Report by
Cass Tours
EAST CAPE
Water- Mixed from 68 to 78..Warmer south. Mostly flat one windy but fishable day this week.
Air- As usual, very nice spring weather, with highs in the low 80's..
Another so so transitional week. Lots of Striped Marlin on the outside banks. Very picker biters, some boats baiting as many as ten fish without a take. Anglers chance of releasing a billfish about 50/50 again this week. A few big bulls to 40#'s taken this week all on trolled lures. Inside has been good with smaller to medium sized Roosterfish very active. Limits of Pompano in the five to ten pound range for all anglers. Some nice Pargo taken to 25#'s this week. Very mixed water for the last couple of days, a full ten degree difference between the water north and warmer water south.
Billfish- Loads of Stripers. Very, very picky biters. Anglers targeting billfish are seeing and baiting dozens of fish, with very little luck. They seem to have no interest in trolled lures. All taken on live Mackerel or trolled Bally Hoo. Off all the drop-offs from La Ribera to Frailles.
Dorado- Big fish but not very many. The occasional bull taken on trolled marlin lures..In the same areas as the billfish. All fish around 30 to 45#'s..
Inside- Wide open quality Pompano fishing. Lots of Gallo's to ten pounds. The Pargo bite has picked up.
CABO SAN LUCAS
I talked with Roberto Marquez, the Fish Cabo Fleet owner this morning, and he said there was plenty of billfish action but the fish just wouldn't stay hooked. Yesterday, the "Fish Cabo" got luck and released 1 striped marlin following 12 billfish strikes for the day. They just couldn't get the fish to stick and this was not an isolated incident. It was happening throughout the fleet. They tried slow trolling live baits with no luck at all then switched to live bait drop backs and again, with no luck at all. The billfish just would't cooperate. The same report was coming in from all of the various Cabo sportfishers and was another one of those frustrating fishing days. On the bright side was the numbers of billfish being seen by the boat crews and anglers and it will turn around. Just a matter of time. Our combined fishing report for a total of 28 days fished reflected 8 stripers released, 2 mako sharks, 2 dorado, 2 jack crevalle, 17 skipjack tuna, 17 Sierra and 6 yellowtail.
Cabo Climate: Just terrific weather with warm, sunny days and pleasant evenings and temps that ranged from 58 nights to 82 daytime highs.
Sea Conditions: Mostly cooler waters on the Pacific side with temps at 67-68 on the Golden Gate & Jaime Banks. Just inside the banks and closer tto shore the water temps fall to 61-62 and extend down to Cabo Falso and stretching out across the 1000 fathom curve. Water temps rise dramatically to 75 degrees from Palmilla Point, out across the 1150, beyond the Cabrillo Seamount and northeasterly across the Gorda Banks and on to Las Frailes.
Best Fishing Area: The billfish are building in numbers in the Gorda Banks area and while not too eager to stay on the hook, plenty willing to bite at the artificials.
Best Lure/Bait: Billfish are very eager to strike at the lures but continue to be "short biters" and not staying hooked.
Live Bait Supply: Remained very good, even through the full moon phase, with a mix of mackerel and caballitos.
SAN JOSE DEL CABO - GORDO BANKS
As the extended spring break comes to an end, crowds of tourists are now lighter. The weather is practically perfect, clear sunny skies with highs in the low 80s. There was still some unpredictable winds coming from various directions, but for the most part anglers found ocean conditions to be pleasant. Water temperatures are now ranging up to about 72 degrees offshore of San Jose del Cabo and towards Los Frailes, much cooler currents are found in the direction of the Pacific.
Charters found a mix of caballito and sardinas for bait, though in recent days the supplies of sardinas became very scattered from Palmilla to Chileno where they had been so plentiful and now the bait netters will need to search out new sources, perhaps in the direction of Vinorama once again.
Clarity of the water has improved to the north of Punta Gorda, there were good numbers of striped marlin encountered from the Gordo Banks to Desteladera, most charters targeting the billfish were having multiple opportunities while trolling lures and casting baits to tailers and feeding stripers. A handful of dorado were also found on the same fishing grounds, some of them up to 30 pounds, most of the time just single fish.
Not much being heard about yellowfin tuna, there were occasional sightings of tuna on the Iman Bank, but only a few of these fish were actually hooked into, the yellowfin would vanish as quickly as they appeared. Last weekend there was one 120 pound tuna reported by a panga from La Playita, several other fish over 40 pounds as well. It is now the time when we should start seeing more tuna action associated with traveling porpoise.
