FULL MOON SLUGGERS
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of May 26-June 4, 2026
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: It actually was cooler this week dropping down in the daytimes to the high 80’s or lower 90’s. Mostly sunny. Still dealing with problematic winds that should have dissipated over a month ago. Nights are still comfortable. Can be chilly and breezy in the mornings.
WATER: If the winds are blowing, it can be rough. Should be flat calm this time of year, but the winds keep popping up. Affects fishing as well as getting live bait.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, tuna, wahoo, striped marlin, blue marlin, sailfish, barred pargo, pargo liso, dog-tooth snapper (cubera), roosterfish, cabrilla, sierra, pompano, trevally, triggerfish, yellow snapper, jack crevalle, bonito.
FISHING on a SCALE of 1-10: 6
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…(largest fishing gallery ever!)
Long-time Tailhunter fish brothers of ours…Jason Correia and John Stone from San Diego with plenty of dorado meat on the day!
Somewhere behind that dorsal fin is a very happy Sam Hernandez who finally got his big rooster! Fish was released. Maybe 80 pounds?
Captain Armando with Pepe Valdivia and Rich Glover from San Diego area on their first visit to us. Big dorado and a striped marlin that could not be released. They donated the meat.
Captain Pancho put Carlos Sanabria and Mike Shaw on the hat trick…a dorado…a wahoo and big yellowfin tuna! Carlos and Mike come every year.
Randy Choate…one of our bestest from Boise ID, spent several weeks with us. He already had the meat from a 230+ pound tuna and a bunch of huge dorado in our freezers. His last day fishing he went for “smaller fish.” Instead, he hooks this big blue marlin with Captain Julio!
These gents have been fishing with Tailhunter over 25 years. Roger “Smiley” McCracken and Shelton Donnell from Oregon hooked both these tuna at the same time with Captain Pancho and battled over 2 hours with fish pulling in opposite directions. Estimated 120-130 pound yellowfin.
Craig Wong…another big bull for the box. Caught at the buoys backside Cerralvo Island.
Twin brothers, Micah and Alex Cascone…Micah from Philadelphia and Alex from Orange Co. were with big group of friends for Alex’s bachelor party. Alex with the dorado and Micah with the unusual pargo liso (mullet snapper) which is usually a cold-water fish! Both tasty and ended up for dinner at our Tailhunter Restaurant.
All smiles. Captain Joel and Mike Shaw. Dorado finally starting to show north of La Paz.
Our flyfishers are having a tough time with the continuing winds and have persevered and been patient. Like Libby Wolfensberger from San Francisco finally got a rooster in the shallows.
Yea…even in this strange year…oversized wahoo south end of Cerralvo Island. All the fish seem over-sized this year. Not as many, but it’s quality over quantity. Captain Jorge lends a hand…and a thumb! Part of Alex Cascone’s bachelor group! Great guys.
Captain Gerardo has been hot putting guys on the big dorado like these 4 beasts ready to fillet.
Marty Levy cradles a big-girth roosterfish before releasing it after the quick photo.
Amigo, Al Beilstein has been with us many times and looks happy with this nice rooster or is straining to hold it for the photo. Either way, nice fish, Al! Quickly released too!
Trophy dorado! One more for the freezer for Mark Njaa from Reno NV area. His 2nd time with us.
Seb and Rich…two fun guys on their first trip withus…a striper and sailfish. Could not be released. With Captain Armando. Much meat was donated.
Captain Jorge with our attorney Ed Bull from Arizona and John Colborn a district judge in Nebraska. John isn’t smiling, but he was way funny here. His first time and Ed’s 2nd visit!
More of the great gang that came for Alex Cascone’s bachelor trip…look at the size of these bulls!
Micah Cascone really wanted that roosterfish. On the last day, after several days of catching other species, he finally got this nice fish for the photo and released it.
Smile says it all! First fish of the sunrise for Rich Glover. First visit from San Diego.
Captain Armando with Pepe and Rich…another day…more fish for the freezer!
Karen Scarpulla and Captain Moncho finally got one on the flyrod . Big continuing winds make it hard to get bait and throw the flyrod, but Karen and friends kept at it.
Bo Smith reserved this trip when he was in Japan! Not a bad way to start the fishing week. More big bulls!
Geoff Baynes was only able to fish a few hours, but made the most of it!
Roger and Shelton again…what a day. They still had 3 more days to fish!
Tatum Widmer and his dad, Treve got nice pair of mahi. Earlier in the week, Tatum battled his first marlin.
Jenn Devore and dad, Doug Fowler and her striper. Couldn’t be released and meat was donated. Jenn also fought a big blue for several hours before it busted of right at color next to the panga.
Pancho and Carlos Sanabria…striper! Quick photo and release!
Captain Hugo with Barb and Randy Choate with more slabs of dorado for the cooler! Huge bulls again!
Some nicer cabrilla and pargo hitting over the reefs now. Richard was with Captain Licho north of La Paz past Punta Coyote.
Gary Mouritzen pulled this big roosterfish just off the rocks at Punta Perrico. Photo and quick release with the big smiles! Gary is from San Diego on his first visit with us.
