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The quiet before the holidays? There just weren't that many fishermen out or much of anyone out the week before Christmas. Just as well...it was darned cold and windy earlier in the week.

CRAZY COLD WEATHER FRONT HITS WITH WINDS EARLY IN THE WEEK!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of December 19-26, 2011

Not much fishing earlier in the week when both winds and low temperatures contributed to less than ideal fishing conditions.  Night time temperatures dropped unbelievably into the frosty 40’s and daytime temperatures barely above 60 some days. Add blustery wind and it was better for us to tell just some of our fishing clients who had extra days to just hang out in town and wait until things got better.   For most, it turned out to be a better move.  As the week went on, it settled a bit although remained chilly. 

One thing folks forget is that when it’s really windy, it’s not just tough fishing, but also can be very difficult to get live bait which compound efforts.  So, later in the week when things calmed down a bit we were able to get some sardines and using both sardines and slow trolling smaller crank baits and shiny spoons, we got into some nice sierra up to about 5 pounds inshore both off Bahia de Los Muertos as well as in La Paz Bay.   As well, some decent cabrilla helped top off the fish boxes plus a few stray dorado were caught up to about 10 pounds.

There were report by some of the commercial guys of hooking some tuna near Cerralvo Island, but when we went out to confirm, nothing showed up as rough off-color waters were left over from the winds. We also got reports of some big squid that were caught as well.  We’ll keep an eye out!

 That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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We don't catch alot of these during the prime-time part of the season, let alone the off-season during the winter, but these colorful hard-fighters are called palometa jacks and we've probably gotten more in the last 2 weeks than we've gotten in the last several seasons combined. Schools of the good-eating fish are congregating just offshore at the drop-offs near the reefs and beaches. Tim Zimmer got a handful just off the beach behind him of east Cerralvo Island.

It's a pretty simple formula. When the wind doesn't blow we're still able to get dorado even this late in the season. If the wind DOES blow, it gets pretty scratchy. Verdo Boyd fished with us a number of day over the past week-and-a-half and did a pretty good number on a variety of fish including dorado like this one. She was fishing with Captain Jorge.

Tim Zimmer fished with us a bunch of days since last week and shows off a pretty typical catch right now with a mix of sierra and the occasional dorado. He's posing here on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos near Las Arenas.

It's been a long and crazy year! However, we count our blessing each day and thank you for being a part of those blessings. Enjoy the holidays and may the new year bring you all things good and thank you for asking us to share in the smiles all these years! You're the best!

ONLY TWO STRONG DAYS OF WIND MAKE FOR SOME DECENT WINTER FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 11-18, 2011

The early part of the week was really quite nice fishing.  It was cloudy and overcast, but not cold and best of all…not windy!  Nice and flat.  And the fishing surprised us.  Good catches of dorado up to 20 pounds were hitting  just out of Bahia de Los Muertos as well as south side of Cerralvo Island.  One private boat of amigos went out to the 88 and said it was “unlimited” dorado fishing…”catch and release as fast as we could go full speed!”  All of this in winter!

As well, there were the bread-and-butter fish…sierra willing to go as well.  Our boats were averaging about 4-15 nice sierra with some up to 5 pounds and when a good school was found, the fish were voracious!  In addition to the sierra, we also found some surprising palometa schools which are members of the jack family…sort of like a greenish/yellow jack crevalle.  Great fighters and good eating as well!  A bit like pompano.  Some of the commercial guys out there were thick into the fish.

All of this was while the skies were grey and the winds were flat…

Then, about Thursday, the sun popped out and skies were brilliant.  And the winds came back up!  And fishing sort of tanked.  Bait got hard to find.  Fish scattered. Some scratchy sierra and dorado fishing.  Really picky bite.  And that was it…

Saturday, the winds died down again and the fish popped back up…it’s going to be a typical pattern during the winter.   But that’s what it’s like this time of year.  Everything is variable and you just have to roll with whatever is biting.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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Yes! Even tho' it's a tad chilly out there and it's December, we got into dorado again as some of the better conditions of the month came out and the winds laid down allowing us to get some blue-water species like Tim Zimmer's Dorad held by Captain Jorge. The "blue water" fish was only caught about 1/4 mile off shore. Don't have to go far!

