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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos / Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 29-Aug. 7, 2023

BEST DORADO SEASON EVER?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 29-Aug. 7, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  No doubt hot and humid!  Stay hydrated and covered up.  Common sense!  It’s in the high 90’s to low 100’s in the daytime…normal summer temps.  Actually maybe cooler than many parts of the U.S. strangely enough.  But, humidity is high as well.  Thankfully, the beach is right outside!

WATER:  Mostly warm and blue.  Surface temps on the water are high 70’s to low 80’s. Actually and strangely COOLER than normal!  But great swimming, snorkel and scuba conditions.

SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado, bonito, roosterfish, wahoo (lost), marlin (lost), pargo (2 types), snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, palometa, pompano

TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET:  Primarily dorado.  Not as many as La Paz, but more of the bigger dorado.  Plus inshore species like roosters, pargo and cabrilla.

TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET:  More dorado than La Arenas…usually…it changes all the time, but the LARGER of the larger dorado seem to be on this side.  (30-50 pounders)

IMPORTANT MESSAGES IF YOU’RE COMING DOWN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS:

  • It’s hot.  Dress accordingly with sunglasses, big brim hats, long sleeves, sunscreen and lots of water.
  • Your balances are due 45 days from arrival so get in touch with us if your balances are due.
  • The best part of our season is also hurricane season.  Usually NOT an issue, but you never know with this wacky weather around the world these days.  These are the tropis. TRAVEL INSURANCE is cheap and remember, there are no refunds for weather-related cancelations.   Weather is part of the sport whether it’s sunny, windy, rainy…whatever.  This is prime time for fishing and we are always sold out this time of year because fishing rocks,  I wish we did, but we also have no control over the weather.  Even if it’s a heavy rain storm for 1 hour or 1 day, it  COULD  affect your fishing; airline flight;

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Frank Kunze, our long-time Colorado, amigo, has been with us twice this year. We got him to put down the conventional fishing rod one day and only use his flyrod. Here’s his first fish of the day on the flyrod. It wasn’t his last! He released all his fish!

Captain Luis give Rose Vadnais a hand with a another big bull off the east end of Espirito Santo Island. They apparently had several other big boys on the line that got away!

Daniel always gets fish! This is Daniel Bovee’s 2nd trip this year to visit us and has been doing it for years. Great colors on this bull dorado taken near Bahia Muertos!

Yes! There are still roosters around. Maybe not the big pig slug roosters, but some fun 5-10 pounders can be lots of fun like this one that Darrell Manginelli hooked and released after fishing for dorado.

This is Sam Sybesma’s biggest doado every and he’s been fishing with us for years! Sam is about 6’3″ so you KNOW this fish is legit!

Always great to have Lee Carlson here with us. He got lots of fish on the conventional rod and reel, but took our his flyrod for this beauty. He released or donated all ths dorado this day.

Some good eating barred pargo that Daniel is holding. Winds came up, but still able to fish for a number of inshore species.

I lost count of how many big bull dorado Darrell Manginelli caught last week!

___________________________________

It’s been an unbelievable dorado season now for more than two months.  After almost 30 years down here, I’d have to call it “historic” and hope I’m not jinxing the whole ball-o’-wax and shutting it off because our fisherfolk are having a ball.

They catching either the most fish ever.  Or they are catching the biggest fish ever.  Or they are catching maybe their first fish ever.  Or they are catching their limits of fish faster than ever.

Either way, the dorao are sure checking alot of the boxes!

Most of the fish are running 5-15 pounds.  Fun legit fish.  Lots of those are so voracious that they are crashing the boats which are ending up with some fast easy limits.  Many many of these fish are getting thankfully released.

But, wait…there’s also the big Mo’s out there as well.  The pigs. The hogs.  These bull dorado are all business and when you have a 20-60 pound fish pulling line and jumping and charging the boat, it’s more than most folks can handle and alot of fun.  But, we’re also losing alot of these fish which is just part of the sport!   You just never know when that next fish will or might be the fish of a lifetime.

But, the dorado continue to be the big story for our fishing.

That’s not saying there are no other species.  We’ve got shots at billfish, wahoo, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, pompano, snapper, pargo and cabrilla.  The problem is that everyone is having way too much fun with the dorado and don’t care to invest the time or change tactics to chase the other species. Which is just fine as well!  Go have fun!

We did get a little rain over the weekend and some jags of southern winds made it a tad bumpy for a few afternoons, but otherwise, there were always fish to be caught and places to find fish less windy.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

 

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 21-28, 2023

MAHI MADNESS KEEPS ROLLING

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 21-28, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER – Hot and humid.  High 90’s to low 100’s.  Normal temps for this time of year, but just FEELS hotter for some reason.  Everyone talks about the heat.

WATER – Strangely although the air temps are hot…the water temps are maybe 3-5 degrees COOLER on the surface than normal.  Go figure!  But, at least the waters are blue which is conducive to fishing!

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – Dorado (5-50 pounds); Roosterfish (2-15 pounds); Pargo/ Cabrilla/ Snapper / Triggerfish (2-8 pounds); Jack Crevalle and Bonito (3-17 pounds);  Wahoo (at least 5 hooked and lost of unknown size!); Marlin (2 hooked and lost of maybe 120 pounds each).

LAS ARENAS – Fewer fish than La Paz, but overall LARGER fish.  Maybe 2-4 fish per rod and largest fish overall consistently more 15-30 pound bulls.  Lots of releases.

LA PAZ – More fish than Las Arenas.  Most in the 5-10 pound size with LOTS of releases.  Not as many large fish as Las Arenas, but the chance for larger bulls up to 50 pounds is always there.

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Just a great dawn shot with the sun coming up and a big dorado to kick off the day for Darrell Manginelli who has been visiting us for years. Darrell had an incredible 5 days of fishing with lots of huge bulls. He filled enough for his ice chest after two days! He released lots of fish.  Darrell visits us from Camarillo CA.

Big smiles as Jen Enright needs some help from Captain Joel to photo this big dorado. She battled the big fish and said afterwards her arms and hands were shaking too hard to hold the fish.  Jen is from San Diego.

What a way to end their fishing week that was full of good fishing days. Rick and his son Steve Fling capped it with 3 big bull dorado. The guys were visiting us from Denver.

It was great to have Frank and brother John Marshall hang out with us for a few days. Nice bull after fishing with our La Paz fleet.

What great colors on this photo of Mark Melnick and his beautiful bull. This is frameable. That’s El Sargento in the back.

Always fun having Roger McCracken and George Hatziayiannis visiting us from Portland. Roger has been with us over 20 years.

First time family visitors Laryn Keller and Dawson Enright taking a break after their first year of law school in Oregon had a banner few days fishing with us with dorado like these.

Hito Nishikawa and Mark Melnick have alot of meat in the table to start their 3 days of fishing. Good dorado bite!

I just think this is a funny photo. Shelton Donnell and Louie Mogabgab have been our friends over 20 years fishing with us. We love these guys, but this is just funny because it looks like Shelton is trying to take a selfie. Only problem is that last time I checked, you need a phone camera in your hand to take a selfie! Shelton doesn’t have a phone!

Kirk Paterno is 18-years-old and got this 3 days of fishing as a graduation present from high school before heading to the University of Iowa. This is a photo from the first of 3 days fishing and each day got better and better!

 

Darrell with another big bull! He was king of the bulls this week!

Whenever Captain Gerardo gives a thumbs-up, it’s a good fish and Toshi Nishikawa looks a tad disheveled after battling this nice bull.

Oh yea…Our cousin, Andy Enright holds up another big bull dorado to go with the big smile! It’s a big fish because Andy is pretty tall.

Len Weaverling and Tatsu Watanabe posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos after their first day.

Bryan Forward is just a kick every time he visits us. He brought Eddie Haynes with him this time and they knocked out the dorado and took him a nice load of fillets.

Captain Alfredo grimaces a bit as he gives Tatsu a hand with a dorado they estimated at 50 pounds that Tatsu battled north of La Paz.

Darrell is in alot of photos in the gallery this week! But, he caught alot of big dorado!

