MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT Aug. 13-20, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – hot and humid. Days are mid to upper 90’s. Night’s mid-80’s. Very humid. Occasional tropical showers.
Water – mostly blue and mid-80’s on the surface
Bait – A mix of sardines, mackerel, ballyhoo. Requires different sized hooks if you’re bringing your own gear
Fishing – Good to excellent for dorado with our La Paz fleet. Picky to Variable for Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay (see report!)
Catching – Bigger the fish the harder to bring in (obviously!). Bigger tuna and dorado are rugged fish!
Joker in the Deck – Have no idea what this big solar eclipse Monday Aug. 21 will do! Screw with the currents? The tides? The Bait? The bite?
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT
Our good amigo, Jeff Sakuda from Cypress CA who fishes several times a year with us and his favorite, Captain Jorge, took this slug yellowfin tuna on 30 pound test to start out his fishing week at Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay.
Not bad…his first tuna…and his first fish!!! Nicholas Madrigal and Captain Armando and a tough 40-pound yellowfin tuna that put a serious bend in the rod!
Cold Chavira from San Diego CA has been fishing our La Paz waters since he was smaller than the dorado he’s holding and just one of those guys who has always had the knack of putting great fish aboard like this bull dorado caught north of La Paz.
If you’ve ever fought a tuna…and fought one on light tackle…it’s not easy hefting it up for a photo after the battle! Caryn Aizawa got this one up for the pose! I see sashime for dinner!
Another young guy from San Diego, Payton Gaston, did a number on this dorado to add to the box!
Yes, it’s Caryn again. This time with a nice dorado and Captain Pancho while fishing out’ve Muertos/ Las Arenas.
It’s been a while since anyone has hit anything on the flyrod, but Mark Aizawa managed a feisty bonito on the long stick!
That’s alot of fish to hold up so best to just let it sit on the cutting table for Johnny Sakuda posed here with his tuna and Captain Jorge and Caryn Aizawa. Check out the catch…another yellowfin plus a rainbow runner and some nice triggers. That’s alot of good eating there!
DORADO STILL HEADLINE BUT TUNA SHOW AT ARENAS/ MUERTOS
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 13-20, 2017
This past week’s action can be summed up fairly easily in two words. Hot and dorado. The weather is as hot and muggy as you could want it with humidity sometimes running 60-80%…and that’s a 5 a.m in the morning! Thankfully, afternoon breezes blow it away later in the day.
As for the fishing, dorado seem to have taken center stage for all intents and purposes. It’s been pretty steady more-or-less for the last 3 weeks. There’s been an occasional bump or two where the schools either can’t be located or when found, just don’t wanna chew, but then the switch gets thrown and we’re all good again for a few days.
It will be interesting to see what the eclipse will do to the bite. I have no idea. It’s not like this happens every day! I believe the last time this happened was in 1918 and it won’t happen again for another 90 years or so. Will the fish be affected? Who knows? Will the tides and currents be different? I wish I knew!
I’ve had some reports that some of the port captains around Baja plan to close the ports for some reason that just isn’t apparent right now. Will keep you posted. We did have some folks who told us that they purposely booked other dates because they were worried about the eclipse and others who moved their dates. It’s just something no one has ever had to deal with!
I will say one thing…town is surely alot quieter this week. The local kids have all gone back to school. Tourists are also trickling out, especially the families as schools in other places are also going back to term and we head into the “low season” for tourism..but historically, the hottest part of the fishing season!
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FISHING FLEET
The best action has been with our La Paz fleet. Limits or near limits of dorado have been the rule rather than the exception. The only issue pertains to size! If you hit a school of dinks…sure, you can catch and release a few dozen little grunts, but who wants to catch 12 inch babies? It gets old pretty fast. Hopefully, you hit the grown up batches of fish where you’ll get 10-25 pounders and then it’s bendo time.
Occasionally, it’s a day of one here…two there…one here…another one in a bit. And by the end of the day you realize you’ve got a nice batch of fish. Other times, you could be totally skunk all day then at the end hit that one spot and it’s madness for an hour of double and triple hookups…then it’s all gone. And you’re exhausted and your gear is all busted up and you know it’s been a great day and head back in.
