La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 25, 2020 – Jan. 3, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Find the right spot and there’s still some water water areas holding dorado between 5-15 pounds as waters get cooler.
An incredible experience to get in the water and snorkel with the whalesharks in La Paz Bay.
It’s been rather quiet and subdued this past week for the holidays. It still has been festive, but like much of the world, things are just at a lower key and lower volume. Most folks coming to town are not looking to fish. They’re just spending vacation time for the holidays and hoping for a little sunshine and and put their toes in the sand!
The glitch in that this week was that it was actually been a bit chilly along with the normal seasonal gusty winds from the north. In fact, it’s been that way for well over a week now. Daytime temperature struggling to get out’ve the 60’s. Night temps dropping to the crazy 40’s! Yes, even in Baja, it can get chilly.
Tourists are still in their shorts and t-shirts, but La Paz residents are talking about 2-3 blankets at night and folks are wearing long pants and jackets.
For fishing, there’s still some dorado around. Most 5-12 pound school-sized fish indicative of the probably the last patches of warm water still lingering around. Inshore, there’s a good smattering of snapper, jacks, seabass (cabrilla) and some barred pargo. For most folks simply looking for a day on the water and a bit of action, these fish are perfect and alot of fun. Plus provide some good fish to take to a local restaurant. Everyone is happy.
Honestly, most folks coming to town intent on some time on the water are mostly here for either swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or headed to a whale-watching trip.
The whalesharks in the bay are mostly 10-12’ juveniles in shallow water only minutes from the Malecon. The only problem is that if it’s windy and choppy it can be difficult to find them.
In the shallow waters of La Paz Bay, the whalesharks are usually 10-15′ long “babies”.
On the other hand, the official start of whale-watching season has started as the annual migration of grey whales has seen them starting to arrive over at Bahia Magdalena where they’ll enjoy the warm shallow water, breeding and calving before heading back north to the Bering Sea around March.
So, we’re booking trips now for the grey whales, swimming with the whalesharks and the occasional fisherman.
THE NO SHOW – NO SHOWS in 2021!
We will surely miss the packed aisles of friends this year!
Normally this time of year, we’re hitting the road beginning our 3 month road-tour to all the biggest and best fishing/hunting expos in the western U.S. With our Catlyn (our rescue cat); the booth, thousands of brochures and lots of winter clothes and tire chains; our road vehicle is packed floor-to-ceiling and right about now we’re on our way to our first show of the year at the Denver Convention Center…then followed the next week in Sacramento at the State Fairgrounds. Each week, a different show to see all of you!
We’ll see you for a cold one in La Paz in 2021!
In 2021, that’s not to be the case, unfortunately, as Covid restrictions have shut down all the shows. So for the first time in about 30 years, regretfully, we won’t be in our booth.
That just means, you’re all staying safe and you’ll have to contact us directly to book trips ( jonathan@tailhunter.com) and come visit us in La Paz!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 4-14, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
It’s not very long this week and to be honest, I recorded it while Jill and I were flyfishing on the Guadalupe River. Our anniversary and not much happening in La Paz so we took off a few days to check on the kids and then a surprise trip to the Texas Hill Country. As good a place as any to do the report!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
John Nagy from Los Angeles had some fun with one of his dorado and Captain Hoel. John was able to get in some fishing, but said mostly by noon, the winds were too strong to keep fishing. He was fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet from La Paz and the fish was caught outside of Bahia Muertos
About the only folks in town right now between the holidays are folks here to find some sunshine from colder places in the world. And indeed, the sun has been out mostly although relatively speaking, we think it’s been on the chilly side. However, I guess it’s definitely sunnier than places in Canada, Alaska and Montana. However, even that wasn’t guaranteed this week as we actually had FOG! That’s right…real FOG.
Yup! Sunny La Paz!
Just like the travel brochures pictured it!
I think in my 25 years in living in Baja, I’ve seen fog only a handful of times and that was up in the mountains. However, a thick London-style fog actually descended on the city that really made it look pretty eerie. Of course, then the sun came out and cooked it all away.
Likewise, as is typical this time of year, the winds did blow, especially as the days wore on with some gusts to 25 knots. For fishing, there aren’t that many anglers around anyway, but for those that went out, it was either pretty rough making it hard to get to fishing grounds and get bait or, they were getting blown off the water by the late morning and early afternoon.
