A dive company in Mexico on Tuesday shared footage showing clients swimming with a large sunfish that was alien-like in appearance.
A company that specializes in shark encounters off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, shared footage Tuesday showing a large Mola mola swimming with divers.
“One of the weirdest creatures in the ocean, THE MOLA MOLA,” Cabo Shark Dive suggested via Instagram. “We often see Mola molas during our ocean safaris, and they are super COOL and friendly!”
Mola molas (ocean sunfish) are the largest bony fish on the planet and can weigh up to 5,000 pounds.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Anglers vacationing in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, on Wednesday brought to port a blue marlin that weighed an estimated 1,000 pounds and measured an astonishing 14 feet.
Pisces Sportfishing, whose fleet was not involved in the extraordinary catch, reported via Facebook that the Minnesota anglers were aboard Dream Maker with Capt. “Cheque” Cervantes.
“Happening NOW in Cabo. Another ‘out of season’ Blue Marlin today, weighing in at 660 lbs and measured out to 169 inches; 14 feet!” Pisces exclaimed.
Marshall Ryerson, who arranged the charter, told FTW Outdoors that the marlin was so long and heavy that only part of the fish could be hoisted onto a local dock scale. Based on its 169-inch length and 69-inch girth, Ryerson added, the marlin’s weight was estimated at 1,000 pounds.
Anglers pose with blue marlin estimated to weigh 1,000 pounds
That would rank as one of the top blue marlin catches in the steeped history of Cabo San Lucas sportfishing.
(For the sake of comparison, a blue marlin caught by Pisces in 2019 weighed 814 pounds on an official scale after measuring 167.5 inches with a 66-inch girth.)
The marlin was caught by Caesar Larson and Luke Fox, who were among five anglers on a charter in search of tuna and dorado. The massive billfish attacked their lures five seconds apart and they fought the marlin with both rods for 90 minutes before it was alongside the 34-foot boat.
Ryerson, who said the marlin was in no shape to be released, addressed the greater challenge of transporting such a large marlin back to port.
“It took seven of us and every bit of energy from each of us to get the fish in the boat,” he said, referring to the anglers and crewmen. “After several attempts and help from the waves we were able to get the fish up and into the boat.”
Luke Fox (left) and Caesar Larson pose with marlin they caught off Cabo San Lucas
Ryerson added that the meat was donated to a local charity that benefits impoverished children.
Tracy Ehrenberg, who runs Pisces Sportfishing, told FTW Outdoors that a 700-pound blue marlin was landed a week earlier. Both catches were unusual because prime fishing season for blue marlin is July through October.
“However, there is always one big blue caught in the first month of the year,” Ehrenberg said. “Two is exceptional. But if you go back and examine the archives, the biggest blue marlin in my memory are caught out of season, like April or May.”
The marlin was donated to a charity that feeds impoverished children
Ehrenberg said the fleets are currently focused on striped marlin, which are more abundant during the winter, along with dorado and other small gamefish.
Catch-and-release marlin fishing is strongly encouraged in Cabo San Lucas, and the vast majority of anglers set their billfish free whenever possible.
The new layout will join Jack Nicklaus’ original course at the property that offers stunning views of the Pacific Ocean.
Jack Nicklaus will return to Mexico to build a second course at Quivira Los Cabos, where he designed Quivira Golf Club that opened in 2014.
The routing is in progress, and ground is expected to be broken by the end of 2022 for the as-yet-to-be-named new Jack Nicklaus Signature course. It will be laid out in the northwest portion of the 1,850-acre development in rolling desert foothills and valleys interlaced with arroyos, and the southern portion of the course will offer panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean.
“The first golf course at Quivira is a spectacular layout playing across a remarkable piece of property,” Nicklaus said in a media release announcing the news Tuesday. “Now, I am excited that design is well underway on the second course at Quivira, which should be stunning and equally as spectacular. I hope golfers who play the second course will enjoy the views, the quality of golf, and the challenge.”
The original course at the property, Quivira Golf Club, tied for No. 25 on Golfweek’s Best 2021 list of courses in Mexico, the Caribbean, the Atlantic islands, and Central America.
