Tailhunter Fish Report

PHOTO 1: Will it never end? No complaints from any of our anglers. The yellowfin tuna continued to bite…as did many other species…despite fears that the full moon and stronger winds would have a negative effect. Larry Bodle and his family are featured this week with some great photos. Here, Larry is with his 12 year old Ernie showing a nice rack of tuna caught just out’ve Muertos Bay and a few dorado as well.

WHAT FULL MOON? FISH CONTINUE TO RIP FOR LA PAZ AND MUERTOS BAY ANGLERS!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Nov. 25, 2007

PHOTO 2: Despite November winds, the dorado continued stronger and larger for our anglers that fished out’ve La Paz. Standing at Balandra Beach, the Bodle family of (L to R) Ernie, Dad Larry, Ella and mom Maria hold up some nice mahi.

PHOTO 3: Captain Jacobo helps 14 year-old Ella hold up a nice bull dorado taken out’ve La Paz. Just when the dorado should be moving out, they came on strong this week with some nicer fish in the 10-40 pound class.

THE FISH REPORT

I know everyone always asks if it’s OK to fish during the full moon. I know alot of people think there’s no fish in November. So, you’d think there was a double whammy on any of our anglers fishing this week.

NOT!!!

If you’re been reading this fish report each week, you’d know that we’ve had incredible tuna bite since August. I should have been over by now, but hard to believe…we’re still whacking the fish! These tuna are slamming just yards outside of Muertos Bay, but are also scattered from the island down to Punta Pescadero. OK…so they’re not huge…10-30 pound footballs, but these fish can pull HARD! If you’ve never pulled on a tuna, don’t sniff at them until you’ve had a rod in your hand. We’ve had folks back o nthe beach by 11 a.m. or earlier simply beat up by these slugger fish.

In addition to the tuna, the wahoo are still going gangbusters. One day we won’t get a sniff, and then the next, the waters explode with skinnies! Again, dragging lures of S.Cerralvo has been the hot spot and we’re having the best fall wahoo fishing in a long time. Several boats this week got 2, 3, 5, and 6 wahoo for the day.

For thos or you still interested in dorado…they’re still here as well. La Paz is the better spot for the dorado. In fact, that’s about the only species on the La Paz side, but there’s a solid bite on 10-20 pound schoolers. If you’re fishing Muertos Bay, there’s more tuna, but if you want dorado, don’t be surprised. Boats are getting dorado mixed in with the tuna. As well, there’s sierra and roosterfish as well.

FIRST PERSON REPORTS

It’s always easier to just let our anglers tell their story. Jim Newman came all the way from the chilly lands of Illinois. This was his second trip this year…

“Tuna were there on day 1, and we fished hard with Victor. We picked up 4 and a couple dorado. We just weren’t on the right spots at the right time (that’s the luck of the draw). Great day on the water. I think Earl and Newitt picked up 8 that first day fishing with Jorge. We stuck Earl and Newitt with Jorge because Newitt doesn’t fare too well in the smaller Pangas. He had a GREAT time in Jorge’s Cadillac Panga.

On day 2, we had a steady pick ALL day. We were prety much hooked up most of the day, and put 13 in the boat. Most of our fish were on my calcutta with 17 lb, and Jeffs spinning rod with 14. He had a blast. He actually landed a 20+ pounder on his rod (lost a bigger one another time). I think I caught three throwing a jig. I love it when I can fish for them. Earl is trying to become proficient with a baitcaster, so he brought one that he bought. It was a stout bass rod with a Bass pro shops bass reel. He landed a 20+ pounder with the thing. I think that was the highlight of his trip. We quit a couple hours early because we had plenty of tuna, and headed in to Muertos bay to see what was there. There were hundreds of Rooters and Jack Crevalle. I caught and landed 6 roosters and 1 jack in no time. Jeff got a bunch too. We released them all because we had enough meat for the day. The fishing in Muertos bay was a blast. Also, you know how hyper Jorge is. Earl gave him a red bull. You should try that some time. Earl said it was like winding him up and letting him go. He cleaned the intire boat while fishing and tending to his 2 clients — comedy!

