La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 15-22, 2021
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Steve from Seattle just wanted one big rooster…he caught and released 12 over 5 days of fishing like this big bruiser.
Two bulls on deck! Dave and Diane Kosnosky found a hot spot and their first day put 7 nice fish in the box and had some epic battles with others that got unbuttoned.
Pompano are still with us and great on light tackle! Gary and Ed Henry from Fox News and travelled all the way from Maryland show off another tasty pompano.
These two guys were way fun all week! John Hamilton and Jerry Hill with Captain Armando hold up a couple of nice yellowtail with pompano on the table.
Our amigo, Rick Kasper on the right with his friend Bruce Redmond a fishing guide from Wyoming put a huge variety of fish on the table including barred pargo, rainbow runner, cabrilla, red snapper, yellow snapper, pompano and pargo liso.
Steve cradles another of his big roosterfish of the week. He got really good at posing with these big fish. All released.
This is just a great photo with great colors and a super fish! Diane with Captain Alfredo fishing near Espirito Santo Island. Frameable photo!
John Hamilton fought this fish well over an hour and Captain Boli estimate it at well over 80 pounds. Despite the gaff the fish was released strong. The gaff is just under the tough skin near the dorsal and was only used to lift the fish so they could get the big hook out of it’s throat as the fish was thrashing too hard next to the boat in the water. This big boy is still swimming.
First day on the water for Scott Munday and Captain Gerardo who had an action-filled day with cabrilla, pargo, snapper and a palometa (with Captain Gerardo).
Love the pose and the fish! Jerry Hill has a nice dorado just off the rocks. Jerry is another of our fun Washington amigos.
Diane got and released a nice pair of roosters.
Steve has yet another big fella for a quick photo then back into the water!
Gary and Juan with a cabrilla that I’m sure made it back to the dinner table at Rancho Costa, Gary’s place in Bahia Muertos.
Dave’s barred pargo. Tough fish to fight, but tasty on the plate!
Probably had one of the better weeks of fishing this past week. Still some bumpy breezes on the ocean, but overall, just really pleasant conditions with air temps in the high 80’s to low 90’s but not much humidity and cooler evenings. Water temps in the mid to high 70’s and really cleaning up nicely. Lots of pretty blue patches of water all which corresponded to a much improved surface bite.
Alot of great variety to be had. I think I counted almost 20 different species caught this week, but the biggest news were all the big big slugger roosterfish that showed up in the counts.
A number of smaller 10-20 pound fish, but many of the fish hit the 50-90 pound class and were readily chasing live baits like the sardines, but the larger fish especially loved the larger ladyfish (sabalo) as bait. Some of the battles this week were well over an hour on the larger roosters and many were on lighter tackle. As far as we could tell, all the roosters got released!
Even Capt. Jorge got into the gallery this week!
The other big new was that the dorado finally decided to join the party. We’ve seen them around for several weeks dinking around, but not really participating as the waters got warmer.
Well, this week, things finally shook loose.
Double dorado fist with Dave Kosnowsky!
There were some spots where there were numerous dorado not ready to go, but then other spots where it was crazy fun with legit-sized fish in the 15-30 pound class bending rods and some larger fish lost as well. There are good spots of sargasso weeds north of La Paz that are holding some really nice schools of dorado that are chasing the bait, especially the flying fish, that are holding in the sargasso.
In addition to the roosters and dorado, the rest of the variety was great. We had a couple of marlin hook-ups finally that didn’t stick, but we know the billfish are here. There were also some great pompano, some yellowtail and amberjack, several types of pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, yellow jacks, red and yellow snapper, blue and white bonito as well.
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of May 7-14, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nice 1 day catch that doesn’t include all the roosterfish and jack crevalle they released, but left to right holding pompano, yellow trevally, snapper and pargo are Sy Thomas (Thousand Oaks CA), Brian and Kelly Bowman (Payson AZ) and Rick Kasper (Arizona/ Wyoming/ Texas/ California).
Yes, this is a massive pargo liso! See more about this fish below. Scroll down!
Another incredible week for these beautiful pompano. Maybe the best pompano bite I can remember! Just off the Punta Arenas lighthouse sands, Roger Thompson holds up a whopper!
Jordan Curet right off the rocks, she and her husband caught and released 6 roosterfish in a single day.
Todd Hembry was fishing north of La Paz around Espirito Santo Island with Captain Boli when this huge cabrilla bent his rod!