That being said, there’s still some dorado around running up to about 20 pounds. Some wahoo were hit at the south end of Cerralvo as well and commercial guys still keep seeing some big tuna north of the island, although the fish are moving too fast and not taking any hooks. Inshore, cabrilla and snapper as well as jack crevalle provided action when there was nothing further out.
Although fishing isn’t drawing many folks right now, swimming with the whalesharks on those days when the winds aren’t churning the waters in the bay is very popular.
Regulations prevent us from getting too close for the safety of the animals, but it’s a crazy cool experience to be in the water with these gentle animals.
Swimming with the whalesharks in the shallows of La Paz Bay usually runs October to April. There can be as many as a dozen or more “baby” whalesharks at any given time.
Let us know and we can set up a trip for you to include transportation, lodging and of course…a chance to swim with the whalesharks!
We are setting up trips daily weather permitting so get in touch with us: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
We are also getting ready to kick off our whalewatching season over on the Pacific side in Bahia Magdalena. Season runs about mid-January to March when the whales swim back north to the Bering Sea. Don’t miss out!
NOT TOO EARLY TO BOOK YOUR LA PAZ FISHING for 2021!
Dates are already filling up with lots of folks who missed out on 2020. Come enjoy some “coastal distancing” and we’ll set up your entire itinerary for your next La Paz fishing trip. We can put the whole thing together. We’ve been here in La Paz 26 years and we will customize your ideal fishing vacation package. Check us out: http://www.tailhunter.com
A number of dates are sold out or getting close to it. If you have a favorite captain or hotel room, get in touch with us ASAP. We don’t want to miss you in 2021! Click here: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
LOS CABOS TUNA JACKPOT ANNOUNCED Nov. 3-6, 2021
As some of you already know…
For 2021, I’ve been named as the new director for the Los Cabos Tuna Tournament.
Last year was the 22nd year to “FISH HARD…PARTY HARDER!” The Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot for 2021 will be Nov. 3-6. We’re already getting entries and boats are getting booked up for charters! Even with the protocols in place, we still had a great event with 149 teams and over 600 anglers and almost 1000 of our “closest friends!” More than $1 million dollars was awarded! We’re expecting an even larger field for 2021!
La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay / Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Marcus Yoo from Cupertino CA has fished with us numerous times and unfortunately picked two of the roughest days of the season to come out with his flyrod. With all the wind, that was pretty much impossible. He’s a gamer and stuck it out and at least he got some nice cabrilla and pargo to take home and had to do quite a big of fishing from the beach.
Some tasty rock fish was what we had to fish for when we could get out
Not much to tell this week. Thanksgiving week normally doesn’t produce many anglers. Mostly it’s folks in town looking for some sunshine during the holidays. Maybe, they’ll try to get in a day or two on the water fishing, snorkeling, swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or just hanging out on the beach.
The week started well. Good temps. Good water conditions and hungry dorado up to 20 pounds were pretty easy to find and catch. They were spread over a number of areas. If you found the spot, you could go crazy right there and not have to look any further to catch limits. Quite a few smaller fish were released. I heard commercial guys saw big tuna breaking at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but no one could get them to bite.
As the week went on, conditions diminished. Skies got hazy and winds gradually increased. Dorado go a bit harder to find so fishing went inshore for cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and sierra.
However, by the latter few days of the week, the winds were blowing strong enough from the north with gusts up to 20 mph that La Paz Bay was almost completely white water and the surge was creating rideable small waves. Consequently, for safety reasons, the port captain shut down all water activities. No fishing. No snorkeling. No diving, etc. We had to cancel a number of bookings.
It wasn’t just the winds, but add in a full moon; extremely strong currents; colder waters; and really strong tides and it was too much to overcome.
Even as the winds calmed down a bit, it was just better to advise folks to stay ashore and enjoy their vacations rather than bounce around and not have fun.
These winds are seasonal north winds that start up about now and will continue on-and-off through the winter months.
SWIMMING WITH WHALESHARKS and WHALE WATCHING TOURS – BOOK NOW!
