La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay for June 19-29, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dennis Gaetz lives there near Bahia Muertos and is able to get out and jump on some of the roosterfish that have shown up along the beaches. This hefty fella was caught on live bait and released.
Bryan lives there in Todos Santos and was out fishing from Bahia Muertos when he got this colorful bull dorado.
Still not many fishermen around yet, but our captains are rocking it to catch food to eat or taking out neighbors and friends. Our Tailhunter Captain Luis (Chito’s nephew / Raul’s Grandson) stuck 4 of these big dog-tooth at the island! I’m sure someone took that head to make a big pot of soup!
Our captain Pancho took out a doctor friend of the family and got one of the roosterfish showing up along Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Early in the year for such nice dorado, but Captain Blas and Captain Alfredo (his dad) took their neighbor out from La Paz Bay and stuck this sweet dorado near Espirito Santo Island.
Beautiful colors…the water…the fish…a good day for Yohan and this roosterfish that he released.
Mostly alot of locals like our captains out fishing with friends and neighbors and yea…dorado showing up! Our popular Captain Moncho’s son, Ramon Jr. , was out with a friend from Todos Santos.
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La Paz is still figuring it’s way through the “new normal” after restrictions started to lift on June 16th and the government especially tries to find a balance between health and a struggling economy. Currently, restrictions include only 30% occupancy for all activities and locations including restaurants, hotels, businesses and even beaches. Facemarks are also a requirement.
It was hoped that restrictions might be further loosened, but like many places, folks have been taking advantage of the eased restrictions and ignoring prohibitions, so the government has extended the current restrictions and is threatening to revert back to full lockdown. So, for the time-being things remain at ORANGE LEVEL 5.
In the meantime, Covid infections are unabated much like many places in the world that open up. The government says this was to be expected and the levels are acceptable, but in places like Cabo, they have already shut down water-based activities again, such as water tours, kayaking, paddle boards, wakeboard operations, snorkeling, diving, booze cruises and others. Sportfishing has remained open but with restrictions.
The government says restrictions will remain at Orange Level 5 for now.
It’s important also that U.S. and Mexico extended the border closure until July 22, but it does NOTapply to travel by air, water or rail.
For fishing in La Paz, not many sport fishermen out yet since hotels are still struggling to get open by early July and training their staffs and airlines are scrambling to re-open and re-schedule routes.
However, locals, including our captains have been fishing and doing pretty well.
Our Las Arenas captains that have gone out’ve Bahia Muertos, are finding lots of live bait and good spots of rooster fish between 20-80 pounds. Lots of jacks, bonito are also around as well as decent action over structure for barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, red and yellow snapper and big mullet snapper and cabrilla. Some small spots of dorado between 5 and 30 pounds also starting to show up.
For our La Paz captains working north from la Paz Bay, yellowtail, pargo and amberjack have been bending rods over the reefs and more dorado are being found including some legit-sized bulls as sargasso weed starts to build up in the current lines.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 12-19, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT & UPDATE
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Luis lives in La Paz and got out with his neighbor for a day of fishing and put up this nice brace of pargo liso (mullet snapper)..
Nothing wrong with this fat pargo that probably ended up getting cooked up whole! Omar lives in La Paz. Locals were permitted to fish during the quarantine which ended earlier this week.
Our own captain Pancho with a barred pargo for the family. Cerralvo Island in the background. He says there’s roosterfish along the beaches!
LOTS OF IMPORTANT INFO…
La Paz has been downgraded to Level 5
The State of Baja Sur, which includes, La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, the East Cape, Loreto and Mulege has been re-opened! Finally. But it’s with some precautions!
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IF YOU HAVE RESERVATIONS – Send us an e-mail to let us know you’re still coming!
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO MAKE RESERVATIONS – We can set up everything from fishing, hotels, scuba, snorkel, day tours, airport shuttles and more. Write to us! We’re still pretty full, but have some choice spots, but now that Baja is open, reservations are coming in pretty fast!
Like everything else these days, this is gonna take some getting used to.
As you’re reading this, Baja is slowly re-opening after some 3 months of lockdown. This is happening, despite the fact that Covid-19 still seems to be raging right along.
But that depends on who’s statistics you’re looking at and who you’re listening to. Not too different from the U.S. actually.
Be that as it may, as of June 16th, Baja Sur begins it’s emergence into a new and unexplored era. But, it’s not like they’re throwing the gates wide open.
