La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 27-Mar. 3, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
Carl Lange took down our first wahoo of the season just outside of Bahia Muertos! Crazy March catch!
OH man…this is a hog yellowtail! Roger Thompson with Captain Hugo knocked this guy out at the north end of Cerralvo Island slow trolling sardines in about 12′ of water! They got 5, but lost others they couldn’t stop.
Our Bakersfield amigo, Ken Gragg, loves to fish this time of year, even in the crazy weather and it paid off with a big-headed yellowtail later in the week.
The cabrilla queen herself, Donna Thompson from La Ventana has stuck so many of these big cabrilla over the years and she did it again at Cerralvo Island in shallow water.
You can tell it’s a bit cold and nippy as well as choppy, but Carl Lange probably doesn’t feel a thing except big smiles over another nice yellowtail.
We’ve got the whalesharks in the by of La Paz again. Had about a dozen this week and later in the week when winds calmed down, we were able to put some folks in the water to go swimming with them in the shallows.
It’s an incredible experience snorkeling with our La Paz whalesharks in the bay. The “babies” are only about 15 feet long or so.
The week started pretty blustery with white caps even in the normally calm La Paz Bay. Actually, for this time of the year, that’s not unusual. Fortunately, we didn’t have anyone out fishing, but we probably could not have gone out anyway.
However, as the week went on, winds diminished somewhat, at least enough to get out although there was still some chop and it was good to have a jacket or sweatshirt on.
Fishing out’ve Bahia de los Muertos, we hit quite a mix of fish, especially for so early in the year with warm water species mixing with the normal cold water species. Big cabrilla, jack crevalle and both white bonito and skipjack kept the rods bent as well as smaller snapper and pargo. However, we also got some legit yellowtail over structure and topped it with some flurries of dorado and even wahoo.
Live bait is still hard to come by with all the rough water, but we’re dragging lures and using dead bait pretty effectively and the fishing is not too far off the beach.
It was also calm enough to get out to swim with the whalesharks in La Paz Bay. We had as many as a dozen in the shallow waters, but on the choppy days it’s hard to see them let alone swim with them.
Photo one : Carl Lange was fishing off the rocks just outside of Bahia Muertos near La Paz and was surprised when this wahoo hit his Rapala trolling in the shallows for cabrilla. Carl is from Bakersfield.
Photo two: Big-headed yellowtail on the gaff with Ken Gragg from Bakersfield who was just off Punta Perrico near La Paz and using dead bait. He also got a big cabrilla.
HERE COMES THE BIG ONE!
Just wrapping it up in Boise, Idaho from the Idaho Sportsman’s Show and just a quick shout-out to all the Idaho amigos who came to visit us and put out a red-carpet welcome! Man…what a show! Best Idaho show we’ve had in more than a decade! Thank you all and we’ll see you in La Paz!
Next up…
It’s the grand-daddy…Fred Hall Fishing Show at the Long Beach Convention Center. This is the oldest and largest fishing show in the entire U.S. and runs from Wednesday to Sunday (March. 6-10). Come see us. This is the one you do not want to miss. We’ll be in our booth every single day and it is always a party at the Tailhunter Booth!
TUESDAY Mar. 5th JONATHAN’s BD BEER PARTY in LONG BEACH
If you’re gonna be in Long Beach Tuesday night, after we set up our booth at the Long Beach Convention Center, we traditionally head over to Joe Jost’s Bar and have some beers under the pretense of it being my birthday. It’s my 62nd and we hope to be there about 6:30. Totally informal.
Joe Josts has been there since 1924! All the serve is beer…and sausage sandwiches…and pickled eggs…and liverwurst sandwiches…and egg salad sandwiches and pretzels and peanuts! It’s like stepping back in time as I mark my time! It’s cheap and it’s fun! Just my style!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 3-9, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Fishing Report
Spoiler alert! This week’s video report was NOT filmed in La Paz! But, it makes it easier to sell sunshine and warm sandy beaches in places like this! Thank you, Oregon!
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
The week started well with lower winds and calmer seas for once. Not many anglers in town, but we had a few and surprisingly got into some water-water action with a handful of dorado popping up. Nothing big, but it’s surprising to get dorado in the winter and for first-timers hooking an acrobatic 10 or 15 pound dorado is pretty exciting.
In addition, jack crevalle, good numbers of fat bonito plus some cabrilla over the rocks provided fun action, especially on light tackle. As the week went on, winds came up and it got colder and rougher..enough to bend the palm trees and put little white-caps on the bay.
TAILHUNTER WHALE WATCHING SEASON FULL ON
Our 2019 whale watching season is in full swing over at Bahia Magdalena and there’s a good number of grays that have already show up in the bay. They’ve arrived from their migration from the Bering Sea and around until about early or mid-March! Come on down and check out this great experience. Get in touch with us at http://www.tailhunter.com .
WHERE WILL BE WE NEXT?
