La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 18-24, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
George Hatziyiannis from Oregon was on his first visit to us and was great to have him visit and also get his first dorado!
Sara Kirkpatrick and Dave Baker from Houston TX could not have been happier tangling with their first marlin that they hooked fishing outside La Paz Bay. Dave said he has his smoker ready. The fish could not be released. Surprisingly, it’s only our 3rd marlin of the season. Hopefully, more soon!
OH yea! Two thumbs up for sure from Kevin Beehn, our long-time amigo, currently living in the Lake Tahoe area of California. Talk about a rack of fish variety, I see amberjack, sierra, yellowtail, pompano and cabrilla ready for cleaning and good eating!
Two of our Tailhunter friends that have been with us close to 25 years. With a pair of nice yellowtail, Louis Mogabgab and Roger McCracken got the ‘tails on live mackerel.
Captain Alfredo gives Dave Williamson a hand posing with his big bull dorado. Dave is a hoot and visits from Waco, TX. he wanted a dorado this trip!
Ms Michele! She always catches fish. Michele Conklin has fished with us for years and has a nice cabrilla after her first day fishing. This lady can fish!
Captain Pancho with Shelton Donnell who visits us every year from the Portland OR area. Shelton was able to release the fish. He’s coming back to see us again in about a month! I think we’ve been friends almost 30 years.
Two of our favorite rascals, Larry Chastain and Steve Ritz got a mess of fish to clean! Wow…tons of rainbow runners and some trophy cabrilla!
Captain Alfredo helps Roger with a nice-sized roosterfish right off Punta Perrico near Bahia Muertos. Roger was able to release the fish.
Big smiles from Shelton and his yellowtail that took a live mackerel near Espirito Santo Island.
Captain Archangel looks on as Dylan Hitner holds up a pretty rooster she caught just off the rocks in shallow water. Great shot and a good release as well.
First timer, Sylvia Conklin with Captain Armando and a sizeable rainbow runner. She also put a nice amberjack in the box as well.
His first roosterfish after years of fishing in La Paz, Kevin took a good shot and was able to let the fish swim off strong.
Texas in the house! Dave Williamson and Dave Baker had a full day of action with dorado, cabrilla, rainbow runners, amberjack and even a hawkfish to take home.
This past week seemed to be the first week that it finally felt like some semblance of summer. It was actually hot with air temps hitting the high 90’s and even the low 100’s.
It hasn’t been like that all season where we’ve had cold waters and cooler temps than normal that have definitely defined and given us an erratic and much different fishing season than normal.
This is the first week that the jackets and sweatshirts came off. But, have we turned the corner? I don’t want to jinx things, but I can only hope. The cooler weather we’ve had has meant rougher water; more winds; greener seas and an unpredictable fishing bite.
With the warmer water this past week, seas seemed flatter. The winds really tapered off. But, I’m not sure that it has meant the fishing was better.
For the past 3 months, we’ve mostly been fishing cold water species like pargo, cabrilla, snapper, jacks, pompano, trevally and others. We’ve had a spectacular yellowtail season unlike any I have ever seen in almost 30 years down here with fish into the 30 pound class. All of these are cold water species that should have been long gone by April or so. Instead, we’re still catching them here into the summer.
However, with the waters warming, we’re seeing more dorado although it’s a far cry from what we should be catching when normally by this time of year, dorado should be 70% of the catch. We also are seeing more billfish including striped marlin and our first sailfish of the season. However, again, it’s just a smidgen of what we would normally be catching.
In the meantime, we are still catching the cooler water species mentioned above including sierra; rainbow runners (more than I have ever seen); white bonito (again more than I have ever seen) and roosterfish are still around although not as many of the larger 50 to 80 pounders we’ve caught the last few months.
In all honesty, I can’t say the fishing has improved. It is still unpredictable. It is still erratic. One boat catches fish and the boat right next to it can’t buy a bite. One day, the fish bite and the next, everyone has to work extra hard just to hook a single fish. When the fish do bite, there’s no telling what the boats will come back with.
