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Archive for March, 2007

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

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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 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 in over 10 years, I hae 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 one 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 weeks fishing where everyone got into fish we thought the season had finally turned the corner and was on an upswing! Hold everything! It all came crashing down! I feel really 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.

Now you can see why it’s the off-season. Just one of those weeks. We’ll keep you posted!

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

You have no doubt tried or at least heard of kayak fishing. Several weeks ago, I had also mentioned I know some guys try fishing 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!


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’s unheard of since the days of Aero California! They only fly on certain days, but you need to contact the airlines directly for the lowest flights. They have partnered with Delta Air and it seems like they have every day of the week covered because we have clients 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 and brochures and our Hawaiian shirts and we will be preaching the gospel of sunshine to our nothern 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
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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BEST WEEK OF THE YEAR HIGHLIGHTED BY YELLOWTAIL, SNAPPER, BILLFISH AND DORADO!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 18, 2007

PHOTO 1 : Yellowtail like this one being held by Gama “King” Flores of Cathedral City CA finally came to chew this week.

PHOTO 2: John Luker is holding some great eating. Pargo and yellow snapper bent rods inshore and along the structure this week!

THE FISHING REPORT!

What a week, amigos! By far, the BEST fishing week we’ve had all season. It seemed that all the variables finally lined up; the planets got their acts together; and the fish gods smiled!

Not only did the winds finally take a break but also water and sun and air finally made the fish turn on. Wow! With water temps in the mid-70’s and air temps in the low 80’s (yes, it’s March and it’s already in the 8o’s) the fish were on the bite!

Check it out!

We got our first marlin and sailfish of the season. Normally, we don’t see these guys willing to bite for another month or two. We’ve had them swimming around for a few weeks, but this is the first time they were willing to bite!

Then…the yellowtail! Full bendo and lots of fish lost in the rocks, but the ones that came up were a nice grade 15-40 pound fish with several larger fish as well. The high spots like La Reyna and La Reynita at north Cerralvo Island, el Bajo Seamount and some spots on the east side of Espiritu Santo Island were the hot tickets for the slugger forkies.

Add to that the yellow snapper and pargo that were on the chew and there were some nice fillets to put in the ice chests! Undoubtedly, the best week so far! We’ll keep you posted.

Oh…I should also mention…it’s March…we also nailed a few dorado!!!!

PASSPORTS

Folks, I’ve been reminding and reminding you for weeks. Do NOT delay in getting your passports. Not kidding. This year, you MUST have a passport to fly down to see us or anywhere else in North America. If you call me and cancel your trip because you didn’t get your passport, I’m not gonna have alot of sympathy! Normally, passports take a month or so to get them in the mail. Well, notices have gone out that it could be up to 3 months to get the paperwork processed now! Don’t sit on your hands. Gedderdun!

TAILHUNTER’s TRADESHOW TRAIL

As I write this, we are just pulling out and packing out from spending the week in gorgeous Salt Lake City where we just completed the International Sportsman’s Expo. It was about 80 degrees here and I spent the whole week in our booth in shorts and flip-flops compared to my normal snow gear I have to wear whenever we are here.

Great to see so many of our old amigos and make new ones. Tell ya what…considering we’re in Utah, it was amazing how many Californian’s were running around and came to say hi. These were guys walking around the show with t-shirts from Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego or wearing long range shirts with Excel printed on it. We sure had fun this week and now we’re packing up and headed to our last show after 3 months on the road. We’re headed to the great white north…Anchorage, Alaska! Then…finally back home to La Paz.

We’re filling up fast! Let us know if we need to set you up this year!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745

Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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WINDS CALM BUT FISHING TAKES IT’S TIME COMING BACK ONTRACK!

La Paz Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 11, 2007


PHOTOS: As the waters warm, we’re starting to see more marlin and billfish around La Paz but the water is probably still a tad chilly and the fish are not quite ready to chew. Anyway, the action is a little different down south of us. I didn’t have any decent La Paz photos for you this week, but wanted to share these photos from Cabo San Lucas instead which is about 100 miles to the south of us in La Paz. Our Amigo Dan Shore and his friend Bob Capp (celebrating his 50th birthday) went out fishing with our friends at the Cabo Magic Fleet this week. Fishing wasn’t real great but they hooked a nice striped marlin. Bob’s son, Biagio gamely took the rod. The 9-year-old stayed in the chair the whole time and fought the fish from start to finish refusing to hand off. Even more noteworthy…the young man released the fish! Cheers, Bagio!