Hard to say where the better schools are. They are in such a wide arc north of La Paz all the way from San Juan de la Costa to the west and El Rosario near Cerralvo Island to the eat and north to the Charro Bank. Bottom line is that there’s some pretty good dorado fishing to be had.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
As for Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay…hit or miss. There’s quite a variety of fish again. There’s some dorado…some billfish…an or rooster fish. In the rocks some cabrilla, pargo, jack crevalle and snapper. Bonito can pop up anywhere. Every day just seems different.
But, late in the week…a surprise…TUNA!
Some nice little scattering of 10-40 pound fish poked up north along the west side of Cerralvo Island where also (surprise) some sardines showed up. Something definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Every panga seems to do something different. Had some crazy reports of some cooler water fish like sierra, yellowtail and amberjack popping up too. What a weird season!
TAILHUNTER and CARE FOR KIDS LA PAZ
Every week our Tailhunter amigos and tribe bring us donations and I don’t always have the opportunity to post up photos or get all the names posted up, but our gratitude is no less for all your thoughtfulness. We just sent over several hundred pounds to CARE FOR KIDS in La Paz that helps out with some really impovershed areas. Check out the photos of the stuff YOU brought down the last two weeks that’s about to get distributed. Thanks more than you know!
Our friends from Wyoming, Brandon and Tanya McGarr with a bunch of school supplies they hauled down.
A little goes so far when you don’t have much!
Lots of much needed treasures!
Getting the tables ready to distribute to the neighborhood kids!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – Hot and humid. In California, they call it earthquake weather. Mid-90’s during day. Mid-80’s at night. Very tropical. Some afternoon thundershowers that come and go.
Water – Warm and blue. Surface temps in the mid-80’s. Visibility 30′-50.’
Fishing – Terrible for Las Arenas. La Paz week started slow, but gathered speed and size as the week went on and dorado woke up.
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT for AUG. 6-13, 2017
The dorado bite north of La Paz kept going despite a few hiccups here and there. Check out Brian Robertson’s nice bull. Brian is from Colorado.
Dennis McLeod from Oregon with Tailhunter Captain Joel rocked this large sailfish that Dennis says is his first “big game” fish. They hooked it off Espirito Santo Island and cheers to Dennis for the quick photo and release. Another great underwater shot below of the fish taken by Roger Hall.
Underwater shot of Dennis McLeod’s sailfish taken by Roger Hall. The guys released the fish.
One of the funniest guys we’ve ever had visit on his first trip to La Paz to fish with us, Mickey Cohen, from Lake Havasu took almost an hour on this big bull dorado on light tackle. It was Mickey’s first time dorado fishing and he put the wood to a number of fish this week. Mickey is a big guy so this fish is alot larger than it might look!
Our long-time, amigo, Dave Rose, drove all the way down from Washington to spend a few days fishing with us. He shows off one of his dorado caught while fishing with Captain Pancho out’ve Muertos Bay.
I think my favorite photo of the week! This is Captain Pancho with Ruthie and her first dorado! Ruthie lives in Utah and came to visit with her family.
Kent Williamson from Colorado had a nice three day trip with us and poses with one of his dorado and Captain Rogelio from our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.
Marie McClellan from Park City UT visits us every year and never seems to have a bad day and is always smiling! She and Captain Victor were fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos when she got this mahi. She ended up having a banner week on the dorado “our best fishing ever!”
Our best fishing buddy, Sherman McDonnel from Rock Springs WYO with his favorite Captain Armando loves to fish light tackle and sometimes pays for it..in a fun way…like when this huge roosterifsh hit his 17-pound test and he ended up battling the beast for an hour in the blazing sun! But, he always gets his fish. Nicely done and a nice release too!
Another of our new Colorado amigos…Nate Jarvis…got in 3 days of some pretty sweet dorado fishing especially with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
From Colorado, Brian Williamson, caught and had a nice battle with this milkfish while fishing just off Punta Arenas with the Tailhunter Fleet. It looks like a giant sardine that has been hitting the steroids. Schools often swim through the area but the fish are rarely ever hooked because they eat algae. Occasionally, one gets snagged. However, this particular one ate a mackerel! He went off the vegetarian menu and got hooked. They can grow to 5 feet long and weight up to 30 pounds. The fish was released.