On day three, we decided to stick with our plan of fishing out of the hotel. Jack told me that the fishing was better on the Las Arenas side, but I figured we could just go out and have some fun (you can only eat so much fish). I hate to troll, but we did it for a while. We picked up a couple dorado and headed for the rocks at Espiritu Santo. I can’t remember our skipper’s name (Alfredo) I never fished with him before, but his younger brother drives Jack’s Panga. He was a really great guy. I told him I’d like to try the rocks, and he said “good idea”. He told me he wanted to try a couple spots that he knew of for the past week or so, but all his clients only wanted to fish dorado. We got on a reef, and I started throwing jigs. I think I got 6 cabrilla, 2 pargo, and a bunch of triggers. I got bit off twice by really big Sierra. The skipper was jigging straight up and down with Jeff’s rod when he hooked something BIG. It headed straight for open water burning line off Jeff’s reel. He handed the rod to Jeff, and started backing down on the fish. It never slowed down, and kept ripping line off faster than the boat could go in reverse. Before the skipper could get the boat turned around to chase it, he spooled the reel. 200+ yards of 17 lb in no more than a minute and a half. Any idea of what it might have been? Anyways, Jeff has a story for life on that one. After a few hours of fishing the island, we headed back out to the dorado, and whacked a few more.

Everyone had a great time. “

This one is from Marilyn Noonan who spent a week with us and her family…

“Great first day fishing with too many tuna, plenty of rooster fish, a few dorado…

Next day brought a wahoo to youngest Noonan, Conor, though Victor or Jorge (I don´t remember which or if it was both) assured us there weren´t any… plus a couple dorado, small roosters. We didn´t want to take any more tuna. (Victor bled our tuna right after capture, which was really nice…but I think we took the wrong ones that were not bled out. Ick says the mom.Waaaaaaaaaaaah.

Next day with Steve Games´captain brought 5 WAHOO! to all the Noonan men, with Conor still leading the pack with the biggest fish, as usual.

Today was dorado day with 17 caught,¨Conor still in the lead with a nice bull. Jorge´s panga was a clear favorite with brothers fighting over who would get to go with him next time. Liked Victor very much…”

That’s my story for the week. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL

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

Mexico Office: 775 Calle Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur,

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“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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PHOTO: It’s hard to imagine a better wahoo season than we’ve had or one that has lasted so long. Hit the right spot on the right day and you can have the wahoo day or your life! Our amigo, Esteban Romero, doesn’t even fish that much! But, he fished on the right day and got SIX of the big skinnies! The wahoo are running from Cerralvo Island all the way south to the East Cape if you find the right spot. Trolling the bigger dark-colored Rapalas is still the best way to hit them. Forget the bombs. Forget the Marauders. The Rapalas and big lipped crank baits that run deep have been the top ticket all season.

HOW MUCH LONGER CAN IT LAST? TUNA AND DORADO CONTINUE TO ROLL FOR MUERTOS BAY ANGLERS WITH WAHOO STILL WILLING TO CHEW!

LA PAZ – LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR NOV. 18, 2007

PHOTO: If it’s not broke, don’t fix it! Yes, they are playing Christmas carols in the stores and we’re still wacking tuna. Nice yellowfin from 12-30 pounds are still just outside Muertos Bay. Doesn’t get much better than this. Or as simple. Tie on a hook. Put on a bait. Hold the rod! That’s pretty easy!

Well, they’re not exactly JUMPING into the boat, but some days, it feels like that. For almost 3 months now, the yellowfin tuna bite of 2007 has been going on for our fleet fishing out of Las Arenas/ Muertos.

Hard to believe it’s getting into the Christmas season and we’re still plugging bluewater species like the tuna which are so consistently biting just outside the bay and up towards the old Hotel Las Arenas. Then, south almost down to the East Cape . By far, this has been the best tuna bite that I can remember. The fish have not been big, but in sheer numbers, these fish are perfect. Anyone can catch them!

As much as I love the bigger slugger tuna that bust you up, I’d much rather have this grade of football tuna that everyone can have fun with. I’d rather see limits of fish in the boat than stories of anglers fighting tuna for 1, 2 or 3 hours then losing the fish and getting nothing! Don’t think that even these smaller guys can’t fight! If you’ve never fought a tuna, these guys are sheer power and speed. Just a blast on the lighter tackle too!