After a recent day of fishing, in stormy surf and vanishing daylight, guide Wesley Brough tried one more cast and reeled in a massive snook that could shatter a 20-year-old world record.
After a recent day of fishing, in stormy surf and vanishing daylight, guide Wesley Brough tried one more cast and reeled in a “monster” snook that could shatter a 20-year-old world record.
“We were getting ready to leave when we saw mullet flying out of the water and decided on a last cast,” Brough, a surf-fishing guide in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, told For The Win Outdoors. “I figured it was another roosterfish. Knowing there was not enough light for a good picture, I decided to horse him in and get him released.
“The fish was on the beach in about six minutes and it was definitely not a rooster. To our surprise it was a monster snook like neither of us had ever seen before.”
The Pacific white snook, caught June 28, weighed 51 pounds, 4.8 ounces on a certified scale in town. The International Game Fish Assn. world record stands at 47 pounds, 8 ounces. That fish also was caught off Cabo San Lucas, on July 4, 2001.
Snook catches are rare on Cabo San Lucas beaches. Brough, owner of Cabo Surfcaster guide service, was fishing for roosterfish with Matt Strehle on the Pacific side of Baja California’s tip, in surf generated by Hurricane Enrique far to the south.
“Winds were 25 to 30 mph and storm waves were stacked four to five waves deep,” Brough said. “The only things we had going for us is that the water was warm and there was bait in the area.”
Brough and Strehle were casting lures beyond the waves and retrieving them rapidly so they’d mimic fleeing baitfish. They were targeting roosterfish for catch-and-release photo opportunities.
“As the sun went down we started to see the bait get really nervous and we launched casts out over the waves into the bait,” Brough recalled. “I got hit right away on a big Savagegear stickbait and passed off the rod and it ended up being a 50- to 55-pound rooster.
“After pictures and a quick release we ended up repeating the process three casts later with a 45-pound rooster and a 25-pound jack crevalle.”
Brough’s next cast, in near darkness, produced the snook strike. He said he’d have released the fish but it was hooked deep in the throat and would not have survived.
On Instagram he described the snook, which measured 50 inches with a 30-inch girth, as a “sea monster.”
Brough said he fought the fish in accordance with IGFA rules and has submitted a record application. The IGFA typically makes a determination after several weeks.
–Images showing Wesley Brough with his giant snook are courtesy of Cabo Surfcaster
On Monday we shared video footage showing an orca’s extraordinary leap while attacking a dolphin Sunday in Mexico’s Sea Of Cortez. Late Monday a sharper clip surfaced showing the same incident, but from a different angle.
On Monday we shared video footage showing an orca’s extraordinary leap while attacking a dolphin Sunday in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. Late Monday a sharper clip surfaced, showing the same incident from a different angle.
The footage, captured by Afrelandra Glez. Cibrián, shows the orca slamming the dolphin during a vertical charge and vault of about 15 feet. (Best viewed with sound.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPACJZ2g9Yg/
“Orcas should always be free to jump out of the water and follow their natural instincts!” the Instagram description reads. “They don’t deserve to be used as human entertainment and be kept in captivity.”
The predation at Cabo Pulmo, a dive spot north of Cabo San Lucas, occurred after several boats had gathered to view an orca pod of about 10 animals. The footage below was captured via cellphone by Miguel Cuevas of Cabo Pulmo Divers.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CO-we3PgF9P/
The orcas killed the dolphin during a scene that played out over several hours. Eastern Tropical Pacific orcas, or killer whales, often prey on marine mammals.
The father of an 11-year-old boy was thinking junior world record after his son landed man enormous leopard grouper last week in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
The father of an 11-year-old boy was thinking junior world record after his son landed an enormous leopard grouper last week in Mexico’s Sea of Cortez.
Little did Isaac Amador Davis know that no such record exists.
The grouper, caught by Isaias Amador at Las Animas Island near La Paz, was nearly as long as the boy is tall. Isaac could not locate a certified scale in La Paz so he delivered the catch to Cabo San Lucas to obtain an official weight.
Isaias Amador and father pose with 23.4-pound grouper. Photo: Pisces Sportfishing
The Pisces Sportfishing scale read 23.4 pounds. Massive for a leopard grouper.