They might not taste real great, but hit a few of these “toro” jack crevalle and your arms will tell you that you’ve been in a battle. Mike Hall got a big jack here!
DORADO PLAY GAMES BUT FINALLY COME AROUND!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 6-13, 2017
Given the great week of dorado a two weeks ago and all the hoopla, the current week started off with some nervousness. Sure, there was a full moon, but full moons don’t normally get us. In fact, some of our best bites are during full moons. But, the dorado had finally gone on a tear and it looked like things were finally kicked in. And we were high-fiving ourselves and then the week started and the fishing was barely lukewarm. What had changed? Where did all the dorado go? How come the dorado we were seeing looked bored? Who flipped the switch?
Fortunately, we re-bounded.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
Well, some parts re-bounded. I don’t know what happened with Las Arenas. Two weeks of pulling teeth that has everyone shrugging their shoulders. Clients hung tough. Captains worked like crazy. And it just wasn’t happening. Sure, there was the occasional “nice catch.” But for the most part, pangas were catching…1 dorado and a bonito. Or 2 dorado. Or 2 bonito and a cabrilla. Maybe a jack crevalle on another boat. Folks weren’t missing fish. There just weren’t any fish hitting or being found. Conditions looked good. Water seemed OK. Full moon? Will keep you posted.
Fortunately, we have two fleets…
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
As mentioned at the beginning, the first few days of the week were really disappointing. The WFO bite of dorado turned into a whimper. We scratched for a few dorado. After blowing my bugle that the dorado were “on” I looked like I had egg on my face.
We were seeing dorado, but they lockjawed and could care less about baits, feathers or lures.
Then, about mid-week the dorado got found and they got interested again!
The first schools we found were rats. Literally rats. It was the dorado nursery. Schools and schools of itty-bitty dorado that were about the size of planter-trout. I’m not kidding. It was Happy Jack’s Trout Farm. Except they were dorado. Sure, you could catch a couple of dozen, but the novelty wears off after the first few then you start releasing fish-after-fish. No one comes to catch 12-inch dorado.
But, at least they bit.
Then, we found the schools of bigger boys and legit 10-20 pounders started slamming like they are supposed to. Some of my captains asked me not to give away the exact area, but it’s holding loads of nice floating sargasso weeds and some lit up dorado jumping over each other to hit the baits with double, triple and quadruple hook-ups. Some boats got limits…caught and released others and made it back to La Paz in time for shrimp and beer for early lunch. Limits were more the rule rather than the exception.
Hope we can hold them now for the rest of the season!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for JULY 23-30, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – mid to high 90s / mid week showers/ high humidity
Water – low 80’s and mostly blue
Winds – Breezy at times
Fishing – Mostly slow for Las Arenas/ Hot and cold for La Paz changing all the time
Catching – Still loosing too many good fish after working hard to find them
Behind the bandana is a happy James Murphy from Salt Lake City who really wanted a big rooster and finally got one on his last day with Captain Jorge right off the sand near Punta Arenas
Our long-time amigo, Dick Winslow from Elk Grove CA , got this huge dog-tooth snapper with Captain Pancho while trolling for roosterfish in the shallow waters. It’s been a great week or two for these trophy fish!
Utah in the house with Dan Galli and Captain Jorge and a great colorful rooster mid-week when rain clouds threatened, but fortunately, the roosters bit! The fish was released strong!
One of the nicer bull dorado of the week with Phil Emard and Captain Joel taken from the far west side of La Paz Bay near San Juan de la Costa.
Dwayne Griffith only had one day to fish coming all the way from Texas but got his first dorado just outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
The Midwest was well-represented this week! From Iowa and visiting for the first time, Roger Damon with Captain Archangel started his week with a fistful of dorado and tuna at Las Arenas.
Oklahoma Cary Joy Hans is dwarfed by the size of Captain Gerardo and the size of her big roosterfish. This was her first time and she said “fishing is the most fun I’ve ever had outdoors!” The big fish was released.
James Murphy and Dan Galli jumped into a nice school of dorado and plugged the boat with some nice fish like these two!
Captain Rogelio with big smiles and another dorado for Cary Joy.