As well, the dorado are still prowling. Again, not many of the big bulls, but enough 10-20 pound fish to put some color in the fish box and some nice white fillets on the table. I don’t know how long this can go. I’m seeing gradual drops in the water temperature and air temps so this could shut off any day, but as long the winds don’t rip us up consistently, we might have tuna and dorado around for a few more weeks at least! No one is complaining.

On top of it, wahoo are still out there too. Most fish are the 20-40 pound class. We call these “sweet meat” because they’re just THE BEST fish to eat at this size and always a prize when caught. Trollling is still the best way to get hooked up. Inshore, we’re seeing more sierra which is a sure sign that the waters are cooling as well as pompano, jacks and rock fish like pargo, snapper and cabrilla.

FIRST PERSON

The best way is to let someone else tell the story! One of our favorite people is Doug Oclassen from Boulder CO. He was down with his cousin Chas fishing just south of Muertos. Thanks Doug!

Day 1: We are fishing with Ismael. Chas is a tuna virgin. We stop at the bait boat to buy and are bummed to see how small the sardines are. Oh well, we buy anyway. Head out off Punta Pescadero and drop line. Chas gets his line in as I am baiting my hook. Not 30 seconds go buy and Chas gets his tuna cherry popped (sorry)! Can’t wipe the grin off of his face. He is amazed at the strength of a 15lb yellowfin. Chas gets a dorado in the mix. Oh, forgot to tell you we have dinner on the line for the biggest fish. I’ve got an ace up my sleeve that Chas doesn’t know about. I have a little talk with my Grandpa, asking if he can steer a bigger tuna near my line. I promised I wouldn’t need his help after that. BAM! Hook up! I spend 30 minutes on a 25lb missile of muscle, barely beating Chas’ dolphin. We end up with more than 20 yellowfin before we leave to try our luck near the sand for pez gallo. Oh yeah, we kept one for dinner and gave two to Ismael. All others are back in the sea waiting for your clients. Good ol’ Chas lands a 20lb rooster while I struggle to set the hook on another. What a day. If the next two days suck, we’d still have a great trip.

Day 2: Ismael again. Great bait size. Different area, similar results. This time 30+ yellowfin boated. Highlight of the day…Only two pangas are about. We here the big belly guy with no shirt on the other boat shouting about a big dorado. Then he lands a medium tuna. What the f*^k? Ismael isn’t fooled though. He realizes that a big dolphin had followed the tuna in and without saying a word he springs into action. He quickly gets his panga in position on a northern arc about 40 yards off the other boat. I’ll be damned…the big bull hits my line and then grabs Chas’. Great fight and a 30lb bull is landed by Chas. Ismael is one helluva capitan! I get hit and my line screams off about 100 yards, top of the water, due east. Wahoo! Three great and swift runs and I land a 40 pounder, my first. See day 1 (What a day). All but dorado, wahoo and 2 tuna released.

Day 3: Let’s troll all day for marlin. We’ve never caught one. We agree that we may go all day without a strike and we are fine with that. See day 1 and 2. We buy 5 ballyhoo. Sea like glass. Three hours in, Chas and I stand up because something has appeared in the spread. We both realize we are looking at the bill of a marlin. No time to think as the striped nails the green and white Zuker. What a beautiful sight. Aerial dancing. Only 15 minutes of fighting, but felt like I had hooked the statue of liberty. We nursed the fish back to health and sent it on its merry way. All in all, much like your latest column. Ok fight, but give me tuna all day long. Nonetheless, first marlin.

3 days: 50+ yellowfin, 1 rooster, 2 dorado, 1 wahoo, 1 striped marlin, about 5 various nuisance fish. Chas’ first tuna, Doug’s first wahoo and Marlin. WFO.

That’s my story! Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.comU.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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PHOTO 1: Craig Corda always wanted a wahoo, but wanting and actually getting one are two different things. However, he finally put the hurt on one this past week with Captain Adolfo running the panga. Wahoo are putting on a great late-season run for our anglers fishing out of Muertos Bay.

LATE SEASON BITE STILL ROLLING WITH TUNA STILL ON THE CHEW AT MUERTOS BAY BUT WAHOO AND DORADO STILL CRUISING THE WATERS TOO!

LA PAZ/ LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR NOV. 11, 2008

PHOTO 2: Here’s Craig again and this time with wife Cathy. Nice rack of yellowfin tuna and one nice yellow snapper. In two days fishing out’ve Muertos they got 11 tuna, 2 dorado, 1 dogtooth and the wahoo. Not too shabby considering winter is supposed to be right around the corner!

