Tailhunter Fish Report

PHOTO 1: Captain Archangel grimaces as he lifts gaff on a big Muertos Bay yellowtail caught by Kathy Nimon of Madera CA She and her husband, Mike, had a banner day on the big jacks.

PHOTO 2: Alot of you know Captain Victor. You KNOW it’s a big fish when you can see him with a double chin! Take a look at how fat this yellowtail is. It’s not long. It’s fat. Even it’s head looks weird, but that’s alot of good eating. Juan Chuy Valdez is the lucky angler. Check out how flat the water is and how close to shore they are!

BIG PHAT YELLOWTAIL STILL HANGING OFF MUERTOS BAY BEACHES!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Feb. 23, 2008

That school of yellowtail right outside of Muertos Bay at Punta Perrico continues to bend sticks with incredible hawg fish between 20 and 40 pounds. These are really trophys and it’s not that it’s a big school of fish. It’s a school of BIG fish! Every drop doesn’t result in a toad, but if you’ve ever wanted at trophy yellowtail, the last 4 weeks or so have been as good or better than any in recent seasons for sheer quality of fish. You could get blanked. Or you could end up with anywhere from 1-6 of these big forktails. You could be in one boat and get a goose-egg and the boat next to you could put 3 big yellowtail on in a row. The next day you’re the lucky guy sitting on the honey hole. There’s just no rhyme or reason. One thing’s for sure, if you don’t have a line in the water or aren’t fishing you DEFINITELY will not get bit!

The choice bait has been sardines, but caballito as well as mackerel when available have been even more choice for these fish. Personally, I like throwing the heavy iron and yo-yo-ing at full speed on these fish and letting them rip the lure. Only problem is that these fish are NOT in deep water and the place is infested with rocks, boulders and crevasses. Any hesitation on the retrieve and you hook the bottom and there goes an 8 dollar jig!

No telling how long this bite is going to last, but I will tell you that the ONLY reason we’re not fishing straight out of La Paz more often is that the winds are still blowing from the north. When the wind shut down, I can only believe there will be more of these yellowtail in more spots that we can fish, especially around Espiritu Santo Island. For now, the yellowtail are literally 50 yards off the beach and 5 minutes away from our departure beach and that’s fine with me!

TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR 2008

Well, we just wrapped up another outstanding show at the Evergreen Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington just outside of Seattle. This was our first time doing this show and we sure had a good time. Met a lot of new folks and friends in the area and a lot of them are sure anxious to find some sunshine and to get away from the rain! We’ve been on the road now since the first week of January. We’ve been to shows at San Mateo, Sacramento, Denver, Portland and Seattle.

Our next stop is the big one…Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center March 5-9. This is the big stage…the grand event for Southern California. You don’t want to miss this one. It’s humongous. Our booth will be in it’s usual spot right in tackle alley. We’re not out where the other outfitters are located. We’re right in the middle of the tackle section next to Izorline and Calstar rods across from Accurate Reels. Come see us and have a great time!

See you then. We’re hitting the road!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.comU.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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: Juan Carlos Vizcaino and his son, Juan Carlos Jr., hold up a toad yellowtail taken at Punta Perrico this past week. The yellows are hitting right off shore. One day the fish are there are grumpy and the next they’re skittish, but there’s no doubt they are BIG fish and here earlier than normal.

PHOTO 2: Just had to post up this second photo of Juan Carlos, Jr. who is just 14 years old. Fishing two days, these trophy yellowtail are 40 pound class fish and tough as they come with bursts that want to take them straight to the rocks. Junior is holding up a nice cabrilla (seabass as well). These fish are literally about 5 minutes away from where out boats push off. That’s alot of great eating there!

YELLOWTAIL A BIT MORE SKITTISH THIS WEEK BUT THE FISH ARE ALL SLUGGERS!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Report for Feb. 17, 2008

It was a bit of an up-and-down week for our fishing. The big yellowtail are still here, but it was definitely an issue of quality over quantity. Again the hot spot was just out of Muertos Bay near Las Arenas and the fish are again fairly close to the beach.

However, the numbers were down this week in terms of numbers. However, there’s no denying just the hugeness of some of these fish. If you’ve never seen a 35 or 40 pound yellowtail, they are simply gorgeous fish, especially just out’ve the water. Big thick silver and yellow bodies that always seem to be ready for just one more bulldog run.

I wish we could check out some of the other spots that normally hold yellowtail north of La Paz, but some days the wind just rips. It literally howls. It’s one or two days of calm, then two or 3 days of rip! Anyway, no sense in running out there and getting hammered and wet when a van ride to Muertos Bay is just as easy and the fish are close.