I think we just have to wait and see and hope that the waters continue to warm bringing in more dorado, billfish as well as hopefully wahoo and tuna. Fingers crossed.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-17, 2022
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FISHING IN A NUTSHELL:
WEATHER: Very erratic. Chilly mornings one day. Warm the next morning. Daytimes usually hot and sunny. Sometimes very humid. Some mornings very windy. Other days, the afternoons and evenings are blustery. Overall, for June much cooler than normal.
WATER: Slowly very slowly seems to be clearing up, but largely still cooler and off-color than normal. Green cold water still in many areas. It doesn’t help that we keep getting winds that stir things up. Sometimes it makes getting bait difficult.
FISHING: Up-and-down to be honest. Varies from day to day and boat-to-boat. Nothing consistent because of the changing weather and water. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best, I’d say it’s a 2 at worst. 5 at best.
SPECIES: Yellowtail, roosterfish, lots of white bonito, barred pargo, pargo liso, dog-tooth snapper, cabrilla, triggerfish, jack crevalle, rainbow runner, trevally, pompano, some dorado. Got our first sailfish finally and our 2nd marlin of the season.
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MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Chris Stark from Yucaipa CA rocked this big bull dorado. We should be thick with dorado right now, but conditions are much cooler than normal.
Gerald Damge and Jim Caskey pose with a nice pair of hefty yellowtail caught north of the city. Both guys are from the Denver area.
Daniel and dad, Jim, Bovee! OK…nice yellowtail with Daniel. But, check out Jim. That’s a halibut/ flounder! Just shows you how cold the waters are! In 30 years down here running our operation, I’ve never had an angler hook a flattie! It ate a whole mackerel. Maybe we should start running halibut charters! (Yes, I know it’s a flounder, but locals call these halibut!)
Love this shot! Alan Hed has his big rooster, but Mike Jennings happily photobombs the shot while fighting his own rooster! Both were released. Check out Mike’s big fish below. The guys are from Washington.
Jerry Rost with Captain Rogelio got this big bull while fishing in shallow water right up against the rocks! Crazy fishing. Jerry is from Idaho and, although you can’t see the whole fish, we taped it out at 54″ long!
I have never seen so many white bonito being caught as we have had in the last week. Alex Cardenas has quite a table spread of bonito with Captain Armando. These bonito are quite tasty.
First trip to visit us from Colorado, Phoebe Bleichrodt had just one day to fish and made it a good one! Great weather and several yellowtail in the fish box!
Shane Lindquist from the Logan area of Utah has been talking to me for years and we finally got him down where he got a variety of fish including a personal best dorado. Good to have him be part of the Tailhunter Tribe finally!
I think Mike is sticking his tongue out here. Not sure if it’s meant for the photographer or because the roosterfish tuckered him out. Great shot and great fish. (released)
This is just a great photo! Grant Checa from Denver has a great story to tell when he gets home. Starting early!
Two more of our Utah amigos that got initiated into the Tailhunter Tribe this week. First timers Andy and son Brandon Nebeker pose with a big first-time roosterfish. The fish was released.
Here you go! Great shot. Long-time amigo, Rich Keogh, with Armando and a sizeable amberjack. Rich gave the fish to a very happy Armando.
First sailfish of the year! Captain Pancho with Tanya and Brandon McGarr from Rock Springs, WYO took this on the east side of Cerralvo Island. Not able to release the fish, much of the meat was donated. They were able to release a striped marlin.
Dave Johnson has fished with us before, but this time, he brought his wife Rachel who took to things very nicely and spent 3 days fishing. Our amigos are from Denver CO.
John Lowdermilk has visited us a number of times and said this past trip was the best fishing has has ever had. Big boy yellowtail on the gaff. John caught about a dozen different species.
Brandon McGarr took only our 2nd marlin of the season with Captain Pancho. Normally, this should be well into billfish, but conditions just aren’t right…yet! Brandon was able to release the fish.
