La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 12-20th, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
Apologies, amigos. I tried to hold out as long as I could, but I lost my voice this week and I just couldn’t do the video. I was already starting to feel it go on last week’s video and it just went downhill. I feel fine. Just wracked my voice! I sound like Mike Tyson right now. More tea and honey! Thanks for understanding.
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tony Toven’s big roosterfish gets him grinning! That’s the beach at Punta Arenas behind him. The fish was released.
Orrin Grant all the way from Salt Lake City, Utah for his first saltwater fishing experience and his first fish is a big roosterfish. He caught and released several over the week and had some long battles.
One of our funnest guys who’s known us for years, Jim Newman comes down from Chicago for quick get-aways and loves his fishing. Check out the nice dog-tooth.
A good start to the fishing trip! Austin and Dan Dorati show a table-full of dorado headed to the freezer!
Finally!!! After watching his son battle a few big boys, Grant Parr from Utah, finally gets a rooster of his own. Well done and a strong release.
With football season getting postponed, Tommy Newman was able to come down a few days with his dad and get some dorado and other species with us.
Some fine fish meat for the table! Captain Gerardo and Tony Toven show off a pair of great barred pargo.
The masked fisherman is Austin Dorati with a fat roosterfish to start the day. The fish was released.
This week was a tad better than last week, but still wasn’t quite where it should be. This is turning into a funky season in more ways than one. It’s like the fish have been affected by world events or something like the rest of us.
One day, it feels like summer fishing with specias like dorado and billfish in the counts. The next day, it gets rougher and cooler and the wind pick up and the waters turn over. And we’re back to spring-time fishing catching cabrilla, pargo, amberjack, snapper, jack crevalle and other inshore fish. All very fun, but not typical this late in the year.
Thankfully, big roosterfish are still hanging out and throwing some thrill at the anglers.
Honestly, it’s been up and down. If you fish a few days, you’ll do OK. Some days some boats do better than others or one spots is hotter than another. If you only fish 1 day, you could be that one boat that just has a slack bite.
It’s just hard to get any consistency. Just when I thought we were on an upswing, Hurricane Genevieve came up mid-week and was supposed to be a big one. Just what we needed. Lots of clouds and winds came up. Everything got shut down. Cabo got flooded. Here in La Paz, we waited and waited.
And other than strong winds, there wasn’t even enough rain to clean the dust off my windshield. We actually could use a little rain. So, ho-hum.
Cooler than normal at 95 degrees during the day. There’s still bands of very cold water on the outside.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 27-Aug. 5, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Full moon bull! Lynn Crooks from Sparks, NV, battled this big bull “until her arms fell off” but with the help of Captain Joel, got it to the boat! Fillets were eaten here in town that night, but she donated the rest of the meat to local folks.
Grins and smiles from Roger Meyer (head) and Joe Duryea (tail) from Phoenix, AZ. Roger caught this slugger of a roosterfish just off the point at Punta Arenas with the Tailhunter Fleet using live bait. It was his biggest and was released.
Some good eating pompano in the hands of Jake Oosterman. Members of the jack family related to yellowtail, roosterfish, jack crevalle and amberjack.
You do not have to go very far to get big fish. With the rocks of Punta Perrico just over his shoulder, Dave Roos, from Escalon CA, is pretty happy with this dandy roosterfish. It’s alot bigger than it looks as Dave is NFL lineman sized 6’3”. He released the rooster.
Personal best roosterfish for our amigo, Bernie Crooks visiting us from Sparks, NV with Captain Moncho. That’s the beach at Punta Arenas behind them. Bernie released the big rooster.
Mauricio made the trip up from Cabo to visit Rancho Costa at Bahia Muertos and was out with Gary Wagner when he put this dorado on the deck.
…and here’s Gary at his place there in Bahia Muertos with a tuna he told me ended up as ceviche at Rancho Costa.
Darrell Manginelli visits us once or twice a year from Camarillo CA and started his trip out finding a nice school or dorado.
It was a good week for big roosters! Lynn back on the board with Captain Moncho and her own big rooster for a quick photo and release.
Nothing prettier than a lit up dorado in the water!
Like everything else in the world, this definitely is not typical summer-time fishing. For sure, this isn’t typical August fishing. Temperatures are cooler with day time highs in the low 90’s. Humidity is down. It can be breezy. So, it’s been rather more pleasant as far as being in town. But, waters are also cooler. That’s not to say fishing is bad. There’s definitely action to be had. It’s just very different.
