Cass Tours Fishing Report - April 27, 2014

San Jose del Cabo

With spring break now officially over, crowds of visitors have lighted up, weather patterns have continued to warm, feeling increasingly tropical this past week, early morning clouds, then plenty of sunshine and high temperatures now into the upper 80s. Ocean water temperatures are ranging 76 to 79 degrees, from Cabo San Lucas to Loss Frailes, no significant temperature breaks seen. Winds have still been somewhat unpredictable, though this week has been much more settled than last, recent trend has been that the south winds are kicking up mid day, early mornings have been very comfortable.

No news of any new resources for sardinas, available baitfish have been moonfish, various jacks and fresh brined ballyhoo. There were reports of more flying fishing now being seen in the warming currents, always a favorable sign, water clarity has rapidly improved as well, clean blue water was now found within a half mile of shore.

Early in the week the billfish action was predominately found further offshore, though that quickly changed, as striped marlin moved in within less than one mile from shore, straight out in front of the Puerto Los Cabos Marina, these fish were readily striking on trolled ballyhoo and also hitting on live baits being drifted down deep. Most of these stripers were weighing in the 80 to 120 pound range. Locals are continuing to exploit these marlin, catching them as if they were just part of an hugely abundant, never ending resource and then selling them on the black market, as local authorities turn their heads the other direction, supposedly these billfish are a protected species, preserved for sport fishing, apparently there is no priority in enforcing such laws.

Dorado were spread out, more often in limited numbers, most anglers were fortunate to land one, occasional exceptions of schools of these fish encountered, sizes ranged up to 25 pounds, trolling various live or rigged baits was most productive. Wahoo were also in the area, but only a handful were actually landed each day, most of them from areas north of Punta Gorda, striking on various baitfish, more so than on artificial lures, sizes ranged to 35 pounds. With the way the ocean conditions are shaping up, anything could happen on any given day, as we are seeing optimal conditions now, favorable for a variety of gamefish.

Most of the local panga charters are either targeting the close by billfish action, or heading north towards the San Luis Bank, where they are targeting a variety of structure species, working yo-yo jigs off the high spots, as well as trolling surface baits or lures for dorado, or chance at a wahoo, marlin were on these grounds as well. We are not seeing any yellowfin tuna action to report. The closest we are really getting to tuna now is with the Eastern Pacific Bonito, which despite the warmer waters are still be caught in fair numbers, striking best early in the day, these bonito are showing signs of slowing down, they are more of a cold water species. Other bottom action included pargo (various species), amberjack and cabrilla. With the rapidly warming waters we have not seen much in the way of yellowtail. More amberjack arre starting to appear though. Sea lions continue to be aggressively feeding on these same fishing grounds, at times making it nearly impossible to land fish, these mammals know where the fish are schooling and they also know how much easier they are to catch when they are hooked on a line and be reeled towards the surface, this is like a game of cat and mouse for these sea lions.

Surprisingly there were still reports of some incredible whale activity, now well past due time that these mammals should be half way through their northern migration.

Inshore action included sierra, roosterfish and jack crevalle, though this action was a bit sporadic from day to day, surely would be better if there were sardinas available for chumming, especially for the sierra, which are proficient at slicing the larger bait fish in half.

The combined panga fleets launching out of La Playita, Puerto Los Cabos Marina sent out approximately 85 charters for this past week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 48 striped marlin, 13 wahoo, 15 amberjack, 23 huachinago, 24 cabrilla, 14 jack crevalle, 18 sierra, 47 dorado, 230 bonito and 26 roosterfish.

Rancho Leonero - East Cape

Water - 79-81 degrees; clear and flat all week. Air - Highs in the mid-80s; cool mornings.

The Environment: Flat water, light breezes, clear skies and noisy reels followed by ceviche and margaritas.

The Bottom Line: A solid Leonero 8+ on a “1-10” scale!

Marlin – Off the board! Striped marlin are loving the trolled Leonero-rigged ballyhoo off the La Ribera Bank, with three or four releases a day not unusual. These are all big fish … right around 200 pounds.

Dorado -The dorado were bigger and were found in greater numbers than the past couple of weeks. Most of our boats have been limiting, with the average fish around 12 pounds and some bulls pushing 40. The area around the Lighthouse has been by far the most productive with the fish biting very close to the beach on the Rincon side.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch …Roosterfish and more – Our big roosterfish have finally come to the party! Five days out of the past seven have produced pez gallo in the 50- to 70-pound class. These will put a bend in your rod and a curl in your hair to say nothing of brightening your disposition after a long winter. Caballito and mullet are both working, with the Lighthouse area again producing the biggest fish. Pompano – Not too many boats looking for them with marlin, dorado and roosters on everyone’s mind.

Cabo San Lucas - Gaviota Fleet

This past week has been a very difficult fishing week for the various Cabo San Lucas sportfishers and while there is plenty of billfish in almost all directions, they are in their "don't bite mode" and have become frustratingly difficult to get on the line.  According to Captain Roberto Marquez, owner of the Fish Cabo boats, they baited more than 30 billfish today for a single biter and got lucky enough to get the fish landed and released aboard the "Tuna Time".  High boat for the week was the Fish Cabo, skippered by Roberto's brother, Gil Marquez, with a catch of 6 stripers released for 5 days fished.  The overall combined fish counts for a total of 24 days fished reflected 13 stripers, (12 released) 1 roosterfish, 12 dorado and 1 skipjack.  Roberto added that the fish are going to bite at some point and when they do, it will be a bonanza of marlin and dorado, adding that the dorado are nearly all big fish and chasing the flyers but not biting the lures or anything else they have been using.  It's almost like the dorado were learning their non-bite  techniques from the billfish.

Cabo Climate:  Mostly sunny, warm and clear days with temps that ranged from 63 nights to 90 daytime highs.

Sea Conditions:  Overall, its been really good with warm waters on both sides of the peninsula.  Pacific side at the Golden Gate is 71-72 degrees and southerly to the Jaime Bank at 74 degrees.  Cabo Falso holding at 75 and from Cabo San Lucas out to the Cabrillo Sea Mount and into the Sea of Cortez is all at 79 degrees.

Best Fishing Area:  The billfish are everywhere from close to far and the secret is trying to find the biters.  There is no particular "hot spot" for biters and one can straight line the direction into the east and bait fish all day long.

Best Lure/Bait:  Live bait has been best with a fish or two taken on the artificials, but overall, the fish don't want to bite.

Live Bait Supply:  Remains plentiful for the caballitos and also a good availability for the fresh frozen ballyhoo baits, too, all at $3.00 each.