La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 13-20, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Alot of meat! Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles had a live mackerel pinned to her line not far from Punta Arenas with Captain Pancho when she hooked this massive wahoo not far from the shoreline. The big fish was weighed on a scale and measured 56-pounds!
It’s been over 10 years since Mark Rubin came to visit us so it was good to see him. He was out fishing with Captain Arcangel and got this colorful dorado up for a great photo!
On her first day out and first-time in La Paz, Kathy Parker was with Captain Luis and deckie Miguel in the channel between the city and Espirito Santo Island in an area where big 50-150 pound tuna had been sighted. On her first bait in the water, this big yellowfin inhaled her little sardine and the fight was on! With her sister, Sherry (see photo below), trading the rod-back-and-forth for 4 long hours, the ladies finally got this big boy to the boat!
Holly Kunzler’s big dorado of the week was caught while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. Holly’s first trip to Baja and she was with us for the better part of the week visiting from Utah.
Our long-time amigos with their favorite Captain Jorge, Marianne and Jeff Sakuda enjoying Jeff’s retirement vacation after 30 years as a pilot for United, they kicked off things with a nice rack of bull dorado.
Double tag-team! Sherry Cady was on her 2nd visit to us this year and this time brought her sister, Kathy Parker (see photo above) when they hung this big yellowfin tuna with deckhand Miguel and Captain Luis and battled the fat fish for 4 hours!
Montana Dewey and Leslie Spafford guide trips in Arizona and came to visit this week and go into some dorado and cabrilla their first day at Las Arenas.
First-timer and happy fisherman, George Misner, started his trip with a nice bull dorado just south of Bahia Muertos.
Popular Captain Chito hung two of those big tuna that were boiling north of La Paz for a few days. Unfortunately, photos of the clients didn’t come out!
Hi Craig! Always good to have Craig Corda back with us . He’s been our amigo for over 20 years and never has a bad day.
Al Chaves lives outside of Phoenix and was out with Captain Jorge when he got this dorado. He had a big tuna on briefly.
Jarat Bagwell from Arizona got the jackpot with his buddies when he caught the most fish for the day including dorado, cabrilla and snapper.
Texas in the house! Cody Timberlake is a professional cowboy and former bullrider and lives in Banderas TX. First trip with us and a dorado with Captain Alfredo.
Monte Aldridge shows off a bull dorado he picked up fishing off Espirito Santo Island. He’s from Richfield UT and always good to have him visit.
Eric Gunnells and Steve Bayer picked up these dorado on their one day out’ve Bahia Muertos.
Barbara Burnett and her husband Jerry have their own great salmon operation in Juneau AK, but came to visit us and started off with a day of dorado.
These are great eating triggerfish! Best ceviche and fish tacos! Captain Jorge with or friends, Jeff and Marianne Sakuda.
Captain Fili is hidden behind a dorado, but no hiding Zach Arnold and Trent Baysinger and a couple of nice mahi.
Good to see Captain Arcangel smiling. Nice dorado in the box again for Mark.
Things have fallen off rapidly with cooler temperature, stronger winds and currents and rougher water the last week-and-a-half. Fishing has also dropped off dramatically. The warm water season ended sooner than expected and I think things will continue to change as warm water species like the dorado, tuna, wahoo, and billfish move out and are replaced by more inshore cooler water species.
Once again this week, captains and clients worked hard to find picky fish. Bait was harder to come by in the rougher waters and there were times with there were some uncharacteristically big swells, chop and gusty winds making it more difficult to fish. The winds will only get stronger as normally calm La Paz Bay even got some big wind-generated rollers that smashed waves onto the waterfront areas.
There were still some dorado around although the schools are diminishing. Most days boats scratched out a catch of 1-5 dorado per day with most about 10 pounds or so. Smaller ones were released. Lots of bonito, fortunately usually kept rods bent.
More inshore fish like triggerfish, snapper, pargo and cabrilla as well as sierra and jack crevalle and pompano increased in the counts as waters cooled and it became more incumbent to fish closer to the beaches and rocks.
