La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 22-29, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
Please remember that anything I say, might have already changed between the time I recorded this, produced it and when you are actually seeing this!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our Tailhunter Captain Luis has been a hotshot the last two seasons and has been rocking some big fish during the downtime. He’s got the DNA for it! His uncle is popular Captain Chito and his grandfather is Raul who have both fished for us for several decades. Luis is our youngest captain and already in big demand. He was out at El Bajo this week and took this big tuna on THIRTY POUND test with 50-pound leader after a 3 hour battle. The fish is estimated at 160-170 pounds.
Only commercial fishermen or locals fishing for sustenance can fish right now. Here’s a smattering of species caught by one of the local guys to feed his family for the week that includes triggerfish, pargo, snapper and cabrilla.
The only folks fishing are locals and folks who have homes there and are staying in place. And, even then, not many. Most are sheltering-in-place. The quarantine in Baja Sur was extended through May 30th and more stringent restrictions have been mandated because too many people were ignoring the quarantine.
CHASING CAMPERS OFF THE BEACH
Therefore, the non-essential businesses remain closed like all hotels, restaurants, stores (not markets) as well as beaches, public areas, etc. However, with the new restrictions, there is also a 10 p.m. curfew now. Facemarks are required by everyone. Only 1 person from a family or group may enter a market now and only 1 person in a car at a time. Plus no alcohol sales after 6 p.m. The governor or Baja addressed the state and said that penalties would include fines, jail time and/or public service.
YOU NEED A GOOD REASON TO BE DRIVING AFTER 10 P.M. ONLY 1 PERSON IN THE CAR AT A TIME
Maybe it’s paying off. Maybe it’s too early to tell.
With almost 800,000 residents in the state of Baja Sur (including Loreto, Mulege, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas), has less than 200 cases with only about a dozen fatalities. 230 have recovered.
Compared to the state of Baja Norte (including Ensenada, Tijuana, Rosarito, Mexicali and San Felipe) as well as mainland Mexico, Baja Sur (so far) is weathering things better than most.
Assuming there are no drastic changes, major hotels are talking about opening up in June.
Several Airlines will resume flights including Delta, Aero Mexico, United, Alaska, Spirit and others.
Restaurants are gearing up to re-open.
They are telling students be prepared to get back to school on July 1. (Just learned…Now June 1)
No idea yet about the ports and marinas which would allow sportfishing boats to get out, but that would be additional good news.
FISH…
We know there’s fish around. A few of our captains and their families are finding yellowtail, dorado and tuna in various spots, but again, barely anyone is fishing. Some have commercial licenses and are using them to get out. However… If you don’t have alot of gas, you can’t go too far, but inshore fishing has been good for amberjack, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper. But, again, most of the fish caught is for personal consumption.
However, as in many other parts of the world where human traffic has diminished significantly, there are some interesting reports.
It’s hard to go fishing when there’s no work or money to buy gasoline for the boat.
The waters in the marinas have cleared up. Big gamefish such as yellowtail and roosterfish are being seen close to shore in schools and numbers that haven’t been seen in awhile. Pargo schools at the islands are crashing the rocky areas. Even diving areas such as Cabo Pulmo and around Espirito Santo Island are seeing more and larger sealife that hasn’t been around in awhile.
Mother Nature recovering! Hope we can all say the same very soon as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 16-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY
Popular Captain Ramon “Moncho” Green went north to Espirito Santo Island and took this 80-pound yellowfin tuna and several big 20-pound class yellowtail using sardines.
Gary Wagner, who owns the Rancho Costa there in Muertos has been a bright spot in getting us photos these past few weeks since he’s able to get his own boat right off the beach and go fishing. He sure has a colorful dorado here. Thanks, Gary.
Alot of you know our great Captain Pancho. His son Carlos is growing up (heck of a guitar player too!) and looks he definitely has dad’s fishing DNA. Big tasty pompano in the boat!
