Fish Report

Cabo San Lucas

All species combined comprise 86.55%; Billfish, 63.03%; Dorado, 21.85%; Tuna, 42.02%; and Other, 3.36%.

On Friday, November 1, the “LA BRISA,” a 31-foot Bertram with Captain Bruce and Mate Jesus Winkler, had the pleasure of hosting Isabel and James Boehmer. They set off to the Los Arcos Bank, where they reeled in a magnificent 81-pound Wahoo on bait and two five or 6-pound Dorado on red lures. Despite the modest number of fish, the excitement of the catch was undeniable. The couple, who had never tasted Wahoo, were eager to savor their fresh catch, a unique experience they will always remember.

Captain Fernando Noyola and Mate Mario Juarez on the “ANDREA,” a 28-foot Uniflite, took their anglers Bruce and Deborah Gazvoda from Nashville, Indiana, to the Herradura, where they caught Six Yellowfin Tuna from 10 to 50 pounds on bait and kite. Their successful trip is sure to inspire your next fishing adventure.

Kim Staigers, Thomas L. Staigers, and Thomas Staigers, from East Windsor, Connecticut, began their day by chartering the “VALERIE,” a 35-foot Bertram. They had Captain Roberto Sandez and Mate Salvador Flores running the show. The crew took the trio from Connecticut to the famous Los Arcos Bank, where they caught and released Three 80+ pound Striped Marlin on bait. The Staiger family had a great time fighting the Striped Marlin!

“CHASIN TAIL,” a 62-foot Viking, Captain Pepe, and Mates Ulises end Ramon, had three young men from Georgia on board. The anticipation was high as they headed about 10 miles outside the Old Lighthouse. Anglers Jason Bleyens, Paul Armstrong, and Tom Pierce were thrilled when they landed a prize 132-pound Yellowfin Tuna on bait. The men were proud of their impressive catch.

Joseph Azevedo, Kimberly Azevedo, Mia Azevedo, and Molly Azevedo from El Dorado Hills, California, boarded the “LA BRISA,” a 31-foot Bertram, with Captain Bruce and Mate Jesus Winkler in charge, never dreaming they would get three of the prize fish in the Sea of Cortez.  They caught and released One 120-pound Striped Marlin, One 20-pound Dorado, and One 45-pound Wahoo, all on bait and all at the Golden Bank.

Gordo Banks

The main highlight throughout the week was looking for tuna offshore swimming with porpoise. Most of these tuna were on the large size, as we saw many over the 100-pound mark. One of our boats tried fishing with the porpoise on Friday and Saturday. Overall, they caught nine yellowfin, four fish over 100 pounds, with the largest weighing 124 pounds. The others were nice-sized, anywhere from 30 to 60 pounds. The smaller fish were caught on poppers and squid, and the larger were hooked on lures. Fishing can be challenging on a small panga with one engine, although most boats looking for porpoise offshore are private boats with two to four engines that can get there within 45 minutes. The porpoise schools were spotted close to Cabrillo, 32 to 45 miles from shore. The biggest tuna caught recently was around 180 pounds taken on a squid strip. We continue to catch the small yellowfin tuna towards San Luis, Vinorama, and Iman. We are finally beginning to see some 30 to 70-pounders in the mix consistently.  Most of the action is on live or dead sardina and squid strips. Live sardina has been limited on some mornings, and a handful of boats hooked tuna on jigs. But the best action came from the Vinorama.

From Vinorama to La Fortuna, we have caught a handful of nice wahoo, though the bite remains spotty. Most of the bites come early in the morning. We are trolling XRaps, Nomads, and rigged Ballyhoo, and a couple of small dorados were also caught this way. A few boats reported landing smaller wahoo (from 15 to 20 pounds) at Palmilla Point and Cerro Colorado this weekend on Rápalas.

When the current allowed, there was a good chance at a dogtooth snapper, grouper, or amberjack on the bottom. The best bottom action came from the inner Gordo, though Iman has also been decent. While drifting strips of skipjack at the Gordo, one of the boats also caught a wahoo on a surface jig. … Good Fishing, Brian Brictson

East Cape

Some strong North Winds blew and caused the Port to close for a few days. However, the fishing was good for billfish on the open days. There is striped marlin, sailfish, and a few blue marlin in the area, plus there was pretty good fishing for tuna beneath the porpoise. There were even a few more dorado than there had been in the last couple of weeks. Inshore, there were some roosterfish up to 10 pounds and a few African Pompano. … Jeff DeBrown

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay

We consider mid-October to April to be off-season because the North Winds kick in, and it gets too darned rough and windy to be out on the water about 50% of the time, and anglers have about a 50 to 70% chance of getting blown off or canceled. I make sure that I tell anyone who wants to book about these weather issues, so they have realistic expectations.  Or at least they can be flexible on their fishing days, so we can move them to the better days or tell them to forget it.

The North Winds started up again last week. It’s not blowing ferociously yet, but 10 to 15 knots is still windy, with some 20-knot gusts. I talked to some of the commercial guys, and they said they could not get their boats in the water for a few days. There was even a little rain.

So, except for windsurfers and kite boarders, the only ones on the water were either commercial fishermen making a living or locals who could fish on the days when the weather permits.

As might be expected, the fish caught are mixed. It’s a little bit of a toss-up.  HOWEVER, THERE IS SOME GREAT FISHING right now. The deal is finding the days when the wind will not blow you off the water! But there’s a nice mix of fish happening.

With the wind, the waters are already cooling down. That’s bringing in murkier, greener patches of water, although there are still some surface temps showing 80-degree water on top.

The calmer waters produced snapper, pargo, cabrilla, Sierra, amberjack, and even some yellowtail. Those are all cooler-water fish.

However, there are still some warm-water fish around. Some commercial guys have been able to boat a few tuna here and there. I’ve heard some wahoo are around and a few schools of 5 to 10-pound dorado or free swimmers in the 20 to 30-pound class, but those will diminish as the waters continue to trend cooler.

Surprisingly, billfish keep popping up just when we think we’ve seen the last of them. Some days, the marlin mixed with the dorado have been some of the best. One day, we had a blue marlin chomping like a mackerel. Go figure. It’s just another piece of an already puzzling fishing season. You take your chances with the winds. … Jonathan Roldan, Tailhunter Sportfishing