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
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muerto Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 2, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dave Wancyzk (middle) and two of his buddies are in town for work, but got away one day and found some nice dorado surprisingly.
More sierra like this one that Monty caught are showing up with more frequency now that the waters are getting colder.
Not much happening on the water. Mostly folks in town for Thanksgiving holidays. Had several folks interested in fishing this week, but winds changed their minds. This coming week doesn’t look much better with most of the days gusting 15-20 mph.
We did get a couple of guys out for one day. We had to juggle a bit to find a day that was least windy. He had them fish with our Las Arenas fleet which is more protected and the fishing grounds are closer. Surprisingly, so late in the season, but they got into some healthy legit dorado. Warm water fish! We figured dorado season kinda left us when things got cooler, but I guess there’s a few still hanging around. Nice surprise.
Beyond that…it’s mostly cold water species.
Some of the locals and commercial guys are out catching snapper, cabrilla and sierra inshore. Live bait is hard to get when the winds are blowing so mostly using frozen baits and lures.
Town is pretty quiet, but getting fuller for the holidays. It’s kind of a real nice time to be around!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 5, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Another big-headed beast! Captain Pancho holds up the tail end of a huge bull dorado caught by Marlene Kikuchi!
Show me the meat! Good amigo, Dana Murray from Idaho, has a thumbs-up for 3 nice yellowfin tuna and a few dorado for the fillet table!
Honeymoon marlin for Terry Sandmeier and his wife Caroline with an assist from Captain Gerardo. The day before, Terry had a marlin on and it popped off. He want back the 2nd day and this time he rocked it. The fish was not able to be released. The Sandmeiers are from Colorado on their first visit to us in La Paz.
Yes! We finally found some tuna. Funny guys Nat Hargett and Steve Manney hung some nice yellowfin to go along with their dorado. The guys are from Washington and come visit us each year.
Paul Nagata has become a regular poster-boy over the years with all the great fish he has caught . Check out this pretty bull mahi! Paul is from San Francisco.
We finally got a visit from Stan Andre and Terry Hawk who fish with us each year until Covid got in the way two years ago then had to cancel again last year and earlier this year. However, they made up for it. They donated all of this dorado meat to the Captain Pancho and the pueblo.
First timer with us Ken Fritz battled this marlin on light tackle while fishing outside of La Paz Bay. He also put some dorado in the box as well. The marlin could not be released.
First timer who had never been to Mexico, Jim Gibson, was fun to have visit us. Nice day of dorado fishing on the sand at Balandra Bay.
Just a great photo that’s worth framing! Grant Nakagawa and Captain Armando with a legit bull.
Whoa!!! That’s some quality mahi. Wesley Peterson (middle) needs some assistance posing with his big bull dorado.
Jim Barlow from San Juan Capistrano with son-in-law Riley had 3 good days on the water like this one with a cleaning table full of dorado. Jim used to fish La Paz many years ago but hadn’t been down for years until giving us a try.
The hat-trick for Nat! A dorado…a tuna…and a marlin that he shared with his amigos. A good day!
Dale Ringer and Andy Hall pose with Captain Jorge and some of their dorado catch.
Double tuna. Double dorado! Terry and Stan…fishing buddies with us for many years.
First-timer from Oklahoma, John Grigsby had fun with his first time fishing for dorado . That’s Espiritu Santo Island in the background.
Big smiles for the honeymoon couple . Terry and Caroline Sandmeier took home alot of fish after spending a week with us scuba diving and fishing.
Ken Fritz with another bull for the fish box.
Les Bek from Oregon was with us for the first time this week and had some good fishing in the dorado schools.
Captain Armando with Dave Eady and Tom Fausnight after a day fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos.
Pete Walker from Washington got into the tuna that first day they showed up!
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Long story short…Dorado everywhere!
Although we nervously watched the approach of Hurricane Orlene, it veered off and went inland hundreds of miles to the south leaving us with excellent conditions all week and solid fishing with voracious dorado biting all week. Both our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet and Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet hit the mahi every day with easy limits most days and limits hit early that most of our anglers released more fish than they kept.
