La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 11-20, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny in the low to mid-80’s in the day time. Evenings comfortable mid-60’s. Great time for the holidays and all the snow-birds visiting. The problem has been the winds blowing 15-25 knots from the north. Some gusts stronger. Important to choose your activities accordingly. If you’re going to do something, do it in the mornings before winds get stronger
WATER: Cooler and rougher. If the wind is blowing, very choppy. Heading north out’ve La Paz Bay can be wet and bouncy at best. Impossible at worst.
FISH HOOKED: Dorado, bonito, sailfish, jack crevalle, pargo, cabrilla, snapper.
BAIT AVAILABILTY: Erratic. If winds are blowing and it’s rough, the bait guys have a hard time getting live bait and you should plan on a day of trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First stop of the morning for Michael Novotny who had just pulled out for the day and had this pretty dorado hit a trolled feather!
Miles Wagner staying with his dad in Bahia Muertos at Costa Rancho got this nice pargo liso (mullet snapper) to come out’ve the rocks, but not without a tough battle to be sure. Punta Perico in the background. Seas looking a little choppy too! Miles is from Colorado Spring CO.
If there’s fish around, Kevin Shiotano is a fish magnet! He had some rough windy days, but did get a day where the dorado blew up on him. Check out the cleaning table!
Sailfish in November? Almost unheard of, but Michael Novotny hooked this big sail while fishing with Captain Arcangel and they were able to also release the fish.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner fishing with Captain Hugo got one of the nice spawning pargo liso just offshore. Great eating! Gary owns the famous Giggling Marlin Bar and Restaurant in Cabo.
Not many folks fishing right now. Most of the folks arriving in town were here either for the big Baja 1000 race that filled town for a week of race teams and fans or they’re snow birds looking for some sunshine and not necessarily in town to be fishing, or participating in other water sports.
But, we did have some folks on boats. However, most were folks who were flexible on their days or were locals who could pick and choose specific dates when the winds weren’t blowing as hard.
That’s the key. The seasons have changed for the rougher and this weather with strong northern winds is pretty typical during the winter months when it can often make it worthless to even try being on the water.
However, there are some windows and if you can take advantage of those or get your fishing done early before the winds kick in.
We actually got some late-season dorado. Nothing huge, but fun-sized 10-20 pound class fish. Even if the winds might be a little more blustery than wanted, fishing inshore over the rocks is producing some jacks, mullet snapper (pargo liso), cabrilla, sierra and bonito (great to cutting and using for bait).
Surprisingly, we also got a few hookups on sailfish which is very unusual for this time of year.
If you’re planning to go out just be aware that winds could blow you out or force you back to shore sooner than you want. It can also affect whether live bait will be available. If not, you’ll either be trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
BAHIA MADGALENA FISHING
We had some of our good clients out at Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific Coast out fishing with us. Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) is about 4 hours drive from La Paz and our guides fish inshore in the zillion miles of mangroves. They also fish offshore on the seamounts.
Mike Jennings and his amigos fished 2 days offshore sticking great fun with tuna and dorado then a day inshore in the shallows in the mangroves for numerous species including, pargo, snapper, spotted bay bass, corvina and others.
BAJA 1000 OFF ROAD RACE
This year the annual BAJA 1000 Race started in La Paz and for the better part of a week, town was filled with thousands of fans; off-road race teams from all over the world and all the festivities that go along with it.
It was pretty much a full-party on the Malecon waterfront 24 hours-a-day with revving motors, crowds, music and more. The drivers and teams are like rock-stars and it was quite an event with the Malecon closed for miles.
FISHING in 2024 BOOKINGS COMING IN FAST!
We’ve been in La Paz now almost 30 years and are coming off one of the best fishing seasons in 2023. Just a heads-up that our bookings for 2024 are really filling things up quickly with reservations coming in daily.
If you want to come visit this year or have a favorite captains or hotel, don’t wait. Get in touch with me directly: jonathan@tailhunter.com
I can check our availabilties before we get filled up. We don’t want to miss you. We’ll customize a special fishing vacation package for you, your friends, family or group!
Right now, we have great openings and boats available:
April 16-30
May 1-8
May 22-31
June 1-12
June 25-30
July 1-31
Aug. 1-11
September 1-30
October 1-24
Hope to hear from you and let’s get you fishing in 2024.
That’s our story! Have a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving and holidays!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
THAT TIME of YEAR…HERE COME THE WINTER WINDS and WAVES
La Paz- Las Arenas/Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 31-Nov.10, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mostly sunny, but the season has changed for sure. Temps have gotten cooler and the winds from the north have started and blown consistently now. So less fishermen and more windsurfers and kiteboarders.
WATER – Still taking time to recover after getting messed up and dirty from Hurricane Norma, but it’s better for sure. It’s just not going to be what it was since the northern winds have kicked in now and waters are colder and greener now not to mention rougher and choppier. Expect there will be some port closures at times because it’s too rough. No boat traffic allowed at all in or out.
SPECIES CAUGHT – More inshore stuff now because we simply can’t get to some areas now because of the sea conditions. So more pargo, jacks, snapper, cabrilla bonito. A few dorado still holding as well as some late season billfish. Finding live bait is an issue with the rough seas now.
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tony Morales was out on one of the calmer days and found a legit dorado in some blue water.
