MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for JULY 23-30, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – mid to high 90s / mid week showers/ high humidity
Water – low 80’s and mostly blue
Winds – Breezy at times
Fishing – Mostly slow for Las Arenas/ Hot and cold for La Paz changing all the time
Catching – Still loosing too many good fish after working hard to find them
Behind the bandana is a happy James Murphy from Salt Lake City who really wanted a big rooster and finally got one on his last day with Captain Jorge right off the sand near Punta Arenas
Our long-time amigo, Dick Winslow from Elk Grove CA , got this huge dog-tooth snapper with Captain Pancho while trolling for roosterfish in the shallow waters. It’s been a great week or two for these trophy fish!
Utah in the house with Dan Galli and Captain Jorge and a great colorful rooster mid-week when rain clouds threatened, but fortunately, the roosters bit! The fish was released strong!
One of the nicer bull dorado of the week with Phil Emard and Captain Joel taken from the far west side of La Paz Bay near San Juan de la Costa.
Dwayne Griffith only had one day to fish coming all the way from Texas but got his first dorado just outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
The Midwest was well-represented this week! From Iowa and visiting for the first time, Roger Damon with Captain Archangel started his week with a fistful of dorado and tuna at Las Arenas.
Oklahoma Cary Joy Hans is dwarfed by the size of Captain Gerardo and the size of her big roosterfish. This was her first time and she said “fishing is the most fun I’ve ever had outdoors!” The big fish was released.
James Murphy and Dan Galli jumped into a nice school of dorado and plugged the boat with some nice fish like these two!
Captain Rogelio with big smiles and another dorado for Cary Joy.
Everytime Greg Miller comes down he has a knack for the roosterfish! This trip was no exception. Fish was released.
If you just have one day to fish and you come all the way from Texas, catching a big roosterfish is a good way to go especially if it’s your first time! Doug is from Rose, TX and was able to release the big fish taken just off the Punta Perrico rocks.
Nancy Enright had two really good day on the dorado with Captain Rogelio. She’s from the San Diego area and poses with one of their bigger bull dorado.
It’s just a great photo! James Murphy and another big rooster!
Yes, some football tuna have shown up! Lynn Schumacher with one of hers on the beach at Muertos.
Check out the flat waters! Johnny Lucero got limits of dorado including this one north of El Sargento/ La Ventana areas.
On the gaff! Another dorado aboard for Dan Galli!
Great meat! A big barred pargo on the beach and headed for the coolers taken by Greg Miller from Oklahoma.
EVERY DAY DIFFERENT- EVERY SPOT DIFFERENT
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 23-30, 2017
Another week of surprises in the fishing and weather as every day seemed to bring new conditions; different fishing; and a changing bite that could be described as anything from terrible to good. It all depended on where you fish; what day you fish; what you were fishing for and which panga you were fishing in..and who you talked to. It ran the gamut and there was no way to pinpoint or determine how fishing was going to be.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
Our Tailhunter Fleet had limited success at best, but mostly it was hard fishing and erratic catches when and if fish could be found. Water was still cooler than normal and there were two days of winds and even some rain from the south that didn’t help matters resulting in a mixed bag of fish leaving anglers trying just about anything to get the fish to bite.
Mostly, it was hit-or-miss. Wahoo were seen, but didn’t bite. A few yellowfin tuna and dorado popped up as well as some jack crevalle and some hard hits on those big dog-toothed snapper. And that was about as exciting as it got. Some boats got blanked. We did have a few marlin hooked up, but nothing stuck.
The most consistent biter as it has been all season, were the big rooster fish which created the most excitement. The smaller ones were respectable 25-30 pounders. The larger ones went up to 6o-70 pounds and were all found in those shallow waters between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. Some days, every boat we sent that wanted roosters got at least one of the big boys. All on live bait.
LA PAZ
Our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet had better results but even then, nothing that could be counted on. Here’s where luck really came to play.
Our boats ranged all over the bay and beyond looking for fish. Some days nothing seemed to be in the water. Other days, if you hit the right spot, it was game over. The fish were hitting everything in the water.