Captain Jorge with George and Louie and a table full of dorado headed into the ice chest.

It never fails. The biggest fish bite the lightest line and Roger McCracken had a rod with 20 pound test line on it when this big boy bit and took him for a ride!

__________________________

Long story short…we’re still rolling in dorado.  Little ones…medium ones…big ones…even bigger ones!

It’s been on for a good 2 months now and I don’t know when it will stop, but we’re enjoying the heck out’ve it and having alot of fun and I only hope it sticks around for another 3-4 months because  will reiterate that this is the best and most consistent dorado bite I’ve seen in my 30-some years down here.

Both out Tailhunter La Paz and our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleets are into the mahi.  Some boats might do better than others, but overall, since most of our anglers fish multiple days, they more than make up for it on other days .

Even having an “off” day is relative. The fishing has been so consistent that an “off day” these days used to be a “pretty good day” any other year. It’s just that we tend to get spoiled when the pickin’s are this good.

If you take a look at the photos, you see some great catches.  But, this does not count all the fish that were released (too small) or broke off (too strong and smart!). Again, sometimes, the anglers are getting early limits and decide that, with the heat, they’ll call it a day and head back to the beach early to eat lunch and enjoy the rest of the day knowing they already got a full fish box for the day.

Others will catch-and-release or catch limits then go chase roosterfish or go fish the rocks and reefs for pargo, snapper and cabrilla or hit the shallows to have fun with light tackle on jack crevalle and bonito.

I will warn you again…it’s HOT!!!  If you’re up in the U.S. you’re probably going through alot of the same thing.  It’s a burner summer.  We’re easily in the low 100’s right now, but with the humidity, it feels alot hotter and you’re really not being smart if you don’t stay covered and hydrated.  So, bring big brim hats; long sleeve shirts; sunscreen; sunglasses and chug that water!

SOME NOTICES:

YOUR FISHING GEAR:

We’ve been storing the fishing gear for many of you for many many years so you wouldn’t have to haul it through airports not to mention the cost of the weight or oversize luggage.  We’ve been doing it for free as a convenience to you.  We have a whole warehouse of YOUR gear!

The  warehousing is now getting way too expensive and they’re charging us an arm, leg and first-born every month.  So we’re going to ask you to come get your gear.  Some of you, we haven’t heard from in 5, 10 or more years.   If you want us to hang onto it for a bit longer, no problem, but if you’re not coming back down or we don’t hear from you before the end of the year, we’re going to have to donate the equipment.

BALANCES:

Just a heads-up that if you’re within 45 days or coming to visit us, your balances are due.  No stress.  Just let us know it’s on the way.  Or ask us for the most convenient way to get it to us.

Hope ya’ll are enjoying your summer!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

 

 

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 13-20, 2023

DORADO STILL HUGGING SPOTLIGHT!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 13-20, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER :  Like seemingly the rest of the world, it’s HOT.  But the funny thing is that people come to Mexico to “get warm and enjoy some sunshine.”  We’re probably cooler than most places in the U.S. right now!  We’re 90’s to low 100’s.

WATER:  After that little weather blow we had over a week ago, things have cleared up and flattened out.  Waters are mostly blue and warm.  Surface temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s now.

FISH CAUGHT THIS WEEK:  Dorado are still 90% of the catch because it seems like they are everywhere. Can’t get away from them, but they are alot of fun.  Also got bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, roosters, pompany, trevally and triggerfish.  Commercial guys say there’s some tuna outside.

LAS ARENAS:  Dorado.  Most are medium-sized in the 8-12 pound class.  Larger ones are easily in the 30 pound class or larger.

LA PAZ:  Dorado too!  More school-sized fish, but this past week the larger ones came from here with 40-pound class fish, but larger ones lost!

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….

Our long-time Utah amigo, Kip Slaugh, on the scoreboard with his own big bull dorado for the fish box!

First day on the water turned out to be a good one for Rob and Randy Gray with some nice bull dorado to start the vacation!

First-timer with us, Johnny Torres from Riverside CA area came inshore for his first roosterfish. Caught and released. Pretty photo too!

Captain Gerardo with Marie McClelland who had quite a week with us on big dorado. Scroll down to see more!

Always good to have Brett Bleichrodt visit us from Colorado. First day out he scores his big bull.

OH WOW! Captain Raul gives Becky Fry a hand posing with this beautiful bull dorado catch north of La Paz.

Flat water and another fish brought to gaff. This one on the troll. Brett got some big fish this week, but also a few got the best of him as well!

Our San Diego cousin, Andy Enright, kicked it off his first day with a legit dorado beast. He tells of another fish even larger that he fought and lost at color next to the boat.

We had a fun week with these two in the house. Bruce Bleichrodt and Johny Prexta with a nice rack of dorado for the freezer to take home.

Fresh one! I think Rich Hirasuna is trying not to get whacked as Captain Rogelio holds up a fresh-caught dorado that is still thrashing!

Taking a well-deserved break after their first year in law school up in Oregon, Lauryn Keller and Dawson Enright pose with the catch of dorado from their first day.

Two really sweet folks to have come down for their first-ever visit, Brian and Tami Clark are spending the week with us!

Marizol Torres arrived and asked me, I’ve never fished. Do you think I will catch a fish this week?” Captain Raul helps her with a bull dorado she fought for 45 minutes! Well-done!

Ed Haynes and Brian Forward pose on the beach with Captain Jorge.

Fun shot. Our newest family friends Rich and Cherie Hirasuna started their trip with alot of dorado fillets!

Call this a good day fishing! Captain Pancho poses with Jen and Andy Enright on the beach at Bahia Muertos with a solid day of dorado fishing.

___________________________________

As of this past week…well the mad dorado bite is still on! Some boats doing better than others, but with most folks fishing at least several days with us, there’s no shortage of fish for sure!  If you hit that sweet spot in the ocean, you could limit on dorado in very short order with what some anglers are calling a “dorado aquarium” and “so many fish in the water” After that it’s catch-and-release as fast as you want to go!  Or…

  • Go searching for only bigger dorado
  • Go searching for different species like roosters and rockfish or marlin
  • Go back to the beach early and have lunch and a siesta!

Most of the fish in the schools have been voracious 5-12 pounders that are literally attacking anything thrown in the water!  This has been great fun on the lighter tackle we use with live bait and especially for many of the kids, families and couples we have this time of year who aren’t necessarily hard-core anglers. The fish will bend rods…run…leap…shake a hook…and are sp

ectacularly colorful. On the perimeters of the schools or swimming in more solitary packs are the larger beast dorado that can be anywhere from 20 to over 50 pounds!  I’ve never seen such a concentration of large fish like we’ve had for the last month-and-a-half.  It’s been a great time to tangle with a trophy fish.  Every day I hear stories from anglers who had a big fish on the beat them up and finally broke off or came un-buttoned.   That’s why they are big fish.  They are stronger and much more powerful and you just never know what’s going to hit your line. The biggest problem is that often you can see the larger fish, but the smaller fish are just so much faster to grab your bait that you don’t get the opportunity to hook-up the bigger boys! Still, it’s nice to hear that many anglers are releasing smaller fish and also females!

This is not to say there aren’t other fish in our ocean! We’ve got bonito, roosterfish, jack crevalle, pompano, trevally, cabrilla, triggerfish, snappers and several species of pargo.  It’s just that folks are having so much fun with the dorado that they’re not chasing the other species.  But, they ARE there.  Plus there’s been billfish around that have been hooked “accidentally” but nothing ever stuck. Don’t know how much longer this dorado bite will last, but we’re enjoying it for now!

Not a fish picture this time, but the prospects of a fishing day and an amazing flat Sea of Cortez full of fish and the start of another great day! It’s like glass! (Thanks for the shot, Jennifer Enright!) People ask us all the time if we think they will get seasick or will it be too rough! #jonathanroldan

 

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.com
Mexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon,
La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178
La Mesa CA  91942
Phones:  from USA : 626-638-3383 from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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La Paz -Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 5-12, 2023

DORADO ROOSTERFISH STILL

CENTERSTAGE!

