La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 8-15, 2018
Mexican Minute Video Report
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Hot and humid! Temps in upper 90’s during the day. Low 80’s at night. Bring shorts and don’t forget your hat and sunglasses and sunscreen. Warmer weather means better fishing! Before we whined about too much wind. Now some days we wish we had a breeze!
Water – In the 80’s, but last week water temps dropped from the mid-80’s to low 80’s and it seemed to affect the fish with the abrupt change. Cooler waters got a bit dirtier. Find the blue warmer water for the best bite and to locate fish. Got better as the waters cleared up later in the week.
Fishing – Dorado are 70% of the bite right now. More fish schooling up which is great and very typical of warm summer fishing. Seeing more marlin these days. Still tuna, roosterfish and wahoo around. But more folks targeting the mahi.
Catching – Alot easier to catch dorado than other species!
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Chance Wallis all the way from Kentucky was dragging live bait close to the rocks near Las Arenas when he got this big roosterfish to roll up on it. The fish was released.
Nice start to a fishing vacation for John Vondrak and his buddy, Kirk. A table full of dorado fillets!
Greg Garrison from San Diego always does well with the fish when he’s down fishing La Paz and took this speedy wahoo trolling a Rapala just outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
Hard to find a prettier photo than this! Nice wahoo for Gary Wagner, owner of the Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay and the famous Giggling Marlin bar in Cabo. Thanks for all the photos, Gary!
She didn’t have to go out far for this nice tuna. Sydney Wagner from Colorado Spring CO staying at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay hung this nice tuna just around the corner relatively close to shore.
Captain Joel poses with Bennett Clegg’s big bull caught just off Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz…dorado-landia!
Matt Wallis has his hands full with this fat yellowfin tuna off Cerralvo Island.
On the flyrod, Tom Zelibor from Colorado got this nice dorado to his his pattern.
Matt and Jackson Duystschaever with their striped marlin with Gary Wagner at Rancho Costa. Muertos Bay in the background. The fish could not be released.
Jackson Duytschaever is all smiles with his roosterfish. Jackson is from Colorado and released the fish.
Another happy Colorado fisheman, Paul Milewski has a big tuna to hold up for his photo.
It was a decent week of fishing down here. Like seemingly everywhere else on the west coast, weather was hot, dry and humid although water temps took a bit of a dive for some reason dropping from 85 to 81 degrees and getting a little cloudier and greener.
Still…everyone caught fish. Not as many tuna or wahoo as the previous week, but the dorado bite seemed to fill the gaps with more dorado being caught each week. This is a typical summer pattern.
Y’know how in California people say, “It feels like earthquake weather” when it’s hot and humid and still? Down here, we say, “Feel like dorado weather.”
Some boats did better than others and some days were better than others. However, for most of our anglers fishing multiple days, the could count on getting bit.
The secret is finding the right spot. There’s a lot of fish, but the fish are not everywhere. Locating the right current line (warmer water); or bluer water was key. But also finding structure like floating and clumping sargasso weed on the surface could make the difference.
In addition to the dorado, there’s still some chunky tuna around. The smller fish are 40 pounders. Not many folks looking for roosterfish, but they’re along the shores and good sized between 40 and 70 pounds .
Wahoo are still hanging out as well, but we’re losing more than we’re catching and we also saw more hookups on striped marlin this week than any other week with most fish either busting off or getting released.
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 17-24, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – High 80’s low 90’s and mostly sunny. Had some tropical afternoon clouds and a few raindrops fell but just very nice as it blew through. The afternoon corumuel tradewinds cool things down nicely. Still a bit breezy out there during the fishing day
Water – Got a bit cooler after last week’s storm, but little-by-little, the warming waters are burning off the algae bloom. Find the blue water and you have a better chance of finding fish. Cooler waters are green and a bit dirty so get away from it.
Fishing – Las Arenas holds the bigger fish…and seemingly not a whole lot else. La Paz fish aren’t so big, bit there’s alot more fish so alot more action.
