MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT for WEEK of Oct. 22-29, 2019
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Getting windier every week as northern winds increase. Calm days are becoming the exception. Some days almost too windy to fish. But, when the wind dies down, it’s pretty nice. Sun is still out and great to be on the beach.
Water – Getting cooler as the seasons change. Not so humid. Pleasant. Still blue…for now.
Fishing – It all depends on the winds. If the winds are blowing, it makes it tougher and the counts are down. When the wind lays down, the bite increases.
Catching – Still pretty good. Great variety. Tuna…roosterfish…wahoo…dorado…pargo…cabrilla…billfish…bonito…and more!
Travis Millspaugh from Roy, Washington, had 4 wahoo come off or break off before finally landing one and it turned out to be a beast estimated in the 60-pound class. (Looks smaller but believe me it was FAT FAT FAT! Just look at the size of the head! ). They had hooked the big fish just off Punta Perrico not far offshore. Travis said the fish took them down into the backing several times before coming to gaff.
Our amigo, Mike Schoder, is an Alaska bush pilot but tries to make it to La Paz every year. He fished several days and caught and released numerous species on the flyrod. But, he also kept a couple one day including these nice tuna and dorado. Great fighters on the fly.
Damon Harvey worked the flyrod hard all week and got tuna, dorado and other species, but shows off one of the nicer bull dorado here. Great colors. Many fish released.
From Alaska, Jeff Schoder is a grizzly bear hunting guide and bush pilot for Extreme Expeditions in Anchorage and came to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing to get some sunshine. He spent 5 long hours with his flyrod working a popper for a rooster fish and finally landed this 20-pounder near Muertos Bay! This well-earned fish was released.
Thumbs up from Mike Pilkington from San Diego with another yellowfin tuna while dad, Gary, battles one in the stern. They had two outstanding days of tuna with us. Cerralvo Island in the background. Dad’s from Orangevale CA. Dad’s been with us many times. It was Mike’s first trip. They also got to try scuba diving with us for the first time.
Wow! Big load for Captain Archangel who hefts a huge roosterfish for a very happy Dwight Smith from Montana. The fish was released.
You can tell the water is cooling when we start getting mullet snapper (pargo liso) a delicious reef fish that we normally get in the winter and spring. John McLucas pulled one out’ve the rocks this past week along with a number of other species on light tackle.
After many years of being away, Otha Livingston and his dad, Ray, came to see us again for a quick getaway and got into some great dorado action.
The dorado action north of La Paz has been very good to excellent most days, when the wind isn’t blowing. Mike Pilkington with another mahi, but note the waves in the background from the wind.
More of our good Alaska, amigos! Jason Bontrager and John Daly pose with some of their catch from the first day.
Captain Gerardo with our nominee for the “Most Interesting Man” in the world for Tecate Beer. Terry Cartee spent his first week down here getting his Scuba certification. His next week, he took sailing classes on a live-aboard sailboat getting his sailing certifcation. Then, his 3rd week he spent it fishing with us!
Julie Millspaugh is a gamer. Four straight days on the water hanging fish! Check out the color on this nice dorado with Captain Pancho!
Just another great shot of Jeff Pralle working the flyrod hard all week for dorado and a bunch of other species. He did great.
Underwater tuna shot from Gary Pilkington and his GoPro! Sweet!
Another of Gary’s shots with his GoPro and another yellowfin!
Mark Bonsack took this great yellowfin shot getting an above/ below surface shot using his GoPro and a new dome lens. Incredibly super shot!
Captain Pancho and a big smile from our good amigo, Bill Lee from Capitola CA, and another dorado for the ice chest.
Lots of folks don’t know we also book scuba and snorkelng trips as well. Mike Pilkington got to try out scuba for the first time and got to play at the sealion colony. With waters at 85 degrees, it’s a great time to be in the water.
TUNA SLOW- WINDS RAMP UP – DORADO TAKE OVER!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Report for Week of Oct. 22-19, 2017
I’m going to officially call the warm-water season over. In addition to the time-change (Daylight savings time) down here, the weather has officially turned and that’s the best indicator. Normally, we have hot-balmy days and then a cooling breeze in the late afternoon. Now, the calm days are the exception. The winds are blowing more-often-than-not in the mornings and it’s the afternoons that are windless.
Some days, are really bumpy already and just on the verge of being “too windy” to fish. Those days will increase as we get closer towards December.
Shadows are getting longer and the air temperatures have dropped. Water temperatures have dropped as well.
