La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 29-May 6, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Roosterfish are in and they’re BIG! Captain Gerardo is about 6’1″ so you can see how big the fish is by comparison. He was out with Joel Jirales and the fish was released.
Her first dorado is our first dorado! Tracy Chung from Oregon with Captain Armando caught her first dorado and it’s a a big one! It’s also our first dorado of the season as well indicating that warmer waters have started moving into the area.
Our good amigo, Ed Buchanan from San Diego, always has fish and a good fish pose too! Yellowtail on the gaff and Cerralvo Island in the background.
Marcus Yoo had 3 blown out days in a row with winds. His final day he made up for it with pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito, roosterfish, pompano and even this small blue marlin that ate a live bait and could not be released. Marcus donated the meat to the local folks.
Now THIS is alot of meat! A big fat cabrilla caught by John Chung near Espirito Santo Island is a tough fish to pull out of the rocks and a real trophy not to mention great eating!
An incredible week for big pompano. Check out this big boy caught by Marcus just outside of Bahia Muertos.
John Gillespie from Havasu City AZ is all smiles with this big roosterfish he caught just off the shallows near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Donna Thompson with her favorite Captain Hugo and another pompano taken off the south end of Cerralvo Island where they also hooked yellowtail and other species.
First day and first-time visitors Marilou and Todd Hembry with Captain Adolfo and a nice mix of cabrilla and a pargo liso held up by Captain Adolfo.
Lorena with a highly-prized huachinango snapper headed for the fillet table. We had lots of variety this week on the days when the wind let us out on the water.
Tracy Chung and Patty Killian took the day with Captain Armando to compete against their husbands and winning with a nice rack of snapper, cabrilla, big bonito and a hefty yellowtail.
Oh the pain! William Balazar from San Diego has a smiling grimace trying to pose with this big fat bonito.
Lots of variety for John Chung and Jeff Killian (thumbs up) with Captain Jorge with cabrilla, bonito snapper and pargo on the fish board!
Laurie Reynolds poses with a colorful barred pargo and a big smile of her own.
Marcus with another huge pompano just off the rocks.
Talk about a haul! Captain Gerardo has alot of cleaning to do! Check out all the pompano on his cleaning table!
It wasn’t bad fishing this week. There was almost NO fishing for a good part of the week!
We not only had a full moon with strong currents, but the winter winds came roaring back after giving us a few weeks of break. The wind didn’t just make it tough to be on the water. It was impossible to even get in the boats and onto the water early in the week. Even after winds cut back a little, our fishermen still didn’t want to go out. Couldn’t blame them!
It was THAT rough!
So, we pretty much had to cancel half the week because no one could get out. After the first few days, the wind dropped back “a little” but then, like I said, no one wanted to go out…understandably.
It was not only wind, but COLD!
Hopefully, the last vestige of winter before things start being more “spring-like.”
I thought we were well on our way. But this week gave us a dose of reality again.
However, at the end of the week, winds laid back down. The warm sun came out and the dirty blown-out waters settled down and the fishing kicked back into gear with LOTS of variety. This included barred pargo, pargo liso (mullet snapper), big sierra, snapper, some huge cabrilla (seabass), as well as some of the biggest bonito we’ve seen all season.
We also had a super bite of big pompano up to 15-18 pounds with boats catching multiple fish. They were mixed in with the jack crevalle and big bonito.
In addition, we still pulled on some 15-20 pound yellowtail and a number were lost. However, as the waters are warming up, the yellowtail bite is diminishing. Plus roosterfish running 30-60 pounds were biting off the beaches.
On top of that, we got our first marlin and dorado of the season which are indicative that hopefully spring conditions are finally emerging.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 28-April 4, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
All the way from Detroit for one day of fishing and she made the most of it. Brandy Wilks and her husband Nick fished with Captain Victor and crushed the yellowtail and even a dorado in the box! They generously gifted all the fish to everyone too!
This is called a “good start” to 3 days of fishing. Eric and Mark.
Great shot of Captain Victor sticking the gaff for Kim Kopchitz from Michigan on one of several big yellowtail.
On the spinning rod, another fat yellowtail on a Rapala for Darrell Manginelli.
Captain Pancho with Mark Diegert and a feisty jack crevalle. Great tough fish on light tackle. The fish was released.