But here’s the rub. Sometimes, you’d find the spot and fish were everywhere. But they wouldn’t eat anything. Guys were throwing everything but their lunch burritos at the fish and they weren’t interested and were lockjaw. Other times, one boat would be bendo with every rod going off and the boat right next to it couldn’t get a bite. Or, they’d hit a spot and nothing but little firecracker dorado. All you could do was go fish and the day would bring it’s own surprises.
There were a lot of fish lost. There were a lot of smaller dorado thrown back. Those that were taken were nicer 5-25 pounders.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
The Alegria Family and Akiyoshi Family pose with Jilly and two cases full of school supplies!
From Arizona, Bob Swank poses with some much needed school supplies headed to the orphange and he and Brian Levan brought down to us. School starts in about a month.
Big shout out to all of our Tailhunter amigos who continue to bring school supplies, clothes, toys, shoes and medical goods for us to distribute to the orphanages, outlying neighborhoods and La Paz women’s shelter. Above are just a few photos of some of our friends. Many thanks to them and our other Tailhunter tribe that I was not able to photo and properly thank . You are all appreciated more than you know. So far this year, we’ve collected and distributed several hundred pounds of goods!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
That’s a BIG “goldfish!” Doug McInnis was slow trolling a big ladyfish for roosters when this huge dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro / cubera snapper) came up and chomped it. He only had 40-pound test on and says the line came up incredibly frayed from the rocks! These are difficult catches! Captain Armando is rightfully beaming! They also hooked a rooster and about a big black marlin that got away.
Then…look what Doug McInnis and John Eddy did the 2nd day! They followed up one day of big pargo with MORE big pargo plus a dorado as well again with Captain Armando!
Bob LeBrun is all smiles under that hat with his first and largest roosterfish that he fought on light line for about 45 minutes in a tough battle. The fish bit a ladyfish early in the morning just off the Las Arenas lighthouse with Captain Gerardo. Good release on the fish too!
You just never know! Our buddy, Gama Flores from Desert Hot Springs CA was trolling in deep water for wahoo with Captain Pancho and both times got slammed by these huge dog-tooth snapper in deep water!
Dennis O’Brien from the San Diego area, caught and released his first roosterfish of about 40 pounds and topped it with some dorado to take home also!
She always does great! Check out Alicias Clegg’s huge jack crevalle! These are tough fish and the Mexican name for them is “toro” (bull) for just that reason!
Accomplished fisherman Al “El Al” Schneider from Orange CA has fished our area for many years but got his personal best roosterfish this week right off the sand near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Shelly Donnell has been a friend of ours for almost 20 years and brought his sister down this time. Fishing with Captain Joel, they got a nice mess of dorado fishing north of La Paz. Shelly and Gaby are from Portland OR area.
Big smiles and another dorado for Steve Harvey from the San Diego area. If you found the right spot, the dorado could be thick at times!
Nothing wrong with this big roosterfish and Bennett Clegg who had a banner day with a number of big roosters caught and released.
Some folks turn their noses up at triggerfish forgetting how tough they fight and how tasty they can be plus can provide lots of action. Andrew Harvey is holding a really big one here!
GREAT WEATHER BUT ERRATIC FISHING WEEK
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 16-23, 2017
Great weather but a mixed bag of fishing this past week. The key was finding the warm water. Some patches of cold water moved in from the south so some of our more southern fishing spots like around Las Arenas were extremely picky but if you found the blue water areas more to the north, there were fish to be found.
LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS/ SUENOS
The bite was really stick. Some might call it stink. Waters came from south and down deep bringing colder off-color water into the area and while there were some interesting fish caught, it was truly picky fishing at best. There were some scattered dorado. A few marlin hooked…most lost; an occasional wahoo; and some nice roosters and big pargo (best dog-tooth fishing I have ever seen!), but even those required some real work and luck to find. Overall, just not real great fishing. Fortunately, having the two fleets we moved folks over to fish with our La Paz Fleet where most found some better action.
LA PAZ
Dorado fishing held most of the interest for the week. But, it varied from place-to-place and literally from boat-to-boat. Five boats could be in a single area and two of those boats could be going crazy on the dorado. A third boat would get maybe 2 fish. The other two boats wouldn’t even get a bite but be only yards away from the others.