Despite cooling and rougher waters, there are still some patches of warmer blue water holding school-sized dorado although finding live bait has been an issue. The dorado seem willing to bite dead bait; frozen bait or chunks of bonito.
It’s been a little hard to launch our boats since Hurricane Norma 2 weeks ago. This is what’s left of the small boat docks where we keep our pangas. That’s Captain Raul with the baseball hat “supervising” some of the clean-up. The launch ramp was also destroyed. What you can’t see are the boats sunk beneath the surface. Fortunately, our captains pulled their boats out’ve the water before the big storm hit.
More tough times. This is Marina Palmira about a week ago. All of the marinas in La Paz took substantial damage from Hurricane Norma and 6 vessels burned in this inferno caused by an electrical fire. Probably it did not help that with so many sunken and damaged boats, there was alot of flammable debris, gas, solvents, etc. floating in the waters.
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Not really alot to tell you about.
To be honest, there hasn’t been that much activity on the water for several reasons.
First is that we were still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Norma which did extensive damage to the marinas making it hard to launch any boats plus the storm really tore up the waters after 3 days of pounding . Waters were not just cold, but extremely dirty and filled with debris.
As well, the seasons have turned. The northern winds have started blasting making it not only rougher to be out, but also more difficult just to get out’ve the bay or to find baits. It also keeps the waters cooler so we’re not seeing the warm water species now like the dorado, tuna, wahoo, etc.
Instead, we’re looking at more inshore species like the cabrilla, sierra, pompano, jack crevalle and bonito. There are still a few dorado holding here and there, but these are the exception. But, they are still legit 10-15 pound fish.
I expect with the winds blowing consistently, waters will only get colder and rougher which they do during out winters making it not only difficult to fish, but also snorkel, scuba and other water activities except kiteboarding and windsurfing which becomes world-class during the winter months.
Live bait is also an issue. With the rougher seas, the bait areas are getting pounded by the seas making it difficult to get to or find the bait. Also, since there are fewer fishermen on the water, the bait guys just don’t go out as often if there’s no one to buy their bait.
If you do plan to fish, get in touch with us about a week ahead of time. Be flexible on your dates and I can check the forecast to see which dates might be better to go out.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Just wanted to give a shout-out to everyone in our Tailhunter Nation for all the e-mails, texts, phone calls and cards wishing me well from my surgery.
The fishing report is a bit (alot ) later than normal this time because I had full knee replacement surgery more almost 2 weeks ago. My left knee finally wore out after years of sports (football, wrestling, running) then 30 years down here carrying ice chests, luggage, scuba tanks and running up and down 3 sets of stairs at our Tailhunter Restaurant.
I needed an equipment “upgrade.”
The docs say the surgery went well and I’m grinding through the post-surgical physical therapy (ouch!) and following all the doctors orders. As I type this Jill has me propped up with ice wrapped around my swollen left knee. She’s been taking stellar care of me. Couldn’t do this without her. Thankful also for the half-dozen “happy drugs” the give me for the pain! But, I’ve been groggy or just out’ve it much of the time so that’s why the report is tardy!
I’m supposed to be down 4-6 weeks, but I’m pushing to be up well before then! I just wanted to tell ya’ll thank you for much for all the good thoughts, prayers and wishes! I’ll be better and faster on the other side of this!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 21-27, 2028
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Thankfully another nice week without any surprise tropical storms. Just clear blue skies. Seems to be cooling off a little as well which could be good or bad. Maybe the seasons are already starting to change. Humidity has gone down a bit. Daytime temps in the mid-90’s mostly.
Keeping an eye on the winds which are staring to blow stronger from the north which means yea…things are going to start cooling off and rougher waters.
WATER: Not sure if it’s a permanent thing, but good blue waters started to get a bit murky. Probably from increased winds. Patches of cooler water are starting to show up.
Bait was harder to get and find for the first time all season which is of concern. Maybe just an anamoly. Hope it is.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado / tuna/ sailfish/ roosterfish/ cabrilla/ snapper/ pargo/ pompano/ trevally/ marlin/ triggerfish/ bonito
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET: Still the most variety. Not as many dorado as before, but that could be because most folks wanted to chase the tuna. The tuna bit got tougher as the week went on. Fewer tuna, but they got bigger and meaner! It might also be because the bait got tougher to find. Sailfish popped up and they’re bigger than normal. Also, wahoo as well. Long way to the island to find bait was an issue.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET: Still the best spot to jump on some fun dorado fishing. Most fish 5-20 pounds and schooling. Big bonito and a few sails also bit. Had one day where the fish seemed to disappear.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Whoa!!! Captain Armando helps our amigo, Leonard Post, from Oregon with a big sailfish he hooked…tried to photo…and ultimately released!
A nicer fatter and chunkier grade of tuna overall. Lots of fun, but they can also beat you up too!
First day out from Florida, Carol Geiger sticks this massive headed bull dorado. WOW!
Tim Gardner (at the head) was out with Captain Gerardo and battled this pig yellowfin tuna over 2 hours, but got it to the boat finally.
Tim Herald brought his 15 merry amigos from Kentucky and Arkansas out and absolutely did NOT want to catch a tuna. He went for a dorado and instead battled his personal best tuna that slugged it out almost 2 hours with him.