Roger again…wahoo again! Finally, the wahoo started biting this week. That’s Cerralvo Island in the backgroun and Roger has a knack for these speedsters!
Bryce Gordon with one of several nice roosterfish he caught and released this particular day just outside of Bahia Muertos.
Captain Jorge with Sy Thomas and Rick Kasper and a trio of tasty pompano.
Early season dorado and one of the first of the year for us with Todd Hembry caught just outside of La Paz Bay.
Bryce and Jordan Gorgon with a double double of nice pompano.
No shortage of action when the jack crevalle schools move into the shallow. Our amigo, Gary Wagner from Rancho Costa.
The man in the mask, Bryce Gordon, with another rooster for a quick photo and release.
No doubt, I can officially say the seasons are changing. Generally warmer sunnier weather with gentler kinder winds (most of the time!) herald that we’re finally moving out from the colder harsher winter conditions to an actual spring-time season.
The best indication of that are the water conditions understandably coupled with a change in the complexion of the fishing.
Although we still got occasional days of brutal winds, for the most part now, they are the anomaly rather than the norm. Waters are warming and in many areas changing from the cloudier-colder greenish gray to clearer blue waters.
After maybe the most spectacular yellowtail season in decades, colder water fish like the yellowtail are diminishing along with other cooler-water species like sierra and amberjack, although there’s still no shortage of a host of other winter-ish species like snapper, pargo-liso, barred pargo and some huge cabrilla/ grouper. If you like shallow-water fishing you can bend rods all day over the rocks fishing for these great fun fish.
However, more and bigger roosterfish have moved in. Fish in the 20-60 pound class can now be found along the shallow sandy beaches as well as near the rocky drop-offs near cliffs and around both Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island. We had one day where 3 of our pangas totaled 18 roosters caught and released on a single day.
However, other members of that same jack-family like the roosterfish have been abundant as well to add to the species list. Big schools of slugger jack crevalle are cruising the inshore channels with fish up to 15 pounds but the biggest surprise has been the huge African pompano that have shown up.
This past week, we had more pompano catches than I have ever seen. Usually, the fish are 5-9 pounders, but the past several weeks has produced fish up between 10-15 pounds with multiple hook-ups on some pangas. Mixed in are giant yellow trevally (palometa) as well which are also members of the jack family and also great eating.
Related to the warming waters, we’re also finally hooking up some wahoo and some schools of dorado have moved into the fishing counts as well. Hopefully more of both in the coming weeks as conditions improve!
WOULDA COULDA SHOULDA (WORLD RECORD?)
This past week, we had a pretty exciting catch. Popular Captain Pancho with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet was out with Dr. Jesus Velarde when this huge pargo liso (mullet snapper) bit his sardine. Now, MOST pargo we see are 5-10 pounders and they are TOUGH TOUGH fish to pull out’ve the rocks!
However, this fish was estimated by Pancho to be about 50 pounds!
After checking the photo, I went to the IGFA website to check the official world record. It turns out to have been Rolla Cornell’s big 45 pounder caught in 2007 in our area with our friend David Jones’ Fisherman’s Fleet. Take a look at the two fish and see if Pancho’s is larger. They’re pretty close!
Rolla Cornell’s 2007 world record mullet snapper of 45 pounds caught in our waters fishing with David Jones’ Fisherman’s Fleet.
Dr. Velarde’s fish…maybe not as long as the Cornell fish, but most folks seem to think it’s much thicker!
It’s too bad, but still an incredible catch. There have been so many records and near records taken out’ve our La Paz waters over the years. The world record roosterfish of 114 pounds is still in the books and personally, we’ve had 2 world records set by our anglers and maybe another 6 that would have been world records except we cut them up into fillets and then checked the photos and record books later! We DO have an IGFA scale at our offices.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 29-May 6, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Roosterfish are in and they’re BIG! Captain Gerardo is about 6’1″ so you can see how big the fish is by comparison. He was out with Joel Jirales and the fish was released.
Her first dorado is our first dorado! Tracy Chung from Oregon with Captain Armando caught her first dorado and it’s a a big one! It’s also our first dorado of the season as well indicating that warmer waters have started moving into the area.
Our good amigo, Ed Buchanan from San Diego, always has fish and a good fish pose too! Yellowtail on the gaff and Cerralvo Island in the background.