It seemed there were more but smaller 5-15 pound fish with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet scattered from San Juan de la Costa to Espiritu Santo Island to the channel between the islands. It can be a pick-pick all day to fill the fish box or BAM…hit the spot and it’s madness for an hour or pandemonium with fish everywhere like a trout pond hitting anything that hits the water.
That included sardines, strips of bonito, jigs and feathers and casting iron.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, fewer, but bigger fish. Good amount of school-sized fish, but larger 25-50 pound bulls were also evident with some of the best big mahi fishing of the year. Many of our anglers caught their largest fish ever.
As well, we had a nice bite of marlin and sailfish with the bills often swimming and feeding in the middle of the dorado schools or, in some cases, feeding on the smaller dorado and bonito. Several “small” blue marlin in the 100-200 pound class were hooked and lost, but several striped marlin and sails were hooked, landed and released. There were a few long long battles on light tackle!
The big surprise was the show of tuna with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Fish up to 30 pounds hit baits for the first time all year! No idea if they’ll stick around, but it was alot of fun or a year when the tuna have been scarce. Mostly, it was an early quick bite south of Bahia Muertos. The fish would stick around until all the traffic showed but, but it has been a nice grade of fish.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 10-17, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Dan McKinley from Washington was with us last week with his family. He was having so much fun, he stayed to fish an extra two days, but sent the rest of the family home, including son, Ryan. Nice dorado too!
Larry Barnard with his favorite Captain Victor has fished with us many years, but this was his “personal best” dorado. He foul-hooked it on the side which made the battle triple-tough, but he got the big bull to gaff!
Captain Jorge poses with Andy LeVeque from Washington and his Tecate to finish off a good first day on the water at Bahia Muertos.
Clark Torres, Mike and Melissa LeVeque with some big-boy legit bull dorado. Check out all that meat! They had 3 solid days of fishing and brought the family of 10 to visit us for the week.
John Waters and Erin Martin started their week off with a nice box of dorado!
This is the way to start the morning with a brilliant sunrise and a big wahoo that bit John Vondrak’s “banana red” Rapala with Captain Gerardo. It was the first of 2 wahoo this day. (scroll down for the 2nd photo)
From Montana, Lee and Renee Leveque with Captain Victor and a nice day of dorado and a striped marlin. It could not be released and meat was donated.
Kim Spicer is telling husband Brian that she caught more dorado than he did! Fun couple visiting us for the first time and they did well over 3 days fishing.
Jess Keller fortunately was able to get in only one day fishing after the storms because the other days got cancelled, but he did well with nice rack of dorado headed for the freezers.
Ted Tamborski with Captain Edgar was another victim of Hurricane Kay that got several days fishing cancelled, but was able to get out 3 days and hung this sailfish north of La Paz.
Yea…tackle busting big bonito kept rod bent and folk smiling. Darrel had a kick on his light tackle rigs.
This isn’t roosterfish season, but there are some little fellas still hanging out here and there. Wes Miles put this on on the boat off Punta Perico for a quick photo and release.
Dan and Lisa Hicks from Washington with their son Sammy have been fishing with us almost 20 year, even before Sammy came along. Always good to have them visit. They started their week with some great mahi action.
Gary Piekaar and Chris Biggs came down for a quick 2-day trip and went home with some good dorado meat. It was their first time with us at Tailhunter.
Konrad “Mad Hatter” Knoeferl has had to keep postponing his trip for several seasons, but it was good to finally get him down with Pal Chris Lucas posing with some of their dorado they caught fishing out’ve La Paz Bay.
Dan, Ryan and Wes…nice day of dorado, guys! All from Washington visiting us for the week.
Mike Guest from Arizon has fished with us many times over the years and told me he was coming down for a wahoo even though I told him there weren’t many wahoo around this year. I’m glad he proved me wrong!
Captain Jorge gives Brian Spicer the “thumbs-up” after catching this rooster just outside of Bahia Muertos. The fish was released.
Don McKinley is a former missionary and 93-year-young and still going strong! Grandson Ryan helps with the photo, but 3 days of fishing and Don didn’t need any help reeling fish! Great to have him visit us .
John’s 2nd wahoo of the day on his funky yellow Rapala with Captain Gerardo. This one’s a fatter ‘hoo!
Double D! Darrel and Don from Washington. Some huge bulls on the table there in front to them.
