La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 19-25, 2022

May 26, 2022 by riplipboy

MIXED WEATHER KICKS OUT MIXED BAG OF

FISH

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of May 19-25, 2022

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IN A NUTSHELL:

Fishing on a Scale of 1-10 (10 being best): 6

Temps: Weirdly cold. Mid 50’s at night to high 80’s in the day (bring a sweatshirt)

Las Arenas: Lots of variety but mostly coldwater species. A few tuna, dorado, wahoo. But great roosterfish to 50+ pounds. Pargo, cabrilla, snapper, pompano, trevally, palometa, sierra, jack crevalle, dog-tooth, amberjack, yellowtail, bonito. Have to go to the island to find bait.

La Paz: Mostly big yellowtail 10-40 pounds. Some cabrilla and rockfish. Rougher waters in the mornings and cold! Catching mackerel for bait to catch the big yellowtail.

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MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Right up in the surf near the Punta Arenas lighthouse, Troy Kuzminsky from Washington found a big rooster and was able to release it!

I lost count of how many roosterfish Guy Markus from Utah caught and released over 2 days. Maybe 6 of them, but here’s one of the big ones!

Paul Markowitz (right) brought his amigo Rick Willis with him to fish with us in La Paz and these were Rick’s first ever salt-water fish. It included cabrilla, triggerfish, white bonito and a yellowfin tuna.

Yeow! Captain Pancho was out with Dave Kosnosky from Washington when this huge roosterfish…estimated at over 80 pounds…pounced on Dave’s 22″ ladyfish bait. Dave said the fish blew up and actually tail-walked across the water like a marlin! They were able to release the fish unharmed.

Captain Jorge and Troy Clovis with one of the few dorado caught this past week. We should be catching alot more normally this time of year, but waters remain on the cool side.

Trolling a Rapala xRap in the shallows, Dave nailed this big cabrilla.

Alot of good-eating variety here! Mike Lubliner and Pat Boyle have cabrilla, rainbow runners, mullet snapper, yellow snapper and dog-tooth snapper on the cleaning board with Captain Jorge

Bob Kuzminsky’s rooster was taken on a live bait just yards from shore near Punta Arenas. They released the fish.

Enjoying his new retirement, Ruben Cornejo picked up then released this roosterfish just off the beach. This is “Roosterfish Alley.”

If Steve Wright looks a little tired, it’s because his arms are probably a little worn from fighting several big roosterfish like this one! Steve released all his fish.

Yellowfin tuna, yellow snapper, dog tooth snapper and a big pargo liso made for a great day of action!

Another big rooster for Steve. He rocked several big roosters and was able to release them all.

Big smiles from Bob Kuzminsky and another roosterfish!

It was an up-and-down week, to be honest. What’s going on??? CRAZY!

This is more like late March or April weather and fishing!

Winds, waves and colder weather…even fog were issues that affected the fishing and had us working harder for the fish. Bait was sometimes an issue as well because it was also affected by conditions and some days were just plain rough. These cooler conditions are lingering alot longer than normal when we should be into almost summer climates by this time. It’s a long thermometer to be sure. Nights are in the low to mid 50’s (cold) and then jumping into the high 80’s by daytime.

Roosterfish running 10-50 pounds (and larger) have truly been a highlight as the fish are now prowling the shores and beaches around Las Arenas and Bahia Muertos. Our anglers are catching them on sardines, but the larger ones are falling for the bigger ladyfish (sabalo) baits slow trolled behind our pangas. Those same areas are holding jack crevalle, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra and amberjack. Schools of white bonito have added to the action. Occasionally someone hooks a dorado. Billfish are swimming around, but not quite ready to bite. We are getting more pompano and trevally than I have ever seen. Same with rainbow runners…baby cousin to yellowtail.

Surprisingly, yellowtail up to 40 pounds should be long gone, but they’re still on the area north of La Paz and feeding on mackerel. I think as long as the waters stay some what cooler than normal and the mackerel stick around, so will the yellowtail. No doubt this has been the best yellowtail season in my memory after 30 years down here, but I wish the dorado would show up finally.

Football season starting? Football-sized tuna here and there! Troy got one!

Keeping an eye out…we’ve had little teasers of tuna and wahoo lately. Trying not to get too excited then get disappointed, but it’s encouraging that they are around! We’ll keep you posted.