Pisces announced via Facebook that paperwork was completed for submission to the International Game Fish Assn. for consideration as a Junior World Record. Isaac Amador Davis also hoped the catch might qualify as a line-class record for 50-pound-test line.
Pisces stated: “We are happy to see kids like Isaias enjoying the sport and awesome parents supporting them to do what they love and recognizing the value in organizations like IGFA. Congrats once again Isaias!”
However, Pisces soon discovered that the IGFA maintains only an all-tackle world record for leopard grouper. The all-tackle record, for heaviest fish regardless of line strength, stands at 28 pounds, 10 ounces.
That fish was caught by Robert Wheaton in April 2017, in the Sea of Cortez near Loreto.
Since the IGFA maintains line-class and junior records for dozens of other species, For The Win Outdoors asked why leopard grouper has only one category.
Zack Bellapinga, Angler Recognition Coordinator for the IGFA, said basically that catches do not occur frequently enough for leopard grouper be included in all IGFA award programs.
“I would love for line-class records to be open to all species but that requires a lot more space in our database, which we don’t have, as well as physical space to store all the new record files,” Bellapinga said.
“With this being the case, we have limited line-class records to a set of commonly caught species. I am, however, looking to open more line classes for 2022 and will look into leopard grouper as a potential addition to our current list.”
None of this, of course, should diminish what Isaias has accomplished. His leopard grouper is still one of the largest ever caught, certainly by a young boy, and he landed the fish in only 12 minutes.
Beachgoers north of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, recently found a freshly killed mako shark with what they believe was a stingray barb protruding from its head.
Beachgoers north of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, recently found a freshly killed mako shark with what they believed was a stingray barb protruding from its head.
“A shark that washed out on the beach in San Jose del Cabo. Apparently because it lost a battle with a stingray,” Arturo Chacon, owner of Tag Cabo Sportfishing, wrote on Instagram.
His post has been widely shared and the images have been “borrowed” by other social media users, spreading the stingray theory.
But did a stingray really kill the mako shark? Or was the culprit, perhaps, a much swifter billfish?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLrp_3hLru9/
For The Win Outdoors shared the post with Chris Lowe, who runs the Shark Lab at Cal State Long Beach in Southern California. Lowe was skeptical as to whether it was a stingray barb, citing its thickness, but added that he could not tell for sure without seeing more than what appeared in Chacon’s image.
“My alternate guess is a marlin or sailfish bill, but hard to tell without seeing the whole thing,” Lowe said. “Either way, it must have incapacitated the shark enough for it to strand on the beach. Dead sharks sink, so it might have disoriented the shark. Based on the angle of attack, the object likely didn’t pierce the shark’s brain.”
Tracy Ehrenberg, whose family runs Pisces Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas, agreed with Lowe.
“First thought would be stingray, but shark skin is extremely tough especially in that area and I do not believe a stingray could penetrate the skin, so my guess would be a sailfish,” she said. “Fastest fish in the ocean, swam at the shark at speed, impaled [the shark] and and broke its bill off.”
On the Tag Cabo Sportfishing Instagram post, the Living Sharks Museum in Rhode Island reached out to Chacon, asking if he had more images because “there is some debate regarding details going on in the scientific community about this that could be put to rest with more evidence.”
Chacon told For The Outdoors that he did not possess any other images.
He said he was walking on the beach when he and others discovered the shark Feb. 18. “It looked like it was fresh or lost its life not long ago,” Chacon said. “I cannot tell you for sure what it was, so I just assumed it was from a big stingray.”
Chacon added that another local, who was on the beach with a truck, collected the the shark and drove off. “He said he was going to eat it,” Chacon said.
Golfweek’s Best rankings loaded with courses in Cabo San Lucas: Twin Dolphin, Quivera, Rancho San Lucas, Costa Palmas and more
The golf scene at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula in Mexico is unlike any other in North America. The area is home to 16 courses designed by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Greg Norman, Tom Fazio and Robert Trent Jones Jr. – all built within the last 25 years.
But it’s not all about the golf.
First-time visitors will experience sensory overload from the turquoise water of the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez, the dramatic rock formations along the water’s edge, the white sand beaches and giant dune systems. Just above that coastline is a desert landscape highlighted by arroyos and saguaro cacti, and from there climb mountains that reach as high as 6,500 feet in elevation.