There are, however, some great catches still waiting!
We had a few nice wahoo this week including a whopper 56-pounder by Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles. As well, there’s still the occasional 30-50 pound roosterfish.
The biggest surprise was the appearance of some pig yellowfin tuna that were in the 50-150 pound class between Punta Tecolote and Espirito Santo Island in the channel. These fish were toads that tore into anglers for 1-4 hour battles, when they would bite. Sometimes, they were just a tease boiling around the pangas, but not interested in eating a hooked bait. But, when they did bite, they were beasts! Normally, we don’t see tuna around La Paz as we catch them mainly around Las Arenas so this was a nice surprise!
BOOKING FOR 2020 STARTING TO FILL
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our reservations are coming in faster than normal and many dates in 2020 are getting filled. Calls and e-mails are coming in daily. Some dates are already sold out. In 2019 we were filled by March.
We don’t want to miss you. If you have a favorite captain, hotel or date in mind, don’t wait. Especially, don’t wait until we do our fishing and hunting show tour in the winter. We want to be sure we have you down and covered so we can have you visit next year!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muerto Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 13-20, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Fishing Report
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
“Birthday Bob” Layko always visits us each year on his birthday with cousin Craig Brown. Got himself a wahoo and some dorado too with Captain Armando.
A two-hour battle for Eric Gunnels from Phoenix, produced this 70 pound tuna. It doesn’t look like it from the angle, but we put it on a certified scale. Captain Chito give the thumbs-up. Big tuna made an appearane between La Paz and Espirito Santo Island.
First-timer Steve Kunzler from Utah found dorado fishing to his liking.
Kyle Muir is from Beaverton OR, but skippers for Vonnie’s Fishing Charters up in Sitka, Alaska. He’s got a pair of bulls in hand.
From Denver, Bobby Hart had never fished in salt water before let alone been to Mexico, but his very first day hooked this trophy roosterfish off Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Our good amiga from Richfield, UT, Marlene Aldridge, has a big smile and 3 nice doardo on the cutting board.
On their way in from fishing out’ve La Paz, Dale and Daryl Martz from Colorado and Alan Martz from Boston hold up some of their catch.
Ten-year-old Carter Hart hooked this bull dorado north of La Paz. On just 30-pound-test the youngster battled the fish for 20 minutes refusing offers of help and got it to the boat all by himself.
A good day on the water for Larry Huey posing on the beach with a couple of dorado, some cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper.
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Funny shot of the week with Monty Aldridge and his baby roosterfish. A cute one! Monty released the fish there in Bahia Muertos.
Holly Kunzler repeatedly claims to have outfished husband, Steve and says she caught most of these dorado.
The Brasier Brothers, Bill and Scott have alot of fish for their captain to clean! Dorado, pargo, snapper, triggerfish and cabrilla as well as jack crevalle on the cleaning table.
Best shot of the week. Carter and Brooke Hart from Denver got some pargo liso out’ve the rocks and pose on the beach.
Two in hand and one on the table for Hugo with Captain Gerardo goofing off behind.
From Lake Havasu, AZ, Laurie Reynolds and John Gillespie got some nice dorado to show.
Armando, Craig and Bob in the gallery again with quite a variety of fish!
Young Carter on the gaff! Like a boss.
Bob Sayre was battling a bonito when a big wahoo came swimming around the panga. Just like that…in one bite..the wahoo scissored the back-half-of his bonito with it’s sharp teeth and swam away. Eat-and-run!
We have definitely had better weeks of fishing this season. Overall, it was probably the most disappointing and difficult fishing of the year and the captains and clients really had to work hard for their fish.
It started with a combination of several factors and it took quite awhile to recover and it’s taking a long time to get back up to speed.
However, kicking off the week with the tail end of that huge 30-hour rainstorm and subsequent sporadic rains in the following days not only required that we cancel a day of fishing; but the rain sent lots of run-off into the ocean, muddying the waters. Winds that persisted all week, including strong northern winds that are the vanguard indicator that the season is coming to an end, not only made it bumpy and rough to fish, but also cooled down surface water temperatures. Add in a full moon and choppy waters and it was a round-house kick to the head.