This is a GOOD day! Our first-time visitors from Texas, Mitch and Amanda Andrus have a rack of dorado and tuna that needs to head to the freezer!
Our very own Tailhunter’s Maite Palacio had never fished. She had never been on a boat. Her VERY FIRST FISH is a WAHOO!!!
The Okazaki Brothers from S. California have been visiting us for years and had their best trip with a nice batch of tuna as well as a few days of dorado.
More new Texas friends! Sharon and Tommy Purefoy get a hand from Captain Jorge on Sharon’s big bull.
North Carolina in the house. Hall Evans and Chuck Weber with Captain Jorge and an assortment of tuna and dorado.
Crazy to catch big roosters this time of year, but check out Jeff Geiger’s rooster! Legit! Jeff is from Florida and released his fish.
This is a BIG tuna! Chris Andreson is about 6’5″ and this 80 pounder pulled for all it was worth for 2 hours.
Arturo Becerril is also part of our Tailhunter Team and was so excited to get out on the water for the first time fishing and had great fun on dorado, tuna and feisty bonito!
Jonathan Geiger loves to fish and was able to check roosterfish off his list caught right off the beach at Las Arenas. He released his catch too!
Veternarians in the house! Paul Drewry from Michigan and his fishing buddy, Ed Kahil from Texas came to visit us for the first time and had a hoot. Check out their catch!
They call themselves the “Montana Virgins.” Our dear amigos, John and Sharon Virgin from Montana are never a dull moment whenever they visit. They took alot of meat home like these dorado and tuna!
Captain Victor grimaces trying to help Melissa Dean with one of her tuna! We had a fun week with Melissa, her husband and their friends from Texas and Louisiana.
Captain Hugo has his work cut out for him cleaning up these tuna for Jeff and Jonathan Geiger . Nice load!
More of our Montana friends, Deana and Larry Wilson with their favorite Captain Pancho.
Captain Armando with Leonard Post and Dave Lindell who have been with us many times and each got a tuna this day.
Heck of a good day for Ken and Melissa Dean with Captain Victor. A trio of nice tuna and a sailfish that they could not release and generously donated the meat.
Tim Herald’s guys from Kentucky started their 3 days with a hefty catch of tuna and dorado!
Another nice spread of fish. Filets for the ice chest coming up!
Les Bek visited us last year, but his son Kevin wasn’t able to make the trip until this year. Nice start with a couple of tuna, a white bonito a dorado and a big pompano!
Jim Andrews has some colorful dorado on the table and a huge triggerfish with Captain Armando.
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Summer just turned into fall!
We definitely have a tuna season for once…of sorts!
This is the most extended run of tuna that we’ve had in years. And everyone wants a shot at the tuna. EVERYONE! Until they get one. After one or two fish, it’s not unusual for some of our anglers to pull the plug and say, “No mas!”
For good reason.
When this all began, the tuna were legit 20-25 pound fish. Not footballs, but fun-sized tuna that fight hard but don’t lay waste to the anglers. Fun fish!
There have been fewer fish lately, but they have gotten bigger. Some of the fish are easily 40-80 pounders and some even larger. These are the kind of fish that can hurt you. We’ve had some anglers on the fish 1-3 hours. And then LOSE the fish. So you get broken line AND a broken heart!
There seem to be fewer dorado, but that could also be because more folks are chasing the tuna. But there are definitely dorado around. Maybe the biggest issue might be that live bait has gotten a bit harder to find lately plus possibly the season is changing sooner than expected and waters are getting colder and northern winds are starting to ramp up about a month earlier than normal. We’ll have to keep an eye on it and will keep you posted. We’ll know more as time goes on.
Actually, we’re finding some real cool patches of green water and the fish got sticky a few days (Not to mention a big fat full moon too!) It bares watching for sure.
Anyway…
Some nice surprises this past session with more sailfish on the chew. They are much larger than I’ve seen them in years. Mostly our sails run 70-100 pounds. Most of the ones now are well over 110-130 pounders. Mostly also, we’re able to release them all with a few exceptions and in those cases the anglers donated the meat.
Still got some of the larger roosterfish popping up. Generally, we don’t have the big roosters this time of year, but some 30-50 pound fish keep showing up, often when the folks are trying to catch dorado.
As well, some pompano and trevally have hit the decks as well. Normally, we get these in the spring. Maybe cooler waters starting to show up? We’ll see and keep you posted!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 12-19, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: The first week that we did not have a surprise rainstorm, thundershower, tropical deluge or hurricane. We’re not through the season yet for these things to happen but the best fishing season has these surprise weather bumps. Overall, temps in the high 90’s during the day with lots of sunshine.
WATER: Blue and looking good mostly. Very fishable. Some afternoon winds kick up and bring up some chop but most of our fishermen are off the water by then.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorad0 / Tuna/ Sailfish/ Marlin/ Wahoo/ Pargo/ Roosterfish/ Jack Crevalle/ Bonito/ Grouper / Cabrilla/ Triggerfish/ Trevally
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET: More variety with dorado, jags of 15-40 pound tuna, roosterfish, sailfish and other species.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET: Dorado land plus marlin! (But, for the first time in months…the dorado got picky the last few days of the week before this report).
FISHING on a SCALE of 1-10 (10 is best): 7 (some boats doing better than others or have to work harder for their fish!)
