La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 16-23, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Sherry Cady made me promise she’d make the fishing report this week with this beautiful big roosterfish she battled with Captain Pancho. So, here you go, Sherry! Nicely done and nice release too! Sherry is from Denver.
Big smiles and a big bull. Greg Saubolle has another one for the box.
Clair Olson and Mich Nekota have themselves a nice rack of dorado after a day of fishing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Might be one of my favorite photos of the year. John Sessums was on his first trip down with us and got his first roosterfish…finally! He was pretty happy! His biggest fish to that point. The rooster was released. Punta Perrico in the background.
Gary Okizaki from Cypress CA said “Dorado fishing this year was like the old days!” Great colors on this bull just outside of La Paz Bay.
From San Francisco, our amigo Paul Nagata, visits us each year and gets big fish and takes great photos. He did it again this year with an incredibly colorful bull mahi and an assist from Captain Pancho.
After visiting us for so many years, Tim Nishimura finally got a marlin plus a boatload of other species including dorado, pargo and snapper all on light tackle.
These two amigos had themselves a fun few days fishing with us the first time. Nate Odell gives his amigo, John Sessums a hand with his first marlin. It could not be released and meat was donated.
Now THIS is how to fish…a bottle of Don Julio in hand and an ice chest of great eating triggerfish, pargo, snapper and cabrilla ready to fillet!
Captain Joel gets a solo photo with a fish he gaffed for Gary and Danny Okazaki. They got 2 days of nice dorado limits.
Claire Olson and Greg Saubolle from the Bay Areas got more fish to add to the freezer wth 6 dorado and a couple of fat triggerfish they brought to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner.
Another of our fun Colorado friends, Ron Cady likes to bring his flyrod out and got into a couple of of fun dorado just outside of Bahia Muertos. He had a sailfish on the flyrod as well that straightened the hook!
Easy to get excited when a couple of tuna get hooked, but so far, except for a few stray individual fish, the tuna bite has just not happened this year although the guys got two chunky football YFT’s here.
Captain Armando has a knack for the billfish this year. In addition to two dorado, Bing Presnell also got this marlin. It could not be released and meat was donated.
Pretty water. Pretty fish. That’s what it’s like fishing for roosterfish this time of year. Ron poses with a big boy before letting it go. Looks like a lake.
First time new amigos from Washington, Terri Marshall and Tim Doyle have quite the variety on the cleaning table of dorado, pargo, snapper ,triggerfish and cabrilla.
One of our yearly amigos who has been visiting us for years, Danny Okazaki with one of his roosterfish caught right up against the rocks for the photo and release.
Captain Adolfo poses with Joe Brown’s marlin plus a big barred pargo and a double dorado. The meat was donated.
Steve never stops smiling. From Seattle, he’s visited us 3 times this year already and fishes for 6 days with his favorite Captain Jorge. He always chases the bigger and unusual fish, but this particular day he got a sole dorado and tries to hide it from the camera.
Here’s trouble…Andrew Harrison, Jon Eide and Captain Gerardo are a fun trio. Check it out…marlin, tuna, dorado, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish. What a day!
Usually, after a big storm like Hurricane Olaf that hit us last week, it takes a week-or-so for the waters to get back in shape for fishing. Hurricane Olaf surprisingly turned into a Category 2 storm with up to 15 inches of rain in 20 hours and gusts of wind up to 150 mph.
That kind of storm churns the waters. There’s lots of mud and debris runoff into the ocean. Big current bring in dirtier and cooler water. There can be alot of stuff floating in the ocean and frankly the fish get lockjaw and we really have to work hard to find the bite.
However, surprisingly, the waters and fishing bounced back faster than expected. Not as good as before the hurricane, but the thankfully did come back so that at least anglers got into some action and everyone had fish to put in the boats and/or bring home.
Each day post Olaf, it seems to get a little better.
Dorado, especially for our Tailhunter La Paz fleet are 90% of the catch with most fish about 10 pounds, but if you find the right spot, fish up to 20 or even 30 pounds are not uncommon. Quite a few fish are getting lost, but that’s part of the fun.
The dorado are not quite up-to-speed for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. One day, the dorado are there. Next day not so much. It’s up-and-down . Or, one boat finds a few dorado and others scratch to find even one dorado.
However, for both of our fleets, thankfully, there are other species willing to bite.