Captain Armando having some fun with amigos, John Eide from Minnesota and Joe Vondrak on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
First-timer Lori Worthington from Oregon sadly lost 2 days fishing to the storms, but got in one day with Captain Gerardo and made the best of things with a fun dorado day.
Captain Gerardo with Andrew Harrison and John Vondrak. Quite a variety…dorado…wahoo…rainbow runner…pompano and snapper!
Andrew with the big smile for another dorado.
Carrie “Sparkle” McKinley is just a joy to have visit us from Washington. She can fish too!
John Eide with another fish for the box.
Beautiful morning shot of Kim Spicer with Captain Jorge just outside of La Ventana across from Cerralvo Island
I have no idea who’d behind the fish, but I do know that Captain Ramiro got him a huge bull dorado.
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After stormy weather, you just never know what the fishing is going to be like. We had a tropical storm…followed by a 3 days hurricane…followed by a full moon last week. It was a triple whammy-punch-in-the-nose kinda week with lots of cancelled fishing trips and disappointed anglers.
After a storm it could take days for the water to clear and settle down. You just never know and after all the run-off from the rain, I figured it was gonna take awhile. A full moon was not going to do us any favors either!
But, right off the bat it seemed the fish were as eager to eat as we were anxious to go fishing and catch them. It just seemed to get better the further we got away from the stormy days. At times, it seemed like there were so many dorado in the water it was like hand-feeding fish in a pond. Turn up the sound and check out this video and look at all the dorado in the water!
There were some days where the boats were done by 9 or 10 a.m. and the anglers were tired and headed back to shore with full fish boxes!
It didn’t happen every day and it wasn’t like this for every boat, but overall, it’s been the best dorado fishing in several weeks. Our Tailhunter La Paz fleet seemed to catch more fish, but they were smaller. Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet got fewer fish but they were definitely larger models.
The nice surprise were the wahoo that finally started biting. We picked up a few between Cerralvo Island and Bahia Muertos boating some nice 20-40 pounders and losing others. We haven’t hooked many wahoo this season so it was a nice bonus.
In addition to the wahoo, also hooked some marlin and sailfish and the catch was rounded out with some big bonito, pompano , trevally, cabrilla, snapper, pargo and even a few out-of-season roosterfish! All-in-all a pretty solid fishing week
Parting shot. Pelicans can be a pain in the B stealing your bait all the time, but Andrew seems to have made a new bestie!
TAILHUNTER ADDS MORE HOTELS TO OUR ROSTER
Many of you have stayed with us for decades at our beach favorite, La Concha Beach Resort or had us set you up at Costa Baja Resort/ Marina or Casa al Mar on the Malecon. We love all those spots!
However, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve added several new locations in order to give our anglers more choices and more variety. Over the new few weeks, we’ll show you some of our new additions.
This week, we wanted to show off a real gem and a hidden special spot for us…Gaviotas Beach Resort. It’s right on the Malecon so you can walk to everything. These are 2 BR/ 2 Bath condos so you get lots of space and a full kitchen, not to mention spectacular views of the bay and waterfront from your huge waterfront patio. Spa services available as well!
GAVIOTAS BEACH RESORT
Unmatched view of the La Paz Bay.
The beach is steps away. There’s a great seafood restaurant next door and a baby Starbuck gourmet coffee shop on the other side. Our Tailhunter Restaurant is a stone’s throw away as well. There’s a sundeck. Barbecue. Netflix and Wi-fi. And washer/dryer on the premises plus bicycles! For fishing or other activities, we’ll pick you up right out front.
If you’re interested, don’t hesitate to let us know and we’ll put together a complete package for you. jonathan@tailhunter.com
Two huge master bedrooms
Cool off in the pool or grab some rays on the upper sundeck
Full living room with wifi and Netflix overlooking the water.
Lots of space to relax!
Wake up to this every morning!
Happy hour in the pool!
Full-sized kitchen and frig!
S. CAL FRED HALL SHOWS ARE BACK!
In case you hadn’t heard, after a two year hiatus, the Hall Shows are back after a 76-year-run. The dates will be a little different than in the past with the San Diego/ Del Mar Show being the first and Long Beach is now the 2nd show. Jill and I will be there along with all your favorites! Make your plans!