There are lots of big toro (Jack crevalle) running around right now. They are a tough fish to have on the end of your line. “Toro” is the Spanish word for “bull.” Jeri Damge gets a hand from Captain Boli.
Big smiles and a good shot of Greg Saubolle and one of his yellowtail from a really good day on the water. I recall that the boat took 4 or 5 yellowtail that day.
Daniel Bovee always does pretty well. He found a nice amberjack hole and pulled these two sluggers out while trolling for wahoo at the south end of Cerralvo Island with Captain Pancho. Daniel lives in Costa Mesa CA.
Fun family with Captain Gerardo. Noha, Stephanie and Chris Stark got a few rare dorado plus I see more fish on the cutting table as well.
Two of our best goofy friends, Bob Duncan from Santa Barbra fish slaps everyone’s favorite guy Jorge Romero. They got 5 nice yellowtail on the day.
A good start! Utah in the house and first day catch for Shane Lindquist and Aaron Rudie with yellowtail meat for the box.
Jim Caskey has his first roosterfish for a quick photo and release! Jim came to visit us from Denver.
Flat seas and good fishing. Brett Bleichrodt only had one day to fish but had one of the better days with the yellowtail.
Personal best rooster for Alan Hed with big smiles and Cerralvo Island in the background. I think they hooked and released 4 that day.
This is a classic slugger yellowtail. Mike Jennings hammered this forkie on a live mackerel towards Espirito Santo Island.
Tanya McGarr gets a hand from Captain Pancho on her big rooster battled just off the beach near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Captain Joel gives Andy a thumb’s up on his yellowtail. His first!
Oh wow! Robert and his brother Jerry Rost hoist a trio of bull dorado that make quite a surprising catch just off the rocks of Espirito Santo Island.
After fighting a fish, it can be quite a chore to lift it for the camera. Chris Stark gets some grins watching his son, Noah, try to pose for the camera.
Tiffany Floyd from Idaho is one of the funnest folks that ever visits us. Captain Joel helps with a big yellowtail caught actually inside La Paz Bay of the San Rafaelito lighthouse.
Jeff Floyd has one for the box amid a good yellowtail bite they found just outside of La Paz Bay.
Ryan Melnick was on his first trip to visit us and got his first yellowtail worth the big smile and a good photo!
I just don’t know what to make of this season except to say, nothing is predictable. Nothing is “normal.”
Looking at all the photos, it looks like wow!!! Fishing MUST be great!
Here is the general picture. It has been a very cold cold season. Waters are 5 to 10 degrees cooler/ colder than normal. That might not seem like much, but it makes all the difference in the world to fishing. Air temps are getting warmer, but the daytime temperatures can vary from 25-35 degrees during the day. Cool and cold in the mornings then blazing hot in the afternoon. Some days very windy and choppy. Some days calm .
Some waters are green and cold. Some water is blue and clear. And that is just on the surface!
Down below under the water, our divers are saying there’s a big thermocline 20-30 feet below the surface that is another 5 more more degrees colder.
Every day seems different. Every location is different. Two fishing boats can be in easy sight of each other and have such completely different experiences that you wonder if they were even in the same ocean.
On top of it all, we had a “SUPER MOON” this week to thrown another wrench in the mix. A super moon is not just a full moon (which can be problematic all by itself!). A super moon happens rarely but it means the moon is something like 50,000 miles closer to the earth . The means huge tide swings. It means stronger currents. It affects the whole fishing environment.
In fact, I want to be perfectly honest. We had 2 of the worst days fishing this week that I can ever remember. Even on “bad” days folks still catch fish. Maybe not as many or not the species they wanted. But, they still get some action .
There were two days this week when the ocean was like a desert! Some boats didn’t get a single bite. Not even from “junk fish.” Some boat got maybe one little fish. Our captains were frustrated. Our anglers were frustrated. Everyone working hard at it, but nature just didn’t want to give it up!