Healty-sized cabrilla, jack crevalle and some toad bonito provide lots of action as well as pargo, snapper and even some sierra, pompano, palometas and amberjack. Very unusual to catch sierra and amberjack this time of year as those are cooler water fish and we don’t see them until November or December. It leads me to believe that maybe waters are getting cooler.
Surprisingly, we still have roosterfish around which is quite late in the season. On light tackle, you can have fun all day along the beaches and rocky areas with 2-10 pound fish. However, some of the legit 30-50 pound fish are still cruising as well.
Additionally, marlin and sailfish are still getting hooked in numbers I have not seen in decades. It’s been like that all year. Most are getting released, but there’s sailfish, striped and blue marlin still biting and most are getting hooked on light tackle.
We did get a few tuna this week. Just a little jag of 30-pound fish that got everyone excited. We also got a wahoo. But, overall, there’s been a dearth of both species this season. Maybe, they’ll kick in soon.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Sept 8-15, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
They only had ONE day to fish! Tim and his amigo, Adam, hooked FIVE marlin with several on simultaneously and awesomely RELEASED all of them but brought home an ice chest full of pargo, cabrilla and snapper.
New amigos visiting for the first time, David Marin and Kristin Robles from El Monte CA pose with a hefty rooster for a quick photo and release.
With clouds from Hurricane Olaf bearing down on them in the background, Garry Coles from Washington put this nice bull dorado on the deck before a mad dash back to the marina!
Duane Marlatt told me his arm was sore after more than an hour battling his first marlin just north of the city. Duane is from Colorado on his first visit to us.
Our first big dog-tooth snapper in awhile in the hands of another of our first time new amigos, Jeremiah Page from Oregon. Great eating!
In almost 30 years working for us, Captain Arkangel is rarely seen smiling in a photo, but he’s got a good one for Tim Larson and his marlin. Great shot. Several other billfish were released that day.
One of the best anglers to visit us SEVERAL times a year, Mark Bonsack from Washington got one of the few wahoo we’ve seen this year on a Rapala.
Art Flippin has been fishing with us for years, but made a last-minute trip down and started off with several dorado like this one out’ve Bahia Muertos with Captain Armando.
Captain Pancho lends a hand with a big rooster that Brad Bennett caught who came to visit us from Montana. The rooster was released.
Al and Jeanne Jones from Idaho with one of their favorite captains, Rogelio Camacho and a day of dorado headed for the fillet table.
Brett Bleichrodt from Denver was able to squeeze in one last day of fishing and put the wood to this nice roosterfish before releasing it. Those are storm clouds from Hurricane Olaf darkening the background sky. Shortly after, they were running for the beach.
Captain Pancho is trying to help Claire Olson with his marlin and strike an unusual pose! Claire’s first fishing trip with us and good to have him down. They released two billfish that day.
First time visiting us and first time fishing on salt water, Nicole gets an assist from Captain Pancho on a legit roosterfish before letting it swim away. Nice job!
Only one day to fish, but Tim and Adam stacked the cooler with some of the best eating fish including big cabrila, snapper, and several species of pargo.
Captain Victor and Jermey and Deanna Page with a big sailfish he caught as well as a dorado. The Page’s came to see us from Oregon and it was their first time in La Paz.
Two of the fun and funniest folks whenever they visit. Eric has a fish on the line while Starr Jenkins is trying to pose with one on the gaff. The Jenkins are from Temecula CA. They also released several billfish while fishing with us.
Check out the flat calm waters one day AFTER Hurricane Olaf! John Holty and Captain Jorge with a quick photo of a striped marlin before releasing it.
A great photo of a larger bull dorado! David Marin hooked this good-looking mahi just outside of Bahia Muertos.
MIch Nekota with his first marlin with Greg Saubolle while fishing with Captain Victor. They also released another billfish. They donated a majority of the fish to the community.
These guys had too much fun the week they were with us. Brandon Mauch and Garry Coles spent one day just light tackle fishing in the rocks. They caught and released 17 roosterfish!
Great shot! From Lincoln City, Oregon, Joe Barnard has another roosterfish for the camera before a quick release.
Noah Lauby and Dennis Gayman tag-teamed this marlin with Captain Armando off Las Arenas. Most of the meat was donated.
All the way from Australia via South Africa, Andrew MacKay is a professional hunting guide in 5 countries, but got in a quick last-minute visit to us to jump on some dorado with Captain Armando.