Catching – See above! Bigger fish are harder to catch. Hence losing more fish too!
THE BIG PICTURE and REST of THE STORY…
Mark Brown, from Vernal UT, had traveled the world for 5 years trying to get a roosterfish going to places like Costa Rica, Panama and various parts of Mexico unsuccessfully. He thought he’d give it a try with Tailhunter in La Paz and only had one day. And it was after Hurricane Bud had blown through. Waters were dirty and turned over. And they were only able to catch one single ladyfish for bait. But it was enough! With his wife, Toni, they got this dandy pez gallo just outside of Bahia de los Muertos estimated between 50-60 pounds. The fish was released.
Zach Smith was up at the north end of Cerralvo Island and got one fish for the whole day, but it was one of the nicer tuna of the week. It’s a fat one. It’s a bit of a run to the north, but if you get one of these fish, it’s well worth it.
Dave Frausto from Sacramento has been a good amigo for many years and made a last-minute trip to fish with us for a few days. With Captain Adolfo, he scored a nice wahoo and topped with with a tasty amberjack as well.
On vacation from Sequim, Washington, Kim Tomajko, got the big fish of the family their first day on the water with a nice bull dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Big smiles for Toni Brown who brought this nice yellowfin back to the beach and headed for poke and sashime at our Tailhunter Restaurant. She’s from Utah, but lived in Hawaii and knows her tuna!
First time in Mexico. First time in La Paz and first time fishing for Dani who put this dorado on the boat as her first. Zach Smith helps with the fish and photo! The also got other dorado and a nice mix of pargo and cabrilla.
Speedy ‘hoo for Janc, who poses with his wahoo while staying out at Muertos Bay at Gary Wagner’s Rancho Costa Hotel.
Captain Raul helps Alicia Tomajko give a kiss to her big bull dorado.
It takes two hands on these hefty yellowfin right now. Mark Brown pulled this guy out near Espirito Santo Island fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Just off the rocks at Espirito Santo Island, Zach got another nice dorado using live bait.
It was an OK fishing week for the most part down here. I’m a little disappointed that it’s taking longer for the waters to bounce back after last week’s Tropical Storm BUD came through. Fishing had been pretty decent prior to the storm and initially just after the blow, I had been pretty optimistic. It looked like conditions had re-bounded.
But, not quite as fast as we had wanted or thought.
Waters around Muertos Bay, Punta Arenas and Cerralvo Island still aren’t quite back. My Tailhunter captains are telling me the water is still a bit cloudy and turned over and it’s been reflected in the fishing. There just hasn’t been a lot going on. The main issue is the bait. It’s been difficult at best to get consistent bait.
On top of that, with nagging winds post storm Bud, the waters are slow coming back up to snuff. There have still been some nice grade tuna hanging out as well as some billfish, dorado and wahoo. But, you either get a big fish or nothing. It’s home runs or a strike out.
One boat finds bait. The next one struggles. One boat finds fish. The one right next to it can’t get anything to chew.
Our best and most consistent fishing has been with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.
Maybe not so many big fish, but in terms of action…in terms of funner fishing…in terms of variety, fishing with our La Paz fleet has been much less erratic.
It’s not surprising for one of our pangas to come back with a half-dozen species of fish that included dorado between 10 and 30 pounds; some smaller yellowtail and amberjack; several species of pargo; several species of snapper; and some nice cabrilla. Add in action with jack crevalle, skipjack, white and common bonito and it makes for a nice day on the water. PLUS, bait is much easier to find or buy!
MUCHAS GRACIAS!
To all our good folks who brought more donations for our various charities down here. In just the last two weeks alone, we’ve collected more than 100 pounds of goods to add to our already growing pile. The Tomajko family below and also thanks to Dan Armstrong, John Tepley, Rob Baird and Rocky Schneider who brought stuff, but I did not have a chance to take their photos!