By the time you’re reading this, we’ve left snowy cold Portland Oregon and headed to….snowy cold Salt Lake City, Utah! But, first a shout-out to Portland and all of our amigos in the Pacific NW for all the hospitality and ohana after 3 week in one of our favorite places.
It was off-the charts with shows in the Seattle and Portland area. Lots of you are coming to see us in La Paz this year so we’re looking forward to seeing you again!
So now, onto show #5…it’s at the
GREAT WESTERN HUNT
and
CONSERVATION EXPO
Feb. 14-17
SALT PALACE CONVENTION CENTER, SALT LAKE CITY UTAH
It’s nothing like you’ve ever seen. People come from all over the country to see this one! Here’s more information. Click the link:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 27-Feb. 3, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Report
Not many anglers around these days which is off-season. Early in the week we it was pretty chilly, cold and windy. Conditions got a little better as the week went on. Bait is an issue because of the rough water so our captains relied on slow trolling dead bait and lures inshore where it was more protected. Catches included bonito, jack crevalle, snapper, cabrilla and barred pargo.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON IN FULL SWING
Although it’s not prime time fishing right now, from late January until March, it’s our whale-watching season and it’s in full swing and we’re running daily and overnight trips to Bahia Magdalena every week to spend time with the whales. Great family trip and opportunity to spend some incredible close-up action and interaction with these fantastic animals in the calm bay waters. E-mail us if you’d like more information at Jonathan@tailhunter.com
Coming to Portland This Week!
Our Tailhunter 2019 tour swings us into the big Pacific Northwest Sportsmans Show this week at the Portland Expo Center. This is probably the largest show in the Pacific Northwest and one of the largest in the Western U.S. with almost 1000 vendors from all over the world including Mexico, the U.S., S. Africa, Alaska, New Zealand, S. America and more! If you’re into fishing, hunting, camping, boating and just the outdoors in general, there’s something for the whole family whether you’re looking for some great gear; booking a potential trip; or want to test stuff or talk and learn from experts.
Jilly and I will be in our booth at the Portland Expo Center all five days from Wednesday to Sunday! Let’s talk fishing!
The show runs Wednesday to Sunday so we hope to see you here! Let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year! Check the link below:
Also…head’s up! Reservations are really flying in…faster than normal and many dates are filling up! Don’t wait until we come to your town to do a show this year. We have 9 more shows, but many dates are already booked or booking fast. Get in touch with us to save your spot!
Here’s the link to our whole list of shows coming up:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 20-27, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Report
Something a little different this week. Sorry the video is a little ragged this week. We were in our booth at the Puyallup Fairgrounds and crowds were already starting to come down the aisle and watching some goofy guy (me!) talking out loud to his laptop! So I didn’t have much time!
Also, no real fishing to report so I answered some letters in the video about fishing in La Paz!
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Honestly not much to say about fishing this week. I guess I could make something up, but that’s now how we roll.
This is winter and off-season and not many folks out fishing from November to April. Mostly, it’s because of the winds and waves that can be very erratic. So, that’s what happened this week.
We did have a few folks set to fish early in the week, but it was pretty rough. So, as much as they wanted to go, I advised they just cancel. Stay at the hotel. Hang out at the pool. Go to town of lunch. Sleep in. Take a siesta.
Fishing is supposed to be fun, right? Not an excercise in staying dry and trying to stay in the boat. Many of the folks we have this time of year aren’t hard-core anglers. For some it’s their first time really fishing in the ocean so I don’t want them to have a bad time. As much as we love the business, especially this time of year, it was better to just advise folks not to come out.
Not much bait around but plugs and lures are working.
However, when the wind isn’t blowing, there’s some dorado out there. Pargo and cabrilla and snapper are still around the reefs and rocks.
Gary Wagner with a tasty sierra off Punta Perico. Note the jacket!
Sierra, bonito and jack crevalle near the drop offs. This coming week, the winds die down about mid-week so hopefully, I”ll have a better report for you!
TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR 2019
Thanks, Washington! Now on our way to Portland!
Well, we just finished our 3rd show of the season. We’re wrapping things up here in the Seattle area and packing to head to our next show at the Portland Expo Center in Portland, Oregon Sept. 6-10. We’ve had some fantastic shows so far! We’ve been in Denver, Sacramento and then this past week in Seattle.
Reservations are coming in fast this year! Don’t wait until we visit your area! Dates are filling up so get in touch with us as soon as you can if you’re planning to come fishing!
Dave and Michele Conklin, our long-time amigos from Washington stopped in to share a little “Baja cheer!”
With my honey, Jill, in our booth! The fish was “THIS BIG!”
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 9-16, 2018
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Pleasant week for the most part. Low in the 60’s and highs in the high 70’s. Mostly sunny. Winds gave us a break earlier in the week but got stronger (and colder) as the week went on.
Water – Choppier and rougher later in the week
Fishing – More blue water species early in the week when the winds were down and it was calmer. More inshore and rock fish as weather got rougher and we had to fish closer in.
Species Caught This Week: dorado, tuna, cabrilla, seabass, bonito, snapper, jack crevalle
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa there at Muertos, hooked 4 dorado and got 2 to the boat. He had a wahoo come off and he had a tuna on for over an hour before it came unbuttoned. Looks cold!