La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 7-12, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WEATHER – Mostly very hot and humid.  Stay hydrated.  It’s in the high 90’s and hot.  We did have the one day storm Sunday the 9th of July that roared into here with high winds 20-30 mph and big waves.  No rain per se, but it stirred things up.

WATER – See above.  Mostly in the mid to upper 70’s now, but still some cooler water down deeper.  The storm last Sunday turned the water over quite a bit, but each day away from the storm, the waters are settling.

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – Dorado, marlin (hooked), roosterfish, rainbow runners, amberjack, bonito, cabrilla, pargo, dog-tooth (cubera) snapper, pompano, trevally, triggerfish.

LAS ARENAS – Larger dorado coming from this area, but also the most variety of fish.

LA PAZ – Mostly school-sized dorado, but you can blow up really fast with crazy action.  Some larger fish around further out and there’s smaller roosterfish along the beaches.

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Jim Stahlman, our amigo from Idaho, visits us every year and enjoys fishing with his favorite Captain Jorge. Trolling a ballyhoo produced this incredibly colored bull dorado!

New friends from Texas, Andrew and Yssa DeWoody, fished with us 5 days and show off one of their big dorado.

Yeow! Captain Pancho estimated this rooster to be about 90 pounds and was alot of fish to heft for Smiley Wooten who caught this big one on a live cocinero of Bahia Muertos.  The fish was released.

Captain Victor gives Jim and Jan Sibert a help posing this big bull dorado. Nice batch of fish for the filet table. Jim and Jan are from New Mexico.

Just a great shot of Clay Taylor from Pecos, Texas with his roosterfish. Clay was able to release this rooster strong!

Our first big dog-tooth of the season caught by our amigo, Jim Bovee from San Diego with Captain Pancho. Jim said he was almost pulled out’ve the panga when Pancho gunned the motor to try to yank the big snapper out’ve the rocks.

One of the best shots of the week! Captain Victor with 6-year-old Asher Pierson and his roosterfish. Caught and released!

Great colors on this big bull caught by Raymond King. That’s La Ventana in the background. Nice flat seas!

Two of our very fun first-timers, Richard and Piper Kelm with one of their dorado ready to put in the fish box.

It’s been a few years since Rex Smith has been able to visit us, but always good to see him. Here he is with Captain Gerardo and another big bull. Rex is from Arizona.

Corey Fujita and his son Owen with one of the best photos of the week and a big dorado to start the morning.

There must still be some cooler water down deeper. This is Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa who caught this rainbow runner (cousin to the yellowtail) not far from his place in Bahia Muertos.

How can you not appreciate this awesome photo of 8 year-old Braedon Pierson with two-thumbs up!

More of our new Texas friends, Bridget Oliphant and her fiance Chris Chopelas who had a full week of nice fish including this big bull dorado to top the day’s catch.

Jan Sibert with some great-eating pompano, barred pargo and triggerfish. Fish tacos coming up!

Folks can’t believe the incredible colors of our dorado (means “golden one”) but this photo of Clay Taylor is one of the best examples. It almost looks like a mount the colors are so brilliant!

Andrew with a big smile for this roosterfish catch-and-release!

Brittany Pierson and Captain Victor with big smiles and dorado and flat seas to start the morning!

Great shot! This is 6-year-old Owen Fujita with Captain Joel and a nice cabrilla. Owen is turning into quite a prolific fisherman each year he comes to visit!

One of those rare all-blue dorado we seem to see more of this year than ever before. I think this is our 3rd of the season! Jim Stahlman with the nice catch and photo.

This is a double handful for Mika Diaz visisting us for the first time and fishing with mom and dad.

 

Andrew and Yssa with another photo of another day’s catch!

Captain Armando, Cathie and Dave Boos and their first-day catch of dorado. Always good to see them and have them visit us.

Smiley Wooten has himself another bull for the fish box!

Tanner and Kevry Pierson fished the day after the big storm and were fortunate to find some blue water and some dorado to start the week.

Owen with Grandpa Robert Fujita and Owen’s dorado!

Wow! Bridget Oliphant again with 2 more big bull dorado on her scorecard for the week! This lady loves to fish! She did 5 straight days on the water.

______________________________

We had a little “bump” in the weather over this past weekend (more about that “bump” below), but overall it was good summertime fishing typical of this time of year with sunny hot weather and some better than expected fishing!  Hard to complain about that!

Once again, as it has been for about 2 months now, the focus has been on the nice dorado bite we’ve been having.  Lots of school-sized 5-10 pound fish most days where you can knock out a quick and frenzied limit of fish in an hour or so if you hit the right school.  After that, it’s catch-and-release as long as it goes on or go chase larger fish or other species.

Indeed, there are some real “beast mode” dorado in our waters.

We always get some big dorado down here, but in my 30 years, I don’t remember seeing such a concentration of bigger fish like we’ve had maybe the last 5 weeks or so.

These are fish between 20 and 50 pounds roaming the waters.  Many of them getting lost after slugging-it-out with fishermen but that’s why these are larger and stronger fish!  But, easily more big dorado than I’ve ever seen.

Also, if you had asked me 2 or 3 weeks ago about larger roosterfish, I would have told you the bigger boys had moved off because we’re seeing fewer caught.

However, now I’m thinking that there are still at least some of the bigger roosterfish still hanging out.  It’s just that the dorado bite has been so prevailant and so much fun, especially for many of the families, first-timers, and kids that we’ve had, that everyone is focused on the dorado .

Sure, there’s the fun smaller-sized 5-10 pound roosters around, but the larger ones require alot more commitment.

First, you have to catch the larger baits that they like.  That would be lady fish or cocineros.  You have to put in that time.  Then, you need to slow troll those baits along the the rocks and beaches where the big roosters hang out.  Again, another commitment of time!

But, in a few cases where I’ve had an angler really wanting to go for the larger roosterfish, they’ve connected about 50% of the time resulting in 50-90 pound class fish!  Not sure how long they will stick around, but at least for this past week or so, they are still here.

As for other species, lots of fun on bonito and there’s some big schools of larger-than-normal jack crevalle that will yank anyone out’ve their socks…or flip-flops.  But, we’ve also had biters on cabrilla, pargo, a big dog-tooth snapper, a few marlin (all lost) plus trevally, pompano, triggerfish and even some amberjack and rainbow runners which tells me there might still be some cold water down a bit deeper.  Go figure.  It’s mid-July!

About that “bump” I talked about. . .

A BIT OF WEATHER: 

Last Sunday, pretty much out’ve nowhere we did have a “weather situation. ” It wasn’t really a storm per se.  But we got hit with big winds up to 30 mph from the south as well as huge waves that were described to me as “big as a house.”

We regretfully had to cancel all the fishing trips that day and I’m glad we did.

There was a big fishing tournament in town that day with over 150 teams.  They ran smack into the teeth of the rough weather.  A number of boats had to come back early.  Several boats sank or had to be towed in that were swamped by the big waves and several others came close!  Fortunately, as far as I know, everyone was accounted for.

This is what Muertos Bay where we launch looks like most days.

This is what it looked like last Sunday.  Thanks Gary Wagner for taking the video from his place at Rancho Costa.

Looks like big rain coming across La Paz Bay, but it dissipated before hitting the metro. But big winds and waves preceded it.

Dramatic footage of one of the boats that went down with guys clinging to the bow (not wearing the one lone lifevest) and another in the water.

 

I was pretty worried about what a “storm” like that would do once we got back on the water.   I was also worried that over 150 teams criss-crossing the ocean would scatter the fish as well.

However, we were able to get back on the water the next day and things had calmed down although it was still a tad bumpy and the waters were turned over.  But, we did find fish in patches of blue water and it seemed that each day further away from the storm over the weekend, things continued to settle down.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for the Week of June 26-July 4, 2023

DORADO STILL CHARGING!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 26-July 4, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WEATHER – We had to keep our eye on two hurricanes that were looming several hundred miles to the south but fortunately, they blew themselves out.  Still, it’s mostly hot and humid and perfect sunny beach weather.  We did have one day when the winds were gusting.

