BITE TANKS! WINDS COME UP AGAIN! ANGLERS COME UP SHORT DESPITE EFFORTS!
La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 25, 2007
PHOTO 1: LAST WEEK!!! Popular Captain Raul “Papa” Martinez holds one of 4 yellowtail caught this particular day by Dean Huthman of Washington State last week!! Yes…LAST week! Dean only went fishing with us one day and had a banner time. However, that was last week!! This week the yellowtail bite really tapered off as winds again kicked our butts. Raul never smiles. In working with him for over 10 years, I have dozens of photos and not a single one smiling from one of the best Captains in La Paz!!
PHOTO 2: THIS WEEK!!! What a difference. Not such a good week on the fishing with winds and difficult bait situations making it a tough go. However, the pargo are in and a few were pulled outta the rocks. Hooking them is one thing… but putting them in the boat in the shallow waters is another issue. This is a “small” one our amigo Esteban Romero from La Paz holds up at Muertos Bay. No doubt some slabs of this ended up with garlic, butter and some fresh tortillas that night knowing Esteban!!
THE FISHING REPORT
What a difference a week makes!! Buoyed by last week’s fishing where everyone got into fish, we thought the season had finally turned to corner and was on an upswing. Hold everything! It all came crashing down! I feel real badly for our anglers this week. They put in the effort as did our skippers, but dangit…. Just no controlling Mother Nature!!
As I’m writing this today (Sunday) guess what… no winds again, but no one is really out today either. But all week when I had anglers… I mean, for those of you who have fished with us before… how often is it rough enough to get seasick? Zero!! That is such a rarity, but this week it was a little bouncy and hard on some of the anglers who were hanging in there!!
Wind contributed also to an upwelling of colder waters from down deep as winds were from the south this time instead of the north. Colder water meant off color water. Winds also pushed waves up against some of our bait spots on the island so it was tough to get bait and a longer run than we like to do this time of year. Hijole!! Listen, this is Baja. Maybe you get a day or two that’s off the mark, but rarely do you get a whole week of it!!
All that being said, there were some encouraging bright spots and some hookups around the islands. A few yellowtail were hit, but more were lost. Our counts would have looked better if hookups equaled fish in the box!! But hey… that’s fishing and Lord knows how many rocks have taken my own catch from me!! Same with pargo and cabrilla. They were definitely there, but tough to get inside when you’re bouncing around or when bait is tough to chum.
ON THE LIGHTER SIDE
You have no doubt tried or at least heard of kayak fishing. Several weeks ago, I had mentioned that I know some guys were trying to fish from wind surfers. If you have high speed, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDlBb-642w
And watch some great footage of marlin fishing off a wave runner!!!
CURRENT AIR FARE RATES END MARCH 31
Don’t forget… Alaska has some incredible rates if you purchase by March 31 and travel before November to La Paz. A number of our clients jumped on the rates and hit prices as low as $250 round trip. That is unheard of since the days of Aero California! They only fly on certain days, but you deed to contact the airlines directly for the lowest flights. They are partnered with Delta and it seems like they have every day of the week covered because we have folks flying into La Paz on one airline and out on the other and still getting great prices! Don’t get left out!!
SPEAKING OF ALASKA
That’s where we are this week…. Anchorage, AK! This is our final outdoor show of the season so we’ve packed up our booth, brochures, and Hawaiian shirts and we will be preaching the gospel of sunshine to our northern brothers and sisters! The show runs Thursday to Sunday, so if you’re in the area, stop by and say hi. I think it’s kinda ironic that they have our booth in the “Ice Rink” area of the expo center!!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
www.tailhunter-international.com
riplipboy@aol.com