Oh…and although I’m not a big “full moon” believer, combined with other variables like temperatures, winds and water clarity, can make a big difference so that surely had some bearing on this week’s past bite.
So…
Instead of mostly pelagic species typical of this time of year like dorado, tuna, wahoo and billfish…the blue water species…of a normal year, catches have been marked by a variety of fish more characteristic of later spring fishing.
Sure, we’re getting some good bites of dorado there’s some billfish mixed with the occasional tuna and wahoo, but anglers are also still getting big roosterfish up to about 70 pounds these past weeks. At the end of the day, I’m seeing fish boxes with species such as dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro), mullet snapper (pargo list), barred pargo and cabrilla. As well, this past week, there were catches of jack crevalle, yellow snapper, bonito, big triggerfish, pompano and even sierra…a fish we see between November and March when waters are colder.
Bait such as sardines and mackerel and ballyhoo are pretty good this year and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
ALMOST THERE!
Regretfully, back in March when the quarantine hit La Paz, we had to close our fun and famous Tailhunter Restaurant. It was a sad moment after 12 years of great memories.
However, after almost 2 months of re-model and crazy work with our team, we’ll finally be opening up our FUBAR COCINA CANTINA. It’s not the Tailhunter Restaurant but the closest thing to it…it’s our first floor right on the Malecon waterfront. We’ll have a new expanded street-side dining menu plus full bar featuring our new Bloody Mary Bar.
We’ll have many of your favorites that we had upstairs:
Huge burgers
Street hot dogs
Fish and Chips
Shrimp, Fish and Carne Asada Tacos
Fubar Fries and Loaded Nachos
Your Fish Preparations
…and more!
Hopefully, live music again too!
We’ll also be opening our Sirena Mini-Super Market with beer, sodas, munchies, souveniers plus beach gear as well. Of course, we still have our fish processing plant as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 12-20, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…(Part 1)
Suitable for framing with great colors and a great ocean! Our amiga, Alicia Clegg with a fresh mahi for the camera!
Behind the mask, Jess, Sean and Adam with a striped marlin at Bahia Muertos. The fish hit a bait then snagged on the side making it extremely difficult to reel and a tough fight for over an hour which exhausted the fish. The guys donated a majority of the meat as good sports.
It’s a keeper! Quality over quantity! He didn’t get many, but Al Vasquez from Santa Ana with a beautiful bull dorado caught outside La Paz Bay.
There’s a some nice bull mahi running around. Early in the week, there weren’t many dorado around or you could find them, but they weren’t interested, but some that were caught like this one by Santiago were gems!
They’re not much for eating, but they’ll put of an incredible battle just off the sandy beaches like this jack crevalle that Jesse is cradling for the photo! The fish was released.
It’s just what he wanted! First wahoo for Jim Stahlman and first wahoo of the season for us. The fish ate a blue Rapala.
Martin Santiago with family members, Tony and and Sergio hold a fat roosterfish they released.
Alicia again with double fisted mahi.
The week started out kinda slow and picky. After Tropical Storm Christine moved through the winds on the backend left us with some blustery days that really made fishing tough and we had to work hard for bites. Captains really pushed hard trying to find fish, but the winds not only made it choppy, but pushed cold waters up from the deep resulting in off-color green water more reminiscent of spring-time seas instead of July water.
Either fish weren’t showing up and were lock-jaw or we saw schools and they just weren’t interested in chewing.
Consequently, the first few days of the week resulted in a mixed bag of school-sized dorado, bonito, and not much else, although there was lot of inshore action on small roosterfish and tough jack crevalle which provided some great action for our folks using light tackle. Some smaller cabrilla and pargo and triggerfish also wound up on the lines. Lots of fish tossed back.
As the week went on, waters cleared and consequently fishing improved…somewhat!
More dorado came through with some fish up to 30 pounds. Several marlin were hooked, lost and/or released. We got our first wahoo of the season as well, some larger roosterfish came back. Everyone who wanted fish, got fish, but not as much as expected and we had to push a little harder than normal for this time of year. However, with waters turning blue again, we’re looking forward to a better week. Got our first wahoo of the year too so that might be a good sign!
BUT WAIT!!!!! (Fishing Report Part 2)
Just as I was about to publish all this…the ocean exploded!
“Wow! And we still have 4 more days to fish. Plus we got dorado too!” Captain Pancho put Kelly and Diego Jimenez and grandson Roman from Loveland, Colorado on the first tuna of the season!