The Tomajko family (and Jill’s hand) holding some great stuff for the kid’s orphanage at Las Arenas including school supplies and boxes of toothbrushes and more!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 3-10, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Got cloudier later in the week as bits from distant hurricane Aleta took away some of the sunshine. (It blew out to sea hundreds of miles away) But with the cloud cover, the humidity and heat rose. Days are in the high 90’s. Nights in the upper 70’s. Thankfully, every night the Corumuel Breeze blows through and cools things down . Hurricane Ben coming up behind, but we’re keeping an eye out. Might give us a few showers and wind later in the week.
Water – Blue and mostly calm. Summer conditions. Weeds burning off. Water about 82 degrees on the surface.
Fishing – Bigger 30-100 pound tuna bent rods and broke hearts this week. Everyone focused on those sluggers. But, dorado, pargo, big jack crevalle, some roosterfish, cabrilla, and several species of bonito around for anyone who wanted.
Catching – Bigger fish meant more losses. Everyone WANTS a big fish until they’re fighting in the hot sun and realize they have a beast. Some anglers fighting fish 1 or 2 hours and losing them, but that’s why they’re BIGGER fish! More fish lost than caught. But you’ll never catch one if you don’t put a line in the water!
THE BIG PICTURE and THE REST OF THE STORY…
Our amigo, Tom Mullican, from Idaho comes twice-a-year for 10 days at a time. Fishing with Captain Jorge, he got the 60-pound tuna then fought the 100 pounder for 2 hours! He said his arms were too tired and shaky to hold the fish up for the photo!
Craig Wong, Mark Buchanan and Laura Hernandez with quite a hault of yellowfin tuna and red snapper. They’re all from San Diego areas.
Captain Boli with Gene and Travis Harp from chillier climes in Oregon showing off one of their nice big bull dorado inside La Paz Bay.
Tom Hinmon, from Laguna Beach CA, had himself quite a week. Here’s one of his good days with Captain Pancho and a load of big yellowfin.
Our new amigos from North Caroline, Shanon Spivey and Steve Gray with Captain Archangel do the beach pose with their big tuna and a dorado. One day, I will get Arcangel to smile. He’s been with us 23 years so maybe there’s still hope!
Last minute trip for Desiree Winn and Ryan Bottensek from Florence Beach, Oregon produced these nice tuna with Captain Armando.
Victor from Wiconsin had only 1 day to fish, but squeezed it in and got himself one of the largest yellowtail of the season plus a big tuna.
When the tuna weren’t on the chew everyone seemed to get hung with these big schools of jack crevalle that really tore things up! Tom Hinmon poses with one of the big grunts before releasing it.
One of the few amberjack we got this year and caught by Gary Galbreath from Huntington Beach CA off Cerralvo Island. Note the big tuna at his knees also! Amberjack are great eating down here. Like sweet yellowtail meat and can get over 100 pounds.
Big smiles from big guys! Captain Gerardo grins with Jude Martinez and Scott/ Steve Ellis from San Diego with a trio of solid tuna and a couple more in the foregrounds. Grey skies already coming in!
This might be the largest bull dorado so far this season which is just getting underway, but Vince Acosta put the hurt on this flyer while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet in La Paz Bay.
Captain Victor looks on as a tired John Gaskins hold up another yellowfin with 2 more YFT’s on the cutting table at Muertos Bay.
Some prize! Craig Wong from San Diego with a hog of a cabrilla that he pulled off the rocks!
Two of our favorites! Captain Jorge and Vince Acosta ham it up for the camera with 4 nice tuna on the beach.
A good day for tuna for Craig Wong and Mark Buchanan from San Diego to add to their boxes going home!
Steve McGavern from Loreto drove down for a quick two days of fishing just at the start of the tuna run with us holding two fish ready to be cleaned and packed up.
Steve/ Scott Ellis and Captain Gerardo are two big guys which gives you some perspective on the nice size of the tuna Steve caught.
With the steep cliffs of the north end of Cerralvo Island in the background , Tom Hinmon put the gaff to this yellowfin tuna not far from the lighthouse rock.
There’s some nice grade dorado around north of La Paz! Randy Forestiere with Captain Raul hold one up for the camera!