Laura Hernandez from San Diego got out a few days earlier in the week and got into the dorado. Later, as conditions changed, some huge sierra.
Not too bad a week, for the weather. It was just cold (by our La Paz standards!). Tourists were still running around in shorts while locals donned long pants and jackets! Likewise, earlier in the week, winds laid down long enough to get boats out and fortunately for our type of fishing, no one really had to go out very far.
There’s still some schools of dorado around with some nicer 15-20 pounders mixed in. Very surprising given the time of year. Along with the dorado, some tuna were also hooked and a wahoo did bite one of the lines but came unbuttoned which is an encouraging sign (that it bit, not that it came off!). Plus, add in the usual bonito and way too many needlefish. All-in-all, not too bad.
As the week went on, winds came up again and the waters changed resulting in more restricted fishing with colder-water species like sierra, jack crevalle, cabrilla and snapper biting. Hard to know when not that many folks are fishing. Most of the visitors to town are snowbirds just looking for sunshine and an escape from even colder places. Locals are all getting ready for Christmas.
WHALES ON THE WAY!
Our annual whale-watching season is almost upon us. Migrating yearly from the Bering Sea by Alaska, the whales are on their way to Baja to mate, give birth and hang out in the warm lagoons of the Pacific. We have daily and overnight trips booking fast. Contact us for more details for a great family trip!
SPREADING THE CHEER
Many of you know that my wife, Jilly, has had a program for five years whereby Tailhunter Outreach program collects clothes, toys, sporting goods, school supplies, medical supplies and more for needy folks and communities in and around La Paz. It was originally started after Hurricane Odile crashed into us in 2014, but the program just kept growing. To date, our Tailhunter amigos and brought down over 3 tons of good that we distribute throughout the year! Jill also has a scholarship program to keep kids in school as well.
Everyone’s favorite guy…Jorge Romero
This past week our own, Jorge and Sandra Romero donated almost 200 pounds of toys to the kids of Los
Planes (near Muertos Bay where many of our captains and their families live). With the assistance of Gary Wagner and his crew at Rancho Costa, all these kids got something for Christmas! Thanks, Jorge and Sandra!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 11-25, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Town is kinda quiet these days. Nice time to be down here to enjoy some sunshine! You have the beaches to yourself!
When you can only squeeze in one day to fish in between bouts of wind and you make a great day out’ve it…Elijah Rush from El Cajon, CA got a handful of dorado, a tuna and some pargo (not pictured) for the ice chest!
Typical catch right now. Some snapper. Some pargo. Maybe some dorado.
As far as conditions, it wasn’t as bad as it has been when it’s been windy and rough with port closures. Actually, it was pretty nice overall. Sun’s out and a nice time to be in town with day time temps like a postcard in the high-70’s to low-80’s and night time temps in the high-60’s. Breezes kicking up to about 15 mph, but mostly later.
You can see why lots of snowbirds are “escaping” into town right now and we’re getting inquiries from Minnesota, Canada, Montana and North Dakota! No matter how “bad” our weather is, the only snow you’ll find is in a margarita glass.
But, by the same token, not many folks fishing. Almost no-one as a matter of fact. The folks coming to town are looking for sunshine and putting their toes in the sand.
The waters are still rougher than normal. In fact, last week several days the port was closed to all boat traffic coming or going. So, even if it’s calm in the bay, it can be crazy outside. Even, inside the bay it can be churning.
Two weeks ago, an independent dive boat overloaded with more than 2 dozen divers ignored the closures and went out. It got swamped and sank! Fortunately, everyone was picked up from what we heard.
However, we did get a few folks out. On the days it was really windy, we couldn’t go.
If it was moderately windy we were still able to fish inshore for some cabrilla, snapper, bonito and jacks. Weather permitting, if we could get just a little outside, there’s some dorado and tuna still hanging out.
Live bait has been an issue because of the rougher weather pounding the shallow bait areas so we’re using mostly dead bait or lures lately.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP
Don’t forget our annual Whale Watching Season at Bahia Magdalena runs from January to March. Contact us for more info about a great family event and the opportunity to see these magnificent animals up close like you’ve never imagined!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 4-11, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE WEEKLY VIDEO FISHING REPORT
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK at A GLANCE
Weather – Nice and sunny but cooler every week. Nights can be very cool. Water temps are going down too. Can get breezy and windy some days.
Water – Getting cooler and less blue. Rough some days now as we move into the cooler months.
Fishing – Rougher and cooler waters are making it more difficult to get live bait. That along with changing conditions overall are changing the complexion of the fishing. Less bluewater fish like tuna and dorado. More emphasis on inshore fishing for pargo, cabrilla and other reef fish.
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Just some incredible colors on this late-season dorado that Travis caught. Gorgeous fish!
Whoa…that’s a big cabrilla! Sweet meat for the grill with Captain Armando.
