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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 12-19, 2016

June 20, 2016 by riplipboy

Captain Jorge from the Tailhunter Fleet was with Jason Lester on his first trip to La Paz with his brother and a bunch of amigos called the Pez Gringos who specifically look to catch rooster fish . Jason did pretty good right out’ve the chute with this monster rooster fish that he released.

This was just one of three days of this kind of fishing for these days and does not include the fish that busted off! Jacob Curtis, Don Vetger and Mike Gonsalves rocked it every single day like this.

Shay and Will House Adolfo tags wahoo 6-16

All the way from Cleveland, Mississippi…and with the great southern accents to prove it…Shay and Will House pose with Captain Adolfo from the Tailhunter Fleet to show off their wahoo, dorado and tuna. She proudly showed me her burned thumb and chaffed wrist from fighting the fish…her first wahoo! What a day.

Dave Lester specifically comes fishing with Tailhunter to catch big roosters and does it every year like this big boy just south of Bahia de los Muertos. Dave is from Los Angeles and the rooster was released.

Jacob Curtis started the day off right. He was still making bait in the bay in shallow water only a few feet deep when they put this big dog-tooth snapper on the hook and boated it! Jacob is from Torrance CA.

Shelley Armando tuna and wahoo 6-16 tags

Not a bad day at all. Captain Armando with Shelly Reeve from Rock Springs, WY with her wahoo and yellowfin tuna.

Another day…another giant roosterfish for Jason Lester. The fish was released.

A pretty nice birthday for Nicholas Koeleman and his girlfriend Brianna Seca from San Diego. For his 21st, they get two wahoo and there was also a sailfish.

He comes for so many years to get roosterfish, but “missed” this time with a wahoo instead, darnit! My amigo, Ron Burgess, and a rare photo of Captain Archangel smiling.

Mitch Chavira always does pretty good here every year. He was fishing the north end of Cerralvo Island with Peyton Gaston. Both from Encinitas, California. Working the yo-yo iron, they put the hurt on this big yellowtail and amberjack.

Happy Anniversary wahoo for Diego Jimenez who came to fish with Tailhunters in La Paz for his 25th wedding anniversary from Loveland, Colorado. He and his wife come every year, but he and never gotten a wahoo until this big ‘hoo came along. He gets photo help from Captain Jorge of the Tailhunter fleet on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Note the purple Rapala hanging out of it’s mouth! Don Vetger with another wahoo in the boat.

Two days and four wahoo for Norm Fulco and Captain Jorge on the beach at Muertos with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. This was the first of the two days.

It takes three! James Boyd (holding the head) got two of these big wahoo fishing with Captain Gerardo and getting a hand from fishing buddy, Charles Koeleman, from San Diego CA. James was using a purple Rapala on the speedy fish.

From Portland, Oregon, James Damron had never fished in La Paz waters but took this big wahoo fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet and Captain Victor using a purple Rapala off Cerralvo Island.

marlin jessica armando shelley tags 6-16

Jessica Reeve (in the middle) is a pretty tired lady. On light tackle, she battled this striped marlin for 3 hours! Right after this, she tossed in another bait and got slammed by a wahoo…then a shark. Long fun day. She’s helped here by Captain Armando and her mom, Shelley. They’re from Wyoming.

Mike Gonsalves Don Vetger wahoo tags 6-16

Great early morning shot and the right way to start out a fishing day with a wahoo for Don Vetger and Mike Gonsalves from the Los Angeles area.

One of two wahoo on the day for Glen Davis and Roz Brower from San Diego. Their first time fishing with us at Tailhunter.

Dr. Bruce Mullen and Captain Archangel with a nice assortment for the day! A sizeable wahoo, a tasty amberjack and maybe the biggest sierra I’ve ever seen! Bruce hails from Del Mar CA

Robby and his wife, Bobette Nixon came down for the first time to La Paz from the Sacramento CA area and he wanted a wahoo and a rooster! He got both! The rooster was released, but he shows off the big wahoo on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Mike Gonsalvez from Torrance CA was fishing with Tailhunters for the first time and got about a dozen species of fish over 3 days including this huge amberjack he caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos.

Day two brings two more wahoo for Norm Fulco from Temple City CA and Captain Jorge. Norm had been coming down for many years, but his first time getting wahoo…or this many on a trip. Four in two days is pretty remarkable.

From Cleveland, Mississippi, this is Will House with a fresh wahoo on the panga. He and his wife got two on the day with Captain Adolfo.

Largest dorado of the week from our amigo from Loveland, CO visiting us with wife, Kelly, on their 25th anniversary.

What a good week for Adam Toeniskoetter fishing with Captain Victor over 3 days with wahoo, tuna, roosterfish and white bonito.

This is a frameable photo! Jacob Curtis right in Bahia de los Muertos right off the beach with another nice roosterfish which got photo’s and released. Note his thumb in a bandage. That’s from a big dog-tooth snapper that got him!

Lifting for the picture AFTER the battle can be a little tough! James Boyd from San Diego hefts another wahoo on the gaff.

Happy Father’s Day weekend! Chuck Toeniskoetter and son Adam with a nice handful of wahoo, yellowfin tuna and white bonito. They’re from the Los Gatos area of California.

