La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-7, 2021
The Mexican Minute Video Report
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
When you only have one day to fish and you do pretty well…John Fergione with dad (John) and son (John)! Doardo and others posing on the beach at Muertos!
Great shot of first-timer Hysby Rodriguez from Glendale CA with a smiling Captain Arcangel and another of her dorado for the fish box.
Taky and Marlene Kikuchi had a few nice days on the water before the winds came up.
Not much to crow about lately. Things can be summed up pretty easily.
Winds are up. Waves are bigger. Air temps cooling. Fishermen are down and snowbirds increasing.
That’s kind of it in a nutshell. Not many folks fishing or even on the water this past week as winter winds grow stronger from the north and cool things down. It’s still nice to be out on the beach or hang at the pool with lots of sunshine, exactly what the snowbirds are here for. The thermometer is pretty long with daytime temps in the mid to high 80’s and night time temps drop to a cool (for us) 63 degrees. However, other than that, it hasn’t been a great time to be fishing.
There are still some nice days to be out. You just have to pick your spots.
The few fishermen we’ve had out found the catch to be erratic at best. Some boats dinked around for a scratch of dorado or rockfish at best. Others hit a few spots and did better with a variety of mostly inshore species like pargo, pompano, palometa, sierra, cabrilla and roosterfish. If lucky, maybe even few holdover dorado. It’s quite a mixed bag as we transition to cooler-water fishing.
Alot, of course, depends on the live bait situation. If the winds are waves are big, then it’s hard for the bait guys to get into the shallows to get live bait. Also, with the diminished number of anglers, economically, it makes no sense for the bait guys to go out at night or the mornings when they know there won’t be any or many fishermen to buy bait come sun up.
LATE BREAK NEWS…
Just as I was posting this up, some tuna have shown up of Punta Perrico. Not many, but a small jag of them!
BUSY TOWN FOR BAJA 1000
After a hiatus, the Baja 1000 is back and will concluded in La Paz this year. The dates are Nov. 15-20th and town is already filling up with teams and cars. Honest. If you didn’t get a hotel rooms months ago, you could easily be sleeping on the beach or in your rental car!
The internationally famous race starts up in Ensenada cars will roll through some of the most challenging terrain on the planet. Hopefully, in one piece in La Paz. Lots of cars don’t make it! Just finishing is a challenge.
Folks will line the dirt course throughout La Paz and town will be full with lots of parties and roaring cars. Good to have them back!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2021
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Long-time friends of Tailhunter from Oregon, Bob and Fran Handegard spent a few days fishing with us and really did well. Take a look at the rack of dorado, palometa and pargo!
Crazy tuna! We’ve literally caught almost zero tuna this year, but Tak and Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles were with Captain Pancho trolling Rapalas trying to catch a bonito for bait (since there was no live bait that day) in the shallows in front of Boca de Alamo when they got slammed by these two 40-pound class yellowfin. Pretty good on the dorado as well!
Yes, amazingly, there are still some roosterfish hanging out, Big smiles from Catherine Bennett who caught this pretty fish just outside of Muertos Bay. The fish was released. Catherine is from Washington.
First-timer luck? Hysby Ramirez did pretty darned good with big dorado, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and big triggerfish!
Birthday dorado! Bill Smith from Santa Cruz CA spent his birthday with us in La Paz visiting us for the first time and put this nice bull in the boat just north of La Paz.
Armando gives Grant Nakagawa a hand for the dorado photo.
Quite a variety for Marlene and husband Taky of great eating fish including lots of pargo, cabrilla, snapper, palometa and dorado!
Ron gives Dan and Keith, both first timers with their dorado. Good to have the guys visiting. They were lots of fun.
From Washington, J.D. Fouts got his first roosterfish just off Punta Perrico with live bait. J.D. was able to release the fish after the photo.
Captain Armando with Juli and Grant before putting the fillets on ice with a nice variety for the day .
Good to see long-time amigo, John McVay from Lake Havasu AZ with his favorite Captain Jorge.
There are always feisty bonito to tear up the lines for some fun! Jennifer and J.S. show off a couple of these tough fighters .
More fish for the freezer! A good day for Henry and Hysby. Henry took some of the snapper home whole for some great eating. Both live in Glendale CA. Henry has been with us many times over the years, but it was Hysby’s first time and Henry says she outfished him!
It was an up-and-down week for fishing in La Paz. At best.
Some boats do better than others. Some days are better than other days. Live bait is getting harder to find.
It’s clear that the season has definitely changed and we’ve moved into the transition towards cooler temperatures, windier days and nights and rougher seas. It’s a trend that will continue into the winter months.
We are definitely seeing fewer fishermen understandably and we consider November to April our off-season when there honestly are very few people on the water due to the erratic water and weather conditions. For instance, there are days this coming week when I’m glad we do not have any fishermen scheduled as the winds will be blowing up to 20 knots from the north.
No question, the sun is out and it’s very pleasant to be in town. Crowds are down as we approach the holidays, but the visitors now are mostly snowbirds escaping from colder climates.
However for fishing, it’s changing with the season. There are still warm water species around. In fact, some legit-sized 20-30 pound class dorado can still be caught as well as some stray sailfish and marlin. We even hooked a few rare tuna this weekend that were 40 pound sluggers. We haven’t seen much tuna or wahoo at all this year which is unusual and I pretty much wrote off both species this season. However, it’s been a great year for dorado, billfish and yes…even roosterfish are still around as well.