THE FISHING REPORT

Earlier in the week, it was simply too windy to get out but that cleared up to 80 degree skies as the week progressed. However, fishing didn’t exactly climb back on track, but it’s hard to know because there weren’t that many anglers. A few yellowtail and sierra, but mostly it was a bonito and skipjack bite this week. We did have one group that was intent on catching yellow snapper and there’s and abundance of those great eating fish pretty much around any structure. On light tackle they’re great and willing to hit the baits. Alot of the commericial fishermen like them because and get top dollar for them from the markets and restuarants because they are “plate sized” and fit neatly in a pot, pan or plate.

We have a lot of snowbirds in town just content to soak up a bit of sunshine and not to interested in being on the fishing grounds. Our whale watching trips to Magdalena Bay have been really good.

HEADS UP ON PASSPORT PHOTOS

We’re in the states right now and saw that Costco has passport photos for about 5 bucks. Walgreens also has a special on passport photos as well. Don’t delay. If you’re coming down to Baja this year, it’s taking at least 2 months to get your passports.
TAILHUNTER NEXT STOP
We’re on the road again. We’re leaving the coast in Long Beach CA and driving inland once again and will be at the Salt Lake City International Sportsmen’s Expo in Sandy, Utah from March 15 to 18 (Thursday to Sunday). If you’re around, please stop on by!
That’s my story. Have a great week!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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YELLOWTAIL REALLY STARTING TO RUMBLE IF ONLY THE WINDS STAYED DOWN!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 4, 2006

The Fishing Report

I’d have to tell you that sometimes this is getting pretty monotonous. The yellowtail are here! They want to eat! They are 20-60 pound fish! The only problem is that half the days, we have to either cancel the boats because the winds came back up or else we just can’t get to where the fish are holding.

I guess the good side is that every week, it’s a little better, but it’s frustrating knowing these toad-sized forktails are there and, but for mother nature, we’d be into them! At areas like El Bajo Seamount north of Espiritu Santo, and at the north end of Cerralvo Island the fish didn’t quite eat the iron as well, but what the hey…the didn’t mind eating sardines or the larger caballitos (big fish…big baits!). These fish are hunkered down in the rocks so this is one of those times during the year when I tell the anglers that the larger stiffer rods that can put the hurt on fish as well as 40-60 pound test with a bigger 3/0 or up to 5/0 hook isn’t a bad idea. Match the size of the hook to the size of the bait. You surely don’t want to impale a 5 inch sardine on a 5/0 hook nor does it do any good to put a #1 hook into an 8 inch caballito either.

I’d still bring the iron, but you might want a few torpedo sinkers or barrel sinkers to get the baits down. Like I said, the fish are down in the rocks so just be prepared to lose a few rigs. If you don’t lose some, you’re not fishing close enough to the structure and while down there, if it feelsl like you get hung up, just because it doesn’t take a blazing run doesn’t mean you’ve caught the bottom. This is pargo season too and there’s critters down there with big teeth like the cubera snapper and pargo lisa that will go 30-80 pounds! If you get bit, crank like hell and keep the rod tip high so whatever you’ve got can’t turn it’s head and burrow back down into the caves!

As for other species, we’re seeing more and more marlin around towards the south by our Las Arenas fleet. These are lazy boys. They sit and sun and you can literally almost run them over with the pangas before they’ll move. I’ve thrown baits right on top of their noses and they ignore it like I had thrown a hot dog at them instead of a juicy sardine or mackerel! Just wait. As the waters warm, these guys will start going on the feed. We just need a few more degrees and a little less wind. Still…this is darned early to be seeing billfish in the water so hang on!

NEW STUFF WITH TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL

First things…THE FRED HALL FISHING AND BOATING SHOW…it’s this week! Long Beach Convention Center from Wednesday to Sunday March 7-11. This show will be packed. If you’ve never been, this show is the big circus in town. Many people spend 2, 3, or more days because you simply can’t see it all. Our booth will be in it’s usual spot in the TACKLE AREA. We are not in the travel section! Look for us near Izorline, Caltar Rods, Accurate Reels and Tady Lures…that’s the aisle. We’re usually buried in folks and I’m short so try to find us!

Our ONLINE STORE! It’s up and ready to rock. We’ve re-designed it and there’s tons of new things and more things being added all the time. Check it out at: http://www.store.tailhunter-international.com/ Mens and women’s stuff is available as well as other goodies too!

Our new Calendar is up! Check out the moon phases as well as see what dates are still available for fishing! We’re filling up fast! Click this: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishingchart.htm

ODDS AND ENDS:

If you’ve ever been pissed off at Mexican airlines, we’ll here’s your chance to show them who’s boss. Aero Mexico is selling off it’s shares. So now, you can take over and run it the way YOU always wanted to run an airline! http://www.mexiconews.com.mx/23601.html

In case you missed it and have a fascination for things that have crawly arms and come from the deep like I do, they caught a 39 foot 990 pound squid off the Antarctic recently! I wonder what kind of squid jig they were using? Click this: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,253658,00.html

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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