Ben Daniels fishing inshore got his first roosterfish for a fast photo then release before Hurricane Olaf barreled in and they had to dash for the beach. Clouds looming in the background. Ben is from Colorado.
I lost count how many roosters Mark and Nicole released, but he always takes great photos! That’s the sand of Las Arenas Point just behind them. Check the flat waters one day after the hurricane!
Amberjack in September? Also big triggerfish, pargo, snapper and cabrilla headed for the ice chest for Garry and Brandon who work together doing cancer research.
Our bite was really doing well. Dorado had picked up noticeably with more and bigger fish for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and Tailhunter La Paz fleet. In fact, it was some of the best bite we had seen in weeks. Marlin and sailfish continued to surprise many of our anglers, especially on light tackle who were fishing for dorado or other smaller species then suddenly find themselves fighting a billfish!
A few tuna and wahoo even popped up and inshore fishing for huge triggerfish, as well as pargo, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, and of course, big bonito kept everyone bent.
Then, out’ve nowhere, Hurricane Olaf came roaring in.
We had been watching it for several days come north towards us, but all of the computer models showed it barely brushing the Baja Peninsula then taking a sharp left and heading out to sea. It’s what many storms do at this time. Maybe some wind. Maybe a tad bit of rain. We can usually expect some larger swells or waves. Overall pretty benign. It’s what Nora, Marty and Kevin did last month. Not really anything big.
Olaf was expected to do the same.
The morning of Sept. 9, we sent out our boats and fishermen like normal. Seas were calm. It was dark but the skies were clear and stars were easily visible. A beautiful morning!
About 8 a.m., all of that changed.
Olaf made a strange right turn and instead of going out, it made a missile path right over Baja and right over La Paz!
Beautifully scary. Olaf made a surprising turn into Baja.
Time to bring all the boats back to shore FAST!
Literally without warning, huge black (not dark) clouds rolled in with giant cracks of thunder and lighting and it was like someone started dumping buckets of water on La Paz. There was no drizzle ahead of time. The skies just started opening up. I’m not kidding when I tell you that people were suddenly running like crazy for shelter. Joggers and bikers were suddenly dashing to find cover. Construction workers were jumping off scaffolds to escape the downpour. Cars were swerving trying to dodge the people and boats in the bay were full throttle to get back to the port or beach.
No one was prepared for what hit us.
Here comes Olaf!
Olaf turned into a pretty furious Category 2 hurricane with winds up to 90 mph and gusts to 150 mph. 12-15 inches of rain in less than a day.
It took about a day and one night to blow through and left huge floods; swirling arroyos and broken trees and signs everywhere. Many were left without electricity, water and phones for 1-3 days. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
Lots of flooded streets!
12-15 inches of rain and gusts of wind over 100 mph.
Normally, this is a street!
Airports had no power so were closed. Most flights got cancelled so folks got stuck unable to leave. On the other end, folks trying to fly down to us couldn’t get on their flights to fly in.
Obviously no fishing to the disappointment of many who watched Olaf’s craziness from indoors.
Adios Olaf!
Then, just like that…OLAF was gone. Sun came out. Wind disappeared. Seas turned to glass. Usually, after a storm it takes several days for things to clean up.
And the fishing bounced back pretty nicely right away. We sent out lots of fishermen immediately and I was surprised by the action. Marlin…sailfish…dorado…seemed just as willing as the anxious fishermen! The next few days will give us a better reading. At this time, we’ll need a few more days to make a better assessment, but all indications are that things cleared up pretty fast!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for week of Sept. 1-7, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nice haul of fish! Captain Armando put Mitch and Ron on a nice jag of dorado and big bonito at Bahia Muertos.
Great shot and nice dorado for our first-timer, Leon Miguel from Woodland WA. The dorado bite finally kicked in this week.
Jeremiah and Tiffany Page have a good start to their fishing week with a variety of fish including dorado, pargo, cabrilla, palometa, and snapper.
Mitch Gayman from Lake Elsinore CA with Captain Armando pose with a big sailfish Mitch hooked on a live bait and light tackle. Sailfish and marlin hook-ups increased this week! Mitch released the fish!
Some nice Las Arenas dorado for the fish box for Aiden Florence visiting with his dad for the first time from Kansas.
Roosterfish were often and willing this week. Frank Howald caught and released this guy outside of Bahia Muertos.