Ideally, if you have larger baits like caballitos and mackerel, it’s like waving a steak in front of a lion, but the sardines are working well. So is yo-yo fishing the heavy irons. Colors such as blue and white as well as scrambled egg (looks like we….scrambled egg…some yellow, some brown and a dash of red for catsup or tobacco!). Casting and winding as fast as you can on the retrieve can generate an back numbing shock! The secret is to keep winding and not stopping to make sure the fish is solidly hooked.

Other species…none of our fishermen caught any,but a number of HUGE giant squid have been washing up leading me to believe the big wigglies are here…somewhere, down deep. Just no one fishing for them and for sure…NO SWIMMING. One of the captains told me some of these squid were in the 70-100 pound class!

Anyway…we’re also getting sierra, cabrilla, lots of bonito and skipjack as well as some snapper.
By the way, all week, we’ve had Carnaval in La Paz. What a hoot. Wild. Five days of music and fun and a packed waterfront!

TAILHUNTER 2008 ROAD TOUR HEADS TO SEATTLE/MONROE WA

If you’re in the Seattle area, our 2008 Tailhunter Road Tour will take us to the Monroe are at the fairgrounds for the O’Laughlin show. The fishing/hunting show is Thursday to Sunday. Come out and see us! It’s been great to see everyon so far at San Mateo, Sacramento, Denver and Portland. We have a limited number of comp tickets for the Monroe show, but do have a ton of discount tickets.

CABIN FEVER CLASSIC FILLING UP!

Cabin Fever Classic is April 5-9 and we have a limited number of spots left! For all the details, send us an e-mail!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/

Phone: (626) 333-3355

FAX: (626) 333-0115E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

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

Mexico Office: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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: Yellowtail season arrived early this year! For the past two weeks in a bite that has only gotten better, yellowtail like this big toad hefted by Megan Garrison have been hitting not to far off Muertos Bay near Las Arenas as well as other spots. The size the proximity of these fish has been surprising as some of the fish are being caught only minutes from where the pangas are departing and big fish like this are not uncommon. We usually don’t see fish of this quality and numbers for another month or two.

PHOTO 2: Yellowtail are willingly eating the sardines but if you can get them, caballitos (small jacks) are especially deadly, especially on the larger forkies. One other hot ticket is yo-yo iron (lure fishing) like this one being held up by Ross Yamamoto of Los Angeles.

No doubt this is one of the best and earliest yellowtail bite we’ve had in a few seasons! Although it’s still winter and windy, the big yellows have shown up big time with fish in the 20, 30 and even 40 pound class! Not only are they big, but the fish can be relatively close to shore with some fish taken only minutes from the beach but also near some of the drop-off points and around both Espiritu Santo and Cerralvo Islands.

This is exciting stuff because normally, we don’t see this kind of action on yellowtail for a few months and the fish are eating a vareity of baits as well as chasing iron like blue and white as well as zuchini colored lures. Nothing quite like firing an iron out…cranking a few times…then feeling like you hooked the bottom…except line starts peeling off and the rod goes BENDO!

In addtion to the yellowtai…what’s this? Tuna? Is that possible? For the second time this winter, we’ve got yellowfin tuna in the reports! No way to know if these are hold-outs from the awesome tuna season we just had or if these are new schools, but commercial as well as some of the sport pangas got a quick spanking of breezing yellowfin at the north end of Cerralvo, El Bajo Seamount and at the south end of Cerralvo as well. However, before all the fleets could really pursue and check it out, winds got snotty and it became just too much craziness to get out there. We’ll keep an eye on it for you!

In addtion to the yellows and phantom tuna, we’ve still got roosters in the chumline along the sandy spots and smaller pargo and snapper also got into the boxes. Air temps are in the 70’s and most days are really sunny with variable winds.

ALASKA AIR

Came across a little nub of a trick this past week. Alaska is one of the carriers that flies to La Paz 3 times a week. They also offer a handy VISA card like so many airlines. We’ll, if you apply for one of their cards, you get a basketful of 20,000 airmiles right off the bat. However, you ALSO get a companion ticket for $50! (with taxes, it’s about $125 or so). Several of our clients got VISA’s this week then used the companion ticket to get a 2nd ticket to come down to fish! SWEET! Every year, you get another companion ticket! Check it out!