Simply put, there is beauty in every direction. But it’s not all about that beauty, either.
There’s a vibe to Cabo, an invitation to relax, to enjoy oneself, that takes the sum of its parts – golf, coast, mountains, views – to deliver something even greater as a whole.
Quivera in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Quivera/Brian G. Oar)
Want to party? Check. Want to relax at the beach between rounds? Check. Want to go all-in with a second home at a resort-style community that offers all the trimmings? Check. Cabo offers all that and more.
That vibe starts before visitors leave the airport. After the frenzy of customs, claiming bags and avoiding the dozens of timeshare hawkers, you step outside and are bathed in sunshine and offered a drink. Even before you grab a taxi or climb into a shuttle, there is a curbside bar filled with happy tourists – apparently the fun can’t wait in Cabo.
The drive from the airport to the hotel areas is about 30-45 minutes. Most guests will stay at a large hotel or resort in one of three areas; the Corridor, the Marina District or the Pacific side of the peninsula.
The Corridor is a 15-mile stretch between San Jose Del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas filled with mega-hotels, each with hundreds of rooms, pools, restaurants and activities. Many are set up as all-inclusive, and some guests never venture outside their resort.
The Marina District is where the town of Cabo San Lucas meets the beach. There are shops and restaurants nestled up to fishing boats and yachts at the marina. Tourists can sign up for whale watching, sport fishing, a ride on a glass-bottom boat, a sunset cruise and more at the Marina. A few blocks inland are the nightclubs and bars that give Cabo its reputation as a spring break-bachelor party hot spot. A walk from the Marina up the beach takes you past bars and restaurants in the sand, alongside large condos and hotels, and gives you the best view of Land’s End, the iconic rock formation that dives into the sea at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula.
Rancho San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Rancho San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Around Land’s End is the Pacific side, another dramatic meeting of land and sea where numerous hotels, resorts and developments have popped up in the past 20 years. The Pacific side is a little more quiet and offers amazing sunsets, and it is home to some of the newer golf courses in Cabo.
The golf experience in Cabo is resort golf through and through. Arrival at a course usually includes a cocktail, everyone takes carts, there is often music on the range and many courses are arranged as roughly six-hole stretches between comfort stations where golfers indulge on cocktails and local-fare appetizers. Shorts and flip flops might be seen alongside an Airstream kitchen serving tacos and a VW Bus offering margaritas. The vibe is frequently much more beach club with a golf course added on.
Cabo’s roots are a fishing village, but golf crashed the party in the 1980s. The game exploded in the area in the ’90s with the addition of Cabo Del Sol designed by Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf, El Dorado by Nicklaus, Palmilla by Nicklaus, Cabo Real by Jones Jr. and Querencia by Fazio.
In the past decade more courses were built: Diamante Dunes by Davis Love III, El Cardonal at Diamante by Woods, Quivira by Nicklaus, Twin Dolphin by Fred Couples and Todd Eckenrode, and most recently Rancho San Lucas by Norman, which opened in early 2020.
In addition to all these fresh courses near Cabo, Costa Palmas by Jones Jr. opened in 2019 at the East Cape roughly 90 minutes away but equidistant from Los Cabos International Airport.
And finally, Cabo Del Sol has changed its Ocean Course to a private layout now called Cove Club, for which Nicklaus redesigned multiple holes and renovated the greens and bunkers. And in the spirit of nothing standing still for long in Cabo, Weiskopf’s Desert Course at Cabo Del Sol is slated to be redesigned by the team of Dana Fry and Jason Straka.
Costa Palmas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Costa Palmas/Evan Schiller)
All told, golf in Cabo is unique. The golf purists and architectural aficionados may see Cabo as a missed opportunity. Great land with sandy soils and a dramatic coastline has been the scene for many of the game’s best modern courses. Mike Keiser – founder of Bandon Dunes Golf Resort in western Oregon, as well as several other top golf-focused destinations – has developed a formula of a resort where golf gets the best land and the lodging is set away from the water, and that model has worked extremely well in tougher spots.
