PHOTO 1: Marty Newbury from Oregon was on his first trip down here to La Paz. This was his first day on the water fishing with our fleet out of Las Arenas. He got a sailfish that he released. He got roosterfish that he released. And, he got dorado including this ripper bull dorado…that didn’t get released! The fish looks big, but also figure in that Marty is pretty big too as a former college football player.
FISHING STARTS OFF THE WEEK WITH A BANG BUT BITE GETS PICKY LATER IN THE WEEK HOWEVER…DORADO STILL LEAD THE WAY WITH OUR FIRST DECENT SHOWING OF TUNA!
La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of July20-26, 2008
PHOTO 2: I like fun photos. Can’t help it. Here, Kurt Hargett, his wife Corrina, and amigo Martin Newbury all from Oregon pose with some of the dorado they got fishing with our La Paz fleet north of La Paz. The majority of the fish are dorado right now north of town varying in size from small fry up to larger bulls in the 40 pound class.
PHOTO 3: We’ve had alot of neat folks from Oregon lately for some reason come visit us. Captain Armando with our Las Arenas fleet helps hold up a sweet bull dorado held by Randy Evans…FROM OREGON! Next to our Californians, I think we’ve had more folks from Oregon and Texas than other years.
PHOTO 4: Late in the week, the dorado got picky and the bite got scratchy, but our good amigo, Tom Moon from the Los Angeles area, said they kept at it and over two days still got some nice bulls like this one. Much of the bite took place in the afternoon and he said you just had to wait. In fact their best flurry of dorado was when they were fishing inshore for pargo when a jag of dorado came swimming through the shallow water. 
PHOTO 5: Fishing two days with our La Paz fleet, Rob Woods poses with one of his dorado after a good day. They hooked six this particular day, but reported that there wasn’t even a bite until the afternoon. But rather than change plans, they were patient and the fish showed up!
PHOTO 6: Dave and his wife Linda-Lisa-Lacy-Lucy Evans (I know she’ll read this) got into some nice dorado fishing. In fact, they got about 8 different species of fish over the week they spent with us. Here, the Oregon couple show off some quality dorado. 
PHOTO 7: Show me an unusual pose and you stand a better chance of making the report. Bob Connell, Jr. holds one dorado aloft while Chad Everett’s fish is so big it drags the sand! They had to work hard for their fish, but managed to fill their ice chest to take home.
PHOTO 8 – Mr. Willie Randolph (no not the baseball guy, but everyone asked him)…fished several days with us and also got into the dorado while fishing with our La Paz fleet. Las Arenas had alot of variety, but this time of year, if you want dorado, our La Paz fleet is the one to be with. Willie is from Henderson, Nevada.
PHOTO 8: Captain Jacobo with our La Paz fleet poses with Camille Randolph from Henderson NV, who came with her father. Here’s how dad described the event:
” . . . after 2 days of fishing and a not so productive morning, I instructed the captain that we wanted to come in early. On the way in, the captain placed 2 trolling rigs in the water. About 30 mins into our trip the Captain spotted a Marlin skimmy across the surface and immediately placed the boat on an interception path to the Marlin. In a flash, the marlin was on our tail. The Captain sped-up/slowed-down several times in an apparent attempt to keep the fish interested–and he was; however, no matter how many attempts the fish made at the plugs (and there were several!) he was not hung. In desperation, the captain had me drive the boat (now that’s desperation for you!) while he prepared a rod with live bait. That did the trick! For the next 3 hrs, my daughter, Camille, was in for the fight of her life which ended, unfortunately, with the death of the fish. It was our hope to catch, photo, and release this magnificant fish but it didn’t work out that way. My daughter and I will cherish the memories from this trip for the rest of our lives, and we look forward to our next trip to La Paz. “
PHOTO 9: There’s still alot of roosterfish along the beaches at Las Arenas. Schools of smaller fish are great fun with the light tackle. But there’s some 50-90 pounders in the same area. This guy will hopefully grow up to be one of the big boys. He was caught by Kurt Hargett from Oregon who got into a bunch of these and released them.
PHOTO 10: Eric Hinderliter said it was the “time of his life.” He and his family came all the way out from Illinois and were convinced to try a day of fishing with us. They nailed a bunch of large dorado like this one then sat down to a big fish dinner that they’d be hard pressed to find back home in Illinois. The smile says it all.