That’s just the way it is. Some really “off days.” Then a good day. We get excited. Then a so-so day. Then a good day. Then a bad day. The fishing is really sideways. One boat catches fish. The boat right next to it can’t even get a seagull interested.
We should be into our summertime bite right now with dorado, tuna, billfish and wahoo.
Instead, we’re still getting cold-water species. It’s not terrible fishing. It’s just strange fishing.
We’re having an incredible yellowtail season with fish up to 35 pounds or so. But normally, the yellowtail are done by April, maybe May. But, when they have been biting, it’s been great. But even the yellowtail take a day off or two.
There’s a few dorado here and there. We got only our 2nd marlin of the season. We got our first sailfish of the season. Thankfully, big roosterfish up to 60 pounds or more are still in the area and willing to bend the rods.
Other than that, lots and lots of white bonito, pargo, cabrilla, plus trevally, amberjack, rainbow runners, jack crevalle and (just to show you how cold it is) we even got a halibut. Well, a flounder, but the locals call any flat fish a “halibut.” But in 30 years down here, I’ve never seen anyone catch a halibut/ flounder. Usually, those are in very much cooler waters.
So, if you’re coming down, just be prepared for anything. Perhaps more cold water will continue. Or, suddenly things will click and everything will change!
UPDATE:Can’t catch a break. Even as I write this, we have to weather situations to the south of us. Hurricane Blas and Tropical Storm Celia are formed up way way way down the south of the Mexican Pacific Coast. They are NOT going to hit us, but nevertheless are sending up big waves and swells as well as strong winds. There’s a possibility of some afternoon rain.
The total effect is that it looks like for the next 2 days, the sun will be out, but the waters could be rough and for our Las Arenas fleet, my captains tell me there will be no live bait for fishing out’ve Las Arenas. So, we’ll probably have everyone fish with our La Paz fleet.
ON THE UPSIDE: No more covid testing to return to the U.S. They finally got rid of it!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for June 3-9, 2022
FISHING IN A NUTSHELL
Scale of 1-10 (10 being best): 6 at best.
Temps: Cold windy mornings in the high 50’s to low 60’s with rough water but then gets hot into mid-90’s by late morning and seas flatten. Sweatshirt not a bad idea.
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet – Most variety of fish. More fish per rod. Seems like a little of everything. Pargo, dog-tooth snapper, yellowt snapper, rainbow runner, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, amberjack, yellowtail, pompano, trevally, sierra, cabrilla and a tease of wahoo and tuna
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet – Fewer but bigger fish. Mosty 20-40 pound yellowtail and some larger amberjack. Smattering of bonito and jacks. Maybe some of the best yellowtail fishing in years.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
That’s a hog yellowtail! OINK! Rich Pope puts another big boy in the boat. Great shot!
The Mexican name of the amberjack is “Pez Fuerte” (The strong fish) for good reason. These bruisers can be over 100 pounds and are related to the yellowtail and roosterfish. Corey Fujita tugged this one up on the El Baja Seamount north of Espirito Santo Island. Check the yo yo jig still dangling from the fish’s mouth!
One tuna! Every now and then, we get a reminder that tuna should be here, but aren’t! Mark Malloy and Captain Ramiro pose with a yellowfin on the beach at Muertos.
I think this roosterfish was a personal best for Mike Muehl from San Diego. His buddy Bob lends a hand (Bob’s photos are below). Mike was able to release the big roosterfish.
Our first marlin of the season! He’s 5-years-old, but Owen Fujita actually pulled on this fish (with a little help from dad)! Note the marlin is missing it’s top bill! They donate the meat to folks at Aguamarga.
John Lowdermilk says it was his best day fishing here after putting the hurt on this big dog-tooth snapper. John is from Denver.
Captain Gerardo has alot of fish cleaning to do. Dave and Rachel Johnson had quite a bit of action by the looks of their table where I see golden trevally (palometa), rainbow runner, cabrilla, pompano, snapper and pargo.
Tiffany Floyd from Idaho is just a joy whenever she visits. Great pose with Captain Armando and a big roosterfish she caught off Bahia Muertos and released.