WATER – Inching warmer every week.  Most spots it’s blue and in the mid-70’s on the surface but there’s still some cooler water below the thermocline that’s 5-8 degrees cooler .

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – Lots of dorado.  Plus pargo, big jack crevalle, pompano, palometas, snapper, cabrilla, bonito, triggerfish, roosterfish, rainbow runners.  One marlin hooked and lost.  Commercial guys found some tuna, but they moved off fast .

LAS ARENAS FISHING – Still the area with the most variety.  The larger dorado came from this area.  Lots of other action on jacks, bonito, cabrilla, snapper and pargo.  No big roosters, but some were hooked.  Smaller 10 pounds around the beaches .

LA PAZ FISHING – Generally school-sized dorado fun if you hit the right school.  Surprising number of school-sized roosterfish also around the white sand beaches.

 

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Captain Armando give Steve and Karen Gilmore and hand with a trophy bull dorado. Note more fish on the cutting table!

Big smiles from Jennifer Lauritzen and her rooster for a quick photo and release!

Dan Baldwin and Ed Porto…happy guys after their first day of fishing on the beach at Bahia Muertos

Matt and Jennifer Lauritizen showng off the variety of fish taken in the reefs and rocks with a pargo liso, barred pargo, baja grouper and a cabrilla. All excellent eating fish!

Alex and Ryan Moore with a nice batch of dorado to fillet and get into the freezer to take home!

All the way from South Africa where he runs a huge hunting safari operation, Russ Field has been telling us for years he was coming to visit. After an incredible 47-hours of travel time, he finally got to us for a good 3 days of fishing that started out with a big bull in the boat.

Just too darned cute! Josie Bina from Missouri gets a hand from Captain Raul on her dorado she caught north of La Paz.

Always great to get a visit from our amigo, Jim Stahlman, from Idaho who loves fishing with Captain Jorge which produced a number of good fishing including some big bull dorado like this one that ate a trolled ballyhoo.

 

From Arizona, it’s been awhile since we had Rex Smith visit us, but good to have him and his brother, Mark, back with us. They started their trip with a great load of dorado, triggerfish and a big barred pargo.

Samantha, Les, Josh and Jacob Bina had a nice outing fishing with our La Paz fleet. Sam is from San Diego. Les, Josh and Jacob visit us from St. Louis, Missouri

Love the big smile from Molly Vesta from Reno Nevada who hooked this dorado just outside of La Ventana. Check the flat seas!

Whoa! Smiley and Shannon Wooten visit us from Texas where they deal with cattle auctions, but this is a different kind of bull for sure! Big bull dorado with Captain Victor.

 

Katie Apsley gets a hand posing with her nice bull from Captain Arcangel.

Kennedy Dixon from Long Beach CA got a limit of dorado outside of La Paz Bay by 11 a.m. He had just one day to fish with us.

Love this shot from a great gal! Always enjoy her visit. Sam Bina is pretty happy with this dorado! I think that’s Captain Rogelio holding the gaff. Espirito Santo Island in the background

Beast mode! Steve Gilmore and Captain Armando! Wow!

Jennifer and Matt with more meat for the ice chest! They caught quite a variety of fish over the week.

Chris Diaz finally got his family down to visit us after several cancelled trips and they started out with a great day on the water with Captain Armando.

 

Kinda McGregor from Colorado had an awesome 5 days of dorado fishing with us. Couldn’t stop smiling!

 

There’s some good eating! Russ Field with a trophy-sized barred pargo he said he was going to put whole on the barbecue!

For some variety, Steve and Karen told Captain Armando, they wanted something besides dorado (they already had alot!) so they came back with these tasty African pompano.

Ed Porto and Rex Smith from Arizona have more dorado meat for the freezer!

 

___________________________________

Well…it’s still “dorado-landia!”  I could just stop the report and say, “We’re catching alot of dorado” and that could be the end of it.  Look at the photos!

But, the last month has been the best dorado fishing that I can remember in a long time.  There are alot of photos of smaller fun school-sized dorado this week, but make no mistake that there are still some “beast mode” bulls in our waters.  Just for some reason, the photos weren’t that good or as one of our anglers told me, “I didn’t take any photos because were were too busy fighting fish!”

Good of an excuse as any!

Also, despite photos of smaller fish, believe me…folks are also releasing a ton of fish as well.  In some cases, they catch a bunch and release a bunch in a short time when they hit the dorado schools.  Then, they’re done!  They come back with big smiles early or,  they go chase roosterfish along the beaches or fish over the reefs and rocks for pargo and snapper.

Make no mistake that there are still alot of other species around.  It’s just that the dorado can be so fun and easy.  In many situations, I’ve got families, kids, first-timers and they have so much fun pulling on dorado that there’s no reason to go hunting other species.

One thing, if you’re coming down…it’s HOT!  Like much of the U.S. the summer has been scorching hot up there.  For us down here, it’s been in the high 90’s, but with the 50-70% humidity, it feels like it’s in the 100’s.   It’s great beach weather, but you can feel the heat from early morning even before the sun comes up.  So, keep covered and stay hydrated.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

 

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La Paz-Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 19-26, 2023

BIG MAHI LIKE I HAVE NEVER SEEN

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 19-26, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WEATHER – Someone flipped a switch about 2 weeks ago and we went from cool to blazing hot.  Even the winds are hot.  Definitely shorts and lots of sunscreen with the biggest hat you can bring.  It’s in the mid-90’s which doesn’t seem too hot, but the humidity is running 50-70% which makes the air feel really heavy.

WATER – Mostly blue although surprisingly not as warm as it should be.  Water temps on the surface are only about 72 which should be closer to 80.  However, mostly really calm and flat except when the winds kick up creating chop.  Finding fish means finding the warmer blue water .

WIND– No more chilly gusts for sure.  But, now it’s been replaced by a hot breeze.  Usually the breeze cools things down, but not the ones we’re getting right now.  We did have one day when the northwest winds jacked up for a few hours and the water got bumpy.  Then, it disappeared in a snap and there wasn’t a ripple on the ocean.

FISH SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado and more dorado.  Then more dorado.  Roosterfish, jack crevalle, bonito, amberjack, marlin, trevally, pompano, cabrilla, triggerfish, rainbow runners, pargo lisa, pargo mulatto, snapper.

LAS ARENAS REPORT – Most of the week’s bigger model dorado were caught fishing with our Las Arenas fleet.  Fish well into the 40-pound class. More species caught on this side as well.  Pretty much everything in the list above.

LA PAZ REPORT – Not as many species, but if you wanted to load up on school-sized dorado and easy limits, this was the spot. Often fast easy action and dorado madness.  Some nice cabrilla and snapper caught and some schools of small to medium roosters fun on light tackle.

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Three days of big dorado for Doug and Penny Nuffer, our amigos from Utah. Penny fought one dorado well over an hour estimated at over 50 pounds that broke off at the boat.

I love this photo! Al Hed and Mike Jennings from Washington wanted big roosters so they figured they would get an “edge” if Mike wore a chicken head. They insist it’s a rooster head, but I think it looks more like a chicken! It worked. They got a number of our larger roosters this week.

Incredible colors. Chris Bedsaul with Captain Jorge got a fish to match his shirt! Nice dorado and always fun to have Chris visit us.

First-time visitors, Warren Stewart and his wife Krisele with son Austin display 3 of their big bulls.

…and then there’s Mari, Bedsaul. This lady can fish and always takes great photos. Nice little rooster fish for a CPR (Catch…Photo…Release).

First day out was a good one for Allan and Cheryl Herman. That’s quite a haul of dorado on the table!

Some of our funnest first-timers from Colorado had to cancel their trip last year, but Kindra and Brian McGregor roared back with a full week of good dorado fishing and some big bulls like this one posed by Kindra.

Joe Morse from San Diego, brought his group of 7 amigos down and their first day was a good one on the dorado spot.

Captain Joel give Lisa Leduc a hand with this good-looking bull caught north out’ve La Paz Bay.

Wow! That’s a great triple for Captain Pancho flanked by Mike Jennings and Al Hed.

Terry and Stepanie Martell with Captain Armando on the beach at Bahia Muertos posing with 3 of their dorado catch.