And the fishing has changed…somewhat! Still tuna and dorado around, but some other cooler water species also popping up.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
For all intents-and-purposes, this is probably the last week for fishing out’ve La Paz. We’ll mostly shut down our La Paz fleet shortly. The Northern winds are already starting to blow and make it really bouncy and ugly outside. Even when it looks calm in the bay, once you get out, it’s not real pleasant. Other times, even in the bay, it’s kicking up white water so you can imagine what it’s like outside. The calm days are the exception right now and it’s only going to increase.
But, anyway, the fish are still biting. When the winds settle down, the dorado are still willing and eager. Lots of smallish fish around, but some nice sized 10-20 pounders are in the mix as well. No shortage of dorado if that’s what you want to catch.
The biggest surprise, however, is the tuna schools that showed up off the south end of Espirito Santo Island not far off from Bonanza Beach. These are nice-sized fish up to about 20 pounds and are boiling around the boats. In more than 20 years here in La Paz, I’ve never seen so many tuna out’ve La Paz.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
At least when the winds are blowing, this area is a little more protected and the fish are closer. The winds have a direct correlation to the bite. When it’s windy, the counts are down. When it’s not windy, the fishing is much much better.
I’m going to officially call the “Great Tuna Bite of 2017” over. It’s been the best in 3-5 years the last 3 months. Incredible tuna fishing just off the beach and fish ranging from footballs to 100 pounders.
We still have tuna, but not in the numbers we had even a week or two ago. But, there’s still fish around. Just not as many as the waters cool down.
However, there’s no lack of action!
Dorado have taken up the slack. We’re suddenly seeing sailfish and striped marlin. We’re getting pargo, cabrilla, yellow snapper and sierra. Wahoo suddenly perked up too! Roosterfish aren’t as big as before, but 10-40 pound fish are still lurking! So, lots of variety.
RESERVATIONS ALREADY FILLING FOR 2018
After an outstanding fishing year and closing out strong, lots of folks are already setting up their trips for 2018…much heavier than normal! Don’t miss out. If you have some specific dates; want specific captains; want specific room, condos or villas, or just have questions, don’t wait! A few dates are already sold out. Write to us at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com or Jilly@tailhunter.com. Or call us at 626-638-3383 from the U.S.
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
GRATEFUL BEYOND WORDS
Every week our fisher-folk bring down suitcases, boxes, duffle bags and ice chests full of awesome donations to our Tailhunter Outreach Program that helps benefit several charities here in La Paz. Over the course of the 9 months of the season, it has amounted to SEVERAL HUNDRED POUNDS a WEEK of clothes, shoes, school supplies, hygiene items, medical supplies, toys, sports gear and more. On behalf of those who can’t say thank you directly to you, your big hearts do more than you know! For this week, take a look at the photos. Also, there are many more of you that bring things and I don’t get a chance to take photos…or you donate money…we are no less grateful!
Dana Milano and his guys hauled down school supplies and clothes!
It’s hard to tell from this photo, but the Summers DROVE down SEVEN full suitcases of clothes, toothbrushes, hygiene materials and more. There’s a whole tableful of suitcases behind them!
Chris Wellons from San Diego with Jilly posing with some great kids clothes that will come in handy for the coming colder months!
Have a great week!
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 LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT FOR WEEK OF OCT. 15-22, 2017
WEEK at a GLANCE
Weather – Nice. Warm. Great beach weather. But, seasons are changing. Getting cooler. More winds could be problematic for fishing. Waters getting cooler too.
Water – Definitely getting cooler. Fishing could start changing any time. Hard to say. Could keep blazing strong. We’re in a transition for sure.
Fishing – A bit sticky and picky earlier in the week when it was windy. Winds calmed down and fish were right back on it. Good tuna. Good dorado. Frosting-on-the-cake with big roosterfish, wahoo and billfish.
Catching – Bigger fish lost, but everyone catching fish!
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT
WHOA! That’s alot of roosterfish to hold up for a photo! Our Captain Chito (“Ten more minutes!”) of the Tailhunter La Paz Fleet watches Mike Shea try to hold up a huge roosterfish he caught just north of La Paz on a live bait. The fish was estimated at 80-90 pounds and was quickly released and swam away strong!
Kirk Shandrew from San Jose CA got his first-ever tuna and it was a gem! he fought this 50-pound class fish for almost 1 1 /2 hours before getting it to the boat. One of the larger tuna landed this week (alot were lost!).
Our Canadian amigos, Luke Beggs and John Lang from Manitoba locked into a nice rack of tuna and dorado their first day fishing with us out’ve Muertos Bay.
One of the prettiest photos of the week! A huge long wahoo taken in the early morning hours by Marty Sering who gets a hand from his son, Taylor. They’re from the Portland OR area.