This lady loves fishing! Dee Dee Pope gets a hand on the gaff from Captain Alfredo and another big-shouldered yellowtail for the box.
Captain Arcangel with our long-time amigo, Doug Oclassen for a quick photo and roosterfish release.
Bob Francy has a big roosterfish to lift after a good battle so he can get it back in the water. I think Bob said this was his personal best rooster.
These folks were sure fun! Jim Caskey with Jeri and Gerald Damge from Colorado started their fishing week with a variety including cabrilla, rainbow runner, white bonito and snapper.
Good shot and a good fish for Rick Baer fishing north of La Paz where the yellowtail have been hanging out.
OH yea! Our roosterfish “poster boy” Steve Bryan cradles another big rooster for the photo so he can get it back in the water. Steve must have caught more than 8 of these big sluggers and released them all.
Not many dorado have shown up so far this year with the waters staying cold, but Dan Northrop got one of the larger models to bite a live bait while fishing with Captain Pancho
Bill Johnson with John Lowdermilk “We wore our arms out!” with a great rack of fish. Big amberjack, dog-tooth snapper, yellow snapper, cabrilla, yellowtail and rainbow runner on the day. This doesn’t show all the fish they released either!
Three generations of Fujitas! Robert, Owen (grandson) and Corey (son) with a couple of Cerralvo Island roosterfish for the photo then released.
It’s hard to lift a big fish after the battle, but Al Beilstein does his best with this big roosterfish for a quick photo then release!
Captain Adolfo with Bob Lederer from Massachusetts and a hefty yellowtail for the fish box taken off Las Arenas.
Every reason for the smile and the thumb’s-up as Rich puts another big yellowtail aboard. As I recall, this as his 2nd of the day.
Corey Fujita had to get a little height to photo this big bull dorado he caught north of Espirito Santo Island.
Great colors! Great smile. Nice fish for Grant Checa from Colorado and a nice barred pargo to take home!
Captain Gerardo and Jacob Pulsifer with a nice photo-and-release roosterfish. Jacob was another of our Colorado first-time anglers who visited this past week.
It was another week of anemic weather for us here in the La Paz area. We have had unseasonably cool weather and water this year. It has been reflected in mostly cold-water species being caught which normally are not hear this later in the year.
Two weeks ago, temperatures soared and I was sure we had turned the corner into summer-time conditions. We also saw more warmer water species like dorado start to bite. It was encouraging!
However, this past week, temperatures dropped again. Winds picked up, especially in the mornings that had our skippers and even clients reaching for sweatshirts and jackets. Waters had been clear and blue and instead got murkier and greener with the erratic change in weather.
So, we were back with the cooler water species. It wasn’t bad fishing at all. It was just unusual fishing for this time of year, but there was plenty of action with a huge variety of species.
However, it seemed to change from day-to-day and boat-to-boat. One day Las Arenas is better. The next day La Paz is better. One boat gets a great bite. The boat next to it can’t buy a fish. Some days the fish came easy but the next day we had to work harder to find fish or get them to bite. For most of our anglers fishing several days, however, it usually evened out and everyone went home with fish.
Big yellowtail continued to bite on live mackerel for our clients fishing out’ve La Paz in the bay or out towards the island of Espírito Santo to the north. This is maybe the best yellowtail season we have ever had. Boats were averaging 1-3 fish per boat, but losing 3, 4 or more fish! Some occasional dorado and big cabrilla and bonito were also caught, but the focus was on the bigger yellowtail and occasionally, some bigger amberjack the cousin to the yellowtail.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, it seemed like there were a dozen species caught every day. We just never knew.
In addition to some continued great action on big roosterfish up to 70 pounds, we also caught rainbow runners, cabrilla, snapper, several species of pargo, sierra, jack crevalle, pompano, golden trevally, bonito, and amberjack among others.
ADIOS y VAYA CON DIOS AMIGO
When you’ve been doing this down here for almost 3 decades, we are blessed to have been part of so many special moments and to have known so many special amigos…part of our Tailhunter Tribe.