Turn up the sound and click the lower right “square” square to watch full-screen.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 18-24, 2022
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our long-time amigo from Camarillo CA has another big-head bull dorado to put in the box. Note the clouds, but flat seas.
Big smile…Raleigh Inglis fishing off Espirito Santo Island with some mahi fillets for dinner.
Idaho John Stevenson fishing just off La Ventana got an early morning dorado to put in the box.
I’m always teasing Roger that he doesn’t smile enough when he’s fishing! With Captain Rogelio in La Paz Bay.
Jeff Inglis with a fresh mahi coming over the rail!
Shiloah and Pete Wilson had a good day on the water!
Shelton Donnell looks a big disheveled after battling a tough jack crevalle, but he’s been fishing with us for decades and he’s always up for the fight. His 2nd trip this year from Portland.
It was another decent week of fishing overall except for two things that made it different. Once again, dorado were the mainstay of the bite with fish running 5 to 15 pounds on the average and conditions being mostly hot and humid.
However, the week had a few bumps in terms of the weather. We did have a couple of those little baby tropical rainstorms blow through that really kicked it up. Not that we don’t need some rain, but when it rains down here, it really rains. Flooding is not unusual.
Often, these storms are not on the weather radar. With all the heat, they suddenly just build into a big weather conditions.
Usually, it’s sporadic and isolated. For example it can rain in one spot, but 200 yards away it’s dry. It can rain for 10 minutes solid or an hour solid, then the sun comes blazing out. If it happens while you’re on the water, you need to either come back in and hunker down for a bit and let it pass or, if possible, at least drive to a spot where it’s not raining.
We had one day, when one of these storms raced up and it was big enough to chase all the boats off the water. These things are to be expected this time of year. At least (so far), none of these has been a hurricane. Just alot of wind and rain.
The other thing that happened is that there was a noticeable downtick in the number of fishermen on the water and folks in town. This is the bit of slowdown during the season when many families and fishermen are ending summer vacations. Kids are going back to school. Parents have family things to attend to like football and other school or athletic-related activities. So, while fishing remains good, the crowds are diminishing.
Although dorado are the central focus because they are numerous, we also hooked a few striped marlin plus rounded out catches with bonito, jack crevalle, small roosterfish, cabrilla and snapper.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 10-17, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Just another good day on the water! Joni and John Stevenson from Idaho with some fish for the freezer!
Kyle Alexander, first time fishing with us and Captain Jorge, hooked two of these striped marlin and released them both. Really well done! On light tackle at that! Cerralvo Island in the background .
Jeanne Cabales from San Diego is always fun to have visit. Check out her two dorado and the rest of the catch sitting on the transom behind her .
Pete Wilson got two of these mahi on the flyrod as well as bonito and took several on bait.
The Blisses just had one day to fish and Captain Jorge put them on some nice dorado.
Long time Tailhunter amigo who has been fishing with us for about 20 years sometimes twice a year, Darrell Manginelli always gets into the fish. Another good day of dorado fishing here with some big mahi on the cleaning table. Darrell is from Camarillo CA .
Brothers Greg and Wade Gomes from Oregon and Nevada respectively have fished with us for years and got in 3 solid days on the dorado schools and topped it with their last day and a box full of bulls.
Mark Alexander from Sacramento CA was visiting us for the first time. He poses with one of his many dorado he caught over 3 days.
Kevin Ritchie from Galt CA finally got down to us and poses with a few of his dorado ready for the cleaning table.
Captain Victor with Elsie Mulcare from Pendleton OR who is pretty happy with her dorado. Looks like husband Kevin in the background might have another on the line.
Big smiles from Joni Stevenson posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos with one of her dorado.
Trophy pargo for Pete Wilson who gets a hand from his wife, Shiloah. They caught this in the channel between La Paz and Espirito Santo Island.
Favorite goofball friends…Ray and Jeanne Cabales from San Diego. Always fun having them visit.
Tough jack crevalle and a big one too! Shiloah with another great shot.
The Wilsons stacked up the dorado over 4 days of fishing with us.
Dan’s a happy fella! Good day on the water.
Nothing wrong with two nice bull dorado in hand for Wade Gomes. Good way to end 3 days of fishing with us. He had more in the fish box.
Ray…always a funny guy! Love these shots!