Idaho, amigo, Tom Mullican fishes with us several times a year and finally got his first marlin and and said it pretty much beat him up after battling it on light tackle for 2 hours with Captain Pancho. The fish could not be released and Tom donated the meat.
Amigos, Jack Eichhorn and Zach Milano rocked their first day on the water to start a week of solid fishing with a load of yellowfin tuna and a dorado.
Captain Pancho with Gary Pilkington who came back to see us this year from Orangevale CA and took this great shot with one of his yellowfin.
First time visitor…first wahoo for Paul Bunch from La Jolla who was out with our Captain Chito and crazily caught this 42-pound wahoo (he’s holding our IGFA certified scale showing the weight) on light tackle and a sardine!!! No wire! Captain Chito gives the thumb up!
Our Oregon fish brothers, Craig Brown and Bob Layko visit us every year to celebrate Bob’s birthday and fish with Captain Armando! The guys show off some of their tuna for the camera on the beach at Muertos Bay.
Another of our fish brothers who visits us several times a year, Jeff Sakuda from Cypress CA with his favorite Captain Jorge spent 3 days bent on tuna and dorado.
Nothing but smiles! Mike Shea dropped iron down on the reef and while it fluttered down, this huge grouper smacked it and went right back into the caves where Mike skillfully worked it out and miraculously didn’t get the line sawed off on the rocks. Quite a catch. Captain Archangel gives a rare smile from one of our best and most popular captains. Dave Delprato is in on this too!
San Francisco Treat…(just had to do that Kim and Ken!). Ken Cereghino from SF with a nice fat yellowfin tuna in the boat just south of Cerralvo Island.
Great shot of Captain Adolfo with Shane Knox and Pete Klinowski after a great day of fishing and more tuna and dorado to put in the freezer.
First time here visiting with his dad, Mike Pilkington spent two days hanging fish like this in the tuna schools, plus got to scuba dive for the first time!
Part of our good amigos at the San Diego Anglers Club, Dave Ameika and Paul Bunch started off a quick two day fishing trip with 4 yellowfin and 3 dorado.
Shelly and Ali Zauner have been friends for many years and we finally got them to come down. They were fishing with Captain Ramiro and brought home a load of tuna and dorado in the coolers. Shelly’s fish is almost as big as she is but she battled it tough!
Pete adds another nice bull dorado to the boat! The dorado are getting thicker at Las Arenas.
John McVay fishes with us every year and always fishes with Captain Jorge who did him good with great bites like these tuna on his first day!
Love this photo of Shane from Canada and his catch of the day!
SEASON HEADING TOWARDS A STRONG FINISH AS WINDS INCREASE
La Paz -Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Oct. 15-22, 2017
The seasons are changing. You can feel it in the water; the lower angle of the sun; the air temperatures and the increasing north winds. Next weekend we go to daylight savings time down here. It’s starting to affect the fishing a bit, but as we roll down the homestretch to the end of our busy season, it looks like we’re going out with a bang and bent rods. There’s a lot of variety out here in our waters.
TAILHUNTER FLEET LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
We have had almost 2 months of some of the best tuna fishing in almost 3 seasons. Fish running 10-30 pounds not far off the beach and stretching from the lighthouse at Punta Arenas to the north down along Punta Perico…into Bahia de los Muertos and then south to Boca De Alamo plus both north and south points of Cerralvo Island. Additionally, add in the occasional 50-100 pound toad tuna and 3-10 fish per day and they’re causing some sore arms, backs and big smiles.
In addition to the tuna, there’s an occasional wahoo; some big rooster fish, dorado, pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle plus several species of bonito. Plus, we hooked a few billfish this week also that were prowling through the tuna schools. Great fun fishing and it’s almost all fun live-bait style.
As we roll into fall, we’re seeing more wind and more chop out there. Most days are calm, but earlier in the week, it was bumpy. Hope the fishing holds up a few more weeks!
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
I was a bit worried earlier in the week. We’re definitely getting more north winds making it increasingly bumpy and rough to fish out’ve La Paz and within a few weeks, we’ll shift our action almost entirely to our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay fleet. It will just get too unpredictable as the winds increase in intensity. Early in the week, I thought the winds had finally arrived. It surely slowed down the great dorado bite.
However, by about mid-week winds started to diminish and the bite turned right back on with good to excellent dorado fishing north of the city. Lots of small links, but occasional 20 pound fish in the box with lots of smaller fish getting released. If you hit the right spot, it can be crazy nuts off-the-chart dorado fishing as fast as you can get baits into the water.
In addition to the dorado, however, we had some rare schools of tuna show up plus some decent wahoo and rooster fish action as well.