PHOTO 11: Uncle Al Cohen from the Los Angeles area, always does well. He’s been fishing down here for a couple of decades. This big bull was taken north of La Paz. Note the tail end where he said it looked like something had taken a bite out of the fish…a fresh bite! Al comes down every year.
PHOTO 9: There’s still alot of roosterfish along the beaches at Las Arenas. Schools of smaller fish are great fun with the light tackle. But there’s some 50-90 pounders in the same area. This guy will hopefully grow up to be one of the big boys. He was caught by Kurt Hargett from Oregon who got into a bunch of these and released them.
PHOTO 10: Eric Hinderliter said it was the “time of his life.” He and his family came all the way out from Illinois and were convinced to try a day of fishing with us. They nailed a bunch of large dorado like this one then sat down to a big fish dinner that they’d be hard pressed to find back home in Illinois. The smile says it all.
PHOTO 11: Uncle Al Cohen from the Los Angeles area, always does well. He’s been fishing down here for a couple of decades. This big bull was taken north of La Paz. Note the tail end where he said it looked like something had taken a bite out of the fish…a fresh bite! Al comes down every year.PHOTO 12: Look carefully. There is supposed to be a picture of Larry Crass from Santa Maria here. He is holding a HUGE dorado. But, maybe Larry is a vampire. No matter what I did to the photo, it would NOT appear on this page! Pretty eerie. But believe me, it’s BIG FISH!!! It’s almost as big as his buddy Al Cohen’s fish (above).
PHOTO 13: Can it be? Sure looks like Dave Wight from Torrance CA has a catfish. Actually, it’s a cominate sea catfish. Check out the whiskers!
PHOTO 14 and 15: I’m not sure this is something I’d want dangling between my legs, but Pete Wight from Torrance CA was kayak fishing in front of the Costa Baja Marina and jigged this Pacific Cutlassfish up. Pete has a habit of catching weird species everytime he comes down. There’s over 700 species of KNOWN fish in the Sea of Cortez.
PHOTO 13: Can it be? Sure looks like Dave Wight from Torrance CA has a catfish. Actually, it’s a cominate sea catfish. Check out the whiskers!
PHOTO 14 and 15: I’m not sure this is something I’d want dangling between my legs, but Pete Wight from Torrance CA was kayak fishing in front of the Costa Baja Marina and jigged this Pacific Cutlassfish up. Pete has a habit of catching weird species everytime he comes down. There’s over 700 species of KNOWN fish in the Sea of Cortez.
THE FISH REPORT
The week started off incredibly well for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets. A continuation of the great full moon bite, there had been a solid rip of a bite going on. So much for theories of bad fishing during a full moon.
I would have thought that as the full moon waned and got darker that fishing would have continued strong or even gotten better. We had dorado slashing our La Paz boats and marlin suddenly showing up in the chum lines. It was almost a question of having TOO MUCH FISH!
For my La Paz fleets a smattering of dorado, but mixed with roosters, pompano, bonito, amberjack, wahoo, sailfish, and pargo made for great fishing as well.
Then, about Wednesday, clouds moved in. Winds came up. But that’s it. Not a big deal. But for whatever reason, the fish just got lockjawed. I mean, marlin could be seen and would refused to take a bait. Same with dorado. They’d swim around the boat and then look at a bait like it had stink on it or something or simply bite off the back half. That’s really frustrating to see dorado all around and then they aren’t hungry. Dorado are usually so voracious that something must be off if they’re not opening their mouths!!!
Still, there were fish to be caught. You just had to be a little more patient. You had to be persistent and you had to bring your “A” game. You might only get one flurry and you’d better not be sitting on your hands. If you missed your shot you missed your shot. Miss and go home. That big bull is only swimming by once today! But, everyone got fish. You just had to work it a bit more.
The big thing is that tuna finally made a sustained showing this past week. I’m not sure I’d get real excited just yet, but schools of small football yellowfin tuna popped up at the north and south side of Cerralvo Island. I wouldn’t have even called some of these “football fish” as they were about 5 pounders, but there were a few 10-15 pounders. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.
If you’re coming down this week, bring some patience. Some of my captains told me that the clients were too antsy and if they had just waited, the fish were coming. Let the captains do their thing. Also, flurocarbon leaders made a big difference in both the quantity and quality of the catch.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355
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Tailhunter Fish Report 