The next day, the boats that caught nothing would be the new superstar boats. Just no way to figure.
Likewise, areas that looked so promising with lots of sargasso and good currents wouldn’t produce anything while areas that looked like the desert without a sign of fish would suddenly explode with fish!
One note of importance. Lots of opportunities being lost by folks using our live bait. The live bait is big. Folks get a little impatient and not letting these dorado get the baits down into their moths and pulling the baits too soon. A little patience goes a long way. Let these dorado eat!
Another note, we could be into some typical seasonal afternoon showers this week with some predictions of afternoon rains. Just that time of year! Feeling very tropical down here.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – 8 (Sunny hot and getting hotter. Great weather!)
Water – 7 (Still recovering from that mess 2 weeks ago, but getting bluer and warmer)
Fishing – 7 (Started slow but got better)
Fish Catching – 8 (Everyone catching)
SPECIES – 8 (I counted 15 different species caught this past week)
THE BIG PICTURE COMPLETE FISHING REPORT
Chris Layne came for “one big fish.” We all tried hard to get him a marlin, but he was pretty happy with this giant roosterfish he caught and released near the Las Arenas lighthouse in shallow water!
Whopper slug of a rooster fish for Bennett Clegg from Sacramento CA who has a knack for hitting big roosters when he fishes with Captain Victor of the Tailhunter Fleet. He released the fish. He and his wife hooked 7 large roosters that day.
Chuck Chandler from Alaska landed this big boy dog-tooth snapper off the rocks not far from Punta Arenas while staying at the Rancho Costa lodge in Bahia de los Muertos.
We hooked several wahoo this week, but couldn’t seem to get them to the boat, unlike our amigo, Gary Wagner who rocked this ‘hoo while visiting his place at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
San Diego was well-represented this week with Andrew Harvey who had some nice days of dorado fishing toward the end of this week with his dad.
One of our friends from Canada, MacKay Spence, shows off one of his dorado.
Good start for Jason Amaro from New Mexico who spent the week fishing with us.
Yes, a couple of yellowfin popped into the mix like this one by our San Diego amigo, Scott Harvey.
She’s a regular roosterfish queen whenever she visits, Captain Victor with Alicia Clegg and ANOTHER roosterfish for the report! She and husband, Bennett, hooked and released 7 roosters that day.
Sydney Wagner with big smiles and another nice cabrilla for dinner at her dad’s place at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos.
Captain Joel with Murielle Chacron from Los Angeles and two of their several nice dorado they hooked fishing north out’ve La Paz.
Carlos didn’t catch this big tuna, but this was caught by Captain Rigo off the south end of Cerralvo Island fishing for the Tortugas. Big tuna keep popping up, but we can’t seem to get them stuck! This one was estimated over 100 pounds. If you look closely, you’ll see where a shark took a chunk off it’s back!
Miles Wagner from Colorado and Garrett Clark from Kansas have themselves a mess of mahi mahi steaks for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa Hotel. Dorado are getting bigger!
Tony and Alex with some of their catch at Muertos Bay. Tony caught and released his first rooster that day.
Alicia and Bennett Clegg got themselves a good day of dorado fishing after catching and releasing a number of dorado that day out’ve La Paz.
STARTS SLOW GATHERS SPEED
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 9-16, 2017
I hate to ever blame things on the full moon, but I need something to use as a scapegoat because early in the week fishing was horrendous. We had some pretty good fishing going then the week started like a flat tire on a old bicycle. It wasn’t going anywhere!
Then, as the week progressed, fishing got better! I don’t know why. I didn’t see many changes in the weather (hot) or water (warming and bluer) so the only thing I can point to is the full moon because as it waned the fish seemed to wake up.
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
With our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the numerous dorado we had been seeing that were all over the place, but not interested in feeding suddenly woke up and got hungry. Action improved as the week went on with mostly 5-20 pound mahi-mahi north of town. Add to that some great action on some huge jack crevalle and inshore species like snapper and cabrilla plus bonito and the week ended up on an up-note!
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, pretty much the same thing. Early in the week, it was really slack. The conditions looked good but the fish just weren’t helping us out. Then, it got better and better each day.