Travis is all smiles posing with his roosterfish, but check out the bent rod behind him! That’s wife, Melinda on another rooster. See the photo below! Both fish released!
First-timer rocks it! Captain Pancho helps out Melinda Woodward with this hefty roosterfish before releasing it.
Old Tailhunter amigos for many years, Bill and Patrick with Captain Jorge and a nice yellowfin to go along with a day of bonito fun.
Incredible flat water and perfect for Melinda to catch this sweet bull dorado.
Lots of fun on light tackle…even moreso on a flyrod! Bonito for the masked man from Oregon, Travis Woodward.
It was a mixed bag of fish this past week as we transition into the cooler aspects of the season. Not really many folks fishing these days. Many are walk-in visitors or snow-birds who are spending time in town and just want a day of fishing and sunshine, rather than folks coming specifically for fishing. So, many aren’t very serious fishermen either and just want some fun and action.
This is that time before the holidays when folks aren’t really travelling much. Families are doing other things. Also, the weather and waters are changing. It’s wonderfully sunny, but definitely cooler and also getting more and more breezy. So, it can be a tad rougher.
That makes it harder to get live bait, either because the bait guys aren’t going out very much since there’s not many folks fishing or because of the weather, the live bait is scattered.
That being said, we still got some action. Good bites of bonito keep things interesting, especially for the first-timers. But in between, we’re still getting a few yellowfin tuna up to about 25 pounds. There’s some nice dorado not too far offshore. Inshore, pargo and cabrilla are becoming more predominant, especially as it gets tougher to get too far from shore because of weather condition. Also, surprisingly, some nice 30-50 pound roosterfish still around as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 21-28, 2018
Mexican Minute Video Fishing Report
Short Attention Span Week-At-A-Glance
Weather – No shortage of sunshine. It’s really pleasant to be in town right now . Daytime temps in the mid-80’s with a breeze. Nights in the low 70’s. However, not always great to be on the water as Hurricane Willa (hundreds of miles to the south) didn’t mess with us, it did send up some huge swells and strong wind that caused us to shut down our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing for 2 days. Then, increasing northern winds have made it difficult at time fishing out’ve La Paz. (Also makes it tough to find bait!). The seasons are changing.
Water – The increasing winds are lowering the water temperatures and the water is getting more green although there’s still some great blue water around . It’s all in transition.
Fishing – Maybe it was a combination of variables. Erratic winds. A full moon. Big swells. All of it contributed to a tougher week of fishing. I’ve seen worse. But I have also seen better. We had to work hard to get fish sometimes. Moreso than normal. More cooler water species showing up. Fewer blue-water fish around. Also, the ability to find and catch bait is affected by the weather. Harder to catch bait means harder to catch fish.
Caught This Week – tuna, wahoo, dorado, jack crevalle, lots of bonito, needlefish, roosterfish, pargo liso, cabrilla, triggerfish, dog-tooth snapper, pompano, palometa.
Outlook for Coming Week – Probably alot more of the same. Off-season imminent.
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Our Montana friend, Darrel Zauner, hooked into a few of these beasts, but finally got a big dog-tooth to the boat!
Gary Pilkington has been visiting us for years and it was good to see him finally get his first wahoo!
Lots of “firsts” this week like this good-looking roosterfish caught by Mike Hanson from Grants’ Pass, Oregon while fishing with Captain Gerardo. The fish is alot bigger than it looks. Both Mike and Captain Gerardo are abut 6’3″ tall! The fish was released.
Outdoor writer, lecturer, author and TV show host, Scott Haugen finally came to visit us from his home in Oregon and put the hurt on this sizeable wahoo using a purple Rapala.
Some good eats here! Two different kinds of pargo caught by Tanner Millspaugh and his dad, Travis, from Washington state.
Two of our new favorite amigos, Debbie Arvin and Lynn Murphy from Colorado, with Captain Armando and some pretty yellowfin tuna.
Great colors on Chris Aiellos, dorado that he caught fishing with our La Paz fleet
A solid day to sea-the-least! Mike and dad Gary Pilkington with a rack of tuna, a dorado plus a wahoo! Grand slam!
First-time visitor from Colorado, in rough water, Don Vanzo got a legit bull dorado on the gaff.
That’s the right kind! John Morgenstern all the way from South Dakota got another tuna into the panga and a great photo!
HI Paula! Well done, amiga! Nice bull dorado!
Alaska in the house! John Daley with Captain Moncho and alot of tuna meat headed to the freezers.
Just too pretty of a photo. This is Jae Shin from Alaska with a roosterfish on the flyrod in Bahia Muertos.
Here’s Jae’s roosterfish caught on the flyrod . Great fun on such light tackle! The rooster was released. That’s Bahia Muertos water.
She’s an author and lecturer and teaches classes in outdoor cooking! Tiffany Haugen poses great with a wahoo in the blue waters near Punta Arenas.
Robbie Boyd and his dad, Bill, and Captain Jorge display a pretty pargo liso an a couple of yellowfin tuna on the beach at Muertos Bay.