Lures like this little Rapala mackerel pattern were deadly on the cabrilla slow trolled over the rock as Darrell found out and took alot of cabrilla home with him.
Sheer joy! Mark Bonsack and Eric Deigert from Washington jigged up 6 big yellowtail before 8:30 a.m. Mark said they saw an 80-pound wahoo swim by but couldn’t get him to bite!
OH yea…some good eating there on the cutting board. Big cabrilla for Brad and Eric plus a nice amberjack.
The week started started slow with a return of those blustery wintry winds really tearing up the waters. Each week conditions get better, but winter still isn’t quite done with us and it kicks and screams from time-to-time.
Even when the winds cut out, the waters were still a mess. Temps had cooled and the cooler murkier water knocked down any kind of bite that we had.
However, as the week went on, things cleared up significantly with the yellowtail again returning to centerstage with fish up to 30 pounds eating live sardines, yo-yo iron, knife jigs as well as trolled Rapala-style lures.
The areas were spread from Punta Perrico and Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to the Las Arenas lighthouse and across to Cerralvo Island where fish blew up at both the north and south ends of the island as well as on the backside at Pilis.
Cerralvo Island showing north point. Facing south. Las Arenas way in the distance haze. Pilis is about 1/3 down the left side (eastern side) of the island.
Wahoo were seen, but wouldn’t chew. However, big cabrilla, snapper, pargo, jack crevalle and lots of bonito rounded out some good solid action the latter part of the week. There was also a stray dorado or two (waters getting warmer) and some early amberjack.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 21-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great say to spend Spring Break…fishing! Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs CO, put this big mossback yellowtail in the boat off the back side of Cerralvo Island.
A great start for our long-time amigo, Darrell Manginelli, who started his 3 days of fishing with a spectacular day of 5 big yellowtail and a huge cabrilla. one yellowtail was caught on a sardine, but other fish fell for butterfly jigs.
Checking out a trophy catch! Campbell Grage has his hands full with a big-time barred pargo taken off the reef in shallow water. Check how calm the ocean is!
These two characters always get fish! Our Tailhunter amigo, Jimmy Williams and Bill McCarthy came back with 3 yellowtail and a big snapper using bait at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but Jimmy told me the fish were thick and so many of the powerful fish they could not stop on 60-pound-test!
Great to see Mike O’Neill on the water. Our amigo was jigging with light tackle for yellowtail and snagged this 140-pound striped marlin instead! Game on! Mike battled the fish for over and hour on the light rig. You can see the jig attached to the reel. First marlin of the season. The fish was not able to be released and meat was donated.
Speaking of “characters” most of you know our awesome drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero looking like twins now that Esteban has grown a beard! They got in on the yellowtail bite as well this week and took two big forkies plus a nice dog-tooth snapper, a fat cabrilla and a huachinango (not pictured) that I think they gave to Captain Armando.
Great photo of a smiling Captain Pancho with amigo, Gary Wagner, owner of the El Rancho Resort holding the gaff on this slug yellowtail.
What a great week! Simple as that.
The winds cut us some slack. We had anglers on the water. The fish bit. All the planets lined up and what a week it was!
With general calm waters most of the week, we had probably the best week of fishing in many months.
It was also the best week of yellowtail fishing of the season.
On top of that, I’d have to say this is the best yellowtail season we have had in many many years.
That’s alot of meat! Yellowtail and pargo for dinner right after a quick beach photo.
Straight up, I’ll tell you that La Paz is NOT a big-time yellowtail spot. Areas way north of us such as Loreto and Mulege are traditionally the hot spots for yellowtail further up the Sea of Cortez. We’re known more for tuna, dorado, roosterfish and marlin.
But, what to make of these last 3 months? Yellowtail in numbers we have not seen in many years! I mean, we get our share, but nothing like what we’re seeing these days! I have no idea how long it will last. It could be over by the time you read this. Maybe the full-moon coming up will blow it apart. But, we’re sure enjoying it RIGHT NOW!
With fish scattered in a number of hot spots, yellowtail from 10-40 pounds were schooling up and chomping live bait, trolled lures and yo-yo/ stick jigs. Fish were stacked up at the north end of Cerralvo Island. They were at the south end of Cerralvo Island. They were caught as close as the rocks right outside of Bahia Muertos between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. On top of that they also came up to foam around Espirito Santo Island for the first time this year.