It's a completely 180 degree catch! Sierra are thick and normally caught in winter when waters are cold. Dorado are warm water fish that we usually catch in the summer and fall! But both species are hitting this past week with our pangas out've Bahia de Los Muertos with our amiga, Verda Boyd, just retired as a sherrif's officer enjoying her new "permanent vacation status!" Boats were averaging 1-4 dorado per outing and limits of sierra.

BEST CONDITIONS IN AWHILE ALLOW US TO CHASE SOME DORADO WHILE STILL WORKING INSHORE!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 4-11, 2011

It’s hard to keep calling these wacky weather weeks.  It is what it is.  It’s winter now.  Some days are incredibly windy.  They are the kinds of days you just should not be out there.  The next day it’s flat and sunny.  The next day it’s cloudy.  Winds can shift direction half-a-dozen times in a day.

Fortunately, this past week were one of the calmest weeks of the last month or so.  The week started out like a wind-tunnel, but just as suddenly, it shut off and we had a number of cloudy, but just slightly breezy days that allowed us to work outside a bit for some species we normally wouldn’t be getting right now in winter.

There aren’t that many fishermen in town right now.  It’s that lull between American holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  La Paz is getting in to “Christmas mode” with decorations and evidence of the approaching holidays.  We’re seeing more trees and lights and other Santa paraphanelia although, in truth, since there’s no Thanksgiving here in Mexico as it’s an American holiday, Christmas decorations started popping up right after Halloween.

Anyway, as far as fishing, on the calm days, like I said, there’s some nice species out there.  We continue to find flurries of dorado around both Espiritu Island and Cerralvo Island and some breezing tuna were also encountered in the channel out to Cerralvo.  Fish were football 10-20 pounders but moving fast and just a few were caught.  Dorado can still be up to 30 pounds, but most are 10 pounders.  Roosterfish, sierra and pargo can be found inshore in most places where there’s some kind of underwater structure.  The two most prominent species are the sierra where you can load up your fish box pretty fast if you hit the school just right.   And then the surprise dorado that are running about 5-15 pounds are producing about 1-4 per day.

We’ll keep you posted!   Hope the holidays are treating you right!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

                       

 

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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Waters are cooling fast and conditions are changing, but there's still dorado around. Cole Chavira from San Diego took this one this past week fishing out've La Paz

 

Randy Lyons from Elk Grove, CA, shows the kinda of sierra action we're getting at many inshore places right now

WINTER CONDITIONS BRING SPORADIC FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 20-27, 2011

As I’m writing this, it’s raining in La Paz.  It’s been an up-and-down week for weather which has reflected in the fishing.  Although this is the first real rain, it’s been threatening some days.  Other days it’s windy.  Other days it’s bright sunny perfect.  This is pretty typical for the change-in-season ,but I had to say, it’s gotten cooler faster than I remember.  Many of us locals are already wearing jackets and long pants and it never hurts to keep a sweatshirt handy if the winds come up and it gets a little chilly (chilly for us!…the tourist think we’re nuts!).

 

Anyway, the fishing is pretty much dictated by the weather conditions which obviously dictate the water conditions.

 

I’m not so worried about a little bit of rain.  Yea, it’s cooler and you might get a bit of wet…it never lasts long.  But, even when it rains, normally, there’s not alot of wind so you can still get into some decent fishing.  If there’s wind, that’s when things are not so good.  Wind churns up waves and chop.  Wind brings surf and turns up the water, especially in the areas where we have to look for bait in the shallow areas.  If the winds are over a few days then the water can get really turned up and green and cloudy.  Not so good for fishing…at least not for pelagic species like the dorado and billfish and maybe even some tuna that are still out there…if you can get to them…if the conditions are right…if the water is not turned up and if you can get bait!  That’s alot of “if’s”. 

 

But even when it’s windy, at least there’s some good inshore fishing to be had.  This past week, we still got into good numbers of sierra, cabrilla and snapper.  Some of the sierra this year are already some of the larger sierra I think I’ve seen in awhile.  I kid you not when I say, they look like baby wahoo!  Teeth and sleek!  Some 5 pound sierra are not uncommon.  That’s a nice sized fish, especially on light tackle.  We’re seeing more and more pargo as well…mostly the barred pargo and yellow pargo/ snapper, but all tough in the rocks and great eating.  A few times, we still got into dorado.  Good spots are east of Espiritu Santo Island; the south end of Cerralvo Island and around Punta Perrico especiallly on the south end in the ensenada curve by the old Hotel Las Arenas.  If you can’t get bait, then trolling smaller feather or skipping  the small plastic hoochies on the surface chop gets the strikes.  If you only have a little bait, then get a hookup on the trolled lures or feathers then draw the fish in with the live bait!