Small football tuna (and some larger ones for commercial boats); big roosterfsh; a few wahoo; some larger pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and snapper and more dorado turned a nervous week into alot of variety!
Can only hope it gets better!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT FOR THE WEEK
WEEK AT A GLANCE (1-10 being best)
Fishing: 5 (respectably OK at best. Last week it was a 1 or 2!)
Catching: 3 (some of the biggest fish still getting away…wahoo/ marlin/ dorado/roosterfish/ pargo)
Variety: 8 ( incredible variety possible: dorado, tuna, wahoo, blue marlin, sailfish, striped marlin, roosterfish, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, bonito, cabrilla, palometa, pompano, red snapper, yellow snapper, triggerfish all hooked this week)
Weather: 7 (hot and sunny in the mid-90’s with evening and afternoon breezes)
Water: 4 (still messed up from last week’s red tide and cold upwellings, but improved over last week’s 2)
As a reward for finishing his first year at Texas A&M University with good grades, Quinn Mattson from Austin TX got to come down with his dad to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing, and over two days latched onto 10 huge rooster fish at Las Arenas getting 5 to the panga for photos including this monster. Notice the great squint as he holds the rooster for a photo in very tired arms! All fish were released. He was fishing with Captain Arcangel.
Jed Hinkle, state senator from Montana, on his first trip to Mexico and first time fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz hooked and released 5 of these big rooster fish in a day right off the rocks and beach at Las Arenas east of La Paz all on live ladyfish in shallow water.
I”m sorry we didn’t get Chris Layne his marlin, but his first day started out with a nice rack of dorado north of La Paz fishing with his wife Anna!
Lisa Hernandez from Orange Co. saved the day with this big rooster she cradles in her arms just off the rocks at Punta Perrico east of La Paz. The fish was released.
Cathy Corda, a regular visitor yearly to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz with her favorite captain Pancho, poses with her wahoo she caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos on a deep running Rapala.
Yes, some football tuna popped up . Nick Ferguson on the beach in front of the Rancho Costa Hotel in Bahia de los Muertos.
Big smiles from Captain Pancho and Kimiko Inoue and a trophy cabrilla that ended up partially prepared at Tailhunter Restaurant as delicious sashime! She and husband Keith also got some tuna as well.
These two had the best week of fishing! Duane and son, Quinn with a pair of the larger dorado they caught with Captain Rogelio and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet over near Las Cruces.
She’s the best! Michele Conklin, our amiga, from Washington fished hard when fishing was tough and pulled out this nice big snapper!
Last week, for some reason, this great roostefish photo of Randy Kuntz didn’t post and it’s a beauty of a fish. Big smiles and a strong release! Well done, Randy!
Good start for long-time friend, Steve Duran (left) and Zainul Abedin (right) both from the Los Angeles area with a dorado and two awesome-eating barred pargo.
Montana in the house with Captain Gerardo once again and a great photo and big rooster for Kyndall Hinkle on her first time visiting us! She got several of these and released them all!
Captain Arcangel with Duane Mattson from Texas with one of several nice roosters he battled and released!
Alot of dog-tooth snapper for Mike Feign from Colorado! Wow. Thanks to Gary Wagner owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia de los Muertos for the photo of Mike.
Lisee Ferguson from Colorado with Gary Wagner and a pretty barred pargo ready for dinner at Rancho Costa!
Yes! The roosters are big! Mark Buchanan and Lisa Hernandez pose with another big rooster before letting it go. The rocks of Punta Perico right behind them. These fish are in shallow water!
Tony from Montebello CA and Juan Licon from Carson CA with a nice pair of Muertos Bay dorado to pack home!
Check out the great variety of inshore fish from Kyndall and Jed Hinkle from Montana. Yellow snapper…cabrilla…palometa…triggerfish…pompano all in the mix and all great-eating! Jed and Kyndall came to visit from Montana.
First day on the water for Quinn Mattson turned out to be epic with one of several huge roosterfish he took just off the Punta Arenas lighthouse and released!
Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia Suenos got out with his daughter, Sydney, on a successful day for gallos!
A visit from Canada and a tough jack crevalle for MacKay Spence and Captain Armando.