The fish were generally around structure, but about half of the fish were breaking off either from sheer power or from taking lines back into the rocks. One angler told us, that even with 60-pound-test, he had trouble stopping a number of fish.
One more day to go! Darrell had 3 days of fishing. Day 1 produced 5 yellowtail and 1 cabrilla. This is day 2…with three yellowtail and limits of cabrilla for him and Captain Pancho. All caught trolling Rapalas.
On top of that, we had big cabrilla also in the area and taking the jigs, the live bait and the trolled Rapalas. Dog tooth snapper up to about 20 pounds were also bending rods plus big schools of tasty white hard-fighting bonito, jack crevalle and even the occasional dorado.
Matt, Gary, Campbell with some chunky bonito.
We also got our first marlin of the season when one of our amigos was jigging for yellowtail and snagged about a 140-pound striped marlin he ended up fighting over an hour on crazy light tackle.
All-in-all a solid week and maybe the start of a great fishing season.
YELLOWTAIL LURES
Darrell got this mossback yellowtail to swallow a lively sardine.
Just a head’s up on what these yellowtail have been eating. No telling how long this bite will last, but wanted to pass along some info. There are 3 main ways to catch them. Live bait such as sardines always get the fish to bite.
However, slow trolling diving lures over the rocky areas is also very effective for these yellows as well as pargo, cabrilla and even wahoo. Lures such as this purple/black Rapala Xrap 20 is an example but other companies make similar lures such as Yo-Zuri and others. The numbers such as “20” represent an approximation of how deep these lures will “dive” when trolled or retrieved. So, the example below will get down to about 20′. They also make an Xrap 10, 30, and 40.
Another deadly method involves using “yo-yo iron” or “yo-yo technique. ”
Lip-hook on a jig with a powerful yellowtail and Jorge Romero on the jig rod.
One of the most exciting moments in fishing big sportfish is having one take your jig and slam it right in the jaw! It’s an electrifying strike!
This requires using heavy lures and casting or free-spooling them to the bottom. Then rapidly winding them back towards the boat. But, then stopping. Letting the lure flutter back down. Then rapidly retrieving again in a “Z” type pattern back to the boat. It can be tiring, but incredibly effective as all kinds of sportfish will often viciously slam the lure as it flutters down or as soon as the retrieve takes place.
Here’s some samples:
A number of companies make similar lures like Salas, UFO, Sea Strike, Daiwa, Diamond Jigs, Raider Lures and so many others. My favorite colors include blue and white; chrome combinations; scrambled egg; zuchino or dorado color; all white.
Some of the jigs in my tackle box. Looking busted up because they’ve been beat up and eaten by fish many times!
These are all Shimano lures, but so many other companies make similar lures. I’m not paid by Shimano or Rapala or any other company and am only using these as an example.
La Paz/ Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos Fishing Report for Feb. 18-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Jim and his buddy live in Los Barriles and came all the way up to get in on the yellowtail bite. Fishing with Captain Moncho they got a great load of yellowtail, cabrilla and even some surprise dorado.
Fishing with Captain Pancho, Dr. Santiago is a physician in La Paz and he and Pancho stuffed the fish box with some legit yellowtail on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Our own popular Captain “Fettucini” Alfredo Gaxiola got out with his wife to fish around Cerralvo Island on one of the calmer days and he nailed this horse of a trophy cabrilla.
Lots of boats were on the hot spots at the backside of Cerralvo Island taking yellowtail like Dr. Santiago’s fish.
Our own Tailhunter amigos and popular favorite van drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero took the spinning rods out to Bahia Muertos with the plastic jigs and took home a cooler full of tasty snapper and cabrilla. All fishing from the beach and rocks.
Relatively speaking the winds cut us some slack again this past week and we probably had the best week of fishing in the last 2 or so months. While the United States was largely wrapped in ice and snow, things were reversed in La Paz which is normally windy and generally quite windy this time of year making it difficult to fish.
With temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s, sunny skies and mostly moderate seas, anglers were able to get in on that hot yellowtail bite that’s been going on for the better part of two weeks. There aren’t many tourist anglers as this is off-season, but captains, their families and locals from La Paz and as far as Los Barriles (the East Cape) far to the south were jumping on boats to get on top of these fish. Last weekend on Saturday, as many as 80 pangas and other assorted vessels were sitting on the honey-holes taking limits. On Sunday fewer fish with about half the boats counted. But, that’s to be expected when there’s that much traffic on the water. However…
It’s maybe one of the best yellowtail bite we’ve see in years with fish running 10-25 pounds and taking a variety of jigs including yo-yo and knife jigs plus sardines when around. Some reported larger fish are also being lost as these fish are generally in heavy structure and the waters are not especially deep. Therefore, if you can’t turn their heads, these bruising fish are busting anglers off in the rocks.
Hot spots included the areas around Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to Punta Perrico and then to the areas just around the Las Arenas lighthouse at Castilla. Another spot that has been on fire is Los Pilis which up the backside of Cerralvo Island about 2/3 of the way up the island. One of our Tailhunter captains counted “at least” 40 boats there one day.
But, the travel has been worth it. Boats are landing limits or near limits of the feisty fork tails. I saw photos of the parking lot at Muertos and you would think there was a rock concert going on. There were no parking spaces with all the trucks, cars, boat trailers and vans parked there.
Additionally, there have been white bonito (tasty) plus jack crevalle, cabrilla, snapper, Sierra and pargo mixed in as well.
The biggest surprise was that a few respectable tuna have mixed in and some wahoo and dorado also showed up this week. These are normally warmer water fish and we don’t see these until later in the year unless these are hold-over fish from last season.
At the time of this writing, winds were already starting to ramp up again so hopefully the return of the winds doesn’t knock the bite back down. We know the fish are surely there!
SHALLOW WATER…LIGHT TACKLE…Great results!
Not much going on right now for driving so everyone’s favorite guy and driver, Jorge Romero went out a 2nd day later in the week. In the photos above, he was just out walking the beach with his brother, Esteban. This time he got out on one of the pangas. Still recovering from neck surgery he had at the end of last season, he didn’t want to try tangling with a big yellowtail, tuna or dorado…doctor’s orders! However…
He got in a quick 4 hour trip. It was late in the afternoon. There was not even live bait available. But using dead bait and poppers on light line and light tackle, he had a pretty epic day. All in shallow water close to shore in and over the rocks. A big pompano and lots of feisty tasty cabrilla in the box!
Trophy pompano for Jorge. We usually don’t see these guys until later spring, but I guess some warm water has moved in. These are fun fighters and make great table fare…especially sashime!
This is an epic day on light tackle in shallow water! The cabrilla heads are especially prized for soup and the meat is tender white and highly prized.
Cabrilla that fell to a surface popper.
GOOD NEWS ON COVID FRONT
This past week, the authorities lowered the covid restrictions from orange (level 4) to yellow (level 3).
This allows all work activities again with occupancy increased from 40% to 50% for places like hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The La Paz Malecon has been re-opened with restricted hours that will be monitored.
Also, since the CDC implemented the new rules requiring all international travellers entering or returning to the U.S. (like American tourists coming home from Mexico) to show evidence of a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel, Mexico has really ramped up it’s efforts to construct facilities at hotels, airports, and around the various cities, especially those that see a large influx of international travel.
After one month, Cabo San Lucas (where most folks fly to get to us) has had more than 60,000 international travelers. Of that, only 50 persons tested positive and none of them ended up exhibiting symptoms.
They were not allowed to fly, but hotels now have special discounted rooms, dining and services for those that get detained. They are given a new covid test every 2 days and as soon as they test negative, they are allowed to leave!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Jan. 15-25, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY
For the past 25 or so years, I’ve done these reports religiously almost every single week. I think I can only count about a dozen weekends that I missed and one of them was the weekend Jill and I got married 13 years ago when she told me to put away my computer that weekend.
It’s just that with covid happening and then alot of bad weather and no one really fishing, well…I hate sounding like a broken record although I know alot of folks look forward to getting the reports regularly.
I promise things will get better. I has to!
Winter doesn’t last forever and the warmer weather, water and big fish will show up. Like they always do!
They’ll get a handle on Covid too. I have to believe that and have some faith.
But…here you go…to be honest…
Not a whole lot to report. Opportunities to fish have been few and far between with very few anglers around and not many chances for anyone to fish. For almost two weeks it has been cold, windy, rough, rainy or wet. Or a combination of any two of those conditions. The thermometer has been all over the place with temps as low as the lower 30’s and as high as the high 60’s. It’s quite erratic.