Everytime Greg Miller comes down he has a knack for the roosterfish! This trip was no exception. Fish was released.
If you just have one day to fish and you come all the way from Texas, catching a big roosterfish is a good way to go especially if it’s your first time! Doug is from Rose, TX and was able to release the big fish taken just off the Punta Perrico rocks.
Nancy Enright had two really good day on the dorado with Captain Rogelio. She’s from the San Diego area and poses with one of their bigger bull dorado.
It’s just a great photo! James Murphy and another big rooster!
Yes, some football tuna have shown up! Lynn Schumacher with one of hers on the beach at Muertos.
Check out the flat waters! Johnny Lucero got limits of dorado including this one north of El Sargento/ La Ventana areas.
On the gaff! Another dorado aboard for Dan Galli!
Great meat! A big barred pargo on the beach and headed for the coolers taken by Greg Miller from Oklahoma.
EVERY DAY DIFFERENT- EVERY SPOT DIFFERENT
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 23-30, 2017
Another week of surprises in the fishing and weather as every day seemed to bring new conditions; different fishing; and a changing bite that could be described as anything from terrible to good. It all depended on where you fish; what day you fish; what you were fishing for and which panga you were fishing in..and who you talked to. It ran the gamut and there was no way to pinpoint or determine how fishing was going to be.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
Our Tailhunter Fleet had limited success at best, but mostly it was hard fishing and erratic catches when and if fish could be found. Water was still cooler than normal and there were two days of winds and even some rain from the south that didn’t help matters resulting in a mixed bag of fish leaving anglers trying just about anything to get the fish to bite.
Mostly, it was hit-or-miss. Wahoo were seen, but didn’t bite. A few yellowfin tuna and dorado popped up as well as some jack crevalle and some hard hits on those big dog-toothed snapper. And that was about as exciting as it got. Some boats got blanked. We did have a few marlin hooked up, but nothing stuck.
The most consistent biter as it has been all season, were the big rooster fish which created the most excitement. The smaller ones were respectable 25-30 pounders. The larger ones went up to 6o-70 pounds and were all found in those shallow waters between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. Some days, every boat we sent that wanted roosters got at least one of the big boys. All on live bait.
LA PAZ
Our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet had better results but even then, nothing that could be counted on. Here’s where luck really came to play.
Our boats ranged all over the bay and beyond looking for fish. Some days nothing seemed to be in the water. Other days, if you hit the right spot, it was game over. The fish were hitting everything in the water.
But here’s the rub. Sometimes, you’d find the spot and fish were everywhere. But they wouldn’t eat anything. Guys were throwing everything but their lunch burritos at the fish and they weren’t interested and were lockjaw. Other times, one boat would be bendo with every rod going off and the boat right next to it couldn’t get a bite. Or, they’d hit a spot and nothing but little firecracker dorado. All you could do was go fish and the day would bring it’s own surprises.
There were a lot of fish lost. There were a lot of smaller dorado thrown back. Those that were taken were nicer 5-25 pounders.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
The Alegria Family and Akiyoshi Family pose with Jilly and two cases full of school supplies!
From Arizona, Bob Swank poses with some much needed school supplies headed to the orphange and he and Brian Levan brought down to us. School starts in about a month.
Big shout out to all of our Tailhunter amigos who continue to bring school supplies, clothes, toys, shoes and medical goods for us to distribute to the orphanages, outlying neighborhoods and La Paz women’s shelter. Above are just a few photos of some of our friends. Many thanks to them and our other Tailhunter tribe that I was not able to photo and properly thank . You are all appreciated more than you know. So far this year, we’ve collected and distributed several hundred pounds of goods!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
That’s a BIG “goldfish!” Doug McInnis was slow trolling a big ladyfish for roosters when this huge dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro / cubera snapper) came up and chomped it. He only had 40-pound test on and says the line came up incredibly frayed from the rocks! These are difficult catches! Captain Armando is rightfully beaming! They also hooked a rooster and about a big black marlin that got away.
Then…look what Doug McInnis and John Eddy did the 2nd day! They followed up one day of big pargo with MORE big pargo plus a dorado as well again with Captain Armando!