From Utah, Bryan Richardson brought his boys, Cole and Cameron down and hit it just right on their first day on the water with a load of fish to take home!
…and yes…they also caught dorado in addition to all that tuna. They say they released and lost way more fish than they caught!
Uh yea…not who’s gonna clean all of those? Everyone disappears when it’s time to clean the fish!
.
I was in the process of posting the report. Everything was ready. The video was set up. The photos were edited and ready and was about to press send and all of a sudden…WHAM!
The fishing blew up at Las Arenas…off the charts…off the hook!
“We could have put 50 fish in the boat! We kept 9 but released and lost almost as many. We could have stayed there all day. We ran outta bait and had to go buy more!”
“The fish were in shallow water and we could see the tuna swimming under the panga!”
“We got tuna, then went over to the buoys and the dorado went nuts! I don’t remember how many we lost and released. I had my GoPro camera under water filming it all!”
There were already plenty of tuna and dorado in the box and decided to go for roosterfish and pargo and those went crazy too. We released so many fish!
My…how things turned around. Best day of the year so far! Will it continue? I have no idea. We can only hope this is the start of good things! We’ll keep you posted!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 6-12, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not bad for a first-try to get a roosterfish off the bucket list, but Albert Vasquez from Santa Ana CA hefted this big rooster off Las Arenas before releasing it.
Big schools of big jack crevalle are providing lots of action off the sandy beaches. Mateo Saffon from San Diego poses with a tough jack with the sands of Punta Arenas just in the background.
Great colors, great guy! Bennett Clegg fishes with us yearly and loves ultra-light tackle. Not many fish more fun on light tackle than dorado and he hit some nice jags of mahi north of La Paz and limited the box. Check the calm water!
Big smiles and a nice bull for Lorena Balanzar just learning to fish. She’s visiting from San Diego CA and was fishing from Bahia Muertos.
Bennett just takes some great photos! Here he is again with another dorado, but this one taken near Las Arenas on the day when the winds and waves really started to rip it up!
Love this photo! Murray Scott with his first roosterfish while Al Vasquez tangled with the big jack crevalle…cousin to the rooster, but without the fancy headgear. Both fish were released.
Alway fun, no matter the size, but especially if it’s one of your first fish. Lorena holds up a rooster that’s headed back into the water to grow bigger.
Dorado fishing this past week was better for our La Paz fleet as the waters were more protected from the bashing received by south-facing beaches due to Tropical Storm Christina. Al and Murray took for dorado this day and had some fresh fish for dinner cooled up in town.
FISHING
The week started OK, but then hit a bump when Tropical Storm Christina hit southern Baja. It dump some rain on the Cabo area and forced the closure of the port there as well as on the East Cape. Up in La Paz, we didn’t get the rains or flooding, but south-facing beaches got slammed by big waves and high winds and forced everyone to come in early one day and the next day, no one could even push their boats off the beach.
However, with each day after that, waters got clearer and warmer again as the weather settled down .
Good catches of 10-20 pound dorado could be found in various scattered areas between Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island. Inshore fishing for big schools of tough jack crevalle provided plenty of action along with big roosterfish in the 10-50 pound class in the same areas.
We had one wahoo that was hooked and lost so we know they’re around. Also some big pargo were lost in the rocks in the same place that produced some decent-sized cabrilla. We saw marlin again this week, but couldn’t get them to chew then the weather changed and they took a powder. Should be back this coming week.
Sportfishing slowly getting back to speed after the quarantine, but restrictions still exist for other operations which require maximum 30% occupancy and it is expected that the beaches and malecon will still be closed for another week.
TRAVEL
Here’s some observations on my traveling back home here to La Paz from the states…
The plane was half-full. Either because they weren’t sold out or because of social distancing. It looked like couples were kept together, but solo travelers seemed to be seated at least 2 seats away from each other. This was American Airlines.
Everyone on the flight wore masks. Once we were in flight, there was pretty much no interaction with the flight attendants. The days of food and drink service might be a memory. We were given a little bag that had a little bottle of water; a small bag of pretzels and a small packet of hand gel. Just as we were boarding they said any flight less than 900 miles would not have food service and we needed to purchase food and drinks before we got on the plane. Of course, they said that 5 minutes before boarding so no one could get anything.
Landed at Los Cabos Airport and it was eerie. Maybe it was just the time-of-day because it was an early flight, but there was not a single aircraft on the tarmac! There was not a single person on the tarmac. Not baggage handlers, drivers, ground crew or anyone! It was like a zombie movie.