But these fish are getting harder to find so the bite on the warm water species is diminishing rapidly.
With the changing water, more focus is on the inshore and cooler water species like pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, snapper, triggerfish and grouper. We did hook a few of those big dog-tooth snapper in the rocks, but all the fish broke off. You know that any fish that can eat a whole bonito has to be huge! But, stopping them is another story.
Bonito and jacks rounded out the catch this week. With rougher water, live bait is getting more difficult to obtain and that’s a big key to where and how we fish and ultimately what we catch as well.
2022 BOOKINGS STARTING TO FILL
Dates for 2022 already filling!
It’s only November, but many of our 2022 dates are starting to fill up. In fact, some dates are already sold out with reservations coming in daily. Don’t wait. Get in touch with me so we can get you set up. My direct e-mail is Jonathan@tailhunter.com. Especially if you want certain captains or hotel rooms, get in touch with me! We don’t want to miss you or disappoint you!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 9-16, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Triple catch. Daryl Martz with sons Allan and Dale show off some of their dorado caught with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.
One of the larger dorado models of the week! Good amigo, Dave Lindell, got this one out’ve Bahia Muertos. Dave lives in Pendleton, OR.
Julie and daugther, Kendall Millspaugh from Washington have been fishing with us for years and did pretty well on the dorado and pargo waiting on the fillet table!
His 2nd trip with us this year, fun amigo, John Washington from Carson City NV with captain Gerardo with dorado, palometa and pargo waiting for the ice chest.
Over the years, we’ve watched young Tanner Millspaugh grow up and now he’s ready to hit high school! Nice bull, Tanner!
Never a dull moment when Wiley Randolph is visiting us. He was fishing with Chito when he got this dorado.
Mike Hanson got one of the larger roosters of the week just off Punta Perrico. The fish was released.
Barry Matlack just had time to squeeze in one day of fishing and it paid off with a nice day of dorado including this legit bull mahi.
It takes two! Debbie and Steve Millspaugh have some nice dorado to show off and take home to Washington.
Unfortunately, because of the weather, Jacob and dad, Jeffrey Cooper only got in one good day of fishing, but had some good action with dorado, pargo and snapper. Jacob just returned from his mission and it was their first time visiting us. Only with the weather had cooperated more.
Allan Martz doesn’t see many fish where he lives in Boston!
A good day for Tanner and Travis Millspaugh. On the beach at Muertos Bay. Good to have the family back again. Always great to see them.
Ceci has way too much fun. One day fishing produced dorado and a marlin with Captain Alfredo.
Daryl Martz finally got his roosterfish for a quick photo and release.
Good to have these guys back to see us after a bit of absence! Jim Adair and Brad Baker had a good day on the dorado schools.
MIke and Kirsten Hanson from Oregon with Captain Gerardo got quite a bit of variety including dorado, palometa, sierra, cabrilla and pargo!
Another one for Tanner headed into the fish box!
Most of the week, it was pretty good fishing.
But, you can really tell things are changing sooner than normal. Air temps are cooler. There are more and stronger winds, especially from the north. The water is rougher and colder. The fishing and the fish are changing.
There are still warm water species. In fact, it was a pretty solid week of dorado fishing for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet although the better dorado fishing was with our La Paz fleet. Fish between 5 and 20 pounds were the norm and limits were not unusual. Fish could be found in a wide variety of areas and you could have a slow bite all day and then hit the spot and fill the fish box in one stop. Or, you might get single and double fish all day through the end of the day.
Billfish like marlin and sailfish are still around, but it was a slower week on these two species. After an incredible year with more billfish than I have ever seen, perhaps this is the last hurrah for sailfish and marlin.
The biggest indicator of change are, of course, the fish. More cooler water fish are showing up in the counts. Sierra, amberjack, yellowtail, pargo liso are usually fish we see in December or early spring. However, it seems every week we’re getting more of these types of fish.
It’s hard to put a finger on the fishing picture looking back this week. Three of the days were a write off.
Tropical Storm Pamela came up and dropped alot of rain on us. So, one day we had to cut the fishing short as it started getting too rough. The next day, we had to cancel all trips. The port captain shut down the port for safety reasons with 7-9’ swells and breaking waves slamming outside. After the storm, the weather remained erratic and winds continued to tear up the water. Bait became difficult to find. We had some of the worst fishing days of the year, where we had boats out, but it probably would have been best to just stay off the water. Just being honest.
The coming week shows no weather disturbances…so far. But we’ll keep an eye. Nevertheless, there’s no doubt that things are changing and getting cooler.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 2-9, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Washington amigo, Fred Cruz had quite a great few days fishing with us taking a number of species including sailfish, marlin, roosterfish and others like this dorado taken north of La Paz Bay.
Honeymoon first-timers, Lilia and Dave Brown from Wrangell, Alaska hooked this large striped marlin just off Punta Arenas on live bait. They donated all the meat to the pueblo.
Captain Raul with Lisa Cruz and a big bull her first day out. She had 4 banner days on the water with us.
That’s right, John, flex-up! Especially after a great day like this on ultra- light tackle with big sierra, dorado, pargo and snapper. John McLucas has fished with us for many years from the San Francisco Bay area.