Marcus Yoo had 3 blown out days in a row with winds. His final day he made up for it with pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito, roosterfish, pompano and even this small blue marlin that ate a live bait and could not be released. Marcus donated the meat to the local folks.
Now THIS is alot of meat! A big fat cabrilla caught by John Chung near Espirito Santo Island is a tough fish to pull out of the rocks and a real trophy not to mention great eating!
An incredible week for big pompano. Check out this big boy caught by Marcus just outside of Bahia Muertos.
John Gillespie from Havasu City AZ is all smiles with this big roosterfish he caught just off the shallows near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Donna Thompson with her favorite Captain Hugo and another pompano taken off the south end of Cerralvo Island where they also hooked yellowtail and other species.
First day and first-time visitors Marilou and Todd Hembry with Captain Adolfo and a nice mix of cabrilla and a pargo liso held up by Captain Adolfo.
Lorena with a highly-prized huachinango snapper headed for the fillet table. We had lots of variety this week on the days when the wind let us out on the water.
Tracy Chung and Patty Killian took the day with Captain Armando to compete against their husbands and winning with a nice rack of snapper, cabrilla, big bonito and a hefty yellowtail.
Oh the pain! William Balazar from San Diego has a smiling grimace trying to pose with this big fat bonito.
Lots of variety for John Chung and Jeff Killian (thumbs up) with Captain Jorge with cabrilla, bonito snapper and pargo on the fish board!
Laurie Reynolds poses with a colorful barred pargo and a big smile of her own.
Marcus with another huge pompano just off the rocks.
Talk about a haul! Captain Gerardo has alot of cleaning to do! Check out all the pompano on his cleaning table!
It wasn’t bad fishing this week. There was almost NO fishing for a good part of the week!
We not only had a full moon with strong currents, but the winter winds came roaring back after giving us a few weeks of break. The wind didn’t just make it tough to be on the water. It was impossible to even get in the boats and onto the water early in the week. Even after winds cut back a little, our fishermen still didn’t want to go out. Couldn’t blame them!
It was THAT rough!
So, we pretty much had to cancel half the week because no one could get out. After the first few days, the wind dropped back “a little” but then, like I said, no one wanted to go out…understandably.
It was not only wind, but COLD!
Hopefully, the last vestige of winter before things start being more “spring-like.”
I thought we were well on our way. But this week gave us a dose of reality again.
However, at the end of the week, winds laid back down. The warm sun came out and the dirty blown-out waters settled down and the fishing kicked back into gear with LOTS of variety. This included barred pargo, pargo liso (mullet snapper), big sierra, snapper, some huge cabrilla (seabass), as well as some of the biggest bonito we’ve seen all season.
We also had a super bite of big pompano up to 15-18 pounds with boats catching multiple fish. They were mixed in with the jack crevalle and big bonito.
In addition, we still pulled on some 15-20 pound yellowtail and a number were lost. However, as the waters are warming up, the yellowtail bite is diminishing. Plus roosterfish running 30-60 pounds were biting off the beaches.
On top of that, we got our first marlin and dorado of the season which are indicative that hopefully spring conditions are finally emerging.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 13-20, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A great first day for Sue and Bobby Stanley from the San Diego area on their first trip to La Paz with a nice yellowtail and some great action on some big boy cabrilla.
Johnny Enright from Lemon Grove CA shows off our first roosterfish of the season taken on a live bait near Bahia Muertos. The fish was released. Schools of roosters are now showing up in the shallows.
YEOW! This is a huge pompano…a member of the jack family like yellowtail, roosterfish and jack crevalle. Great eating! Captain Moncho handling the great pose.
Great way to start the day! First sardine in the water produced this big yellowtail for Nancy fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos with Captain Pancho.
Our Salt Lake City amigo, Robert Pettit with his favorite Captain Arcangel and a crazy variety of fish including two big yellowtail, cabrilla, white bonito and a big pargo as well.
Cabrilla, sierra and two kinds of pargo…a pargo liso (mullet snapper) and pargo perro (dog-tooth snapper) for John and Nancy on the cutting board.
Captain Blas with another yellowtail. This one taken near Espirito Santo Island.
Two of our new San Diego friends, Cindi Rice and Howard Cook have two huge sierra, some white bonito and some of those big cabrilla that went off last week.
Alla Cazier is all smiles with her thick yellowtail she hung north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island. Alla came to visit us from San Antonio, Texas.
