La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 27-Oct. 6, 2025
LAST MINUTE UPDATE HURRICANE
Just as I was publishing this, the weather has taken a turn. What was supposed to be “scattered showers and thunderstorms, has turned into Hurricane Priscilla. Very late in the season to have something like this.
It’s not going to hit us directly, but it could still be problematic. It might combine with Tropical Storm Octave which was headed out to the Pacific, but now has done a complete right turn back towards Baja and may combine with Priscilla for a double whammy storm that I have never seen before in 30 years.
Rain was not supposed to hit us for several days although big waves and winds have already started, but just this morning, rain has started falling. The government has closed the port and we have had to cancel all water-related activities unfortunately. Don’t know how long this will last. Will keep you posted!
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: Seemed like things are getting cooler and the season was changing. Then it got a bit warmer again. Mostly pretty nice. Hot and muggy again. Some scattered rain later in the week (see update above)
WATER: Pretty water. Very very warm. Surface temps in the mid-to-upper 80’s
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowfin tuna, wahoo dorado, marlin, sierra, jack crevalle, bonito, amberjack, roostefish, pargo, cabrilla, blue bonito, pompano.
FISHING on a SCALE of 1-10 (10 is best) : 5-7
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
John Gibbs and Angelo Oliverio have been our Tailhunter amigos forever and always good to have them here and they enjoy fishing with Captain Armando. Nice batch of tuna to start the trip!
Captain Jorge gives Richard Stasse a thumbs-up with one of the larger model yellowfin this week.
New Reno friends for us! Scott and Thaelyn Van Patten had a nice day on the water with a good batch of yellowfin tuna to put in the freezers to bring home!
Gene Jancek just had one day to squeeze in for fishing and wanted to be sure I could get him into to the report! Nicely done, Gene! He was with Captain Armando.
A fun trio from San Diego that were here for an 80 person birthday bash for fellow members of the Elks Club. Jonathan and dad Tim Backlund up front and funny Joe Herkelroad holding up the back! Some good-sized yellowfin plus blue bonito to take home.
First timers with us this week, Kyle Woo and his dad hold up some of their dorado after a day fishing out’ve La Paz towards Espirito Santo Island. They fished 4 days and did pretty well! Kyle just graduated from the University of Hawaii.
They just wanted to get dad (Luis Sanchez…3rd from the right) a marlin! They did but also lost several and released several. They donated the meat and also got several tuna and dorado while here during the week. They were with Captain Chito when they chased the marlin. Fun guys from northern California near Lake Shasta. First time visitors with Tailhunter. Left to right, Mark Sanchez, Mike Sanchez, Luis Sanchez (dad) and Luis Jr.
All the way from New York, Valari and Gary Biccum were also first-time visitors and she poses here with one of her dorado while fishing with Captain Boli on the beach behind La Concha Hotel.
Funny shot…Captain Licho poses with Wes, Tony and Leon after one of their two days fishing with him out’ve La Paz. Always good to see these guys in town!
Marty Matsuda and Clay Harada pose on the beach at Bahia Muertos with 5 nice tuna and a big triggerfish!
Mike and Pam Ryan found a dorado hole while fishing out’ve Las Arenas and added a nice barred pargo to the rack as well!
When Gary Biccum told me he was going to catch a wahoo, I grinned and rolled my eyes. Guys come for years and never get one. Guess what…Nice catch Gary!!!
Captain Jorge with a really sweet couple from S. Carolina, Sheron and John Cosh who just happened to be celebrating his birthday. Really enjoyed their company this week.
Vahe Simonian with a nice tuna and a really big wahoo! He never said much after coming back from fishing…then I see the photo!
Randy Mayne and Nick Healy came to visit us from Salt Lake City for the first time. They had an eventful week! Started out with a good jag of yellowfin tuna at Muertos!
Some of our Tailhunter besties! Wiley Randolph and Eric Pennington have been Tailhunter nation amigos for years. Cheers to a da of tuna, dorado and big triggerfish, amigos!
Nick Healy came back from fishing with a long face. He said, “I only got two bites all day and only got two fish!” I didn’t know what to say until I saw the photos and then he broke into a big grin! Nice day! He was pulling my leg.
Here is the catch-of-the-week! My fish brothers, Kenny Cambell and Buddy Malone were with Captain Pancho. Check out the catch…TWO wahoo…a huge dog-tooth snapper…several tuna…a blue bonito…and a dorado! Spectacular day!
Pam and Mike again! Another good day of fishing!
MIke Kouyoumdjian and buddy, Raffi Ohanian pose with a trio of dorado and really fat yellowfin tuna.
Nice to have first-time visitors, Garrett Matsukiyo and dad, Irving fishing with us for the week. After 4 days of fishing, they want home with a nice load of fillets. Here on the beach with 2 of 6 dorado.
______________________________________
Overall, it has been a pretty good week. Everyone caught fish. Everyone lost some nice fish too and had shots at some real trophies. Others actually caught trophy fish! Lots of smiles.
Some days were better than others. Some boats did better than others. But most of our guests fish several days so if one day was off, the next day made up for it.
It was fall fishing as nice as it gets mostly.
The tuna are still around Bahia Muertos and Cerralvo Island in the best tuna bite I have seen in several years. Mostly fun-sized 5-15 pound fish with some larger 30 pounders thrown in. Plus some surprise wahoo also caught. Some on iron. Some on bait. Some on the troll.
Sprinkle in some dorado between 5-15 pounds that are pretty much all over and it makes for some fun days on the water.
Also had some billfish on the line as well. Stripers up to about 120 pound were hooked or released and some larger blue marlin were hooked and lost with estimated weights up to about 300 pounds!
Overall, I would say that the seasons are changing. There is a cooling trend happening with air temps with less humidity and heat. That doesn’t mean it’s cool. It’s just not quite as hot, but the northern winds are already starting to blow and we’re catching occasional species like sierra, pompano and trevally which are all cooler water fish we usually see in the springtime.
Once the northerns blow consistently, the complexion of fishing will change and waters will get rougher and colder and for the most part shut down the season.
In the meantime, pretty enjoyable fishing right now!
(P.S. See my update above about Hurricane Priscilla)
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 19-25, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Very very hot. Easily 5-10 degrees hotter than normal and the humidity really pushed things into triple digits some days! Some tropical rain and thundershowers here and there. It’s that time of year!
WATER – We’re getting readings anywhere from 82-26 on the surface. Bathwater. It’s mostly pretty blue like a post card!
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, tuna, (1) wahoo, marlin, sailfish, barred pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, pompano, trevally, needlefish
FISHING on a SCALE of 1-10 (10 is best): 7-8
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First time with Tailhunter Patrick Towle had some great fun with the dorado bite.
They ran pretty far off Cerralvo Island, but it turned out to be worth it with Captain Gerardo! Bob Cowan with Jeff Loh blew up the tuna school. Jeff also got his first roosterfish finally (released) and this was his first tuna after many years of fishing with us…but no one told him he had to eat the heart ❤️ of his first tuna like all of us did! (wink wink!) 😜
From Colorado, our long-time bestie John Ehlers and his wife Dolores have fished with us for several decades! First day with Captain Pancho produced some nice dorado and a barred pargo.
Thanks to our amigo, Jimmy Williams, for this great dorado shut underwater! Incredible colors.
Gina Wullkotte from Arizona fished 3 days with us. His first visit to La Paz and racked some excellent mahi to take home!
Dolores has a knack for these barred pargo! With Captain Pancho! She hooked a sailfish and fought it for an hour and released it as well, but no photos because they wanted to get it back in the water ASAP! BRAVO!
Bob, Jeff and Taryn…day 1 of 3 started out pretty good on the dorado bite!
Chad Legg had just one day to squeeze in for fishing so he was out with Captain Joel and they filled a nice box of dorado!
Two of our newest sweetest folks from Colorado, Joy and Mark Cook fished with Captain Armando for 3 days!
We need to call him “DOCTOR” Justin Vickery now as he just finished his residency and is now a full-fledged Doctor! Much to celebrate like this dorado that matches his shirt!
She’s studying to eventually be a surgeon, but Jazminne Legg from Washington took time off and was just having way too much fun down here! Dorado, tacos and tequila…she had everyone laughing!
Tony and Steve! On the beach after a good day on the water with dorado, pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish!
Taryn and dad, Ed (“Beaver”) Mitoma have been fishing with us for decades and she finally got her first tuna. They ran outside Cerralvo Island to hit the spot. Long run and gamble that paid off!
I think this is Ken Pak behind the mask, but he’s obviously happy with the day’s catch! He’s from Salem OR!