Yes, you have three of them! Nice day of tuna for John Carser from Huntington Beach.
Fat tuna and big smiles from Laura Hernandez from San Diego who boated this one outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
They might not have been long, but these fish were plugs and big round bombs when they hit the lines like this one caught by Gary Galbreath.
Our long-time buddy Ricardo (Ranchero) Sawaske with Captain Raul and a young bull fresh on the gaff and going to dinner!
Favorite photo of the week. John Carser and Mark Rodman. Thanks, guys. Enjoy all the fish you brought home this week!
As we watch cloudy gray skies move in on us that might eventually bring us some rain later in the week, it’s been a good week for fishing. Not a great week for a lot of fish, but a great week for BIG fish!
There’s still a lot of pargo and cabrilla around and more and more dorado, but everyone eschewed the fast action and ability to fill an ice chest to go for the bigger boy tuna that showed up at the north end of Cerralvo Island. Everyone had shots at these quality tuna that were as small as 30 pounds, but some in the 60 to 100 pound class!
Not everyone caught fish and the week started a bit slow. But the fish were there. Everyone eventually who wanted fish went home with full coolers of slabbed ahi. One boat would get them and another boat next to them would miss. One guy would hit two or three and his buddy would only run interference and pick off bonito. Or needlefish.
Like I said, these fish were powerful and strong. Stronger then most of our anglers had ever tangled with. Fights of 1-2 hours were not uncommon. More heartbreaking were the stories of fish that broke off after long fights or came unbuttoned. Tougher still were stories of even larger fish that straightened a hook or broke a rod. For some of our anglers…1 fish was enough for the day! Careful what you wish for.
There were funny stories about guys tossing a mackerel and immediately getting slammed. After a long fight and a swig of water, they would routinely just toss in their 2nd bait of the day. WHAM! Bit again and on for another long long battle. And regretting it!
No doubt there were more fish lost than were caught!
Live mackerel were the ticket so we had to get out there early and it’s a long run to the north end of Cerralvo Island. But even with few baits, somedays every bait would get bit…and that was enough when you’re battling big fish for a long time! When macs didn’t work, yo-yo iron also produced fish for the guys that knew how.
Still some variety around as well. But, like I said, most of the focus was on the tuna grounds. So more tuna than anything else showed up in the boxes. Nevertheless, when the tuna weren’t biting hefty jack crevalle put on a show that had guys shaking their heads with the power of these fish. Not good eating, but made for great sport.
Also, there’s a few yellowtail and sierra still lingering and for our La Paz Fleet, dorado, pargo, cabrilla and snapper
We’re keeping an eye on the weather. A category 4 hurricane named “Aletta” became the first of the season far far south us by hundreds of miles and blew itself out to sea, but did send gray skies over us this past weekend and ramp up the humidity. However, a 2nd blow by the name of “Bud” might bring us some bitty showers later this week and some worrisome winds. We’ll have to keep an eye out for it.
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 20-27, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather– Could not have been nicer. Sunny skies and nice breezers. First week without crazy winds. Got hotter and more humid as the week went on. You could definitely feel it!
Water – Getting warmer. Find the blue water you find the fish. About 80 degrees in some spots. Getting bluer and clearer. There was some big swell from the south for a day or two.
Fishing – Best fishing of the season in terms of quality fish. Lots of BIG fish…wahoo…tuna..marlin…sailfish…dorado. No roosterfish per se mostly because no one was chasing them! Not much inshore pargo or cabrilla either. They went for the bluewater species and trophy fish! Lots of BIGGER fish lost!
Catching – Could have been better. We lost so many big fish! But that’s why these are BIGGER fish! They’re stronger and tougher on the anglers as well as the gear! Great stories of fish that were lost!
Fishing got tougher later in the week as increased pressure on the fish plus a full moon seemed to lockjaw the fish. Much better earlier in the week.
BIG PICTURES and THE REST OF THE STORY…
YEA! Now this is what we’re talking about! Captain Victor with Jennifer Robinette and Kenny Thompson from Utah with a great trio including tuna and to big dorado!
