La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 18-24, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Hector Chacon from Arcadia CA used to visit us every year for many years, but missed the last 5. He finally made it back to us and started out with a nice catch-and-release roosterfish fishing with Captain Jorge.
Tannier Pierson from San Diego was a billfish magnet for a few days. I think I heard he hooked one or two billfish a day including this one with Captain Pancho. All were released or broke off.
Smiles say it all. Megan Graves from San Diego while staying at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos poses with a fresh bull mahi.
One of the nicest all-time amigos, Rafael Rios fishing every year with us and hails from Corpus Christi TX. Good way to start the say with an early morning bull mahi! Pretty shot. We cooked up a bunch of it at our Tailhunter Sea Level Restaurant.
He said it was his best fishing day ever. Captain Raul lends a hand. They also caught dorado.
Catching a marlin is quite a feat. Catching one on a flyrod is incredible, but that’s what Greg Wetherbee from Colorado did with this pretty fish and Captain Rogelio. Greg Released the fish and over 5 days with his flyrod also caught numerous roosterfish, jacks, bonito, dorado and others. All released.
Just one day to squeeze in a day of fishing with us, Howie Cohen, had some fun with 4 droado plus snapper and cabrilla. Howie is from Alpine CA. He was fishing around Espirito Santo Island with Captain Raul.
Dan Jenkins staying at Rancho Costa Resort at Bahia Muertos looks pretty happy with his roosterfish! The fish was released.
Captain Gerardo with Wally Graves (the one smiling) and a nice marlin for the photos before a good release. Nice photo!
Hector says his dad, Richard Chacon, caught all the fish! Nice rack…dorado, snapper and huge triggerfish!
YEOW! This looks like a mutant! I wish Tim Dumler had a scale to put this fish on. What a dorado!
Greg has another one on the flyrod. This one a colorful dorado and then the meat donated.
It wasn’t a spectacular week of fishing by any means, but it was a good solid fun summer week fishing. Even with a full moon. Just fun! No real surprises. Everyone who wanted fish caught fish. Everyone who wanted to bring home fish, brought home fish. Everyone who wanted to bring some fish to have cooked up back on shore, had fish to cook up.
Some folks caught the bucket list they always wanted. For some, it was a billfish like a marlin or a sailfish. For others it was that first roosterfish. For others, they targeted dorado. If it wasn’t their bucket list fish, for some, it was the biggest fish they had every caught.
Indeed, roosterfish, marlin and dorado were the three pre-dominant species of the week. But the action was rounded out with good rod-bending on jack crevalle, bonito, triggerfish, cabrilla, pargo and snapper. Bait was not an issue.
Lots of smiles and good action. Can’t ask for more!
If anything, the biggest issue we had was mid-week when a hurricane way way way down south and headed out to Hawaii sent some big swells up the Sea of Cortez making it more than a bit bump and rough for our boats fishing out of La Arenas and damping down the bite. Conversely, the more protected waters north of La Paz produced better fishing during those days. When the seas calmed down so did the bite and right back to normal.
It’s really HOT and humid these days. Anyone coming down is advised to stay hydrated! Not kidding. Easy to get sick if you’re not drinking lots of water. Unfortunately, beer and margaritas don’t count!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of July 11-17, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Bennett Clegg always does well on the light tackle. This pretty bull dorado he caught while fishing with Captain Joel is no exception.
Ken Smith had just one day to squeeze in to try to catch his bucket-list rooster. He and Captain Armando rocked this big one and several others. All released.
That’s some good eating! Scott Pitts put this nice cabrilla in the fish box.
With Captain Rogelio our first-timer Utah amigos, Morgan Robinson and her dad, Cody just off Espirito Santo Island.
Tim Weaver is usually wearing black robes and has a gavel in his hand as a judge from Arkansas. This time he’s got himself a nice roosterfish. One of several all released.
I love this photo and we love this amiga…sheer joy! Toni Brown and Captain Alfredo with a fresh dorado on the gaff!
She’s been with us for years and always does well with her favorite Captain Pancho. Dolores Ehlers with another roosterfish. Photo and release!
Scott Dull squeezed in a quick drive down from Loreto to fish one day with us and ended with a sucessful catch of pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish to drive back up north.
Morgan Robinson with her first roosterfish off Bahia Muertos. Photo and release.
I THINK this is Greg Wetherbee behind the mask! He worked his flyrod for five days and caught a number of species including this slugger jack crevalle.
Pro fishing guide, John Daly, was a first-time visitor with us and shows off his first roosterfish outside of Suenos for a photo and release.
Now, here’s a nice photo! Colorful bull dorado caught by young Drake Rowland from Texas.