Captain Jorge with Mari’s barred pargo. Tasty fish for the fish box!

Andy Lauber from Louisiana went to town on the light tackle one day off Cerralvo Island on these palometas (trevally) landing about a half-dozen

Marcus Yoo is a major in the U.S. Army and in between deployments he usually finds time to pay us a visit and, you can tell, he’s kind of a fun guy to have around! He spent two days fishing and one day diving.

Randy Rimple and Brian Hyland with a nice double shot pair of big dorado. They’re from the Sacramento area.

Happy Birthday to me! Cory Mahan celebrated his 45th with us with some snorkeling and fishing and started things out with a pair of nice bulls on the first day of fishing!

Dion Hyland cradles an early morning bull to kick off the day of fishing.

Captain Armando give Terry and Stephanie Martell help posing with a couple of their first-day catch of dorado. They added more over the next 4 days!

First time visitors Vicki and Scott Shaw were great to have visit. On the beach with Captain Arcangel and more dorado on the table in the foreground too!

Captain Armando has alot of fish cleaning ahead of him, but doesn’t mind after a day like this with Randy Rimple and Brian Hyland and a table full of dorado.

Big jack crevalle in the hands of Big Mike Jennings! These are tough-fighting fish!

Just another day of big dorado for Doug and Penny! They had 3 days of this kind of fishing!

Big smile under that hoodie from Brian McGregor who hit the dorado schools big time with Captain Rogelio all week. Brian is from Colorado and stayed the whole week. First-time visitor!

It’s Mari again with another great catch. Captain Jorge hold the gaff and the dorado.

Captain Jorge, Steve Martin and Dion Hyland with a nice triple!

Whoa!!! This dorado stretches from one side of the panga to the other! Mike and Al with the pose and smiles!

Taller than him? Al Hed holds it up while Mike watches.

________________________________

OK…I guess you can figure out what’s been going on this last week-or-so just by looking at the photos!

We have dorado…and we have more dorado.  The the surprising part is the amount of dorado and the sheer SIZE of some of these dorado.  I’ve seen alot of big dorado down here in 30 years, but I cannot remember a time when we had such a concentration of BIG dorado.   Fish running 20-40 pounds have not been uncommon and larger ones have been lost.

Take a look at the photos.  These are the ones that were photo’d.  For every one in the fish box, clients have told me there are some days when they are catching-and-releasing smaller ones as fast as they can get a hook into the water.

Some boats are finding huge schools of these smaller 5-10 pound fish and it can go crazy.

And then there are the larger ones cruising on the periphery of the school-sized fish or free-swimming solo or in small groups.  These are powerful, crafty and acrobatic fish and folks are having alot of fun…and frustration catching them!

Some days folks are actually complaining because “We’re only catching small ones!” or “We only caught two larger ones!”  I guess we’re getting a bit spoiled.  All fun stuff.

I have no idea how long this will last, but we’ll ride it as long as it goes.  There’s some big bunches of sargasso weeds building north and east of the city which continues to hold many of these schools plus the dorado are also gathering around the commercial shark buoys as well.

So….I’d say 95% of the catch has been dorado.

But that’s not the only fish around.  There are alot of other species.  It’s just that the dorado have been so prevalent and so dynamic, that folks are having too much fun and it’s too easy.  There’s that old saying…”Don’t leave fish to find fish.”

So, that’s not to say there are no other fish biting.  The roosterfish are still around.  There’s pargo, cabrilla, snapper, trevally, pompano, bonito, jack crevalle and even a few billfish.  However, most of these have been incidental catches.  The focus is on these dorado schools right now!

I think alot has to do with the temperature.  We went from cool and breezy weather that was actually cold straight to hot and humid summer weather.  It’s like we skipped springtime weather.  Temps are in the mid-90’s now and I think we’re in for a warm summer like much of North America.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

 

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 11-18,2023

DORADO-LANDIA!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-18, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WATER – Continually clearing and getting bluer and warmer, but still a few degrees colder than it should be and alot clouder than normal.  But overall improving. 

WEATHER – Overall, a nice week.  Some chilly breezy mornings giving way to warm days and evening breezes.  On the water, mostly pretty calm, but had two days where the day-time winds really kicked in strangely and the water got bouncy. 

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – Dorado…and then some dorado…and more dorado.  But also roosterfish, jack crevalle, bonito, pompano, trevally, snapper, cabrilla, barred bargo, rainbow runners, yellowtail, amberjack. A few tuna popped up outside. 

LAS ARENAS – Some slower days, but this area has the most variety.  Look at the list above and every one of those species is a possibility if you fish with our Las Arenas fleet.  But, some days better than others.  Some days, the dorado go nuts.  Right at the end of the week, there were some huge dorado caught.  All big bulls. Other days, it’s a rockfish day and not a dorado to be found. 

LA PAZ – This was the dorado hot spot all week.  Especially the area north of the city around Las Cruces.  Schools of 5-30 pound fish.  At the islands, the usual fun aquarium fish like pargo, cabrilla and jacks to play with on light tackle. 

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Nothing like this in Montana! Brad Bennett fought this big bull dorado for over an hour on light tackle and finally boated it. Great colors!

First time from San Diego, Dave Jenkins started out his 3 days with us with some fresh mahi on the boat .

Always good to have Dave and his dad Bill Johnson from Colorado visiting us. Fishing with Captain Pancho produced some big bulls and they released others!

Double roosters for Grant Checa and his dad Gianni. Both fish caught and released. Gianni brought down a whole group of dads and kids from Colorado this past week.

Good way to start the day. Fishing with Captain Gerardo, Earl Lawson from Marina CA hooked and landed this pretty striped marlin for a quick photo and release.

Lots of variety of good-eating fish for Ed Pak with a spread of snapper pargo, triggerfish, rainbow runner, cabrilla and a nice amberjack too!

I think Randy Rimple’s facial expression speaks volumes about this big roosterfish that Captain Armando estimated in the 80 pound class. The fish was released.

I’ve known Emily Duncan since she was 5 years-old and coming down to fish with her family. How time flies. She was down this week to plan her wedding in La Paz for next year! I’m feeling old. This gal can fish! Note the nice bull. Cerralvo Island in back.

All the way from Illinois, Jim Newman, loves to fish. Even when he’s not one of our pangas, he’s hitting the water. This nice trevally hit a surface plug while Jim was working the beach with a light rod.

Just a darned good day on light tackle and the flyrod!

Cool photo on the beach at Bahia Muertos. Jonathan Bernardini with kids Julia and Christian.

John Lowdermilk has fished with us for years from Colorado. Just outside of Bahia Muertos, a nice photo of his rooster. Catch and release.

Just a great photo with great colors, flat seas and a big smile from Tim Jenkins from Utah on his first trip with us. Son, Drake contemplates the tail!

Right up on the beach, Mark Stuart from San Diego, with a fun rooster for a photo and release.

Dwight Ortmann might look a little tired. Make no doubt…for their size these jack crevalle are sluggers and put up a helecious fight!  Dwight very sportingly released the fish to fight another day.

 

Dylan Williams with a La Paz bull to put in the box then to the freezer. Dylan is from Pennsylvania.

John Lowdermilk and Captain Jorge posing on the beach. Not the other “tails” in the lower part of the photo as well.

Jake and Scott Snapp with Captain Armando show off another nice mahi on the beach.

Not sure if Gianni or his son, Grant, caught this fish, but it’s still a good-looking bull dorado. Lots of legit bull dorado caught this week.

Dan and Jordan Le and a pair of mystery hands to pose on the beach with their dorado.

Christian Bernardini has a great smile to go along with his fish and an assist from dad, Jonathan.

Inshore fishing remains solid for anyone that doesn’t want to chase the bluewater species. Especially for pargo and cabrilla like this one especially on light tackle caught by Jim Newman.

 

Almost impossible to catch a fish jumping in the camera lens, but Earl Wilson nailed this shot of a fighting dorado. He said a moment later, the dorado spit the hook and got away!

Flyrod jack crevalle near the beach for Drake Jenkins. He also released the fish.

