Saturday brought one of those true Los Cabos days out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina. The offshore grounds are firing with striped marlin still showing strong before they begin to disperse, dorado lighting up around the floating structure, and yellowfin tuna concentrating on the banks. Closer to the beach, gallos de orilla, the iconic Los Cabos roosterfish, are right in the middle of their best season of the year. A mixed bag day is shaping up as one of the most reliable plays of the month, and June 6 delivered.
Today's Conditions
The water has moved up another couple degrees this week. We are now sitting in the comfortable upper 70s, with surface temperatures expected to keep climbing into the low to mid 80s over the next few weeks. This is the band where the food chain in the Sea of Cortez really lights up: bait moves closer to the bank structures, dorado follow it onto the current edges, and inshore species like roosterfish come up to feed aggressively along the sand and rocky points.
This Week's Bite Pattern in Los Cabos
What We Are Seeing Across the Fleet
Striped marlin remain abundant in early June, holding offshore in their usual zones before they begin to disperse later in the month. Most fish are in the 80 to 120 lb class, with shots coming on the troll and on pitched live bait when fish come up to investigate teasers. Reports from boats running the wider grounds also confirm the first blue and black marlin are starting to show, some in the 500 lb class, which marks the official handover into the summer marlin season.
Dorado are exactly where they should be in June: active around floating debris, sargassum lines and current breaks. Size class is healthy, with most boats this week reporting fish in the 15 to 30 lb range and the occasional 50 lb-plus bull dorado showing up on private charters. Yellowfin tuna are concentrating on the offshore structures, with Gordo Banks, Iman Bank, the 1150 Spot and the Jaime Bank all producing in the 10 to 60 lb class. The longer runs are reaching the bigger schools.
Roosterfish are in the middle of their best season of the year along the East Cape beach line, with Punta Gorda and Playa La Laguna producing outstanding inshore action. Most gallos are in the 20 to 40 lb class with occasional 50 lb-plus fish reported. This is the window if a roosterfish on light tackle is on your bucket list.
The Strategy
With four headline species in play today, the smart move is to plan a flexible day that can shift between inshore and offshore depending on what the morning shows us. Our crews have been running two main game plans this week, both producing for clients.
Inshore First, Offshore Second
Start at first light along the East Cape beach line for roosterfish. Live mullet and sardines, slow-trolled or sight cast into cruising fish along Punta Gorda and the rocky points. After the inshore window slows, push offshore with a multi-species spread to work on dorado, tuna and the lingering striped marlin bite. This is the play for groups that want a true Los Cabos mixed bag in one trip.
Straight Offshore Focus
For groups locked in on billfish or tuna, the move is to run directly to the offshore banks at sunrise. A spread of skirted lures, cedar plugs and rigged ballyhoo covers marlin, dorado and tuna at the same time. We work current edges, sargassum and floating structure on the way out, then settle into bank fishing for the tuna concentration once we arrive.
The most productive zones inside reach of a single-day trip from Puerto Los Cabos right now are Iman Bank, Gordo Banks, La Fortuna, the 95 Spot and the offshore edge north of the marina. Inshore, the East Cape beach line and rocky points around Punta Gorda and Playa La Laguna are holding the strongest roosterfish action of the year so far.
This Is the Best Window of the Year for a Mixed Bag
If there is one moment in the Los Cabos calendar where you can target four world-class species in a single trip, it is right now. Striped marlin have not dispersed yet, dorado are arriving in numbers, tuna are stacking on the banks, and roosterfish season is in full swing along the beach. Two or three weeks from now the striped marlin numbers will drop, but the trade-off is that blue and black marlin start to take over. Either window is excellent, but a mixed bag like today is harder to repeat once the seasonal handover is complete. Leave the marina at 6:10 am, hit the beach for gallos, and run offshore for the rest. Bring extra hands to fight fish because when this many species are firing, you do not want to be short on the troll.
Tackle and Gear
What We Run for a Mixed Bag Day
- Roosterfish setup: spinning gear with 30 to 50 lb braid, live mullet and sardines for the inshore drift along the beach, plus topwater poppers ready for surface strikes on cruising fish
- Marlin setup: 80 to 130 lb test rods with 200 to 400 lb leaders, rigged ballyhoo and skirted trolling heads in the spread, plus a dedicated pitch rod loaded with a live caballito ready to drop in front of any marlin that lights up
- Tuna setup: 50 to 80 lb test, cedar plugs and feathers for trolling, live sardines and strips of squid for selective fish, and a jigging setup ready for schools holding deeper on the banks
- Dorado setup: 30 to 50 lb test, 40 to 60 lb mono leaders, small skirted lures in pink, green and yellow heads, with rigged ballyhoo on the flat lines
- Trolling speeds: 6 to 8 knots for the general offshore spread, slowing to 5 knots when we hit current breaks or floating structure
- Teasers: daisy chains and squid teasers pulled tight in the wash to bring billfish up before committing to a bait
Marlin, dorado, tuna and gallos in the same day. This is the kind of mixed bag that puts Los Cabos on the global sportfishing map and the conditions over the next few weeks are set up for exactly this kind of action.
From the Day on the Water
Book Your Trip
Our fleet runs daily out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina in San José del Cabo, the quieter side of Los Cabos away from the Cabo San Lucas crowds. Choose the boat that fits your group, the species you want to target and the comfort level you prefer for the day.
Looking for a Bigger Boat?
Larger groups or anglers who want more space, range and amenities can see the full lineup of available vessels on our fleet page.
View the Full FleetBrowse our latest Los Cabos fishing reports for the full week of catches and conditions out of Puerto Los Cabos Marina.
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