Art Flippin is a fireman and medic who usually doesn't get 80 degree weather since he works ABOVE the a Arctic Circle all year where it's regularly 60 and 70 below zero. But he wears Hawaiian shirts whenever he's not working. Our amigo, came to share a few days with us and got into the nice yellowtail bite out of Bahia de Los Muertos. Yellowtail were again center stage but some cabrilla, sierra and pargo finally jumped aboard too!
Our amigos, Ken Gragg and Carl Lange fish with us several times a year and spent the whole week on the water. They got some good variety but targeted the big yellowtail most days with fish into the 40 pound class. That's Punta Perico in the background.
This incredible yellowtail bite we've had for the last 3 months has been scattered all over from north to south. Best we've seen in my 16 years in the area. James "Hawk" Davis our amigo who lives in La Ventana went out to the beach and took some photos out front of his place of the catching coming in off his beach.
Everyone has been so focused on the fantastic yellowtail bite that we often forget this is a time for some great other species! Well, we finally put some variety in the boat with some big pargo, cabrilla and sierra this week!
Big chunks of fillet headed to the freezer after their first day fishing this week for Gary Bray and Ken Gragg from California who got 13 fish the first day between 5 guys. It seems the bite is only limited to two things...how much wind comes up and how much mackerel is available for bait.
Need more hands? Carlos helps Art with an armload of fish he took on his 2nd day fishing with us. He said his knees took a beating fishing the big yellowtail "stand up style." But he had a blast and more fish for the cooler than he knew what to do with.
Daryl Valdez with the help of our Captain Victor hold up a nice pargo liso (mullet snapper). Daryl got the tough fish out of the rocks fishing just out of Bahia de Los Muertos!
After 3 months, our 2012 Tailhunter Road Tour comes to a close. Thanks to all of you who came by our booths in the various cities and all the hospitality you showed us along the 14,000 mile drive. It was a grand grand time! Now back to La Paz and let's get the season really rolling! FISH ON!
BEST YELLOWTAIL SEASON EVER? COUNTS DOWN FROM LAST WEEK BUT FORKIES STILL CAUSING FEVER!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 19-25
It was a bit of a so-so week this week as far as the spectacular yellowtail bite we’ve been having. The fish were there, but early in the week, the winds came roaring back. I’m glad we didn’t have many fishermen out and most of them, at least had other days to fish when the winds were more hospitable so eventually, they all got fish. However, the wind were so ripping that last Sunday, they even had to cancel the popular La Paz Yellowtail Tournament they hold annually.
We didn’t have anyone participating, but we have friends that fish it every year and they were disappointed, but what are you gonna do when they port captain has the red danger flag flying and there’s 20 knot winds pushing beach furniture across the sand? It’s just the way it is this time of year. Winds are the norm, not the exception this time of year! So, we’re grateful when it’s NOT blowing and can’t be too disappointed when it does blow.
But…heheheheh…that’s why we have TWO fleets going all the time. Most of the time during this part of the year, we fish everyone with our Las Arenas fleet! That way, we’re generally out of the wind…fish are closer…we’re on the lee side of Cerralvo Island. It’s just more logical. We almost don’t use our La Paz fleet during the winter and early spring…there’s just no need to…when we can shuttle everyone very comfortably to fish out of Las Arenas/ Muertos and they can climb into our pangas and be fishing closer to shore and literally within minutes with the winds minimized as much as possible. It just makes more sense.
All that being said, the winds calmed down as the week went on and we got into some nicer ‘tails. However, during the stronger winds earlier in the week, no one was able to go out. So as soon as the wind eased up…EVERYONE went out! That included private boaters, our sportfishing panga fleets…AND THE COMMERCIAL GUYS! God bless ‘em…they’re good friends and just trying to make a living too. But one of our guys counted 40 pangas out on the water one day. That put a lot of pressure on getting mackerel for bait which are the prime candy for these big ‘tails. So, counts were down a bit and our sporties weren’t able to get as many mackerel for bait as we would have liked.
Anyway…bottom line…one day, it was like 2-4 yellowtail per boat. The days when the whole world was on the water it dropped to 1-2 yellowtail per boat.
Most of our action this week was just south along the shore towards that hot spot at Boca de Alamo in the relatively shallow waters. The mackerel have schooled up there and the big yellows have followed them in there. I don’t know how long this bite will last, but it’s been the best I’ve seen in 16 years! The fish are regularly 25-45 pounders with some larger mixed in. When the fish are on the CHEW, it’s not unusual to get up to 4-10 fish per panga and that doesn’t include the ones lost!
The bite has been so good, that most anglers are ignoring some of the other species like pargo, amberjack, jack crevalle, cabrilla and sierra that are usually mainstays of the bite this time of year. “Yellow Fever” is what they call it when these yellowtail go off and I’m feeling that these other species are gonna feel slighted because there has been virtually no attention paid to getting these other types of fish! Oh well…strike when the iron is hot! But, it was nice to see that we did get into some of the nicer “alternative fish” this week!
THANK YOU EVERYONE! TAILHUNTER ROAD SHOW 2012 COMES TO AN END!
Well…after almost 90 days on the road…countless motels…late night diners…more than 14,000 miles of driving, Jill and I are at the end of our 2012 promo tour. In our van, it took us to a new fishing and hunting show every week…from Denver to Sacramento. Then to Puyallup, Washington (near Seattle). Then to Las Vegas and then to Portland. In Portland, I stayed to do that show while we flew Jill to the first of our Salt Lake City shows. Jill re-joined me after the Portland show and we then drove to the show in Phoenix. After that to Boise, Idaho. And onto Long Beach then back to Salt Lake City for our 2nd SLC show. Finally, we wrapped it up at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego.
What a trip it’s been! Met so many good friends along the way who visited us in our booths and met many more new ones that plan to see us this year to fish in La Paz. We just want to thank everyone who said hello…threw us a smile…shook our hands…and kept us going. You’re awesome.
Now, let’s get the season REALLY underway! Back home to La Paz!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm
Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate
“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.”
Tailhunter Fish Report 