_________________________________

The week had high spots and low spots.  There was some wind and some rough waters came back.  However, overall, there were alot more highs than lows.  Alot more good conditions than bad and alot more smiles than frowns.

For sure, no question, we’re into dorado season solidly now.  Lots of small school-sized fish for action and quite a few big pulls pulling people around and bending rods!

There’s a few spots in the channel between the La Paz Peninsula and Cerralvo Island that were just stacked with dorado for the last week or so.  Crazy dorado fishing.  You could get into a school of frenzied “kid” dorado or you could end up in a school of bigger bulls with attitude.

Actually, kind of a funny observation.  There have been so many larger dorado that some folks have been complaining (seriously) that it was a “bad day” fishing because they caught-and-released so many smaller ones and didn’t catch any or enough big ones.

A week ago, they would have been keeping these fish!

Anyway…

That’s not to say there aren’t dorado in other spots.  On the contrary.  There are dorado that can pop up anywhere.  There’s a good bunch of sargasso weeds bunching up on the surface now and that’s drawing the fish and as the waters continue to warm, I expect more dorado to show up.

The dorado bite was probably 80% of the catch, but that could mostly be because they were the easiest to catch and readily located.

However, we did get a few nice marlin hooks-ups and the roosters are still around and out although there were fewer in the counts.  That could possibly be attributed to the fact that not as many folks are focusing on the roosters which you have to commit to doing and lots of folks would rather go chase fish that are easier to find and “funner” to fight and better eating.

Inshore, we still have a pretty good variety including pargo, amberjack, jack crevalle, rainbow runners, cabrilla and big bonito.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 3-10, 2023

GETTING BETTER EVERY WEEK! (What full moon?)

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 3-10, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

OVERALL RATING (Scale of 1-10) :  7

WEATHER – It’s been a beautiful week with mostly sunny skies and great beach weather in the high 80’s and low 90’s.  However, the mornings are still a big nippy or downright cold with windy conditions worthy of a sweatshirt or light jacket you can take off when the sun comes up.

WATER – Waters are still colder than normal.  But, they are a bit warmer every week with more blue water showing up.  Water temps in La Paz Bay is only about 68 on the surface, but outside the bay up to about 73 degrees.  It’s still cooler than it should be.

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – dorado, roosterfish, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, marlin, tuna, pompano, trevally, bonito, jack crevalle, amberjack,  rainbow runner, yellowtail

LAS ARENAS FISHING – More variety in the fish catch.  No fish predominant, but you have a good chance of getting some of everything.  In fact, most of the fish in the list above might be caught.

LA PAZ FISHING – Much more dorado with schools of school-sized fish north of he city and in the channel between the peninsula and Cerralvo Island/ Espirito Santo Island.  If you hit the right spot, it can be crazy wild.  Some larger fish also being found up to the 40-pound class.

 

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT –

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

 

Maybe one of the most stunning dorado many of us have ever seen. This completely irredescent blue bull dorado caught off Espirito Santo Island by Hunter Burkhart from Tennessee while fishing with Captain Rogelio is simply incredible and rare.

First-time amigos from the Sacramento area, Mario and Tony Lerma with their buddy Mike Wilson who started out their week on the tuna school east of Cerralvo Island. Said this week was the “best fishing trip they ever had.”

Steve Bryan our amigo from Seattle WA rightfully earns the title of “Roosterfish King. ” Each year he comes down for about 2 weeks and fishes about 8-10 days only for our bigger roosterfish. This year, he caught 8 of these giants and released all of them like the one pictured here. Most of his fish are in the rest of this week’s report.

There are some bigger model dorado around these days like Robby Scale’s big bull he landed off Las Arenas in the channel between Cerralvo Island. Robby was on his 2nd trip with us from Colorado.

Our Wyoming amigo, Brandon McGarr with a large striped marlin while fishing with Captain Pancho. The marlin was released. He also had a big blue marlin on as well as a big bull that all broke lines close to the boat after long battles.

Texas in the house with Brett and Paula Watts and a great variety of good eating cabrilla and snapper and a big triggerfish headed to the freezer.

I love these folks and the photos they take every year. Never ever boring! This is Jeanne and Ray Cabales from San Diego with a pair of dorado and looking like they need some lunch!

Brett and Paula again with a different day and a completely different catch with a cleaning table full of yellowfin tuna.

Maybe one of the prettiest photos of the week. Captain Pancho and Robby Scales just outside of Bahia Muertos with a big boy roosterfish. Catch and release!

 

A very happy Cecilia Casias from Los Angeles with a beautiful dorado on the gaff. More unusual is a photo of our captain Arcangel who has been with us almost 30 years and rarely ever smiles in photos!

Tanya McGarr from Wyoming looks a little tapped out because this monster rooster is the 3rd big rooster of the day. She never handed off the rod or asked for help and battled all 3 fish to the boat by herself before releasing them!

This is our popular Captain Gerardo. This massive rooster was actually caught by Bill Raddock, but Bill was so tired after 3 big fish he could not lift this big beast. Even Gerardo who is about 6’2″ and maybe 230 pounds has issues lifting it up. He says it’s the largest rooster ever on his boat. The fish was released.

 

Behind the mask, that’s John Vondrak (I think!) with another rooster in the boat for a quick photo and release.

First-time visitor, Tony Lerma from Sacramento with a big boy bull dorado he caught and landed not far from Las Cruces north of La Paz.

It’s those people again…Jeanne and Ray Cabales celebrating on the beach with another good day catch of rainbow runner, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and triggerfish.

That’s gonna make some tasty sashime or seared steaks. Yellowfin tuna caught by Paula and Brett Watts from San Antonio TX.

Henry Vuong has been fishing with us for years and brought his girlfriend Cecilia fishing and, of course, she lands the most and biggest fishes. Henry always fishes with Captain Arcangel and is coming back for a 2nd trip in September.

Love the face that Bill Raddock is making here! He really wanted a big roosterfish and caught three right off the bat one day and released them all. Bill is from Kentucky.

Drew Reesor from Tennessee is a hunting guide from Tennessee, but made his first trip to visit us in La Paz. Fishing with Captain Rogelio produced a number of dorado including this big macho bull dorado.

We all remember this special days when dad took us fishing! It’s hard to tell, but I believe this is young Hudson Cileu from San Diego who gets a hand from Captain Rogelio on his dorado.

Captain Pancho posing with Tanya McGarr and another yellowfin tuna. There were 2-3 days when we had a nice healthy bite of tuna off Cerralvo Island.

More new friends from Texas, this is Randy and Linda Stolte with an incredible variety of fish on the table including dorado, snapper, pargo, rainbow runner, yellowtail, cabrilla and triggerfish. They donated all of their catch except for some they brought back to our Tailhunter Restaurant to cook up!

Jason Cileu from San Diego had just one day to fish with his young sons and they got a mess of dorado and Jason also got this nice little roosterfish as a bonus. He let it go after the quick photo.

I lose track of all the big roosterfish Steve Bryan catches every year when he visits us. I think this is number 7 or 8. He gets so many big fish everyone calls him “Rooster King” and tease him that he’s catching the same fish over and over because he sportingly releases all his fish.

________________________________

I suppose this is just another week where you can just look at all the photos and know we’ve been catching fish!  And let me tell you this is just a fraction of the photos I wish I had more room to post.

For all the “full moon” talk, we had a huge big moon this week, but if it had any effect, I can only imagine what the fishing might have been if it was not so full.  Who really cares?  Fishing was pretty solid!

We’re still not at full speed.  However, with each week, we’re edging forward and overall, it sure seems to be getting better.  Lots of smiles and folks that want to take fish home are taking fish home.  They might not necessarily catch the particular species that targeted like “giant roosterfish” or a “wahoo.”  But that’s why these are trophy fish!  They are harder to find and definitely fight harder!

But, whatever might get missed, other species seem to fill the gap.

And we are still catching a whole pallet of species.  Dorado schools are becoming more prevailant with school-sized 5-10 pound fish bunching up, especially north of La Paz.  Larger free-swimming fish up to the 40-pound class have also been making their presence known with some very large fish getting lost.