There were a few wahoo to report in recent days, strikes on baits and lures on the fishing grounds from La Fortuna to San Luis, smaller sized fish up to 20 pounds, but nevertheless an encouraging sign. Surprisingly there were still many whales being sighted in the area, this is the tail end of season, most are headed north now.
Along the shoreline anglers are finding sierra, roosterfish and jack crevalle, as well as some yellowtail. Most of the roosterfish are in the 5 to 12 pound class, fun fighters on light tackle. Please remember that these fish should be released to mature and provide future stock, many anglers are not aware of this and many of the local skippers just do not seem to think about the future much.
Palmilla Point saw increased action for yellowtail, fish ranging up to 30 pounds, still no huge numbers, but more productive than it had been, drifting live caballitos down deep was most successful, though some anglers also had strikes on yo-yo’s. Towards Cabo San Lucas there were areas where anglers reported good action on the yellows while trolling deep diving Rapalas. It appears the bottom action is improving, more larger fish showing up, there were some amberjack starting to bite, one 80 pound fish was taken mid week and others in the 30 to 60 pound range, again no big numbers, but at least they are starting to appear in the counts. These amberjack were mainly taken while working yo-yo jigs off the structure. Various snapper, pargo, cabrilla and grouper rounded out the action off the bottom.
The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita/Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 64 charters this past week, with anglers reporting a fish count of:
4 wahoo, 6 yellowfin tuna, 26 dorado, 16 shark, 18 striped marlin, 18 bonito, 16 amberjack, 24 yellowtail, 11 pompano, 58 pargo, 84 roosterfish, 33 cabrilla, 12 grouper and 185 sierra.
We had some crazy weather last week with tropical cyclone Norman pushing up into the Sea of Cortez on Wednesday. Rain storms were sporatic and considerable at times during the week. As the storm made landfall on the mainland on Friday, we had some of the largest waves I have ever seen hit the beaches of Buena Vista and Los Barriles. These were big shore break waves that looked more like Sandy's Beach or Makapu'u in Oahu, Hawaii than the East Cape. The system moved out on Saturday and it was back to sunshine and beautiful blue greasy calm water ranging from 85-88 degrees. Fortunately, the 6th Annual Casting for Soles shoe/t-shirt give-a-way saw sunshine and blue skies. This was my first year volunteering for this event and it went smooth as silk with Eddie Dalmau managing crowd control and Jack McCulloch's team sizing and distributing shoes from New Balance and Clark's to more than 2000 locals in the East Cape. The giveaway also included shirts, hats and sandals from AFTCO and eyeglasses for those in need.
It was an excellent week of fishing down here on the East Cape. You
could really feel things open up this week. August is known for being a
great month of fishing. You get the Dorado, Tuna, Stripe Marlin and
Roosters that you normally get early in the season, then add to it
Sails, Blues and Wahoo. That is exactly what we saw happen this week.
After a couple of weeks of so so fishing, the tuna and Dorado bite
turned on at the same time. Boats were landing 8-12 Yellowfin up to 80#
and they were less than 15 miles out for most. The same could be said
about the Dorado. Early in the week it seemed like the hot spot was
north about 30 miles near the Ocho Ocho. This is where the El Tio
landed their monster Blue Marlin weighing in at 505lbs. Most boats were
fishing Tuna and Dorado in that area when the El Tio hooked their Blue.
Later in the week Mark Daugherty of East Cape Guides reported landing
6-10 Tuna and Dorado per boat right in front of Hotel Punta Colorada.
Mark reported that he could really see things turning around this week
and the fishing became wide open. He went on to report that there were
big blues swimming with the schools of tuna, so anglers should be ready
just incase one of these monsters hits their lure. We also saw an
increase in the number of Wahoo landed and lost. Wahoo season generally
starts in July and goes into November. The roosters were also out in
big numbers. Most angers that targeted Roosters this week were rewarded
with lots of opportunities ranging from 15-60lbs. Most of the strikes
came from Lighthouse point to Cabo Riviera Marina. Some of the other
species landed this week included Pargo, Bonita and Amber Jacks. That’s
it for this week amigos. Check out the picture of the 200+ pound tuna
landed on July 27th.
It was quite a week in the East Cape.
This was definitely the week for variety. Of course we saw the usual
tuna and dorado bite, with lots of small to medium size fish hitting the
dock. I should mention that there was a tuna over 200lbs. caught next
door at Martin Verdugo"s. Most of the tuna I saw were from 10 to 40
pounds and the same could be said for the dorado. 
But
enough about dorado and tuna. This truly was a great week for variety.
