Tailhunter Fish Report

This is the right kind! San Diegan Mark Atkisson, nailed this 40 pounder just outside Muertos Bay. There weren't alot of tuna this week as dorado crashed the party, but most of the tuna this week were fat body slugs that bent anglers and rods! The body of fish seemed to move around. One day, up the coast a bit; next time just inshore. Average size of these fish were 30-50 pounds.

Bob Thoma said he didn't care that we hadn't caught alot of wahoo lately. He went anyway and trolled the south end of Cerralvo Island and got rewarded with a slam by this 29-pound 'hoo that ate a dark rapala.

This is just such an incredible shot it's almost a painting. Check out the colors and composition taken by Rod Brown from Alaska, who visits us every year. He used to teach high school photography. Notice the streaming sunshine over the angler's shoulder and the intense bend of the rod. For those of you who have ever been on a big fish, sometimes, there's nothing to do but hold onto your socks and gut-it-out-hour-after-hour. Even the captain can't help you. Captain Jorge can do nothing but watch. When a big tuna is bulldogging you straight-up-and-down, you can't chase the fish with the boat! You can't touch the drag or do much of anything except "man-up" and slug it out. Great shot. This turned out to be a 50 pound yellowfin tuna fought for more than an hour-and-a-half. Angler, Jeff Brown is from Minnesota. Just him and the fish. You start thinking about the knot you tied. . . and why you didn't put new line on the reel. . . and why you didn't do a few more excercises. . . or why you didn't bring more water. . . or the cheap hooks you bought because you wanted to save a few pennies...crazy things go through your head!

Epic bite! Dave Dave Gora and John Ellis from Dana Pt. CA went ballistic on a pack of tuna and dorado in Ventana Bay near La Paz. (Check out the video this week that Dave made!). These were heavy-big-bodied fish that came to terrorize. It's amazing how one day, there's nothing and the following day, the tuna are literally eating the paint off the boat.

Despite all the tuna photos you see from this week, the better fishing was actually for dorado! Most days, the dorado were 80 percent of the catch. Two of the nicer fish are shown here taken by Doug Ingalls and Tom McRae from San Diego. Both fish were close to 20 pounders.

It's been a great late season for pargo and this trophy 30-pound dog tooth snapper (pargo perro) has some incredible colors. Jerry Morgan hefts the fish in Muertos Bay and caught the fish in the rocks just off the bay.

San Francisco resident, Shannon Aurand and Captain Jorge pose with one of the larger dorado taken this week. It has been a great year for dorado, but so many of the fish have been on the smaller side with about 15 pounds being one of the larger fish. However, this past week, there were more fish like Shannon's up to about 40 pounds which is an encouraging sign since many anglers are releasing the fast-growing smaller fish.

They get tuna where Grant Darby lives up in Washington, but not this close to shore and you don't get to wear shorts and t-shirts! This size tuna was more typical of many of the yellowfin around this week. Grant went home with a full chest of dorado and tuna.

This beast of a dorado is remarkable not only for it's size, but the fact that Josh Vertel from Philadelphia took it on a flyrod south of Muertos Bay. It broke his rod. "(Captain) Adolpho and I had a really good day on the water, with my first flyrod caught dorado, including 2 nice bulls. We also nailed a fat bonito, which is fun (and tiring). Flies were white sardina pattern. No tuna, but the dorado were a blast. Seeing them endlessly zipping around the boat was such a trip. I had never seen anything like it. Too cool...That bull was a MONSTER (guide said "mas de cuarenta libras..forty pounts"). He looks big next to me, and I am 6"4 and weigh 200. Broke my 12 weight (flyrod), and I had to handline him to the boat after that..."