But Cabo’s climate is much better than Bandon’s, and it’s easier to get to. Despite proven examples of focusing on golf in other locales, to date every development in Cabo has been real estate or resort first and golf second, with much of the best land distributed accordingly. That also may explain why all the courses in Cabo have been designed by big-name celebrity architects as opposed to the smaller, hands-on shops that produced many of the top layouts of our time.
Will the model change in the future? Only time will tell. For now, Cabo is an ideal spot for a couples getaway or an all-purpose trip with your most fun travel buddies.
This is not Pine Valley or Seminole. This is Cabo. Untuck your shirt, grab a margarita, crank up the tunes, forget about your score and enjoy.
A sample of Cabo’s new courses
New courses and big renovations in the past few years around Cabo have produced what is likely the biggest golf boom outside Vietnam. In October a group of 28 Golfweek’s Best course raters spent a week checking out several layouts and found positive takeaways at each.
Rancho San Lucas in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (Courtesy of Rancho San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Rancho San Lucas
Designer: Greg Norman
Opened: 2020
Affiliated with: Rancho San Lucas resort community
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: Tied for No. 12 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A very playable layout on what was likely the best site of the four new courses we played. Each nine features a few desert, dune and beachfront holes. The par-3 17th to an island green with a waterfall behind, just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean, was a head-scratcher.
The raters say: “A fun place to just sit and enjoy the views.” – Mark Hildahl, New Hampshire
Twin Dolphin in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Twin Dolphin/Evan Schiller)
Twin Dolphin
Designers: Fred Couples and Todd Eckenrode
Year opened: 2018
Affiliated with: Montage Las Cabos
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: No. 15 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A more traditional desert course set a mile or two above the sea. Wide corridors and engaging green complexes make the course one to be enjoyed on a day-to-day basis.
The raters say: “Terrific green complexes that offer all kinds of options.” – Ed Oden, North Carolina
Quivera in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Cabo San Lucas/Brian G. Oar)
Quivira
Designer: Jack Nicklaus
Year opened: 2014
Affiliated with: Pueblo Bonito Resorts
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: No. 25 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A wild journey along the Pacific with holes in a few different zones on the property. The 2-mile cart ride from No. 4 to No. 5 was broken up by a comfort station built into a cliff overlooking the ocean.
The raters say: “Several of the most visually spectacular holes in golf.” – Todd Jones, Ohio
Costa Palmas in Cabo San Lucas (Courtesy of Costa Palmas/Evan Schiller)
Costa Palmas
Designer: Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Opened: 2019
Affiliated with: Four Seasons
2021 Golfweek’s Best ranking: Tied for No. 39 among courses in Mexico, Caribbean, Atlantic and Central America
The details: A low-lying layout with three distinct environments; dunes, forest and marina. The course offers wide fairways, dramatic bunkering and rolling green contours throughout. The large driving range can be converted into a six-hole short course for early-morning or late-afternoon fun.
The raters say: “Exceptional variety of strategic shots.” – Kristy Medo, Wisconsin
The view from Cliffhouse at Quivera (Courtesy of Quivera)
Perfect pit stops
Perhaps as memorable as the golf is the comfort station experience in Cabo. Many of the courses offer small snack shacks with a full bar and prepared food, and it seems each property aims to outdo its neighbors. Some of the more memorable comfort stations we experienced were:
Cliffhouse at Quivira: Set before the fifth tee a few hundred feet above the Pacific and built into a cliff, guests are offered a margarita and fish tacos with a million-dollar view.
Red Door 5 at Twin Dolphin: After the fifth hole, golfers can settle into a gracious outdoor room with tables, a firepit and tv, or they can belly up to a bar where the left wall is filled with sweets and the right wall is filled with booze. For early players, breakfast is served: Pastries, fresh fruit, chorizo breakfast taquitos, pancakes, mimosas, Bloody Mary’s and fresh mango yogurt can make you forget about golf.
Lucha Libre at Costa Palmas (Courtesy of Costa Palmas)
Lucha Libre at Costa Palmas: Golfers finishing either No. 7 or 13 can sample a little outdoor bar that feels like a spot you might find along the beach where your choose to hang out. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a mango-scented cold towel and a full Pizza Al Pastor fresh out of the custom brick oven. Margaritas with fresh lime juice and mini popsicles of local flavored ice creams also were on offer.