 

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and best fishes for a safe and happy Holiday Season!

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745 Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico Phones: from USA : 626-638-3383 from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

 

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It was all about the winds this week. When the winds laid down, there was some pretty decent dorado fishing like this one that Richard Ogden got out of La Paz

There were a few days this week when it wasn't exactly sunny, as we had some cloudy days, but it was perfect weather minus the wind for lots of sierra for both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets.

It's late in the season, but there's still some nice dorado to be had around Las Arenas and Cerralvo Island like this one held by Rich McClanahan. One other thing...you pretty much have the whole ocean to yourself these days!

IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE WIND NOT THE MOON THIS WEEK!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 6-13, 2011

Very slow week of fishing.  I thought it was a combination of the full moon plus the strong northerly winds that even forced the port captain to close La Paz boat traffic for part of a day.  The old double whammy.  It was really scratch fishing.  Some dorado.  A few sierra.  But for the most part, it was a real stretch to get fish.

 

Then the winds stopped.   And we a had a few days of only light breezes…

What a difference!

 We still had a full moon.  But suddenly we got some breaks in the wind and the fish came to eat!  All of a sudden, we got limits or near limits of sierra and dorado with both our Las Arenas and our Tailhunter Fleets.  Some of the sierra were nice grade 3-6 pounders.  The dorado were likewise some nice bulls up to about 25 pounds.

 Inshore up tight over the reefs and outcrops, we got some really nice action on pargo, cabrilla and roosterfish as well. 

So, although I was about to say we’ve turned the corner and are officially in “winter fishing” hold everything!  Maybe we can squeeze out a few more weeks of fishing out’ve this season because just as we were typing this up, we got some reports from commercial pangeros that there were still some marlin, sailfish and tuna lurking.  So…fingers crossed!

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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Late in the season is a good time to chase the bigger bull dorado we see here in La Paz. What we might lack in quantity with fewer small fish is made up for with larger trophies like these two that Rich Ogden from Morro Bay CA got fishing with Captain Chito north of La Paz.

I don't know how much longer the tuna will be around as waters cool, but both the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island are still producing fish between 25 and 80 pounds although it's getting a big bumpy and windy out there! Our good friends, John and Dolores Ehlers came out from Colorado to spend a week with us and got into some nice fish like those they pose with here at Muertos Bay.

From Utah, Justin and Jarron Cozad had some nice days on the water with us including a good day chasing the dorado around Espiritu Santo Island. Here's two of their catch. That's La Paz in the background.

After several trips to La Paz, Coral Ogden from Durango, CO put her biggest dorado in the boat and had "her best day fishing" with a solid day of big dorado. She was fishing live bait on the west side of Espirito Santo Island.

Captain Archangel with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet bends to get out of the way of the photo with Justin Cozad holding up another nice yellowfin tuna. Check the flat waters! They were fishing the ridge south of Cerralvo Island chunking drifted dead sardines.

It's been an unusually productive last few weeks on striped marlin and especially sailfish which we usually see in the spring and early summer. For whatever reason, we seem to be hooking quite a few sails which are a nice bonus for many anglers who have never hooked a billfish. Most of them are getting released or breaking off on light tackle. John Ehlers battled this estimated 150 pound sail for 3 hours...his first! This is a BIG sail. They were not able to release it and the meat was donated.

IT’S GETTING COOLER AND WINDIER AS CROWDS THIN BUT FISH STILL BITE!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2011

It wasn’t a bad week of fishing.  It was a really good week for fishing down here.  It’s just that there weren’t alot of fishermen.  So, overall, the counts might not look that good, but it’s deceiving because there’s just not that many folks fishing this past week!  Almost like clockwork, November hits and I think folks are already gearing up for the holidays.  There’s a bit of a lull in anglers coming to town.  However, those that showed up were treated to finding themselves often the only folks on the hot spots and cooperative fish willing to bite!