In the small windows for opportunity have arisen, it’s mostly local captains or local residents. Mostly sustenance fishing to put something on the table or frig.
Sierra like this are great fun on light tackle and are incredible on the table cooked or a local favorite as ceviche. There’s some nice schools of sierra around La Paz right now.
Our amigo, Keith “Jimmy” Williams went out and caught a mess of sierra and I asked him for a photo I could use. I expected a typical fishing photo. Instead, he sends me this photo of his fish cooked at our Tailhunter Restaurant…which might be even better! Alot of good things going on here…sierra sauteed in garlic…crispy french fries…poblano chili en cream sauce…fresh tortillas…a shot of tequila…a Heineken…a bottle of Topo Chico. He’s got it going on full turbo! Thanks, Jimmy!
Most of the catch has been inshore as not too many folks want to venture very far when the waters are so rough and winds are blustery. It also makes it difficult to catch live bait. So, catches of cabrilla, snapper, common and white bonito, pargo and some nice-sized sierra have made up the majority of the catch.
CDC BIG NEWS – IMPORTANT FOR MEXICO TRAVELERS (MUST READ)
Big news dropped on us last week when the CDC announced that it will now require proof of a negative covid test to enter the U.S. by air. Alternatively, medical documentation that you have recovered from covid is also valid. Needless to say… It sent everyone from airlines to hotels to charter operations and anyone involved in tourism scrambling to find a solution to this since the new restrictions begin promptly on Jan. 26th.
As it turns out a number of hotels in Cabo San Lucas already have testing facilities and more are being set up in that city as well as other cities. The Mexican government is setting up facilities at Cabo San Lucas Airport, La Paz Airport as well as airports in Tijuana, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and others.
The test seems like it will only take about 15 minutes and results online in about an hour. Costs range average about $20-25 dollars with the government trying to obtain further discounts. They’re doing their best to make this as convenient and easy as possible, but ask that you arrive at the airport an extra hour earlier than normal.
For us in La Paz, we’ll keep you posted about facilities at La Paz Airport, but there are plans for some hotels to offer the test and in checking around the city, we found at least a half-dozen labs offering the tests. As this only applies to air travel at the moment, that means “international flights” so for many of you folks that arrive on Volaris from Tijuana, I don’t think any of this will apply to you since you will be returning through Tijuana and not FLYING back to the U.S.
This is a developing story and fluid issue.
As mentioned, this just dropped like a ton of bricks about a week ago. Most of our fishermen don’t even start showing up until April or May so many things could change as this goes into effect and Mexico steps up to meet the challenge of the vital tourism industry. Also, we can only hope that with new measures plus the vaccine, things will get under control.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 4-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Crazy variety for a few hours of morning fishing for Fernando, his brother and son. On the rack…dorado, big sierra, snapper, pargo liso and cabrilla.
They’re early! The big pargo liso (mullet snapper) normally don’t start schooling up until spring-time but they’re already here and hunkered in the rocks and reefs and will bust you up!
It’s January, but yes, those are wahoo on the cutting board along with dorado, cabrilla and tasty white bonito.
Some big sierra crusing around right now like this tasty fella caught by amigo, Gary Wagner, from his Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos.
Nothing wrong with these items. Tasty cabrilla (Mexican seabass) posed with Jason and Alisa..
Not many folks fishing post-holidays, but town is pretty busy with escapees from the colder weather in the U.S. and Canada. However, this contrary to the gusting winds normally associated with this time of year, there were some incredibly pretty days right out’ve a postcard this past week. Winds settled, skies cleared and day-time temps reached into the 70’s. We could not have asked for better weather and a great window to get on the water.
That being said, it allowed folks to get out in the bay to swim with the whalesharks finally. The shallow water just inside the bay has been holding 6-10 baby whalesharks to swim with, but often it’s too windy and choppy to find them.
With the fishing, it’s been confusing and mixed…in a good way!
Normally, this time of year, when we can get out, we’re hitting mostly cold-water species inshore because well, the waters are cooler and it’s often too rough to get too far out.
However, not only did anglers find the cooler water species like cabrilla, snapper and some unusually big sierra, but a bit crazy because they also hit dorado, white bonito, wahoo and even a few marlin were seen and hooked!
