November 26, 2006 Anglers – Tourists were flocking to Los Cabos for Thanksgiving vacation, with the area continuing to be very busy, though the actual numbers of anglers has tapered off some as families started to gear more of their priorities towards the Holiday Season. The weather could be described as ideal, clear, warm and sunny skies, with high temperatures near the 85 degree mark, early in the mornings it has dropped to a chilly 60 degrees, still not too much to complain about, as some areas in the United States are now using snow plows. Ocean conditions were comfortable, early in the week there was a lingering swell created by the distant late season Tropical Storm Sergio, but by the weekend it was calm and there was little wind to report. The water became a bit stirred up within a few miles of shore due to the swell activity and contributed to slower fishing compared to the previous period, but the conditions are once again improving and with the water temperatures still holding in the 80 to 82 degree range, which is a few degrees above normal for late fall, we anticipate have better than normal surface fishing action during the month of December. Billfish action was spread out, the bite on the Pacific slowed down, though there were still scattered reports of good action for striped marlin, the area from Chileno to the Gordo Banks also produced fair number of stripers and sailfish, with most the action being found within ten miles of shore. Dorado were more numerous and of larger size on the Pacific, compared to the fish caught in the direction of the Sea of Cortez. They were striking on both trolled lures and various baits and found in smaller sized schools. Charters were accounting for anywhere from one or two and up to eight dorado per outing. The week started off with excellent action for yellowfin tuna in the 10 to 15 pound size, located within a couple miles or shore from Chileno to Santa Maria. Anglers were accounting for easy limits on the tuna while using live sardinas for bait on lighter tackle. This action slacked towards the later part of the week, with reports of plenty of tuna being seen feeding but that they just were not whiling to bite. A handful of larger tuna were hooked into on the Gordo Banks, several weighed over the one hundred pound mark, but this action was not consistent from day to day. These larger tuna were striking best on chunk bait, from skipjack or cocinero (jack). Besides a few sailfish and striped marlin, there was not too much variety being found in recent days. Wahoo continued to be few and far between, a handful of them were landed on sardinas with straight monofilament, which is not the ordinary technique. A couple of charters reporting having a number of wahoo strikes while trolling with live chihuil and perhaps with the coming full moon this will finally entice these fish to bite as they are supposed to during the fall. The combined panga fleets launching from La Playita sent out approximately 112 charters for the week with anglers accounting for a fish count of: 9 striped marlin, 14 sailfish, 38 sierra, 16 rainbow runner, 19 wahoo, 122 dorado, 95 skipjack and 220 yellowfin tuna. Good Fishing, Eric