PHOTO 3: Here’s out buddy Rico with one toad of a cabrilla. Over the last week or so, big cabrilla came out’ve their holes and ripped into the live bait. Lots of fish never made it up taking the lines right back into the caves and busting guys off, but the ones that were caught were monsters!

PHOTO 4: Tim Farrell of Oceanside CA holds up a nice dorado headed for ceviche. The bulk of dorado seems to have passed, but there’s still some dorado holding in the warmer pockets of water. Most are smaller 10-20 pound fish but somee are also larger bulls willing to chew the baits or hit the lures. Many are just free-swimmers that suddenly show up and surround the boats.

PHOTO 5: Angie Farrell has been on these pages so many times, she needs to pay us agency fees. She always gets fish and she always takes good photos. Here, Captain Ramon (Muncho) looks on while Angie hoists one of the yellowfin she got over several day fishing. The tuna are still hitting the baits, but bring small hooks…like #2 and #1 size live bait hooks because the sardines are really dinky!

PHOTO 6: OK, this was NOT caught off La Paz. This is the 189 pound yellowfin that topped all the entries this past week at the Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot. I was there the latter part of this week trying to smile and stay out of everyone’s way. The angler who fought this spent 4 1/2 hours on the fish but it was worth several hundred thousand dollars!

THE FISHING REPORT

I guess it’s not quite over! We still have fish. We just don’t have many anglers! Wow…two weeks ago we had 30-50 anglers a day. Now, like someone switched off a lightbulb, we’re seeing only a few anglers a day.

However, no worries! That just means there’s no pressure on the honey holes and the anglers fishing out’ve Las Arenas/ Muertos continue to hang nice yellowfin tuna between Punta Perrico and the old hotel as well a dorado at the buoys or just slow trolling any of the areas with slabs of bonito or live bait.

Even better…the last week or so has seen one of the best flurries of wahoo we’ve had all season. Dark CD 18 sized Rapalas are the way to go with these fish. One day we’ll get nothing and the next day every boat gets 1-3 hookups!

The seasons are changing, however. Make no mistake. Winds are more prevailant now from the north. In fact, the fishing north out’ve La Paz has pretty much slowed down and we’re concentrating most of our fishing efforst at Muertos Bay. Additionally, we’re seeing more sierra, as well as rock fish such as snapper, pargo and cabrilla now.

FIRST PERSON REPORT

This comes from Cathy Corda…Thanks, amiga!

” What a great time we had, perfect weather and the fishing was awesome.The first day out we looked for Wahoo but no luck so we went for the Tuna’s – hooked 8 tuna and a dog tooth snapper, and my hugh skip jack.

Second day, we went for Dorado hooked up two the minute our bait hit the water – I made my first foul in fishing – I burned my finger, and made a lovely birds nest of my line but our guide fixed it and I got the dorado in. After that we headed to get some Wahoo – my husband wanted one sooo bad, he had never caught one in all of his years of fishing. Well, he got a 35 lb. (maybe bigger) beauty and finally a Wahoo photo to add to his collection. We then were trolling for my Wahoo, and got a double hookup on two nice Tuna – All of this by 9 a.m. The wind started to pick up at around 11 a.m. so we headed back to shore happy campers – our two days of perfect fishing.

While sitting at the Giggling Marlin having a frosty cerveza I noticed that a thresher shark was swimming in the bay as the tide went out and the boats came in it was still out there, it got into about 2 ft. of water I thought it was going to beach its self – he stayed in the bay for the 1 1/2 hrs we waiting for the other boats to come in – it was still there when we left, not sure what happed to it – What an awesome site to see.”

ADIOS FOR A FEW…

After a long long season with zero days off since March and a banner year of non-stop fishing, we’re headed back to the states for a week or two to start getting things ready for the 2008 season; patch up gear; pick up pieces and also get ready for our 2008 trade shows. I am looking forward to a big bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken; an In-N-Out Double Double animal style; and watching a whole weekend of college and NFL football!

Jack and the rest of the staff will take great care of you if you’re coming down! Sorry to miss you!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://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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PHOTO 1: Mark Cabantuan gets a hand from his fishing partner, Jon Luker, with Mark’s first wahoo. Mark also got his first marlin this week as well. Both anglers are from Santa Maria CA and are here for the 2nd time this year. The wahoo came up violently this week with some of the best wahoo action of the season near South Cerralvo Island.