 

For our Las Arenas fleet, the tuna are still there.  Both north and south Cerralvo gave up some nice fish with some fish in the 50-60 pound class found at the north end of the island, but a long way to run from Bahia de Los Muertos where our pangas are beached these days.  However, if you were looking for quality, that’s where you had to go.  The south end of the island that has been a hot spot for the last several weeks still kicked out the 25-40 pounders…a real nice grade of yellowfin and usually about the size that most can handle without busting a back, gut, or fishing rod! 

 

Again, we’re using fresh dead sardines for bait and drifting over the spots.  The biggest problem has been a sealion or two that continues to pester and bogart many of the fish that are hooked up.  Nothing like watching the big dog take a big tuna right off your line that you’ve been fighting for an hour and leave you with only a head as it swims away and then teases you by tossing the carcass back and forth in front of you!  Grrrrrr….

 

Legally, we can’ t do anything, but some anglers have found that when they see the sealion approach they put their reel into free-spool and at least give their tuna a fighting chance to dive down and escape.  It seems to work about 1/2 the time. 

 

As well for our Las Arenas anglers, they’re still finding those big roosters, a nice smattering of late-season sailfish and marlin plus an increasing number of sierra, pargo and cabrilla.

 

For our La Paz anglers, those fishing north from the city near Espiritu Santo Island are still finding a good quality dorado with some really exceptional bulls being taken up to about 30-40 pounds.  Live sardines, caballito and strips of dead bonito are working best.  Don’t be surprised either by big sailfish and marlin still moving in the warm waters.  Inside the bay where waters are cooling, more and more sierra are being caught.

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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It was a pretty good week for long drawn out battles and bent rods! Rod Brown, our Alaska amigo, and popular Captain Jorge who can only watch as the minutes start to pile up!

Typical of this week's tuna, Sed Roldan and Bob Dominguez of Hacienda Hts. CA heft up a few of their yellowfin tuna taken just south of Cerralvo Island. Most days the boats averaged 1-4 of these fish per day, but the fish were a nice-grade 25-45 pound fish that often took close to an hour to put aboard, especially since the fish preferred light line!

John McVay from Valencia CA finds his way to us each year for about 5 days of hardcore fishing. Hard to argue with a first day of 8 fat tuna. Maybe one of the best days that any of our amigos have had all year with the yelllowfin. About day 3, John actually hurt his elbow on these slugger fish and had to beg off his last day to get some therapy on his arm! John's a good angler. These fish can be pretty brutal.

The last thing a sardine sees before it goes into the pie hole of a big tuna! All the way from S. Caroline, Luke strikes a pose with his yellowfin at Muertos Bay.

Most of you reading this report will see this photo and the next and say..."What in the world is THAT?" In 16 years down here, I've rarely gotten to see a photo of one myself, but these are the much sought-after fish called the SNOOK! (ROBALO). Highly treasured gamefish and great eating, they're normally found around structure or in pilings or shallow water or in the channels, of bays or in the mangroves. They are supposedly great eating and can get up to 40 or 50 pounds. In all my years here, only a handful have been caught. Rod Brown and his brother Jeff (photo below) were fishing the island with Captain Joel and they said, all of a sudden, the school of snook came up and tore into them!

Jeff Brown from Minnesota, joined his brother, Rod (photo above) and Captain Joel and show off more of the snook they caught at the island. A remarkable catch. The fish only stayed around for a short while, but you can see how close to shore they were fishing.

We keep getting asked if there are roosterfish still around. Hmmmm...you think? That's Punta Perico in the back. Thanks for our buddy, Roger Thompson, for the shot of Larry Rose from Long Beach with this bad boy that they released. We actually got some nicer grade roosters at the end of the week in the 30-60 pound class.

Oh yea...this one too! Mike Wythe and Captain Hugo with another beast. (released).

Lest you think we're not catching dorado, actually yes...we're getting good numbers of dorado with our La Paz fleet. Dorado have been our bread-and-butter fish. Pretty reliable if you want to have some fun and want some fillets for the cooler! Also, for those who wonder if I still got game and get out on the water...yes I do! This is me and my dad who visited us this week.

Cute couple of the week and also first-timers with us...Lance and Kim Miles from Utah had some good days of fishing with us!

Childhood friends who now live in 3 different states, Jonathan Duc Le, Matt Trinh and Hau Pham from Texas, Colorado and New Mexico try to get together at least once a year. This year they picked us to visit and got into some good doardo and tuna fishing.

