Anglers - November 18, 2001 This past week saw capacity crowds for local sportfishing fleets, especially so for the pangas out of the San Jose del Cabo area, if you did not have advance reservations it proved to be difficult to locate respectable boat and skipper. After having about a month of very calm seas there were a few days mid week that the wind picked up very strong out of the south and along with a strong swell made for some rough seas. The water temperature is averaging about 80 degrees and has been stirred up and green closer to shore, offshore it is clear and blue. The supplies of sardinas are abundant, but obtaining them is taking extra time and longer back tracking to locate, it was best to get on the water as early as possible, so that you would not be last in line. Days have been mainly sunny and the morning air is now beginning to have a chill to it. This season has been warmer than usual to date, but it now seems that the weather is beginning a cooling trend. Overall the fishing has not been quite up to expectations but nevertheless anglers have been catching the quality fish and the majority of the people are having an enjoyable time. Everyday catches have included yellowfin tuna, dorado, wahoo, rainbow runners, amberjack, pargo, sierra, skipjack and a few billfish. Most common catch has been the yellowfin tuna, average daily catch per panga ranged from 2 to 10 fish in combination. During this peak fall season many anglers return year after year to enjoy the ideal weather and incredible game fishing opportunities. The elusive wahoo is always one of the most sought after targeted species, with the increased fishing pressure it seems to have made these fish even more shy and trickier to hook. The few that are now being landed are weighing in the 30 to 50 pound range and are coming from the areas between the Gordo Banks and Iman. The best bet was to hand line some chihuil on the banks and then head north towards Iman to do some slow live bait trolling. Anglers that did target the wahoo specifically with the double trap hook set up were reporting as many as four or five strikes per morning, the percentage of actual fish that were landed was way down though, perhaps less than one in five strikes resulted with having the fish in the box. The water is still warm and hopes are that the wahoo action will become more consistent. Yellowfin tuna were being found through out the region, but for the panga fleets there have been two main areas where they have been fishing for them, close to shore from Chileno to Gray Rock for the football sized 10 to 15 pound fish and then on the Inner Gordo for yellowfin that ranged from 40 to 80 pounds. The people targeting the smaller fish were averaging catches of 6 to 12 fish, while the anglers heading the Gordo Banks for the bigger tuna were working hard to land 3 or 4 of quality sized fish. The most consistent action was found on the live sardinas, though many of the larger tuna were hooked while drifting chunk bait, the biggest tuna weighed from La Playita beach this week was an 84 pound specimen taken by a member of the Randy Crowell group from the San Francisco area. The dorado bite continued to be very scattered, but for anglers who were fortunate enough to locate a school of these fish, they could quickly have three or four fish in the 10 to 20 pound class accounted for. Larger dorado are being hooked on marlin style lures further offshore, this was mostly by the cruiser fleet. Other catches near Iman included amberjack, pargo and sierra, they hit on both live bait and lures. These species should be common in coming months. Good Fishing, Eric