We’re seeing more billfish with some big striped marlin getting hooked and released and some larger blue and black marlin well over the 300-pound class breaking lines and hearts!

Also, while folks are having fun with the smaller roosterfish that can be a real kick on light tackle, we caught some of the largest roosterfish of the season this past week.  There were easily fish running 40-60 pounds and some arguably up to 80+ pounds. It’s hard to know exact weights since we’re releasing all the roosters and can only estimate these massive fish sizes!

We’ve also had several nice jags of tuna show up.  They’ll pop up for a day or two then disappear, but we’ve already caught more tuna this year so far than all of last season combined!  The size of the fish varies from little 5-8 pound “footballs” up to 30 and 40-pound class sluggers.

If you wanted to stay inshore you have have fun in the “aquarium” fishing for snapper, cabrilla, triggerish, pargo, jacks, pompano and more!

SHE SAID “YES!” (Catch of the Week!)

Yvonne, Gerry and Captain Armando. And some nice tuna!

Quick shout-out to Gerry Hermosillo who proposed to his lady Yvonne Sockyma over dinner while here this week!  He proposed to her at the same waterfront table where they had one of their first dates.  Congratulations to them both!  Oh…and they also caught fish this week too!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 26-June 2, 2023

STARTING TO FEEL LIKE SUMMER FISHING AT LAST!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 26-June 2, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER – Warming up.  Still very very cool and breezy in the mornings and evening but sunny and pretty most days into the high 80’s and low 90’s.  Very comfortable time to be here.

WATER – Definitely clearing up now that the winds are diminishing.  More blue water.  Sargasso weeds building up north of town which draws in the dorado and billfish.

FISHING (Scale of 1-10) – 6

SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK – barred pargo, pargo liso, yellow snapper, dog-tooth snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito, striped marlin, wahoo, dorado, yellowtail, amberjack, pompano, trevally, triggerfish, rainbow runners

LAS ARENAS FISHING – Definitely the spot to get the most species and variety.

LA PAZ FISHING – Better for the most dorado mostly but inshore are the usual, pargo, cabrilla, rockfish.

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Right off the rocks, Todd Beckman from Vancouver WA got his first and biggest roosterfish with Captain Gerardo. It’s a big fatty! The fish was released.

Load of YFT…yellowfin tuna off Cerralvo Island for Andy Harrison and Joe Vondrak who have been with us many years and had a great 3 days.

Oh man…that’s alot of bull! Dorado that is! Chris Salanga on his first trip with us shows off two of his big bull dorado plus there’s another one on the table. But, he only has 2 hands!

Steve Bryan from Seattle, is our roosterfish king. He comes every year for 2 weeks to fish for big roosters and has been here a week and taken about a half-dozen big fish…so far! Other photos of his roosters are in this report. Steve releases all his roosters

Matt and his dad Jason Correia from San Diego started off their 3 days fishing with a super variety of fish with Captain Gerardo. On the cutting table, I see yellowtail, rainbow runner, cabrilla, snapper and pargo!

Kolby Zipperer from Colorado with his buddy Robbie Scales says it’s a “catch of a lifetime” with this striped marlin off Las Arenas. He was hunting the tuna schools when this striper hit the baits. The fish was not able to be released.

Jan and Chris Sommer from Orange Co. CA took home a nice load of fish over 3 days like this full table of dorado and snapper!

Two of the nicest folks…Dave and Diane Kosnowsky…from Washington State always do well fishing with us and show of a couple of dorado they caught with Captain Alfredo with our La Paz Fleet.

First one is a trophy! Matt Correia took this roosterfish not to far off the Las Arenas point and released it!

All the way from North Carolina, Emmett Ball was with Captain Victor when he hooked this colorful bull dorado.

Katie Olson lives up in the Sierra Mountains near Mammoth CA and has been our sweet amiga for many years. This lady knows how to fish and has fished all over the world! Her last day she got  an box full of limits of dorado north of La Paz including a couple of legit bulls.

This is Johnny Stone…always fun to have him down from San Diego and he always gets fish every year like this double-fist of dorado from near Espirito Santo Island

Todd Beckman says he must have caught about a dozen species fishing all week with us. This table alone shows trevally, rainbow runners, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and there might even be a triggerfish buried in there as well!

The “right kind” for Jeff Correia on this legit roosterfish for a quick photo and release.

Steve Bryan with another big catch-and-release roosterfish. He is still fishing a few more days as I write this, but I think he has 7 big fish from last week. All released.

 

Captain Boli gives Jan Sommer a hand and a gaff with another dorado in the box! That’s Espirito Santo Island in the back north of La Paz. Check that flat ocean!

We call this a good start to a week of fishing. Dave and Diane again with some great eating pargo, snapper and even a little yellowtail in there!

Captain Armando is not small. He just looks that way next to Jon Eide and John Vondrak posing with a table of yellowfin tuna.

It might not be the heaviest dorado of the week, but boy…it sure has to be the “longest” dorado of the week and definitely the biggest dorado Steve Bryan has caught in all his years fishing with us. It’s still a beast!

It’s Doreen’s birthday and she has a pretty nice rack of fish on the cutting board to pose with including yellow snapper and some trophy cabrilla.

That’s alot of fish to clean! But, Rey Salanga and nephew Chris had a great day and great week of fishing with super variety like this!

 

Keaton Lesnik and his dad only had 2 days to squeeze in on a quick turn-around trip, but rocks the fish with dorado, cabrilla, snapper, pargo and yellowtail.

Captain Jorge with Jim Elrod and his big dorado!

Chris Salanga and the magic touch for big bull dorado all week!

The dorado fishing north of La Paz ramped up nicely for fish like Jason Correia’s that he put in the boat.

Chris, Captain Pancho and a mess of football tuna to get on ice!

________________________________

We are still not quite up-to-speed with where we should be with the fishing but it sure has improved tremendously over the last 2 weeks or so from what we had in April and May!

This all has to do with the weather.  It’s still chilly and breezy in the mornings, but overall the air temps have improved and we’re now in the high-80’s and low 90’s.  Waters have cleared up and we’re finding more blue waters now.  Winds have abated tremendously.

And the fishing has improved as well.

Still a tremendous amount of variety with cold water species like yellowtail, sierra, amberjack, pargo, snapper, rainbow runners and others still in the fish catches with some good sized catches and trophy fish if you want to stay fishing over the rocks and reefs.  This can be all-day fun and action.

However, it’s the other species that are really starting to take off a bit and we’re hopeful it will continue to improve.

Dorado, for one, started showing up in bigger numbers about 2 weeks ago.  Most were school-sized 5-12 pounders. If you found the right school, you could take limits very quickly of eager fish with many smaller fish getting thrown back.

However, the larger models started to make their presence known with with in the 20-40 pound class some some perhaps larger that got unbuttoned or broke lines.

North of La Paz, the sargasso weed patches are starting to form up which is good news to bring in more dorado to the area.

Additionally, it looks like the waters have warmed up enough that the marlin are finally feeding.  For weeks they have been sunning on the surface oblivious to everything.  This week, however, we’re getting some fish willing to finally go!  Blue marlin around Cerralvo Island as well as striped marlin in several areas are now showing up with several hooked, landed and released.   The same areas are also producing some wahoo hook-ups although this past week nothing was landed.  We know the fish are there!

Likewise, with each week, we seem to get more of the large trophy roosterfish.  The smaller 5-10 pounders have been around for weeks, but only the last two weeks are we seeing the bigger models move in to feed on the large ladyfish that have moved into the beach areas as well.  So the big roosters are following their food source.

The nicest surprise were the football yellowfin tuna that popped up for several days.  These were fun-sized 8-15 pounders that put on a nice show. Not big enough to hurt anyone, but alot of fun bending rods and a real treat.  We hope this is a good sign of the start of a tuna season.

We got a full moon this week.  It will be interesting to see how that affects things.  Last month it put the brakes on things, but that was also because we had big winds and strong tides and currents.  We don’t have those right now.  Fingers crossed.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com



Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

 

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 19-25, 2023

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A WEEK MAKES!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fshing Report for Week of May 19-25, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WEEKLY RATING – (scale of 1-10).  I give it a 6.  It was about a 3-4 for weeks!