Randy Sharon and I went to law school together and it's always great to see him. Captain Armando helps out with this thick fat yellowfin tuna.

It's a long way from S. Carolina to Baja and Jerry Wansack planned the trip for 3 years to make it down...and then made it worth his while by fishing the whole week getting tuna, dorado and roosterfish for his efforts.

WEEKLY FISHING VIDEO CLIPS!

Got some GREAT stuff this week including underwater shots of tuna and dorado.  It’s a bit longer than normal, but turn up the sound and check this out:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEq_4b1gydI

FULL MOON KINDER TO US THIS TIME…FISH CHEW NICELY!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 9-16, 2011

It wasn’t too bad of a week of fishing, alll things considered. (Full moon…high tides…some winds left over from the hurricane!)  We were surely a bit nervous as the week kicked off. 

 

First, we were surely watching the full moon which was big as all get-out.  Normally, the full moon is no biggie, but this year, I don’t know what it is.  The full moon has really played games with our fishing. 

 

Second, we were glued to our web pages and weather channels following 4 different storms to the south of us (including Hurricane Jova that ended up dumping alot of water on Puerta Vallarta)  that had our phones ringing and our e-mails buzzing.  “Should we cancel our trip?”

 

Fortunately the storms failed to materialize except for one day of strong winds that stumped the fishing and the full moon didn’t yank our chain too hard…and the fish bit!

 

The tuna bite off Las Arenas was hardly over-the-top, but it was a decent week for fish in the 25-45 pound shot.  These were thick muscular stubborn growling fish.  Most folks had a shot at 1 or 2 and that was pretty much it.  No mas!  Either the bite shut off or folks were done and wanted to fish for something a little more forgiving.  I mean, most of these fish were close to an hour to put on the boat!  That’s a long time for most people.  The bite was off the south end of Cerralvo Island.  Some days it started really early.  As soon as baits were put in the water…WHAM!  Hook up! 

 

Other times, the bonito went crazy until about 11 or so then the tuna moved in.  The one hitch in everything was the sardine situation.  The sardines are smaller than your little finger.  They  are so small you can’t put them on a hook without impaling them and killing them so we’re fishing them dead.  Just chunking and drifting big handfuls in the water and making the tuna come up for them. Except for one day when we literally got only 1 bonito per boat/day, most days it’s been 1-5 yellowfin tuna per boat/day with our Las Arenas fleet.

 

With our La Paz fleet, well, the dorado were off just a tad, but overall, still pretty reliable fishing for dorado in the 10-20 pound class with occasional 30 pounders in the box.  Sometimes we’d hit a big school and it would be crazy as every rod goes off. Other times, it was a pick bite with 1 here…1 there…and at the end of the day, there would be a box of dorado on the boat.  You could never tell.  Our hot spots moved from Las Cruces off Cerralvo Island to the waters west of Espirito Santo Island. 

 

With other species we had a nice batch of sailfish and marlin hook ups this week.  No one was really fishing for them, but the billfish came up and bit.  Most of the fish were lost or released, but made for some good unexpected fun.  Also, good bites of pargo , cabrilla and roosterfish, some larger ones late in the week,  in the shallows.

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 


Website:
www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.


Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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Team Owner Hooks showed up to fish our tuna bite this week. Popular fishing personality, Dennis Yamamoto of Owner Hooks (middle) brought all the guys down for 3 days and got into fish between 25-45 pounds fishing with our Tailhunter Las Fleet. We had a great time with them. From left to right: Maurice Nakagawa; Ken Imoto; Gerry Koyama; Randy Kanemaki; Dennis Yamamoto; Miles Nakahara; Clark Saito; Dennis Fong...thanks guys!

Our buddy, Dan McCormick, from Oregon escaped the OR rain this week and shows off the type of quality tuna we got off Las Arenas. Dan got 5 of these slugs this day.

Lots of our veteran anglers, many with lots of tuna experience, were telling us that "These tuna were fighting like fish alot bigger!" Jeff Brown (Minnesota) , Captain Jorge, and Rod Brown (Alaska), our amigos who visit us twice a year, fished an entire week with us and spent anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour or more on each hookup with yellowfin. We had some clients spent over 2 hours on their fish and lots of anglers commented that for some reason, these fish fought like tuna much much larger. It also didn't help that the fish preferred light tackle so 20-30 pound line got bit the most.

