WAHOO BILLFISH MAHI!
La Paz -Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 11-18, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly pretty comfortable. You can tell the weather is changing. Getting cooler in the mornings and evenings. Almost time for a sweatshirt! Low 70’s to start the day and low 90’s in the day. Very pleasant. Starting to get breezier and the north winds start up this week which will change things completely once they start blowing consistently.
WATER: Mostly pretty and blue. Perfect for fishing. Getting 81 degrees on the surface, but colder water down deeper as evidenced by some of the fish we are hooking. Have had a few bouncy days from the winds. Gonna get rougher if the winter winds start to kick in.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, tuna, wahoo, sailfish, blue marlin, striped marlin, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, trevally, pompano, cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish
FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10: 7
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Not one…FOUR! Brian Spicer had himself quite a day with Captain Victor taking four big wahoo off Cerralvo Island plus he also released a striped marlin. He donated or gifted the majority of the meat!

Long-time amigo, Tim Butterworth always nails something great each time he visits us. He brought son-in-law Dave Spriggs this year and their last day, Tom got another wahoo with Captain Pancho.

Caroline Cain and family friend Kayla Lespade from Idaho had themselves a banner day with a number of big dorado like this fishing outside of La Paz Bay.

Ken Takata and Steve Hirano fished 3 good days like this with dorado, pargo and snapper and Captain Gerardo doing the photobomb in the back.

This is what Santa does in the off-season! Actually, good amigo Rusty Cain…always good to have him visiting!

Our Tailhunter office managers, Maite Palacio and Arturo Becerrril got out on the water away from work and had fun on the dorado spot!

Mike Clark with Captain Pancho decked this beautiful blue marlin outside of Bahia Muertos. Mike had quite a battle as they passed the rod back and forth. The fish could not be revived and Mike donated much of the meat.

Such a great photo of a sweet amiga of Tailhunter. Mari Bedsaul always does well when she visits us. Beautiful colors! They actually lost two marlin and a sailfish this day!

Anniversary trip for Don Jossie who was visiting us for the first time and had two days fishing with Captain Rogelio.

Many of you have known Benny Salgado for years working for Tailhunter as a cook, with me in the fish packing room and also our ace guitar player . We sent him out for the day to catch some dorado…good job!

The man behind the mask is Arturo Becerril…Tailhunter’s very own. He had fun with dorado like this one!

Good to have Steve Partridge and his wife fish with us for a few days. First day with Captain Armando out’ve Las Arenas was very productive! They’re from Redondo Beach CA.

Catch and release striper for Brian Spicer with Captain Victor! It was a good week for the billfish. Most broke off or were released.
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You can feel it in the air.
The seasons are changing. Daytime temps are getting cooler and breezier. The shadows are longer. The night times are pleasant and not a bad idea to have a light sweatshirt handy. Waters are getting just a bit bumpier when the breeze blows.
We usually say late October to April is our off-season. It starts getting windier and colder and once the north winds start blowing consistently, the fishing complexion changes completely.Not only is it rougher, but colder water fish move in as the ocean cools down.
Some days, it will be too rough to fish or you’ll get blown off the water. So, really not many folks will be fishing the next few months. But, this is why all the windsurfers and kiteboarders descend on us from all over the world to take advantage of our world-class winds in the La Paz area.
That’s generally speaking…
Sometimes, the winds don’t show up until later. And warm water fishing continues.
But, this year, just like clockwork, I can see in the forecast that next week strong northern winds start kicking up! Some gusts will be 12-20 knots.
We don’t stop fishing, but not many reservations now on the books. We’re usually running 10-20 boats per day from late March until October. For the next few months, there will be almost no one. And, if someone wants to fish, I make sure they know about the weather situation so they can make an informed decision. Many of the fisherfolks that I do get in the coming months are regulars who know what to expect. Or, they keep their schedules flexible so I can tell them which days will be worse than others so they can find the best day.
But, if this is our last “official” week of the season, we sure went out like gangbusters!
Dorado remained a solid mainstay of the catch.
It would be a crazy day if you didn’t come back with dorado in the box. Our boats have been taking 4-8 dorado on the average and many tell me they lost fish or released a whole bunch. Most fish have been in the 10-15 pound class but some of the larger bulls have hit the 20-40 pound size.
Ever day is different. Some days it’s an early bite. Some days it’s a later bite. Some days, you pick up one fish here…then 2 fish there…then nothing for a bit…then another fish…etc etc. End of the day you’ve got some decent fish in the box.
Biggest surprise…the wahoo!!!
I can’t remember when we’ve had a run of wahoo like this in my 30 years down here. Our boats were hitting 1,2, 3, 4 and 5 wahoo on the day fro 20-60 pounders. More getting lost or busting off. It was crazy. An early morning bite for the most part and 90% taken trolling Marauders, Rapalas and Nomads.
Anglers come down and fish for years trying to get just one of these incredible fish. And yet we had a few days when they suddenly just turned on like a light switch. The best spots were the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island.
As well, the billfish didn’t want to get left out either. After several weeks of non-existent biters, we had a number of billfish including sailfish, striped marlin and even the highly prized blue marlin. Most fish were lost and most that were caught were released whenever possible. But a real bonus catch!
With the weather changing, we’re seeing a few more colder water fishing starting to show up in the catches: sierra, amberjack, pompano, trevally and small yellowtail.
There’s still some smaller roosterfish still hanging out as well!
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ON A PERSONAL NOTE:
A big shout out and thank you to our Tailhunter Nation for a great 30th season. Whether you were able to visit us this year or not, Jilly and I appreciate all the love, support and friendship for all these years, but especially this year which has been especially challenging. The prayers have been the best!
As many of you know, Jilly has been dealing with some serious medical issues and has not been able to be down here in La Paz for most of the year. She’s been the ultimate trooper back in Texas dealing with the situation, while I’ve been here in La Paz alone trying to keep the Tailhunter Fleets, Restaurant and Transportation companies running and everyone smiling.
Even down here alone, Jilly has kept things rolling from up there so that I could keep things running as smoothly as possible down here. She is still my best teammate.
So, I’ve pretty much been going 7 days a week since April. I’m finally heading north to be able to see and spend time with my Jilly so we can figure some things out. I have a few medical issues of my own to iron out! (Nothing serious…just 30 years of wear-and-tear down here!).
I’ve done the fishing reports pretty religiously every week for over 28 years. But, given we’re about at the end of the season, I’m going to take a few weeks off. So, if you don’t see a report in a week, I just wanted you to know the reason. I’m fine! We’re fine.
It’s just that when my reports are late, I start getting e-mails from so many thoughtful folks!
Just wishing ya’ll grateful blessings always! Thanks for all the smiles and prayers!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
















































