Wish I could say things were better, but no one out on the water. Even the locals are having an issue with fishing for personal consumption. The ports have been closed for several weeks now to all traffic, but there’s quite a bit of confusion over whether local fishermen can fish for their families. Some think no problem and are out. But others have been stopped and told they can only be out if they have permits and apparently the paper process is lengthy and confusing in itself.
From the couple of reports that I did get from local fishermen, there’s some nice jags of 25-pound class yellowtail around both Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island. Tuna up to 70-pounds also at the north end of Cerralvo with scattered schools of dorado moving in as waters warm up. Roosterfish have started showing up near the beaches as well as pargo liso started their yearly spawn. No shortage of bonito either.
Tons of bait. No fishermen.
RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES (AS OF APRIL 22)
Mexico almost has over 10,000 confirmed virus cases a jump of over 3,000 in a single week.
Coronavirus deaths are over 950 and climbing daily. Three weeks ago it was 125.
Health officials think that as many as 54,000 is a true number of cases because of so many unreported cases and very little testing.
Four Mexican states with more than 33 million residents are not reporting any statistics because they do not want to violate people’s privacy or “cause panic.”
More than 200 municipalities in 10 Mexican states have closed their roads unilaterally to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the towns.
Hospitals in Mexico City are already almost at capacity.
Baja (states of Baja Norte and Baja Sur) has almost 800 confirmed cases with 38 deaths.
Baja has the highest incidence of infection per capita in the country. Mexico City has the 2nd highest per 100,000 people.
Baja has extended the quarantine past the original April 30th In the absence of something changing, the quarantine is now extended to May 30th.
Health officials estimate that only about 60% of the population are adhering to the quarantine. Many are ignoring the mandates while law enforcement and the military continue to chase people off beaches, public areas and gathering locations.
Healthcare workers are pleading for non-existent personal protection while now themselves becoming targeted for attacks by people who say the workers are spreading the disease.
There’s no stimulus checks, unemployment or health insurance (socialized medicine). In fact 40% of the working population aren’t even on anyone’s books. They work as laborers, vendors and other “cash-only” workers.
The Mexico Undersecretary of Health has not recommended face masks because it gives people a “false sense of security.”
LA PAZ IN QUARANTINE – You Might Recognize a Few Places
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 6-14, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
East side of Cerralvo Island is still holding sizeable yellowtail in shallow water not far off the beach like this one that Miles Wagner took. He’s been staying at his dad’s place at Bahia Muertos now for almost a month so still has the ability to go fishing now that his school back in Colorado is shut down.
La Paz resident, Erik Holthouse was with his brother Juan were out at Bahia Muertos with Captain Moncho and found a nice school of dorado.
Gary Wagner who lives there in Bahia Muertos has thankfully kept sending me photos and has the ability to fish very easily there and has been on top of the yellowtail schools all week and for the past month.
Not much if anyone fishing at all except gringos who live in the area or locals. And even then, not much and the waters are empty. However, the few reports we got this week showed there are still slugger yellowtail around especially the rocky areas around Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island on the northeast side.
More schools of dorado in the 5-15 pound class also becoming more prevalent as the waters warm. There’s a nice spawn of those big mullet snapper (pargo liso) that have shown up. If you can get one of these horses to the boat in that shallow water, they’ve been 15-20 pounders in the school.
Aguamarga on the road to Las Arenas basically says all visitors and you’re not welcome.
More Todos Santos – basically says stay at home. This is not for vacation. There is a national quarantine. Be responsible. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you.
Bahia Muertos is usually covered with folks during Easter Week.
All hotels are still closed until at least April 30th. Police and military are enforcing the closure of the malecon and all beaches, especially during Holy Week/ Easter Week which has traditionally been a big beach week for Mexico with many people still ignoring the shelter-in-place laws.
Authorities are now posting signs, but the local population has also started unilaterally blocking entrances into their areas for tourists, visitors and even some of their own residents, if the residents have been out’ve the area. In an attempt to block the spread of the virus, Mulege, Loreto, San Xavier, Todos Santos, Pescadero, Cedros Island and others have all blocked their roads.