We found out that the IGFA 20# line class record had been broken by
Jack Kautz of Lodi, CA with a giant 101lb. rooster caught near the
Lighthouse. Then Robert Dykes from Orange Park Acres, CA landed another
monster rooster which could be 90-100lbs. while fishing with Chuy on the
Rude Boy. Along with the giant rooster landed by Robert, Lucinda Dykes
from Cottage Grove, OR and Curtis from Ladera Ranch, CA
landed roosters estimated at 35, 45, 50, 70, 80 and 100 pounds all
within an hour and a half in front of Lighthouse point. Then we saw a
monster Amber Jack landed which was estimated at over 60lbs. The Rude
Boy also came back with a small grouper which we had not seen too many
of this summer. Then later in the week the Gene Duchene group landed the
first big wahoo of the season estimated at 40lb. while fishing on the
Whiskey. 
First
let me apologize for not reporting last week. Things were a little
crazy for me last week and I completely forgot to post a report. This
week was a week to remember for Dorado. We saw at least 5 dorado that
weighed in at over 50 lbs., the biggest weighing 55lbs. We weighed more
than 20 dorado over 40lbs. and 20 dorado over 30lbs. This week's
pictures looked a lot like the pictures we took in last year dorado
shoot out. Most of the dorado were taken to the north of Hotel Palmas De
Cortez around the shark buoys. 
Jonathan
and Jennifer Medrano landed a few nice roosters and dorado while on
board the super panga "Siboney". Their prize catch was 3 roosters that
were all over 50lbs. and the biggest dorado of the week weighing in at
55lbs. Jonathan and Jennifer also landed a few nice jacks, dorado and
more than 20 roosters during their two week stay. 
We
also wanted to give a big thanks to the two groups that invaded Palmas
De Cortez this week. The first to arrive on Wednesday was the annual
Father, Son and Buddies tournament. Jack Richardson puts on a wonderful
tournament every year which includes a clothes give away for all the
hotel employees, a poker night, raffles and a fishing tournament. It is
in my opinion the most organized tournament I've seen put on at Van
Wormer Resorts. My hats off to Jack and his crew for putting on a great
tournament. If you would like information on the Father Son and Buddies
Tournament check there website at www.fathersonandbuddies.com.
Hola Amigos...The fishing continues to be very good down here on the East Cape.
8 to 12 boats per day have been going out and everyone seems to be
catching plenty of fish. The fishing this week was almost a carbon copy
of last week. Guests are getting plenty of shots at striped Marlin. Some
boats are landing up to 6 in a day and seeing over a dozen per day.
Some boats are reporting that the marlin are very finicky and appear to
not be very hungry. Even so, those who don't get discouraged have been
able to land some nice billfish.
The Dorado bite
continues to be hot. Once again it wasn't the number of fish landed but
the size of the ones that were landed. As you can see by the pictures
which were taken earlier in the week, there are some nice size Dorado
down here right now. We also saw the first Yellowfin tuna of the season,
which landed by the cruiser J&B. The tuna weighed only 3lbs., but
it's a sign that they are out there. The roosters were once again being
landed in bunches, although not as many as last week. This may be
because not as many people were targeting them. We are still seeing some
nice Jacks in the area, Jack Cravalle and Skip Jacks were both landed
by guests this week. Some of the other species we saw this week included
Cabrilla, Pargo, Lady Fish, Pompano, and Mako shark. The water
temperatures continue to hold steady at 74 to 76 degrees. The air
temperature has been in the low to mid 80's, but we are seeing more mid
80's and it does feel like it is getting warmer each week. That is until
today when the sky turned grey and we had some late afternoon thunder
and lightning. This is only supposed to last until Sunday and then it
will be back to warm sunshine. That's it for this week my friends. Until
next week!
As visitors begin to arrive to the East Cape and more and more boats seem to be leaving the dock each morning, the Van Wormer Resorts are beginning to come to life once again. After much anticipation, the fishing season is upon us and we are off to a very nice start. After a few weeks of what many are calling the best yellow tail bite in 20 years, the talk now has centered on the large concentration of striped marlin in the area. Many guests are reporting seeing up to 15 striped marlin in one day and landing anywhere from 1-4 per day. We are also seeing the beginnings of what we hope is going to be a dorado season to remember. This week we say boats coming in with 1-6 dorado per boat from 10lbs. up to 35lbs. And the best part about it is that there is good fishing about 7 miles from the hotel. This week we also saw quite a bit more pargo come to the dock as well as cabrilla, roosters, pompano and jacks. There were also a few yellowtail, lady fish and sailfish that were landed. We saw a big temperature change in the water this week of about 5 degrees warmer than last week. Today the water temperatures reached 75 degrees. Our day time highs have been in the low 80's with an over night low in the mid 60's. We are looking forward to a great fishing season, so we hope to see many of you down here this year.