Compared to last summer when conditions were scorching early on, this year the weather has been on the mild side. The cooler than normal water temperatures around the southern portion of the Baja Peninsula have attributed to keeping the temperatures on land below the boiling point. Of course it is only a matter of time before these La Nina patterns neutralize and we start counting the days left of the extreme summer heat. This week started out with the water temperatures being on a warming and clearing trend, then towards the end of the week and on through the weekend once again the persistent breeze from the south relentlessly pushed in yet another wave of cooler Pacific currents. Depending on the location, water temperatures have ranged from 69 to 79 degrees and the gamefish have been scattered accordingly, following their preferred habitat while searching for their constantly variable migrating food source.

Fleets went in all different directions looking for consistent action, for the most part the better action was found in the direction of the Sea of Cortez and anywhere from 5 to 15 miles offshore. Striped marlin were seen in significant numbers throughout the area, tailing on the surface, effortlessly riding the swells, they appeared to have a case of lock jaw and most of the time proved difficult to entice into striking anglers offerings. Though with persistence many stripers were accounted for, the majority taken on live bait, with a smaller percentage hitting on artificial lures, sizes ranging from 80 to 140 pounds.

The bait situation was a bit more limited recently due to more swell activity and the major dredging activity now under operations inside the two jetties of the soon to be opened channel of Puerto Los Cabos. There was a mix of sardinas, mullet and caballito being netted each morning by the commercial pangueros. The long anticipated opening of the marina channel appears to be fast approaching and port authorities have recently stated that they do plan on breaking through to the ocean within the next two weeks. Local panga fleets have been enduring very harsh and cramped working conditions as the marina project has entered into these final stages and it makes one wonder why these fleets were simply just given some kind of temporary compensation to close down operations and clear the beach of pangas so that all of the heavy machinery could be used more efficiently in order to rapidly finish this project that is already so far behind schedule. Especially of critical importance now is the fact that tropical storm season is upon us and it is only a matter of time when the season's first hurricane develops.

As offshore waters warmed during the first part of the week there were increased numbers of dorado being encountered, found mainly in ones and twos, on a combination of lures and various baits, most of the dorado accounted for ranged in the 15 to 30 pound class. Not much to report as far as yellowfin tuna action, though some larger sized yellowfin were spotted by a Palmilla cruiser skipper coming out of the water in an area outside of Desteladera, they were located in the same area as dark colored porpoise and they disappeared quickly, no hook ups were reported.

The Gordo Banks region showed signs of life mid week, massive schools of mackerel were found swarming on the surface and could be easily jigged up. For the few lucky anglers that got into this action they shared stories of wide-open action for yellowtail, amberjack and huachinango (red snapper), all while slow trolling live baits on the surface. Fish to 60 pounds were landed and many other larger fish were so powerful that they could not be turned even on heavier tackle before reaching their freedom by cutting off the lines on the rocks some one hundred feet below.

Inshore action continued to be slow, as this is where the coolest currents were and the increased swell activity did not help the situation either. There was a on and off bite for yellow snapper on the inshore rock piles off of Cardon and a few pargo Colorado and dogtooth snapper mixed in, along with a handful of late season sierra.

The combined La Playita panga fleets sent out approximately 69 charters for the week, with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 23 striped marlin, 16 dorado, 25 bonito, 9 roosterfish, 17 amberjack, 11 yellowtail, 7 dogtooth snapper, 32 huachinango (snapper), 128 yellow pargo, 14 barred pargo and 18 sierra.

Good fishing, Eric