Wahoo family! Captain Armando with Krista, Anthony and Anthony, Jr. of the Schmidt Family and some of the great wahoo this week! The family is from Lehigh, Utah.
Two of the best amigos and two of the best anglers! Fat wahoo…look at this log! For Roger and Donna Thompson!
It’s hard to get Captain Gerardo to smile, but he’s got double tuna for Steve Ritz and Larry Chastain!
Whew! Haven’t seen dorado like this in awhile! However, Kenny Thompson hikes up this pretty bull mahi with Captain Victor with all it’s great colors!
Texas in the house! Larry Dodson with this gorgeous striper that ate a trolled Rapala and swallowed it deep so it couldn’t be released! However, the meat was donated around to La Ventana.
Taylor Murphy with a huge cabrilla and her grandma who’s no slouch either and a big time barred pargo! Check those colors!
Pretty incredible catch with this big wahoo she handled by herself…Krista Schmidt from Utah with Captain Armando and an armful of speedy ‘hoo!
Yup…there’s still some cold-water fish around! Hard to believe! But Jennifer has herself an amberjack and Kenny has the biggest sierra I’ve seen all year!
Great colors on this dorado caught by Jeff Correia from San Diego and gaff honors by Captain Joel.
1…2…3 LIFT! Roger Thompson fishing with Captain Hugo poses with a thick slugger yellowfin tuna!
Another big smiles from Captain Gerardo and a legit yellowfin tuna for Steve Ritz and Larry Chastain!
La Paz Bay yielded some nice dorado not too far out like this one for Tim Weaver of San Diego!
Andale Captain Hugo! Hard to believe the size of some of the wahoo this week!
Our Texas visitors really had a good week! No shortage of fish taken home to the lone star state! Tami put the hurt on this big ‘hoo.
Captain Jorge from our Tailhunter Fleet lends and assist to Anthony Schmidt posing with another big wahoo and a good dorado as well as Jordan Schmidt.
Oregon friends just had one day to visit us but managed to hang a nice wahoo at the end of the week when the bite was diminishing. This is Zeb and Katrina Jensen from Oregon.
On the beach at Muertos, Captain Gerardo and Steve Ritz with some of that good-eating wahoo. Doubles!
The Pantuso boys from Colorado hung this nice striped marlin. The fish could not be released but the meat was distributed.
Early morning…nothing like starting out with a big wahoo for your fishing day! Another ‘hoo in the box! Al Dodson from Texas!
As the week went on, fewer fish, but the tuna still hovered around.
It was all home-run hitting this week. We had the best weather of the season and probably the best fishing of the season as well. Honestly, there weren’t many fish caught. And it got tougher as the week went on and more boats and fishing traffic hit the area as word got out. But the quality of the fish was outstanding, especially early in the week.
The anglers could have caught a lot more fish if they had opted to go small and fish inshore for all the cabrilla, jacks, pargo, bonito they wanted. However, as the week started, things blew up for our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Tailhunter Fleet.
Nice fat 30-60 pound yellowfin tuna showed up. Wahoo in the 20-60 pound class blew up the rods. Dorado up to 40 pounds came crashing and even marlin and sailfish!
So, when this happened, everyone came-a-running!
It was swing-for-the-fences and hit a home run or nothing! But, folks got their largest fish ever or their first fish ever of this quality. Some folks got them and others didn’t. But, everyone wanted to take a shot. Also when you fight a fish for 45 minutes to an hour and it beats you up…for some, that was all they needed. For others who hooked up and had long battles…then lose the fish…just bad luck! That’s why these are bigger fish. It’s not bad fishing…it’s bad catching and we lost probably half the big fish that were hooked! Many of our anglers didn’t have that kind of experience on big fish or simple were over-powered or under-gunned in their gear! All part of the fun! It’s one thing to WANT a big fish and it’s completely different to actually HAVE a big fish on the line and you’re 10 minutes into the fight and realize the sun is blazing; your hands are already cramping; the line is stretched to breaking; the rod is completely doubled-over; and you’re sweating bullets! And the fish is STILL pulling line off the reel!
