DORADO STILL HUGGING SPOTLIGHT!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 13-20, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER :  Like seemingly the rest of the world, it’s HOT.  But the funny thing is that people come to Mexico to “get warm and enjoy some sunshine.”  We’re probably cooler than most places in the U.S. right now!  We’re 90’s to low 100’s.

WATER:  After that little weather blow we had over a week ago, things have cleared up and flattened out.  Waters are mostly blue and warm.  Surface temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s now.

FISH CAUGHT THIS WEEK:  Dorado are still 90% of the catch because it seems like they are everywhere. Can’t get away from them, but they are alot of fun.  Also got bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, roosters, pompany, trevally and triggerfish.  Commercial guys say there’s some tuna outside.

LAS ARENAS:  Dorado.  Most are medium-sized in the 8-12 pound class.  Larger ones are easily in the 30 pound class or larger.

LA PAZ:  Dorado too!  More school-sized fish, but this past week the larger ones came from here with 40-pound class fish, but larger ones lost!

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….

Our long-time Utah amigo, Kip Slaugh, on the scoreboard with his own big bull dorado for the fish box!

First day on the water turned out to be a good one for Rob and Randy Gray with some nice bull dorado to start the vacation!

First-timer with us, Johnny Torres from Riverside CA area came inshore for his first roosterfish. Caught and released. Pretty photo too!

Captain Gerardo with Marie McClelland who had quite a week with us on big dorado. Scroll down to see more!

Always good to have Brett Bleichrodt visit us from Colorado. First day out he scores his big bull.

OH WOW! Captain Raul gives Becky Fry a hand posing with this beautiful bull dorado catch north of La Paz.

Flat water and another fish brought to gaff. This one on the troll. Brett got some big fish this week, but also a few got the best of him as well!

Our San Diego cousin, Andy Enright, kicked it off his first day with a legit dorado beast. He tells of another fish even larger that he fought and lost at color next to the boat.

We had a fun week with these two in the house. Bruce Bleichrodt and Johny Prexta with a nice rack of dorado for the freezer to take home.

Fresh one! I think Rich Hirasuna is trying not to get whacked as Captain Rogelio holds up a fresh-caught dorado that is still thrashing!

Taking a well-deserved break after their first year in law school up in Oregon, Lauryn Keller and Dawson Enright pose with the catch of dorado from their first day.

Two really sweet folks to have come down for their first-ever visit, Brian and Tami Clark are spending the week with us!

Marizol Torres arrived and asked me, I’ve never fished. Do you think I will catch a fish this week?” Captain Raul helps her with a bull dorado she fought for 45 minutes! Well-done!

Ed Haynes and Brian Forward pose on the beach with Captain Jorge.

Fun shot. Our newest family friends Rich and Cherie Hirasuna started their trip with alot of dorado fillets!

Call this a good day fishing! Captain Pancho poses with Jen and Andy Enright on the beach at Bahia Muertos with a solid day of dorado fishing.

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As of this past week…well the mad dorado bite is still on! Some boats doing better than others, but with most folks fishing at least several days with us, there’s no shortage of fish for sure!  If you hit that sweet spot in the ocean, you could limit on dorado in very short order with what some anglers are calling a “dorado aquarium” and “so many fish in the water” After that it’s catch-and-release as fast as you want to go!  Or…

• Go searching for only bigger dorado
• Go searching for different species like roosters and rockfish or marlin
• Go back to the beach early and have lunch and a siesta!

Most of the fish in the schools have been voracious 5-12 pounders that are literally attacking anything thrown in the water!  This has been great fun on the lighter tackle we use with live bait and especially for many of the kids, families and couples we have this time of year who aren’t necessarily hard-core anglers. The fish will bend rods…run…leap…shake a hook…and are sp

ectacularly colorful. On the perimeters of the schools or swimming in more solitary packs are the larger beast dorado that can be anywhere from 20 to over 50 pounds!  I’ve never seen such a concentration of large fish like we’ve had for the last month-and-a-half.  It’s been a great time to tangle with a trophy fish.  Every day I hear stories from anglers who had a big fish on the beat them up and finally broke off or came un-buttoned.   That’s why they are big fish.  They are stronger and much more powerful and you just never know what’s going to hit your line. The biggest problem is that often you can see the larger fish, but the smaller fish are just so much faster to grab your bait that you don’t get the opportunity to hook-up the bigger boys! Still, it’s nice to hear that many anglers are releasing smaller fish and also females!

This is not to say there aren’t other fish in our ocean! We’ve got bonito, roosterfish, jack crevalle, pompano, trevally, cabrilla, triggerfish, snappers and several species of pargo.  It’s just that folks are having so much fun with the dorado that they’re not chasing the other species.  But, they ARE there.  Plus there’s been billfish around that have been hooked “accidentally” but nothing ever stuck. Don’t know how much longer this dorado bite will last, but we’re enjoying it for now!

Not a fish picture this time, but the prospects of a fishing day and an amazing flat Sea of Cortez full of fish and the start of another great day! It’s like glass! (Thanks for the shot, Jennifer Enright!) People ask us all the time if we think they will get seasick or will it be too rough! #jonathanroldan

That’s my story!

Jonathan