Sometimes, when we live and work here daily, we forget how special this place is, however. To many of our friends, this is their happy spot. It’s a place where they made so many memories with their own friends and families.
Over time, it’s invariable that we bid adios to more and more of our long-time Tailhunter Family. It’s an even more important honor when they want their ashes spread or a memorial done on our waters.
This past week, we said good-bye to Glenn Oclassen. Family and friends gathered in Bahia Muertos to place a wreath and cast individual roses in the water for him.
Glenn was one of my first customers who brought his family and friends to fish with us back in the 90’s. He had a long history in Baja even before Tailhunters and it was always a joy to be around him and his smile every year. I was honored to have been his friend and blessed with his memory.
Adios, my friend. Be with the angels and we’ll see you again sometime on the waters!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 26-June 2, 2022
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IN A NUTSHELL
Scale of 1-10 with 10 being best: 6. OK to Good. Not great. Some days better than others. Some boats better than others
Our Las Arenas Fishing Fleet: Lots of variety. Several species of pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, dorado, tuna, marlin, snapper, pompano, trevally, rainbow runners, wahoo.
Our La Paz Fishing Fleet: Yellowtail and dorado. (more and bigger than Las Arenas) Some bonito and rockfish.
Temps: Air 57 to 103. Water 70-75 degrees.
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THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Each May, Steve Bryan our Seattle amigo becomes our roosterfish poster-child. He catches and releases so many big roosterfish over the course of a week, we lose count. I think this one might have been number 6 or 7. Punta Perico in the background.
Captain Gerardo gives the big thumb’s-up to first-time visitor Lucas Pepin from San Diego who put this pretty dorado on board.
That’s alot of meat to heft! Fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, Jeff Correia and John Stone pulled a dorado and 3 big thick yellowtail off the rock fishing with live bait north of La Paz. The guys come see us each year for many years.
Love this photo of Dave Kosnosky, another of our good Washington tribe members. Sticking out his tongue while another yellowtail dangles on the gaff.
Two of the funnest of our Utah friends, Doug and Penny Nuffer have themselves a cleaning table full of pargo, snapper and rainbow runners.
Adam Toeniskoetter from Saratoga CA has been visiting us for years and topped of his trip with a double hit of wahoo while fishing with Captain Victor.
Just a great shot of Captain Pancho with Mark Stewart and his roosterfish just before the release. Mark was on his first trip to visit us from San Diego.
It was a good week for amberjack! Gary Wagner from his Rancho Costa Resort in Muertos Bay holds a nice one. Amberjack are related to yellowtail, pompano and roosterfish.
Big smiles from Diane Kosnosky after boating another yellowtail. That’s Espirito Santo Island in the background. Amiga Diane is from Washington.
Here you go! Start off the day with Mr. Hoo! Lucas Pepin with his first wahoo he nailed first thing on the morning.
Dan Maynard from Phoenix is staying out at Rancho Costa and caught one of the spawning pargo (mullet snapper) that are now schooling up on the shallows.
On the 3rd day, Al Cazier finally got his roosterfish after his wife and daughter had already caught theirs! Al is from San Antonio and it’s always good to have him visit. The rooster was released.
A pretty yellowtail gets a good look from Mike Lubliner from San Diego before it hits the box.
Dan Northrop from Oregon got his big roosterfish not far off the Punta Arena lighthouse. He was able to release the fish.
Matt Coreia’s dad, Jason comes down all the time to fish with us, but this was his first trip and he poses with his dorado and a double handful of yellowtail.
Captain Armando lends and hand on a couple of big palometas (golden trevally) caught by Tony and Matt Montini from the San Jose area of California. First trip for them!
Some good eating right there! A tuna, some cab rilla, snapper, pargo, amberjack are getting ready for the fillet knife! Dan and Casey Northrop were with us for the first time from Oregon.
Steve has been trying since 2007 in La Paz to get a wahoo and finally racked one this week! He’s giving it the “finger.”