Whalesharks are in the bay now and the season is open to swim with these gentle giants. An incredible experience in our shallow bay waters.
Also our whalewatching season in Bahia Magdalena will start up in about 6 weeks from about mid-January to mid-March as the grey whales are migrating down from the Bering Sea to spend the winter months in the warm Baja waters of Bahia Magdalena to mate and calf.
We can book your entire trip to La Paz with activities, lodging and transportation. Write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
2021 BOOKINGS FILLING FAST
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our bookings for 2021 are filling fast, especially from folks who had to cancel 2020 fishing trips. According to the news, Mexico is the #1 get-away destination for Americans and record numbers of folks are flying in or booking trips. In November, tourism was up 179% over what it was last year. Baja is especially easy to get to; it’s close; and it economical.
Check your calendar and get in touch with us so we make sure we get you on the books. We’re using 2020 prices until the end of the year! We’re looking forward to seeing you on the water with us.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 10-17, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our Captain Victor looks on while Gerry and Jeri Damge from Colorado put another dorado in the boat.
Sherri Foster from California had never been fishing in Saltwater and came down with friend, Larry Roemer from Colorado. Her very first ocean-fish was a wahoo and then she followed it up with a nice day of dorado fishing for the couple who were with Captain Jorge.
Our buddy Roger Thompson with his amigo, Joel Zarmati from Paso Robles CA got double-hookups near Cerralvo Island and landed a box of nice wahoo.
More fillet for the ice chest. Larry and Sherri on their 2nd day out with Captain Jorge put them on another wild dorado bite. As long as the waters stay warm, the dorado will hang around!
Gerry and Jeri again with another hook-up!
Winds were blowing strong earlier in the week but gave us a break as the week went on and provided some windows for some very good fishing. There just aren’t many anglers this time of year, especially as we get closer to the holidays.
Most of the town is starting to fill with folks just looking to enjoy some sunshine, especially with temperatures being very comfortable in the low 80’s during the day and low 70’s at night. It’s a good time to be in town. Just not that many folks are here to go fishing or, if they do, they just want a single-day on the water or so.
For the few we had, the dorado provided some great biters with generally larger fish than we have seen in the previous weeks. Fish in the 15-25 pound class were not unusual and many smaller fish were thrown back. In addition, at the south-end of Cerralvo Island, there’s still a nice spot of wahoo there if you hit it at the right time.
On the day when the winds were a bit too strong, we fished inside along the reefs and rocks and had some great action on pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, snapper and even some amberjack and sierra. Still no tuna, but some of the commercial guys hooked some hogs in the 100-pound range.
Live bait has not been an issue unless the winds are blowing too strong for the bait guys to throw nets in the shallow bait areas and big waves prevent them from catching the bait.
Winds are supposed to be coming up this week but there’s some windows in-between. Check with us. We keep a tight watch on the weather for you!
THE WHALESHARKS ARE IN THE BAY AND SEASON FINALLY OPENED!
Whalesharks are now in the bay in the shallow water just a few hundred yards from the malecon. We’re running trips to go swim with the whalesharks now. Ask us about this incredible adventure!
After being closed since the Covid-quarantine back in late March, swimming with the whalesharks has been prohibited in La Paz Bay. Well, they finally issued permits and the season was re-opened this week! It’s pretty exciting to swim with these magnificent animals in the shallow warm waters of La Paz Bay. It’s totally National Geographic stuff and a life-time experience.
Ask us about trips. We can set up the whole package with lodging, activities, transportation, fishing and more…and of course, swimning with the whalesharks! You can write me directly: tailhuntersportfishinglapaz@gmail.com
WHALEWATCHING SEASON COMING TOO!
The grey whale migration has started from the Bering Sea and the whales are headed to Baja’s warm waters and prime time whale-watching at Bahia Magdalena is late January to March! We’re putting packages together to spend time with the largest migratory animals in the world in the warm-calm waters of Bahia Magdalena. Reach out and touch!
the booth, thousands of brochures and lots of winter clothes and tire chains; our road vehicle is packed floor-to-ceiling and right about now we’re on our way to our first show of the year at the Denver Convention Center…then followed the next week in Sacramento at the State Fairgrounds. Each week, a different show to see all of you!
Tailhunter Fish Report 