Inside the terminal it was the smoothest I have ever seen. That’s because instead of hundreds of people trying to get through immigration, there were maybe 10 total people. It was a breeze.
Gotta tell you that everyone we ran into had the biggest sincerest smiles. They were really really happy and welcoming and wanted us there. Everyone had a squeeze of anti-bacterial gel in their hands for you as well.
I had to fill out a questionnaire asking the usual…Have I had covid? Have I been around anyone with it? Do I have any symptoms? Etc. etc. I had to sign it, but then no one collected it!
Customs was crazy easy! They just wanted us to come on in! Normally, everyone has to put every piece of luggage on the x-ray machine. You also have to press the “red light/ green light” inspection button. EVERYONE got the GREEN LIGHT and almost no one had to put anything through the x-ray machine. Everyone kept smiling at me saying, “Welcome to Mexico!” I think everyone of them would have hugged me or shook my hands if they could!
Walking out to the shuttles, everyone offers to wipe down your luggage or give you cleaning wipe or offers you some gel!
Looking at the shuttle vans lined up, you have to step in a little tray of antiseptic then onto a mat before you climb into the shuttle.
Almost after everything you touch someone seems to come up behind you and wipe it down. Even with taxi’s and shuttle vans drivers seem to be constantly wiping or spraying antiseptic in their vehicles.
Everyone wears mask and there’s very little griping. People just accept that it’s part of life right now.
Restaurants and hotels and other businesses are very careful to observe the 30% capacity rules. Businesses that don’t get shut down.
Tables are spaced and since there’s not many folks there, service is great and probably some of the best I have seen down here in all my years. They are very attentive.
Traffic is very minimal on the road. On the water, there’s almost no boats. You have the ocean to yourself!
My final word…
After almost 4 months of a quarantine that was much much more rigid than we had in the states, I think no one is taking being able to work or tourism for granted. There’s no unemployment or stimulus checks here. People want and need to work and know how important tourism is to this economy. So, the smiles and welcoming attitudes are genuinely sincere. Nothing and no one is taken for granted.
To me, it seems they are going above-and-beyond and taking extra measures in health and sanitation in regards to tourism here in Baja Sur.
Whether you believe that masks, social distancing, anti-bacterial gels and controlled occupancy does one bit of good, the folks down here want YOU, the traveller and guest that THEY are doing everything they can to assure you that they have as many bases covered as possible. No business is even allowed to re-open unless it passes a rigid sanitation inspection and certfication process…not just that it’s clean, but also so that protocols are in place to maintain that standard including re-training all staff members.
The other side is that they also want to protect themselves from outsiders, especially visitors from the U.S. where Covid-19 is much much more rampant than here in Mexico.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 22-29, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
Please remember that anything I say, might have already changed between the time I recorded this, produced it and when you are actually seeing this!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our Tailhunter Captain Luis has been a hotshot the last two seasons and has been rocking some big fish during the downtime. He’s got the DNA for it! His uncle is popular Captain Chito and his grandfather is Raul who have both fished for us for several decades. Luis is our youngest captain and already in big demand. He was out at El Bajo this week and took this big tuna on THIRTY POUND test with 50-pound leader after a 3 hour battle. The fish is estimated at 160-170 pounds.
Only commercial fishermen or locals fishing for sustenance can fish right now. Here’s a smattering of species caught by one of the local guys to feed his family for the week that includes triggerfish, pargo, snapper and cabrilla.
The only folks fishing are locals and folks who have homes there and are staying in place. And, even then, not many. Most are sheltering-in-place. The quarantine in Baja Sur was extended through May 30th and more stringent restrictions have been mandated because too many people were ignoring the quarantine.
CHASING CAMPERS OFF THE BEACH
Therefore, the non-essential businesses remain closed like all hotels, restaurants, stores (not markets) as well as beaches, public areas, etc. However, with the new restrictions, there is also a 10 p.m. curfew now. Facemarks are required by everyone. Only 1 person from a family or group may enter a market now and only 1 person in a car at a time. Plus no alcohol sales after 6 p.m. The governor or Baja addressed the state and said that penalties would include fines, jail time and/or public service.
YOU NEED A GOOD REASON TO BE DRIVING AFTER 10 P.M. ONLY 1 PERSON IN THE CAR AT A TIME
Maybe it’s paying off. Maybe it’s too early to tell.
