Some decent yellowfin tuna in the 15 to 30 lb. class were being landed, at a ratio of anywhere from 2 to 6 per boat, not bad for the heart of winter. Striking on sardina while using lighter leaders, they would bite in flurries, becoming quite finicky and not whiling to compete with the skipjack and bonito at times. As the weather deteriorated, so did this tuna action.

Dorado are returning , often very close to shore, practically where the sierra bite has been happening, dorado sizes improved some, a handful of bulls up to 20 pounds or more landed.

A few yellowtail are starting to show up on the various rock piles, most were caught on yo-yo style jigs and have been quality fish in the 25 to 35 lb. range. Also a handful of pargo, cabrilla, bonito, triggerfish and white tuna have been rounding out the action over the rocky structure.

Sierra have been the dominate fish found close to shore, also a few snapper, roosterfish and other jacks.

Not much in the way of billfish activity to report, some scattered striped marlin are being found i offshore, searching for their food source.


We headed out early and made about a 15-mile run north to troll for dorado and wahoo close to shore. The action was a little slow early but turned on arou nd 11 a.m. In the couple of hours of trolling thereafter, we boated 4 nice, 15- to 20-pound dorado on ballyhoo, lures and Rapalas. We decided to try our hand for pargo and cabrilla close to shore. Drifting weighted ballyhoo and caballito, we got several bites but were only able to land a barred pargo and sierra. ...Matthew Clifton

The billfish bite was just above the 50/50 chances this past week from Cabo San Lucas. There were really good signs of lots of billfish between Finisterra Hotel and Cabo Falso. They were seeing lots of feeders and tailers in this area along with an occasional dorado but the bite didn't work out for all of the boats. While a lot of fish were being seen, there was plenty of boat pressure in the area, making the catching more difficult. However, some of the boats did well and landed a couple of stripers while others were looking on.

The overall fish counts don't really provide a very good picture of the action in the area but like Roberto said, "Everyday is a different day and the area is full of sea life action."

It was a mostly sunny and warm week in the beginning, changing to a wet, rainy and cloudy weekend. Temps ranged from 63 nights to 83 daytime highs and a humidity level at 67%.

Surface breezes ranged from calm mornings up to 14 mph with Saturday blustering up to 19 mph. Cooler waters started to push through the area on both sides of the peninsula. The shoreline water to about 15 miles offshore from Golden Gate to Jaime Bank and southerly across the 1,000 fathom curve was all at 73 degrees. Outside the Golden Gate Bank and the Jaime Bank and southerly, wrapping around Cabo and into the Sea of Cortez side, including the 1150 Fathom Spot and the Cabrillo Sea Mount, rising up to 75-77 degrees