The mornings were cool and jackets were recommended, but honestly, we could not have had better weather this week. By the time the sun came up, it broke into clear blue days that weren’t too hot and flat calm waters mostly. They were the kind of days to spend on the beach and the Chamber of Commerce loves to taut.
So, what happened to the fishing?
The better part of the week, for lack of a better word, it STUNK!
Compared to what we had in the previous weeks, it was almost like a liquid desert out there! I don’t know if this was the whole Sea of Cortez, but I even had guys from Loreto drive down because they said fishing up there was really slow. I had guys on the East Cape asking if our fishing was any better than down there because they were wondering if they should drive up and fish our waters instead.
Gotta be honest, but everyone really had to work hard for the few fish that were taken. That includes both our Las Arenas and our La Paz Fleet.
Sure, there were occasional flurries or some boat would get lucky and everyone around them would be getting blanked, but for the most part, it was less than stellar fishing we we picked through pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito and even some sierra. Some boats even struggled to catch a few bonito.
Then, it was like a switch was thrown the latter part of the week. In fact, most of the photos for this week’s fishing were from the last few days of the week.
Yellowtail bit again, maybe not as crazy as previous weeks, but alot better than earlier in the week. We got our first roosterfish of the season. Dog-tooth snapper and pargo liso bit. In addition to some hefty pargo, bonito and cabrilla, we got pompano, huge jack crevalle and some mega-sized sierra for quite a variety.
It saved our week for a number of anglers who had been having a tough time! (And lowered our own anxiety levels!)
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 5-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great shot of Brenda Bovee with big smiles and a big yellowtail with Captain Pancho. Brenda came to see us from San Diego.
Taken on the troll, Jim finally got a yellowtail in the boat the last day and it’s a thick one.
More San Diego boys in the house! Mike Mauzy brought his buddies down for a day of fishing with us. Big yellowtail, again taken on the troll, this time on a Nomad lure on the way back from Cerralvo Island to Bahia Muertos as well as a tasty pargo. They were fishing with Captain Victor.
Keith and Mark from Washington with Captain Pancho took a nice box of yellows at the end of a slower day.
Nick and Brandy Wilks with Kim and Brett Kopchitz on the beach at Muertos with a nice day’s catch. Everyone is from Detroit.
Beautiful beach weather all-week for spring breakers and post Easter visitors with temps in the high 80’s and down to the 60’s at night. Actually, in the early mornings, it was rather chilly. All of us had sweatshirts and jackets on in the mornings and the fishing clients in shorts and t-shirts were laughing at us.
Despite the beach weather, it wasn’t always the best on the water.
Those problematic winter winds have been diminishing every week, but there are times when the winds dig their heels in and come roaring back every few days. Additionally, some days Las Arenas was calmer. Some days La Paz was calmer. It kept flip-flopping. If you were fishing with our Las Arenas fleet and you had a blustery day, the fishing was terrible to be honest. If you were fishing with our La Paz fleet, it would be calm and the fishing was much better.
The next day, it could totally flip-flop. Just a matter of being in the right spots fishing at the right time or the wrong spot at the wrong time.
Fortunately, most of our anglers fish several days and are flexible. Also, having fleets in both areas, it was pretty easy to flip folks back and forth depending on the wind forecasts. The biggest problem were the few days where the forecast said nothing about the winds and they roared up during fishing hours then just as quickly died down after a few hours.
Jim and Brenda Bovee, our San Diego amigos with yellowtail, jack crevalle, a big sierra and several tasty white bonito.
The other issue was with folks that were only fishing 1 day. No flexibility because of whatever…travel schedules…etc. so the weather was…what the weather was. Pot luck. Some did OK. Others, regretfully, not so much.
When the fish DID bite, the yellowtail were still the hot bite. Areas around Cerralvo Island were again productive especially the north and south ends of the islands plus the backside at Los Pilis. Fish were also found between Bahia Muertos and the Punta Arena lighthouse.
For our La Paz Fleet heading north to fish around the deeper drop-offs at Espirito Santo Island were the most productive especially on the eastern side of the island all the way up to the El Baja Seamount.
Interestingly the last few weeks yo-yo iron seems to produce more and bigger fish when it came to yellowtail fishing. However, this past week, it seemed that there were days when the fish were not interested at all in the jigs and would only eat live bait. Good size on these forkies…15-30 pound fish on the average.