He looks grim, but Brian is actually a nice guy with two handfuls of dorado and tuna caught with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
You’re kidding! Greg Garrison and Nic Huff sport THREE big wahoo from a day of fishing right off the rocks at Punta Arenas.
Celebrating Lollie Milano’s retirement, Dana Milano came down for the week and got themselves some nice yellowfin going on ice.
Stan Andre gives a little kiss to his dorado he got while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Brian’s got another dorado to add to the box! Despite some slow spots, he and his amigos took a nice load of fish home!
Gary Wagner loves light tackle and took this feisty rooster in the shallows in front of his place at Bahia Muertos. The fish was released.
Scott Haugen knows how to pose with a fish…like this colorful dorado.
Nic had never fished before but scored a number of highly covered wahoo!
I think that’s Brian behind the mask with another dorado.
Tough fish to pull out’ve the rocks, but Scott Haugen did the trick after 5 of them got the best of him and broke him off.
Table full ‘o’ tuna for Mike and Kirsten Hanson from Oregon!
Great shot of Mike Pilkington’s first wahoo. Caught with Captain Pancho driving the rig. Nice fish, Mike!
They don’t have many mahi mahi in S. Dakota which is where John Morgenstern will be taking these fillets!
First dorado for Ms. Tiffany. She is such a gamer!
It was a hit-or-miss week of fishing as the warm water season winds down and cooler conditions move in. We often had to work a lot harder for our fish this past week than we’ve been used to during the season but everyone got fish. It just wasn’t as easy or as plentiful in some cases.
It was erratic. One boat would find fish and a boat next to them would struggle. We’d look for tuna and only find dorado. We’d chase dorado and get dog-tooth snapper. A boat trying to pargo or cabrilla would hook a wahoo! Just no rhyme or reason. One day our Las Arenas fleet would be hot and the next day our La Paz fleet would have the hot bite!
A lot of it had to do with the weather. Winds are blowing stronger and coming from all directions at different times of the day. It’s cooling off the water temps. It’s clouding up the water. It’s making bait harder and harder to find as waves crash into the shallow areas disturbing the bait schools.
The big hurricane Willa that hammered far south of us, did not do us any damage. The sun burned brightly every day. But it did throw up some big wave and southerly winds that forced us to cancel two days of fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. As the winds increase from the north, I imagine there will be more days that are tough to fish as the season diminishes.
However, there was a good jag of wahoo this week. Some boats got multiple strikes and landed several.
The tuna were a little more scarce, but little spots of tuna popped up if you could jump on them fast enough. The schools were very often busting water, but were hesitant to eat or would only eat quickly and move on so you only had a small window to get in on the bite. The full moon might have had something to do with that.
Again, we had unusually huge dog-tooth snapper and pargo liso come up off the shallows busting rods (really!) and 150-pound test. We got about 1 out’ve every 8 or 9 hook-ups on these tough fish.
Dorado are still around. Mostly in the 10-15 pound class.
ON a PERSONAL NOTE…
This is been an emotional roller-coaster week. Earlier in the week, my dad passed away. He was 91-years-young.
Many of you knew him. He loved to fish. He loved reading this fishing report. Thankfully to Jill, she jammed a ticket back to Los Angeles in my hand on a “gut feeling” and told me to get back to see him NOW and she kicked me outta La Paz.
I got to spend a few hours with him and hold him for a bit and after spending most of the night with him told him I’d be back in the morning to have breakfast with him. Little did I know that would be the last. The next morning, he took a breath and let go and slipped quietly and peacefully away.
I had to get back to La Paz and three days later…talk about the circle of life, we welcomed Hannah James Reid our 2nd grandchild to our daughter Jessie Reid and Brian Reid. Whoo-hoooo!!!
The circle of life keeps rolling!
Just wanted to reach out to thank the hundreds of you that sent condolences to both Jill and I and also all of you sending congratulations. We do not pass through life alone. Glad to be on the path with so many of you. God bless!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 7-14, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE
Weather – Not bad. Sunny. Just different. Almost overnight, it changed. It got cooler by 10-12 degrees. It’s supposed to be in the mid-90’s right now instead of the low 80’s. Humidity dropped tremendously as well . And the winds came up too. Even had a storm during the week that shut us down for a day. Weird
Fishing – Affected tremendously by the abrupt change in weather. Some high spots and some big fish, but overall, the fishing took a dive…or the fish took a dive. Either way, fishing got tougher. Hate to think the awesome tuna bite of 2018 is over. On the bright side…huge huge pargo caught! Incredible catches…and losses of gigantic fish too.
Fish Caught This Week: tuna / marlin/ dog-tooth snapper / mullet snapper/ barred pargo/ cabrilla/ triggerfish/ dorado/ bonito/ skipjack / sailfish/ yellow snapper/ pompano / jack crevalle
Water – Air temps went down, but water stayed warm! At least for now. The winds sure made it rougher than normal and if the winds keep blowing the waters will definitely cool and the fishing will change even more.