Just a pretty photo on so many levels of this roosterfish with Deana Wilson from Montana and Captain Pancho. The fish was caught just off the rocks near Bahia Muertos and quickly released.
Steve Manney has fished many years with us, but had his son-in-law Nat come down this year as well. Good start to the fishing week with dorado and sierra on the rack.
From N. Carolina, 84-year-old Duane Ottman was visiting us for the first time and battled this big striped marlin with Captain Gerardo. Great colors. Sorry, you can’t see Duane’s smiling face!
Good to see Kirsten and Mike Hanson back down here with us again. They were out with Captain Gerardo and got quite a variety of reef fish for the cooler.
Fred Cruz with his sailfish and captain Gerardo. Great day on the water with a number of species. The sail was released.
Easy to smile looking at this photo of a very happy Lilia Brown and another dorado in the boat!
Another of our good Washington amigos, Bob Larson has himself a big dorado, some tasty sierra and some big fat triggerfish.
Captain Joel gives Larry Wilson a hand with his sailfish for a quick photo. This was Larry’s first billfish. Note the tanker in the background. The fish was hooked literally just a few hundred yards in front of the La Paz Malecon.
Captain Armando and Pete Walker share a laugh and photo with the day’s catch. Lots of sierra again this week. More than I have ever seen.
It was a slow day, but the one saving catch for Brad Baker was his first sailfish. He donated all of the fish.
On his honeymoon, Sean Price spent a day fishing with our Las Arenas fleet and got some great sierra, pargo and triggerfish to take home as well as some dorado meat as well.
She’s the best! Sharon Virgin from Montana was great to have down this past week and holds up one of her dorado.
Hi Debbie! Not a bad day of dorado fishing for Debbie Millspaugh visiting us for the first time.
Two funny amigos from Washington that visit us each year and always a pleasure. John Stendara and Bill Bigelman posing with their catch at Bahia Muertos.
Somewhere behind the roosterfish comb is a very happy Lisa Cruz. Captain Gerardo helps out. The fish was released.
Two of our Canadian amigos, Save and Luke got a nice batch of triggerfish, sierra and snapper.
Bill Lee from San Francisco mugs with Johnny Mc Lucas and their catch.
Captain Gerardo was on fire this week and has Fred Cruz’s striped marlin for the photo.
Some incredible colors and pattern on this dorado. Wow! Dave Brown poses with another mahi for the box.
More of our Canadian amigos with Captain Arcangel and an assorted catch.
Captain Victor gets into the weekly gallery with Bob Larson showing dorado, sierra and triggerfish.
Whoa! Check out the head of this big bull dorado that Lisa caught!
Lilia and Dave had a super day on the water fishing out’ve La Paz this particular day. All the fish were donated.
It wasn’t a bad week of fishing. Overall, it was actually pretty good. For lack of a better word, it was just “erratic”. It was unpredictable.
Some folks had great days of fishing. Others really had to work hard to get fish. Same day. Same spots. Same bait. Same everything. Things changed from day to day or even hour-to-hour. Totally un-predictable.
Some of our regulars…some of our very experience fishermen found picky fishing at best. Conversely, some of our first-timers or novices just crushed the fishing.
Some days, it was dorado. Next day no dorado. Then billfish. Then no billfish. At times, the best we could do was go to the rocks and have fun with pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper. Those are always willing to bite.
Everyone got fish. No mistaking that. But, it was just hard to put-a-finger on the bite or predict anything.
Definitely, the seasons are changing. Water is getting cooler down deep. The air is cooler. The north winds are picking up much earlier than usual. And that’s affecting the fishing. As the air and water gets erratic so goes the fishing.
It’s clear by the type of fish that are starting to show up. More cooler water fish are in the counts. A tremendous number of sierra started showing up about 10 days ago. More sierra than I have ever seen in several decades here. Normally, these fish don’t show up until late November of December. But, they’re here now and they are thick. Usually, we’ll get a handful a day. This year, each panga might get a whole boat-load of them in a single day and they are also much larger than usual.
Additionally, we’re getting the occasional yellowtail, rainbow runner, pompano and other cooler water species.
We’re coming to the end of the warm-water season, it appears. Not sure how much longer the warm-water species will be here. We’ll keep you posted.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 24-Oct. 1, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
John Wagner from Oregon took this bruiser roosterfish with Captain Pancho off Bahia Muertos. The fish was released.
Firefighter Brian Viora on his first visit to us poses in a great dorado photo!
Captain Rogelio and brother Licho give Noe Fierros a hand with his sailfish he battled for more than 90 minutes on 30 pound test line!
John Virgin “The Montana Banana” with wife, Sharon, are always fun to have here when they visit from Montana. Nice day on the water with Captain Pancho and a variety of dorado, pargo, triggerfish and sierra!
On their honeymoon from Wrangell, Alaska on their first visit to us, Dave and Lilia Brown with Captain Jorge and a crazy mess of sierra!
What a day! Donnie Foster rocked it with a triggerfish, 3 nice dorado, a wahoo AND…and marlin (tried to release, but couldn’t). Meat was donated.
Mark Melnick from San Francisco and Roy Wiggins from Oklahoma have themselves a great rack of good-eating including palomenta, dorado, sierra, carilla, triggerfish, permit, pargo and a big bonito.