HEAD’S UP for 2018!
It has been an awesome year! We have had such a great season that alot of our anglers are already booking spots for next year and certain dates are already filling up or getting tight.
If you think you’d like to come see us again next year or have some dates in mind, let us know. We’ll customize a great trip for you. Also, if you have a certain of your favorite captains, let us know. They get snapped up fast!
Don’t wait! E-mail us at Jonthan@tailhunter.com or Jilly@tailhunter.com. Or call the U.S. number 626-638-3383.
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 LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT for OCT. 8-15, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Sunny and warm, but early in the week too windy for my liking because it messed with our fishing. When the winds cut, the fishing came back online.
Water – Blue and warm with surface temps running in the low to mid-80’s.
Fishing– With the early week winds, it was a bit sticky and picky, but really picked back up again mid-week when the winds went elsewhere. Dorado back. Tuna back…and bigger! Roosters and wahoo around too.
Catching – Pretty good until some monster tuna came roaring through and decided to play. Hooking big tuna is one thing. Fighting and catching them is a different issue and some big fish were lost.
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT
From Kirkland WA, John Stendra (holding the head) gets an assist from Bill Bigelman, also from Washington, and Captain Victor from the Tailhunter Fleet on a slug yellowfin tuna caught right off the beach near Muertos Bay and estimated at 70-80 pounds. John fought it for an hour on 40 pound test and also fought another fish over 3 hours before it broke off at color.
Don Busse has been visiting La Paz for years and fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing, but never got a sailfish until this week when he hung this beautiful fish on light tackle fishing with a sardine for tuna with Captain Pancho. After a long fight, the fish was photo’d and released. Don is from Lakewood CA.
John Gibbs from Lakewood CA had caught a few tuna just off the beach at Las Arenas with Captain Moncho of the Tailhunter Fleet when the captain suggested they slow troll a small bonito and maybe get a wahoo in the shallows. Instead within minutes they got hammered by this big rooster fish…John’s first. They photo’d and released the fish to swim away strong!
Captain Armando was on top of the big fish again when he put Steve Manney (holding the tail) onto this 60 pound class yellowfin. Dana Murray helps with the head and the photo op! The guys are from Washington and visit us every year and took home ALOT of great fish!
Holding his own! Peter Walker tries to balance his big tuna so we could get a photo of it. He’s on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.
Walt Menda from the Sacramento CA area has been fishing with us for years, but never got a wahoo until he was trolling a purple feather outside of La Paz Bay trying to catch some bonito to use for bait when this big log wahoo came up and hit the little feather! The guys were laughing because the big fish pretty much wore him out!
Our super buddy from Seaside, OR, Bob Bradley finally made it down to visit us after many years and started off his trip with a nice load of yellowfin tuna fishing with Captain Armando out’ve Las Arenas. Bob’s wife, Trea, is a professional chef and know a thing or two about cooking up seafood.
First trip hammers a trophy fish! Jerry Gibbs made his first trip down to see us and right-off-the-bat fishing with Captain Pancho hauls in a speedy wahoo and guys try to get for years!
Honeymoon fish for Mike Crandall with this pretty bull dorado and flat seas fishing out’ve La Paz. That’s Bonanza Beach at Espirito Santo Island in the background.
Captain Armando gets in all the good photos this week! Cami Summerhays from Utah was fishing the panga just off the rocks at Punta Perrico and got bent on this fat pretty yellowfin tuna. The fish got chunky this week.
Joe Marroquin and his son, Henry, from San Dimas CA were also first-time visitors to us in La Paz and had some full days of tuna fishing and also catching dorado to bring home. Great photo of the two!
It seems the dorado are getting a little bigger each week! Bill Bigelman poses with a good-looking bull mahi.
San Diego in the house with Jock Argust and Norm Cole and some tuna headed for the coolers.
Two of the funniest guys who visit us from the San Francisco area, Ken Cereghinto and Kim Stuart pose with Captain Adolfo and some of their fat yellowfin.
Never a bad day when Ken Campbell and Wiley Randolph are in town to see us and fish. They loaded on the tuna as well. Muertos Bay in the background.
Marni Zauner from Bakersfield CA is my new hero. She’s been planning this trip with us for years and made all the arrangements for her family. The day BEFORE the trip, she busts her foot (you can see where I circled the crutchs and the plastic bag around her cast) and it didn’t stop her from fishing or anything else on the trip! What a gamer! Here with Shelley, her mom and Captain Jorge
More fun Utah friends! Dave Johnson and Stori McCarrel got in some of the good yellowfin tuna bite with us.