Jim McCarthy has some fresh mahi meat for the freezer posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Creston Carroll was fishing with us for the first time this week and shows off one of his dorado catches.
Andrew with a nice rack of mahi that needs to get into the freezer! Some nice bulls there!
Gino with another good one for the box!
Ken Pak seems pretty excited about his dorado! He was fishing with his brother, John. Both from Oregon.
Steve Dantonio is another of our first-timers that happened to be down this week and he took home some nice mahi fillets as well this week!
It wouldn’t be a fishing season if our dear amigo, John Ehlers from Aurora CO, didn’t come down to fish with Captain Pancho for a few days! John has probably fished with us for 20 years or so!
Justin with a hefty bull for the fish box and dinner plate. He was fishing with his dad, Jeff, who just re-located from Texas to La Paz.
Pat Towle put some legit mahi in the boat! Check these out!
___________________________________
Not a bad week at all! In fact, I think we just had possibly the best week of the summer in terms of action. Not alot of species, but just in terms of fun fishing with good action, this past week was pretty nice. I won’t say it was crazy wide open but everyone caught fish. Everyone got bent. Everyone took him fish that wanted to take home fish.
Can’t ask for more than that.
The dorado bite finally turned into what we’ve been waiting for all summer. The majority of the catch were the mahi. Lots of school-sized fish in the 8-15 pound class with some larger ones also hitting the box and larger ones also breaking away!
Tons of little punk-sized ones too and some of the boats were releasing them like crazy and couldn’t keep the little guys away from the hooked baits as dorado are voracious eaters! But, this bodes well. the little 12-inches will be 2 or 3 times the size in a month since their growth rate is so accelerated by all the eating!
Both of our fleets got into fish each day with the fish either free-swimming individuals or you could run into a honey hole and hit a nice school with non-stop action and multiple rods going off. But, the bottom line is that it’s not terribly hard to eventually run into these fish. There are some fish five minutes in front of the hotels if that’s as far as you wanted to go right under the tankers anchored in the bay.
With water temps in the low to mid-80’s these are ideal conditions for the dorado and it’s nice to finally have them wake up and join the party. We’ve seen the schools for months. They just weren’t interested in biting full speed, but thankfully, someone threw the switch and turned them on.
Other than the dorado, there really isn’t much other variety. Either because the water is now too warm or folks are just concentrating more on the dorado because their easy and fun. So, just a few pargo and cabrilla and snapper were in the mix. Also a few billfish hook-ups and we did have one wahoo that got hooked and close to the boat, but busted off.
The big surprise was the nice jag of yellowfin tuna off Cerralvo Island! It’s a bit of a run in the pangas to the spot but the few clients that took the gamble smacked into a nice batch of feeders that were running with the dolphin.
These were nice quality fish…bigger than the football-sizes…in the 10-15 pound category and tore up some tackle, especially for first timers who had some fun tangling with these hard-chargers.
Don’t know if they’ll stick around, but even if they do, the spot where the school is located is a bit of a run. If they are there, great. If not, then by the time you run all the way back, it could be too late to try fishing for anything else. It’s definitely a swing for the fences and hitting a home run or nothing. But, for our anglers that already have fish in the freezers, it’s worth a shot!
Roosterfish are still around if you want to get one off your bucket list. Mostly smaller sizes beetween 3-15 pounds, but great fun especially on lighter tackle.
Other than that…some weather advice…
It’s exceptionally hot and humid! This has been the hottest summer I can remember in my 30 years down here. The temps are easily 5-10 degrees hotter than normal and with the humidity, it is easily tipping triple digit temps during the day.
So STAY HYDRATED and stay covered with a hat, long sleeves and sunscreen.
ALSO, we recommend all the time very strongly that you purchase trip insurance. With the heat, these are the tropics and thundershowers are common. It can rain for an hour or it can rain for 5 minutes. It can rain in one part of the city and by dry in another part or rain in one part of the ocean ,but not on the beach! Just don’t be surprised. We have not had to cancel any trips yet, but it’s always a possibility. We definitely won’t send you out if it’s too rough or with a rod in your hand and lightning in the sky!
FISHING in 2026
We are already getting quite a few bookings for next year and we’re taking reservations! Especially for folks who want a favorite captain or hotel or want to target a certain species of fish like roosterfish, pargo or dorado! Some dates are filling up pretty fast.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 31-Aug. 8, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Won’t lie. It’s HOT and STEAMY and sunny. Even for us who live here, it seems intensely more hot even tho’ the temp say it’s a normal 98. The real feel is about 104 or so. Folks getting sick every day because they are not hydrating!
WATER: Mostly warm and blue! Getting readings of about 82 to as high as 86 on the outside.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:. Roosterfish, dorado, striped marlin, sailfish, bonito, jack crevalle, pargo liso, barred pargo, needlefish (big ones), snapper, triggerfish, cabrilla
LAS ARENAS FISHING: More variety with dorado, roosters, jacks, bonito, pargo, cabrilla.
LA PAZ FISHING:. Mostly dorado with some marlin biters. A few roosters and cabrilla .
FISHING ON A SCALE of 10 (10 is best): 6-7
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Cody Crawford from Florida on his first visit with us had a nice week of pretty solid fishing including some big bulls like this one, but check out the pargo liso as well as the fat triggerfish! Fishing with Captain Pancho 3 days.
There was a time when Noah Stark was alot smaller than his dad, Chris and myself. Now, he’s starting high school! Good first day of dorado and tuna!
Brian Pierce with a great rack of dorado and football tuna plus I see a snapper and a pargo liso on the table as well.
It’s been over a decade since Wade Ralston from Washington was with us. He’s usually on the Columbia River guiding, but came down and couldn’t be more enthusiastic, especially using his custom-made rods of his own. Check out the nice roosterfish on the flyrod! It was released.
Somewhere behind this big roosterfish is a big fella! That’s Oscar Alba somewhere behind that big comb. The fish was released after the photo. I think Juan behind him has a fish on as well!
Nice shot! Crystalynn Lilly with Captain Joel’s thumbs-up! First time visit for Crystalynn. She had quite a week!
The man behind the mask is Captain Gerardo with the barred pargo. But Takashi Rutherford and and dad, Keith, have the dorado in hand and on the table!
Thad Loomis all smiles right off the beach with another rooster for the photo and release!
Sweetest gal, Mandy Caron from Boise ID with Captain Rogelio and another nice cabrilla for the box! Mandy and the family were last with us 13 years ago!
Takashi and his bull dorado make for a great photo! Super colors!
This photo should be framed. Jesus Morales with a big rooster! Photo’d and released after the pose!
Oscar and Juan…they won’t tell us who actually caught the marlin while fishing with Captain Julio. The fish could not be released. First marlin for one or both of them!
Arcie Propster was able to get her son Austin down for a quick trip and he landed a number of dorado like this. They live in Redondo Beach CA
Cody again…with another big bull, some triggerfish, a pargo liso and several more dorado! Fishing with Captain Pancho
Captain Armando checks out Danny and Rusty’s dorado on the beach at Muertos!
Gaby Donnell from Oregon is just a joy everytime she comes down. She seems to have a knack every year for pargo liso no matter what time of year. Captain Pancho helps with the pose.
Roger McCracken has been fishing with us over 20 years but the last few George Hatziyiannis has been joining him. We’ve had some good times over the year. Both are from the Portland area.
Great first day for Nick Brown who brought his family down with him this time fishing with Captain Hugo. Great rack of dorado!
Wade Ralston was really happy with this dorado on his light tackle custom rod!
Crystalynn with another dorado for the freezer to take home!
Oscar poses with a legit bull dorado fishing just outside Muertos Bay where the dorado bite has started to turn on finally .
I think this is Noah Stark behind the bandana with another nice bull dorado. He only had 2 days to fish and put some nice meat in the box fishing with dad, Chris.
A prehistoric monsters needlefish! Keith Rutherford is 6’4″ and this needlefish is still taller! Most needlefish are about 2′ long or so! Captain Gerardo said it was the biggest needlefish he had ever seen in his life fishing these waters.
Check the flat ocean! Thad Loomis with first day bull dorado!
Good way to start the morning for Mike McFeely. A nice roosterfish bite for some quick action and releases.
She had a good week! Crystalynn with a fresh one on the gaff to take home to Washington.
_______________________________________________
Sorry this is a few days late. Good excuses…
We lost electricity and wifi for about 2 1/2 days (see explanation below)
We had a storm come through and I didn’t know if it was going to be sprinkles or a full blown crusher and I wanted to have the latest and best info (turned out to be about an hour thunderstorm…that’s it!)