Two of my Filipino fish brothers for many years, Don Mariano and Glenn Delmendo with a big sailfish caught just outside La Paz Bay on live bait.
Might be the best photo of the week! Mark Malone with Captain Rogelio and a fresh bull dorado on the gaff and headed to the fish box.
Joey Abrhams from San Diego is pretty happy with his first roosterfish . The shorline of Punta Perrico in the background nearby. The fish was released.
Don has another bull to add to the fish box today.
After so many years fishing with us, Jim Gatti finally got his first roosterfish! Photo and a quick release. Nicely done, Jim!
Luz Wilson from Northridge CA shows off a nice one-day catc of dorado, sierra and holding a tasty pompano on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Big barred pargo for Sharon Virgin and Deanna Wilson from Montana.
Captain Gerardo, Larry Ruden and Doug Martin had a pretty good day at Bahia Muertos with dorado, cabrilla and the triggerfish held by Gerardo.
First timers with Captain Jorge, Chuck Webber and Hill Evans got a nice start. Big sierra and a couple of dorado.
This bull dorado almost matches Dan’s shorts!
It’s been a few years, but good to have Vince Acosta back to visit us as he sticks his tongue out at the camera.
Lots of variety this week. Ron, Lee and Al have about 6 varieties on the table.
Glenn and Don with Captain Arcangel and a good first day mix of species on the cleaning table.
Lots of folks getting their first roosterish this year like Mark Malone just off the rocks near Muertos. The fish was quickly released.
One more for the box for Duane Ottman who was visiting us for the first time and also picked off a marlin.
Another nice rooster for the photo shoot! Brian Viora with the good catch and release.
Overall, pretty decent fishing this past week. Everyone got fish. Lots of variety. Some boats did better some days while boats right next to them had to work harder for fish. The next day, it could be the exact opposite.
The biggest thing to note this week was that the seasons are definitely changing and they are changing faster than expected. At least from what we saw this past week, temperatures are definitely on a cooling trend. Breezes are stronger. At night the north winds that we usually see about November or December are already blowing. Waters are still 84-87 on the surface, but below the thermocline waters are definitely cooling as well.
The biggest indicator of that is the number of cold water species we started catching.
Most notably, a huge number of sierra were caught. These are fish, we don’t start seeing in the counts until late November or so. They were running larger than usual as well. Normally, a 1 or 2 pound sierra is about right. The fish this week were 3-5 pounders.
Incredible one-day catch of sierra with Lilia Brown holding up a typical large model.
In addition to the sierra, there were sporadic catches of pompano, permit, pargo liso, amberjack, rainbow runner and even a couple of small yellowtail. These are all cooler water fish!
I’m not yet willing to say that it will continue to get colder. Fact is, in the morning, I’m actually wearing a sweatshirt when I put out the boats in the dark on the beach. By the time you’re reading this, we could very easily be into another warming trend. However, it’s pretty clear that summer is over and once we get the northern winds blowing consistently, the entire complexion of the fishing will change…or lack of fish in some cases.
That’s not to say also that we’re not catching warm-water species!
If you only have one day to fish, Larry Ruden knocked it outta the park on dorado. Check out the fillet table!
On the contrary. Dorado up to about 30 pounds are still the headline catch with about 90% of the ice chests packed with dorado fillets. Still no wahoo or tuna to speak of, but sailfish and marlin continue to be biting plus big bonito, jacks, pargo, cabrilla, snapper and huge triggerfish. Everyone who wants fish is going home with fish or bringing it to our restaurant to cook up.
Howie Low from Montana and Captain Adolfo had a double marlin strike out’ve Bahia Muertos and a spectacular battle one-after-the-other. Howie generously donated the meat from both fish to the community.
But, we’ll definitely keep an eye on the weather. What we’re seeing now in terms of cooling is about 4-6 weeks early.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for week of Sept. 1-7, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nice haul of fish! Captain Armando put Mitch and Ron on a nice jag of dorado and big bonito at Bahia Muertos.
Great shot and nice dorado for our first-timer, Leon Miguel from Woodland WA. The dorado bite finally kicked in this week.
Jeremiah and Tiffany Page have a good start to their fishing week with a variety of fish including dorado, pargo, cabrilla, palometa, and snapper.
Mitch Gayman from Lake Elsinore CA with Captain Armando pose with a big sailfish Mitch hooked on a live bait and light tackle. Sailfish and marlin hook-ups increased this week! Mitch released the fish!
Some nice Las Arenas dorado for the fish box for Aiden Florence visiting with his dad for the first time from Kansas.
Roosterfish were often and willing this week. Frank Howald caught and released this guy outside of Bahia Muertos.
Staying at Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos, nice bull dorado for Rick Harley from Salt Lake City, UT.
Jim Bovee from San Diego loves his dorado fishing. On his 3rd visit this year had had some great days in the mahi schools. Sizeable bull here caught north of La Paz.
Just a great photo and expression from Starr Jenkins with her first marlin. Captain lends a hand. They released the fish.
Daniel Bovee chases big fish everytime he visits us. He got the lone wahoo of the week off Cerralvo Island.
That’s a handful! Steve Avery caught several roosters during his week with us. All released.
Ted Kunze from Arizona and Tom Epps from Michigan had quite a variety of fish with Captain Jorge including palometa, cabrilla, triggerfish and snapper.