Captain Arcangel was on fire this week with the roosterfish. Here with Duane Mattson and another rooster for him! All fish released.
Kris Kobach from Kansas with Gary Wagner and another big catch-and-release roosterfish this week!
Just an amazing week of roosterfish! Jed Hinkle with a monster and captain Gerardo running the boat right off the rocks. Fish was released.
Nice smattering of yellowfin tuna this week. Quinn and his dad, Duane, got this one in addition to roosterfish.
Strangest story of the week…one of our La Paz fishing boats was out north of La Paz and found this pig swimming out in the middle of the ocean. The little guy was shivering when pulled aboard and no idea what or why he was doing way out there. He was brought back to shore and reportedly doing well. No…he was not made into carnitas and eaten!
NOT GREAT BUT FISHING REBOUNDS!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-9, 2017
It wasn’t great fishing. It was good at best, but “spectacular” compared to the previous week when cold waters from Hurricane Dora to the south pushed in and turned waters green and cold. Then warmer waters from the north set off a huge red tide algae bloom that not only turned waters the color of rust and wine but chokes oxygen out’ve the waters and shut down what had been a very promising bite.
(I barely had any photos two weeks ago!!!)
Bottom line for this past week was that fishing was definitely on the re-bound as waters recovered daily from nature’s quirks! But still some “bumps” in the fishing. Not back to status quo yet.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
The week started slow. Very slow. To some degree waters remained chillier than normal and relatively off-color as it re-bounded from the previous week.
But, the fish definitely woke up about mid-week led by some outstanding rooster fish. It wasn’t consistent, but some days we had 2, 3, 4 or more hookups per panga with big fish close to shore in shallow water and taking it out on many first-time anglers. The “smaller fish” were 30 pounders. The larger fish were in the 70-80 pound class and willing to hit live ladyfish. It all depended on getting the lady fish which were like gold. All fish were released.
The amount of variety was more akin to May or April fishing. When the fish finally got with the program, we had not only rooster fish, but dorado, barred pargo, yellow and red pargo (snapper), dog-tooth snapper, big cabrilla (seabass), jack crevalle, sierra, triggerfish, pompano, palometa, some wahoo, a few football tuna and even some marlin hooked! You just never knew what would hit. Some boats did better than others but compared to last week at least the fish gave it some effort to the relief of all of us! Still scratchy fishing to where it SHOULD be, but things improving.
Last minute note: As of writing this, an offshore storm on the Pacific side on Saturday shut down fishing at Las Arenas with big waves and winds and dropped fishing back down. Can’t win. Nature always comes out on top. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, it bounces back.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
The red tide that shut down fishing a week ago it taking it’s time leaving us. The water was so choked with algea that some places almost looked like someone had poured red wine into the sea. You could put your hand into the ocean and not see your hand! That’s how bad it was and all that algae depletes the oxygen from the fish. The fish were lock-jawed all last week and it took awhile for them to get with the program this week.
Things got better as the week went on. Not great, but better. Waters turned blue again although still not up to speed. Fish activity increased as both dorado and marlin can easily be seen. The problem is that they didn’t alway bite or show much interest. However, as the week progressed, the dorado started to wake up. There were some nice flurries of 5-25 pound mahi-mahi and some full-on dorado rodeos with multiple rods bending. But one boat could be going full tilt and just a handful or yards away, another boat could be staring at limp rods. Same with the marlin. They’re showing up more and more but just not quite ready to go yet!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK of JUNE 25-July 2, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE (Scale of 1-10 being best)
Weather – 7 (sunny and warm low 90’s / humid at times/ some breezes)
Water – 2 (some places dropped of cold / other places got warm and algae bloom started – see red tide below)
Fishing – 2 (at best)
Catching – 2 (when fishing is bad to begin with PLUS you lose fish…that hurts!!)
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK
Victor Higerada from Texas with one of the larger dorado of the week and Captain Jorge.
Washington in the house and always smiles when Michele Conklin visits us. She can fish too! She took this hefty yellow snapper on a rough day out’ve Las Arenas.
The start of summer vacation for Micah Sybesma who came down with his dad and took this nicer dorado fishing north from La Paz.