In case you can’t tell where he’s from, Taylor Sering, from Oregon finally came down to see us with his dad and says, “I’m coming for the rest of my life!” He started his trip with two nice dorado fishing out’ve La Paz.
All the way from N. Carolina, Jeff Cassens was fishing with our Captain Jorge when he latched into this thick wahoo in the channel off Punta Perrico.
Brad Baker has a frameable photo here with another nice yellofin tuna in the boat. Check out the flat waters!
Kris Honkola is the beer master of beer masters and travels the world to taste different beers and always has a great time. He was just inside of Bahia Muertos not far off the launch ramp (behind him) whe he caught this good looking roosterfish! The fish was promptly released.
We love this lady! Trea Lamarre from Oregon has been trying to come see us for years and we finally got her down to have some fun. She and Captain Joel got into a nice bit of dorado north of La Paz Bay.
Mark Bonsak and Brad “Fish” Sleder did fished the whole week with us and filled some coolers with tuna like these plus dorado!
Just a great photo of John Stack and a full-colored fully lit tuna just out’ve the water a few hundred yards off Punta Perrico (you can see the big houses in the background). He and Kris Honkola took home a nice batch of fish after a week of fishing and also camped out on the island over night with our snorkel/ dive trip.
Bob Larson, hefts up two more yellowfin for the camera! Bob’s from Washington and comes down every year.
Bruce Bower and Eric Moen do double lifts of tuna with Captain Gerardo!
BIGGER TUNA ON A DIFFERENT LEVEL
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 8-15
It couldn’t last forever and we’ve been having such an incredible bite on fish since the end of August, that I didn’t want to jinx it hex it, but knew it had to end sometime as all good things must. So, when winds started to blow earlier in the week and turn up the water; creating chop; dropping the temperatures; etc. I figured it was about time. The seasons are changing. It’s been a good great run. Fall is here and we will say “adios” to the best bite in years.
Those same winds that plagued and devastated so much of California started to kick in down here too. Surely, not at that magnitude, but enough the it put quite a damper on the fishing. Our counts dropped off quite a bit. So, I figured we were on the slide and the “great bite of 2017” was over! Even two weeks when the full moon raged, the fish still couldn’t get enough. So, it was over and done and had been a good run.
Then, the winds quit…
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
Well, the winds died down and the tuna came up hungry and voracious again! Right off the point. Right off the beach. Flat blue waters and foaming breaking fish all the way down the coast and out to Cerralvo Island. And they were larger!
The 8-10 pound fun footballs gained traction and came back at 15-25 pounds. Then, the got eve bigger!
Late in the week, 30-200 pounders crashed the pangas leaving broken hearts and busted tackle as our anglers suddenly found themselves double-bendo for 1, 2, 3 or more hours on big angry tuna…only to lose them! But, the ones we did get in were still 40-80 pound slugs! Really pretty pretty fish.
On top of that, add in a few wahoo…some roosters…lots and lots of skipjack (non-edible) and blue bonito (very edible) a handful of dorado and we’re talking some really excellent days on the water and exhausted fishermen at night!
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Just like our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fleet, when I saw the winds kicking in and the whitewater chop in the bay, I thought it was all over. The dorado went lockjaw and we went from easy limits to picky fishing for a smattering of dorado here and there.
Then, late in the week, the winds dropped off. And the dorado came back heavy. Lots of little dinks under 5 pounds, but also more legit 10-20 pounders in the box as well plus inshore pargo, cabrilla and rooster fish. The biggest surprise was when one of our pangas ended their day, they started tossing their extra baits in the water and suddenly tuna showed up in the wake and now a tuna bite was on! Not very common for our La Paz fleet, but it resulted in some nice 15-20 pound ahi for a few days!
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
Shout-out gracias to everyone who brought down donations this week for our outreach programs or donated to our scholarship funds. Unfortunately, I don’t have photos of everyone, but you know who you are and we’re awesomely grateful, but no moreso than the kids, families and programs YOU help and bring smiles to!
Take a look at the load of shoes, clothes, school supplies and so much more brought in by Don Busse, Brad Baker, Jerry Gibbs, Ken Campbell, John Gibbs and Wiley Randolph! Wow! A tablefull!
Our San Diego amigos Jock Argust, Eric Moen, Bruce Bower and Norm Cole with clothes and school supplies probably headed to Vsita Hermosa families.
Armfuls!!! Jilly and Tim Butterworth try to balance it all! Tim and his wife, Paula, have been so very generous every year! She once sent down boxes and boxes of schoolbooks.