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our Reno amigo, Mac Treasure, with Captain Joel doing the heavy lifting on this king-size bull dorado!
Oh yea…on his bachelor party, Taylor Sering (at the head) came out with his dad and brother and friend before he gets married. He has fished with us many times, but never caught a marlin. He did this time! Our first blue marlin of the season of about 200 pounds. It could not be released and the meat was donated by Taylor!
We haven’t caught many wahoo this year, but Chris Binkley from Oklahoma picked up this ‘hoo while fishing on the tuna grounds!
Frank Brooke runs a huge California hunting ranch and is usually cradling a big deer or something. This time, he racked this huge 80-pound class roosterfish! Very unusual. Frank sportingly released the big fish.
One of our favorite crazy guys. Jesse Franco has a yellowfin tuna on the gaff.
Just another day for Roger Laubsher and Chris Binkely. (yawn).
More sailfish popping up all of a sudden! Gary Wagner who owns the Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos hooked this hefty sailfish.
Oh man! We just do NOT see these kinds of roosters this time of year. Big roosters are in the spring! But Larry Wilson from Montana with Captain Pancho sure landed one (and released it too!).
First-time with us…amigos from the Houston area, Amy and Mario Rios, made the most of a quick 2 day fishing trip. Check out the big tuna and dorado!
Tracy and Mike Hunt from Oklahoma had just one day to fish with us and got themselves a nice day of action on the dorado spots!
Captain Arkie with Bill and Jeff from Idaho.
It has to be the colorful wardrobe! Our long-time Montana amigos, Sharon and John Virgin, with their one-day catch of tuna and a dorado. They fished 5 days with us!
North Carolina in the house with Hill Evans and Chuck Webber and Captain Jorge with another good load of dorado for the fish table.
It was a good week for tuna for the first time in many years! Larry and Deana Wilson from Montana with Captain Pancho.
Deana and her husband, Larry, hooked 5 roosterfish this day landing and releasing two of them. The 3 others busted off!
Amy and Mario with some of their first-day catch. Check out Mario’s blue tiger dorado!
Frank and Annette Brooke throwing fishing “gang sign” at my camera guy! All in fun after a full day of dorado action.
Great colors on this fresh one! Spencer Sering posing with another bull!
Even Captain Boli busts a smile over Marty Sering’s bull dorado! Always good to have Marty visiting us.
Doctor Ed Kahil, is a veternarian from Texas and on his first visit. Good to see him here as he poses with one of his dorado. He also hooked a sailfish on the flyrod! Exciting times!
You don’t hook any of these dorado in Oxford, England! That’s where Sarah Malone is from and has big smiles with Captain Armando.
John McVay from Lake Havasu has been fishing with us for many years and always seems to do well when he fishes with his favorite Captain Jorge.
Mac Treasure had a pretty successful week taking 2 giant trophy dorado.
Craig Yoder back with us again every year took home a nice load of dorado. Here on the beach at Muertos Bay.
Doug Biddle had one day to fish with us and went out with his buddy Oz. A good day.
Sarah and Steve! Enjoy the sunshine and another day on the water before going back to England!
Tay Sering seems to always get into the big bulls.
Steve and Captain Armando. Steve donated all their fish .
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I think the big news this was wasn’t just the fishing. It was the fact that we didn’t have any surprise storms, tropical blows or…(shudder) hurricanes! One of the things we just have to live with is that the best fishing times are often when the weather is warmest. That is also when the heat gives birth to these crazy storms.
Duck and cover…at least for a few minutes until this passes!
But, after a couple of weeks of these little “mini storms,” we were all clear for once. Nothing but hot sunny skies and good looking water.
I don’t know how much that had to do with it, but it sure did not hurt the fishing.
Overall, still pretty darned good dorado on the chew. It’s been that way for months. Just the best dorado bite I’ve seen in almost 30 years with lots of the 10-15 pounders around and, if look at the photos from this week, you can see that there’s some big bulls around as well.
I will say in all honesty, that the end of the week, the dorado bite seemed to take a bit of a dip. Fish got a little stickier than they had been. We had to work harder to find the dorado schools or conversely, they just weren’t willing to bite. Some boats really struggled to fill the fish box here and there.
I don’t know. I hope it’s not the end of the dorado season.
There’s no reason it should be. Conditions have not changed that I can detect.
Nevertheless, we had some other species take up some of the slack.
For one, we just had the best run of tuna in years. We have not seen much of any tuna since Covid years. But, they started about 2 weeks ago and it’s been a bit up-and-down, but we’ve gotten tuna pretty much every day.
These are a nice grade of fish too. These are not footballs. These are healthy chunky 20-40 pound sluggers with some bigger fish mixed in. Most of the bite has been just south of Bahia Muertos down the coast. Not sure how long this will last, but we can only hope.
Another species that has been a surprise have been the appearance of roosterfish. Normally, our big roosters are around in the spring from about April to late June. That’s when the “hog” roosters are in the area. As the year goes on they move off.
We will get some 5 or 10 pounders later in the year, but that’s it. Great on light tackle.
However, in the last 2 weeks, we’ve run into some latent or early season chunky roosters up to about 80 pounds with others running 30-40 pounds! Great fun and quite a surprise.