Outlook: More winds expected this week, especially from the north which is usually a sign of winter weather approaching and rougher seas. Possibility here and there or rain showers, but mostly sunny week ahead.
THE BIG PICTURE AND THE REST OF THE STORY…
Hard to believe the size of these dog-tooth cubera snapper we were catching this week or the number of them. Have never seen anything like it! We were using whole bonito to hook them and losing many fish as well. Captain Victor poses with a smiling Jim Gatti and Nino Bonfiglio from Sacramento CA. Check out two more big pargo dogs on the table!
Jerry Weber from Prescott AZ mugs in front of his big pargo while Captain Moncho and MIke Asbury from San Diego hold the pose. There’s another big fish on the table as well!
Smiling Steve Snead from Idaho! Good to have him back to visit us this past week and he got himself a pretty yellowfin tuna in the La Paz tuna bite.
Fun Family and we enjoy every time they visit us. Ken and Terri Bodle from Spring Valley Lake CA with three sons, Weston, Wyatt and Mason…oh…and some nice tuna!
With storm clouds threatening late in the week, Pete Wilson still stuck it to this massive dog-tooth snapper fishing with Captain Victor! Check out the photo below of the teeth!
Why these pargo perro / cubera snapper are also know as “dog-tooth snapper.” Pretty fierce looking grill! This is Pete Wilson’s big doggie. His photo is above.
Wiley, Jr and Wyatt Randolph got a double-hook-up on dorado fishing north of La Paz their first day!
Great shot! Big smile! Ryan Russel from Boise, Idaho worked this big tuna with our La Paz fleet.
That’s a big dog-tooth cubera snapper (pargo) being held up by Henry Petrino from Sacramento with an assist from Captain Gerardo! Henry…I told you that you’d be in the fishing report! Congrats! 😀
Nice shot. Weston with his dad, Ken Bodle hold up a couple of legit YFT’s on the beach behind La Concha Hotel!
Our surf brothers, Jim Adair and Brad Baker with some nice pompano and tuna headed for the ice chest.
We even got pargo liso (mullet snapper) this week! It’s not springtime either! Steve and Captain Moncho do the honors! Really unusual to get these powerful fish!
Tuna on the light tackle is a handful! C.P. Shannon with two hands fulll of tuna!
That’s alot of sashime fillets! Nothing wrong with this yellowfin tuna caught by Pete Wilson after a long fight!
Jim Adair and Brad Baker are pumped up! Fun day hitting the rock and reef fish with several great eating different species there…snapper, pargo, palometa, cabrilla…
Al Rorex got his dorado after a tough week of fishing. He lost a big big tuna at the boat after a long-battle too!
That’s a beast! We don’t usually see pargo liso (mullet snapper) this big and usually, we catch them in the springtime! Steve and Captain Moncho!
John Gibbs and Ken Campbell visit us every year and are always a kick. A couple of nice big barred pargo with Captain Armando.
First day out produced Danny Okazaki’s first wahoo on a Rapala. He wasn’t sure if they were good eating until we all assured him that it was NOT just a big mackerel!
Nice tuna for Wiley Randolph! He’s always smiling. Never seen him unhappy! We always enjoy his visits every year.
1…2..3…LIFT, Henry! Lifting this big pargo knocked one of the lenses outta Henry’s glasses! Look at the teeth on the beast. That’s why they call ’em “dog-tooth” snapper.
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Brad McBride had a good day working the rocks inshore for a great variety of good-eating fish and lots of action on light tackle.
You can imagine the size of this pargo…Steve is about 6’4″ tall!
Weston and his dad, Ken Bodle with a couple of nice YFT’s on the beach behind La Concha Hotel.
Is the great tuna bite of 2019 over? Has the season already changed over to cooler winter conditions?
After this past week, I might have to concur in the affirmative.
It was a weird strange week. First, air temperatures abruptly dropped 10-12 degrees almost overnight. The sun was still out (most of the week…more on that in a bit), but suddenly, it was like someone threw a switch and humid tropical 95-98 degree day time temps suddenly hit the mid-80’s and the humidity almost disappeared.
On top of that it got windy from the south brought on by concurrent hurricanes Rosa then Sergio that played out in the Pacific Ocean and made landfall hundreds of miles north along the Baja Peninsula, but caused enough of a pressure change to bring in some fairly strong wind and waves from the south…all of which contributed to some really difficult fishing.
Oh…then late-week, the “rain showers” we knew were going to happen and were supposed to be benign turned into basically a baby hurricane with the sun out!
Winds of 20-30 mph whipped the ocean into a froth and strong morning rains didn’t help either. We had to shut down fishing for the most part when the La Paz Port Captain understandably shut down all boat traffic on Friday as big waves in normally calm La Paz Bay were strong enough to throw spray on cars passing by on the waterfront. It was like having a baby hurricane with the sun still out!
So, fishing took the biggest tumble of the season. It went from red-hot to barely tepid. I think the fish were as confused as we were. There were a few high spots here and there and the fish were definitely there. They just didn’t want to bite or they moved to other spots.