Going into this week, I was a bit nervous what would happen to our bite because of the big Super Moon that was predicted. It’s the 3rd and last time this will occur this year and is a larger-than-normal full moon. Indeed, especially early in the morning as I boarded our fishermen, the moon was spectacularly huge and gorgeous sitting over the dark waters in the early hours.
However, our fishing bite has been really solid the last few weeks and I was worried what such a big moon might do as it affects currents, tides, the bait situation and how the fishing schools would react…especially the dorado. Over the past 3 or 4 weeks, we have finally gotten into a more typical summer-time bite that we expected for so long and was delayed for several months by La Nina conditions which kept the water chillier than normal.
Well, after all was said-and-done, I won’t say the moon didn’t have an effect, it did. But, not as drastically as I had feared.
Overall, at the end of the day, everyone caught fish. Everyone that wanted to bring home fish brought home fish. Maybe not quite as abundantly as the week before the full moon, but the fishing days were sold, if not spectacular.
Perhaps the fish were a tad smaller. Maybe not as many of those huge trophy bull dorado. And the schools seemed a little more scattered over a wider area and had dispersed along the warmer water currents. However, many days our anglers were back on the beach early with limits.
Most fish were 5-15 pounds. Lots of fish released. Some larger fish in the 20-30 pound class. Overall, lots of action that varied from day-to-day and boat-to-boat. A hot boat one day could find it a little slower the next. And vice versa. Or a cold spot one day could be the hot spot the next.
Fortunately, most of our anglers fish multiple days so slower days for dorado were off-set by better days and everyone went home with fish.
In addition to the dorado, we had a few nice biters or striped marlin. A few scattered roosterfish between 10 and 30 pounds are still hanging out and some of our light-tackle anglers are having a blast catching-and-releasing all the little 2 and 3 pound dink roosters along the shore.
As well, there’s still some horse bonito, jack crevalle, pargo and cabrilla rounding out the mix.
One last thing, no doubt this is summer. It’s very tropical. Very humid! Every day, we get a little rain shower or some intermittent thundershowers that can last 5 minutes to an hour. It can be a drizzle or a downpour. Then, it’s over. Sun comes blazing out again.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of May 19-25, 2022
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IN A NUTSHELL:
Fishing on a Scale of 1-10 (10 being best): 6
Temps: Weirdly cold. Mid 50’s at night to high 80’s in the day (bring a sweatshirt)
Las Arenas: Lots of variety but mostly coldwater species. A few tuna, dorado, wahoo. But great roosterfish to 50+ pounds. Pargo, cabrilla, snapper, pompano, trevally, palometa, sierra, jack crevalle, dog-tooth, amberjack, yellowtail, bonito. Have to go to the island to find bait.
La Paz: Mostly big yellowtail 10-40 pounds. Some cabrilla and rockfish. Rougher waters in the mornings and cold! Catching mackerel for bait to catch the big yellowtail.
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MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Right up in the surf near the Punta Arenas lighthouse, Troy Kuzminsky from Washington found a big rooster and was able to release it!
I lost count of how many roosterfish Guy Markus from Utah caught and released over 2 days. Maybe 6 of them, but here’s one of the big ones!
Paul Markowitz (right) brought his amigo Rick Willis with him to fish with us in La Paz and these were Rick’s first ever salt-water fish. It included cabrilla, triggerfish, white bonito and a yellowfin tuna.
Yeow! Captain Pancho was out with Dave Kosnosky from Washington when this huge roosterfish…estimated at over 80 pounds…pounced on Dave’s 22″ ladyfish bait. Dave said the fish blew up and actually tail-walked across the water like a marlin! They were able to release the fish unharmed.
Captain Jorge and Troy Clovis with one of the few dorado caught this past week. We should be catching alot more normally this time of year, but waters remain on the cool side.
Trolling a Rapala xRap in the shallows, Dave nailed this big cabrilla.
Alot of good-eating variety here! Mike Lubliner and Pat Boyle have cabrilla, rainbow runners, mullet snapper, yellow snapper and dog-tooth snapper on the cleaning board with Captain Jorge
Bob Kuzminsky’s rooster was taken on a live bait just yards from shore near Punta Arenas. They released the fish.