Staying at Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos, nice bull dorado for Rick Harley from Salt Lake City, UT.
Jim Bovee from San Diego loves his dorado fishing. On his 3rd visit this year had had some great days in the mahi schools. Sizeable bull here caught north of La Paz.
Just a great photo and expression from Starr Jenkins with her first marlin. Captain lends a hand. They released the fish.
Daniel Bovee chases big fish everytime he visits us. He got the lone wahoo of the week off Cerralvo Island.
That’s a handful! Steve Avery caught several roosters during his week with us. All released.
Ted Kunze from Arizona and Tom Epps from Michigan had quite a variety of fish with Captain Jorge including palometa, cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper.
Brian Barney gives a thumbs-up to his catch wit John Sedovy and a cleaning table full of dorado, trigger and palometa.
Joaquin Perea just enjoys being down here and on the water no matter what! Always good to see him and he’s always on fish like this rooster…caught…photo’d …released!
He just had one day to visit us and fish, but Steve Summers caught roosterfish, dorado and several other species. All the roosters were released.
Good double-shot of dorado with Ron Sierzega from AZ and Mitch Gayman from CA. They had some nice days fishing with us and plugged the boxes.
Captain Alfredo tail holds Eric Jenkin’s dorado that he’ll add to a full box of mahi!
Some good eating! Captain Armando gives Leon a hand with a dorado and some tasty palometas.
Not a nicer guy to visit us every year with his family and friends. Adam Florence from Kansas poses with one of his roosterfish that he quickly released.
Captain Luis looks on while Joaquin poses with another dorado fishing with our La Paz fleet.
All the way from Ohio, Jodi and Daren Archer on their first visit to La Paz fished with Captain Jorge and produced some good dorado meat for the freezer.
All the way from the Memphis area on a first-time visit, Jason Jones with one of the larger roosterfish of the week caught and released.
Great fun on light tackle spinning rods for Curt and Brent with soe pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish headed for the cooler.
Captain Pancho gives Aiden a hand with one of his roosters before letting it go.
Brandon Mauch from San Diego and is amigo, Garry Coles from Washington State fished with Captain Gerardo and rocked a pair or dorado.
Kristy Summers and Captain Jorge have big smiles for a big roosterfish…her first. Also released. She also caught dorado that they brought over to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner.
Starr Jenkins has another mahi on the gaff with Captain Alfredo.
Jim with two more dorado for the ice chest! It was a good week. He also released two sailfish.
After hurricane Nora brushed by us last week and being mostly benign, I initially thought that fishing would rebound pretty fast because, despite having to cancel only 1 day of fishing, Nora only hit us with some strong winds and waves. But, no rain or lasting weather glitches.
However, the fishing took longer than I thought to come back. Lingering winds and cooler waters kept fishing less-than-stellar. In fact, a week later, it’s quite breezy and much cooler these last few days.
So, it was somewhat picky fishing for most of the week.
Everyone caught fish, but our captains and anglers had to really work hard to find fish.
There was a smattering of dorado here and there. Most were no more than 10-15 pound fish. The rest of the catch was mainly cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and bonito. Occasionally a billfish was hooked. Roosterfish kept alot of our fishermen in the game, thankfully. Fun fishing, but honestly pretty picky.
However, late in the week, the fish seemed to wake up and remember to eat!
Dorado started to school up again instead of singular fish here and there. More limits started coming in. Larger fish up to maybe 20-25 pounds got into the counts. Sailfish and marlin got more cooperative as well with a number of fish hooked, released and often lost on light tackle. We even had several wahoo hook-ups. Along with the roosterfish in the 10-40 pound class, mixed with the inshore species of bonito, jacks, cabrilla, snapper and pargo…and even some sierra and small yellowtail, the action had increased three-fold. Many many more smiles for sure. Almost all the billfish and all of the roosterfish were released.
Even had a couple of football-sized yellowfin tuna show up as well. Hopefully, more to follow. These are the first tuna we’ve seen since early summer!
Eric Jenkins rocked a sole yellowfin tuna with Captain Armando
There’s some thundercloud and late rains expected this week, but mostly all after the fishing is done. It feels like we’re getting an early fall and that summer has passed us as temperatures and humidity have decreased remarkably. Prior to that, it has felt like a sauna many times.
Tailhunter Fish Report 