Washington was well represented by these crazy guys! Dana Murray, Bill Bigelman, John Stendra, Steve Murray, Alex Dumbrowski, Bob Murray, Pete Walker and Bob Larson (getting a funny man-hug!) LOL
Kris Honkola, John Stack (T-Rex), Jeff Cassens (Landshark) didn’t bring anything down! Instead, they decided to help the local economy and went on a local shopping spree to buy lots of clothes, blankets, and other much needed things for winter. They do this kind of thing every year and spent a fun week with us down here!
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
Weather – Couldn’t be better. Sunny and warm. Maybe a little too much humidity for some, but seasons changing and it’s getting progressively cooler
Water – Blue and clear, but like air temps, the season is changing. Waters will start to cool. I hope not too soon. Fish are sensitive.
Fishing – Hard to imagine it being much better with nice variety including tuna, dorado, billfish, wahoo, pargo, cabrilla, roosterfish. In terms of numbers, it’s great. If the fish got bigger, it would be even better! No one complaining.
Catching – Easy limits most days.
BIG PICTURE FULL FISHING REPORT
Three in the hand and more in the boat…great tuna start for Tom Ramsey and Matt Fields who started their fishing week with Captain Arcangel and a boatload of yellowfin tuna! The tuna seem to be getting just a tad larger with every week.
A great photo of Chris Van Leeuwen from Utah with some larger grade yellowfin tuna on the beach at Muertos Bay.
Harley Nelson is the owener/ operator Stockman’s fishing lodge in Saskatchewan, Canada and made his first trip this week to visit La Paz and fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing. He caught lots of tuna and dorado, but on his last day with Captain Jorge, hooked up with this big-time rooster fish not far from the Punta Arenas lighthouse on live bait. The big fish was released and swam away strong.
John Kennedy had himself a great week of tuna and dorado fishing, but also topped it with one of our wahoo this week with Captain Victor. Lots of reasons to smile!
Eric Ostrom from Florida and Bob McPhee from California had just two quick days to getaway and fish and got in on the dorado and tuna bite.
Leave it to the first timer to get the trophy! From Montana, Jeff Carr was with friend, Dwight Smith and Captain Archangel on his very first day and time fishing in La Paz and Mexico and hit the jackpot with a nice wahoo!
Marty and Pam Martin had a full week of this kind of fishing and went back to Montana with a vanload of fish, even after donating fish and releasing fish! Our amigos are from Great Falls, Montana.
Three generations of smiles from Bob, grandson Jacob and son Jason Rudloff from Northern California who hammered some easy limits out’ve Muertos Bay of yellowfin tuna.
Heather and Alan McCrory, our first-time visitors to La Paz to fish with us, we out with Captain Armando and appear to have sat on a nice school of yellowfin tuna with some good size to kick off the week.
A last-minute trip by Tom Van Leeuwen and son, Chris from Utah turned out pretty well with nice days of tuna and dorado.
Our buddy, John Kennedy again in the fishing report twice! This time holding a roosterfish that came up in the middle of the tuna schools and got itself hooked on a sardine! John released the gallo!
Stephanie and Trent squeezed in a single day of fishing with Captain Gerardo and made the most of it with a looad of tuna and dorado to cap it off.
I think I will frame this photo of Jorge Romero. A man only has two hands! Catches the fish and gaffs his own fish! A man of many talents! Check the flat waters!
Captain Pancho with Marty Martin and another yellowfin headed back to Montana! Fatter fish lately
The fish get heavy when someone tries to take a picture! Captain Archangel and Dwight Smith grimace and laugh as their picture is being taken!
John Virgin had a prett incredible week of fishing as he shows off another healthy yellowfin tuna on the gaff.
After many years, Dave Cagnacci and brother Mark, from Ventura CA finally made it down to La Paz and were fishing with Captain Jorge and filled some coolers with quite a bit of yellowfin and dorado.
She had never caught anything bigger than a trout, but Jamie Rudloff with husband Jason, had quite a kick holding onto a bent rod attached to a yellowfin tuna!
Larry Chastain and Steve Ritz fished with Captain Gerardo on their first-ever trip fishing in La Paz and jumped right into the tuna bite at Muertos.
No full moon slow down on the fishing. Still full turbo although we were kinda nervous that the full moon was coming up and would affect what has been one of the best fish bites in recent years. Fortunately, not so!
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY FLEET
There appears to be a full line of tuna that came up outta the trenches about 4 weeks ago and, so far (with fingers crossed) shows now sign of abatement as tuna are biting at both the north and south end of Cerralvo Island plus close to shore from the Arenas lighthouse and south 2-3 miles to Boca de Alamo. Some of the fish are right inside of Bahia de los Muertos and many times well within a stone’s throw of the beach in shallow water!
