San Jaime is one of the two offshore banks on the Pacific side of the cape, the other being Golden Gate. It is classic striped marlin water. You run southwest around Cabo Falso, out of the lee, and you fish structure that rises out of deep ocean. It is a committing run and it is worth it when the water is right.
Everything about San Jaime follows from which side of the cape it sits on. Once you round Cabo Falso you are out of the shelter of the peninsula and on the open Pacific. The water is generally cooler than the Cortez side, the wind is generally stronger, and the swell has a long fetch behind it. That is not a warning against going. It is the reason the bank fishes the way it does.
The bank itself is a rise off much deeper water. Current runs over it, pushes bait up, and concentrates everything that eats bait. Find the temperature break and the bait and you have found the fishing. The bank is where you start looking, not where you stop.
From the marina you clear the harbor, pass Land's End, and turn southwest around Cabo Falso, which is the true southern tip of the peninsula. From there it is open water to the bank. The corner at Cabo Falso is where you find out what kind of day it is. If it is lumpy there it will not be better outside.
Generally the mornings are calmer and the wind builds through the day, so a bank trip usually means an early start and a decision to be back before the afternoon fills in. To confirm for our departure times and trip lengths.
San Jaime and Golden Gate are the two names people say when they talk about striped marlin off Cabo, and for good reason. Stripers concentrate on this kind of structure and the Pacific side generally holds the cooler, more productive water they favour.
Most years the striped marlin fishing is at its best from late autumn through spring, though they can be found in any month. When conditions line up you get tailing and free swimming fish on the surface, which is the situation everybody hopes for. Sight casting a live bait to a fish you can see is a completely different experience from blind trolling, and it is the reason people come back.
All billfish here are handled as release fish. That is standard practice and we hold to it.
Trolling to find fish, then live bait to catch them, is the pattern more often than not. You cover ground with lures or teasers, raise a fish, and switch to a bait. On a good striper day you spend more time hunting on the surface than dragging lures, working birds, breaking bait and any temperature line you can find.
Kite fishing and jigging both have a place out there depending on conditions. To confirm for the tackle we carry and how we prefer to work the bank.
A bank trip is a bigger commitment than fishing the corridor. It costs you time in each direction and you are exposed once you are out there. On the right day it is the best fishing available from this marina. On the wrong day it is a long ride to look at empty water in a lumpy sea.
We will give you our honest read on the morning. Pricing, trip lengths and boat options are still being confirmed.
The short version of how a trip with Indigo Adventures works. Licences, deposits, boats and what happens to your catch. The full FAQ has the rest.
Read the full FAQ→Indigo Adventures is based in El Pescadero, on the Pacific side of Baja California Sur, a few minutes south of Todos Santos. Boats launch from three points: Punta Lobos beach in Todos Santos, San Jose del Cabo, and the Cabo San Lucas Marina. Which boat runs your trip decides where you meet us.
Custom fishing and spearfishing charters, freediving excursions, whale watching from mid December to April, and kayaking. Every trip is built around your group, your dates and the conditions rather than a fixed timetable, and almost every one goes out private.
Book online on the Book Now page, where availability is live and a 50 percent deposit holds the date. If you would rather we picked the trip, send an enquiry with who is coming, when you are here and what you want out of the day, and we will say which trip fits and which one does not.
No. Everyone fishing in Mexican waters needs a Mexican sportfishing licence, and each angler buys their own. We help you arrange it before the day so nobody is sorting paperwork on the dock. The same licence covers rod and spear.
Rarely. Almost every trip goes out as a private boat for you and your group. If a split makes sense for a small party we will say so when you enquire.
Three on the 24 foot Punta Lobos panga, up to four on La Ruca and La Morita, and up to six on Don Pancho and El Wahoo King. Whale watching numbers run a little higher because nobody is swinging a rod.
Yes. The catch goes home with you. Filleting at the dock, vacuum sealing and freezing are available, and most guests fly home with a cooler. Marlin are mostly released, with judgement on the day.
Yes, on fishing days. The crew rigs and handles the gear and hands you the rod when something eats. Guided spearfishing needs breath-hold experience and runs on a strict buddy system, which is the only legal way to spearfish in Mexico. Water, ice and snacks are normally aboard.