Around La Paz, the road to Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay with entrances to the pueblitos where many of the fishermen and their families live including, Aguamarga, San Pedro, Bahia Muertos, Punta Arenas and Los Alamos have blocked their roads. They’re asking everyone to please stay away and if you leave, they might not let you back in.
HEADLINES FROM MEXICO
Please remember this is a changing situation so anything you read here might have changed by the time you’re reading it.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, MEXICO’S VIRUS CASES HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE LAST WEEK.
MEXICO REPORTS MORE THAN 5000 CASES WITH OVER 300 DEATHS. HEALTH OFFICIALS THINK THE UNOFFICIAL COUNT IS PROBABLY OVER 20,000 CASES SINCE NOT MUCH TESTING OR OFFICIAL REPORTING IS GOING ON.
IN THE SPAN OF A WEEK, BAJA HAS BECOME THE #1 HIGHEST RATE OF VIRUS INCIDENT (PER CAPITA) THAN ANY OTHER PLACE IN MEXICO BEHIND ONLY MEXICO CITY. BAJA HAS ABOUT 500 CASES AND HAS SEEN 20 DEATHS.
IT WAS A VERY SLOW EASTER WEEK WHICH IS TRADITIONALLY PACKED WITH LOCAL AND FOREIGN TOURISTS.
DESPITE THE QUARANTINE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MILITARY HAD TO STILL CHASE MANY PEOPLE OFF THE BEACHES
ONE BEACH IN OAXACA THAT IS USUALLY COVERED WITH BATHERS IS NOW FULL OF CROCODILES THAT HAVE RETURNED AFTER DECADES OF ABSENCE.
WITH NO COORDINATED QUARANTINE PLAN MANY PEOPLE ARE STILL IGNORING THE RESTRICTIONS. THOUSANDS PACKED SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER AT THE MEXICO CITY FISH MARKET TO PURCHASE FISH FOR GOOD FRIDAY
MUCH TO THE DISTRESS OF RETAIL GROCERY STORES, MANY VENDORS HAVE TURNED TO SELLNG PRODUCE, MEAT AND OTHER ITEMS FROM THE SIDE-OF-THE-ROAD AT PRICES HUGELY BELOW RETAIL
HEALTH CARE WORKERS ARE REFUSING TO WORK BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY
SADLY, HEALTH CARE WORKERS ARE ALSO BEING ATTACKED IN SOME CITIES BECAUSE PEOPLE THINK THE HEALTH CARE WORKERS WILL CARRY THE DISEASE INTO THE COMMUNITY.
SANITATION STATIONS FOR HAND WASHING HAVE BEEN SET UP IN VARIOUS CITIES. HOWEVER, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STEALING THE SANITATION STATIONS.
MANY CITIES AHVE ENACTED “DRY LAWS” PROHIBITING LIQUOR SALES OF ANY KIND. CABO SAN LUCAS INITIALLY WAS PART OF THAT GROUP, BUT HAS SINCE CHANGED THE RULE ONLY RESTRICTING THE HOURS FOR ALCOHOL SALES. “PEOPLE NEED ALCOHOL TO STAY CALM DURING THE STRESS.”
BREWERIES LIKE CORONA/MODELO WERE SHUT DOWN TWO WEEKS AGO DEEMED “NON-ESSENTIAL” BUSINESS. THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE ALLOWED THEM TO RE-OPEN LAST WEEK…FOR ONE DAY…THEN THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH OVER-RODE THE EDICT AND SHUT THE BREWERIES DOWN AGAIN.
Hope you all had a good, safe, and healthy Easter all things considered. Jill and I are still stuck in the states. There’s no flights from where we have our house and there’s nothing to go back to at the moment in La Paz. No fishermen. No fishing. Our restaurant is closed. The hotel we live at is closed. So, we’re staying put like so many of you and still grateful and blessed to have a roof and food and yes…even toilet paper and paper towels!
After almost a month of staying away from family, we finally had a little get together with our two kids and two grandkids Easter Sunday for a little chicken on the barbecue. Nothing spectacular. Just good to see them after so long and not be talking on Facetime. It was Jill’s birthday this past weekend and we were all supposed to be in Hawaii for the weekend, but that understandably got canceled.
