Cabo
Overall Catch Success Rate 89%.
Billfish catch success rate 4%; dorado 7%; tuna 13%; other species 75%.
Recently, fishing has remained primarily inshore, with much effort and little luck. Only 3 marlin were released, and with Spring Break and lots of kids around, most clients opted for fun fishing and good-eating fish. The weather was okay, with the wind picking up on some days but mostly sunny skies.
The top producing boats were Pisces 28-foot Andrea with 77 fish caught (mostly sierra mackerel) which included releases, grouper, and some roosterfish released. Pisces 31-foot Tracy Ann hooked 85 fish this week, including a few tuna.
Let’s begin with the “other” category. This accounted for 75% of the fish caught this week, including most of the inshore and bottom species from grouper, snapper, ladyfish, triggerfish pompano, skipjack, sierra mackerel, and a few nice roosterfish releases.
On one of their best days, Pisces 28-foot Andrea had 15 sierra mackerel, 2 grouper, 2 red snapper, and 4 triggerfish at Migrino. Pisces 31-foot Tracy Ann, with friends, the Fundingslands and Weinsteins from Illinois, got off to a late departure. However, Captain Julio still managed to get them on the fish – seventeen sierra mackerel and 2 skipjack total.
Pisces 31-foot Ruthless had a great day with anglers from Colorado, releasing 2 roosterfish on live bait, then chumming for grouper and snapper, with 2 and 9 caught, respectively. They also had ladyfish and skipjack.
Pisces 38-foot C Rod did well this same day at Migrino, with 2 sierra mackerel on hoochies, 10 grouper, 10 ladyfish, and 10 triggerfish.
Pisces 31-foot Rebecca had 20 sierra mackerel midweek, with fish averaging between 6 and 10 pounds each. Anglers were Daniel Corredor, James Willis & Steven Davis. On yet another day, they caught 21 sierra mackerel and released 3 small roosterfish of about 5 pounds.
Roosterfish have started to show up in larger sizes towards the end of the week, about 10 pounds.
In addition, Pisces has begun conducting a Research Study in partnership with IGFA, Texas A&M, and local and international scientists, including Dra. Sofia Ortega of CICIMAR in La Paz.
For dorado and tuna catches, Pisces 31-foot Rebecca landed 2 small dorado, one released on hoochies at the 1150 Spot, and 3 yellowfin tuna and skipjack between 12 and 16 pounds on cedar plugs. Pisces 62-foot Chasin Tail also had 6 small dorado about 18 miles south of the Old Lighthouse, all in the 5 to 6-pound range.
WEATHER CONDITIONS: Mostly calm, with 3-foot waves max. The wind picked up for a few days.
WATER TEMP: 70 to 74 F.
BEST LURES: Live and dead caballito, mackerel, chumming, hoochies, cedar plugs.
BEST LOCATIONS: Migrino, 1150 Spot.
Based on the catches of Pisces Sportfishing Fleet, by Rebecca Ehrenberg.
Puerto Los Cabos
With the Easter Vacation Week now past and Spring Break Holiday times ending, things are beginning to quiet down locally. Actually, now is a great time to visit, as weather conditions are ideal, there are moderate crowds, and fishing action has recently shown excellent signs of improvement. Clear sunny skies with highs near 85 degrees, for the most part, and there are calm ocean conditions except for a few days of north winds earlier in the week.
Ocean water temperatures are now in the 70 to 72-degree range. Bait supplies have included caballito, jacks, squid slabs, and ballyhoo. There are no reports of sardina showing, though some mullets have appeared. Most fishing activity has now been concentrated on the grounds north of Punta Gorda, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis, and as far north as Vinorama.
Close to the shore along the beach stretches, there are good numbers of roosterfish found that are striking on caballito, mullet, and other jack species. Most of these roosterfish are juvenile-sized fish weighing under 15 pounds. Remember to carefully release these fish so that they can grow to maturity and reproduce. Unfortunately, few sierra are seen now because of the lack of sardina for bait.
The bottom action showed signs of improvement, with bonito still being the most common species found while we worked the rock piles with yo-yo jigs. However, we recently saw a few more leopard grouper, amberjack and red snapper (huachinango). Also, we saw a mix of barred pargo, yellow snapper, triggerfish, and others – all excellent eating species.
This week, we saw more yellowfin tuna action on various high spots from San Luis to Vinorama. Although they were not in significant numbers, at least we saw them every day, and we watched as a handful of nice yellowfin were brought in, with sizes ranging from 20 to 60 pounds. This was encouraging since the tuna bite had been dead for many weeks. These tuna were striking on strips of squid and caballito, plus a few on yo-yo jigs.
A handful of dorado was scattered throughout these same grounds, a few weighing over 15 pounds. However, no wahoo was spotted. Although as the weather continues to warm, we expect the water temperature will also warm up, and the wahoo should become more active, as they typically do at the end of this month.
No billfish action was reported close to San Jose del Cabo, except we did hear that some striped marlin were found on the 95 Spot where charters from Cabo San Lucas were operating. Not much is happening on the Pacific now, as north winds have been gusty and conditions rough. …Eric Brictson
East Cape
With Spring literally just around the corner, we continue to see catches of yellowtail, skipjack, and roosters, plus a few dorado and marlin. Although they are still mainly to the North, early in the week, they had good success. Boats caught some skipjack and lost a few yellowtail. There were also a few roosters along the shore at the East Cape scattered from Palmas Bay to the lighthouse, a little farther out in the deeper water. Soon there will be more volume along the shore.
La Paz
Fishing is still up-and-down, relative to and dictated by how much wind is blowing and how rough the seas are. Few go out fishing – because good days are few and far between, and everyone is trying to figure out which days will be the least windy. And even then, fishing can be difficult, or, in extreme cases, it is necessary to cancel the trips altogether. More wind is on the way!
Catches have been mostly inshore, including sierra, jacks, bonito, snapper, and some larger yellowtail from 10 to 30 pounds.
John Saggese had only one day to squeeze in fishing and hit one of the least windy days when he was out with Captain Armando from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz. The day paid off with this legit yellowtail.
Some great eating like this nice sierra ended up as fish tacos in La Paz. It was caught by Sara McCarthy fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz just off Punta Arenas. …Jonathan Roldan, Tailhunter International.