That’s fishing!
As I said, some boats got into them and a boat right next to them would blank. Next day vise versa.
But, al the fish were BIG! And as word got out, more and more boats came out and traffic on the spots increased. That scattered the bite and drove the fish down. So, the bite diminished a little bit each day although there were still some scattered fish. Also, the full moon came up with the weekend.
However, for those who got into it, they caught fish of a lifetime!
GRACIAS!
The season is ON! And many thanks going out to our Tailhunter Tribe members who have been bringing in donations for our Tailhunter charities! We have already distributed several hundred pounds of school supplies, clothes, shoes and other items! You’re the best.
Thanks for Tom Ames from Idaho (who also donated to our scholarship program) and brought a big box of kids toys and gear; The Sawaske and Forestiere families who brought school supplies and Jim and Brenda Bovee from San Diego who hauled stuff this week. God bless you all!
Jim and Brenda Bovee from the San Diego area came in with two ice-chests full of kid’s clothes!
That’s our story and hope you had or are having a great Memorial Day Weekend! God bless all who gave…all who served…and their families!
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 13-20, 2018
Mexican Minute Video Report
Week at a Glance
Weather – Best weather we’ve had of the season. Still some wind here and there and mornings are chilly and breezy, but the sun busts out later and it’s in the high 80’s most days. Nights are comfortable.
Water – Water getting warmer but there’s still currents and some green and brown water around, but clearing up and getting better.
Fishing – Still alot of variety with warm and cold water fish still mixed up and fishing changing daily and from place to place. Some days better than others.
Catching – Some big tuna, roosterfish and dorado lost and the pargo and cabrilla took alot of folks into the rocks!
THE BIG PICTURE AND REST OF THE STORY…
Doctor Desmond Sjauwfoekloy from Los Angeles, is a heart specialist and literally ran out’ve surgery…jumped on a plane…fished a few days and jumped back on a plane and right back to the hospital. In the meantime, he put tuna, dorado and this slugger rooster fish in the panga fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz. The rooster was released.
Captain Armando with a hefty 40-pound class yellowfin tuna that gave Jordan Schmidt quite a workout. Two other larger fish were lost!
We normally don’t see quality dorado like this until a bit later in the year, but they’re already here just around the La Paz Bay. Nice pose by Blake Warren!
Best week of the year, so far, for roosterfish. Nice fish for Josh Hobgood from San Clemente. His first rooster ever and was fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet out’ve Bahia de los Muertos using live bait. The fish was released.
I’m not sure the yellowfin have ever left since last year! They keep popping up just off the rocks in relatively shallow water like this one here caught by Desmond.
Peter Holland is spending several months traveling on a motorcycle from Australia and had just one day to fish! He hit it out’ve the park fishing with our La Paz fleet taking several great species including this fat yellowtail that ended up as sashime and poke at our Tailhunter Restaurant
Not sure what our Captain Victor has in the bottle…maybe salad dressing? Or marinade? Homemade maple syrup? But Randy Choate, our Idaho amigo has himself a nice bull dorado.
Western Outdoor News Editor Blake Warren from Capistrano Beach CA came down from some RNR vacation time in La Paz and got his biggest rooster fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet using a live lady fish for bait. The fish was released.
As pretty a picture as you’ll see of a fully-lit dorado with great colors! Gorgeous fish for Desmond just off Espirito Santo Island.
That’s a fun day of action fishing and a great expression and pose to go with it! Blake Warren has himself a mess of snapper, pargo and seabass headed home to Orange Co.
Shakedown cruise for our amiga, Sandra Wellborn and the first fish caught on her new cruiser “The Harmony.”
Conditions are improving with every week, but we’re still getting some jags of winds and off-color water as we move into warmer conditions. However, overall, it was maybe the best weather of the season with mostly great sunny days and generally flat seas.