So that’s my story…
Let’s talk fishing!
Well, it finally happened.
The dorado finally showed up. They’re only about 2 or 3 months behind schedule. Normally, we would have seen dorado schools by late May or early June. This year, despite ticklers here and there where we got excited about seeing fish that then petered out, the expected mahi bite just never quite materialized.
Last year was late as well, but that was because the waters stayed cold until August. Heck, we were still catching some cold-water yellowtail and amberjack into August last year.
This year? Go figure. The waters got warm like usual. But the dorado just never came. Actually, they’ve been around. We’ve seen them. But, they wouldn’t eat. Not interested. They would just turn and swim away from baits and lures.
Just one more strange thing to add to our experience.
But in the last week or so, the dorado finally seem to have woken up. I hope I don’t jinx things by talking about it.
The bite is not full-speed WFO the way it normally is. However, there’s enough of a bite that maybe 70% of our catch this past period are mahi. Both our Las Arenas and our La Paz fleets are into the fish.
But, like I said, it’s not wide open. One boat might hit the school and come back with limits. The next boat might only get 2 or 3 fish total. One boat might pick pick pick all day for fish and come back full . Another boat might get bit and that’s the only bite of the day. Or, a boat might find a sweet school and BAM…they are slammed one-stop shopping and they’re done.
It’s not consistent.
But, overall, most folks are fishing numerous days with us and they’re all catching fish. An off-day is off-set by a good day and everyone has fish to take home.
The dorado are mostly school-sized fish up to about 15 pounds. Fun for everyone. Ready to bite. Great for first-timers or on light tackle for the veteran anglers. Some larger fish up to maybe 30 pounds are around as well and some larger fish have been lost.
We’re still getting roosterfish which has been steady.
Easily this is the best roosterfish season I’ve had in 30 years. We’re not seeing the big pig roosters now as the formal roosterfish season normally tapers in July . We’re still getting the occasional 40-50 pounder, but have not seen the bigger 70-100 pounders in several weeks. Most of the fish are fun 5-30 pound fish all getting released. Easy to catch and release a handful pretty much any day of the week right off the beach between Los Alamos and Ventana/ Sargento Beaches.
I thought we’d be deep in billfish by now. Normally, we are, but it’s only the occasional striper, blue or sailfish these days . Maybe 1 or 2 biters per week and most seem to quickly be lost or broken off. I will say that every time I’ve sent anglers out who specifically want a billfish, they get skunked. The billfish seem to always get hooked by folks who are rookies or while trying to catch something else.
Other than that, no wahoo, but there have been a smattering of yellowfin tuna footballs, but nothing to get excited about. There are still some pargo liso around (mullet snapper) which is also surprsing because they are cold-water fish and surface water temps right now are anywhere from 82 up to 86 degrees.
Speaking of heat…folks…the heat is intense. Even us locals are commenting that it’s hotter than a grill these days. Don’t know what it is. The thermometer says 95, but the real feel is about 105!
I’ve had guests getting sick almost every day from heat and lack of hydration. You gotta stay hydrated and folks don’t listen. The sun sucks moisture right out’ve you like a sponge.
Folks are feeling light-headed, cramping, stomach aches, head-aches, the runs…they think it’s the flu or a bug or food poisoning. 99% of the time, it’s the heat. I jack them with some electrolytes and and a banana for potassium and BOOM…almost instant recovery.
However, folks are cancelling trips because they’re not taking care!
Bring some electrolyte powder packs with you. Cover up. Drink lots of water even tho’ you’re not peeing it out.
The heat has been so intense, the there have been rolling blackouts around the city because of the high AC usage. At our Tailhunter Restaurant, we lost 2 1/2 days of no water, power, lights, no wifi no phones or A/C. Our office got up 110 degrees INSIDE.
Lastly, I warn all of our guests to not come down here without purchasing trip insurance. This is just the thing to cover missed trips because of getting sick. Moreso, this is storm season. Tropical storms come and go. We just had one the other day. Fortunately, it was in the afternoon when everyone was done fishing. But, these can pop up anytime.
We hope they don’t turn into hurricanes, but even the 2 or 3 hour thunderstorm can mess up plans. So, once again, DO NOT COME DOWN WITHOUT PURCHASING trip insurance! There’s no refunds for weather-related cancelations. Unfortunately, it just so happens that the best fishing time of the year also happens to be the best time to get a storm now and then!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 23-30, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Hot and hotter. The thermometer says 95, but the real feel is 104. Nice to have the ocean nearby to cool off. You’re crazy if you’re not using a hat and sunscreen or walking around in the middle of the day. There’s a reason we have siestas in Mexico and everyone stays indoors until the sun goes down!
WATER: Mostly in the lower 80’s and blue, but pick your spots. Some areas have stronger currents. Some days it is flatter than glass but a few miles away, there are swells.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, tuna, wahoo, blue marlin, striped marlin sailfish, snapper, cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish, jack crevalle, roosterfish, bonito.
LAS ARENAS FISHING – More variety including tuna and wahoo when they show up plus dorado and about a half-dozen other species.
LA PAZ FISHING – Mostly billfish and dorado with some inshore cabrilla and pargo.
FISHING on a SCALE of 1-10 (10 is best): Mostly hovering around a 4-5. Not bad. Should be way better.
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Good to see these smiles after a good day on the water! John McLucas (right) first started fishing with us about 25 years ago and just retired. Jeff Schlesing last fished with us in 2004…TWENTY Years ago! Some good meat to take home!
Captain Gerardo “Gordo” holds down the right flank of the lineup of Mario Rios and his wife with Chris Martinez at center and a great load of yellowfin tuna!
Santiago and Kevin had just one day to fish and made the most of it with Captain Arcangel and some great eating fish that made it over to Tailhunter Restaurant that night.
Mandy, Rob, Parker and Spencer…the Caron Family from Boise Idaho were last here 12 years ago when Spencer was a baby! What a day…they hooked 2 blue marlin and 2 striped marlin and were able to release 3 of the billfish except this one and generously donated the meat! What a day! They were with Captain Rogelio.
Hector Chacon (r) has been fishing with us for decades, but his friend, John Miller, flew all the way in from England to fish 2 days then turned around and flew back, but not before 2 fun days with dorado!
Captain Armando put young Lucas Delgadillo on his first dorado and it’s a nice bull. Dad Pete Delgadillo in the back was pretty excited too!
Captain Armando with a good day of fishing for our Texas friends, Kailee Draymala and Casen Rios who caught this sail plus some chunky yellowfin. Casen generously donated the fish.
Ahhh…two of the funnest! Also from Texas, Ken and Melissa Dean like fishing with Victor and first day catch of a dorado and 2 tuna.
Captain Hugo with Shanoe Cutts and one of the larger roosters in recent weeks. It’s a beauty. They’re still around. Great photo followed by the release. Shanoe is originally from Maui, Hawaii.
Young Spencer with Captain Rogelio had 4 fun days on the water and had some battles with pulling big cabrilla from the rocks.
Stephen Wang gets a hand from son, Evan. Stephen was fishing the light string when this big boy hit and took him for a 90 minute battle! The rooster was released.
It might not look big, but the bonito are providing lots of action and pound-for-pound might be one of the most powerful fish in our waters. Ask Mandy Caron!
Captain Jorge put Wayne McCain (r) and Wayne Ezernack on some fun football tuna on the other side of Cerralvo Island. Wayne is from Texas. Nathan hails from Louisiana.
Kailee has big smiles and another roosterfish off the rocks. Quick photo and release!
One of our best anglers year-after-year, Darrel Manginelli on his 3rd trip this year shows off the tuna on the cutting table that will soon be in the freezer. He first found the tuna spot with Captain Pancho that started the little jag of tuna we had for a few days.
Parker Caron with another cabrilla. He had an eventful week with lots of cabrilla, dorado and even a marlin!
Great colors on this bull dorado that Darrell stuck in Ventana Bay.
They made a fun team! Captain Moncho with Brenda McCain, our Texas amiga. Love our Texas friends!
What a fish. What a photo. Shanoe poses with a prized wahoo off Cerralvo Island. He was with Captain Hugo.
Good to have these first-timers visiting us! Luis Echevarria and Mike Brown who tried to bring a banana on the boat until we all yelled at him that he was jinxing things! He didn’t know the banana superstition!
___________________________________
Let me get this outta the way right at the top.
Two of the biggest questions I get asked daily:
How’s the fishing?
What are you catching right now?
Here’s my answer these days. Fishing is OK. Everyone is catching fish. Some days are better than others. Some boats do better than others then the next day it could be just the opposite.
