetty’s, these smaller fish were having trouble swallowing the larger sized live baits. Other days the roosters vanished, hard to predict these jacks, sometimes bite best early, other days late, tide can come in to play as when these fish become more active.
The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 73 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 1 thrasher shark, 1 sailfish, 29 striped marlin, 2 wahoo, 6 yellowtail, 8 amberjack, 25 huachinago, 15 jack crevalle, 12 sierra, 36 dorado, 380 bonito and 16 roosterfish.
Gaviota Fleet - Cabo San Lucas
The striper action continues for the Cabo anglers and while the town is full of tourists, it's primarily the non-fishing Easter Week groups that enjoy the land based activities. Really good for the town, just not for the boats. High billfish boat for the week was the "Fish Cabo", reflecting 4 stripers released and 1 dinner dorado for a single fishing day, followed by the "Gaviota II", reflecting 5 stripers for 6 days fished. The overall fish counts for a combined total of 17 days fished reflected 15 stripers, (14 released) 1 dorado and 2 skipjack tuna. The better fishing remains on the eastern side of Cabo and toward the Sea of Cortez, in the warmer waters. The full moon of April 15th had a slight impact on the overall fishing but for the most part, all boats had billfish opportunities through the week for their anglers.
Cabo Climate: Partly cloudy but warm days with scattered sunshine. Temps varied from 64 nights to 92 daytime highs.
Sea Conditions: Variable surface breezes from the south to the east and ranging from calm to 16 mph, (The afternoons, starting at about 1pm have been a little breezy but otherwise, pretty calm overall). Pacific side has a distinct temp break running north to south just inside the Golden Gate Bank, with 71 degrees pushing down across the Jaime Bank and inshore where the temps increase to 74-75. Cabo Falso and around the corner of Cabo San Lucas to Las Frailes and into the Sea of Cortez, temps are stable at 76-77 degrees.
Best Fishing Area(s): The 1150 Fathom Spot continues to be the best producing area for the billfish, albeit, we had a report of a striper taken at Pozo De Cota, up on the Pacific side of Cabo with others taken off Cabo Falso and the Santa Maria Bay area.
Best Bait/Lures: Live bait was best but the ballyhoo baits were also working well, too.
Live Bait supply: The caballitos were readily available from the bait vendors at the $3.00 per bait rate. Also, some of the bait vendors had the ballyhoo baits available, also at the $3.00 per bait rate.
The striper action continues for the Cabo anglers and while the town is full of tourists, it's primarily the non-fishing Easter Week groups that enjoy the land based activities. Really good for the town, just not for the boats. High billfish boat for the week was the "Fish Cabo", reflecting 4 stripers released and 1 dinner dorado for a single fishing day, followed by the "Gaviota II", reflecting 5 stripers for 6 days fished. The overall fish counts for a combined total of 17 days fished reflected 15 stripers, (14 released) 1 dorado and 2 skipjack tuna. The better fishing remains on the eastern side of Cabo and toward the Sea of Cortez, in the warmer waters. The full moon of April 15th had a slight impact on the overall fishing but for the most part, all boats had billfish opportunities through the week for their anglers.
Cabo Climate: Partly cloudy but warm days with scattered sunshine. Temps varied from 64 nights to 92 daytime highs.
Sea Conditions: Variable surface breezes from the south to the east and ranging from calm to 16 mph, (The afternoons, starting at about 1pm have been a little breezy but otherwise, pretty calm overall). Pacific side has a distinct temp break running north to south just inside the Golden Gate Bank, with 71 degrees pushing down across the Jaime Bank and inshore where the temps increase to 74-75. Cabo Falso and around the corner of Cabo San Lucas to Las Frailes and into the Sea of Cortez, temps are stable at 76-77 degrees.
Best Fishing Area(s): The 1150 Fathom Spot continues to be the best producing area for the billfish, albeit, we had a report of a striper taken at Pozo De Cota, up on the Pacific side of Cabo with others taken off Cabo Falso and the Santa Maria Bay area.
Best Bait/Lures: Live bait was best but the ballyhoo baits were also working well, too.
Live Bait supply: The caballitos were readily available from the bait vendors at the $3.00 per bait rate. Also, some of the bait vendors had the ballyhoo baits available, also at the $3.00 per bait rate.