It wasn’t a great week of fishing, but wasn’t bad either. As we transition into more pelagic warm-water species, there’s a lot of variety in the water. Cooler water species like yellowtail and amberjack seem to still be lingering around and we got some up to about 20 pounds. Other cooler-water species like pargo, snapper and cabrilla also made for some great action.
However, the presence of more species like tuna, wahoo, dorado and billfish are evident of the changing conditions. There’s not a lot of blue water stuff yet, but we’re getting a few here and there and seemingly more with each passing week. Also more big-time rooster fish are showing up as well in the 40-60 pound class.
The biggest issues is that fish are everywhere! But the problem is that they are not everywhere ALL THE TIME! Conditions can be so erratic that what’s biting one day doesn’t necessarily mean they will bite the next day. Or, one fishing hot spot can suddenly go cold as fast as the currents change and the water colors change. Or, a spot that’s great for pargo, will turn into a jack crevalle spot the next day or conversely one of our boats will be bent on fish while a boat a few yards away can’t get a single chew! It’s ever-changing and changing daily and hourly!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Magdalena Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 15-22, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE FISHING REPORT
WEEK at a GLANCE
Weather – Much more stable and winds backed off. But, this coming week, we could have some winds back again.
Water – Warming. Surface temps in the mid-70’s now.
Fishing – Always responds to less wind. Week started slow, but as the week went on, fishing got better with both inshore and a smattering of offshore species as well.
Catching – Lost more fish than we should have! Especially, the larger fish and those in the rocks. But, that’s why they are big fish!
THE BIG PICTURE REPORT
You just never know! Dragging a small Rapala over the rocks for cabrilla and pargo a huge dog-tooth ripped Gama Flores from Palm Desert CA and he managed to keep it out’ve the reef! Gama comes down with buddy Ray Salanga from Carson CA one or two times a year to fish with us.
Enjoying the sunshine and a bit of fishing too! Happy Steve and Becca Freimark from Edmonds WA show off some nice snapper and bonito.
Red snapper and cabrilla on the beach posing with Gama Flores.
Sorry I didn’t have more photos this week! Folks either didn’t take any…forgot their cameras or cell phones…or didn’t want their photos taken!
Anyway…
The winds dropped off and gave us a bit of a break this past week after several weeks of strong breezes. The abatement of wind produced a decent mix of fish that ran the gamut from inshore species to bluewater breezers. Not a lot of any one type of fish, but the mix is pretty typical of this time of year when cooler water species like yellowtail, sierra and amberjack are moving out, but lingering. Warmer water species like dorado and wahoo, may have never left from last year, but are getting more active and following the warmer currents and food sources.
For inshore species this week, we tallied up quite a nice bite on snapper and pargo including barred pargo and dog-tooth as well as a few mullet snapper (pargo liso). We also got into more of those tasty white bonito, jack crevalle and a few pompano.
Bluewater species that showed up including some 10-20 pound yellowfin tuna and some free-swimming dorado. They’re not really schooling up, but seem to be hitting solo or in smaller schools. Bait works best.
BAHIA MAGDALENA REPORT
Jorge Romero pulled this dog-tooth out’ve the mangoves and roots on a live sardine.
A couple of pargo headed to the grill that I got out’ve a deep hole that was right up against the bank and holding fish. We lost larger fish to all the roots and structure down there.
Jilly and Rigo pose with a pargo and snook!
Yay…not huge, but my first snook (robalo). Can’t wait to try it on the table. Supposed to be excellent!
Jorge with one of a number of corbina that were voraciously feeding in the shallows.
We got several types of croaker too!
First one in the box for Jilly
The box is getting full . And we lost quite a few fish and released alot of fish too! The majority of the fish was donated.
Jill and I with Jorge Romero ran our own personal exporatory trip out to Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) this past week and what a trip we had. Three hours from La Paz, Mag Bay boats a length of over 50 miles and hundreds of miles of shoreline that encompasses countless lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, sand dunes, sand bars and islands.