Limits of tuna between 10 and 30 pounds have been the norm rather than the exception as the fish chase the abundant sardine schools that we haven’t seen in 2-4 years. Many of our anglers are limiting by mid-morning then using the rest of the time to target dorado, cargo, cabrilla, wahoo and rooster fish.
The big roosters are still around and the ones we caught and released this week were all big thick 40-80 pound fish either just off the rocks or the sandy areas near the Arenas lighthouse. As well, for the first time in several weeks we locked into some 30-40 pound wahoo.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
The dorado bite that has settled into the area just kept going this past week. Not much to say except it’s often all the action you could want. Dorado aren’t big but 7-20 pound fish are most common and limits have been pretty easy the anglers telling me they’re releasing several more dozen fish after that!
One day of wind late in the week made for some rough waters, and diminished the bite somewhat, but when the winds died later in the day, the fish went on the chew. As the week went on, the mornings were slow, but the afternoons provided the most action.
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
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT for WEEK OF SEPT. 24-Oct. 1, 2017
Here’s a great personal video from Fred and Lisa Cruz who were into the tuna bite with us. Fun to watch! Check it out.
Week at a Glance
Weather – Perfect. Seasons are changing. Feeling more like fall. Less humidity. Daytime mid-90’s and mostly sunny. Nights low 80’s and clear with a seabreeze.
Water – surface 85 degrees and blue
Fishing – good as it’s ever been in a long time for tuna, dorado and roosterfish. Bait a little tough this past week in La Paz, but the dorado ate everything thrown at them anyway.
Catching – Lots of limits. We’re selling extra ice chests like women’s shoes at a Nordstrom sale. Can’t keep ice chests in stock as anglers realize how much fish they’re taking home!
Notes: Don’t come down or go out without your fishing licenses in hand. The inspectors are checking. Get your license here: http://www.bajasursportfishing.com
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT
Here second visit here this year! Claire Swift from San Clemente, CA knows how to fish and got into the tuna this trip just outside Bahia Suenos.
Not a bad day and a good start to the fishing week for Ben Lindell from Le Grande, Oregon. Ben has been down to visit us twice this year and shows a rack of tuna and dorado.
Great colors and flat waters! Montana in the house! Marty Martin has one of several tuna to kick off the start of his fishing trip.
Wow! Let the dog out! A big dog-tooth snapper/ pargo perro for Dave Lindell fishing with Captain Victor.
Wade Gomes our Arizona amigo had himself quite a week of fishing and poses with a pair of his dorado he caught fishing north of La Paz with our Tailhunter Fleet.
Lisa Hicks always does well when she visits La Paz and was with her favorite Captain Victor from the Tailhunter Fleet when she caught and released this nice rooster fish not far from the Arenas lighthouse She said she was laughing because it was bigger than the rooster her husband had just caught and he had been giving her a bad time until she hooked up. Both fish were released.
Roger Young was with Captain Chito fishing north near Espirito Santo Island and was trolling a little plastic feather to catch bonito to use for dorado bait when this big blue marlin came up instead. They were not able to release the fish and most of the meat was donated. Roger is from Missouri
A pretty good week for roosterfish with another catch-and-release opportunity for Stan Andre from Northern California with Captain Pancho. Great colors.
Hard to have more fun than these two! From Wyoming, Sid Kendall and Bruce Diechmueller who didn’t let the fact that his arm is in a sling stop him from three fun days of fishing. Their first time visiting us.
Big smile and a big roosterfish for is birthday! Captain Gerardo gives Norm Clayton a hand with a big rooster. He’s visited us a number of times, but never got a rooster until his birthday this week! The fish was released.
There’s alot of great colors going on here for our friend, Jeff Swift, from San Clemente CA who hung this yellowfin tuna south of Muertos Bay with a sardine.
Our Missouri friends, Marilyn and Roger Young, with some dorado to add to their fish haul that included marlin and tuna.
Louis Abels from Colorado fished with his friends and Captain Armando to take several nice limits of tuna over two days.
Xavier has some fun with cigars! Great photo!
A very unusual catch for Brad McBride from Arizona because we normally don’t get pompano until spring time when the waters are cooler which tells me may be our waters are chilling out a bit. The pompano are great eating.
John Mussel made a last minute trip to squeeze in two quick days of fishing and was rewarded with a nice load that included dorado like this bull taken near Espirito Santo Island.
Good friend, Roy Stenzel, who lives in San Diego, but has a house in La Paz fished with his friends and Captain Armando for some tuna, dorado and surgeonfish.
Love this photo of Captain Boli with our good friend, Katie Olson, from Bishop CA who visits us every year. They caught these fish just outside of La Paz Bay.