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YES YES YES!
I know this is a bit late. I’m getting e-mails and phone calls daily wondering what’s up or what’s wrong?
Listen…it usually takes about a day to put the report together. Doing the video takes about 3 hours…one take. No re-do. I turn on the camera. I shoot it. I throw it together, mistakes and all. it is what it is!
Since the last report…it has taken about 4 days to edit photos. I had over 200 fish photos to go through and edit! This is the largest weekly gallery I think I have ever had and you’re only seeing about 40% of the photos! There was JUST NO ROOM or TIME! I couldn’t wait longer to get the fishing report out! It had to go…
Oh plus, we’re running up to 20 pangas/day right now so lots of moving parts an 20-hour days!
So, apologies! I’m sorry it’s late and if you were fishing I’m sorry maybe your photo of your giant fish didn’t make it or I might have mentioned you were from Chicago instead of New Orleans! There are some honest mistakes! I was in a hurry!
So, about the fishing…
I’m still not going to say it was great fishing. That’s the double-dog honest truth. It is GREAT fishing for some incredible fish. I mean, look at the photos!
These are trophy fish! In 31 years, here, I’ve never seen so many BIG fish. Anglers are getting fish-of-a-lifetime. They are catching personal best fish. They are catching trophy fish . The are catching some fish that are close to world records! First-timers are getting giant fish that anglers would give a right arm to catch. We’re seeing epic battles with fish lasting 2…3…4…or more hours!!!
It’s incredible. My fish packing crew and I have been in the fish packing room for up to 5 hours each afternoon packing hundreds of pound of fillets. And this does NOT count the fish that break off…the fish they release…the extra fish they are giving away to captains and folks on the beach!
So…it’s been crazy!
But, here’s the reason why I say the fishing isn’t that great. For this time of year, we should be catching alot more fish. Maybe not so large, but surely alot more action.
For every boat that comes back loaded with giant fish…2 other boats got NOTHING! For all our Las Arenas fleet boats that are coming back loaded our La Paz Fleet boats continue to struggle to catch fish. So, not everyone is catching fish every day.
And boats that slam fish one day could blank the next day. Boats that get goosed one day could be heroes the next.
There are several reasons for that.
One is that the weather is still erratic. It’s hot. It’s cold. It’s flat calm. It’s breezy. It’s windy. Ocean is rough. Ocean is blue. Ocean is dirty. Take your pick! And this could all happen in a single day!
Right now, it should be flat, calm and hot.
But, every day…every hour things seem to change. And all of that effects the water conditions and ergo the fishing.
Secondly, bait is extremely hard to get. Again, affected by the compromised weather conditions. Sometimes, it’s taking 2 or 3 hours to find, buy or catch enough live bait to fish. That makes for a tough day. One boat can find all the live bait they need. The next boat can struggle all day.
So, it’s hard to have expectations every day that are consistent.
All I can say is that you gotta put a line in the water. If you don’t fish, you definitely won’t catch anything. You gotta just follow your captains lead. They’re trying like heck to find bait and find fish also! You can’t be jumping in a boat and say, “I want a wahoo!” or “I want a marlin.”
The fish we are catching are not targeted. It’s what’s biting at that moment…in that spot…at that time. Fish for roosterfish and catch a giant cubera snapper. Chase dorado and hook a sailfish. Chase giant dorado and a huge blue marlin or tuna hits. It’s an honest crapshoot.
More specifically, yes, the big roosterfish are still here. We’re getting fish between 40 and 60 pounds on the average, but some others easily in the 80-100-pound class! The problem is catching and spending the time to find the big lady fish to use for live bait. We are still releasing them.
Billfish…more than I have ever seen. We got several blue marlin between 200 and 300 pounds. One battle lasted 5 hours. Another was fought for 6 hours. Have never seen so many. Also striped marlin and sailfish being hooked as well. Most of the marlin and all the sailfish are getting mostly released, or if not much of the meat is getting donated.
Also, got a few more of the slugger 100+ pound tuna. No big bite, but if you can get ahead of a school of fast-moving porpoise, there are some beefy tuna running with them. But, hold on…expect 1-2 hour battles!
Same with wahoo. Some of the largest wahoo I have seen in these waters. Most of them coming off the north and south end of Cerralvo Island on jigs. But other guys are getting bit on live bait and getting cut off.
The big story is the huge dorado . All bulls. No females! Normally, this time of year, we should be getting limits of 5-15 pound dorado. Instead, if you get into them, you’re coming back with maybe 1-3 fish total. But, they could be 30-50 pound beasts! Or you get nothing!
Other species…bonito, jacks, pargo, amberjack, pompano, trevally, dog-tooth snapper, barred pargo…
Oh…AND ALL OF THIS ON A FULL MOON!
So, bottom line…there’s not alot of fish. But, there’s some really really BIG fish! If you’re fishing a few days with us like most folks…I think you have a good shot at catching one of the biggest fish of your life! But, you might have just one crack at it, so bring your “A” game!
That’s my (long) story and apologies again! I still have more fish photos to edit so some of them will have to be on the next report!
Cheers and best fishes!
Jonathan & 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
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