This is indicative of some warm water still holding over so maybe these species will stick around. It’s making for a great variety of fish. Also with abundant sardines for bait, the fish are ready to chew.
One noticeably event seems to be that the big pargo liso (mullet snapper) that we don’t see until later in the spring have already shown up and are schooling over the rocky areas like Cerralvo Island and Punta Perrico. These tough fish are really difficult to wrestle out’ve the rocks and can test both angler and his gear, but are spectacular fighters and great eating and look like giant goldfish.
Also, flights are now coming in directly from the United States to La Paz now for the first time in 14 years. American Airlines from Dallas and Phoenix has been bringing folks now for almost a month.
Nice to have American Airlines now flying directly from Phoenix and Dallas to La Paz. First time we’ve had direct flights in over a decade. No more long drives up from Cabo. The flights have been very popular since they started a month ago. Easy flights into the uncrowded La Paz Airport then it’s just a few minutes to your hotel.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 4-14, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
It’s not very long this week and to be honest, I recorded it while Jill and I were flyfishing on the Guadalupe River. Our anniversary and not much happening in La Paz so we took off a few days to check on the kids and then a surprise trip to the Texas Hill Country. As good a place as any to do the report!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
John Nagy from Los Angeles had some fun with one of his dorado and Captain Hoel. John was able to get in some fishing, but said mostly by noon, the winds were too strong to keep fishing. He was fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet from La Paz and the fish was caught outside of Bahia Muertos
About the only folks in town right now between the holidays are folks here to find some sunshine from colder places in the world. And indeed, the sun has been out mostly although relatively speaking, we think it’s been on the chilly side. However, I guess it’s definitely sunnier than places in Canada, Alaska and Montana. However, even that wasn’t guaranteed this week as we actually had FOG! That’s right…real FOG.
Yup! Sunny La Paz!
Just like the travel brochures pictured it!
I think in my 25 years in living in Baja, I’ve seen fog only a handful of times and that was up in the mountains. However, a thick London-style fog actually descended on the city that really made it look pretty eerie. Of course, then the sun came out and cooked it all away.
Likewise, as is typical this time of year, the winds did blow, especially as the days wore on with some gusts to 25 knots. For fishing, there aren’t that many anglers around anyway, but for those that went out, it was either pretty rough making it hard to get to fishing grounds and get bait or, they were getting blown off the water by the late morning and early afternoon.
That being said, there’s still some dorado around running up to about 20 pounds. Some wahoo were hit at the south end of Cerralvo as well and commercial guys still keep seeing some big tuna north of the island, although the fish are moving too fast and not taking any hooks. Inshore, cabrilla and snapper as well as jack crevalle provided action when there was nothing further out.
Although fishing isn’t drawing many folks right now, swimming with the whalesharks on those days when the winds aren’t churning the waters in the bay is very popular.
Regulations prevent us from getting too close for the safety of the animals, but it’s a crazy cool experience to be in the water with these gentle animals.
Swimming with the whalesharks in the shallows of La Paz Bay usually runs October to April. There can be as many as a dozen or more “baby” whalesharks at any given time.
Let us know and we can set up a trip for you to include transportation, lodging and of course…a chance to swim with the whalesharks!
We are setting up trips daily weather permitting so get in touch with us: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
We are also getting ready to kick off our whalewatching season over on the Pacific side in Bahia Magdalena. Season runs about mid-January to March when the whales swim back north to the Bering Sea. Don’t miss out!
NOT TOO EARLY TO BOOK YOUR LA PAZ FISHING for 2021!
Dates are already filling up with lots of folks who missed out on 2020. Come enjoy some “coastal distancing” and we’ll set up your entire itinerary for your next La Paz fishing trip. We can put the whole thing together. We’ve been here in La Paz 26 years and we will customize your ideal fishing vacation package. Check us out: http://www.tailhunter.com
A number of dates are sold out or getting close to it. If you have a favorite captain or hotel room, get in touch with us ASAP. We don’t want to miss you in 2021! Click here: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
LOS CABOS TUNA JACKPOT ANNOUNCED Nov. 3-6, 2021
As some of you already know…
For 2021, I’ve been named as the new director for the Los Cabos Tuna Tournament.