Any singular variable or even two of those things would not have impeded the bite much…if at all…but that combination of wind, waves, rain and a full moon put the hex on things.
It has been taking it’s time recovering, if at all. With the continued north winds, that means we’re heading into the off-season and it might probably be getting rougher and more difficult to fish. That being said, the fishing did improve little-by-little every day although still relatively slow compared to what it had been before the storms.
Dorado were the mainstay action with fish mostly 10-20 pounds. Bonito were mostly plentiful to the point of being a nuisance, but together with jack crevalle, small roosterfish, pargo, cabrilla and snapper at least kept rods bent most of the time.
Most exciting were the boiling tuna that showed up between La Paz and Espirito Santo Island. Fish between 50 and 150 pounds came up several times and really rocked a few of our anglers who battled fish up to 4 hours. All except ome fish…about a 70-pounder…were lost. The angler on the 70 pounder battled for 2 hours to get the fish aboard.
Other species included pompano, sierra, amberjack and triggerfish.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 6-13, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Firefighters Tim Nishimura and Scott Johnson from the Sacramento CA area have been coming for years to fish around La Paz and have caught almost every fish in the area. However, the wahoo have been elusive until this week when they were out with their favorite Captain Gerardo of the Tailhunter Fleet and they each finally got their wahoo as well as a 3rd ‘hoo as well while trolling Rapalas.
John Kennedy from Auburn, California tries to make a yearly trip to La Paz to fish with the Tailhunter Fleet and his favorite Captain Victor. He was with Victor when they caught a bonito and Victor quickly grabbed it; put it on a heavier rig; and went over to shallow water where they hooked and landed this whopper dog-tooth snapper. John said they lost several others that they couldn’t stop.
Beautiful photo and beautiful dorado for Don Vegter from Redondo Beach CA with Captain Gerardo goofing off behind the shot. The fish was Don’s personal best dorado and caught on live bait near Punta Arenas.
There’s a zillion reasons to love this photo of Roger Thompson and this big ‘hoo! He said it was almost an instant biter upon dropping the lures back. He was fishing with Captain Hugo.
There are good days fishing and then there are REALLY good days fishing! Their first vacation in 25 years, Kimberlee and Kurt Cochran run a commercial fishing operation in Homer, Alaska. Their first day out was with Captain Moncho. They got their first marlin but look at the table in front…a huge wahoo…dorado…cabrilla…triggerfish too.
Our long time friends from Sacramento, Dennis Fujii and Wayne Kurahara start off with some good-sized dorado.
Making his 2nd trip in 2019 to see us, Chad McConnell from Arizona hung this colorful bull mahi fishing on Captain Alfredo’s boat.
I don’t know if this is his first or his 2nd wahoo, but Andy had never fished before and he takes down TWO wahoo! Awesome!
There were a few tuna here and there like the one Captain Jorge is holding and some nice bit of dorado to take home for Lon Tsukamoto and Walt Menda.
Great shot of Andy McIntyre and his wahoo . Note…there’s another on the cleaning table behind him!
This is a pig of a tuna! Dave Lindell from Pendleton OR has fished with us for many years and caught lots of fish, but this one was a bruiser and estimated between 70-80 pounds. Captain Armando gives a hand . Dave fought the fish almost 90 minutes!
First time with us from Denver, Jaren Jackson and Mike Miller got themselves a pair of fast-moving wahoo trophies.
Just a pretty shot in the channel in front of Cerralvo Island with Laurie Reynolds from Lake Havasu, AZ.
Captain Jorge with a couple of our newest and nicest visitors, Darren Robinson and Traci Kidman.
Tom Mullican from Dallas TX visits us twice a year and always does well, especially with Captain Pancho. Nice tuna and big pargo!
Gary Okamoto and Captain Jorge got themselves a wahoo!