Baja remains in a cautionary state and there are still restrictions.
For instance, restaurants, hotels , beaches and other locales must grapple with the requirement that occupancy will not exceed 30%. This is further, complicated by the mandate of 4 square meters per person.
I was never good in math, but I think that’s 43 square feet per person? Either way, that’s A LOT of social distancing.
There’s a lot that goes into opening up for tourism. Everything has to be sanitized to-to-bottom. Businesses must obtain a certification of health as well.
Staff needs to be re-trained.
Imagine a 100-room hotel or a restaurant. Every piece of bedspread; matress; curtains and surface must be cleaned after 3 months of being closed. But, it also has to be sanitized as well. Every air duct. Every air-conditioner. Every nozzle has to be cleaned.
Most hotels also have restaurants and bars.
In all fairness, it’s a work-in-progress. There’s no blueprint for this and it’s gonna take some time and tweaking.
However, if you’re planning to come down, here’s what you should be expecting and how you can make things go smoother.
Bring a bunch of masks. You’re going to have to use them on the plane and you will probably want to use them at the airport. You will definitely need them once you land.
Just like you’ve learned already, keep your hands clean. Wash often. Bring sanitizer along. Restaurants and hotels will put supplies in rooms and other public areas. But, bring your own.
Check with your airlines. Some airlines are allowing larger bottles of sanitizer on the plane these days.
Bring wipes!
Airlines are going hardcore on their sanitation processes, but you know thay can’t get every little spot on and around your seat. No telling who the last person was in your seat.
So wipe-wipe-wipe. Tray tables, latches, switches, the entertainment console or any knobs need to be touched up.
We may have seen the last of in-flight food and drink services. Check with your airlines.
Once you’re at your destination, it won’t hurt to hit up your room before you do anything else. You have no idea about that last guest. Or how long it has been since the room was occupied or how well it was cleaned.
Wipe down phones, TV’s, remotes, faucet handles, table and sink tops as well as light switches. Unfortunately, don’t count on there being a stocked hospitality refrigerator any longer.
Don’t forget to wipe down any luggage. You don’t know who’s hands have been on it. Baggage handlers; drivers; bellmen have probably all touched it.
What about restaurants? Eating out is at least half-the-fun when travelling. But, remember in the new “normal” no more than 30% occupancy and 4 square meters allowed per person.
So, it’s probably good to have reservations. Be prepared to wait for a table during the busiest times.
Each table must be disinfected after someone leaves.
The table will probably not be “set.”
Linens, utensils, adornments will be set up in front of the new patrons when the guests are seated. We’ll also have less interaction with your waiter and don’t be surprised if there is no menu.
Menus will be digital or perhaps on a blackboard. Food comes out of the kitchen with foil or some kind of cover. I guess the days of the buffet are gone as well unless someone is directly serving it to the customer.
Beaches? I have no idea how they will calculate 30% occupancy. As of this moment, no groups allowed larger than 5 are allowed. Groups are required to stay a 1 ½ meters apart from each other. Beaches will also only be open during specific hours.
No mention about whether masks must be worn on the beaches.
For sportfishing, scuba, snorkeling or other water sports, your guess is as good a mine about how to manage social distancing on a vessel. But, I guess once the boat is off the beach or out’ve the marina, it’s going to be hard for anyone to check.
Knowledge is power. And, in these times, knowledge is safety, no matter if you’re travelling or staying home.
Everything is a work in progress.
BORDER CLOSURE EXTENDED
The closing of the border has been extended through July because of the infections along the border. The closure DOES NOT apply to travel by plane, water or rail!
OTHER NOTES
Smaller hotels and boutique hotels are open or opening
Larger hotels like La Concha Beach Resort and Hotel Perla will be open at the beginning of July
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for June 1-12, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dennis Gaetz lives in San Pedro near Bahia Muertos where we usually launch our pangas and got out for a day with his wife. He shows off a tasty pompano.
Debbie Gaetz with a jack crevalle she caught while fishing with her husband (photo above). Too bad the jacks aren’t real good eating. Although sportfishing is prohibited right now, locals are permitted to subsistence fish. Apparently there’s alot of bait and they saw alot of roosterfish, but the roosters wouldn’t bite.
Our folks in Bahia Magdalena who work with us were out catching some food. Captain Saul was out with family and has a nice pargo on the line.
Some really good eats! From the Bahia Magdalena shallows in the mangroves an ice chest with some fat grouper.
