EXPRESS VIDEO FISHING REPORT
Sorry this is such a rough video this week. Only had time to do it in one take before the internet quit on me!
WEEK AT A GLANCE (Scale of 1-10)
Conditions: 6 – Better than it’s been
Fish Quality: 8 – Big fish with marlin in the spotlight
Fish Quantity: 2.5 Not many fish. Just big fish! Marlin or smaller triggerfish. More quality than quantity.
Water: 6 – Getting bluer and warmer finally
Weather: 8- Hot and muggy. Bits of rain at times. Just enough to mess up my just-washed-car. 😦
Storm: 2 – One to the south that went to Hawaii generated some waves to south facing beaches like Muertos Bay. Got bouncy.
Live Bait: 3 – Still tough. Gotta work for it. Some days better than others. We use whatever shows up.
Overall: 4-5
Jonathan’s Disposition: Much better than the week before. Saw lots of smiles this week.
Applause: To all the anglers who resisted the urge to kill their billfish and released them and to those that donated so much to others who needed the food! Cheers!
THE BIG PICTURE
BIG OR GO HOME! MARLIN GO CRAZY!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 16-24, 2016
We just had maybe the best week of billfish I have ever seen here in the 20 years, we’ve had Tailhunters here in La Paz. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen billfish all over, but with the colder waters, they just weren’t interested in much of anything. They were sitting on the surface and completely lethargic.
I kept saying that if the water temperatures came up just a few degrees, these fish will go. Well, the water temps came up and the fish suddenly got hungry. Every day, maybe 80% of our pangas hooked at least 1 billfish a day. For every one brought to the boat, maybe 2-3 others were lost or released. About 70% were released (way-to-go-guys!) and for those that came in or couldn’t be released, alot of the anglers donated the meat (double way-to-go!). But, alot of fun and for alot of our folks, it was their first billfish. In some cases, their 2nd and 3rd as well.
These fish ranged from smaller 50-80 pound stripers to our largest of the week which was a 370-pound blue marlin. There were also some sailfish as well. Plus there were 1 or 2 other billfish that would have been larger than 400 pounds, but we’ll never know as they broke off after long battles.
Several items…we’re getting marlin that sure look like striped marlin to me. Same shape and size. But our captains are calling them “white marlin.” But, white marlin are only found (supposedly) on the Atlantic. I was dubious and still am. They sure look like striped marlin! But, maybe a little slimmer. But white marlin generally are smaller and slimmer than striped marlin.
However, when I was packing fish, the meat of the “white marlin” was WHITE! Almost creamy white like the flesh of the delicious blue marlin. The striper flesh that I was vacuum sealing was the normal orange color and very fibrous like I expected!
The other thing…I think we would have been able to release more of these fish except that alot of these fish are really deep-hooked. Most of the guys are NOT trying to hook billfish. We don’t troll big lures like many areas. We fish live and dead bait. We’re fishing for dorado or even rooster fish and other species.
But, these billfish are just hungry. They come up…even in the shallow areas…and they are HUNGRY. They grab a bait and then swallow it! Hook goes deep. Some we can release. Others…well…not so easy. When you have a bait in the water, it’s not like you can pick-and-choose what bites the hook down under the surface. A number of guys did try really hard to revive their fish!
Let me also just add one more thing…for anyone who’s doesn’t like seeing photos of the billfish…
- Mexican regulations allow a fisherman to keep one per day
- For every photo you see, 5 or 6 billfish were either lost or released
- Normally, about 90% of all billfish we catch are voluntarily released
- Many times when anglers are unable to revive a fish, they donate the meat to folks who need food
- Even when a fish is purposely taken, many times, the anglers still donate a good chunk anyway
- Alot of the anglers that are catching the marlin aren’t really trying to catch the billfish and are trying to catch other fish but the ocean being what it is, if there’s a bait in the water, the billfish are eating it…even in shallow water. There’s no control of what decides to grab your bait under the water. And, unlike a lure, a small bait goes right down the throat with the hook and makes it harder to release although we are still able to release many and lots of guys spend alot of energy reviving their fish.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
After several weeks of green cold water, the waters have improved dramatically! Our captains have commented that there are many more patches of clean blue water now although still some colder areas. Jill and I were out there mid-week and visibility and conditions looked extremely good.
There wasn’t alot of variety this week, but as stated above, we got billfish. There are stripers, sailfish, “white marlin” and smaller blue marlin (150 pounders) hooked.
As well, we’re seeing a little tick again of wahoo. I was out with Gary Wagner from Rancho La Costa only for about an hour or so at sunset and the first big caballito we had in the water got torn in half like a Ginzu knife got it. Too bad, we didn’t have a double-trap-hook set up on it because it was a huge 3 pound bait and it got cleanly severed. Several other guys during the week also hooked and lost fish.
Additionally, some of the big dog-tooth snapper got caught this week as well. Big fat doggies with the fangs!
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
There were two kinds of fish. No in-between fish. They were either big. Or they were small.
There were only two kinds of fish. Rock fish (lots of triggers…smaller cabrilla and pargo…snapper). Or, they were big marlin 80-400 pounds!
That was it in a nutshell. No variation! A few dorado thrown in, but that was the whole enchilada. Guys either went inshore to the islands and rocks and knocked the heck out’ve triggerfish and rockfish. Or they went deeper and got billfish.
For sure the larger billfish were on this side as waters tend to be deeper and there’s more current and feed north of La Paz than Las Arenas. There were more sailfish on this side too.
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION
Thanks to all of those who donated to our charities this week with school supplies and clothes!
Steve and Marco Holguin
Luis Arandia and Mario Salazar
Monte and Marlene Aldridge
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com
Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/
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.”