Brian Barney gives a thumbs-up to his catch wit John Sedovy and a cleaning table full of dorado, trigger and palometa.
Joaquin Perea just enjoys being down here and on the water no matter what! Always good to see him and he’s always on fish like this rooster…caught…photo’d …released!
He just had one day to visit us and fish, but Steve Summers caught roosterfish, dorado and several other species. All the roosters were released.
Good double-shot of dorado with Ron Sierzega from AZ and Mitch Gayman from CA. They had some nice days fishing with us and plugged the boxes.
Captain Alfredo tail holds Eric Jenkin’s dorado that he’ll add to a full box of mahi!
Some good eating! Captain Armando gives Leon a hand with a dorado and some tasty palometas.
Not a nicer guy to visit us every year with his family and friends. Adam Florence from Kansas poses with one of his roosterfish that he quickly released.
Captain Luis looks on while Joaquin poses with another dorado fishing with our La Paz fleet.
All the way from Ohio, Jodi and Daren Archer on their first visit to La Paz fished with Captain Jorge and produced some good dorado meat for the freezer.
All the way from the Memphis area on a first-time visit, Jason Jones with one of the larger roosterfish of the week caught and released.
Great fun on light tackle spinning rods for Curt and Brent with soe pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish headed for the cooler.
Captain Pancho gives Aiden a hand with one of his roosters before letting it go.
Brandon Mauch from San Diego and is amigo, Garry Coles from Washington State fished with Captain Gerardo and rocked a pair or dorado.
Kristy Summers and Captain Jorge have big smiles for a big roosterfish…her first. Also released. She also caught dorado that they brought over to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner.
Starr Jenkins has another mahi on the gaff with Captain Alfredo.
Jim with two more dorado for the ice chest! It was a good week. He also released two sailfish.
After hurricane Nora brushed by us last week and being mostly benign, I initially thought that fishing would rebound pretty fast because, despite having to cancel only 1 day of fishing, Nora only hit us with some strong winds and waves. But, no rain or lasting weather glitches.
However, the fishing took longer than I thought to come back. Lingering winds and cooler waters kept fishing less-than-stellar. In fact, a week later, it’s quite breezy and much cooler these last few days.
So, it was somewhat picky fishing for most of the week.
Everyone caught fish, but our captains and anglers had to really work hard to find fish.
There was a smattering of dorado here and there. Most were no more than 10-15 pound fish. The rest of the catch was mainly cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and bonito. Occasionally a billfish was hooked. Roosterfish kept alot of our fishermen in the game, thankfully. Fun fishing, but honestly pretty picky.
However, late in the week, the fish seemed to wake up and remember to eat!
Dorado started to school up again instead of singular fish here and there. More limits started coming in. Larger fish up to maybe 20-25 pounds got into the counts. Sailfish and marlin got more cooperative as well with a number of fish hooked, released and often lost on light tackle. We even had several wahoo hook-ups. Along with the roosterfish in the 10-40 pound class, mixed with the inshore species of bonito, jacks, cabrilla, snapper and pargo…and even some sierra and small yellowtail, the action had increased three-fold. Many many more smiles for sure. Almost all the billfish and all of the roosterfish were released.
Even had a couple of football-sized yellowfin tuna show up as well. Hopefully, more to follow. These are the first tuna we’ve seen since early summer!
Eric Jenkins rocked a sole yellowfin tuna with Captain Armando
There’s some thundercloud and late rains expected this week, but mostly all after the fishing is done. It feels like we’re getting an early fall and that summer has passed us as temperatures and humidity have decreased remarkably. Prior to that, it has felt like a sauna many times.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 25-31, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First marlin is a blue! Dan Dorati with Captain Armando and Dan’s first marlin.
Tony Toven from Sylmar CA was fishing a live sardine when this nice wahoo bit not far off Cerralvo Island.
Double-fist roosters for Kincaid Hancock and his dad, Tommy, from San Diego. It was Kincaid’s first-time fishing on salt water. Both fish ate live sardines and both were released.
Austin Dorati puts another dorado in the box.
Patrick Busby from Louisiana battled this striped marlin on 20 pound test and a light 8-foot spinning outfit for an hour-and-a-half. He was fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz. They were fishing light tackle in a school of dorado when the marlin bit.
Captain Rogelio gives Kincaid Hancock a hand with this dorado photo. It was Kincaid’s first salt-water trip. He’s from San Diego.
Tommy has another rooster for the camera. Catch-and-release!
One of the nicest guys to visit, great shot of Andy Lauber who fished with light tackle all week. All roosters were released.
Compared to last week, fishing was remarkably improved on so many levels . For both our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet and our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, the bite improved the further away we got from the last week’s full moon as well as the remnants of 3 storms that brushed us, Lynda, Kevin and Marty that didn’t actually hit us, but their effects on the waves, currents and winds added to the full moon affects. Hence, I think that’s why the fishing was off.
However, this week, the roosterfish over at Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay were back on track with quite a bit of catch-and-release fish running up to about 30 pounds and the fish willing to hit live bait.
If you fished the inshore as well as the rocks and reefs, there were plenty of snapper, cabrilla, triggerfish, pargo, jack crevalle and other species to make for hours-of-action, if that’s what you wanted to do, especially on light tackle.