It looked like there was a ray of hope there for a bit regarding opening Baja for tourism again. Indeed, there was a bright spot as June 16th was repeatedly bandied about as the day the quarantine and lockdown would be lifted.
Health inspections were taking place. Businesses were sending employees to classes to learn about new health protocols. Hotels and restaurants were digging themselves out from almost 3 months of dusty Baja darkness.
It seemed there was a green light in the distance and everyone was moving towards it.
But wait. Not just yet.
That green light still sits at the end of the tunnel, but it’s gotten a bit dimmer. Or perhaps it’s because it has moved further away.
I waited to post this latest update and report because I knew that last Wednesday, Governor Carlos Mendoza Davis, the governor of Baja Sur, was going to post a new state address about the re-opening. He was going to give a more definitive word about what was going to happen after June 15th.
Well, last Wednesday, the governor broadcast the message and all it did was leave alot of us scratching our heads; others pulling their hair out; and others just laughing at the ambiguity of the message. I sort of get it. I’m glad I’m not a politician right now.
In a nutshell the government has broken down re-opening into six “traffic light” segments based on how bad they think the infection situation is. Here’s the chart. See if it makes sense:
The governor’s new “traffic light” chart. Every business will get assigned a color which will be announced after June 15th. The chart tells you what a business can and cannot do.
Every business or entity will be judged by and given a “light.” That will determine if they can open and then, in what capacity they can operate. All of this, of course, is also based on how badly the pandemic is doing at that particular time. And, just because you have a certain “color” designation does not pre-clude that your color can be changed at any time. Kinda like a kid’s game board…up…back…sideways. Do not pass “Go.” Skip ahead 2 spaces…etc.
Shutting down again is not out of the question…just like the rest of the world.
However…Governor Mendoza Davis is not going to tell anyone their color UNTIL JUNE 15th…NEXT MONDAY!
It begs the question…how is anyone going to monitor this?
That hotel gets a green. The one next to it is a yellow. One restaurant is red. The other is an orange. Who is counting the number of people on the beaches or parks to make sure that only a certain percentage are on the beach or park at a given time? Who is measuring the distance between tables in a restaurant?
And this is based on so many conflicting reports. Just in the last few days here’s what I pulled from Mexican news sources. Many contradict their own stories:
Some World Tourism Organization declared Cabo to be the first “safe” destination on Baja’s Pacific Coast (but no one has heard of this organization)
But…Health officials say the virus is spiking again and thing are opening too soon
Many businesses have received their official “health certification.”
But…Health officials say the the peak of infections has not yet hit and Baja Sur is one of the new hot spots in Mexico
Some tourists are already filtering back into Cabo
But…most hotels cannot yet open
The government says the curve has flattened according to the statistics
But…other groups says the numbers are skewed and falsely reported in order to get the businesses open again
The severe lockdown is still in place for locals and non-essential businesses
But…many people are ignoring it. Businesses found in violation are simply given a warning. People in violation are told to go home.
And on and on…
The lifting of the Baja quarantine was predicated upon the diminishing number of infections in the area. Compared to the rest of the country, Baja, as a whole, was doing pretty good. Only a handful of cases compared to other areas.
However, in the past week or so, there has been a steady up-surge in Covid infections attributable possibly to a number of variables.
For one, about 2 weeks ago, local residents largely ignored social-distancing and came out in numbers for parties related to Mothers’ Day as well as Childrens Day. Police busted hundreds of secret parties. Numerous groups where chased off the beaches.
Add to that the fact that locals have just been antsy. Police can’t stop everyone. They can’t be everywhere.
So, out everyone went. Social distancing be damned and folks just started getting out. Vendors started selling. People were out shopping. Folks were eating out. As soon as police cleared one beach, folks just drifted off to other beaches or other areas. Social media was used to warn each other about areas to avoid where police might be checking. A big game.
And to some degree, the police either stopped caring or realized the futility of too few resources for too big a job.
And, so up go the numbers.
Many businesses that had planned to open after mid-June are now saying that they will wait for an “official” word to re-open. Others have not even started to open. Others don’t care. They have to work and so they open and hope not to get caught. Most stay closed.
As one business owner told me, “I can’t afford to bring back all our staff and pay them to clean up and sanitize our place and take health classes. Then, they will only have to sit around waiting for a real opening date. Or I send them home again. I can’t afford to do that nor do I want to do that to my employees.”
So, he will just wait.
In fact, Baja’s government is now being accused by health administrators of covering up their true infection numbers so that they could jumpstart the economy.