Last year was the 22nd year to “FISH HARD…PARTY HARDER!” The Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot for 2021 will be Nov. 3-6. We’re already getting entries and boats are getting booked up for charters! Even with the protocols in place, we still had a great event with 149 teams and over 600 anglers and almost 1000 of our “closest friends!” More than $1 million dollars was awarded! We’re expecting an even larger field for 2021!
La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay / Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Marcus Yoo from Cupertino CA has fished with us numerous times and unfortunately picked two of the roughest days of the season to come out with his flyrod. With all the wind, that was pretty much impossible. He’s a gamer and stuck it out and at least he got some nice cabrilla and pargo to take home and had to do quite a big of fishing from the beach.
Some tasty rock fish was what we had to fish for when we could get out
Not much to tell this week. Thanksgiving week normally doesn’t produce many anglers. Mostly it’s folks in town looking for some sunshine during the holidays. Maybe, they’ll try to get in a day or two on the water fishing, snorkeling, swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or just hanging out on the beach.
The week started well. Good temps. Good water conditions and hungry dorado up to 20 pounds were pretty easy to find and catch. They were spread over a number of areas. If you found the spot, you could go crazy right there and not have to look any further to catch limits. Quite a few smaller fish were released. I heard commercial guys saw big tuna breaking at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but no one could get them to bite.
As the week went on, conditions diminished. Skies got hazy and winds gradually increased. Dorado go a bit harder to find so fishing went inshore for cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and sierra.
However, by the latter few days of the week, the winds were blowing strong enough from the north with gusts up to 20 mph that La Paz Bay was almost completely white water and the surge was creating rideable small waves. Consequently, for safety reasons, the port captain shut down all water activities. No fishing. No snorkeling. No diving, etc. We had to cancel a number of bookings.
It wasn’t just the winds, but add in a full moon; extremely strong currents; colder waters; and really strong tides and it was too much to overcome.
Even as the winds calmed down a bit, it was just better to advise folks to stay ashore and enjoy their vacations rather than bounce around and not have fun.
These winds are seasonal north winds that start up about now and will continue on-and-off through the winter months.
SWIMMING WITH WHALESHARKS and WHALE WATCHING TOURS – BOOK NOW!
Whalesharks are in the bay now and the season is open to swim with these gentle giants. An incredible experience in our shallow bay waters.
Also our whalewatching season in Bahia Magdalena will start up in about 6 weeks from about mid-January to mid-March as the grey whales are migrating down from the Bering Sea to spend the winter months in the warm Baja waters of Bahia Magdalena to mate and calf.
We can book your entire trip to La Paz with activities, lodging and transportation. Write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
2021 BOOKINGS FILLING FAST
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our bookings for 2021 are filling fast, especially from folks who had to cancel 2020 fishing trips. According to the news, Mexico is the #1 get-away destination for Americans and record numbers of folks are flying in or booking trips. In November, tourism was up 179% over what it was last year. Baja is especially easy to get to; it’s close; and it economical.
Check your calendar and get in touch with us so we make sure we get you on the books. We’re using 2020 prices until the end of the year! We’re looking forward to seeing you on the water with us.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-10, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tag-team tandem of Roger and Donna Thompson with a double hookup wahoo while trolling off the south end of Cerralvo Island.
Our own amigo, Jorge Romero pulled this 22-pound (he had a scale) barred pargo out’ve the rocks. He told me he had a big barbecue for friends and family and grilled the whole fish!
Captain Lorenzo was out with a La Paz friend and they took this nice blue marlin.
One day fishing north of town for Joe and Kristen Bettridge produced a box full of dorado like these. They also released fish as well.
Some good eating on the fish cleaning table. Mark Bronge from Los Angeles and Leif Dover from Atlanta GA have some nice barred pargo, snapper and cabrilla (seabass) ready for the freezer to take home.
Dave Hale from Northern California has a pretty typical variety of inshore fish for his efforts. I see some big triggerfish, cabrilla, snapper and pargo.
This is that time of year just before the holidays when there aren’t that many folks around that are fishing. The snowbirds are starting to arrive, but overall, town is pretty quiet and it’s a nice time to be in La Paz with sunny skies and mild temperatures in the day and comfortable temps in the evenings!
The fishing has been surprisingly good, all things considered. Some of the waters are getting cooler as we get more northerly winds that will be increasing over the next few weeks and months and transition in to cooler water fishing.