With almost 800,000 residents in the state of Baja Sur (including Loreto, Mulege, La Paz and Cabo San Lucas), has less than 200 cases with only about a dozen fatalities. 230 have recovered.
Compared to the state of Baja Norte (including Ensenada, Tijuana, Rosarito, Mexicali and San Felipe) as well as mainland Mexico, Baja Sur (so far) is weathering things better than most.
Assuming there are no drastic changes, major hotels are talking about opening up in June.
Several Airlines will resume flights including Delta, Aero Mexico, United, Alaska, Spirit and others.
Restaurants are gearing up to re-open.
They are telling students be prepared to get back to school on July 1. (Just learned…Now June 1)
No idea yet about the ports and marinas which would allow sportfishing boats to get out, but that would be additional good news.
FISH…
We know there’s fish around. A few of our captains and their families are finding yellowtail, dorado and tuna in various spots, but again, barely anyone is fishing. Some have commercial licenses and are using them to get out. However… If you don’t have alot of gas, you can’t go too far, but inshore fishing has been good for amberjack, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper. But, again, most of the fish caught is for personal consumption.
However, as in many other parts of the world where human traffic has diminished significantly, there are some interesting reports.
It’s hard to go fishing when there’s no work or money to buy gasoline for the boat.
The waters in the marinas have cleared up. Big gamefish such as yellowtail and roosterfish are being seen close to shore in schools and numbers that haven’t been seen in awhile. Pargo schools at the islands are crashing the rocky areas. Even diving areas such as Cabo Pulmo and around Espirito Santo Island are seeing more and larger sealife that hasn’t been around in awhile.
Mother Nature recovering! Hope we can all say the same very soon as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 2-10, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Not a bad day! Three yellowtail and this hefty yellowfin tuna on a quick run across the channel to the far side of Cerralvo Island for Rafael Guarte who took this tuna on a live mackerel.
Our local ace, and one of the best fishermen around, Roger Thompson hoists up a Cerralvo Island wahoo just off the beach.
Rack of yellowtail ready for the freezer and grill!
Mostly windy and cold again, as erratic weather north of the border certainly affected conditions south of the border. However, earlier in the week, there were a few windows of opportunity when winds laid down. Or, in some cases some anglers raced to fishing spots…caught fish…then raced back in as the winds got stronger.
Basically, earlier in the week, at least for a brief while, it was better and earlier in the day it was better to fish.
That being said…
I’m surprised by some of the species that did come in when the anglers could get out.
There were some small jags of dorado which is surprising insofar as dorado are warm water species. However, also several tuna biters as well as wahoo close to shore mixing it up in the same areas as the more seasonal yellowtail.
The ticket to the tuna and yellowtail was being able to get some live mackerel, especially around the east side of Cerralvo Island all the way near Los Pilis which can be quite a run, especially if it’s windy. The mackerel weren’t always there and, in general, live bait of any kind can be difficult to obtain because of the winds.
When the bait can’t be obtained, yo-yo iron jigging for the yellowtail has been effective and they will also grab a rapala as will the wahoo that apparently have come into the area.
Additionaly species we saw this week included some big jack crevalle, bonito, barred pargo and cabrilla.
WHALE WATCHING TRIPS THIS WEEK
Here’s some video from our Tailhunter Whalewatching Trips at Bahia Magdalena:
The Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show in Long Beach was simply off-the-charts for us. The Long Beach Convention Center was mostly packed shoulder-to-shoulder for five straight days and especially around our Tailhunter fishing booth!
Thanks to all our friends and Tailhunter Nation for showing up and giving us such a fun good time and also for all of our new amigos and all the folks who signed up to come fishing with us in 2020. This show is the largest saltwater fishing show in the world and it’s the 76th year for this massive event and, Jill and I always have a non-stop party going on at the booth.
Thank you, especially to everyone who came by the booth to wish me happy birthday and for all the cards, gifts, food goodies and high-fives. Plus a big shout-out to all our amigos who came to party with us for a few hours at Joe Jost’s Bar in Long Beach. I’m beyond grateful for all the smiles and good times! Tailhunter Nation rocks!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 5-12, 2020
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Like alot of places in North America this past week…
It’s been COLD in La Paz to go along with some windy weather. The winds are expected this time of year, but it’s been colder than normal…at least by La Paz standards with us locals bundling up and even the tourists donning the occasional sweatshirt or windbreaker. Although most look at us kinda strange as they walk around in shorts and flip-flops.