Lastly, we got a few more billfish since the last report. Sailfish have shown up as well as somes striped marlin and we got our first blue marlin of the season. Normally, we start seeing billfish around May, but there have been very few hookups this year.
Still lots of bonito around as well as inshore species like pargo, snapper, cabrilla and even some pompano and trevally.
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BAJA 1000 COMING TO TOWN – BEACH CONDO for RENT!
The huge Baja 1000 is coming back to La Paz and hotels have been sold out for months. However, we have a 3 BR beach condo open from Nov. 13-19. Get in touch with us if you are interested!
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That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 19-26, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Hurricane Hilary has come and gone. It’s back to hot, sunny and humid. Day temps are in the high 90’s.
WATER: It took a few days for the waters to clean themselves back up after the storm, but not it’s mostly back to blue and perfect fishing conditions.
SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK: Dorado, bonito, skipjack, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, roosterfish, jack crevalle .
LAS ARENAS FLEET: It seemed that generally, there were fewer fish caught here, but more of the monster dorado were caught here.
LA PAZ: Seems that there are more dorado on this side and more action than Las Arenas, but not as many trophy fish.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Ralph Lopez used a gift certificate from his wife to fish with us all week and started the trip with some nice dorado like this one fishing with Captain Jorge.
Beast Mode!!! Captain Luis gives Dennis Cameron from Orange Co, CA a hand with this huge bull dorado. Dennis said he saw it swim by the transom. He flipped a bait on it and it turned…SLAMMED…then peeled off more than 100 yards of line in the first run!
Brian Chu brought the family of 4 down for a few days and started of the week with a nice load of dorado, here posing with just a few of their fish!
Bob Cowan and Jeff Loh have fished with us many times and always good to see them A good start at Bahia Muertos!
Craig Braswell is one of our Sacramento firefighters that has been visiting us for about 20 years. Great to have him down now that he’s retired and he cam with Dave Smith who is still with the department. Captain Pancho got them into a nice bite. “The Braz” is still able to fish even with bad gout (just had to toss that in there, Braz!) 😛
This is one of my new favorite first-timers! From Idaho, Ryder Lee had such a great time with us and us with him. He just graduated from 8th grade and poses with a hefty bull dorado with Captain Luis.
Cecilia Berumen says the bar is now set pretty high after 3 good days right after Hurricane Hilary. She did great on the dorado like this one!
The man behind the mask is Angel Navarro. First-time visitor with and gets to check a roosterfish off his bucket list. He released the fish as well! Good job.
Captain Armando poses with Tom Lelevich who got some nice filets to take home after 3 days fishing with his wife, Donna, celebrating their 30th anniversary with us!
Stefani and Steve Fries from Idaho are too much fun whenever they fish with us. They decided to take one day and fish the rocks and came back with quite a variety including, dorado, pargo, snapper and cabrilla. Oh and a bonito!
Captain Licho hoists this big-headed bull that Mike Zech (left) fought for the better part of an hour until his hands started cramping and he handed the rod to his buddy, Ryan, to finish off. In all Mike’s years fishing with us, this was his biggest.
It’s not always the size…it’s the moment. A lifetime smile from Ryder Lee and his first roosterfish. Caught and released!
We love having youngsters with us and there’s no denying that Hunter Lee is having a good time. Here posing on the beach at La Concha with one of his fish.
Ralph Burnett with Captain Jorge and a nice rack of fish to start the week!
After a good day of fishing, there’s nothing quite like that first icy cold one. Roy Trejo has the right idea.
Excellent eating variety on the cutting table! Cabrilla, pargo and dorado for Bobby Hira and Daryl Chang.
Yessir!!! Two pig dorado. Albert Leung and John Pak!
Shea and Nick Brown had a fun time with Captain Gerardo their first of 3 days on the water.
First-timer rocks it with Daryl Chang from Los Angeles with two of his dorado right after the storm.
Might be one of my favorite photos of the week! Just the sheer joy! Cecilia puts another one on the deck.
Good to have our 3 amigos back to visit us from Portland. Wes Perkins; Dennis McCleod and Roger Hall were with us all week and topped off their fishing with some massive dorado!
You know it’s a good fish when even Captain Boli smiles. Using his scale, Craig Braswell said they weighed this bull in at 38 pounds. The angle of the photo doesn’t do justice!
We had so much fun with Trisha Clark on her first rodeo with Tailhunter. She’s promising to come back!
Not a bad day at all! Steve Rons started the week with some medium bulls topped by this big boy toad dorado bull.
Ralph and Jorge!
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Well, Hurricane Hilary moved off without too much fuss after a few days and gratefully it wasn’t that big of a deal. Some heavy rain and wind a times, but fairly “lightweight” as far as hurricanes go. We’re very fortunate. The biggest drawback was that we had a few days of not being able to fish.
After a storm like that leaves, you just never know how long it will take for things to bounce back. Fortunately, it didn’t take that long. We were back on the water as soon as the storm moved of and although it started somewhat slow, within another day, it was full-speed again witht the fishing.
Once again, just as it had been before the storm, the dorado were stacked and limits were the rule rather the exception. Most fish were in the 5-15 pound class and many many fish were released.
The exciting part is that there’s still some massive fish that were hitting this week. A good many were lost (that’s why their big). And the ones that were boated were easily 30, 40 and even 50-pound fish.
Live bait continues to be the best way to get bit.