Bob LeBrun is all smiles under that hat with his first and largest roosterfish that he fought on light line for about 45 minutes in a tough battle. The fish bit a ladyfish early in the morning just off the Las Arenas lighthouse with Captain Gerardo. Good release on the fish too!
You just never know! Our buddy, Gama Flores from Desert Hot Springs CA was trolling in deep water for wahoo with Captain Pancho and both times got slammed by these huge dog-tooth snapper in deep water!
Dennis O’Brien from the San Diego area, caught and released his first roosterfish of about 40 pounds and topped it with some dorado to take home also!
She always does great! Check out Alicias Clegg’s huge jack crevalle! These are tough fish and the Mexican name for them is “toro” (bull) for just that reason!
Accomplished fisherman Al “El Al” Schneider from Orange CA has fished our area for many years but got his personal best roosterfish this week right off the sand near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Shelly Donnell has been a friend of ours for almost 20 years and brought his sister down this time. Fishing with Captain Joel, they got a nice mess of dorado fishing north of La Paz. Shelly and Gaby are from Portland OR area.
Big smiles and another dorado for Steve Harvey from the San Diego area. If you found the right spot, the dorado could be thick at times!
Nothing wrong with this big roosterfish and Bennett Clegg who had a banner day with a number of big roosters caught and released.
Some folks turn their noses up at triggerfish forgetting how tough they fight and how tasty they can be plus can provide lots of action. Andrew Harvey is holding a really big one here!
GREAT WEATHER BUT ERRATIC FISHING WEEK
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 16-23, 2017
Great weather but a mixed bag of fishing this past week. The key was finding the warm water. Some patches of cold water moved in from the south so some of our more southern fishing spots like around Las Arenas were extremely picky but if you found the blue water areas more to the north, there were fish to be found.
LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS/ SUENOS
The bite was really stick. Some might call it stink. Waters came from south and down deep bringing colder off-color water into the area and while there were some interesting fish caught, it was truly picky fishing at best. There were some scattered dorado. A few marlin hooked…most lost; an occasional wahoo; and some nice roosters and big pargo (best dog-tooth fishing I have ever seen!), but even those required some real work and luck to find. Overall, just not real great fishing. Fortunately, having the two fleets we moved folks over to fish with our La Paz Fleet where most found some better action.
LA PAZ
Dorado fishing held most of the interest for the week. But, it varied from place-to-place and literally from boat-to-boat. Five boats could be in a single area and two of those boats could be going crazy on the dorado. A third boat would get maybe 2 fish. The other two boats wouldn’t even get a bite but be only yards away from the others.
The next day, the boats that caught nothing would be the new superstar boats. Just no way to figure.
Likewise, areas that looked so promising with lots of sargasso and good currents wouldn’t produce anything while areas that looked like the desert without a sign of fish would suddenly explode with fish!
One note of importance. Lots of opportunities being lost by folks using our live bait. The live bait is big. Folks get a little impatient and not letting these dorado get the baits down into their moths and pulling the baits too soon. A little patience goes a long way. Let these dorado eat!
Another note, we could be into some typical seasonal afternoon showers this week with some predictions of afternoon rains. Just that time of year! Feeling very tropical down here.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – 8 (Sunny hot and getting hotter. Great weather!)
Water – 7 (Still recovering from that mess 2 weeks ago, but getting bluer and warmer)
Fishing – 7 (Started slow but got better)
Fish Catching – 8 (Everyone catching)
SPECIES – 8 (I counted 15 different species caught this past week)
THE BIG PICTURE COMPLETE FISHING REPORT
Chris Layne came for “one big fish.” We all tried hard to get him a marlin, but he was pretty happy with this giant roosterfish he caught and released near the Las Arenas lighthouse in shallow water!
Whopper slug of a rooster fish for Bennett Clegg from Sacramento CA who has a knack for hitting big roosters when he fishes with Captain Victor of the Tailhunter Fleet. He released the fish. He and his wife hooked 7 large roosters that day.
Chuck Chandler from Alaska landed this big boy dog-tooth snapper off the rocks not far from Punta Arenas while staying at the Rancho Costa lodge in Bahia de los Muertos.