And I really don’t know what’s biting and catching right now! It’s really weird. We’re catching a little bit of everything!
If you read nothing more than that, that’s pretty much the gist of the fishing report. Look at the photos above and that tells you the whole story.
It’s really weird . It’s already 2/3 of the way through summer and although it’s hot as blazes the fishing isn’t quite where it should be. We should be deep into schools of dorado. The billfish should be biting. There should be more tuna around. There should NOT be so many roosterfish around.
In 30 years, I have not had this kind of a season.
Everything is off kilter by a degree or two.
It is incredibly HOT! It feels much more intense than usual. Well over 100 degrees with humidity.
Correspondingly, the waters are warm and blue. Surface temps are in the low 80’s. But here’s the rub…there are cold patches of blue and warm patches of blue. Some hold fish and some don’t.
Roosterfish…the best roosterfish season I’ve had in 30 years. They are still around, but should have been gone weeks ago. No complaints! Everyone who wanted one all these years has that opportunity! Fish are mostly 10-30 pounds, but some of the big boys are still cruising.
Dorado schools should be everywhere. They are not. We’re getting maybe 1-3 per boat on the average. We should be kicking out limits. And most of the fish we’re getting are school-sized 5-10 pounders. Barely enough meat for a couple of tacos. There’s some larger 20-30 pounders around, but isolated biters. Just when I think the dorado are gonna blow up…they get hard to find again.
The same can be said for the wahoo and tuna.
We had a few days of spectacular wahoo. Everyone got excited. And the fish disappeared!
We had a few days of great tuna biters. Everyone got exctied . And the fish disappeared.
We had some great days with the marlin charging all over. We all got excited again. The billfish disappeared.
Nothing changed. The climate didn’t change. The waters didn’t change . The bait didn’t change. All the conditions remained static. But the fish had other plans.
Still lots of other species to fill the gap…pargo, cabrilla, trevally, pompano, triggerfish and others. Like I said, everyone is at least catching fish .
That’s our story!
Jonathan & Jilly
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
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 15-22, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Hot and sunny. Breezy mornings and evenings down to the comfortable high 70’s, but day time temps are in the high 80’s to mid-90’s. But, it feels much hotter and intense for some reason. Lather on the sunscreen and keep covered. We did have an unexpected 1 day storm that dropped some rain on us. These little storms come out’ve nowhere. The heat sucks up moisture. The clouds build and they have to drop that water somewhere.
WATER: Clearing up after the storm 2 weeks ago and then the big full moon last week. More blue patches and water surface temps coming back up into the low 80’s after dropping into the 70’s last week.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Roosterfish, sailfish, wahoo, marlin, tuna, jack crevalle, pargo, cabrilla, sierra, snapper, bonito, triggerfish, dorado
Las Arenas: More variety. Pretty much a shot at everything on the list above. Lots of roosterfish for sure then a little of some of the others . Had the best wahoo bite of the season there.
La Paz : A few more dorado and billfish and some big cabrilla and pargo.
FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10 (10 is best): 6 plus
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Maybe our biggest dorado of the year so far? Luis Rodriguez and Luis Arandia with Captain Jorge and some other nice fish on the cutting table as well!
Three wahoo the same day? And a bigger one broke off! Stellar fishing day for Larry and Adam! Jackpot fishing south end of Cerralvo Island! They were with Captain Hugo.
Perfect face-frame for Raul and a bull dorado. Check out the flat ocean!
First time and first day! Stephen Wang said they hooked and released 15-20 roosterfish up to 40 pounds all on light tackle with Captain Gerardo
Jim Bovee got his wahoo! While staying at Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos, Jim pulled this ‘hoo off the island. Jim visits us several times a year from San Diego.
Nothing like that first fish! Elana Tabachnikoff with Captain Joel on her first day on the water and first visit to La Paz was pretty excited. She was alot of fun to have with us this week!
David Henke has been coming for years. Never caught a wahoo. We’ve only seen about 3 all year. So, yesterday with Captain Moncho, he says, “I’ll give you $100 if you get me a wahoo!” They zoom to the island. Twenty minutes later, BAM they have a wahoo! David says, “I will give you another $100 if you get another wahoo for my girlfriend here!” 30 minutes later BAM a 2nd wahoo!
All the way from Virginia, Jene Nissens just wanted to catch a roosterfish larger than 10 pounds on his flyrod. He lost a couple the first day, but 2nd day did the trick!
After our little storm, the skies still looked ominous, but we got everyone out fishing included Nick Salcedo from San Luis Obispo CA who got into the roosterfish happily! Fish was released.
Captain Gerardo photobombs Fabio Pharazyn and Peter Knapp after a nice day with 3 quality dorado and a wahoo on the cutting table!
Love having Brenda Bovee visit us from San Diego. With Captain Pancho one of the few yellowfin tuna of the year. Cerralvo Island in the background.
After catching and releasing more than a dozen roosterfish, Stephen Wang and son Evan still had some fish to take home including dorado, a huge triggerfish, a cabrilla, a trevally and snapper! Great variety!
Hahahah…Rob Carroll right up in that pretty blue water near the rocks poses with one of his roosterfish before letting it go. Rob visits us from Utah each year with his family.
Lloyd Surhiro from Fresno CA had just one day to fish with us along with his son and daughter, but they boated a nice load of fat cabrilla like these!
Great photo of Gavin Carroll in the aquarium off the rocks where it’s fun fishing and releasing roosterfish!
Sunrise roosterfish for Richie Pusateri just outtside of Bahia Muertos. He got several this day and all released.
Pound-for-pound one of the toughest fish to hook are the jack crevalle that school up off the sandy beaches. Jene has a nice one here and also released it.
Buenos dias! Nice to start the day hooking up roosterfish. Aldo Magana from San Luis Obispo poses with one of his before putting it back in the water.
Two for two! Double roosters for son Evan and dad, Stephen, first day fishing. Flat waters and a good sunrise!
Our amigo, Jim Bovee fishes with us several times a year and captured this great photo from the beach at Rancho Costa Resort in Bahia Muertos. We had a quick torito storm blow through that wasn’t on the radar systems and can rise up in minutes akin to a baby hurricane that lasts only a few minutes or hours. This one blew through in a few hours and caused all our boats to come back in, but fishing went back to normal the next day.
_______________________________
Compared to the last 2 weeks when were were affected by a hurricane that didn’t hit us but brushed by as well as a massive full moon, this past week was an incredible improvement. It seems that on a daily basis the further we get away from the meteorological and atmospheric events the fishing gets better.
Even during the down time, everyone was catching fish. It was just alot harder work to find the fish and to get the to bite.
However, since then, there’s been a nice resurgence.
The roosterfish have come on strong again. In what has been the best roosterfish season in memory, it is not impossible to catch and release a dozen 5-30 pound fish or just sit on the spot all day long. The fish are varacious and our anglers fishing light tackle are having fun getting beat up. Larger fish in the 40-60 pound fish are still cruising the area, but it’s getting more difficult to find the larger sabalo (ladyfish bait) that attracts the big hogs.
Here’s an account from Stephen Wang after the first day:
“Man— the roosters were everywhere. We did all this on light tackle. Crazy good bite today on the roosters. Fish on first cast. Maybe 15-20 roosters. All 15-40 lbs.
Got some small dorado next to the buoys. We are tired!
Light tackle so much fun. But the 30+ lb roosters made us work on the smaller rod. 20 lb braid. 10-20 lb spinning rod. Hearing the drag scream was fun!!!”
Marlin and sails have also grudgingly decided to jump into the bite as well. For weeks, you could see them but they just weren’t interested. The past few days, it’s not typical, but not unusual to hook at least one or more, especially on live bait. Most of them are stripers running up to about 150 pounds.
I”m still surprised the dorado aren’t going full speed. Normally, by this time of the year, the dorado would be dominating the catches with maybe 60-80% of the catch being mahi. However, despite what I thought a few weeks ago, the dorado have not broken loose quite yet . It’s still pre-season and we hope they wake up soon . We can see them, but they are reluctant biters.
Other species we’re hooking include pompano, trevally, cabrilla, pargo, snapper, sierra, jack crevalle and bonito.
La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 7-14, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Sunny and hot. Intensely hot even though the thermometer doesn’t seem that hot. Mid-to-high 90’s. Can be breezy in the morning clearing to bright sunshine. Cover up and bring the hat and sunscreen!
WATER: Weirdly off-color. The storm two weeks ago coupled with a huge full moon this week and strong currents pulled up cold green water from deep and water temps dropping 3-8 degrees. Patches of warm blue and patches of cold off-color water everywhere. Fishing fell off big time.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, roosters, pompano, wahoo, trevally, jack crevalle, bonito, marlin, sailfish, pargo, cabrilla.