Not much else in species mainly because the dorado are so prevalent, but we dig also catch pargo, snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and even some off-season roosterfish.
IMPORTANT NOTES
BUGS – The weather is back to being hot and humid and any time after we get any rain we have a big hatch of bugs. Everything from butterflies to mosquitos for about 2 weeks is out. Normally no bug problem. Good idea to bring some repellent. Wear long sleeves. Keep doors and windows closed.
BAJA 1000 – Will return again in November to La Paz. Every room in La Paz is already sold out. However, we have a 3 BR beach condo with 4 baths available for Nov. 13-19. If you’re interested e-mail me: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
COME GET YOUR STUFF – For almost 15 years, we’ve been storing fishing gear for our folks that come down so you don’t have to hassle dragging it on planes as well as the high cost. However, we can no longer afford to store so much gear. Some folks haven’t been down for years. This is our last year we’ll be able to do it then anything left over we’ll donate.
GET YOUR BALANCES PAID – If you got a booking with us this year, don’t forget your balances are due 45 days from arrival.
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 13-20, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER : Like seemingly the rest of the world, it’s HOT. But the funny thing is that people come to Mexico to “get warm and enjoy some sunshine.” We’re probably cooler than most places in the U.S. right now! We’re 90’s to low 100’s.
WATER: After that little weather blow we had over a week ago, things have cleared up and flattened out. Waters are mostly blue and warm. Surface temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s now.
FISH CAUGHT THIS WEEK: Dorado are still 90% of the catch because it seems like they are everywhere. Can’t get away from them, but they are alot of fun. Also got bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, roosters, pompany, trevally and triggerfish. Commercial guys say there’s some tuna outside.
LAS ARENAS: Dorado. Most are medium-sized in the 8-12 pound class. Larger ones are easily in the 30 pound class or larger.
LA PAZ: Dorado too! More school-sized fish, but this past week the larger ones came from here with 40-pound class fish, but larger ones lost!
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
Our long-time Utah amigo, Kip Slaugh, on the scoreboard with his own big bull dorado for the fish box!
First day on the water turned out to be a good one for Rob and Randy Gray with some nice bull dorado to start the vacation!
First-timer with us, Johnny Torres from Riverside CA area came inshore for his first roosterfish. Caught and released. Pretty photo too!
Captain Gerardo with Marie McClelland who had quite a week with us on big dorado. Scroll down to see more!
Always good to have Brett Bleichrodt visit us from Colorado. First day out he scores his big bull.
OH WOW! Captain Raul gives Becky Fry a hand posing with this beautiful bull dorado catch north of La Paz.
Flat water and another fish brought to gaff. This one on the troll. Brett got some big fish this week, but also a few got the best of him as well!
Our San Diego cousin, Andy Enright, kicked it off his first day with a legit dorado beast. He tells of another fish even larger that he fought and lost at color next to the boat.
We had a fun week with these two in the house. Bruce Bleichrodt and Johny Prexta with a nice rack of dorado for the freezer to take home.
Fresh one! I think Rich Hirasuna is trying not to get whacked as Captain Rogelio holds up a fresh-caught dorado that is still thrashing!
Taking a well-deserved break after their first year in law school up in Oregon, Lauryn Keller and Dawson Enright pose with the catch of dorado from their first day.
Two really sweet folks to have come down for their first-ever visit, Brian and Tami Clark are spending the week with us!
Marizol Torres arrived and asked me, I’ve never fished. Do you think I will catch a fish this week?” Captain Raul helps her with a bull dorado she fought for 45 minutes! Well-done!
Ed Haynes and Brian Forward pose on the beach with Captain Jorge.
Fun shot. Our newest family friends Rich and Cherie Hirasuna started their trip with alot of dorado fillets!
Call this a good day fishing! Captain Pancho poses with Jen and Andy Enright on the beach at Bahia Muertos with a solid day of dorado fishing.
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As of this past week…well the mad dorado bite is still on! Some boats doing better than others, but with most folks fishing at least several days with us, there’s no shortage of fish for sure! If you hit that sweet spot in the ocean, you could limit on dorado in very short order with what some anglers are calling a “dorado aquarium” and “so many fish in the water” After that it’s catch-and-release as fast as you want to go! Or…
Go searching for only bigger dorado
Go searching for different species like roosters and rockfish or marlin
Go back to the beach early and have lunch and a siesta!
Most of the fish in the schools have been voracious 5-12 pounders that are literally attacking anything thrown in the water! This has been great fun on the lighter tackle we use with live bait and especially for many of the kids, families and couples we have this time of year who aren’t necessarily hard-core anglers. The fish will bend rods…run…leap…shake a hook…and are sp
ectacularly colorful. On the perimeters of the schools or swimming in more solitary packs are the larger beast dorado that can be anywhere from 20 to over 50 pounds! I’ve never seen such a concentration of large fish like we’ve had for the last month-and-a-half. It’s been a great time to tangle with a trophy fish. Every day I hear stories from anglers who had a big fish on the beat them up and finally broke off or came un-buttoned. That’s why they are big fish. They are stronger and much more powerful and you just never know what’s going to hit your line. The biggest problem is that often you can see the larger fish, but the smaller fish are just so much faster to grab your bait that you don’t get the opportunity to hook-up the bigger boys! Still, it’s nice to hear that many anglers are releasing smaller fish and also females!