We hooked several wahoo this week, but couldn’t seem to get them to the boat, unlike our amigo, Gary Wagner who rocked this ‘hoo while visiting his place at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
San Diego was well-represented this week with Andrew Harvey who had some nice days of dorado fishing toward the end of this week with his dad.
One of our friends from Canada, MacKay Spence, shows off one of his dorado.
Good start for Jason Amaro from New Mexico who spent the week fishing with us.
Yes, a couple of yellowfin popped into the mix like this one by our San Diego amigo, Scott Harvey.
She’s a regular roosterfish queen whenever she visits, Captain Victor with Alicia Clegg and ANOTHER roosterfish for the report! She and husband, Bennett, hooked and released 7 roosters that day.
Sydney Wagner with big smiles and another nice cabrilla for dinner at her dad’s place at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos.
Captain Joel with Murielle Chacron from Los Angeles and two of their several nice dorado they hooked fishing north out’ve La Paz.
Carlos didn’t catch this big tuna, but this was caught by Captain Rigo off the south end of Cerralvo Island fishing for the Tortugas. Big tuna keep popping up, but we can’t seem to get them stuck! This one was estimated over 100 pounds. If you look closely, you’ll see where a shark took a chunk off it’s back!
Miles Wagner from Colorado and Garrett Clark from Kansas have themselves a mess of mahi mahi steaks for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa Hotel. Dorado are getting bigger!
Tony and Alex with some of their catch at Muertos Bay. Tony caught and released his first rooster that day.
Alicia and Bennett Clegg got themselves a good day of dorado fishing after catching and releasing a number of dorado that day out’ve La Paz.
STARTS SLOW GATHERS SPEED
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 9-16, 2017
I hate to ever blame things on the full moon, but I need something to use as a scapegoat because early in the week fishing was horrendous. We had some pretty good fishing going then the week started like a flat tire on a old bicycle. It wasn’t going anywhere!
Then, as the week progressed, fishing got better! I don’t know why. I didn’t see many changes in the weather (hot) or water (warming and bluer) so the only thing I can point to is the full moon because as it waned the fish seemed to wake up.
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
With our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the numerous dorado we had been seeing that were all over the place, but not interested in feeding suddenly woke up and got hungry. Action improved as the week went on with mostly 5-20 pound mahi-mahi north of town. Add to that some great action on some huge jack crevalle and inshore species like snapper and cabrilla plus bonito and the week ended up on an up-note!
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, pretty much the same thing. Early in the week, it was really slack. The conditions looked good but the fish just weren’t helping us out. Then, it got better and better each day.
Small football tuna (and some larger ones for commercial boats); big roosterfsh; a few wahoo; some larger pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and snapper and more dorado turned a nervous week into alot of variety!
Can only hope it gets better!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK of JUNE 25-July 2, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE (Scale of 1-10 being best)
Weather – 7 (sunny and warm low 90’s / humid at times/ some breezes)
Water – 2 (some places dropped of cold / other places got warm and algae bloom started – see red tide below)
Fishing – 2 (at best)
Catching – 2 (when fishing is bad to begin with PLUS you lose fish…that hurts!!)
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK
Victor Higerada from Texas with one of the larger dorado of the week and Captain Jorge.
Washington in the house and always smiles when Michele Conklin visits us. She can fish too! She took this hefty yellow snapper on a rough day out’ve Las Arenas.
The start of summer vacation for Micah Sybesma who came down with his dad and took this nicer dorado fishing north from La Paz.
Our good buddy, Rex Smith, who has been with us so many years looks a bit tired and that’s because he is! He battled this big roosterfish and couldn’t lift it for the photo! He did, however, get it back into the water and honestly, told me he was just trying to keep the fish still so it wouldn’t beat itself up so he could release it. Well done!
Sam Sybesma in the center with a nice group shot. Sam has fished with us many time but for John Slager, Geoff Wilkinson, Micah Sybesma and AJ Wilkinson, their first dorado! Nice shot!
The Basadre guys got themselves a nice handful of fish with some nice cabrilla and a jack crevalle! They’re from Long Beach. It’s Felix and his son, David!
Darrell Manginelli and Rob Bogartz started off their week with a couple of dorado.
