On your own Cabo fishing?

Jerry Daschofsky

Jerry Daschofsky

The fishing camp cook
Forum Supporter
Forum Legend
I'm doing a supppppper free trip to Cabo. My best friend, that I've known since we were 5 years old, lives in Cabo. No she doesn't fish guys 😆. So she won't be able to help me with fishing. Almost free flying and a few place to use for a couple weeks is helping me do the trip.

I may have a free trip to use on the water. That's not for sure. But I do want to do some fishing from the bank. So my question.

We will be going in November. I know about getting my fishing license in Cabo. I've been looking on YouTube looking up things. Should I bring my own stuff or rent/buy there in Cabo? Both fly and gear stuff. Especially buying from the bank. Flies you would suggest? Size fly rods? Hell supplies gear stuff?

Any help would be appreciated since I have until November.
 
Beach fishing in Cabo is not good. I'd skip it. Way better ways to spend your time.

Your best bet is to find a Panga captain to take you out. I haven't been to Cabo San Lucas in over 10yrs so my data will be out of date. But I'm sure you'll get plenty of info to get you in the right direction.
 
Evan B said:
Beach fishing in Cabo is not good. I'd skip it. Way better ways to spend your time.

Your best bet is to find a Panga captain to take you out. I haven't been to Cabo San Lucas in over 10yrs so my data will be out of date. But I'm sure you'll get plenty of info to get you in the right direction.
Click to expand...
For me it's either in the house or myself. I may not have the time or money to do a boat/ charter. Long story I don't want to get about. I was hoping to fish on my own during day.
 
Hmm... Well Pangas tend to be quite cheap. Might not be as bad as you expect. But those beaches are not good for fishing at all. You might have a shot at first light before things get busy but that's about it.

If you can get over to the beaches west of the arch, there's more fish over there, but still tough.

A medium heavy rod with some metal jigs would probably be your best setup. The jigs cast a country mile so you can cover a lot more water.
 
Several surf trips to the tip in the 70's, camped at Chileano Bay, now a condo complex, and in the 90's spent time on the east cape at a friends house.
Find yourself a rocky point which is prime fish habitat down there, which is where I banged fish snorkeling with a Hawaiian sing as well as flipping white hair raisers with a MH spinning outfit
So scout around for rocky points/fingers that stick out the furthest and keep your casts around their perimeter.
 
SurfnFish said:
Several surf trips to the tip in the 70's, camped at Chileano Bay, now a condo complex, and in the 90's spent time on the east cape at a friends house.
Find yourself a rocky point which is prime fish habitat down there, which is where I banged fish snorkeling with a Hawaiian sing as well as flipping white hair raisers with a MH spinning outfit
So scout around for rocky points/fingers that stick out the furthest and keep your casts around their perimeter.
Click to expand...
There's plenty suck places along the East Cape that still fish. He's talking about Cabo San Lucas proper it sounds like.
 
Jerry, have fun but be friggin’ careful. The surf can be intense down there, especially on the Pacific side, and people on the shore get unexpectedly caught by waves with some regularity.
 
Evan B said:
There's plenty suck places along the East Cape that still fish. He's talking about Cabo San Lucas proper it sounds like.
Click to expand...
Si...Chileano Bay is on the tip halfway between Cabo San Lucas and San Jose Del Cabo, and Monuments, a rock point break is only a few miles from Cabo.
 
Jerry,
Here is what I used to do when I went to Cabo frequently years ago and on days I didn’t go out on a panga.
I’d have a cab pick me up and drop me off at the arroyo on in the red circle on Medano beach. I’d then hike NE away from the hotels.
I’d get there at sunrise and fish until about 10:00 at the latest. Then hit the pool and have a cold one or three…..
There were a few beach walkers out but not many and the wind usually hadn’t come up. I’d then walk back to the Arroyo and catch a cab at one of the hotels back to where I was staying. Fishing wasn’t great, but I caught some small roosters, jacks and one sierra off the beach there. While out in the panga I saw folks catch some fish from the rocks at the end of the beach where the red x is.
A cab might also be able to drop you off on the road behind the Holiday Inn and you can walk one of the trails down to the beach which would cut down your walk distance.
SF

IMG_5441.jpegIMG_5442.jpeg
 
Last edited:
Stonedfish said:
Jerry,
Here is what I used to do when I went to Cabo frequently years ago anf on days I didn’t go out on a panga.
I’d have a cab pick me up and drop me off at the arroyo on in the red circle on Medano beach. I’d then hike NE away from the hotels.
I’d get there at sunrise and fish until about 10:00 at the latest. Then hit the pool and have a cold one or three…..
There were a few beach walkers out but not many and the wind usually hadn’t come up. I’d then walk back to the Arroyo and catch a cab at one of the hotels back to where I was staying. Fishing wasn’t great, but I caught some small roosters, jacks and one sierra off the beach there. While out in the panga I saw folks catch some fish from the rocks at the end of the beach where the red x is.
A cab might also be able to drop you off on the road behind the Holiday Inn and you can walk one of the trails down to the beach which would cut down your walk distance.
SF

View attachment 177158View attachment 177159
Click to expand...
That walk on that beach is ROUGH. I did that once. The sand is really coarse and soft, with a pretty steep pitch to the beach. It's a much longer hike than it appears.
 
Evan B said:
That walk on that beach is ROUGH. I did that once. The sand is really coarse and soft, with a pretty steep pitch to the beach. It's a much longer hike than it appears.
Click to expand...