I think this has to be the largest rainbow runner I’ve ever seen one of our anglers catch. RR’s are related to yellowtail and make pretty good eating. Jim Wilson from S. Dakota is a school teacher there and is posing with his own high school buddy, Sherman McDonnell from Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Shelley Reeve from Wyoming with her favorite captain Armando and another nice yellowfin tuna on light tackle!

Chuck Toeniskoetter victor tags rooster 6-16

Just another reason they call Las Arenas “Roosterfish Alley.” Captain Victor holds up the tail end of Chuck Toeniskoetter’s big pez gallo. The fish was released.

This is part of what 160+ pounds of fish fillet looks like ready to put in the ice chests to take home for Jim Wilson, Sherman McDonnell and Jessica Reeve.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES! BEST FISHING OF THE SEASON!

BIG ROOSTERS AND WAHOO CHARGE!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 12-19, 2016

One for the books!

Maybe this week I should just let you all look at the photos and let the photos do the talking! In the 21 years that I’ve been doimg our weekly reports, I can’t remember too many times when I had TOO MANY PHOTOS OF SUCH GREAT FISHING!

These are just SOME of the photos this week. I could have added 20 more. You might look at some photos and say, “Hey, that’s the same guy just holding the fish differently!” Nope…that’s the same guy kicking butt and catching more fish on another day. A completely different photo!

Generally speaking…even without the fishing just great weather and water.. for once! No wind issues. No big waves to contend with. It was like the Baja Chamber of Commerce dialed-in pretty much the perfect week. Even our snorkelers and divers told us there was “so much life in the water, it was nuts!” Whales…dolphin…manta rays…turtles…sealions…the ocean was alive this week.

LAS ARENAS

This was the kind of week they used to write books about. This was the kind of historic week your father and grandfather would tell around the campfire with a cold beer and a glazed look in his eye.

It started about late last week. All of a sudden the waters came alive with wahoo. Our pangas were getting 1-5 wahoo per panga PER DAY! And losing almost as many to luck, experience, busted tackle…

Wahoo were free swimming around the boats while guys were fighting other fish. One panga LOST 7 wahoo one day!

These fish were running 20-60 pounds and I saw quite a few anglers come back with big smiles…and hold up a burned thumb with with a big red blister on it from reflexively trying to stop the reel with their thumbs! Even some of my experienced guys “forgot” and shot that thumb to the spool only to have it come back seared! But, this week it was almot like a funny “badge of honor” to have a burned thumb and a grin! It only didn’t count if you lost the fish! And there were plenty of fish lost.

If you’re coming down, bring those Yo-Zuri Magnums and the Rapala XRap 15’s, 20’s and 30’s. The stores have run out of them here in La Paz and if you lose one of the captain’s rigs, it costs about $40 to buy a new one…if one can be found!

Put on a short wire leader…maybe 60 pound multi-strand…and if you can, take off the treble hooks and put on a single 5/0-7/0 siwash hook. You’ll increase your catch-ratio! Purple and dark colors are best, but fire tiger and dorado colors are working too.

As for other species…where do I begin?

Look at the roosterfish! Our smallest were 25 pounders. The largest were up to possibly 80 pounds. It was a week for big pez gallos. If you’re coming for roosters just be prepared to spend some time catching the big ladyfish baits. You have to catch them one-at-a-time and that can take some doing.

There were also some huge 30-50 pound amberjack…scattered football yellowfin tuna up to about 18 pounds…and still lots of the tasty white bonito as well.

Dorado didn’t bite much, but the ones we caught were finally some legit 20-25 pound class fish. Finally! Last month, we were hard-pressed to find even a 5-pound mahi.

Some surprising catches including some of the largest rainbow runners I have ever seen. They’re cousin to the yellowtail and amberjack and also tasty table fare. There are still some sierra and pargo around as well.

All-in-all, there were about 15 species of fish we got this week in the area which made for alot of fun.

Oh, and there were still ALOT of sharks in the water and we’re hooking several a day from 80-200 pounders that included hammerheads, blues, silkies, white tip and makos. Don’t know why they started biting about 2 weeks ago, but they’re alot of fun to hook and a helluva battle. We’re releasing all of them. Far too dangerous to put in a panga plus illegal to take without a commercial licenses.

LA PAZ

Compared to the blitz bite going on this week at Las Arenas/ Muertos, La Paz fishing didn’t compare. It wasn’t bad. It’s just that most of our anglers switched from La Paz reservations to fish with our Las Arenas fleet so they could get a shot at the wahoo and big roosters.

But, La Paz fishing wasn’t bad.

Dorado are larger. The islands are holding some great pargo and cabrilla. Plus the north end of Cerralvo Island, especially if you know how to fish iron has some huge amberjack and yellowtail that are smokin’ some of the drags! Some of the larger stretches of beaches also produced some of the monster roosterfish that went 40-80 pounds.

We had one huge dog-tooth snapper (see the photos) that was caught right in La Paz Bay in shallow water while the anglers were trying to make bait!

PARTING NOTE – UPDATE

Saturday and Sunday…full moon and winds came up…not sure what happened…lots of heat too. Fishing on both sides came down a few notches. The fishing on the La Paz side Sunday was almost zilch…nada…really tough fishing… although Las Arenas continued to kick out big roosterfish and variety including some wahoo…but not at the full-speed it was going at during the week. Hopefully, picks back up again.

That’s our story for the week! Happy Father’s Day to all of you and your dads! God bless…

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