However, in the meantime, we still have some good bites taking place.
Still no tuna to talk about, but dorado from 5 to 25 pounds are relatively prevalent and are providing lots of fun for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. The fish are scattered over quite a few areas, but once you find a single fish, there’s often a whole pack swimming along with it ready to chew.
Sailfish and marlin including both blues, blacks and some stripers have been hooked and lost and at the south end of Cerralvo Island, that tends to be the hot spot for some big 40-60 pound wahoo.
For inshore fishing, that’s where we’re really getting the variety including pargo, cabrllla, dog-tooth snapper, triggerfish, bonito, jack crevalle and dog-tooth snapper along with sierra and amberjack.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP – JANUARY to MARCH!
We’re booking our whalewatching season that’s coming up in just a few months. Don’t miss out on this incredible experience. Prime time is late January through March. We can arrange an entire package for you and the family!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos for Week of Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Yup…those are yellowfin tuna! Only the 2nd batch of tuna we have seen all season in a STRANGE year! Leif Dover from Atlanta GA and Mark Bronge from Los Angeles CA went south almost to the northern east cape to find the fish as well as a nice dorado and a big triggerfish. The next day, winds came up and they weren’t able to get to the spot again.
Surprising to still find roosterfish this late in the season, but Mark caught and released his first rooster just off Punta Perrico.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, from Colorado loves to fish the twilight bite when staying at his Rancho Costa Resort in Muertos and shows off a tasty barred pargo.
Captain Alfredo helps Alla Cazier from Arizona on her first trip to La Paz and found some nice dorado north of La Paz.
Oh yea, this is the right kind! Leif has a big dog-tooth snapper on the gaff caught the last of 6 days on the water with us.
If you find the right spot, the dorado can go nuts! First day success for Leif and Mark with some good-looking mahi on the cutting table.
Well…we can definitely tell the seasons are changing. The air temps are getting cooler with the highs this last week a really comfortable 85 on the average and really pleasant evenings.
However, with the change in temperature, we’re also getting more winds, especially the north winds that blow from about November to April that can make fishing a little bumpy and choppy. It can also hinder our ability to get to certain fishing holes and even to get to the places where we get live bait.
That’s what happened this past week. We had 2-3 days of pretty good windy conditions and whitewater on the ocean. For better-or-worse, not too many folks fishing this week which will be typical as we get closer to the holidays. More snowbirds looking for sunshine coming to town than anglers. More walk-in anglers to our offices and folks just looking for one day of fishing out on the water.
All that being said, there was still some excellent fishing to be had. Some boats did better than others. Some area were much more productive than others.
Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet had the most variety.
We actually got into some tuna…finally…after almost an entire season with no tuna. The guys had to run really far, however. They went south almost to the north end of the East Cape. They made it one day, but then after that, it was too windy to get there on subsequent days.
Still, there were some legit 10-20 pound dorado, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, bonito, several types of pargo and we even got one big dog-tooth snapper as well pulled out’ve the rocks.
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, several days, it was simply too windy. All whitecaps and rough water. However, there’s dorado right in the bay around where the big tanker ships are anchored off Punta Prieta only about 5 minutes from where we launch. There’s also sierra under those big boats.
Outside, seeing more marlin although we couldn’t get any of them to bite this week.
This coming week, it’s going to be breezy again, but not as bad as last week.
END OF YEAR SPECIALS TO LA PAZ
If you’ve got a bad case of “cabin fever” after a year like this, how about a quick getaway to come see us in La Paz?
We’ll customize whatever you want to do. Trips as low as $899 per person (double occupancy). Take a look at this sample:
4 days in La Paz
3 night water-facing room
2 days panga fishing
Fishing includes: boat/ skipper/ tackle/ ice/ fish cleaning/ breakast/ lunch/ soft drinks and water/ shuttles to the boats/ all taxes
Based up availability
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP!
Don’t miss out on some “COASTAL DISTANCING!”
Our 2021 Whale Watching season is coming up soon. Prime dates are mid-January to March and spots are filling fast! We can set up daily trips from La Paz or multi-day trips to Lopez Mateos to get several days spent with these beautiful creatures! A fantastic family experience in the calm waters or Bahia Magdalena. Let us set you up with an entire package and maybe even get in some fishing too! Get in touch with us directly: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
Tailhunter Fish Report 