First-day roosterfish for Matt Stewart who caught this not far from the Las Arenas lighthouse and quickly released it.
Bob and Troy Kuzminsky from Washinton got themselves a nice pair of yellowtail ready to pack up and bring home.
Steve is behind the mask with another of his roosterfish . It’s another big one!
A tiger dorado in the boat for Lucas Pepin. Check out the flat ocean. That’s Espirito Santo Island back there.
Smiles over a big load of variety for Ken and Jen Nelson who show off some tuna, pompano, triggerfish, snapper, cabrilla, dorado and even an topsail trevally.
Captain Armando with Matt and Tony Montini posing with mullet snapper, barred pargo, snapper, cabrilla, tuna, triggerfish and jack crevalle.
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The week was light night-and-day.
For the past two months, it’s been unseasonably cold, windy and rough. The fishing reflected it as well. Many cooler water species were being caught like yellowtail, amberjack (some big ones!), pargo, cabrilla, snapper, sierra, and about a half-dozen other species more indicative of winter and early spring fishing.
Lucas Pepin had a fun first day!
It wasn’t bad fishing. There was lots of action. It just was very unusual to still be catching these species when the calendar says it’s almost summer. Likewise with erratic winds and waves, it wasn’t always the most pleasant time to be on the water and at times, we really had to work hard to get our bites.
Then, about mid-week, it was like someone threw a switch.
It didn’t get just warmer. It got hot! Temps board into the high-90’s and low 100’s. Water temps jumped 5 degrees and cleared up.
And the complexion of the fishing suddenly changed as well.
Dave’s got a bull!
We were still catching the yellowtail, amberjack, rainbow runners, sierra, pargo, pompano and all the other cooler water species. But suddenly, the warmer water species decided to come to get into the game as well.
We got some smatterings of yellowfin tuna. We got some wahoo to finally bite. The marlin woke up and we got our first billfish of the season. And for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleet, the numbers of boated dorado finally jumped up as well with flat calm seas all around.
And the roosterfish got bigger too! Some of our regular anglers are telling me they’ve never seen so many roosterfish. Multiple catches per boat are resulting in fish running 30-80 pounds on a regular basis!
Is our fantastic yellowtail season over?
I hate to see such a great yellowtail season possibly being done, but hopefully, we’re back on track like a normal year with these better conditions. Not sure if the rough and windy part of the year are completely done and I’ve learned never to say “never” when it comes to the weather, but hopefully, this is the start of the summer season!
TRIP INSURANCE
Don’t get caught! For years, we have always recommended getting trip insurance before coming down. Even before Covid hit, economic trip insurance can help you recoup expenses for the unexpected and unforseen things like bad weather cancellations; accidents; injury; getting sick on the trip; delays and flight delays or cancellations all of which are TYPICALLY NON-REFUNDABLE as stated in all of our documentation. (Not to mention all the covid-related things, aftermath and fallout. )
Just this past week, more than 7,000 flights got cancelled by the airlines. Lack of pilots and airline personnel; rising fuel costs and other adjustments have things in a jumble. A number of our clients have had to change vacation plans this summer to adjust as well. Don’t get caught.
There’s alot of good companies offering economic plans. Lonely Planet or The Travel Insurance Center and Global Rescue or Sky Med are a few that come to mind.
ONLINE MEXICAN FISHING LICENSE WEBSITE NOW WORKING (AGAIN)
After several months, the Mexican Fishing License Website is now functioning. Yay! Sorry for all the frustration. It’s been a PITA to us as well. Here’s the site: https://www.sportfishingbcs.gob.mx/
Lots of our anglers are now telling us they’re able to get their permits!
If you are still having issues, two possible fixes:
1. In the spot where it says to choose the bank choose SANTANDER. (Just found that out)
2. One reason that credit cards get rejected is that it sees you’re trying to access a Mexican website and it’s protecting you from fraud. Call your bank and let them know.
Tailhunter Fish Report 