The most marked improvement was with the pelagic species. Still no tuna this year, but we did have some wahoo strikes. Marlin and sailfish also picked up with fish getting hooked daily. Some boats getting multiple strikes. Most fish released or breaking off.
Best of all, the dorado were much more cooperative for both of our fleets. Most fish were that fun 10-20 pound size and limits were not uncommon. Some of the dorado were biting right in the bay not far from in front of the hotels and Malecon.
Interestingly, we got some sierra and yellowtail in the counts. Those are usually colder water fish we don’t see until winter or spring.
A good part of the days of the week, we spent watching the track of Hurricane Norma. It had alot of us prepping to get hit as it came north towards Baja with winds predicted up to 90 mph. We were pretty sure we were in for several days of winds and rain. However, we were fortunate in that Nora bent easterly and veered towards the mainland instead.
We got some strong winds, but otherwise dodged a bullet.
We had to cancel fishing one day because the port captain shut things down, but we were able to get back on the water the next day. I am always worried after a storm comes through wondering how it would affect fishing. Sometimes, it takes more than a few days for the fish and waters to get back on track especially since the fishing had been pretty steady.
However, the storms didn’t do as much as anticipated and fish seemed to be willing to bite again after the storm.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 18-24, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Hector Chacon from Arcadia CA used to visit us every year for many years, but missed the last 5. He finally made it back to us and started out with a nice catch-and-release roosterfish fishing with Captain Jorge.
Tannier Pierson from San Diego was a billfish magnet for a few days. I think I heard he hooked one or two billfish a day including this one with Captain Pancho. All were released or broke off.
Smiles say it all. Megan Graves from San Diego while staying at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos poses with a fresh bull mahi.
One of the nicest all-time amigos, Rafael Rios fishing every year with us and hails from Corpus Christi TX. Good way to start the say with an early morning bull mahi! Pretty shot. We cooked up a bunch of it at our Tailhunter Sea Level Restaurant.
He said it was his best fishing day ever. Captain Raul lends a hand. They also caught dorado.
Catching a marlin is quite a feat. Catching one on a flyrod is incredible, but that’s what Greg Wetherbee from Colorado did with this pretty fish and Captain Rogelio. Greg Released the fish and over 5 days with his flyrod also caught numerous roosterfish, jacks, bonito, dorado and others. All released.
Just one day to squeeze in a day of fishing with us, Howie Cohen, had some fun with 4 droado plus snapper and cabrilla. Howie is from Alpine CA. He was fishing around Espirito Santo Island with Captain Raul.
Dan Jenkins staying at Rancho Costa Resort at Bahia Muertos looks pretty happy with his roosterfish! The fish was released.
Captain Gerardo with Wally Graves (the one smiling) and a nice marlin for the photos before a good release. Nice photo!
Hector says his dad, Richard Chacon, caught all the fish! Nice rack…dorado, snapper and huge triggerfish!
YEOW! This looks like a mutant! I wish Tim Dumler had a scale to put this fish on. What a dorado!
Greg has another one on the flyrod. This one a colorful dorado and then the meat donated.
It wasn’t a spectacular week of fishing by any means, but it was a good solid fun summer week fishing. Even with a full moon. Just fun! No real surprises. Everyone who wanted fish caught fish. Everyone who wanted to bring home fish, brought home fish. Everyone who wanted to bring some fish to have cooked up back on shore, had fish to cook up.
Some folks caught the bucket list they always wanted. For some, it was a billfish like a marlin or a sailfish. For others it was that first roosterfish. For others, they targeted dorado. If it wasn’t their bucket list fish, for some, it was the biggest fish they had every caught.
Indeed, roosterfish, marlin and dorado were the three pre-dominant species of the week. But the action was rounded out with good rod-bending on jack crevalle, bonito, triggerfish, cabrilla, pargo and snapper. Bait was not an issue.
Lots of smiles and good action. Can’t ask for more!
If anything, the biggest issue we had was mid-week when a hurricane way way way down south and headed out to Hawaii sent some big swells up the Sea of Cortez making it more than a bit bump and rough for our boats fishing out of La Arenas and damping down the bite. Conversely, the more protected waters north of La Paz produced better fishing during those days. When the seas calmed down so did the bite and right back to normal.
It’s really HOT and humid these days. Anyone coming down is advised to stay hydrated! Not kidding. Easy to get sick if you’re not drinking lots of water. Unfortunately, beer and margaritas don’t count!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of July 11-17, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Bennett Clegg always does well on the light tackle. This pretty bull dorado he caught while fishing with Captain Joel is no exception.
Ken Smith had just one day to squeeze in to try to catch his bucket-list rooster. He and Captain Armando rocked this big one and several others. All released.
That’s some good eating! Scott Pitts put this nice cabrilla in the fish box.
With Captain Rogelio our first-timer Utah amigos, Morgan Robinson and her dad, Cody just off Espirito Santo Island.
Tim Weaver is usually wearing black robes and has a gavel in his hand as a judge from Arkansas. This time he’s got himself a nice roosterfish. One of several all released.
I love this photo and we love this amiga…sheer joy! Toni Brown and Captain Alfredo with a fresh dorado on the gaff!
She’s been with us for years and always does well with her favorite Captain Pancho. Dolores Ehlers with another roosterfish. Photo and release!
Scott Dull squeezed in a quick drive down from Loreto to fish one day with us and ended with a sucessful catch of pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish to drive back up north.