– This story originally ran in Golfweek’s 2021 Ultimate Guide.
A tourist in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, this week shared footage showing a momma humpback whale and calf swim beneath a boat and seemingly bump the vessel hard enough to knock a man overboard.
A tourist in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, has shared footage showing a humpback whale and her calf swimming beneath a boat and seemingly bumping the vessel hard enough to knock a man overboard.
“Whale Knocks Man off Boat, Gets Hit By Prop,” Lou Boyer wrote in his YouTube description.
In the drone footage, captured Nov. 29 from Playa Grande Resort near Baja California’s tip, viewers can see the whales approach the boat beginning at 52 seconds. The man falls overboard at 1:30, with the two whales partially beneath the vessel, and a patch of blood appears near momma whale’s flukes at 1:39, as she and her calf emerge into full view.
A natural assumption was that momma whale received a cut from something sharp, such as the vessel’s prop. But several researchers noted, after watching the footage, that the pale-colored calf has an extremely floppy flukes, indicating that the mammal was born very recently, perhaps only hours before Boyer captured his footage.
The blood, many agreed, spilled from momma whale’s birth canal, a common occurrence after a birth.
“The calf’s flukes are completely flaccid, opening and closing constantly, and the dorsal fin is also floppy,” researcher Nico Randsome wrote on the Cetal Fauna group Facebook page. “Mom is supporting the calf, it is very uncoordinated, and must have been born not long before the drone started to document them. The blood definitely looks like it is coming from the mom; no visible injury. So very cool.”
While momma and calf might have nudged the boat, it appears that the man in the pink shirt fell overboard mostly as a result of the weight shift as other people on the boat rushed to the starboard rail to view the whales. The man was quickly pulled back on board.
The other whale shown lingering with mom and calf is almost certainly a male “escort” hoping, at some point, to mate with the female.
An unrelated highlight of Boyer’s video begins at 2:39, as turkey vultures begin pursuing his drone as it’s being retrieved back over land. At 3:18 one of the large birds swoops in and is captured on camera at close range.
Boyer, who is from Huntington Beach, Calif., took evasive measures and safely retrieved his device.
A 365-pound yellowfin tuna was landed after a marathon struggle Tuesday off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the real battle was wrestling the massive fish onto the 22-foot skiff.
A 365-pound yellowfin tuna was landed after a marathon struggle Tuesday off Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, but the real battle was wrestling the massive fish onto the 22-foot skiff.
“I actually told the guys to make sure the bilge pump is on,” Eduardo Aripez, captain of the vessel Nicole, told Rebecca Ehrenberg of Pisces Sportfishing. “When we started pulling it onboard the boat almost tipped over and took on a lot of water, but we managed.”
Aripez and two other locals, Franciso Beltran and Inocencio Pina, landed the tuna after a 3.5-hour battle that lasted into the darkness at Outer Gordo Banks, north of Cabo San Lucas in the Sea of Cortez.
It’s at least the third “super cow” yellowfin tuna – weighing 300 pounds or more – caught at Gordo Banks in the past three weeks.
On Nov. 9, a 310-pound yellowfin tuna was landed just days after the end of the prestigious Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot competition, which produced only three fish topping 200 pounds.
On Nov. 12, a 370-pound yellowfin tuna was caught at Gordo Banks after a 60-minute fight aboard the vessel Hard Efforts.
For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record for the yellowfin tuna stands at 427 pounds. That fish was caught by Southern California angler Guy Yocom in 2012, 180 miles south of Cabo San Lucas.
The 365-pound tuna, caught on 80-pound-test line with a 130-pound-test leader, was weighed at La Playita, which provides close access to Gordo Banks.
Eric Brictson, owner of Gordo Banks Pangas, told For The Win Outdoors that the same fishermen have been targeting giant tuna in late afternoon, often returning in the dark. They also caught two black marlin this past week.
“I think we’re going to have a good December, with warmer conditions than usual,” Brictson said. “We had that about 10 years ago, when the cows bit all through December.”
–Image showing Eduardo Aripez, Franciso Beltran and Inocencio Pina posing with the 365-pound yellowfin tuna is courtesy of Pisces Sportfishing