FISHING SCALE (10 being best): 3-4.
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Could this huge nighttime orb have been the culprit for the drop in fishing? I usually don’t blame the full moon and it usually has little effect on us down here with fishing ,but this was one of the biggest brightest full moons I have seen this year and it literally blazed bright and surely did not do us or the ocean any favors. Even after the sun came up, you could see it!
Our amiga, Kelly Jimenez from Loveland CO comes to see us each year and wears her lucky pink Tailhunter shirt! It paid off. With Captain Pancho she nailed this nice wahoo off South Cerralvo Island. They also had two other biters come off or bust off.
Casey Petersen from San Diego is all smile after landing this nice bull fishing with Captain Alfredo towards Espirito Santo Island.
These are some of the toughest fish to hook onto. These jacks are viscious! Cathy Corda has been fishing with us for decades and these bruisers gave her a battle!
Jeff Thackery finally got his roosterfish off Punta Arenas Beach and it’s a thick one! Jeff was able to release the fish. Originally from Texas he just set up a home here in La Paz.
Emma Hart is always in the fish whenever she visits! Check out the nice wahoo on the gaff!
This is a huge pompano and great eating too! Miles Wagner staying at his dad’s place at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos put the wood to this trophy!
First timers with us, Jared Jones and son Kaden with Captain Hugo land this wahoo when other anglers come for years and can’t seem to hook one of these speedsters!
Costa Rancho owner Gary Wagner (right) told me this was the first marlin he was not able to release in years and could not revive regretfully, but the meat was distributed around.
Casey Petersen finally got his bigger roosterfish this last week. Emma Hart helps with the pose. The fish was released.
Matt Wallis from Kentucky with another of these tough slugger jack crevalle just off the beach at Punta Arenas near the lighthouse. Schools of the big jacks are in that area now. Not so great eating, but fun to hook!
__________________________
In short…fishing sure took a nosedive this last week. At best, it was OK. There was some action. Everyone caught fish. It’s just that there were few highlights; few large fish; and not much quantity either.
We really had to work hard for the fish. Captains chased all over and knuckled down looking for spots. Anglers, kept patient and hung in there. But, it mostly just wasn’t happening.
Blame it on the storm two weeks ago that turned over the waters. Blame it on the big giant full moon that usually has little or no effect. I don’t know. Can’t put my finger on it.
But, this full moon was huge and blazing. They even had some full moon parties in town to watch the moon! That’s how big it was. In the dark you didn’t need street lights. The moon was THAT bright. Even when the sun had started to come up, you could still see the moon!
Whether it did or didn’t have an effect on the fishing, it’s difficult to ignore that the ocean currents were unusually strong and erratic. Or that the water temps dropped 3 to 5 degrees or more with colder off-color water patches everywhere. That great summertime blue water was hard to find and was replaced by dirty green cold waters. Often we could see schools of fish like dorado or even marlin and sailfish and they just weren’t interested in eating!
So, the bite was really off and sticky.
Just a few dorado. Not much in billfish although one client was asleep holding the rod when a sailfish hit and pulled the rod right outta his hands. Several of our captains saw the fish bounding away with the rod and reel unfortunately skipping behind the fish.
But that was it. Some big huge bonito…some big jacks…a few good patches of nice cabrilla, pargo, trevally and a little jag of wahoo for the first time.
Roosterfish…hmmmm….
We’ve had a spectacular roosterfish season. But, this past week, nothing really noteable. Mostly 5-10 pounders. A few of the 20-40 pounders, but that was it. I don’t want to say the roosterfish season is over, but maybe ALL the fishing was off. Or maybe…the roosterfish season is over!
Here’s the deal…
This is still the Sea of Cortez. This is still La Paz. This was an off-week. I just want to be honest. No sense in blowing smoke or sugar-coating things.
But things turn around. It doesn’t stay bad. I’m grateful to all our guests who hung tight with us this week. But by the time you’re reading this, things might have already started to rebound.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 19-27, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Welcome to summer! It’s hot. Temps now in the high 90’s to low 100’s and sunny. Bring and use the sunscreen! Stay hydrated!
WATER: Surface temps now in the low 80’s. Mostly very blue but some water now getting cloudy as we get an algae bloom. It’s natural. Then, the water temps rise a few degrees and burns it all of and the waters go blue everywhere. Sargasso weeds are part of it and they are building and clumping which brings in the dorado!
Mike Jennings always wears his chicken head when he visits us each year to catch roosterfish! It must work. He always catches them and over the years, he has caught some big ones. All released too! Nice rooster right up against the rocks!
Big boy of the week? Diane Kosnosky gets a hand from husband Dave and granddaughter Jocylyn with this big pig rooster! Wow. It’s a hefty one. The fish was released. Always fun to have these folks visit us each year. Dave is threatening to retire this year and come down for months at a time!
Great happy photo of Steve Paulsen from Wyoming who is a fishing guide himself. He really wanted to get one of these big cabrilla we have. He got two!
Nice bull in the boat! Eric Granados put the wood to one of the bigger bulls of the week. Dorado schools starting to move in!
On the flyrod! Great photo of Brandon Cowhey and a pretty rooster on the fly! Caught photo’d and released!
Young Jack Shannon…first time on the ocean had quite a one-day outing catching numerous species including this roosterfish.
Henry Vuong has been fishing with us over 20 years. He’s got a nice rack of pargo, pompano, trevally and snapper on the table for Captain Armando to clean. Marline Casillas got in on the catch as well.
Mike and Jim with the first tuna of the season caught on the backside of Cerralvo Island! Hope this is just the start!
Captain Alfredo with long-time amigo, Taylor Sering from Oregon who found out while down here that he’s gonna be a new father!
John Grigsby from Arkansas really wanted to get a nice rooster! He actually caught and released several like this!
It’s the lucky Hawaiian shirt vest that Mark Njaa has that gets him bit! Another nice roosterfish among several caught and released that day.
Chris Lucas from Fresno CA with one of his striped marlin. They were able to release one, but this one could not be revived. More marlin finally woke up and on the bite!
Big smile for Megan Joyce and her roosterfish for a quick photo and release!
There we go! Great off-the-boat shot of a double dorado pose with Ben Sakamoto and dad, Bruce, who had quite a 3 days fishing with us and got loaded coolers!
The Mad Hatter himself, Konrad Knoeferl, has a great variety on the cleaning table…triggerfish, sierra, dorado and pargo!
Right next to the beach, the rooster schools have been there for 2 months! Chris shows off another one!
Just a great photo! Owen Fujita and dad with a barred pargo. Don’t put it past anyone…young Owen knows how to fish and does well every year!
Brandon and Uncle Mike pose with a thick rooster before releasing it!
Our new poster-girl for roosters, Jocylyn Trozelle, got 5 roosters today. She’s hooked! All released!
That’s a nice dorado! Bill Cowhey with a good bull for the freezer and 3 others on the deck!
Greg Browne from Idaho! Tasty barred pargo for the pose!
Dave hunts and fishes and he’s good at both. Always a pleasure having him visit us each year. Oh…and he’s a helluva cook too!
Young Jack Shannon with is first dorado. Check out the colors!
Captain Licho looks on as Tino De Leon lifts another cabrilla into the boat.
Preston Cowhey gets an assist from brother Brandon and Uncle Mike with this bigger model striped marlin. Others were lost!
Jimmy Ramos! Great photo and check the colors! Roosterfish off Punta Perrico. Caught and released!
Steve is gonna be taking some nice fillets back to Wyoming!
Ufff…Zach Shannon was at the end of the day at the 11th hour when this beast bull dorado slammed his line!
Mark Njaa wanted a big rooster and got several. All released!
Bruce and Ben…double roosters hammered!
Corey and Owen…always a great fishing team!
__________________________________________
Hello summer!
No question, it’s summer. It’s sunny and hot with temps now daily in the high 90’s to low 100’s and the bite pretty much reflects it now.
We still have some cooler water fish lingering like the occasional sierra, amberjack and those frustrating pargo liso, but overall, the warmer water species are becoming more prevalent.
The roosterfish are definitely still here and if you ever wanted a roosterfish, this is the year. I don’t know how much longer it will last, but I will officially anoint 2025 as the best roosterfish year I have ever seen in 30 years.
For the last 2 months, if you wanted a 10-40 pound roosterfish, you can literally sit on the spot all day long and bang out 6, 7, 8…a dozen or more roosters! That is unheard of!!!