This is not to say there aren’t other fish in our ocean! We’ve got bonito, roosterfish, jack crevalle, pompano, trevally, cabrilla, triggerfish, snappers and several species of pargo. It’s just that folks are having so much fun with the dorado that they’re not chasing the other species. But, they ARE there. Plus there’s been billfish around that have been hooked “accidentally” but nothing ever stuck. Don’t know how much longer this dorado bite will last, but we’re enjoying it for now!
Not a fish picture this time, but the prospects of a fishing day and an amazing flat Sea of Cortez full of fish and the start of another great day! It’s like glass! (Thanks for the shot, Jennifer Enright!) People ask us all the time if we think they will get seasick or will it be too rough! #jonathanroldan
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of April 17-24, 2023
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
The pargo or schooling and spawning in the shallow and exciting to see but real horses to try to pull out’ve the rocks. However, Mike Luna from Utah got this big guy out while fishing with Captain Victor! They are often willing to bite ,but most are lost because of sharp teeth and scales and they head back to the rocks! Nice catch!
We’ve know Cole Chavira since he was about 3 feet tall. He’s from the San Diego area and an excellent angler who has been in La Paz a zillion times. He picked up this roosterfish on the east side of Espirito Santo Island. Nice to see the roosters start to move in. The fish was released.
Our amigo, Doctor Art Flippin, had just one day to fish and was drifting the shallows over the rocks fishing for cabrilla and pargo and got surprised by this nice bull dorado. Art looks kinda happy! He did also get pargo, jacks, cabrilla and rainbow runner as well. Art lives in Colorado.
Big smile from Sophia with a tasty barred pargo ready for the fish box. Tough fighting fish, but great eating!
Captain Victor has a smile as he tries to help Rita Luna with her rainbow runner. Cousins to yellowtail, the fish are schooling up over the shallow areas right now and make great sashime and cooked up as well.
Our long-time amigo, Mark Bonsack from Washington comes down several times a year and is an excellent angler. He had just one day to fish, but rocked it with two hefty pargo liso. Tough to pull out’ve the rocks and most fish are lost. As a matter of fact, Mark says they broke off 4 others!
I think I’m coming over for fish tacos. Our amigo, Jimmy Williams was with Phil Desautels and Phil Perrone and I see dorado, ca brilla, pargo and yellow snapper on the table. They got hit by the winds, but these guys have experience and were able to hide in a cove and found a honey hole of fish!
East side of Cerralvo Island is a light tackle mecca. Art Flippin has a slugger jack crevalle he caught and released. The jacks are cousins to the roosterfish and fight just as hard, but don’t have the “mohawk” dorsal fin.
Mike Luna with Captain Victor on the beach. Check out the two nice pargo liso and the rainbow runner on the table, but the HUGE palometa (trevally) on the table is also a trophy fish!
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It’s all about the wind. It’s been that way all winter.
But finally, after a horrendous few months, the winds seem to be diminishing somewhat. Fortunately, during those crazy rough months, I warn folks about the winds so we don’t have too many anglers. But this week, the season started to kick in just in time as the winds cut back back on us a bit to allow for some decent fishing.
Early in the week, we got into quite a variety of fish.
It looks like the big pargo have come inshore to spawn. These tough fish are schooling over the rocks and are difficult fighters but great sport. Even the smaller 5-10 pounders can be brutally frustrating with their sharp teeth and scales plus their ability to get back into the rocks. We did get some larger 15-25 pounders, however, and many were lost to the rocks.
The same areas also held rainbow runners, barred pargo, snapper, smaller yellowtail, amberjack, cabrilla as well as bonito and jack crevalle making for some excellent fulls-speed action. As well, we’re starting to see some roosterfish in the area up to about 20 pounds plus a few free-swimming dorado moving into the area which keeps it promising.
Later in the week, the winds kicked in again and the only folks out on the water enjoying were the kiteboarders and windsurfers.
Check out this video of the channel in front of Cerralvo Island (turn up your volume)!
It was blowing even stronger before this video was taken.
It should get calmer with each passing week. Fingers crossed!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon
La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
P.O. Box 159
Hewitt TX. 76643Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Feb. 26-March 9, 2023
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nice catch of yellowtail for Paul Le Claire and his amigo who found a little window between winds to hook these tasty forktails.
There’s lots of good eating on the table as Gary Wagner, who owns the Rancho Costa Resort poses with Mauricio and his son and a whole mess of sierra.
Attorney General of Kansas, Kris Korbach with Gary and some unseasonable dorado caught outside of Bahia Muertos. There must be some warmer water around!
I’m sorry for not posting up sooner. I know the report is later than normal, but we’re still on the road and I’ve been a bit under the weather plus losing my voice!
But, again, not really a whole lot to report.
The wind really dictate what’s going on and as I’ve heard so often this season, this is the “coldest and windiest” winter anyone can remember. It very much mirrors what’s been going on for the entire west coast and much of the country with crazy cold, winds, snow, rain and more.
Not much of anyone on the water and many of the days, it’s so rough the port captain shuts down the port to all boating traffic.
The key is to find the small windows between the winds to get out on the water. If you pick the right day, there’s quite a variety of species willing to bite.