Ben Rodriguez, another of our first-timers this week, shows off a first-day catch off the reef with triggers cabrilla, big pargo and snapper .Ben is from San Diego.
Tim had himself a pretty active week with lots of species including this dog-tooth snapper. He did release alot of fish too!
Always a pleasure to have Mark Brown visit us. Last year, they had to cancel, but he was back this week and fished with Captain Alfredo taking this fat roosterfish north of La Paz. The fish was released .
I’ve known Ray Laney for years and he brought his son, Daniel, down for his high school graduation. They had to work hard for their fish, but the last day finally turned on with some nice dorado. Ray is from Oxnard CA
Dave Elliott and Bill Cogdall are two more of our new amigos who had to cancel last year, but came back this year for 3 days on the water with us. Great guys and glad to have them finally make it. They did pretty good on the dorado!
Cindy Weaver with her first rooster! Captain Armando lends a hand and helps with the release afterwards.
This photo is just too special. John Carser and his wife, Carol from Huntington Beach CA brought grandson Patrick to La Paz. Patrick is from Rhode Island and spending the summer with grandma and grandpa. This was his first time saltwater fishing and this was his first dorado! He did it! But, check the great facial expression! Grandpa John is all smiles.
His first marlin plus on live bait…on light tackle…and from a panga in shallow water! Tim Weave with his first striper…caught and released.
Hard to tell, but I think this is Mark Buddy behind the mask showing off one of several roosterfish he took on the fly while fishing the whole week with us . He got a number of species on the flyrod. All fish were released.
One of the best guys around…long time amigo from Denver, John Ehlers with his favorite Captain Pancho. John’s got another rooster to put back in the water as soon as he takes the photo.
Alicia Clegg from the East Bay of San Francisco can fish! She does so well every year. She’s got another dorado for the box!
Captain Rogelio poses with one of our new Utah friends, Stephanie Robinson and a nice dorado on the gaff.
Sam Sybesma from Bellflower is another of our good amigos who has been fishing with us for years. He brought down his son, Micah, this year. I think Micah caught bigger fish than dad!
Lots of first-timer roosterfish. Captain Armando with Teal Smith and her first gallo!
Late season rainbow runner caught by Crystal Bernhart outside of Bahia Muertos. Great eating fish we usually catch in the springtime months.
When you’re hot, you’re hot. Tim with another rooster for a photo and release!
Dan Hibma was visiting us for the first time from S. California and it looks like he’s got a nice dorado ready for the box.
It wasn’t a spectacular week of fishing to be honest. There weren’t alot of big trophy fish caught.
But, it was good steady summer fun fishing! Except for a few slack times, overall, everyone caught fish. There was plenty of action to go around.
Sometimes when it’s all big fish, especially for families, kids or first timers, big fish can be a tough fight. And often a big disappointment when they break off. With the fish we had this week, it was just pretty good steady fun fishing.
There might be the occasion off day, but most of our anglers fish several days. The good days usually made up for the slower days and the bite produced a good mix of dorado, billfish, lots of small to medium roosterfish, jack crevalle, big bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and even some late season amberjack and rainbow runners.
The dorado have definitely slowed from the wild bite of a few weeks ago, but fish are still out there holding especially under the sargasso paddies. There were two days when there were lots of fish all around, but they just wouldn’t bite. It was frustrating. We figured it was just because the tides were especially slack and the fish simply weren’t feeding. That applied to the dorado as well as other species. The currents picked up and they fish started biting again.
Marlin have tapered as well. I think that has alot to do with the current, but also there has been so much traffic on the fishing grounds that the marlin have gotten lock-jawed. The marlin have been so thick over the last month that everyone and their brother, especially locals have been pounding the waters for the billfish. Hopefully, the bite comes back.
If you’re coming down, it’s been warm! High 90’s to low 100’s with humidity.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-9, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
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NOTE: MARLIN and SAILFISH PHOTOS! Folks…before you send me e-mails or post up hate messages, please take notice that there are ALOT of billfish photos in this report. These represent perhaps 5% of the billfish that our fishing fleet hooked this past week. There are THAT many billfish out there. Some days, the waters are thick with billfish. Many times our anglers are NOT trying to catch billfish. But the billfish are biting. The vast majority of the fish that we hook are released by our anglers or (being big fish), they break off or get unhooked). In many cases, the billfish you see here were unable to be released or, after the photo was taken, the fish were indeed returned to the water. In many cases, when the fish was not or could not be released, the meat was donated to local folks who were very grateful for the meat. But, that being said, anglers are entitled to keep a billfish if they did want to keep one and we are very stringent about never exceeding the billfish limits.