Normally, 1-3 would have been good. Per boat! Now it’s PER ANGLER! This has been crazy.
We’re not seeing as many of the bigger 60-100+ pounders as before, but that could be because the larger ones take a commitment of time to find and catch the larger sabalo (ladyfish) for baits then slow trolling them for the big pig roosters. But, they are still around. We’re just not seeing as many caught.
Ironically, I think some folks are getting kinda tired and jaded with the roosters. Maybe it’s “too much of a good thing!” Normally, folks would be ecstatic, but some days, it’s “ho-hum” we caught a bunch of roosterfish(yawn) like they are pests!
Can’t win! Folks don’t realize these are trophy exotic fish and maybe once-in-a-lifetime catches!
Almost 99% of the roosters are getting released.
On the other hand, we’re finally seeing the dorado bite hit stride.
Prior to this, we’ve been dinking 1-5 dorado or so per day for the whole fleet. We’ve been seeing lots of dorado, but they just didn’t seem real interested. And, the ones we were seeing were mostly solitary swimmers.
Now, the schools are showing up of 5-25 pound fish. The majority of the bite is north of La Paz near Punta Mejia where the sargasso weeds are finally started to bunch up and attract the mahi as baitfish are attracted to the clumps of sargasso.
The same thing with the marlin and sailfish. We’ve seen dozens on the surface just sunning themselves. They’re not quite “awake” and have not been interested in much of anything. You ca run over them with the boat and they barely move.
Well, the last few days, they have mostly woke up! I had a few days where almost every boat hooked at least one! This is a good and a bad thing!
For some, a marlin is the last thing the want to hook up.
Most folks don’t plan to keep them anyway or really are not interested in fighting a fish for that long! I had one boat fight a marlin for almost 3 hours before it broke off.
Insofar as we’re fishing live bait and mostly light tackle, the majority of the marlin are breaking off and folks are having fun with them…especially since most folks want to release them anyway and despite the photos you see in this week’s gallery, most of the fish are either busting off or getting released. The ones you see in the gallery are mostly fish that could not be revived.
No wahoo to speak of this past week, but like big roosters, most folks aren’t willing to spend and invest the time trolling for them, but we know they are here and have seen a few free swimmers.
We did, however, catch a few football tuna. The first of the year, but nothing to write home about yet! We’ll keep you posted.
About a dozen other species got caught as well. We have maybe over a dozen other fish you might hook. These include:
Yellow snapper, silver snapper, dog-tooth snapper, pargo liso, trevally, pompano, sierra, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle, triggerfish, black trevally and more!
That’s my story!
Jonathan & Jilly
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
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-18, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Definitely getting warmer! Day time temps now in the high 90’s and humidity rising also. Surprisingly, however, mornings can be breezy and just a tad chilly. Had a few days that were actually unusually windy.
WATER: Surface temps into the 80’s now. Thermocline down about 30′ drops another 5-10 degrees.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Roosters/ marlin/ pargo liso/ barred pargo/ dog-tooth snapper/ sierra/ trevally/ pompano/ bonito/ amberjack/ jack crevalle/ snapper/ triggerfish/ dorado/ sailfish/ wahoo
FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10: Solid 6.5 to 7
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nick Butler on his first trip to see us taking a break from being stationed at Fort Bragg in N.Carolina where he’s with the 82nd Airborne. He sure is holding a pretty roosterfish here just off Punta Perrico just outside of Bahia Muertos. Quick release also!
Captain Chito with one of our Ground Engineering amigos who came down from Denver. I see 5 mahi here. Hopefully, more soon!
They got married in Utah and came straight down from the reception to the airport to fish on their honeymoon! Jessica and Mitchell Kukson had 2 marlin on at the same time fishing with Captain Alfredo. One got released but the other was not able to release. They donated a bunch of the meat.
Our Utah amigo, Kelly Moore, first day fishing with quite a smorgasbord of species…barred pargo, triggerfish, tevaly, snapper and bonito!
The life of the party whenever I see him…Fritz Richards from Reno NV on his first trip to see us had some fun with roosterfish and dorado. Fritz is a master taxidermist and travels the country fixing and repairing other people’s taxidermy mounts!
Another Utah amigo, Tony Davis with his big rooster while Captain Victor tries to lend a hand. The fish was released!
Brian Hyland was back with us and started his 3 days with a nice batch of great eating snapper and trevally and released some roosterfish as well.
Ooof!!! That’s a big trophy cabrilla! Wow. Bert Butler from Maryland has some meat to put in the freezer!
I think I’ve known Rafael Rios for over 20 years. Always good to see him. Starting the morning with a rooster to photo and release. Rafa is from the Houston TX area.
Newlywed Mitchell Kukson had some nice variety including this barred pargo.
One of the toughest fighting fish in our waters, this pargo liso tangled with Holly Butler who put it in the boat with some gaff assistance from Captain Pancho .
Cory and Amy Mahan from Nevada with just one day to fish put 4 nice roosters in the boat for photos and releases. This is a fatty! Punta Perrico in the background.
He had never fished before and Eric was pretty surprised at how strong ocean fish are! One of his roosters for a photo and release! I think Rafa in the background is hooked up to another rooster. Check the flat seas!
Seattle’s own Steve Bryan our roosterfish king. Only big roosters for Steve! I think he got a dozen between 60 and 100 pounds over 3 weeks. All released.
Cute fish and fun amiga, Laurie Moore, with a great photo of her rooster off Bahia Muertos!
Captain Rogelio helps heft another of Holly’s big cabrilla for a photo then into the fish box to take back to Maryland!
Captain Armando with Jeff Butron’s striped marlin. Brian Hyland on the other end. The marlin was not able to be released.
Johnny “Reno” Standley from Reno NV wrestles with a hefty rooster hooked just off the Punta Perrico rocks for a photo and release. John was on his first visit to fish with us.
Julie Rios has a big smile and a rooster for the photo then release. Check the flat ocean. Punta Arenas beach in the background.
Steve with another pig of a roosterfish!
Dan Moore caught and released a bunch of roosters then put meat in the ice chest with this nice selection of pargo, snapper, triggerfish and trevally! Dan is from Texas and this was his first trip fishing with Tailhunter.
Captain Rogelio has a knack for finding big cabrilla. Eric and Tony with a couple of nice ones north of La Paz Bay.
Just one day to fish, Amy Mahan had quite a day with several big roosterfish like this one . Catch and release after a great photo. Amy visits us from Nevada.
Great photo and fish! Captain Pancho gives Bert Butler a hand with his thick rooster!
______________________________________________
I don’t want to start out saying we had bad fishing this past week. It was actually pretty solid once again, but it was different for some reason . Y’know like when something is off and you just can’t put your finger on it?
Everyone caught fish, but it wasn’t like it has been the past 4 or 5 weeks and I don’t quite know what it was how to describe it. There was a disturbance in the force!
I don’t want to get too dramatic about it because obviously everyone caught fish, but something was different.
I thought maybe it was the full moon.
But, actually, once again, the bite during the full moon was just fine. I looked at the calendar and realized the weird stuff kinda happened in the days AFTER the full moon.
Bait was a bit harder to find. The current seemed a tad off. The weather seemed to get more intensely hot. And there were several days when the winds were unseasonably strong.
Again, everyone caught fish, but we had to work harder to change tactics to find them and get them into the boat! Possibly, it was a combination of all those things put together that affected things.
Roosterfish were still around and biting nicely. Those 10-30 pound fish are still on the chew around Las Arenas areas. You can have fun almost all day catching and releasing like I have never seen. I would love it if someone put a GoPro camera underwater sometime there in the middle of the roosterfish schools!
The big 50-100 pounders were fewer, however. That could be a function of several things. One is that the big ladyfish baits were harder to find. Secondly, you have to commit to chasing those baits. The bigger fish love the bigger baits and you have to commit to getting those baits if you wanted to get the hog roosters. Fewer folks wanted to do that understandably. It’s more fun to go chase and get bit on the smaller roosters and other species!
Dorado are showing up in bigger numbers, but they’re not quite ready to bite yet. We were seeing them all week in the waters and chasing baits, etc. but just not willing to chew for the most part. We picked a few here and there and it’s definitely improving, but I think we’re going to need a little uptick in the water temps. That could be any day. It SHOULD be any day!
Same with the billfish. There are marlin and sailfish swimming around. You can see them on the surface. But, like the dorado, they just have not been willing to bite. Again, I’m expecting that any day.