Colder water species like yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, pargo, cabrilla and snapper have been available over the reefs and rocks. Some warmer water species like dorado have surprised us. Live and dead bait is best, but casting lures have also been productive.
It does look like the yellowtail bite is starting to heat up. Hot spots at the north end of Cerralvo Island as well as the south and east side of the island have been productive as well as parts off the rocks near Punta Perrico and Punta Arenas. Some jags of the fish have also been hit around Espirito Santo Island as well. The trick is finding those times when the wind isn’t blowing.
Some nice hog-size fish are getting taken and there have been schools of big breezing 100+ pound tuna that were moving too fast to jump on.
MAGDALENA BAY REPORT
We had Jim Gibson and his sons, Dan and Patrick out at Mag Bay with us for several days of whale watching and 2 days of fishing the mangroves.
Although the winds got to them, they had lots of whales in the bay coming up to their panga!
For their two days of fishing, they had plenty of action. According to Jim:
“We caught Black Snook, Corvina, Pompano, Red Snapper, Yellowtail Snapper, Dog Snapper, Triggerfish, Broomtail Grouper, Spotted Bay Bass, Cabrilla (Spotted Cabrilla, I think), Pacific Porgy, various Grunts, Barred Pargo, and a pretty good sized Scorpionfish. And a couple of octopus, maybe some other species I’ve forgotten. And we got rocked by at least one huge grouper when Rigo took us outside the Bay to fish a favorite rock pile of his. We were under-gunned for that experience!”
TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR
To anyone that came out to the Orange Co. Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa CA last week for the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show, you had quite a treat with a super-great show with hundreds of vendors and sold-out crowds every day at the fairgrounds.
Thank you so everyone who came by and it was so great to see so many old friends and Tailhunter Nation after several years of no shows in S.California. We had a great time and we’re looking forward to seeing you in La Paz this year. Thanks for you reservations.
Now onto…Bakersfield!
We’ll be at the Kern Co. Fairgrounds from March 11-13 from Friday to Sunday. Great fun for the whole family. In addition to the fishing halls, they will also have a hunting hall with guns and ammo plus the fairgrounds will be covered with RV’s and boats as well as great activities like the tractor pull and custom car exhibits. Hope to see you there!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 17-25, 2023
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Still no one fishing because of the wind and cold.
We actually did have a few reservations, but in all cases either the winds shut things down or the clients took our advice. They looked at the conditions and decided not to go out after all! Smart thinking!
WHALES IN MAG BAY!
However, being whale watching season, we’ve got our whale watching season well underway as we take clients out to the Pacific side at the north end of Bahia Magdalena. This is where the whales congregate during the winter in the warm shallow waters of the bay to mate and also give birth before returning north to the Bering Sea. Lots of whales this year and clients have been having a great time!
Check out some of the videos and images!
THANK YOU NASHVILLE AND HEADED BACK TO SO CAL!
Just finishing up a most fantastic week in Nashville TN for the Safari Club International Convention and Expo held in downtown Nashville. Being our first time at this event, we didn’t quite know what to except.
However, the turnout and fun far exceeded anything we could have imagined! We had folks flying in from Europe, Canada, Alaska and South America and I talked to probably folks from 20 or 30 states with something close to 20,000 attendees over 4 days. There were hunting and fishing booths from over 100 countries exhibiting!
We met and booked so many new and old amigos to come fishing with us this year and just wanted to give a shout-out to Nashville for all the hospitality!
But now…flying back to S. California to the Costa Mesa Fairgrounds in Orange Co. for the Pacific Coast Sportsman’s Show. It’s supposed to be the entire fairgrounds with over 500 vendors and exhibits so it should be a hoot for the entire family.
Jill and I will be in the booth from Thursday to Sunday so come see us and let’s get you set up for fishing in La Paz in 2023! We are filling up fast!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 13-20, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Keaton Lesnik and his dad had just one day to squeeze in some fishing and happened to pick that ONE day that was nice enough to be out! Got themselves a couple of dorado that they had cooked up at our Tailhunter Restaurant.
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Not much to report. About the only ones on the water this week seemed to be commercial guys who are working to catch fish to sell. Or they were captains feeding their family or catching fish for the holidays or a few locals. But, the thing with all of them is that they can pick-and-choose which days are better to be on the water. Or, they know they can get out for just a few hours then come right back in with whatever they can catch if the winds kick up…and they often did.
For most, the winds were just too strong and the waters too rough this past week with just a few little windows of opportunity. In fact, it was so windy the city of La Paz even cancelled the Christmas Boat Parade. And that was INSIDE the harbor and bay!
But, there were some interesting catches. Still seems to strangely be some dorado swimming around despite the weather and the fact that dorado season pretty much ended back in October. Some nice 20-25 pound fish are still getting hooked, but most are the fun 10-pound-class fish. As well, there are sierra, white bonito (good eating), jack crevalle, snapper and cabrilla reported this week. But, again, not many reports coming off the water since not many folks fishing and everyone getting ready for the holidays.
All is calm…all is bright on the La Paz Malecon
FROM OUR TAILHUNTER FAMILY TO YOURS…
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”
Just hoping your holidays and Christmas is filled with blessings and all things good. You are all a gift to us with all the smiles you bring!
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
P.O. Box 159
Hewitt TX. 76643Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
Tailhunter Fish Report 