Just so you don't think we only caught tuna this week, Rich Miles from Utah justifiably shows off the beast of a bull dorado he caught north of La Paz with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. We didn't catch as many dorado this week as in the past, but the quality seemed to make up for the loss of quantity with bigger and better fish like this beast.

Like I said, these fish were "beasts in battle." Check out our great friends, Jorge Romero and Bob Duncan from Santa Barbara. Look closely at Bob's mouth. He's holding the tip of his custom rod that got snapped off while fighting a tuna.

Roger Van Steenkiste is 84-years-old often comes to visit us in La Paz twice a year and usually outfishes and out-lasts all of his younger sons and friends. Here, he's showing off some dorado with our other amigo, Jerell Mulhollan from New Jersey.

Grandpa and grandson, Jeremy and Jim Reeves at Las Arenas with Jeremy's first tuna. No word on if Grandpa Jim made him eat the heart!

Our San Diego connection for the week, amigo Jock Argust, put this nice slug yellowfin tuna in the box. The bite was really strange this week. One day there would be 1-2 fish per boat. The next day the fish would come up boiling and produce 4-6 fish per boat.

VIDEO HIGHTLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK

Got some good stuff this week.  Check out the images and video clips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjzVB-7Sw6g

SCRAPPY TUNA AT LAS ARENAS PICKY BUT HIGHLIGHT THE WEEK!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 2-9, 2011

It’s a bit difficult to characterize the week.  If you’re looking at sheer numbers, it wasn’t a very good week of fishing.  I mean, 1-5 fish per panga/day doesn’t sound like much.  And it’s not.  You’d be right. Even the dorado, which had been our bread-and-butter fish, weren’t exactly cooperative.

 

However, the other side of the coin is that the fish we DID catch…they were generally bruisers! And one or two fish could fill a cooler.

 

For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, the tuna were anemic and picky but no doubt they were there.  Early in the week it started with 25-30 pound fish.  By the end of the week it was 30-45 pound fish with some 50’s, 60’s and even and estimated 140 pounder on the beach!  The fish were selective and generally only hitting light tackle in the 20-40 pound lines so that meant long drawn out battles of 45, 60, 90 or even (in two cases)…almost 3 hours on fish.  That’s a butt-kicker in the hot Baja sun.

 

So, when you look at the numbers, and that it takes that long to get a fish to the boat, not many fish show up in the counts.  Also, take into effect that you could fight a fish for an hour or so…and then BOING…YOU LOSE IT!  There goes an hour of fishing time.  GONE!  The school might be gone by then.  You don’t get many shots.  So, it’s a gamblers odds on putting fish in the panga.  If you put 3, 4, or 5 of these sluggers in the boat, you’re both good AND lucky!

 

Some notes, often the tuna bite has been late in the day.  Some days the fish are all over the waters and you can see them running under the boat.  And they won’t eat a single bait.  Also, the baits are incredibly small.  I’ve never seen baits this small. I’m not kidding.  Some of these baits are about 2-3 inches long!!!  So, if you’re coming down, you want small strong hooks.  We had  Dennis Yamamoto and the Team from Owner hooks with us and all of them are experienced tuna fishermen and they were using flyline Owner hooks and 20-30 pound lines and even they lost some fish but still took home full coolers. 

 

“These fish just seemed to fight larger than fish their size! I couldn’t believe it!” said one of our guys from Oregon

 

“After 3 days of fishing, not a single fish took less than an hour!” said another.  “And these fish were mostly 25-35 pounds, but fought like 50 pounders.  I do San Diego long range and have fished Baja before ,but these fish seemed like they were juiced or something!”

 

For some of our anglers, 1 or 2 of these beast tuna was enough for the day. “We decided to go fish for roosterfish after those first fish,” said one of our fishermen.  “I really wanted to experience catching a tuna and now I know.  Those things pull alot harder than salmon or halibut!”

 

Anyway, it was the same with many of our dorado as well. Fewer fish this week again.  Normally, we’ve been catching limits or near limits for the entire summer.  However, the last two weeks it’ dwindled to 2-6 dorado per boat.  However, again, it’s quality over quantity.  We’re seeing larger and stronger bulls in the mix.  A number of fish were in the 25-30 pound class and 40 pounders were caught every day with one fish estimated at over 50 pounds taken as well.