In the meantime, the rockfish species like the pargo and huge cabrilla have kept the rods bent. Big pargo liso are still spawning and I’m still amazed at the size of the cabrilla this season which are grouper-sized fish! We are losing some big fish in the rocks!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 23-June 1, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: We had a little anxiety as Tropical Storm Alvin made it’s way up the coast towards us ,but thankfully, we dodged the bullet. A little wind. A little drizzle and lots of humidity. We were still able to fish. It’s warm now for sure. Temps in the mid-90’s during the day and don’t be a dummy…put the sunscreen on! Had some painful lessons this week.
WATER: Warmer and bluer, but there’s still some chilly stuff deeper below the thermocline judging by the colder water species we hooked at times.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Where to start…
Roosterfish, dorado, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, silver snapper, pargo liso (mullet snapper), trevally, green palometa, black palometa, pompano, amberjack, sierra, wahoo, bonito, jack crevalle, triggerfish, cabrilla, grouper.
FISHING ON THE 1-10 SCALE: 7 plus!
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Finally! Chad Schearer, our long-time amigo from Montana and host of the long-running famous “Shoot Straight” TV show got his big rooster on the flyrod! In fact, he caught and released two with Captain Moncho running the boat! If you look carefully in the background, that ripple of water is a school of roosterfish boiling!
Three years ago, we got the IGFA world record 46 pound pargo liso. When we saw Leif Dover’s big fish, we quickly ran it to the scales, but it was “only ” 42 pounds, but a heck of a fish and catch!
Our “Rooster King” Steve Bryan is back in town for 3 weeks of chasing big roosters every years . In 3 days…so far…9 roosters caught and released including this one that might push 80-100 pounds! Steve is from Seattle. Always good to have him here.
First-timer with us Rawley Thackery has a big bull dorado in hand. More dorado are showing up although not yet at full speed. They’re coming! Rawley is from Utah.
Yea..this is a dog-tooth snapper with a mouth full of choppers! Randy Choate from Boise ID has been with us for a month getting bent on all manners of fish. It was his retirement gift to himself!
The Holy Grail of fish! Doug Fowler finally got his wahoo and it’s a fatty at the south end of Cerralvo Island with Captain Hugo.
Mike Bies caught this Baja Grouper/ Golden Grouper which is really a cabrilla. We only see about 1 of these a year. Mike was first-time with us from Denver.
A prize catch no matter how you look at it. These pargo liso are the toughest, meanest and most viciously frustrating fish we have, but Lori Baydo got a trophy! Captain Victor helps with the photo!
Couldn’t be a sweeter lady than Marsha Schearer. She got several big roosterfish this past week. Captain Moncho is all smiles under the gator! All roosters released.
Colorado in the house! Michelle Bies with one of her roosterfish. She was fishing with us for the first time. Fish was released.
Two of new Tailhunter friends from Washington State…Gomer and Crystal Gage with a massive table of tasty black trevally/ palometa to take home.
These two were way fun! Ginger and Jeff Thorpe double hook-up on roosterfish off the island! They spent the whole week with us and kept everyone laughing.
Great colors on Chad’s dorado. Not getting alot of dorado, but the ones coming in are legit sizes. Give it a few weeks and it could be crazy!
Captain Joel (right) with Abbie and Dawson recently married living in N. Dakota with some dandy cabrilla!
We don’t see many silver snapper or understand why they are even called “silver snapper” but Brian O’Neil and Capt. Pancho pose with one and I hear they are great eating!
Somewhere under this massive roosterfish is Steve Bryan. Captain Jorge estimates this fish over 100 pounds and had to be lifted onto Steve’s lap for the photo as his arms were shaking and they wanted to get the fish into the water ASAP!
I have never seen so many big cabrilla as this season. Greg Baer had his family out with Captain Rogelio and put these nice cabrilla and pargo (look on the deck) in the fish box!
Texas Lawrence Piccagli with a great photo right next to the beach. Check the pretty water. You don’t have to go far for these fish. Lawrence took this rooster on his flyrod for the photo and release.
Long time Tailhunter amigos from Colorado, Paul Lubow, Al Martz, Daryl Marts and Al Lubow with some hefty amberjack , pargo and a big triggerfish for the ice chest!
Captain Chito give a thumb-up to Nico Harris for his bull dorado taken north of La Paz Bay.
Bear hunting guide and taxidermist from Oklahoma, Billy Bunyard fishing with us for the first time shows off a nice cabrilla.
Candy Bunyard and husband Billy (photo above) were first-timing with us but also celebrating their honeymoon! Her first rooster for a catch and release is a nice one!
Talk about a colorful cutting board! Leif Dover and Brian O’Neil have been fishing with us for years and always do well. I see trevally, a big pompano, a dog-tooth snapper, a pargo liso and a couple of silver snapper and a cabrilla in the photos. A feast in the making!
Captain Gerardo give a hand to Soon and Wade from the San Francisco area with a nice variety on a good day. Wahoo, pargo liso, cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish, amberjack on the table!
Our new Arizona friends Ernie and Lori Baydo had quite a day. he’s got a trophy cabrilla and she’s sporting a big pargo liso on the beach at Bahia Muertos!
Wyatt Schearer and Kassidy Albright…celebrating his birthday and celebrating their engagement in La Paz! Wyatt was with us as a little kid 14 years ago. This was Kassidy’s first trip and her first rooster!
There’s no doubt that these jack crevalle are well-name by locals as “toro.” (Bull). Chad fought this guy for 90 minutes and took his flyreel down to the backing and they had to chase the fish! Great battle and the fish was released.
Billy and Captain Gerardo for a quick pose with his big rooster and release. Billy is from Oklahoma and was headed to guiding bear hunts in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska when he got back from his La Paz trip.
Wyatt Schearer working the flyrod while fiance Kassidy and Captain Gerardo look on.
Nice bull! Captain Victor with Lori and Ernie Baydo on the beach at Bahia Muertos
Rawley seems pretty happy with his rooster! A quick photo and release.
Alot places folks don’t like amberjack, but ours (related to yellowtail) are pretty tasty and tough fighters growing to over 100 pounds. Soon Saelaw from San Francisco had a pretty great 3 day fishing with us and added this amberjack (pez fuerte) to his box!
Paul and Martha…just engaged were back with us again from Utah and got a double catch-and-release on these roosterfish.
Oh the joy! Brian and his buddy Leif got 16 roosters to the boat that day up to 50 pounds and lost a bigger one that might’ve gone 100 pounds.
Two dorado for Lawrence who took his fillets to Cabo to meet up with family. Lawrence is from Dallas.
The right kind…Paul Cowdell with a trophy for the quick photo and back to the water!
San Mateo Wade Ichimura with a prized pargo liso taken over the rocks off Cerralvo Island. The big snapper are spawning right now and fish can go over 50 pounds!
Only had two days to fish, but Trevor Cook from Reno NV got his rooster the first day right off Bahia Muertos. This was Trevor’s first visit with us.
Alex Piccagli with a thumb-up with Captain Armando and a tasty barred pargo. Lots of folks here throw the whole fish on the grill and stuff it with rice, garlic and veggies! Or just deep fry the whole thing!
It’s a beast! Most needlefish are about 2-3 feet long! But check out Paul’s monster! It’s jurassic! Captain Miko in the photo also!
Always great to have Jeff Brown come down every year from Minnesota with family. Abbie and Derrick help with the trio of dorado.
Mike Bies with one of his roosterfish on his first day! Mike visiting us from Colorado. Fish are right off the sandy beach at Punta Arenas.
Our gal, Marsha Schearer with Captain Chito and another big roosterfish for her. This one near Espirito Santo Island. All fish released.
Jeff and Ginger and a whole bunch of the crazy black trevally that showed up in massive schools. Never seen anything like it!
Yup…Soon Saelaw had a good few days with us. He even got a wahoo with Captain Gerardo!
Another of our fun Utah guests, Jeramy Lund shows off one of his roosters before releasing it strongly into the water.
Pesky pelican trying and succeeding in photobombing Alex and Henry Piccagli from Austin TX.
Three former Air Force officer friends…Kurt Wagner, Trevor Cook and Grant Thomas on the water.
Chad…another nice one on the flyrod. When a flyfisher has to balance his rod across his shoulder to take a photo, it’s a good thing! Nice job, amigo. Thank you for the visit!
___________________________________
Well…last week’s report during the full moon was pretty hard to top. I had never had such a large report in 30 years down here. So much info…so many photos.
…until this past week!
Listen…if you were here this last week and I missed your photo and you don’t see yourself here, I really apologize! I tried to get everyone in and probably had over 100 photos this week to try edit and squeeze in. I try to get everyone!
MORE AND BIGGER…
Wow! Compared to the last report… It kinda got better. Maybe not in terms of numbers of fish, but yes more fish were caught this past week (and released), but it also seems THE FISH GOT BIGGER!