Check out this video clip. The voice you hear is Benny outiside Tailhunter Restaurant:
Lots of snowbirds in town and although the temps are in the 60’s and 70’s with the wind, it’s still a lot warmer than where they live back in places like Minnesota, Wyoming and Alaska!
The climate, of course, affects the ability to be out there fishing. It’s been hard to put anyone out there and there’s not that many folks wanting to fish anyway. Or, folks that want to fish understandably get discouraged when they see the winds. Best to just hang out drinking a margarita by the pool!
When folks have been fishing, the better fishing has been tucked in close to shore, especially in areas where you can find some protection from wind and waves. Therefore, the majority of the fish have been inshore specias like cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish, pargo, jack crevalle and sierra. All fun and good eating fish.
When there are window’s of calm, there’s still some dorado around running to about 10 or 15 pounds plus some good action on 5-pound bonito. The larger issue has been finding live bait in which case lures are the most productive way to catch fish. With rough waters it’s tough to get into the areas where the live bait is holding along the shores and rocks.
I’ve heard a few stories about commercial guys finding some yellowtail as well as some private boaters. We’ll keep an eye on that!
ROAD TOUR 2020 HEADED TO SACRAMENTO!
Thank you for the hospitality Denver! We always have a great time!!!
We just wrapped up an incredible 4 day show at the International Sportsmans Expo at the Denver Convention Center. It was fantastic! So great for Jill and I to see so many of our old amigos and make so many new ones! Welcome to the Tailhunter Nation! We took lots of new reservations for 2020 and we’re looking foward to the visit!
At the time you’re reading this, Jill and I will be on the road headed west. We have about 1000 miles to cover to get to the next show which is the International Sportsmans Expo at the California Fairgrounds in Sacramento CA. This is a HUGE show with tons of stuff to see and do. Bring your walking shoes and the whole family! I’m told more than 700 exhibitors will be on hand to talk about fishing, hunting, camping, boating, RV’s, kayaking and so much more!
Jill and I will be there in our booth with new flyers, brochures and hats all four days Jan. 16-19 (Thursday to Sunday). Let’s talk about fishing in 2020! Hope to see you there!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Yea…there was alot of rain this past week when heavy rains hit for almost 3 days and caused some crazy flooding. This is downtown La Paz.
Kevin Shiotani from Thousand Oaks, CA makes the most of a quick day on the water before storms hit the La Paz area to put a load of dorado in the box while fishing out of Bahia Muertos southeast of La Paz.
Decent bull dorado still hanging out late in the season. Captain Moncho running the boat handlng gaff duties.
Our own Esteban Romero got out as the clouds built up for a little dorado fishing of his own out’ve Bahia Muertos.
We hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Well…
Pretty hard to do a fishing report when a good part of the week was filled with storms! In a late season deluge where it rained for 2-3 days at times torrentially, there was lots of unseasonable flooding which put a damper on a lot of snowbird vacationers who usually don’t see this kind of storms this time of year.
Sometimes it was drizzle. Other times, it came in buckets.
Normally the bottom of the La Paz sign on the beach is 4 feet above the water.
Alot of this all over the city.
Deep waters ahead.
After the storm, winds came up on the backside making for rough seas and waters were filled with muddy runoff and were really turned-over to be very conducive to fishing.
However, before the storm hit, there was a small window of opportunity for some anglers to get out even with cloudy ominous skies. Surprisingly some decent dorado were on the chew ranging from 10-20 pounders mostly indicative of lingering warm waters in the area.
Inshore, still decent action on bonito, smaller pargo, snapper and cabrilla as well as jack crevalle. Live bait is sometimes problematic if winds and waves are whipping the shallow areas where the live bait is caught.
The coming week shows no rain but a possibility of winds.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 10-17, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Weather was up-and-down all week with sunshine mixed with clouds, wind, rain drizzle and thunderstorms at times as Tropical Storm Raymond hit southern Baja including La Paz.
Dr. Roberto Santiago got a wahoo fishing out of Bahia Muertos near Las Arenas. He also picked up a medium-sized dorado as well in a rare break in the rough weather that plagued La Paz a good part of the week.
For one day of fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, Brian Benson made the most of that little window and sho off some of the dorado he caught outside La Paz Bay.
Dr. Santiago again with one of his bull dorado caught out of Bahia Muertos.