One guy who loves to fish light tackle is our amigo, Bennett Clegg from the East Bay Area of San Francisco. Nice fat roosterfish. A quick photo and a good release!
Speaking of releasing fish, Mark Bonsack from Washington is one of our frequent amigos and a solid angler. He and Captain Pancho release a blue marlin that Pancho estimated went between 250 and 300 pounds.
Our own! Had a great week of fishing. Our son, Jarrett Pfost from Lakeside CA and his wife, Diana, with a big boy bull dorado she hooked and fought north of La Paz with Captain Chito.
Our Utah amigo, Monte Aldridge, made a last minute trip to come visit us and shows off one of 3 marlin he hooked and released while fishing with Captain Armando.
Texas in the house! Big smile from young Drake Rowland with a feisty roosterfish. The fish was released.
That’s a great eating mess o’ fish! Cathy and Dave Boos with a cleaning table full of dorado, snapper, cabrilla, pargo and triggerfish!
Impressively done! Patrick-Ewick-Chouinard from New Jersey is 11-years-old and battled this big bull dorado all by himself. Posing here on the beach with Captain Adolfo! He later hooked a marlin as well.
Our boy, Jarrett put this colorful bull on the deck. Check the colors! Jarrett caught this dorado off a string of sargasso paddies between North Cerralvo Island and Punta Gorda.
Won’t find a sweeter lady than Dolores Ehlers who loves fishing with Captain Pancho. Dolores is from Colorado and has fished with us for years.
Captain Gerardo poses with our good friends, John and Arla Washington from Carson City NV who put a marlin, some cabrilla, snapper and pargo fillets in the box. Most of the meat was donated.
Captain Armando and Jonathan Strain visiting us for the first time on a trip that was delayed from last year because of Covid, but made up for with numerous marlin over 3 days of fishing including this thick one. Almost all the marlin were released.
More good Utah friends, brothers John and Bic Lesser with Captain Jorge and John’s first marlin plus some snapper on the table. First time trip for John and Bic.
Alicia Clegg is one of the best roosterfish anglers we see here every year and this gal can fish! Another rooster in the boat for a quick photo before release.
Cathy Boos so wanted a billfish! Well, she hooked two on this particular day and fought this one close to two hours. The fish could not be released. Dave helps with the photo.
Captain Pancho with a smiling Jas and her first roosterfish. First-time ever fishing! The rooster was released.
What a beast! Phil has himself a monster pompano.
Keith Hemstreet from Washington State had been thwarted on several trips to hook a roosterfish. Well, his first was a dandy! Captain Pancho estimated the fish to be about 80 pounds and was released.
Steve Strain had a marlin magnet in his back pocket! Everytime he put a hook in the water, the marlin couldn’t help themselves. With Captain Joel around Espirito Santo Island. Steve’s birthday trip!
Silas Bartlet visiting us from Texas has himself a nice roosterfish off the rocks for a quick photo and release.
One of the rare days that we could get out far to where we’ve seen tuna about 15-18 miles offshore, Mark Bonsack and Keith Hemstreet found all the football tuna the could handle. Actually, ran out’ve bait! After this, the days got too windy to go out there.
Hi Diana! Great smile to go with the great fish! Another roosterfish catch-and-release!
Captain Gerardo with Cody Robinson and his first marlin. Cody donated the fish. His first time with us!
Mark always does well with us and always wears the same lucky shirt every year. I think it’s the camo pattern that does it. He’s also a pretty good fisherman! The rooster was released.
Now here’s a nice variety catch! Monte and Captain Armando with dorado, big fat triggerfish, pargo and cabrilla are definitely going into the ice chest.
Another successful CPR! Catch. Photo. Release. My guy, Jarrett Pfost.
You would think Spiderman took a day off and went fishing, but that’s Monte Aldridge under there with another marlin for a quick photo and release. Tough to see from this angle, but I almost thought this might be a short-billed spearfish or white marlin, but just speculating.
It’s Mark’s camo shirt. That’s the secret. Dorado going back to Washington with him.
Anytime a big storm blows through, I’m always a bit tenuous about the bite in the aftermath. About 2 weeks ago, Tropical Storm Enrique tracked through La Paz with enough wind and rain to cause the port captain to shut things down and keep boats off the water.
Post-storm, you just don’t know how the waters are affected.
Heavy rain waters cause run-off into the ocean which produces dirty cloudy water. High winds can further stir things up and enough wind can cause cold water up-wellings from deeper water at worst and create bumps post-storm wave action at best. Winds can also change currents and disturb the bait stocks.
There’s alot of variables. Any one can significantly affect the bite. Any combination of those variables could completely crush the bite.