From Washington, Bill Bigelman, wanted to make sure he finaly got in the fishing report!
Captain Gerardo with our amiga, Chelsea Roos, celebrating her engagement to Don Vegter with a couple day of fishing and here with a sleep wahoo.
It looks a bit bumpy and rough out there, but Candace and Captain Raul got this dorado under control just east of Espirito Santo Island.
Oh wow…John Stone might have one of the most colorful shots of the week with this dorado! John’s 2nd trip to year to visit us.
Now, this beats starting your day on the freeway any day! Don Vegter got his first wahoo at daybreak outside Bahia Muertos.
Captain Gerardo was on fire this week. Another wahoo, this time with Joe Cameron.
Bob McPhee came down with 6 of his buddies to celebrate their 50th birthday…all of them! And catch some dorado too!
Bobbi Kennedy from Denver with her two great kids, Erin and Raphael and a day of dorado . Bobbi never stops smiling. Great to have them visit!
Again…Andy’s first time ever..and he catches two wahoo. This might be the 2nd wahoo.
That’s a big mahi for Lon. Don’t see many female dorado that big . Great catch.
Tom Mullican again in the gallery this time with a nice load of dorado and a fat barred pargo too!
A last minute trip and they made good with a stack of dorado for Fionne and his dad, Bill Dingwell from Chandler AZ. They also squeezed in a day of diving as well.
Captain Jorge took this photo for me of the beach at Punta Arenas as the storm approached us Sunday and why we figured it was a good day to cancel the boats and not take any chances.
It was a pretty solid week of fishing mostly with fairly good conditions and cooperative fish until the end of the week when heavy rains arrived and put a damper on the bite and fishermen’s spirits.
Dorado continued to be the mainstay and if you wanted a dorado, they were 80% of the catch and found in a wide area by both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleets. La Paz seemed to have more fish most days, but Las Arenas had the larger fish. Some days were better than others. Some boats did better than others. Some days, La Paz had the better bite but the next day, Las Arenas would have the hot honey holes.
Most fish were 10-20 pounders. Lots of little dorado were released.
The true highlight of the week was the heightened action on the wahoo. This time of year is historically good for wahoo, but until this past week or so, the wahoo weren’t showing much interest in biting.
However, each day wahoo were hooked and lost by our anglers fishing around Cerralvo Island as well as Punta Perrico and in the channel between the island and Punta Arenas. Fish were between 20-and 50 pounders and most were caught trolling with dark-colored Rapalas or Yo-Zuri Magnums. Quite a few fish were lost and there were a few days when several of our pangas boated multiple wahoo.
Other catches this week included hook-ups and both blue marlin and striped marlin and a sprinkling of yellowfin tuna. Most were large footballs but one 50 pounder and another in the 70-80 pound class. We also got a few of the big dog-tooth snapper, as well as cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish, some sierra, amberjack and lots of bonito!
It was all going well until it started to rain later Saturday afternoon. And rained…and rained. Through Sunday forcing us to cancel trips. It wasn’t a strong rain. Just a steady rain. Not a hurricane, but interestingly, more rain fell from this “rainstorm” than Hurricane “Lorena” several weeks ago. We experienced power outtages and some areas had big areas of flooding. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, we’ll be back on the water.
MAGDALENA BAY REPORT
John Kennedy has been a long-time Tailhunter amigo and he waited 2 years to do one of our light tackle trips to fish the mangroves in Bahia Magdalena. In just 1 day of fishing, Tom estimated he caught at least 10 different species including, corvina, pargo, dog-tooth snapper, grouper, cabrilla, sheephead, grunt, triggerfish and more.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
You never forget the first. Especially, when you have been trying for years like John Gibbs and Wiley Randolph who visit us every year and finally nailed their first wahoo…on the same day…on the same panga with Captain Pancho.
First day and first time fishing with us, Steve Salbeck, rocked this big dog-tooth snapper with Captain Moncho. That’s alot of meat for the ice chest.