In the rest of the country, the virus appears to be raging, especially in urban areas where social distancing is difficult and medical attention is already inundated.
The government says the worst is over. The curve is flattening. Health officials scratch their heads and say, Mexico is just heading into the worst of it as bodies stack up in hospital storage rooms and morgues still not officially reported Crematoriums can’t keep up.
The entire country…all the Mexican states…have been painted red by the health ministers. Red as in “Code Red.”
However, the individual states are being left to decide for themselves whether and when they will make their moves to re-open. Like everywhere, it’s a precarious decision.
For now, as far as I can discern from the numerous new reports that emanate daily, Baja is on hold. Wait-and-see. Until after June 15th.
Ports and marinas are slated to be open by June 16th. The border closing is supposed to terminate (driving only) by June 22. Beaches are supposed to be open June 30th. But wait-and-see.
International Terminal 2 at the Cabo Airport, maybe not until July.
But, if there’s no hotels, airlines, restaurants or other services open, it’s going to be very difficult to ramp up the tourism machine…just yet.
Head towards that green light in the distance, but pump the breaks and slow it down a bit. We finally have tickets to fly home June 23rd. But, that may change if we have no place to live and hotels aren’t open yet.
Personally, I think things won’t be back until July. I can guarantee one thing. Probably everything you just read and saw on this report will change by the time you’re seeing this.
IN OTHER NEWS...
Social distancing? What’s that? Beer is flowing again!
Breweries have been re-opened and have been deemed “essential” to business and are now trucking out cases as fast-as-they-can to re-fill shelves and refrigerators after many weeks of no beer sales! Yes…even THAT beer with the unlucky name of a certain virus is back on the shelves too!
YES! It is indeed essential!
No matter what…please take care of each other and be good to each other! These are trying times indeed.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 23-June 1, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Popular Captain Pancho got out to fish close-in for some cabrilla and pargo for the family and said there’s alot of roosterfish along the shoreline like this one he caught and released.
Dennis is a Canadian amigo who lives in San Pedro near Muertos Bay and was out trying to catch some food. He ran into this hefty jack crevalle.
With no fishing allowed, the fish have no pressure! Check this crazy video of jack crevalle on a feeding frenzy in the Cabo Marina. Turn up the sound. Thanks for the Pisces Fleet in Cabo for the footage!
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Looks like La Paz will slowly be opening after June 15th.
Although Covid is raging in many parts of Mexico, La Paz has been designated as the safest tourist city by Mexican Health authorities and will have a gradual re-opening mid-month. Authorities are saying, it would still probably take 10-14 days for businesses to resurrect themselves plus establish the safety and sanitation protocols that are being required to re-open. Some, but not all airlines are also re-establishing routes and services.
As I’ve stated before, just because everyone gets the green light on June 16th to open, that doesn’t mean automatically everyone suddenly opens! Like the U.S. many businesses suddenly just turned the keys and had to walk out. Some will take time to re-open. Others may never open again.
As of right now, I have no idea who plans to be open and when!!!!
Businesses are required to pass a health certification inspection. New sanitary protocols have to be put in place. Employees have to be found…and re-trained. Everything has to be cleaned extensively after being vacant for almost 3 months. Hotel rooms need to be sanitized from the ground up. So do restaurants. Even sportfishing boats need to be sanitized.
And then what? How will folks eat in restaurants? How many people in the shuttle from the airport? Can hotel rooms be located next to each other? How do you clean the rooms after a guest leaves? So many moving parts!
TAILHUNTER SPORTISHING
The bottom line for us is that we will be back in La Paz June 23rd. We finally found a flight home! But, that also gives hotels, etc. a chance to get going and establish new routines, etc. We lost our Tailhunter Restaurant permanently in the early days of the quarantine so we don’t have much to prep. We are READY to fish!
But, we don’t (and can’t ) have you down if we don’t even know if the hotels will be ready! Some still aren’t answering phones or e-mails because no one is in the offices. Even if you have reservations, there might not yet flights…so many airlines seem to be making adjustments daily!
I’ve sent e-mails to everyone who had reservations for the month of June to contact us. For all practicality, I think we’ll be up and going July 1st. I hope.
Mostly alot of locals like our captains out fishing with friends and neighbors and yea…dorado showing up! Our popular Captain Moncho’s son, Ramon Jr. , was out with a friend from Todos Santos.
Tailhunter Fish Report 