Although we got some nice tuna and some huge tuna were lost, the volume of tuna we’ve enjoyed for several months diminished. Same for dorado and other species. There were a few wahoo and way too many bonito!
Our captains and anglers had t work hard to find fish and even when they did, so many of the fish were larger that many were lost which might have made our counts look better. But, just the same…action was way way off.
The biggest surprise was the appearance of huge dog-tooth cubera snapper (pargo perro or pargo colorado) and giant mullet snapper (pargo liso). These huge red fish are generally a spring-time fish and during the season, maybe we get a half-dozen or so…maybe!
These huge fierce fish are not only big, but powerful and they’re in the shallows in the rocks and reefs. They have scales like armor, sharp gills and gill plates plus set of long sharp teeth!
When the blue water fish weren’t biting, we went inshore for some action on pargo and cabrilla just to get the guys some fish and these big dogs started biting. More than I have ever seen in more than 20 years here.
These fish were 50-80 pounders and larger ones were lost! They were breaking 150-pound test line and the guys were using whole live bonito to hook them. Guys were losing 2, 3, 4 or more fish in some cases and getting 1 to the boat, but it could be the fish of a lifetime.
This coming week, it looks like the winter northern winds are starting early. The north winds are the vanguard of what we get during the months of November to April. We are also expecting a “little rain” this week again. Looks like winter might be starting pre-maturely. If the winds persist, water temps will also start to drop and the fishing will change even more dramatically.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 1-7, 2018
The Mexican Minute Video Fishing Report
Short Attention Span Week at a Glance
Weather – Definitely cooler although water still warm. In the mornings, the water at 86 or 87 degrees is warmer than the air! Daytime temps down to about 92 now. Humidity has thankfully dropped. Quite comfortable. However, more winds and breezes especially from the north which is indicative of the changing season and coming winter…perhaps earlier than we would like. Winds make it harder to fish. We even had a little mini-hurricane by Cerralvo Island that we call “toritos” (little bull) that popped up and then left complete with waterspouts, wind, waves, thunder and lightning.
Water – Still warm and blue but the presence of so many cool-water species like the pargo, pompano, palometa are indicative of cooler water moving in.
Fishing – Incredible numbers of species for this time of year. Normally, it’s dominated by the warm water species like tuna, dorado, wahoo and billfish. But, right now, in addition to those we also have cabrilla, pompano, several types of pargo, jack crevalle, several species of bonito and more.
Outlook for Coming Week – Continued cooler. Might get a spot of rain. Winds increasing
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Our amigo, Rob Chambers, had himself quite a day doing the hat trick at Las Arenas with 3 exotic species. He started the day nailing this wahoo on a purple rapala (still hanging from the mouth); then he nailed a nice bull dorado (photo below) the caught and released a roosterfish off the Punta Perico rocks! Scroll down for the rest of the photos!
Walt Menda from Sacramento comes down every year and always hangs the big fish fish. This one was with Captain Jorge and he and the fish battled for 2 long hours on light tackle.
Taking a quick week off from Germany where he serves in the U.S. Army, Marcus Yoo was just outside of Bahia Muertos when he took this colorful bull dorado.
That’s alot of meat! Ira Stephens from Washington and Mike Purcell from New York with Captain Jorge show off some nice tuna plus a bonus HUGE pargo liso (mullet snapper)
First-timer, Bryan Loh, from Newport Beach with Captain Gerardo put the hurt on this pretty wahoo using a dark X-Rap Rapala.
Hector and “Aguachile” Henry do it again with a couple of fat La Paz Bay yellowfin tuna.
Our La Paz Fleet really kicked out some nice catches this week. Check out the deck spread of tuna and dorado caught by Curt and Debbie Keller from Utah. First-visit to us!
Two funny guys! Captain Armando with our bud, John Gibbs and a colorful barred pargo.
Now that’s some variety! Marcus with yellowfin tuna, barred pargo, cubera snapper (pargo perro) and triggerfish . Great eating!
Mark Bonsack and Brad Sleder slipped in a quick two-day trip that produced this wahoo.
There was no shortage of tuna for our La Paz Fleet this week which usually relies on the dorado bite! But Captain Chito and Dave Wakabayashi rolled up some nice yellowfin off Espirito Santo Island.
Alex Dombrowski from Washington started off his fishing week with a bang…dorado, barred pargo and pompano for the fish box.
Wow…that’s alot of meat! A big pargo liso to go with tuna and a mess of pompano for Walt Menda and Lloyd Okimura from Sacramento!
Our best amigo, Jorge Romero, took a day off from driving all over Baja and took the biggest tuna of the day!
We had fun with these two! Great visit for the first time from Travis Woodard and Craig Wood and their wahoo.
Another of many trips in the book over the years from Delando Pegan who fished with our La Paz fleet and poses with tuna and dorado (more fish on the stern!). He owns Relik Winery in Oregon and is opening up his new B & B as well.
Jerry Kvaternik from Washington finally made it down to see us after many years! That’s a yellowfin tuna he’s goofing with!