Morgan Robinson with her first roosterfish off Bahia Muertos. Photo and release.
I THINK this is Greg Wetherbee behind the mask! He worked his flyrod for five days and caught a number of species including this slugger jack crevalle.
Pro fishing guide, John Daly, was a first-time visitor with us and shows off his first roosterfish outside of Suenos for a photo and release.
Now, here’s a nice photo! Colorful bull dorado caught by young Drake Rowland from Texas.
Ben Rodriguez, another of our first-timers this week, shows off a first-day catch off the reef with triggers cabrilla, big pargo and snapper .Ben is from San Diego.
Tim had himself a pretty active week with lots of species including this dog-tooth snapper. He did release alot of fish too!
Always a pleasure to have Mark Brown visit us. Last year, they had to cancel, but he was back this week and fished with Captain Alfredo taking this fat roosterfish north of La Paz. The fish was released .
I’ve known Ray Laney for years and he brought his son, Daniel, down for his high school graduation. They had to work hard for their fish, but the last day finally turned on with some nice dorado. Ray is from Oxnard CA
Dave Elliott and Bill Cogdall are two more of our new amigos who had to cancel last year, but came back this year for 3 days on the water with us. Great guys and glad to have them finally make it. They did pretty good on the dorado!
Cindy Weaver with her first rooster! Captain Armando lends a hand and helps with the release afterwards.
This photo is just too special. John Carser and his wife, Carol from Huntington Beach CA brought grandson Patrick to La Paz. Patrick is from Rhode Island and spending the summer with grandma and grandpa. This was his first time saltwater fishing and this was his first dorado! He did it! But, check the great facial expression! Grandpa John is all smiles.
His first marlin plus on live bait…on light tackle…and from a panga in shallow water! Tim Weave with his first striper…caught and released.
Hard to tell, but I think this is Mark Buddy behind the mask showing off one of several roosterfish he took on the fly while fishing the whole week with us . He got a number of species on the flyrod. All fish were released.
One of the best guys around…long time amigo from Denver, John Ehlers with his favorite Captain Pancho. John’s got another rooster to put back in the water as soon as he takes the photo.
Alicia Clegg from the East Bay of San Francisco can fish! She does so well every year. She’s got another dorado for the box!
Captain Rogelio poses with one of our new Utah friends, Stephanie Robinson and a nice dorado on the gaff.
Sam Sybesma from Bellflower is another of our good amigos who has been fishing with us for years. He brought down his son, Micah, this year. I think Micah caught bigger fish than dad!
Lots of first-timer roosterfish. Captain Armando with Teal Smith and her first gallo!
Late season rainbow runner caught by Crystal Bernhart outside of Bahia Muertos. Great eating fish we usually catch in the springtime months.
When you’re hot, you’re hot. Tim with another rooster for a photo and release!
Dan Hibma was visiting us for the first time from S. California and it looks like he’s got a nice dorado ready for the box.
It wasn’t a spectacular week of fishing to be honest. There weren’t alot of big trophy fish caught.
But, it was good steady summer fun fishing! Except for a few slack times, overall, everyone caught fish. There was plenty of action to go around.
Sometimes when it’s all big fish, especially for families, kids or first timers, big fish can be a tough fight. And often a big disappointment when they break off. With the fish we had this week, it was just pretty good steady fun fishing.
There might be the occasion off day, but most of our anglers fish several days. The good days usually made up for the slower days and the bite produced a good mix of dorado, billfish, lots of small to medium roosterfish, jack crevalle, big bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and even some late season amberjack and rainbow runners.
The dorado have definitely slowed from the wild bite of a few weeks ago, but fish are still out there holding especially under the sargasso paddies. There were two days when there were lots of fish all around, but they just wouldn’t bite. It was frustrating. We figured it was just because the tides were especially slack and the fish simply weren’t feeding. That applied to the dorado as well as other species. The currents picked up and they fish started biting again.
Marlin have tapered as well. I think that has alot to do with the current, but also there has been so much traffic on the fishing grounds that the marlin have gotten lock-jawed. The marlin have been so thick over the last month that everyone and their brother, especially locals have been pounding the waters for the billfish. Hopefully, the bite comes back.
If you’re coming down, it’s been warm! High 90’s to low 100’s with humidity.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-9, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
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NOTE: MARLIN and SAILFISH PHOTOS! Folks…before you send me e-mails or post up hate messages, please take notice that there are ALOT of billfish photos in this report. These represent perhaps 5% of the billfish that our fishing fleet hooked this past week. There are THAT many billfish out there. Some days, the waters are thick with billfish. Many times our anglers are NOT trying to catch billfish. But the billfish are biting. The vast majority of the fish that we hook are released by our anglers or (being big fish), they break off or get unhooked). In many cases, the billfish you see here were unable to be released or, after the photo was taken, the fish were indeed returned to the water. In many cases, when the fish was not or could not be released, the meat was donated to local folks who were very grateful for the meat. But, that being said, anglers are entitled to keep a billfish if they did want to keep one and we are very stringent about never exceeding the billfish limits.
One guy who loves to fish light tackle is our amigo, Bennett Clegg from the East Bay Area of San Francisco. Nice fat roosterfish. A quick photo and a good release!
Speaking of releasing fish, Mark Bonsack from Washington is one of our frequent amigos and a solid angler. He and Captain Pancho release a blue marlin that Pancho estimated went between 250 and 300 pounds.