Not many folks on the water this past week even if there were a lot of fishermen. As we slide into the off-season, weather has become a larger factor. For the same reason that the La Paz area becomes a mecca as a world class windsurfing and kite-boarding because of the strong winds during the winter, it makes it difficult to fish and a good part of this week, we had either winds, rain and rough seas…and sometimes all three hindering being out on th water.
Earlier in the week, we had some rain. Then, it let up with some small windows of opportunity, but then Tropical Storm Raymond, a late season blow, came up the Baja and dropped several days of rain and drizzle along with dark skies and blustery seas.
Even if we had wanted to go out, the Port Captain closed the port prohibiting boat traffic from going out at all.
The few windows of opportunity that did open provided some scratchy action on some school-sized dorado ranging mostly from 10-15 pounds plus, there’s still some wahoo around which is not unusual for this time of year.
Bonito, jack crevalle and small cabrilla added to the catch. We got some reports that commercial guys near the island reefs had found some yellowtail, but it was hard to follow-up on that and get across to the island with the rough water in the channels making it difficult to get over there.
As the current storm moves out, we’re expecting some stronger guts this week. Bring your windsurfer!
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP!
Perfect for the whole family!
Can you scratch this little itch on my nose?
Our whalewatching season is fast approaching with ideal months from Mid-January to Mid-March. The whales have already started their migration way up north in the Bering Sea and headed south to Baja and we’re already taking reservations for our annual whalewatching tours. We can set up everything including transportation, hotels and, of course, a day or more with the whales. Contact us today. It can get pretty crowded with reservations as the popularity has grown to spend time with these great gentle creatures.
RESERVATIONS 2020
Speaking of 2020…don’t get left out for next year’s fishing!
We filled up really fast in 2019 and we don’t want to miss you next year, especially if you have special dates; hotels or captains you want. Reservations are are already coming in daily and some dates are already sold out.
Get in touch with us today and let’s get you set up! We’ve been full-service outfitters here in La Paz for 26 years and can set up everything for your vacation package!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 8-15, 2019
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE
Weather – hot and humid. Very tropical. Afternoon and occasional thunderstorms and flash flooding but otherwise sunny and in the mid to high 90’s. Evenings low 80’s with a breeze.
Water – blue bathwater overall, but still come cold patches. Might start getting colder soon. Feels a bit like fall already. A short summer.
Fishing (Scale of 1-10) – Maybe a high 6. Still not where we should be this time of year although there’s solid dorado fishing mostly. This is what it should be in July.
Fish Caught – 90% dorado mainly because that’s what 90% are fishing for! But we’ve had some jags of tuna. We’ve lost marlin and wahoo. Roosterfish are still around but not many folks fishing for them. Dorado are easy and fun. Seeing more of those big dog-tooth, snapper, cabrilla, sierra, pargo, bonito, jack crevalle, pompano, needlefish.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Just a great frameable shot with awesome colors! Lee Hazelquist with a big grin!
Another joyous ecstasy photo! Steve Avery with us for the first time put this beast dog-tooth snapper in the boat and he has every reason to be happy about this trophy!
Oh yea! About time! Joe Duffy who runs a charter operation up in the Bay Area with his dad, Noel (who came all the way from Ireland) and a nice yellowfin tuna just off Punta Perrico!
My funny buddy, Brian Buchanan, had a good week of dorado fishing with us. Brian is from the Salt Lake City area.
These two great guys had a fun week of fishing. First timers with Tailhunter Paul Marshall and Steve Avery.
For almost 20 years, our buddy retired firefighter Mac Treasure from Reno NV brings a great bunch of guys to visit us. This week, Mac stuck himself this big fat dog-tooth fishing with Captain Pancho.
They got Captain Arcangel to smile! Rob Markarian and Tom Worrel with a load of fish to start their trip.
Everyone’s favorite guy and hard working amigo, Jorge Romero, finally took a day off and got out to fish! Nice dorado Jorge!
The right kind! It’s about time! Captain Jorge gives a thumbs up for Jaimy Stolberg’s hefty tuna she battled just outside of Muertos Bay!
Great shot! Captain Armando helps out Geoff Merker from San Diego with a nice dorado off Punta Perico. Check the flat waters!
Dale and Dean Dzwonierek with Captain Jorge and a bunch of dorado on the fish cleaning table.
Nyle Miyamoto from Washington with a colorful bull.
First rooster for Jon Gallant from San Diego just off Punta Perico. Fish was released. Roosters are still around but with so much attention on dorado no one is really fishing for them.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a nicer dorado photo than this one with John Birtwistle from Woodland CA. Great shot and good fish, JB!