 

Not sure what the next week will bring.  It seems every week is a surprise. 

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

 

 

               

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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Although the main focus has been on the tuna and dorado bite, roosterfish are still around and are a great trophy catch. Trudy wanted one of these and got it just off the Las Arenas lighthouse which is a world-reknowned "roosterfish alley." The pretty fish took a live sardine and was quickly released after the photo.

Our Sacramento amigo, Wade Gomes, comes to visit us yearly and shows off one of the nicer dorado we've been getting with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. The bite was a little stickier this week than normal, but schools of dorado are definitely around and the bite got better as the week went on.

Shane Grove from Utah gets a special mention. Y'know some guys will wear our Tailhunter t-shirt. Some sport our Tailhunter stickers. Take a look at the inset photo. Shane went and got our Tailhunter logo tatooed on his shoulder! This so rocks! Thanks, Fish Brother. Oh...nice dorado too!

Our yellowfin tuna at Las Arenas were better than last week when we had the full moon, but still not exactly wide open on the bite. Our pangas averaged 1-5 tuna per boat and the bite was late in the day. Fish went 20-30 pounds on the average like the nice trio of tuna caught by our buddy, Leif Dover, who came ovef from Hong Kong where he works. This was his 2nd trip to see us in two months! He's an animal fisherman!

Over the last few weeks, the ladies have really been doing well. Marsha Barnett, on her first trip to La Paz, spent 3 days catching dorado like these. She's holding this one after her first day fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.

Another of our lady anglers who had a banner week, Kathy Terbu, from Utah pulled this nice bull out of the waters west of Espiritu Santo Island. The bite for our La Paz fleet was a little off but dorado got hungier as the week went on.

Johnny Terbu had a banner week of fishing and snorkeling with us and all the while kept his flyrod handy just-in-case. On his last day, the dorado boiled up all around the boat and he was able to get in some casts hooking up on dorado like this one in the channel between Cerralvo Island and Las Cruces. Here's what John said: " Awesome trip! Best day we had was 13 Dorado! Done by 12:00 noon. Also, got the 1 tuna I wanted. Even got one onthe fly rod! 12 wt. isn't big enough. Go big or stay home.Can't wait til next trip. Thanks so much for a wonderful trip and condo!"

POST – FULL MOON BITE IMPROVES WITH BETTER DORADO AND TUNA FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 25-Oct. 2, 2009

It wasn’t the best of weeks for fishing, but it was certainly better than the week before when we had the full moon playing games with us.  It was still scratchy fishing but the fish were more cooperative to a degree.  But, we still had to work hard for them.  Things were compounded by the fact that many days the bite was late in the day.  So, sometimes guys would get out to the spot and sit there…and sit there…and sit there…and work the area with their captain.

 

There’s only so much patience.  And, in some cases, they’d get the captains to leave the spot and go hunt for roosterfish or cabrilla or some other species.  Those boats that stuck around would suddenly get rewards with biters of tuna or dorado.  It’s just a matter of knowing when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.  Of course, being fish…sometimes sitting at one spot didn’t do much good either and the guys who pulled off found some action.

 

Anyway, for our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, tuna were the center stage again.  Fish were a bit larger this week.  Most fish were in the  20-25 pound class, which is a real bull for alot of folks, but there were others in the 30-40 pound class and some larger that anglers never saw and busted off.   If you count up 1-5 tuna per boat/day then add in a few dorado and about 20 bonito and the occasional roosterfish, it’s an arm-tiring day especially in some cases where all the pandemonimium doesn’t even start until late in the day!

 

For our La Paz fleet, well, the dorado continue to be good to us and honestly, the mahi are our bread-and-butter-fish.  All summer we could count on them to bend the rods and fill the ice chests.  This week, they were a little more reluctant.  Not so crazy, but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in quality.  Quite a few fish were in that nice grade 30-40 to pound size!  So, one or two fish could stuff a fish box very easily and it wasn’t unusual to see big tails sticking out of the fix boxes because the whole fish wouldn’t fit with the lids on.

 

Knock on wood, we did dodge hurricane Hillary that kept our attention most of the week and had us answering phone calls and e-mails from clients wondering if they should still come down.  I don’t want to spit in the face of the weather-gods but Hillary fizzled and we didn’t even get any strong winds or storms.  We were pretty happy about that, needless to say.  We still have to keep an eye on the weather as we wind down the season, but it’s clear that fall is coming.  Shadows are longer.  It’s a tad cooler.  A bit breezier.  We hope the fish keep biting.