Here’s a quick video showing you just how close the sardine schools are at Bahia de los Muertos. they’re right at the launch ramp no the beach!
He’s been with us many times over the years, but came to celebrate his retirement from the Sacramento Fire Department, Tim Nishimura brought son Kenny for a week and went home with a full load of tuna and dorado.
It almost looks like Wade Gomes is fishing somewhere on the Colorado River perhaps Lake Mead not from from where he lives in Arizona, because the waters are so calm and the rock look like the river gorge, but he caught two of these nice rooster fish in a row near the rocks and released both. The other one was bigger!
More tuna? Yes! Shawn Kirk from Colorado and Marilyn Young from Missouri add 4 more tuna to several ice chests of fillets the took home after almost a solid week of great fishing.
First timers with us from Utah, Bob Jolley and Al and Jay Curtis with some of their tuna from the first day of fishing out’ve Muertos Bay.
It’s amazing he kept his shirt so white! Stan Andre had a good week on the tuna including those two that make this week’s photos gallery.
Terry Hawk put the wood to this gorgeous roosterfish just off the beach outside of Muertos Bay with Captain Pancho. The fish was released strong.
Colorful rack of tuna and dorado for Bob Kochs and Tom Cole with Captain Armando. The guys are from Arizona.
Check out the great colors on this “tiger dorado” caught by Brad McBride.
Starting his fishing week off with a boatload of tuna, Terry Hawk, poses on the beach at Muertos.
John Nagy and Kevin Shiotani with one of the better bull dorado of the week.
Gerry got in two days of fishing with us and had a nice bundle of tuna the first day.
From Oregon, Leonard Post and Dave Lindell, have a tuna and pompano, both great eating. The guys are from Pendleton OR.
FISH BEND RODS – MOST SOLID WEEK OF SEASON!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Report for Week of Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 2017
We probably had one of the best and most consistent bites of the season this past week. With the exception of a bump here and there where they had an off-day, overall the best weather and the best fishing in a long time. Flat calm blue waters mostly with surface temps around 85 degrees and air temperatures a balmy 95 with humidity dropping as we pull away from summer and head into fall.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Bait was harder to find this week for some reason. It’s been like that since the last weather pattern hit us two weeks ago. That’s been strange since bait has not been an issue all season, but suddenly, it’s scarce.
That being said, there was no problem usually finding limits of dorado scattered all over north of the city from San Juan de la Costa to Espirito Santo Island to the north of Cerralvo, the Charro Bank and Punta Gorda.
Using chopped squid, limited live bait, dead bonito and other baits, dorado sometimes ran hot and heavy with our anglers telling us they released dozens of dorado keeping only a handful of the larger fish and having a ball with non-stop action. The biggest issue was sometimes running into too many little guys or trying to get through the voracious little ones to get to the larger bulls on the perimeter. Still, lots of fun.
Seeing more and more billfish too especially feeding on the smaller dorado!
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
Sometimes fast and furious as the tuna bite continues to rage. Some boats do better than others, but generally speaking overall between 10-25 pound tuna; a handful of dorado; lots of bonito; throw in some jack crevalle, cargo and cabrilla and there’s an incredible amount of action to be had. Some anglers are happily getting really beat up!
We had one group only fish a few hours…get a load of fish… then run back in time to play a round of golf and still be done early!
For the last 3 weeks, it’s been the best tuna bite in years. The key is the sardines and right now, they’re balled up right there at the launch ramp in Muertos Bay. The proximity of the bait has brought lots of the sport fish right into the bay including the tuna, dorado, big roosterfish, jacks and others.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH PROGRAM SHOUT OUT
Jilly with Tim and Kenny Nishimura from Sacramento with a load of school supplies.
Malina and Dave Lindell come every year with so much great stuff like these backpacks and notebooks. They’re from Pendleton, Oregon.
The Okizaki brothers from S. California had lots of stuff that will go to the Women’s shelter here in La Paz like toiletries and hygiene items.
Our Montana Family! Larry Wilson, John Virgin, Deana Wilson, Dwight Smith, Pam Martin, Marty Martin, Jeff Carr and Sharon Virgin hauled down new kids and adult shoes, clothes, school supplies, and toiletry items! WOW!!!
Mike and Annette Crandall celebrating their honeymoon brought down all kinds of hygiene items for the Women’s Shelter.
Last week, Don Vegter and Chelsea Roos from Torrance CA brought down enough gear for an entire team of little soccer players that included balls and uniforms!
Some of the kids at Los Planes that got school supplies. Great and grateful little faces! Thanks everyone!
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
Tailhunter Fish Report 