The tropical storm season has yet to show much signs of life, but this week the weather did become significantly more humid and the feeling of summer heat was in the air. Water temperatures rose to an average of 75 to 78 degrees and seemed to be on the way to getting back to normal, blue water was found as close as 8 to 12 miles from shore and more offshore baitfish activity was reported. Swells did increase from the south and this made all of the surfers happy. Perhaps the biggest local news report this past week was that on July 10 the Puerto Los Cabos Marina channel was finally opened, this happened by surprise during the middle of night, with an armada of heavy equipment attacking the last sand bar separating the Sea of Cortez and the marina basin, which will soon be home to some 500 vessels, ranging from pangas, cruisers to super yachts. There is still an incredible amount of work to be done on all of the docks, slips, infrastructure, five star resorts, etc., but the opening of the channel was a big step in the right direction of finally getting this much anticipated project actually into the operational mode.

With the increased swell and the extreme tides associated with the new moon phase, commercial pangueros found baitfish more scattered and worked hard to obtain sufficient amounts for the charter boats. On most days there was a mix of sardinas, mullet, caballito and mackerel available. Sportfishing fleets found the action spread out, no particular hot spot, everyday seemed to be different as to where the better action was found. Offshore the most common species encountered was striped marlin, though often they proved finicky and difficult to entice into striking, though with a combination of patience and experience many stripers in the 80 to 140 pound weight class were accounted for. Dorado were being found while trolling on the same fishing grounds as were the marlin, but they were not very numerous and anglers were fortunate to land one of them, of the fish landed most of them were in the 10 to 30 pound range.

Yellowfin tuna continued to be scarce, though early in the week some schooling tuna were found mixed with porpoise some 20 to 30 miles offshore from Vinorama to Los Frailes. This was an extra long run for charter boats and considering that the majority of the yellowfin were under 15 pounds it proved to be not a very practical option. There were reports of larger tuna seen feeding on the surface, but they did not strike and disappeared as fast as they were seen. A couple reports of lost wahoo strikes on trolled lures had anglers excited at the possibilities of a bite for these prized gamefish developing.

Cooler and stirred up inshore waters were not producing much, roosterfish action was almost non existent, as the whole season for these fish off of the San Jose del Cabo area has proved to be a disappointment. The Gordo Banks and the various rock piles closer to shore were producing a mix of huachinango (red snapper), yellowtail, amberjack, yellow snapper, pargo colorado, pompano, bonito and triggerfish. Though the overall numbers were not consistent, some days anglers would account for just several fish in combination while on other days catches produced over a dozen fish of varying species. Techniques included baits on dropper loops and working fast retrieve yo-yo jigs up off the bottom structure.

The combined panga fleet launching from La Playita sent out approximately 68 panga charters for the week with anglers accounting for an overall fish count of: 23 striped marlin, 27 yellowfin tuna, 18 dorado, 24 bonito, 2 halibut, 8 pompano, 22 cabrilla, 2 yellowtail, 29 amberjack, 26 triggerfish, 12 sierra and 284 combined pargo/snapper species.