Enjoying his new retirement, Ruben Cornejo picked up then released this roosterfish just off the beach. This is “Roosterfish Alley.”
If Steve Wright looks a little tired, it’s because his arms are probably a little worn from fighting several big roosterfish like this one! Steve released all his fish.
Yellowfin tuna, yellow snapper, dog tooth snapper and a big pargo liso made for a great day of action!
Another big rooster for Steve. He rocked several big roosters and was able to release them all.
Big smiles from Bob Kuzminsky and another roosterfish!
It was an up-and-down week, to be honest. What’s going on??? CRAZY!
This is more like late March or April weather and fishing!
Winds, waves and colder weather…even fog were issues that affected the fishing and had us working harder for the fish. Bait was sometimes an issue as well because it was also affected by conditions and some days were just plain rough. These cooler conditions are lingering alot longer than normal when we should be into almost summer climates by this time. It’s a long thermometer to be sure. Nights are in the low to mid 50’s (cold) and then jumping into the high 80’s by daytime.
Roosterfish running 10-50 pounds (and larger) have truly been a highlight as the fish are now prowling the shores and beaches around Las Arenas and Bahia Muertos. Our anglers are catching them on sardines, but the larger ones are falling for the bigger ladyfish (sabalo) baits slow trolled behind our pangas. Those same areas are holding jack crevalle, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra and amberjack. Schools of white bonito have added to the action. Occasionally someone hooks a dorado. Billfish are swimming around, but not quite ready to bite. We are getting more pompano and trevally than I have ever seen. Same with rainbow runners…baby cousin to yellowtail.
Surprisingly, yellowtail up to 40 pounds should be long gone, but they’re still on the area north of La Paz and feeding on mackerel. I think as long as the waters stay some what cooler than normal and the mackerel stick around, so will the yellowtail. No doubt this has been the best yellowtail season in my memory after 30 years down here, but I wish the dorado would show up finally.
Football season starting? Football-sized tuna here and there! Troy got one!
Keeping an eye out…we’ve had little teasers of tuna and wahoo lately. Trying not to get too excited then get disappointed, but it’s encouraging that they are around! We’ll keep you posted.
Captai Armando put Matt Harringer and his guys onto a couple of nice little fun yellowfin tuna as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 11-18, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Starting to see a few more roostefish. Christian was out with Captain Pancho who put him on this legit roosterfish right off the rocks near Bahia Muertos. The fish was released. Hopefully, start seeing more of the big gallos.
Waters are warming and more billfish being seen. They aren’t quite ready to bite just yet, but we did have two hook ups on the pangas this past week ,but none of them stuck.
Our buddy, Jimmy Williams was dropping lines around the north of Cerralvo Island hanging some nice cabrilla when this nice bull dorado bit!
Honestly, it wasn’t exactly a super-dooper for fishing. Lots of folks in town for spring break and Easter as expected with hotels, restaurants and beaches pretty packed, so not exactly alot of folks wanting to go fish to begin with. With daytime temps in the high 80’s and nighttime in a comfortable high 60’s, it was an enjoyable time in town.
However, the biggest issues with fishing were the return of blustery winds combined with a full moon.
I guess the winter winds are not completely gone yet as we had some windy days that made fishing less than stellar and confined most of the fishing closer to shore for inshore species. Even when the winds didn’t blow in the daytimes, they winds came up in the afternoons and evenings which overturns the water clouding it up and affecting fish and bait patterns.
Add to that a full moon that also affects currents and tides and our fishermen and captains had to really work hard for species like cabrilla, jacks, snapper, pargo, sierra and bonito. Decent action but hardly spectacular.
One thing is that waters are warming as is typical this time of year and based on recent catches, I’d have to speculate that maybe our yellowtail season is on the wane. As waters get warmer, the big jacks start moving to cooler water. The ’tails definitely were more elusive and harder to find this week and we saw a few more dorado and billfish in our waters. All indicative of warming conditions.
We did see more roosterfish this week that were quality 20-40 pound fish. All released. That’s a good sign as hopefully these are the vanguard to start the influx of big boy roosterfish we get in the springtime. So, we’ll keep an eye on that. If the bigger baits like mullet and ladyfish start moving up to the shallows, the big gallos will follow up their food source
Tailhunter Fish Report 