FILLING UP – ROAD TOUR 2008

As I write this, we’re just packing up from our booth in Portland after an awesome run at the Northwest Sportsman’s Expo. The show was packed shoulder-t0-shoulder for 5 days and I’m hoarse from all the talking. Great to see so many of our old amigos and meet new ones. We’re now headed up to Monroe, Washington for the Seattle Show. Hope to see you there. The show is February 21-24. C’mon out!

That being said, we’re taking reservations daily. I know alot of you have written or called telling me you’re planning your dates, but just a heads-up that many dates are filling rapidly! Boats and rooms are going to if you’re even thinking of coming down to fish, give a shout so we can make sure to take care of you.

Speaking of filling up, there’s still great spots for our 8th Annual Cabin Fever Classic April 5-9. It’s 3 days of fishing and playing at La Concha Beach Resort. Cost is $750 per person. E-mail us for more details. It’s a blast every year!

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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

Read Full Post »

PHOTO 1: Not a reflection on the fisihing in La Paz. This is in between blizzards in Wyoming. With much of the country in the middle of horrendous weather, we had our own adventures driving from the ISE Show in Denver to the Portland Sports show. When it’s 20 degrees below zero, it’s not a time to be driving! Details below.

PHOTO 2: Well, this is definitely from La Paz…Muertos Bay to be exact! Looks like the yellowtail have show up early! We started getting a few several weeks ago, but this past week, bigger forkies really jumped into the ring and onto the hooks. More details below!

BIG YELLOW TAIL ROLL IN FOR ANGLERS EARLY CLOSE TO SHORE AND HUNGRY!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Feb. 3, 2008

THE FISHING REPORT

Normally, we don’t see the yellowtail quite this early, but long ago, I’ve tried to figure out the fishing around here. After all these years here, the best I can do is only come up with “generalities.” And “generally speaking” the yellowtail really don’t start chewing until March or April. I just hope they stay around!

Some of the big fork tails started popping up north or town around Espiritu Santo Island and I’d have bet that’s where they were going to blow up. It must have woken up their cousins around Muertos Bay/ Las Arenas because this past week, the yellowtail off Punta Perrico came on strong…like gangbusters!

These were nice fish too. Some punkers like 10 pounders, but 20, 30 and even some 40 pound fish were taken and many more were lost too! The problem is that these fish are all in the channels and rocks close to the point. That means fishing less than 100 yards off the point and often in water less than 50 feet deep. Trying to turn a fish from heading back to cover is often easier said than done!

In addition to the yellowtail, there are sierra, bonito, skipjack, and cabrila as well. A few pargo were hitting, but none of the big reds were landed. We’ll keep you posted! This is a weird year. Two weeks ago we had tuna in the counts so everything it all flipped out!

CABIN FEVER CLASSIC

Spots are still available for our 8th annual Cabin Fever Classic. The dates are April 5-9 with 3 days of fishing and being hosted at La Concha Beach Resort. This is our annual unofficial kick off for the sesason and as per the billing…it’s the antidote for “Cabin Fever.” We never actually promise anyone will catch fish…but we always do. It’s a hoot. Many of our regular come back year after year. We get some sunshine, wet some lines and eat some tacos. Last year we caught 17 different species of fish! That included yellowtail, ambjerjack, roosterfish and pargo! Price is $750 per person double occupancy. $100 bucks holds your spot. Give us a shout if you’d like to join in!

ROAD TRIP ADVENTURES!

We left our 3rd outdoor show of the year in Denver a little over a week ago having completed shows in San Mateo and Sacramento. Having a great time meeting everyone and getting to see all our friends.

But…what a trip! The U.S. is having some of the worst weather remembered and we’ve been driving through the stuff from show to show. After leaving Denver, there’s a stretch along Wyoming where we really got hammered. Never seen so many overturned big rigs and cars. There were blizzards and complete white-out conditions where absolutely nothing could be seen because so much snow was falling.

Last Tuesday we were driving in the dark and hit a patch of black ice at 50 mph and went spinning down the freeway, up and over an embankment then down a 100 foot slope. Thankfully, we didn’t flip or go over a cliff. Luckily, we landed in a big pile of snow! However, in 20 degrees below zero and 60 mph winds and snow, it took the tow truck 2 hours to find us! Quite an adventure.

After that, we got stuck in Boise, Idaho for 3 days because the roads were closed becaues of snow, ice and avalance warnings.

Anyway…Hey PORTLAND! It’s raining, but at least it’s not snowing. We’ll be in Portland this week at the O’Laughlin Northwest Sportsman’s Show at the Portland Expo Center from Wednesday to Sunday. (Feb. 6-10). Come out and see us!

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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

Read Full Post »