Even my captains are commenting on the size of the fish!
The first several weeks of the season, OK, we got some big fish. There are always the occasional catch that raises an eyebrow and gets a big high-five. But after about 6 weeks into the season, it seems the fish are consistently larger than normal. And then there are the numbers!
The roosterfish bite has been the best in all my years down here!
I mean, a good day in the past meant maybe 2-4 roosters per boat per day. But these past 2-3 weeks, singular anglers (not per boat)…singular anglers are telling me they are getting 2-12 roosters in the 10-40 pound class. Some boats getting up to 20 fish per day and anglers telling me “We could have sat on the school all day and caught dozens more…it was stupid fun!” One angler told me, “I just had the finest 5 hours of fishing in my life!”
Not only are folks catching alot of roosterfish, but also landing personal best with fish ranging from 50-to possibly over 100 pounds! (Just check the photos above).
They are telling me that once you get into the schools, the roosterfish are literally boiling. You can see the roosterfish under the boat and they are foaming on baits as soon as the baits hit the water!
I dunno…maybe there is too much of a good thing? It’s getting to the point where some of our guests are getting spoiled. “We got tired of roosterish! We wanna catch something else.” or “Oh man, we caught roosterfish again (bored voice).”
Enjoy it while you can. This is the kind of bite we may never see again!
MORE and BIGGER…WORLD RECORD?
The pargo liso are spawning in the shallow and these are ferocious frustrating tenacious sluggers. Again, never seen so many or so big. I tell folks if you get one to the boat after 5 hits, you’re doing pretty good.
Three years ago, we got the IGFA record at 46 pounds. A beast.
Well, Captain Pancho fishing with one of our long-time anglers and amigos, Leif Dover sent me a photos from the beach which simply said, “New world record?” I saw the photo and told them to rush it back and DO NOT CUT IT UP. They raced back to La Paz with the fish wrapped up in wet blankets and ice.
Well, we got it on the scale and unfortunately, “only 42 pounds!” Close, but not quite, but unquestionably and beast and trophy!
I tell you what…it took me over an hour to clean this thing and after cutting through all the armor plating, huge bones, tough scales and sharp teeth and fins using 3 different knives, a hammer, a saw, a wire cutter and industrial sheers and a small hatchet…this 42 pound fish yielded only 12 pounds of meat! It was a tank!
MORE and BIGGER…
Every year at this time, we catch alot of cabrilla (seabass). Tasty fun fish. Most are about 12-18 inches long. But this year holy cow…they are grouper sized fish! They must’ve been eating steroids in the off-season because they yoked out. We’re catching 24-36 inch long fish!
…and we are losing probably even bigger fish in the rocks!
MORE and BIGGER…
Other species this week…overall, I think I counted 21 different species!
Wahoo are getting cuaght finally off the south end of Cerralvo Island. Not many. I think 8 were hooked and 3 got to the boats. All caught on deep-running Rapalas and Nomads, but we’re also losing some big boys . The largest this week went about 50 pounds.
More dorado are coming in. We’re far from WFO on the mahi and only getting about 3-5 per day now for my whole fleet, but they are legit sized 10-30 pounders and I saw one fish that scaled at 49 pounds! As the waters get warmer we anticipate more coming in. Give it another 2 weeks or so. North of the city, the sargasso weed starting to bunch up and forming into paddies and that will get the dorado schooling up.
Other remarkable stuff…so many pompano and trevally this past week. I have never seen black trevally in 30 years here, but we had whole schools tearing it up like piranhas! Most fish about 5 pounds, but easy limits and these are great eating.
We also caught big jack crevalle that are probably 50% larger than normal. They are really beating folks up and giving folks more than a run for their money!
Add in bonito, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, rainbow runners, sierra, amberjack and more. It was a full full week of fun. Just look at the photos!
We did dodge Tropical Storm Alvin that had as a bit nervous as it marched up the Pacific towards Baja that promised high winds and rain. But fortunately, it petered out and gave us a few days of clouds, humidity and just enough of a sprinkle to mess up the dust on my car windshield.
That’s my story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Our regular weekly fishing video report for La Paz
from Tailhunter Sportfishing
Full-service fishing outfitters, charters and complete vacation packages
since 1995
“Let us handle your whole vacation to come fishing with us in Mexico. We can take care of the fishing, lodging, transportation, scuba, snorkeling, kayaking and more! Experienced or little experience, you’ll love this style of fishing. Calm waters…close to shore…live and dead bait fishing…no long days of trolling and dozens of possible species to catch. Families, buddies, kids, corporate groups…all welcome!”
We’re looking forward to having you come visit us!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 1-8, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny mid-80’s to low 90’s in the day, but drops to high 50’s at night. Fewer windy days, but still some very windy gusty bouts here and there.
WATER: If the winds are blowing, can be rough and bumpy. The less wind the calmer the waters. Getting bluer and clearer. Waters warming and sargasso building up so maybe warm water fish like dorado will start moving in.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, dorado, dog-tooth snapper, barred pargo, pargo liso, yellow snapper, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, golden trevally, triggerfish, sierra,
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A good day! Long-time Tailhunter friends of ours, Henry Vuong and Marline Casillas with a nice table of snapper, pargo, cabrilla, a sierra and a hefty yellowtail that Marline caught!
Brian Pierce just had one day to squeeze in for fishing and had a nice day with plenty of action including sierra, triggerfish, cabrilla and pargo. All great eating.
Finally some larger roosters starting to show up. Darrell got this one on a live sardine for a quick photo and release. Hopefully, bigger ones are around the corner!
Jeff and Marianne Sakuda have fished with us and Captain Jorge over 20 years! Some great catch and eat with the table full of sierra!
A tough day! Actually, hard to get better than this for Darrell Manginelli with a big yellowtail, a big trophy cabrilla, a triggerfish, a pargo, a sierra and Captain Pancho holds up two tasty golden trevally!
_____________________________________________
No doubt, conditions are changing. Maybe too fast! But, it is what it is!
The weather, especially the winter winds are calming down. Not so many windy days and the windy days aren’t as bad as they had been. So more days are open to fish. But we still had a couple of blustery days. We were able to get boats out to wet lines, but winds prevented us from getting to some of the spots holding larger or better quality fish.
Still, we had a good week of action with plenty of variety!
With daytime temps now hitting the low 90’s with not much humidity, it’s a pleasant time in town. Evenings and mornings can still be chilly down to the high 50’s so a good idea to keep a sweatshirt or windbreaker handy that can be taken off later.
Of course, the focus has been on the yellowtail bite. Still getting some quality fish around Cerralvo and Espirito Santo Island with fish up to 30 pounds, but most hovering around 10-20 and willing to eat live sardines, mackerel a swell as cast or tossed jigs.
Many of the same area are holding amberjack, pargo and cabrilla as well.
The “problem” if you want to call it that is that the waters are warming faster than normal. That means that the yellowtail and other cold-water species will likely start moving off. In fact, it seems there were fewer yellowtail already around the islands.
However, this means that warm water species like dorado might start showing up early as well as possibly tuna, wahoo and billfish. In fact, the winds have been blowing big patches of sargasso into bunches north of town which is perfect habitat for baitfish and brings in the dorado.
Also, for the first time in many many years, some of the giant squid are showing up. They come up from the deep trenches. Not only are they fun and a handful to catch and make tasty eating, but in the past often the tuna follow the squid out of the deep trenches! We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, no shortage of inshore action on the aforementioned cabrilla and pargo, snapper, triggerfish, sierra, pompano and trevally among others.
One exciting aspect is the big pargo liso are now spawning in the shallows. Real brutes when hooked on rod and reel and difficult to bring to the boat and one of the most frustrating fish in our waters. With sharp teeth and scales and powerful bodies, they school over the rocks and reefs and broken lines are the norm. They look like giant red carp!
Lastly, some nice model roosterfish are also showing up finally as well. Previously, small fun 5-pounders were around, but we’re now seeing some 10-25 pound grade fish. Hopefully, the big truck roosterfish will be around soon!
A FEW SPOTS TO FILL TO COME FISHING IN LA PAZ
Reservations are coming in daily and, after 30 years at this, we have so many great regulars who visit us year-after-year! Many dates are filled or filling pretty fast.
However, we have some limited spots here and there with some space just for you! Also, don’t forget that Alaska Air is now flying direct to La Paz. It’s the first time we’ve had direct flights in 12 years!
Check out these specials.
Spaces are limited and some restrictions apply, but contact me directly so we can get you set up!
Tailhunter Fish Report 