WIND – Finally gave us a break from those gusty cold winds we’ve had for months!

WATER – As winds have diminished, water temps have risen. Water has also gotten clearer and less cloudy.

TEMPS – High 60’s / Low 70’s at night to High 80’s and Los 90’s in the day time.

BAIT – Sardines, mackerel, bullitos, caballitos, strips and chunks or fresh bonito

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Still lots of species, but increasingly more of the warm-water species as the temps rose and winds cut back.  Still getting pargo, snapper, cabrilla and others, but more and larger roosterfish, dorado and wahoo now.

LA PAZ FISHING

Waters stayed largely colder than Las Arenas most of the week, but late in the week temps rose a bit more and we’ve gone from rockfish to more dorado action.

FISH CAUGHT THIS WEEK:

Dorado, marlin, tuna, wahoo, pargo, snapper, grouper, bonito (3 kinds), jack crevalle, amberjack, yellowtail, sierra, rainbow runners, barracuda, cabrilla, triggerfish, roosterfish.

AMIGOS VISITING FROM:  Utah, Kansas, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Oregon, Texas, Washington, Montana, Colorado, South Carolina,  California,  Honduras, Michigan, Wisconsin. We had a full-house!

 

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Finally, some of the larger roosterfish started to show with Captain Gerardo and Ron Woita from Oregon who spent the better part of a week chasing the roosters. Each day they seemed to get a little bigger. Here’s one of the larger models with lots of smiles! All roosters were released all week.

Captain Pancho gives Nancy Enright from San Diego a hand with a good-looking bull dorado!

Technically, our first marlin of the season caught by our long-time amigo, Art Flippin from Colorado who was on his 2nd visit to us. He was here in April as well. The marlin was deep hooked and unable to be released.

Now THIS is a healthy legit big-boy cabrilla! David Noble was on his first trip with us and took this guy just off Espirito Santo Island where we’ve found a number of these larger fish.

All the way from S. Carolina, Dr. Bob Garrison hooked this tasty barred pargo just off the shallow beach near Punta Arenas.

The right kind! It was a good week for the wahoo to finally show up. Lora Burke pulled this ‘hoo off near Cerralvo Island.

Armando with Karl Davis and Don Markus the day the dorado finally started to chew near Las Arenas! They were a little late this year, but finally arrived. Hopefully to stay around a bit!

Marie Wirtz just had the one day to squeeze in a day of fishing and boated a number of species like this roosterfish she photo’d and released!

Somewhere behind the gaff Sue Stanley from San Diego is smiling as she tries to lift her big cabrilla with help from Captain Alfredo.

Yup! We even had some football tuna show up of Cerralvo Island. That’s Ryan and his dad Bruce Bonsack from the Seattle area.

Here’s Ed Aguilar and Kent Markus with a nice variety for their first day on the water including dorado, snapper, cabrilla, pompano and trevally!

Talk about a banner day! On 2 pangas, they caught Mark, Ryan and Bruce Bonsack from Washington caught 5 wahoo and several more were lost!

Texas in the house! Good amigo Allen Cazier with Captain Licho holding the gaff on another of those large cabrilla off Espirito Santo Island.

That’s alot of good looking fish meat on the cleaning table! Matt Shipley from Texas and Kelly Kartchner from Utah have trevally, pargo and dorado ready to get into the ice chests!

First timers Michael and Louise McMichael always had the best smiles. They were on the water that day the dead whale was found floating offshore holding all the dorado anyone could want like these!

I can see Captain Gerardo with a big small and I think that’s Sam Woita from Kansas behind the mask and dorsals of another big roosterfish. (released!)

Bob Stanley from San Diego with a good-looking cabrilla for the fish box with Captain Alfredo lending a hand!

Marie Wirtz and our Captain Victor with a lengthy colorful dorado. She’s from Bend, Oregon.

The story I got is that Denise Peters hooked the fish and fought it, but finally it got the best of her and she handed it to my long-time amigo, Don Peters, who finished off the big dorado. They came to visit us from Oklahoma.

John Pooley and Billy Harrison with some nice variety after their first day on the water with pargo, snapper, cabrilla and triggerfish.

Of course, Lori Thorpe caught the “big one” a nice dorado with Captain Arcangel. Husband Jeff helps the pose. Other species on the cutting table.

Captain Victor and Arthur Wirtz and another rooster for a photos and release.

 

Diane Kosnosky knows how to fish and always puts fish in the box whenever she visits like this solid cabrilla. Diane is from Washington.

 

Ed Aguilar was fun to have visit this week and he nailed this trophy dorado out’ve Bahia Muertos.

 

On the flyrod! Dave Noble with a cute little roosterfish for the photo and release.

Guy Markus and Steve Wright on their 2nd trip visiting us in La Paz started their fishing week with a pargo liso (mullet snapper); a rare barracuda; 2 rainbow runners and a triggerfish.

Jim Elrod from Bakersfield was visiting us for the first time and gets a hand with this dandy bull dorado from his amigo, Luis, to get the great photo.

 

Lots of fine eating and a day full of action for Don, Karl and Captain Armando who has his work cut out for him cleaning all these cabrilla and pargo!

 

We finally strarted to see dorado with our La Paz fleet and around Espirito Santo Island. Asa has one for the fish box and dinner back at Tailhunter Restaurant.

You can’t see her, but Lora Burke is back there helping hold up her striped marlin. They couldn’t release the fish.

_____________________________________

Let’s start by saying that the fishing still is NOT up to where it should be at this time of year.

However, compared to what it’s been like for the past month, it’s a zillion-times waaaaay better!

Here’s the deal.  Just like the winter which was harsh down here, we continued with chilly weather, strong winds, cloudy overturned water and a chillier-than-normal ocean.  That meant really scratch fishing pretty much all of April and May when we should have been getting bit pretty nicely.

Well, this past week the sun got warmer.  The winds gave us a break.  The ocean turned bluer.  The rough current settled down.  And not surprisingly it made all the difference.

If you just look at all the photos or compare them to the previous reports, anyone could tell our fishing was markedly improved.

No doubt there’s still cooler waters down below the surface which produced cold-water species like yellowtail, rainbow runners, amberjack, several species of pargo, sierra, cabrilla (some huge ones!) plus the usual bonito and jack crevalle.

However, with the warmer water, we got more pompano, palometa (trevally), the larger roosterfish, but also the much-desired warm-water pelagic species like some wahoo,;our first few marlin of the season; and finally some dorado!

In fact, one day there was a dead whale near Cerralvo Island. According to one of our anglers, there were “hundreds” of dorado everywhere flashing through the waters and as many as 20 pangas were out there with everyone completely bent and dorado flying everywhere.  Everyone nailed limits of 10-pound class schoolie-sized dorado.

Then, as the week went on, the dorado got bigger with more 20-30 pound fish in the counts!

Then, there were the wahoo.  We knew they were there, but they sure were reluctant to bite.   Well, they finally came to the party.  One day we had 5 back to the beach and another 4-5 lost!  Some of these wahoo were conservatively estimated 50-60 pound fish or larger.

One day, we even had football-sized tuna show up as well.

Additionally, with the bigger ladyfish baits finally swimming along the shallows, not surprisingly the larger roosterfish in the 40-70 pound class also started biting.  We’ve been waiting for several weeks!  But, even without them, there were good numbers of 5-15 pound roosters to have fun.

If the weather continues to improve, I expect the fishing will also improve.

Additionally, the unusual fish arrivals continued!  A few weeks ago, we got rare totuava in the counts.  Illegal to keep so they were released, but those fish are usually found way up 1000 miles north in the Sea of Cortez and I’ve never seen totuava down here.

Then, we got a few more species that I’ve never seen down here in 30 years:

Captain Pancho with a red-bearded-brotula (brotula a la lengua).

A star-studded grouper caught by Mark Bonsack

Lora with another grouper also called a baqueta by locals.

All-in-all an interesting and much better week.  What a difference a week makes!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing

8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

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