Two of our nicest friends for many years from Oregon, Dorothy and Steve Murata started their vacation with some dorado and a couple of yellowfin tuna fishing with Captain Gerardo.
Trudy Grove with another dorado! She had a super week with the mahi and has been visiting us from Salt Lake City for many many seasons. Always good to have her down to see us!
Joaquin Perea from Woodland CA never has a bad day and always a pleasure to have him down. Another nice dorado for the cooler!
Denver in the house! Bill Johnson put a double pair on the cleaning table his first day.
A big fish dinner in their future! Fishing with Captain Jorge (in the background) Clint and Jaimy Stolberg pose with a good day’s production of dorado and tuna!
I told Tim Larson if he took a good photo, I would finally get him in the fishing report! Nicely done, Tim! You’re on!!! It’s a great shot. We told him no hat. No sunglasses. Good lighting. No blood!
You can always tell a flyfishing guy. They always put their rods in their mouths! They need one extra hand! Well-done, Joaquin! He got several fish on his flyrod.
Stephen Chalbourg and his amigo, Bo, came all the way from Minnesota to fish and got these two lengthy females.
Another of our great Washington amigos, Jim Lundeen shows off one of his mahi.
Funniest guy of the week…Billy Baker! You’re on the fishing report, Billy! Good to have you here and thanks for all the laughs!
Two of our retired firefighters, Bernie Smith and Brian Rubino with Captain Adolfo.
Just another good day for Captain Gerardo as he checks out the dorado catch of Les Lovell and Terry Daniels.
Visting us for the 2nd year-in-a-row. Good to have you down, Fish Brother! Ryan Netherton who also got in a day of SCUBA diving as well! Ryan is from San Diego.
Joaquin Perea and Paul Marshall having some fun on the beach after another solid day on the water.
That’s a legit fish! John Birtwistle and a shiny dorado. Cerralvo Island in the background.
Paul and Steve with more dorado fillets coming up!
Despite the full-moon, another pretty solid week of dorado fishing overall with fish scattered over a wide-range of ocean both inshore and offshore. It’s pretty hard NOT to catch a dorado right now if you have a bait, lure or jig in the water. It’s probably 90% of the catch!
There’s lots of other species around, but when the fun-fighting, easily caught and tasty dorado around, folks don’t usually spend much time chasing the other species! This is especially true for a lot of our first-timers or less-experienced anglers.
Not every boat does great every single day. There’s always the 1 or 2 boats that only get a few dorado or really have to work at it on a given day, and I hate it when maybe those folks are only fishing single day. But, if you’re fishing multiple days, it’s difficult to keep the dorado off your hook and you’ll go home with some great meat for the dinner plate and freezer.
But, there are other species around.
We had some marlin hook-ups and breakoffs.
We had at least 1 or 2 wahoo bites that got unbuttoned per day.
If you wanted a roosterfish, yes ,the 30-60 pounders are still around.
Inshore, there’s cabrilla, pargo and those big-dog-tooth snapper are willing to bite if you are into putting in the time and are up to the frustration of nearly getting yanked out’ve your socks only to have the fish bust you off in the shallow rocks.
More excitingly, late in the week, we had some jags of 20-40 pound yellowfin tuna pop up. These fish have been absent for about 2 months and this is the time we should be seeing them, but have been conspicuously absent the latter part of this week. I don’t wanna jinx it and say the tuna season has started, but hopefully, this is the start of some better tuna fishing.
SHOUT OUT THANK YOU
Our community outreach program is still rolling full turbo. Just sent a huge load of goods out to Los Planes to the kids and the community out there! We also collected enough money this last week to sponsor two more kids for a whole year of school (books, food, uniforms, transportation…and they in turn have to keep up their grades and mentor another student).
No sooner did that load go out, then even more started coming in! I was not able to get everyone’s photos, but some are below. But a special shout-out to Tim Schlander who’s guys brought in numerous ice chests packed full of clothes, school clothes, hygiene items and more!! Thanks for the big hearts to them and all of you who keep bringing both adult and childrens items and have helped us deliver several TONS of needed items over the last few years!
Justin and Noah Lauby with lot of great adult clothes! (Everyone targets the kids so great to get some adult stuff!)
From Bakersfield, nice smiles and great school supplies from Don and Gwen Parnell.
Our Utah Tailhunter Tribe…Brian Buchanan, Trudy Grove, Kathy and John Terbu with a whole table full of great stuff!
Tailhunter Fish Report 