Other species this week included both common bonito and the tastier white bonito plus a good bite of jack crevalle and rounded out with cabrilla, pargo, snapper, amberjack, sierra and even the occasional dorado. We’re seeing a number of wahoo, but they’re just not ready to bite. Could be any day as the waters warm up the deeper we get into the season.
BAHIA MAGDALENA REPORT
We had our first group of amigos head out to Bahia Magdalena to fish the mangroves around Lopez Mateos there on the Pacific Side. Two days of fishing with Captain Rigo produced a great variety of fish including halibut, spotted bay bass, pargo, triggerfish, croaker, snook and lots of corvina all on light tackle. Dr. Guy Nazareno and his daughters Bella and Nataly come with family friend, Verda Boyd, every year to whale watch and fish. Check out the photos!
Verda’s leopard grouper
Bella and Nataly with a table full of spotted bay bass.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 28-April 4, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
All the way from Detroit for one day of fishing and she made the most of it. Brandy Wilks and her husband Nick fished with Captain Victor and crushed the yellowtail and even a dorado in the box! They generously gifted all the fish to everyone too!
This is called a “good start” to 3 days of fishing. Eric and Mark.
Great shot of Captain Victor sticking the gaff for Kim Kopchitz from Michigan on one of several big yellowtail.
On the spinning rod, another fat yellowtail on a Rapala for Darrell Manginelli.
Captain Pancho with Mark Diegert and a feisty jack crevalle. Great tough fish on light tackle. The fish was released.
Lures like this little Rapala mackerel pattern were deadly on the cabrilla slow trolled over the rock as Darrell found out and took alot of cabrilla home with him.
Sheer joy! Mark Bonsack and Eric Deigert from Washington jigged up 6 big yellowtail before 8:30 a.m. Mark said they saw an 80-pound wahoo swim by but couldn’t get him to bite!
OH yea…some good eating there on the cutting board. Big cabrilla for Brad and Eric plus a nice amberjack.
The week started started slow with a return of those blustery wintry winds really tearing up the waters. Each week conditions get better, but winter still isn’t quite done with us and it kicks and screams from time-to-time.
Even when the winds cut out, the waters were still a mess. Temps had cooled and the cooler murkier water knocked down any kind of bite that we had.
However, as the week went on, things cleared up significantly with the yellowtail again returning to centerstage with fish up to 30 pounds eating live sardines, yo-yo iron, knife jigs as well as trolled Rapala-style lures.
The areas were spread from Punta Perrico and Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to the Las Arenas lighthouse and across to Cerralvo Island where fish blew up at both the north and south ends of the island as well as on the backside at Pilis.
Cerralvo Island showing north point. Facing south. Las Arenas way in the distance haze. Pilis is about 1/3 down the left side (eastern side) of the island.
Wahoo were seen, but wouldn’t chew. However, big cabrilla, snapper, pargo, jack crevalle and lots of bonito rounded out some good solid action the latter part of the week. There was also a stray dorado or two (waters getting warmer) and some early amberjack.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for March 11-20, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Omar and Fay live in La Paz and took the afternoon to fish with Captain Pancho and had a good few hours on the water with nice-sized cabrilla and a trio of yellowtail using yo-yo jigs.
If the conditions are right, limits of slugger yellowtail were not uncommon. Jimmy got these at south point.
Our amigo..Jimmy Williams got out on a flat day before the winds and was able to make it over to Cerralvo Island and took a limit of yellowtail including some big-shouldered ones like this one that jumped on a live sardine.
Nothing but smiles for Paco. He’s taking home this yellowtail headed for the grill.
An uptick in the winds and chillier weather chased off alot of the local folks that were fishing earlier in the month. No question, there was much less traffic on the water. Not so many vacation anglers around, but many locals had been fishing getting in on the good yellowtail bite we’ve had over the last few weeks.
However, in those interim moments when winds slacked off, yellowtail to 25 pounds were still to be found…sometimes alot of them…in the usual hot spots around the backside of Cerralvo Island as well as south point of the island over the high spots. As well, fish were taken just outside of Bahia Muertos and ranging up towards the lighthouse at Punta Arenas following the beach to the north.
The fish took a combination of live sardines; slow trolled lures or yo-yo jigs. Lots of fish getting lost in the rocks. The strong fish need to be turned quickly to keep them from heading back to their structure.