 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

 

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Retired fire captain, Jesse Franco, shows off one of the type of yellowfin tuna typical of what we were catching this week off Las Arenas. The bite seemed to have suffered this past week during the full moon. Fish averaged about 20-35 pounds most days. Jess got this one on live bait just off from Punta Arenas.

It would seem to be too warm for amberjack, but several large ones were hooked this week. Amberjack are the good eating big boy cousins to yellowtail and we normally see them around late spring and early summer when conditions are cooler. However, Fabio Caldron was fishing with our amigo, Hawk Davis off Cerralvo Island when he roped this big beast estimated at 50-60 pounds or larger!

Lisa Ogle...first timer on the ocean...from Oregon probably caught the largest tuna of the week...estimated at 70 pounds by our Captain Victor. She just didn't have a camera to take a photo of it! So, you get her 2nd best tuna! We enjoy showing- off the ladies and especially when they're first timers! She and her husband Brian, a hunting guide, also got into a big day of dorado.

Dean Francoeur and Jeff Lipp hold up a couple of their yellowfin at Las Arenas. Some of the problem with the tuna may have been the difficulty in catching bait. Some days the fish bit early and other days, the tuna waiting until the last minute to bite. Dean's fish went 27 pounds on the scale.

More like it. Greg Marsalla took one of our super pangas north outta La Paz as he only had one day to fish and probably had one of the better days this week with three of them on the boat taking some quality dorado.

John "JD" Drucker makes it down every year to visit us...sometimes twice a year...when he can get away from work and always does pretty well on the fishing. He's holding one of his Las Arenas yellowfin tuna here on the beach.

Jeff Sweet fished with first-timer Greg Landerer and got 4 nice yellowfin tuna for their efforts their first day. Largest fish was 24 pounds.

Our buddy from Washington, Mike Whitlow, celebrating his birthday for an entire week in Mexico, posted up with this quality yellowfin tuna he caught fishing with Captain Adolfo.

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE WEEK!!

Sorry…no video clips this week.  FUMBLE FINGERS ME…I dropped my video cam in the water!  What a doofus. I was taking some shots and had removed the waterproof housing so that I could get better audio.   It slipped out’ve my hands.   It’s fried.    First time in all these years here that I’ve ever dropped a camera in the water.  Of course, it happens to be the ONLY camera I have that is NOT waterproof.

FULL MOON MAKES FOR A STICKY BITE BUT TUNA AND DORADO STILL ACTIVE…SORT OF…!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 11-18, 2011

Some great photos this week and if you just looked at the photos, you might be inclined to say that we had a pretty nifty week of fishing.  But….hold on…in all honesty….There was a noticeable drop off in the good tuna bite that went off last week off Punta Arenas and South Cerralvo Island. 

Not sure if it was the full moon or the scarcity of bait, but things were definitely off.  Our pangas averaged only 1-4 tuna in the 20-30 pound class although we did hit a fewer in the 40-60 pound class.  They were few and far between.  Compared to last week when 5-10 tuna in the 40-50 pound class was more the norm. 

 

But everywhere this week the bite seemed to have dropped off…even for our La Paz fleet.  Everyone got fish but it was more of a picky bite.  Excluding what you may or may not believe about a full-moon affecting things, conditions seemed good except for one thing…the bait!  It was harder to get.

 

For our Las Arenas fleet, our normally good sardine areas held few or only tiny sardines which meant some days we had to jig for caballitos.  Or, we had to go way up the east side of Cerralvo Island to find sufficient sardine supplies.  For our La Paz fleet it was also a struggle to get bait. We got the bait, but some days it took alot longer to get enough to head out.

 

Still, we did get some good dorado this week with our La Paz fleet doing better than our Las Arenas fleet. But it could be like pulling teeth at times.  Imagine some of your favorite captains…all stars like Chito, Raul, Boli, Pancho, Jorge, Victor… and others getting only 1 or 2 fish!  That’s unheard of!  Wow!  But then the boat right next to a hot boat could get 10 fish!  Crazy.

Some good roosterfishing, sailfish and marlin bites too.  Will see what happens as we move away from this full moon. 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

 

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

 
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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