Angler's Fall Paradise "Many times marlin can be seen tailing on the surface" By Eric Brictson Los Cabos, Baja California is one of the more popular areas that anglers from all over the world and especially the Western United States decide to visit during the fall season. This is for good reason, as the weather is ideal and the all around fishing action is hard to be equaled anywhere else in the world. The summer months can also produce world class action but the climate can be quite warm and humid with unpredictable conditions and this can also be when hurricanes pass through this region, making for treacherous conditions offshore along with major flooding on land. Generally speaking the turning point as far as the seasons go is mid October, this is when the tropical storms are through and when the weather is near perfect. Daytime high temperatures typically range from 80 to 85 degrees and the lows are 60 to 65. Water temperature during this time frame can vary from a high of 85 degrees to a low of 75. Overall daily fish catches include sailfish, black, blue & striped marlin, dorado, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, amberjack, pargo, grouper, skipjack, jack crevalle, sierra and others. Every year it is becoming more of a favorite place to visit and for this reason it is always a good idea for anglers to reserve their sportfishing charter boat in advance. There are a wide variety of charter boats available in the Los Cabos area, ranging from 20 foot skiffs to 100 foot. luxury super yachts but the most popular rentals are the 22 to 24 foot Pangas and Super Pangas and Cruisers in the 28 to 32 ft. range. The Panga Fleets out of San Jose del Cabo specialize in these open fiberglass skiffs, equipped with powerful outboard motors and convertible bimini tops for shade. They are very comfortable and seaworthy, able to make the run to the offshore fishing grounds quickly and capable of capturing the largest of marlin. The Gordo Banks Panga Fleet is ideally located in the Fishing Village of La Playita which is the closet launching spot to the World Famous Gordo Banks, it is located only 10 miles to the East. The most productive fishing grounds that are the most consistent for the local fleets are the Gordo Banks, Punta Gorda, Cardon, La Fortuna, Iman, San Luis and Vinorama, this is where the fleets generally concentrate their efforts, these spots are all within 45 minutes of the nearest launching areas. Baitfish are plentiful and include mackerel, bolito, chiwhilly, caballito, skipjack and sardinas. The main species that are targeted are the billfish, dorado, wahoo and tuna. The months of October and November is the time when wahoo fishing is at its peak and gives anglers prime opportunity to catch these elusive speedsters. Wahoo can be particularly sensitive to the water conditions and heavy fishing pressure and the more successful anglers have refined their techniques to a science. When they are in the right mood wahoo strike willingly on both trolled live bait and lures, as well as hitting on cast and retrieved surface lures. A must for these lightning fast fish is a fast retrieve reel and wire leader, they have razor sharp teeth that mesh like scissors, leader sizes depend on the style of fishing you are doing, from as light as 30 lb., up to 200 lb. test. A trap hook rig is always used with bait, one hook in the head of the bait and the other near the tail, bait hooks of 5/0 to 6/0 are the most popular. Keep swivel size to a minimal because they are wary of bulky hardware. Heavy jet and lead heads, weighing 10 oz. to 16 oz. and dressed with brightly colored squid and octopus skirts are very affective as are high speed lures like marauders and rapalas, with orange, purple and blue mackerel being the best color combination. Standard tackle that is used for wahoo are 6 to 7 ft. bait casting rods (30 to 80 lb. class) and shorter rods of 5 1/2 ft. to 6 ft. for trolling lures. High speed reels in the 4/0 to 6/0 size loaded with quality 30 to 50 lb. monofilament line. These fish average 30 to 40 lb. but also are caught to over 100 lb. The world record is a 158 lb. specimen that was taken out of Loreto, Baja California. Wahoo are known for their fantastic screaming runs that no other fish can match and they also are one of the best eating fish available in these parts. For this reason they are also one of the most sought after species and anglers have the best chance at catching them in October and November, though they can sporadically go on the bite at any time during the year if the conditions are to their liking. It is a good idea to reserve your fishing charter in advance during this busy season in order to secure a quality panga or cruiser. The fall is when the larger dorado move back into local waters, during the summer there can be big numbers of these colorful and acrobatic fish but generally they are medium sized schooling fish, in the 5 to 20 lb. class. It is typically the springtime and early summer that the larger bulls are taken and then again in the fall. Many dorado to 40 lb. and 50 lb. are accounted for, and every year there are a few that top 70 lb. and even 80 lb. Trolling lures and bait both work equally well, typically you would troll lures until you get a strike and then bait up other dorado that follow the originally hooked fish to the boat. At times there can be many floating debris in the water, especially after storms, and these objects will attract dorado, along with wahoo and tuna, as they build algae this creates an entire food chain and the action can be incredible. Bait hooks in sizes 2/0 to 8/0 serve well for dorado and the tackle used is similar to wahoo, 30 lb. to 50 lb. line is most common but some people prefer to use even lighter gear, the only thing to remember is that these fish have needlelike teeth that will wear through lighter leaders, so it is a good idea to use a 50 lb. to 80 lb. mono leader. Fall is the time of year that you can have a good chance at four different members of the billfish family, including sailfish, striped, blue and black marlin. Many grandslams have been accounted for and this is also the time when the largest marlin tournament in the world is held, the Black & Blue Bisbee, over a million dollar purse. Billfish are found on both sides of the Penninsula, although most of the larger ones are taken near the more prominent fishing grounds such as the Gordo Banks, Desteladera, Jamie Bank, Golden Gate and the 95 spot. Fishing methods include a combination of high speed trolling lures and a variety of live bait techniques, overall they have around equal success. Many times marlin can be seen tailing on the surface and then be cast to with baits, this is one of the more productive ways to hook into striped marlin but the larger blue and black are generally just blind strikes, which means that you do not spot the fish before it strikes, they just come up from the depths and grab your bait or lure, causing an explosion of white water on the surface. Anglers preferring inshore action have the opportunities to target a variety of gamefish, most common being sierra, roosterfish, jack crevalle, triggerfish, pompano and pargo. These species migrate according to the inshore bait supply and water temperatures, when conditions are right the action can be hot and furious. Popular methods include trolling small lures, rapalas and trolling smaller live baits like sardinas and mullets. When the sierra are around it is a very good idea to use a short section of wire leader because they can inflict similar damage as do their larger cousins the wahoo do. They typically average only 2 to 4 lb. but can get up to 15 lb., excellent eating. Roosterfish fishing is usually best from May through July when the large concentrations of mullet are schooling along the shoreline, but they do also bite during other months. Best bet on the roosters is to slow troll live bait close to shore along the sandy beaches. They average 10 to 30 lb. but the world record, which was caught here in Baja is over 100 lb. Local shore fishermen catch many roosterfish right off of the beach on hand lines and when they are really running you can see them chasing bait in the surf. For more information about fishing in Cabo visit Gordo Banks Pangas or e-mail Eric at [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Millis ini terselengara berkat dukungan PT. KreatifNet - The WebDesign Company http://www.kreatif.com To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Website mancing-l at http://www.MancingL.com --> Fishing information, online chat, forum discusion, clasifiedads, etc MancingL Archive at http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected] ** Save Bandwidth... potong berita yang tidak perlu **