On the windier days or when it’s difficult to get to the yellowtail spots, there’s some occasional dorado biting, but inshore along the shallows, especially over the reefs and rocks, there’s a decent bite of nice-sized cabrilla mixed with snapper, jacks, pargo and sierra.
Town is getting a little more crowded, but mostly just folks coming for Spring Break or Easter vacations. Not many fishermen visiting yet.
FIELD & STREAM
First issue 1899…a different time.
Just 35 cents in 1963!
…and 2014…times have changed!
We were recently interviewed by one of the most iconic outdoor publications, Field & Stream, which has been in print for over 100 years. It was pretty cool. The interview was published about a week ago. Here’s a link to the edition. Hope you enjoy it.
We were not able to do our usual shows these past 3 months because they were all cancelled. However, bookings have been coming in heavy to make reservations for this 2021 fishing season. Many dates are already sold out or your favorite captains have already been taken. Don’t miss out. Get in touch with us ASAP so we make sure we have you covered. You can write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Covering March 1-9, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Kristina Ainsworth took this slug yellowtail on a sprinning rod just off Cerralvo Island in shallow water on some live bait.
This lady can outfish almost anyone! Donna Thompson can pull on fish all day long like this fat yellowtail that fell for a trolled Rapala.
Tadeo Arreola and Esteban Romero, Jr. live in La Paz and came out for a day that produced a fun mix of cabrilla, white bonito and even a dorado (Esteban!)
Oh yea…a legit pig yellowtail caught by Mike Ainsworth from Washington who dropped a butterfly jig (hanging from the fish mouth) on it. Mike is an experienced angler and fishing guide from Washington and owns First Light Guide Service. Check out his operation: https://firstlightguideservice.com/
Our own Esteban Romero who is one of our popular drivers and brother to Jorge Romero poses with a yellowtail off the Punta Perrico shoreline rocks.
Great photo of Hunter Ainsworth and Captain Pancho and a colorful dorado that got added to the box.
If you wanna see kids have some fun, turn ’em loose on some bonito. Hector Esteban on the beach at Muertos had a blast. Both live in La Paz.
Nothing like a big yellowtail to start the day for Hunter and his dad! Check out the crazy flat water!
Although it was generally pretty and sunny for visitors this week, the winds did come back up and knocked the bite and boaters off the water for a good part of the week. Everyone had been jumping on the great yellowtail bite the previous two weeks that had also produced a smattering of dorado, tuna and wahoo surprisingly.
However, with the winds came rougher seas and fewer boats. Hence, the counts were way down. Also, with the rougher weather, it was difficult to get to the backside of Cerralvo Island to the hotspot at Los Pilis because of trying to get across the channel. It also made it harder to get live bait with waves crashing in the shallows.
However, in those few days when the winds cut back…the fish bit…and when they bit, they bit hard!
That’s alot of meat to take home for the Ainsworth Family!
Anglers might not have been able to get to the backside of Cerralvo, but the south side of the island kicked out some really nice yellowtail. Some boats limited or broke off fish in the 20-30 pound class. Live bait like sardines or jigging with butterfly jigs were extremely effective, but absent that, the yellows also fell for trolling the big Rapalas.
Beautiful shot of Pancho ready to gaff another one!
When the yellowtail aren’t biting the inshore fish will usually chew. Dr. Rafa Santiago has a nice rack of cabrilla and snapper he pulled off the reefs.
For other species, especially closer to shore when the winds blew, there were sizeable cabrilla, medium pargo and snapper plus a really nice jag of white bonito.
La Paz Waters No So Good…
We sent out our first boat to fish out’ve La Paz this week. I generally advise against fishing this area during the winter because winds are just too problematic. Many of you know Captain Joel and he took the clients all around Espirito Santo Island. They worked bait…they worked jig…and nothing really came up except a few small cabrilla. According to Joel, alot of the water is still somewhat cold and off-color green. So, I think I’ll keep recommending that the few folks we have during this time of the year stay fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.
COVID RESTRICTIONS EASED
In case you didn’t know, the authorities lowered the Covid restrictions from level 4 (orange) to 3 (yellow) this past week. That opened up many more businesses plus the all-important Malecon waterfront with fewer protocols and raised occupancy rates in restaurants and hotels to 50%. However, they decided to close the beaches during Easter Week from March 28-Sept. 3.
That didn’t go over so well so now they say the beaches will openwith 50% capacity, but no camping will be allowed. Everyone has to be off the sand by 7 p.m.