A hat trick mix of fish for Captain Jorge in the center with an amberjack. Victor Higerada on the left has a football yellowfin tuna and Ed Martinez on the right has a dorado.
Double dorado! Micah on the right and AJ on the left with their first dorado ever!
A fish to match the outfit! It was great having Jeff Swift and his family fishing with us. He’s got a dorado on the gaff just off the island.
Jack crevalle might not be great eating, but they are tough fighers and here in Mexico they are called “Toros.” That’s Spanish for “bull” which is a good name. Darrell Manginelli had his hands full with this big jack!
FISHING FALLS APART
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 25-July 2, 2017
Just when I thought we had turned the corner and the season was “ON!” And being so high on the fishing a week ago, we got slapped back this week with some of the worst fishing I have ever seen. Fishing literally went into the tank. The waters turned into the Sahara desert in terms of life!
It was a combination of a number of things. And what a crazy mix and just a bad combination of weather conditions.
Hurricane Dora way way way to the south of us that skirted far down and quickly went out west to the Pacific. It didn’t bring rain. It didn’t bring clouds. The skies remained sunny and hot. In fact, humidity got up to 80% one morning when I was putting out the boats. But, what it did bring was upwelling and swells of cold water that dropped water temperatures 5-10 degrees! Not only did the waters turn from blue to green, but I think the fish were just in shock like when your hot water turns off in the shower or your neighbor flushes the head and you get a jolt of cold water. The fish went lockjaw.
Hurricane Dora this past week way to the south of us, but it pushed some colder upwellings towards us that affected the fishing.
On top of that we had several days of winds that gusted here…but not there…and there…but not here. One place flat as a pond but several miles away white-capping waves that again, didn’t do much for clearing up the water.
(We’re told pretty much all of Southern Baja from La Paz to the East Cape to Cabo were hurting this week for fishing…not just us!. We were getting calls and e-mails from folks in the other areas asking if our fishing was any better because they wanted to come up to fish.)
This is what red tide looks like and the algae bloom goes off and gets so thick it’s like a soup. Algae blooms deplete the water o oxygen.
Algae soup!
The biggest issue was a red tide that really put the slammer on everything. This result from…of all things…warm water that sets off a massive algae bloom that gets so out-of-hand and so thick that waters can looks “red” or “rusty” in places but surely cloudy and filmy and dirty. In fact, local restaurants are warned not to use local shellfish during a red-tide and for fishing, the algae bloom chokes the oxygen out’ve the water and in some cases like shallow bays kills off marine life.
So, fish just disappeared. We busted our butts and clients worked hard, but limits of dorado went down to looking for a single dorado bite. Fish we saw, weren’t interested in eating. Or, the waters were just empty.
We got a dorado here and there. We lost the occasional wahoo. Pargo and and cabrilla and triggerfish were still in the rocks if that’s what you wanted. A few jack crevalle and rooster fish. But that was it!
Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll have swung around again. Things change fast. The thing with the algae blooms is that the warm water that creates will suddenly kill it off as the temperatures continue to climb. Then, the waters turn blue. Fingers crossed.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
Thank for the big hearts guys! Donations last week went to the Care for Kids Program. This week, thanks to Geoff Wilkinson and Sam Sybesma for their donations and also, Felix Basadre and his sons Dave and Tony who hauled down two full ice chests of clothes that will go to the women’s shelter. (I’m sorry I didn’t get your photos!) Muchas gracias, guys!
Have a great week everyone!
That’s my story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Lots of reasons to love this great photo! First…nice roosterfish just off the beach! Second…Claire Swift’s big smile on her first roosterfish that she REALLY came down to catch! Third…in 20 years of working for us, Captain Arcangel rarely smiles for the camera although he’s a fun guy! He’s got it going on here in this photo! They had 3 other fish that got away also! This beauty was released as well! Claire is from Dana Point CA.
Great start of the week of fishing for our great Washington friends, Grant and Carol Darby with Captain Gerardo and a nice box of dorado!
Every year, Diego Jimenez from Loveland, Colorado comes to visit us and does well. Check out the big roosterfish with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.
We call him the “Mayor.” Butch Tropez from Los Angeles brought the family to see us this year and usually makes at least one or two trips a year to come fish. He got into the dorado right off the Punta Perrico rocks just outside of Muertos Bay. Don’t have to go far for these fish!