We are eating too much, watching more TV than ever, catching up on reading and I’m getting more sleep than ever in my life. Usually, by this time of year, we’re getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night and now, there’s no alarm jolting me awake at 4 a.m. to put the fishermen out. But, we’re still working hard trying to keep everyone abreast of what’s happening and/or calming folks down who don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully, we’ll get to the other side of this sooner rather than later.
Thank you to everyone who writes to us.
I can tell alot of you are at home and on your cellphones or computers. I must get about 100 jokes, memes and videos every day. I just can’t watch them all or respond to them all but thanks for thinking of us!
In the meantime, please be well, stay well, stay healthy!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 30-April 6, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Scott McClure was fishing with local friends before the shutdown and caught our first rooster fish of the season near Cerralvo Island. The fish was released. Captain Beto from La Ventana was running the panga.
When you’re staying at your dad’s place at Bahia Muertos, it’s easier to get in a little early evening fishing. Miles Wagner’s dad owns the Rancho Costa resort in Bahia Muertos near La Paz and got out to fish the nearby rocks where the big pargo have shown up. They lost quite a few of the tough fish even with their drags buttoned down, but Miles put this big pargo liso (mullet snapper) in the boat. Miles normally lives in Colorado Springs CO, but with school closed down, he’s spending the off-time fishing in Baja.
Phil Perrone from Oregon was out with our La Paz amigo, Keith Wiliams, where they worked that area on the east side of Cerralvo Island and boated a few nice yellowtail like this one.
He’s always into fish! Keith Williams moved to La Paz a couple of years ago and is able to spend a fair amount of time fishing. He took some friends out before the lockdown last week and added this schoolie dorado to the fish box.
Gary Wagner sits in a sweet spot at his place in Muertos Bay, Rancho Costa and he’s on prime waters. He got this rare hawkfish (china maru) just down the beach off the rocks fro his place.
Roger and Captain Hugo both wore masks while fishing but took his off for this pose with his yellowtail.
Hard to believe that dorado this big are running around in April, but Tailhunter Captain, Luis Martinez took this big bull north of La Paz.
Like everywhere else, the world has changed drastically in Baja which finally jumped in to full-lockdown this past week.
Good news is that the fish are biting and there’s alot of variety. Some of the best fishing of the season.
The bad news is that the only ones fishing are locals or folks who have their own boats. All commercial and Sportfishing activities have been banned. By national decree, all the beaches and public beaches are shut down. All hotels have closed as of April 5 until 30th (but maybe longer). Any one hanging out, we evicted.
All restaurants are closed. The La Paz Malecon is closed. All the ports have closed. In Cabo, and a number of other cities all alcohol sales of any kind have been prohibited. In some cities, even drinking alcohol is now being stopped. La Paz is probably not far behind.
On land and water, sadly, it’s a ghost town and the military and police are enforcing the restrictions. Many people are expecting a curfew soon.
But, on the water, the fish haven’t been on lockdown. It’s like Murphy’s Law.
We’re seeing our first roosterfish of the season. The big mullet snapper (pargo liso) have started to spawn and are showing up in the shallows. Dorado between 10 and 30 pounds are cruising through the warmer currents. Closer inshore, cabrilla, snapper and sierra are holding. There are also all the bonito you could want and yellowtail up to about 25 pounds can be found around structure, banks and reefs. And, there’s live bait too! Oh, and the weather has been pretty good too with temps in the low to mid-80’s although some very strong winds are predicted for this week.
RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES (always wanted to say that)…
Just to give you a quick nutshell of what’s going on in Mexico, here’s some bullet points of information. Just please keep in mind that things are changing daily and rapidly. Anything you read here might and probably will have changed by the time you are reading this:
The Mexican government is finally asking folks to stay home although President Obrador continues to go out meeting and hugging people and shaking hands ignoring his own edicts. His own health officials say it’s too little to late.