The Malecon (waterfront) has also been opened now, although with restricted hours.
MORE DIRECT FLIGHTS TO LA PAZ ADDED THIS SUMMER!
Until last December, La Paz did not have any direct flights from the U.S. That’s when American Air started doing flights from Phoenix and Dallas experimentally thought March to see how it would work out.
Apparently, it’s been good enough that they will fly into La Paz this summer!
From Dallas they will fly Saturdays to Saturdays beginning June 5 through Sept. 4
From Phoenix 3 days a week on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday beginning June 5 through Sept. 7
Great news! Let’s get you down this year to come fish with us!
La Paz/ Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos Fishing Report for Feb. 18-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Jim and his buddy live in Los Barriles and came all the way up to get in on the yellowtail bite. Fishing with Captain Moncho they got a great load of yellowtail, cabrilla and even some surprise dorado.
Fishing with Captain Pancho, Dr. Santiago is a physician in La Paz and he and Pancho stuffed the fish box with some legit yellowtail on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Our own popular Captain “Fettucini” Alfredo Gaxiola got out with his wife to fish around Cerralvo Island on one of the calmer days and he nailed this horse of a trophy cabrilla.
Lots of boats were on the hot spots at the backside of Cerralvo Island taking yellowtail like Dr. Santiago’s fish.
Our own Tailhunter amigos and popular favorite van drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero took the spinning rods out to Bahia Muertos with the plastic jigs and took home a cooler full of tasty snapper and cabrilla. All fishing from the beach and rocks.
Relatively speaking the winds cut us some slack again this past week and we probably had the best week of fishing in the last 2 or so months. While the United States was largely wrapped in ice and snow, things were reversed in La Paz which is normally windy and generally quite windy this time of year making it difficult to fish.
With temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s, sunny skies and mostly moderate seas, anglers were able to get in on that hot yellowtail bite that’s been going on for the better part of two weeks. There aren’t many tourist anglers as this is off-season, but captains, their families and locals from La Paz and as far as Los Barriles (the East Cape) far to the south were jumping on boats to get on top of these fish. Last weekend on Saturday, as many as 80 pangas and other assorted vessels were sitting on the honey-holes taking limits. On Sunday fewer fish with about half the boats counted. But, that’s to be expected when there’s that much traffic on the water. However…
It’s maybe one of the best yellowtail bite we’ve see in years with fish running 10-25 pounds and taking a variety of jigs including yo-yo and knife jigs plus sardines when around. Some reported larger fish are also being lost as these fish are generally in heavy structure and the waters are not especially deep. Therefore, if you can’t turn their heads, these bruising fish are busting anglers off in the rocks.
Hot spots included the areas around Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to Punta Perrico and then to the areas just around the Las Arenas lighthouse at Castilla. Another spot that has been on fire is Los Pilis which up the backside of Cerralvo Island about 2/3 of the way up the island. One of our Tailhunter captains counted “at least” 40 boats there one day.
But, the travel has been worth it. Boats are landing limits or near limits of the feisty fork tails. I saw photos of the parking lot at Muertos and you would think there was a rock concert going on. There were no parking spaces with all the trucks, cars, boat trailers and vans parked there.
Additionally, there have been white bonito (tasty) plus jack crevalle, cabrilla, snapper, Sierra and pargo mixed in as well.
The biggest surprise was that a few respectable tuna have mixed in and some wahoo and dorado also showed up this week. These are normally warmer water fish and we don’t see these until later in the year unless these are hold-over fish from last season.
At the time of this writing, winds were already starting to ramp up again so hopefully the return of the winds doesn’t knock the bite back down. We know the fish are surely there!
SHALLOW WATER…LIGHT TACKLE…Great results!
Not much going on right now for driving so everyone’s favorite guy and driver, Jorge Romero went out a 2nd day later in the week. In the photos above, he was just out walking the beach with his brother, Esteban. This time he got out on one of the pangas. Still recovering from neck surgery he had at the end of last season, he didn’t want to try tangling with a big yellowtail, tuna or dorado…doctor’s orders! However…
He got in a quick 4 hour trip. It was late in the afternoon. There was not even live bait available. But using dead bait and poppers on light line and light tackle, he had a pretty epic day. All in shallow water close to shore in and over the rocks. A big pompano and lots of feisty tasty cabrilla in the box!