Our good buddy, Rex Smith, who has been with us so many years looks a bit tired and that’s because he is! He battled this big roosterfish and couldn’t lift it for the photo! He did, however, get it back into the water and honestly, told me he was just trying to keep the fish still so it wouldn’t beat itself up so he could release it. Well done!
Sam Sybesma in the center with a nice group shot. Sam has fished with us many time but for John Slager, Geoff Wilkinson, Micah Sybesma and AJ Wilkinson, their first dorado! Nice shot!
The Basadre guys got themselves a nice handful of fish with some nice cabrilla and a jack crevalle! They’re from Long Beach. It’s Felix and his son, David!
Darrell Manginelli and Rob Bogartz started off their week with a couple of dorado.
A hat trick mix of fish for Captain Jorge in the center with an amberjack. Victor Higerada on the left has a football yellowfin tuna and Ed Martinez on the right has a dorado.
Double dorado! Micah on the right and AJ on the left with their first dorado ever!
A fish to match the outfit! It was great having Jeff Swift and his family fishing with us. He’s got a dorado on the gaff just off the island.
Jack crevalle might not be great eating, but they are tough fighers and here in Mexico they are called “Toros.” That’s Spanish for “bull” which is a good name. Darrell Manginelli had his hands full with this big jack!
FISHING FALLS APART
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 25-July 2, 2017
Just when I thought we had turned the corner and the season was “ON!” And being so high on the fishing a week ago, we got slapped back this week with some of the worst fishing I have ever seen. Fishing literally went into the tank. The waters turned into the Sahara desert in terms of life!
It was a combination of a number of things. And what a crazy mix and just a bad combination of weather conditions.
Hurricane Dora way way way to the south of us that skirted far down and quickly went out west to the Pacific. It didn’t bring rain. It didn’t bring clouds. The skies remained sunny and hot. In fact, humidity got up to 80% one morning when I was putting out the boats. But, what it did bring was upwelling and swells of cold water that dropped water temperatures 5-10 degrees! Not only did the waters turn from blue to green, but I think the fish were just in shock like when your hot water turns off in the shower or your neighbor flushes the head and you get a jolt of cold water. The fish went lockjaw.
Hurricane Dora this past week way to the south of us, but it pushed some colder upwellings towards us that affected the fishing.
On top of that we had several days of winds that gusted here…but not there…and there…but not here. One place flat as a pond but several miles away white-capping waves that again, didn’t do much for clearing up the water.
(We’re told pretty much all of Southern Baja from La Paz to the East Cape to Cabo were hurting this week for fishing…not just us!. We were getting calls and e-mails from folks in the other areas asking if our fishing was any better because they wanted to come up to fish.)
This is what red tide looks like and the algae bloom goes off and gets so thick it’s like a soup. Algae blooms deplete the water o oxygen.
Algae soup!
The biggest issue was a red tide that really put the slammer on everything. This result from…of all things…warm water that sets off a massive algae bloom that gets so out-of-hand and so thick that waters can looks “red” or “rusty” in places but surely cloudy and filmy and dirty. In fact, local restaurants are warned not to use local shellfish during a red-tide and for fishing, the algae bloom chokes the oxygen out’ve the water and in some cases like shallow bays kills off marine life.
So, fish just disappeared. We busted our butts and clients worked hard, but limits of dorado went down to looking for a single dorado bite. Fish we saw, weren’t interested in eating. Or, the waters were just empty.
We got a dorado here and there. We lost the occasional wahoo. Pargo and and cabrilla and triggerfish were still in the rocks if that’s what you wanted. A few jack crevalle and rooster fish. But that was it!
Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll have swung around again. Things change fast. The thing with the algae blooms is that the warm water that creates will suddenly kill it off as the temperatures continue to climb. Then, the waters turn blue. Fingers crossed.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
Thank for the big hearts guys! Donations last week went to the Care for Kids Program. This week, thanks to Geoff Wilkinson and Sam Sybesma for their donations and also, Felix Basadre and his sons Dave and Tony who hauled down two full ice chests of clothes that will go to the women’s shelter. (I’m sorry I didn’t get your photos!) Muchas gracias, guys!
Have a great week everyone!
That’s my story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Tailhunter Fish Report 