Grant Darby from Washington has fished with us a zillion years, but got into three sizeable roosters with Captain Gerardo and said, “No mas!” These fish are a handful. All released. Grant had fun on the light tackle.
This lady can fish! Verda Boyd visits us every year and our amiga loves to fish…so much so that she left husband Tim back in the San Francisco area and came alone! He wishes he had come now after she had a full 3 days of pretty good fishing with Captain Victor!
From Colorado, Craig Weitzer was fishing with Captain Armando when he got two huge roosters . The largest got released but this one was not able to be let go, but the meat was donated. His first two roosters were beasty-fish!
Another of our regular great amigos who visits us sometimes twice a year and loves fishing with Captain Jorge, John McVey got into this week’s dorado bite.
This lady always gets her fish! Big roosterfish for Kelly Jimenez (Happy Anniversary, amiga!) with Captain Pancho. The fish was released .
Limits for our friend and first time, visitor Jeff Swift from Dana Point, who got a limit of dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. (Those wily pargo and cabrilla are waiting for your next trip, Jeff!)
Carol Darby had quite a week with the dorado and also this roosterfish that’s almost as big as she is and a smiling big Captain Gerardo! They caught the fish not far off the Arenas lighthouse on light tackle. They also released the fish.
Verda Boyd has a nice variety of fish for the day with Captain Victor and Carlos including dorado, a big pompano, triggerfish, a barred pargo and a palometa! All great eating!
Captain Jorge and Diego Jimenez started his week off with some pretty dorado to fill the ice chest.
Wow! We’ve had some big needlefish this season but this one is prehistoric! Captain Rogelio helps Carol Darby (longer than she is tall!) pose with this creature!
DORADO SEASON OFFICIALLY ON…FOR AT LEAST THIS WEEK!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 17-25, 2017
It’s been a long time…several seasons actually…since I’ve been able to blow the “dorado trumpet!” After about 2 1/2 seasons where el Nino conditions kept the dorado eenie-meenie small or almost non-existent, it’s nice to have the mahi-mahi back in our waters and, while not beasts, they’re nice good-sized fun fish that kept rods bent and folks (especially first-timers) happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say these two words…”DORADO LIMITS!”
While there’s still a bit of chill and wind in the mornings, it’s warm and sunny during the day and some of the best conditions we’ve seen in awhile. I’m sure that has had a lot to do with the improved fishing. Still some bump out there, but surely better than it has been and, although I hear there’s been a crazy heat wave in much of the lower U.S. and Pacific States, it’s been a balmy 95 here most of the week.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
There’s still some big rooster fish around. There’s still wahoo around. But, our counts surely didn’t show it this week although we did get a few of each. For once, there was something else to chase and for alot of folks, the opted for fun and action chasing the dorado schools that moved in rather than spend long hours chasing the bigger home run fish like the roosters and wahoo.
The roosters we did get were in the 25-60 pound class. The wahoo…well…we lost most of them but were about 30 pounders.
The excitement focused on some of the best dorado fishing we’ve seen in ages. Not huge fish, but good respectable 8-20 pounders and we were getting limits or near limits on some days with fish being released, especially smaller or female fish! There were also some larger bulls in the 25-30 pound class as well.
Another good sign is that these dorado will wake up the billfish and sure enough there was a huge black marlin and a blue marlin hooked as well!
Still some white bonito, pompano, huge jack crevalle and pargo mixed in as well.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Another nice mix of fish with dorado leading the way. Again, it’s been awhile since dorado have been center-stage and even a longer time since I’ve been able to say that both our La Paz and our Las Arenas fleets are into the fish!
Like Las Arenas, the dorado have been that nice-grade medium-sized with occasionally larger bulls and not unusual to get early limits. The issue, mostly is finding the fish. There’s still some thick cold green water muddling around the island so the idea is to find the warmer water and blue currents. It’s so markedly different you can stand in the panga and see the two waters next to each other like night-and-day.
In the inshore waters, you can have fun all day if you’re tired of chasing dorado. In the rocks we had some great…but frustrating acition…on tough pargo, cabrilla and amberjack that rocked alot our efforts!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
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