Prior to the storm, we had an incredible marlin bite going full speed. Dorado were voracious. Roosterfish were hungry and huge.
So, with some trepidation, we got our boats back on the water.
Surprisingly, the conditions didn’t take that long to start producing again. With each passing day after the departure of the storm, conditions improved and not surprisingly so did the bite.
Dorado in the 20-40 pound class were not as numerous and had gotten scattered, but were definitely around. Big roosterfish continued to prowl the shallows with fish up to 80 pounds although most were safely 20-40 pounders. Plenty big on light tackle.
Marlin were frenzied at times with pangas getting numerous hook-ups. Stripers up to 120 pounds; sailfish mixed in up to 80 pounds and even some sizable blues up to 300 pounds readily picked up live bait, dead bait and lures.
Inshore action remained steady with snapper, huachinango, pargo and cabrilla with a good dose of triggerfish mixed in. Big bonito and jack crevalle were fun feisty pests.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 24- July 1, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Enrique was the first big storm of the season. It started as a hurricane, but thankfully petered to a tropical storm by the time it hit La Paz.
Enrique did alot more damage to the south of us along mainland Mexico. By the time it hit La Paz it was alot milder.
By the time Enrique hit La Paz it had lost of of it’s force, but enough to bring several days of strong winds.
…and enough rain to get things wet and lose electrical power in La Paz for a few hours.
We launch our Las Arenas boats in Bahia Muertos / Suenos and this is what it normally looks like 99% of the time.
This is what Bahia Muertos looked like several days this week as a result of Enrique.
Our Utah amigo, Jason Kocherans makes a great photo of this great roosterfish caught just off the beach at Las Arenas. The Arenas lighthouse is in the distance. The fish was released.
Captain Victor with Brian Tippie with his uncle Ron Tippie who came all the way from Illinois and started their fishing week with a trio of bull dorado.
Our long-time Tailhunter amigo, Terry Biggs from northern California with a nice cabrilla to put in the fish box.
Great shot and a colorful bull dorado for Dave Martin who always seems to get a trophy fish every time he visits us from Utah.
Jason has another rooster off the surf. Great colors! The fish was released.
Dave Martin has another big boy rooster in the boat taken with live bait before the photo and release.
The week started well-enough.
We were catching fish. The marlin were still blowing up nicely to the point of being bothersome. Big roosterfish were still prowling the beach. Our pangas were coming back daily with some nice dorado mixed with pargo, cabrilla, jacks, triggers, bonito and other species.
It was going pretty well.
Until Enrique showed up on the radar down the coast. We watched it slowly make its way up the coast. Initially, it started as a Category 1 hurricane. It did a bit of battering the mainland Mexico coast to the south of us with flooding, rains, high seas and big winds.
With each day it moved closer to us from the south. Some predictions had it missing us. Others had our directly in its path. By the time it reached us mid-week, it had lost much of it’s force and had diminished to a tropical storm.
Ultimately, it wasn’t too bad. We had to cancel the fishing for 3 days as big waves, gusting winds and intermittent rain hit us. But no real damage or flooding. It was just enough to keep everyone indoors and the boats on trailers or on the beach. We were lucky. We’ve seen what big hurricanes can do over the years.
However, we don’t know what the after-effects will be. At the time of this writing, we’re just getting back on the water. Normally, it takes a few days for the waters to settle down again. It takes a few days for the water to clear up. It takes a few days for the fish to get back on track. It all depends on how much the winds and water-run-off affected the water.
We’ll just have to see. The week looks like we could still be in for a bit of wind on the backside of the storm.
By the way, not as many…in fact NONE…no marlin photos this week compared to the previous week. There’s several reasons for that. The marlin were biting pretty crazy again, but for one, pretty much all the fish got released and just no one really took photos. Or, the marlin broke off and no one took photos! But, we definitely had marlin swimming around again this week…at least before the storm came through.
PEZ GRINGO GROUP
This group of our amigos has been coming to see us for about 20 years. All the do is fish hard for roosterfish. And they DO know how to fish ’em. This year, only 3 of them made the trip. Donnie Willson, Ron Burgess and Dave Lester. All of them are from Temecula CA.
Several years ago, they caught and released one rooster that many observers theorized would have broken the 114-pound world record.
This year…
Over 4 days, they caught AND RELEASED 16 roosterfish. Three guys…
In other years, they have caught more roosters. However, as they told me, they told me they have never caught so many BIG roosterfish. Check out the photos of some of their fish. I think their smallest fish were in the 40-pound class. Their largest…maybe around the 100-pound mark.
Tailhunter Fish Report 