That would be a concern for sure, which getting dropped off closer to the undeveloped section of the beach away from the hotels might be an option.
Honestly I think Jerry could just walk down from the arroyo and just fish there, that would be an option if a panga isn’t in the cards to get him on the water.
I believe Stephen Jansen still has a shop down there. That might also be a resource for Jerry to get some info.
SF
 
Matt B said:
Jerry, have fun but be friggin’ careful. The surf can be intense down there, especially on the Pacific side, and people on the shore get unexpectedly caught by waves with some regularity.
Click to expand...
Intense is an understatement at times. BTW, Have fun. Stick with saltwater spinning gear.
 
Last edited:
Jerry,
As others have stated, the beach at Cabo can be steep and even though the Cortez side ends up being softer surf, it can be gnarly right there in town.
Having said that, I have done what @Stonedfish has done, except we walked from Villa Del Palmar. This was 25 years ago and Palmar was the furthest east on the beach, right next to the arroyo. There was really nothing past the arroyo. Now there looks to be a giant complex of Riu Hotels & Resorts. However, the stretch after those looks to be unchanged. I'm sure more people though.

I've walked from Palmar, the red X on the left out to the circled area. The X inside the circle is where I had a shot at a legit Rooster only about 40' off the beach. Turns out my 6" mullet fly was about 4 or 5" too short as they were targeting bigger ones that week. He looked, but didn't commit. Got the adrenaline flowing though! I also lost a big snapper that hit a popper in the rocks. That was the only action between the 2 of us. Most of the fishing required long casts. I would say the spinning rod is definitely the more productive setup there.
Make sure you have some swim baits the look like 5-6" mullets and then a couple that look like 10-11" mullets!

This was in the morning before lots of people and the hot sun showed up. Good luck and be safe!

1770099179899.png
 
skyriver said:
Jerry,
As others have stated, the beach at Cabo can be steep and even though the Cortez side ends up being softer surf, it can be gnarly right there in town.
Having said that, I have done what @Stonedfish has done, except we walked from Villa Del Palmar. This was 25 years ago and Palmar was the furthest east on the beach, right next to the arroyo. There was really nothing past the arroyo. Now there looks to be a giant complex of Riu Hotels & Resorts. However, the stretch after those looks to be unchanged. I'm sure more people though.

I've walked from Palmar, the red X on the left out to the circled area. The X inside the circle is where I had a shot at a legit Rooster only about 40' off the beach. Turns out my 6" mullet fly was about 4 or 5" too short as they were targeting bigger ones that week. He looked, but didn't commit. Got the adrenaline flowing though! I also lost a big snapper that hit a popper in the rocks. That was the only action between the 2 of us. Most of the fishing required long casts. I would say the spinning rod is definitely the more productive setup there.
Make sure you have some swim baits the look like 5-6" mullets and then a couple that look like 10-11" mullets!

This was in the morning before lots of people and the hot sun showed up. Good luck and be safe!

View attachment 177771
Click to expand...
Spinning is definitely your best chance of catching anything on this stretch due to waves and.
slope of the beach make wading impractical. Add a couple of large heavy spoons like crocodile as they can be cast far and sink fast.
 
skyriver said:
Jerry,
As others have stated, the beach at Cabo can be steep and even though the Cortez side ends up being softer surf, it can be gnarly right there in town.
Having said that, I have done what @Stonedfish has done, except we walked from Villa Del Palmar. This was 25 years ago and Palmar was the furthest east on the beach, right next to the arroyo. There was really nothing past the arroyo. Now there looks to be a giant complex of Riu Hotels & Resorts. However, the stretch after those looks to be unchanged. I'm sure more people though.

I've walked from Palmar, the red X on the left out to the circled area. The X inside the circle is where I had a shot at a legit Rooster only about 40' off the beach. Turns out my 6" mullet fly was about 4 or 5" too short as they were targeting bigger ones that week. He looked, but didn't commit. Got the adrenaline flowing though! I also lost a big snapper that hit a popper in the rocks. That was the only action between the 2 of us. Most of the fishing required long casts. I would say the spinning rod is definitely the more productive setup there.
Make sure you have some swim baits the look like 5-6" mullets and then a couple that look like 10-11" mullets!

This was in the morning before lots of people and the hot sun showed up. Good luck and be safe!

View attachment 177771
Click to expand...

skyriver said:
Jerry,
As others have stated, the beach at Cabo can be steep and even though the Cortez side ends up being softer surf, it can be gnarly right there in town.
Having said that, I have done what @Stonedfish has done, except we walked from Villa Del Palmar. This was 25 years ago and Palmar was the furthest east on the beach, right next to the arroyo. There was really nothing past the arroyo. Now there looks to be a giant complex of Riu Hotels & Resorts. However, the stretch after those looks to be unchanged. I'm sure more people though.

I've walked from Palmar, the red X on the left out to the circled area. The X inside the circle is where I had a shot at a legit Rooster only about 40' off the beach. Turns out my 6" mullet fly was about 4 or 5" too short as they were targeting bigger ones that week. He looked, but didn't commit. Got the adrenaline flowing though! I also lost a big snapper that hit a popper in the rocks. That was the only action between the 2 of us. Most of the fishing required long casts. I would say the spinning rod is definitely the more productive setup there.
Make sure you have some swim baits the look like 5-6" mullets and then a couple that look like 10-11" mullets!

This was in the morning before lots of people and the hot sun showed up. Good luck and be safe!

View attachment 177771
Click to expand...
Here’s a view of beach from where I am today. Sorry about the sideways picture.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0677.jpeg
    IMG_0677.jpeg
    577.1 KB · Views: 14
  • IMG_0677.jpeg
    IMG_0677.jpeg
    577.1 KB · Views: 14
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top