The government this week has officially closed all beaches, public areas and non-essential businesses.All hotels in the nation will be closed from April 5-30th. Anyone trying to stay has/ will be evicted. Staffs have been sent home. Administrators are trying to work from home. So, all La Paz hotels are now shuttered.
The government shut down the beaches and public areas because when schools and businesses were closed last week, many people decided it was “vacation” time and thousands headed to the beach.Mexico does not have many outbreaks…so far…and less than 100 fatalities. However, experts do not find the statistics reliable because Mexico does not have the means to test many people.
The La Paz Malecon has been shut down. Army and police are enforcing the lockdown.
All restaurants have closed.
Mexico has 133 million people, but only 400 ICE beds. High obesity, diabetes and heart disease are rampant in the population which is between 10 and 15% of the population.
Many places are ignoring the requirements for social distancing. About 60% of the working population are from the “unofficial economic sector” and work day-to-day and hand-to-mouth existence as vendors, laborers, street works. If they stop work, they don’t eat.As many as
10 million Mexicans do not have access to water so “washing hands” is pretty much out’ve the question.
A growing number of cities, including Cabo San Lucas have banned all alcohol sales completely. The fear is that with so many people locked-down, violence from drinking will increase.
A number of breweries such as Corona/Modelo have or are shutting down since there are no distributions points any longer. Some of the breweries are converting to manufacturing anti-bacterial gel.
Panic buying has already started. But, it is not toilet paper. People are starting to go crazy buying cartloads of beer and hoarding.
Some Mexican cities are blocking the roads so no outsiders may enter. The government says it is illegal but locals are putting up roadblocks.
Airports are generally open, but there are very very few flights with many airlines canceling services.
There is a growing interest to close the borders of Mexico to Americans so they don’t bring down more infections.
Mexico is asking Americans to please stay home.A group of 70 University of Texas students flew a charter to Cabo San Lucas on spring break. When they came back 44 of them tested positive for the virus.
Many Americans were shooting across the border from California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to shop in Mexico which has not had the depletions of goods in grocery stores. That being said, places like Costco have huge lines and are now limiting customers.The U.S. State Department is telling all Americans to come home immediately or be prepared to stay in Mexico for an indefinite period of time.
SADLY ADIOS TO OUR TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT AFTER 13 YEARS…
LOTS OF FUN TIMES!
It’s been a difficult several weeks trying to keep Tailhunter Restaurant open. Jilly worked tirelessly trying to make it go using only “take out” but more importantly to save everyone’s jobs. Many of our employees have been with us for many great years.
With the national closing of ALL restaurants, there were not many options.
We resolved it to the best of our capabilities. Cantina is officially closed indefinitely.
The nation has closed all restaurants until April 30th. Then, they think this will all go away. We know better. Mexico hasn’t even begun to get sick yet.
Closing was the in the best interests of our staff and economically better for us than keep going 30 days…then another 30 days…ad infinitum bleeding money because we would still have the same costs plus having to pay everyone their full salaries. We were not allowed to lay anyone off during the pandemic.
However, by completely closing the restaurant, we are best able to take care of the employees so they do not have to worry. They have money and we continued their health insurance. It’s not like they have other places to find work right now with everything closed.
Consequently…
We paid all employees three full months generous salaries, with full benefits, all earned and accrued vacations and bonuses. They can go home and sit this out safely and not have to wait for the other shoe to drop and should have a buffer to find work on the other side. They are all highly skilled, trained and prized food and beverage industry workers. The best we could do for them…
When the dust settles on this Covid mess, we will then turn all attention, time and talent to getting the fishing company up and running full steam asap. 60 more families of captains, drivers, caterers and managers are counting on us, not even to mention the resorts and their staff, taxi drivers etc…..
We are tremendously touched by the outpouring of sentiments via e-mails, phone calls and social media from around the world as well as our La Paz community. Tailhunter Nation is the best!
Let’s get on the other side of this as soon as possible! In the meantime please be well and stay well. Take care of each other.
Tailhunter Fish Report 