Hard to believe all the pompano we caught this week. I don’t recall ever seeing this many caught. Normally a spring-time fish. Even then we never caught this many! John Gibbs does the honors. Great eating!
1-2-3…LIFT!!! That’s Curt Keller, trying to take a photo with his big roosterfish so he could released it. Captain Victor tries to help!
Nice shot. Powerful fish! Yellowfin tuna for Marcus.
Love that grin, Mike Jacobson! First-time visit with us, he got into the tuna and dorado!
Jae Park and Mike Kingsmore with Captain Ramiro and a nice wahoo. They also caught tuna and dorado over the 3 days of fishing.
Worth the smile after a good day fishing for Bill Bigelman from Washington with wahoo, cabrilla, tuna and dorado on the cutting table!
As good a picture as you might find. Nice bull dorado, Rob Chambers!
Lots of palometa this week which is highly unusual! Great eating fish related to jack crevalle, pompano, roosterfish and yellowtai.
That’s gonna be on a sashime plate! Andrew Bowman back for another year going home with tuna and dorado.
Nothing wrong with Bob Larson’s catch on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos! Tuna and dorado for ready to fillet!
Henry and Hector again! Barred pargo and an upside-down tuna!
Gary Okimoto on his first trip to La Paz with Lloyd Okimura who comes every year! Gary had a good time! Check out the first-day catch of tuna from Muertos Bay!
Armando and Choo…posing with their tuna. Big boy yellowfin!
Good form! Marcus Yoo on the stick has another La Paz tuna!
Jerry has another yellowfin! Washington in the house this week.
Good day for Rob Chambers! Just off the rocks at Punta Perico with a pretty roosterfish. Caught and released. Rob’s first trip to visit us.
Mike Kingsmore and Jae Park with another fat tuna on the beach.
The seasons are noticeably changing. This past week temperatures seemed to have come down a good 5 degrees with daytime temps now in the low 90’s and the humidity has thankfully also eased up a bit. But the surest indicator is that the north winds that blow during out winter off-season months have started to pick up which will surely continue the cooling trend.
The fishing, not so co-incidentally, also seemed to take a bit of a change as well.
Yellowfin tuna that we’ve had all year, but especially the last 2 months took a bit of a slow-down. They’re still here and we caught quite a few, but not as many. Most were in the 10-30 pound class with a few 40-60 pounders. There were some 100+ pounders hooked at the south end of Cerralvo Island, but all of those fish were lost. Still, we had to work a lot harder to find the tuna this past week whereas in other weeks, the tuna were voracious. Some days, some pangas did not get any tuna at all which have been our bread-and-butter fish most of the season…at least for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.
However, remarkably, the bite was far better for our Tailhunter La Paz fleet which usually relies on a stead dorado bite to bend rods and fill fish boxes. However, this past week, the tuna bite was actually much more solid and dependable with 25-40 pound yellowfin taking up perhaps 50% of the catch. Whereas in normal years, we see only a handful of tuna for the La Paz fleet, this past week, our pangas were getting 2-10 yellowfin per panga per day!
Another indicator of the changing season is the variety of fish we’ve been catching the last two weeks.
Usually, this time of year warm water species like tuna and dorado dominate the fish counts.
However, in the last two weeks, we’ve gotten more wahoo which are normally late October fish. Also, some of those big dog-tooth / cubera snapper and mullet snapper/ pargo lisos that we normally only see in the cooler spring-time months of March through May. In addition a lot of palometa and pompano were also caught which are also spring-time fish .
We’ll have to keep an eye out for it and see if this is an on-going trend. Or just a slight anomaly. You would have thought with the dark moon this past week the fishing would have been a little stronger. Some boats some days actually really struggled while pangas right next to them were bent all day. Then, it would reverse the next day. But, overall, everyone got fish to bring home.
BIG HEARTS!
Jim Gatti arranged with the Sacramento Chapter of Safari Club International to have his 5 couples bring down a huge load of school supplies, sports equipment and hygiene items this past week. On top of it all, they donated money to our scholarship fund and brought enough to send 2 kids to school for two years with breakfast, books, uniforms and transportation!
Long-time Tailhunter amigos, Brad Baker and Jim Adair hauled down school supplies and tooth brushes.
Over the years, these guys have brought us not only lots of laughs and grins, but lots of donations for our Outreach Program. This week they hauled down several ice chests of new shoes, school supplies, clothes, hygiene products, and sports equipment.
As our season winds down to the last few weeks we need to give a shout-out to all of our Tailhunter Tribe who brought down thousand of pounds of donation items to our Tailhunter Outreach Program which over the past decade has distributed several tons of items to a local orphanage, a Womens Shelter, a Senior Citizen home and an under-served local neighborhood.
This past week even more great items were brought down and we appreciate everyone who found a little extra space in their ice chests and suitcases to stuff some stuff in there for our La Paz amigos. Regretfully, we don’t have photos of everyone who brought donations, but you know who you are and we’re grateful. This stuff changes lives!
Tailhunter Fish Report 