Our own! Had a great week of fishing. Our son, Jarrett Pfost from Lakeside CA and his wife, Diana, with a big boy bull dorado she hooked and fought north of La Paz with Captain Chito.
Our Utah amigo, Monte Aldridge, made a last minute trip to come visit us and shows off one of 3 marlin he hooked and released while fishing with Captain Armando.
Texas in the house! Big smile from young Drake Rowland with a feisty roosterfish. The fish was released.
That’s a great eating mess o’ fish! Cathy and Dave Boos with a cleaning table full of dorado, snapper, cabrilla, pargo and triggerfish!
Impressively done! Patrick-Ewick-Chouinard from New Jersey is 11-years-old and battled this big bull dorado all by himself. Posing here on the beach with Captain Adolfo! He later hooked a marlin as well.
Our boy, Jarrett put this colorful bull on the deck. Check the colors! Jarrett caught this dorado off a string of sargasso paddies between North Cerralvo Island and Punta Gorda.
Won’t find a sweeter lady than Dolores Ehlers who loves fishing with Captain Pancho. Dolores is from Colorado and has fished with us for years.
Captain Gerardo poses with our good friends, John and Arla Washington from Carson City NV who put a marlin, some cabrilla, snapper and pargo fillets in the box. Most of the meat was donated.
Captain Armando and Jonathan Strain visiting us for the first time on a trip that was delayed from last year because of Covid, but made up for with numerous marlin over 3 days of fishing including this thick one. Almost all the marlin were released.
More good Utah friends, brothers John and Bic Lesser with Captain Jorge and John’s first marlin plus some snapper on the table. First time trip for John and Bic.
Alicia Clegg is one of the best roosterfish anglers we see here every year and this gal can fish! Another rooster in the boat for a quick photo before release.
Cathy Boos so wanted a billfish! Well, she hooked two on this particular day and fought this one close to two hours. The fish could not be released. Dave helps with the photo.
Captain Pancho with a smiling Jas and her first roosterfish. First-time ever fishing! The rooster was released.
What a beast! Phil has himself a monster pompano.
Keith Hemstreet from Washington State had been thwarted on several trips to hook a roosterfish. Well, his first was a dandy! Captain Pancho estimated the fish to be about 80 pounds and was released.
Steve Strain had a marlin magnet in his back pocket! Everytime he put a hook in the water, the marlin couldn’t help themselves. With Captain Joel around Espirito Santo Island. Steve’s birthday trip!
Silas Bartlet visiting us from Texas has himself a nice roosterfish off the rocks for a quick photo and release.
One of the rare days that we could get out far to where we’ve seen tuna about 15-18 miles offshore, Mark Bonsack and Keith Hemstreet found all the football tuna the could handle. Actually, ran out’ve bait! After this, the days got too windy to go out there.
Hi Diana! Great smile to go with the great fish! Another roosterfish catch-and-release!
Captain Gerardo with Cody Robinson and his first marlin. Cody donated the fish. His first time with us!
Mark always does well with us and always wears the same lucky shirt every year. I think it’s the camo pattern that does it. He’s also a pretty good fisherman! The rooster was released.
Now here’s a nice variety catch! Monte and Captain Armando with dorado, big fat triggerfish, pargo and cabrilla are definitely going into the ice chest.
Another successful CPR! Catch. Photo. Release. My guy, Jarrett Pfost.
You would think Spiderman took a day off and went fishing, but that’s Monte Aldridge under there with another marlin for a quick photo and release. Tough to see from this angle, but I almost thought this might be a short-billed spearfish or white marlin, but just speculating.
It’s Mark’s camo shirt. That’s the secret. Dorado going back to Washington with him.
Anytime a big storm blows through, I’m always a bit tenuous about the bite in the aftermath. About 2 weeks ago, Tropical Storm Enrique tracked through La Paz with enough wind and rain to cause the port captain to shut things down and keep boats off the water.
Post-storm, you just don’t know how the waters are affected.
Heavy rain waters cause run-off into the ocean which produces dirty cloudy water. High winds can further stir things up and enough wind can cause cold water up-wellings from deeper water at worst and create bumps post-storm wave action at best. Winds can also change currents and disturb the bait stocks.
There’s alot of variables. Any one can significantly affect the bite. Any combination of those variables could completely crush the bite.
Prior to the storm, we had an incredible marlin bite going full speed. Dorado were voracious. Roosterfish were hungry and huge.
So, with some trepidation, we got our boats back on the water.
Surprisingly, the conditions didn’t take that long to start producing again. With each passing day after the departure of the storm, conditions improved and not surprisingly so did the bite.
Dorado in the 20-40 pound class were not as numerous and had gotten scattered, but were definitely around. Big roosterfish continued to prowl the shallows with fish up to 80 pounds although most were safely 20-40 pounders. Plenty big on light tackle.
Marlin were frenzied at times with pangas getting numerous hook-ups. Stripers up to 120 pounds; sailfish mixed in up to 80 pounds and even some sizable blues up to 300 pounds readily picked up live bait, dead bait and lures.
Inshore action remained steady with snapper, huachinango, pargo and cabrilla with a good dose of triggerfish mixed in. Big bonito and jack crevalle were fun feisty pests.
Tailhunter Fish Report 