Trophy pompano for Jorge. We usually don’t see these guys until later spring, but I guess some warm water has moved in. These are fun fighters and make great table fare…especially sashime!
This is an epic day on light tackle in shallow water! The cabrilla heads are especially prized for soup and the meat is tender white and highly prized.
Cabrilla that fell to a surface popper.
GOOD NEWS ON COVID FRONT
This past week, the authorities lowered the covid restrictions from orange (level 4) to yellow (level 3).
This allows all work activities again with occupancy increased from 40% to 50% for places like hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The La Paz Malecon has been re-opened with restricted hours that will be monitored.
Also, since the CDC implemented the new rules requiring all international travellers entering or returning to the U.S. (like American tourists coming home from Mexico) to show evidence of a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel, Mexico has really ramped up it’s efforts to construct facilities at hotels, airports, and around the various cities, especially those that see a large influx of international travel.
After one month, Cabo San Lucas (where most folks fly to get to us) has had more than 60,000 international travelers. Of that, only 50 persons tested positive and none of them ended up exhibiting symptoms.
They were not allowed to fly, but hotels now have special discounted rooms, dining and services for those that get detained. They are given a new covid test every 2 days and as soon as they test negative, they are allowed to leave!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 9-16, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
William McCarthy and Jimmy Williams had a banner day with big yellowtail and nice cabrilla on sardines on the backside of Cerralvo Island. Jimmy tells me they lost some larger yellowtail in the rocks!
Yeow? Tuna in February? Misael stuck this YFT not far off Bahia Muertos on a sardine.
William has one for the camera and the fish box.
This tuna estimated at 100 pounds landed at the north end of Cerralvo Island by commercial panga fishermen.
Headed for the dinner table, Christian got a couple of yellowtail as well as the big sierra.
For the second straight week, the winds diminished a bit. It was still windy, but at least there were a few days for folks to get on the water or if not for the whole day, at least for the mornings to squeeze in some fishing time before the winds came up.
With temperatures daytime in the low 70’s and mostly sunshine, conditions were not too bad and fishing was surprisingly decent.
Captain Efrens catch. Six legit yellowtail.
Yellowtail between 5 and 25 pounds were the main highlight with fish hitting sardines when available, but also yo-yo jigs worked over the rocks. Knife jigs were especially effective. Hotspots included the areas right outside Bahia Muertos around the point and up to Punta Perrico and Punta Arenas.
Hog yellowtail for our amigo, Jimmy.
As well, there were some big boys taken around the backside of Cerralvo Island on the days you could get across the channel. That same area was also holding some big cabrilla.
Nice variety for this time of year…sierra, yellowfin tuna and a yellowtail!
The big surprise was that tuna are in the area. Very unusual for this time of year. While yellowtail prefer cooler waters which are normal right now, tuna are generally warmer water fish. However, we’ve had reports of tuna moving fast here-and-there with the porpoise schools, but this week a commercial panga horsed in a 100-pounder at the north end of Cerralvo Island and there are some 15-30 pound fish mixed in with the yellowtail outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
Additionally, the fish boxes came back with a nice mix of the usual fish this time of year that included sierra, pargo, cabrilla, and white bonito.
Not many tourists at all or fishermen. Mostly locals fishing. Looks like winds might be kicking back up this week. We’ll keep you posted.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON
The dimished winds this past week also allowed us to get some folks out to Bahia Magdalena for some whale watching. John Sayre and his wife, from Florida got in two nice days with the whales. The whale migration usually lasts through March. Let us know and we’ll set you up!
LA PAZ NEWS
After being closed for quite some time, the authorities have re-opened both sides of the Malecon to foot traffic. The ocean/ beach side of the boulevard had been closed to prohibit gatherings and to promote social distancing. However, Covid cases are diminishing so for now, they have re-opened both sides of the street.
In response to the new CDC rules implemented Jan. 26th, covid testing labs are popping up everywhere. Many of the hotels in Cabo now offer the services and there is a facility now at Cabo Airport. Now, a facility has been set up a the La Paz Airport as well.
The requirements mandate a negative Covid test within 72 hours of your flight and is required for ALL INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT flying INTO the U.S. You do NOT need a test to fly out of the U.S. into Mexico. There are no quarantines involved.
The test takes about 15 minutes and you get results in about an hour. Cost is a minimal $22-24 dollars.
Tailhunter Fish Report 