WAHOO SLAM ANGLERS AT CERRALVO ISLAND WHILE TUNA AND DORADO REFUSE TO END THE SEASON! ONLY PROBLEM IS NOT MANY ANGLERS HERE TO SEE THIS!

PHOTO 2: Larry Mannis from Long Beach CA and Steve “The Hooter Hunter” Marabella from Wilmington CA hold up just a few of their many yellowfin tuna they hammered over 3 days of fishing out of Muertos Bay where the tuna bite continues to rage in the best tuna fishing in years.

PHOTO 3: Pro Bass Fisherman Rob McClean and his amigo, Rico, said they had some of the best fishing of their lives this week. Tuna, dorado and Rico’s big cabrilla were just some of the fish they took. Many of the fish were on light tackle. An ususally great bite of big cabrilla like the one Rico is holding tore into the pangas around Muertos Bay and Punta Perrico during mid week. It was weird. All of a sudden 12 inch cabrilla turned into 20 pount mutants that took many anglers into the rocks!

One side story on Rob and Rico…one day they hooked 4 wahoo fishing with Victor. Every single fish came off. Their last one was several yards from the boat when another panga running by and accidentally cut their line. Adios!

PHOTO 4: Nothing wrong with this dorado being held by Illeana Stevens. She was fishing live bait for tuna and was retrieving a live sardine slowly back to the boat when her rod doubled and she slammed in the hookset erupting with this nice female. Dorado were once again prevailant in many spots from La Paz all the way south and around the islands. They aren’t as big as last year’s run of giant dorado, but anglers targeting dorado are having no trouble finding fish. Some days are better than others but all it takes is one bait in the right spot and the frenzy is on!

PHOTO 5: Colton (“Cojones”) Jones and Stacy “Karaoke” were fishing with us for the first time and got into the tuna big time out of Muertos their one day out. Both are from the South Bay area near Los Angeles. With each progressing week, the tuna seem to get bigger with most fish in the 15-25 pound class and a few larger. Baits are very small so if you’re coming down, bring small #1 and #2 live bait hooks so you don’t stick a big hook through the small baits and killing them. Even so, both dead bait chummed in the current as well as live bait are the hot ticket to the tuna.

PHOTO 6: Scott Smith and John Bilbao had never been to fish in our area before and found the tuna and dorado waiting. This photo was their catch from just the first day! The yellowfin tuna seems to be gradually moving toward the south. The main body of tuna we’re fishing is now about 1 mile south of the mouth of Muertos Bay and perhaps 1/4 mile from the beach.

PHOTO 7 : Bruce Kawaguchi and Shannon Lovering hold up a few of their catches there at Muertos Bay. Bruce has alot of salt water experience, but We had quite a few folks with us this week who had not fished our area before and were surprised at how close the fish were and how uncomplicated it was to catch them. Basically, this is all flylined fishing which means, just put the bait on the hook and put it in the water! No special lures, trolling, weights or colores are needed. Just DON”T drop the rental rod in the water! The fish are in close to shore and in relatively shallow water. It’s not rocket science. I guess if you had a cane pole and a bobber you could do the same thing!

PHOTO 8: Our two Colorado amigas, Deb Pellini and Kathy St. Claire came down with family to fish a day…which turned into two…which turned into three! They sure had alot of fun. Kathy is a gourmet chef at a big resort in Colorado and had alot of tuna and dorado fillets to take home. I think we’ve almost convinced them to move down with us. They went right home and sent in reservations to bring even more family next October! These tuna kept getting bigger. They are currently all 20 pounders with some 30’s and 40’s now and then. Larger fish are getting picked up on the troll outside the channel.

PHOTO 9: Everytime I looked over at John and Barbara Waddell in their panga they were laughing. Most of the time, Barbara was bent…big time as she got fish after fish. Two of my favorite folks from the last week or so, they live in Calistoga CA . Usually fishing on the La Paz side produces the most dorado, but for the last two weeks, there’s been no shortage of dorado for our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay anglers. If you want dorado, you can usually find dorado. The nice thing is the variety that’s also available. Tuna, sailfish, marlin, jacks, roosters and cabrilla have also been in the mix.

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