And best of all…almost no one there. It’s remote. It’s rustic. It’s the boonies. This is not Club Med land. There’s no swimming pools or health spas. There’s no craft beer or fancy restaurants. It’s dusty and largely unspoiled. It’s not for tourists.
Little fishing pueblos are spotted here and there. Hard-working blue-collar fishermen and their families. All making a living in one way-shape or form from the sea…for generations.
And, it’s an incredible area and an unbelievable ecosystem. Birdlife…wildlife…lobster…shrimp…clams…oysters…and so many varieties of fish!
I lost count, but I believe we caught about 17 different varieties of fish that included snook, several species of pargo, seabass, corvina, croaker, and more. They told me fishing was “slow” because of the strong currents, but it was the best inshore, light tackle fishing I have ever had in Baja! And this is just the inshore stuff.
I’ve fished offshore and there’s bountiful grounds for wahoo, tuna, dorado, marlin, yellowtail and grouper. That will be on our next trip. If you’re interested, get in touch with us! We’ll set up the transportation, hotel, meals and fishing!
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
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.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Mag Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 1-8, 2018
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
WEEK at A GLANCE
Water – Warming and better and flatter this past week. Coming week maybe not so much.
Weather – Mid 80’s now. Bring the sunscreen. Breezy at times, especially the afternoons
Fishing – Much better . Alot of vareity as warm water fish move in and mix with colder water fish
Catching – Lost alot of larger fish!
THE BIG PICTURE
Whoa! Just off the rocks, Jeff Brown and his son, Cole, were with Captain Joel Martinez from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz catching smaller snapper, pargo and cabrilla when this big grouper gulped Jeff’s live bait in shallow water and they were able to winch it away from the rocks! Jeff and Cole are from Minnesota and come down every year to La Paz for sunshine and fishing!
Steve and son, Ben Fox from Huntington Beach were visting La Paz for the first time and got into some of those Cerralvo Island yellowfin tuna their first day on live bait.
Good amigo from Wrangell, Alaska, Rod Brown comes down every year for about 10 days of fishing and got a variety of fish again this year. He took yellowtail, snapper, pargo, cabrilla, jacks, tuna and bonito among others while fishing north around Espirito Santo Island.
First-timer with a big smile, Cole Brown, and a real colorful dorado among several he caught fishing with our La Paz fleet.
Love how he fishes! Light tackle and top-water jigs! Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs with one of his nice dorado fishing out’ve Muertos Bay/ Las Arenas.
This kind of fishing is a hoot! Like tackle right up in the rocks for cabrilla, snapper and pargo. All great eating and these are tough fish on light or heavier tackle. Larger fish all lost in the rocks! Cole and dad, Jeff Brown, with Captain Joel.
Anyone who asks me about getting bluewater fish and not believing that the fish can be caught close to shore, take a look at the rocks just behind Jeff and Cole Brown holding a legit yellowfin tuna. Yup…just a few yards off the island!
OVERALL…
Looks like the weather is clearing up just in time for the season to kick off with alot more of our fishermen now arriving in La Paz. There’s still some wind on tap for this coming week and indeed we had some this past week, but overall, a big improvement in not only the weather, but the fishing, catching, and variety! Each week seems to get a little better as things warm up! It’s all about the winds. If the winds are gone, there’s fish starting to bite.
All signs are encouraging as just to the south of us along the East Cape, things are already starting to go off with the fishing so those conditions are moving north towards us!
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
It’s not crazy good…yet! But the fishing is more like May fishing with lots of different variety in the water. Inshore, pargo liso (mullet snapper), pargo per (dog-tooth snapper) and pargo mulatto (barred pargo) are biting along with several types of snapper, jack crevalle, bonito and cabrilla.
In the deeper water but not far off, dorado are around between 5 and 20 pounds although not in great numbers plus yellowtail up to 25 pounds. Plus we found some tuna over at nearby Cerralvo Island although, again, not in great numbers. Some wahoo were seen, but didn’t bite and commercial guys said billfish look like they’re moving into the area.
LA PAZ
For the first time all year, we had some consistent fishing for our La Paz Fleet. Normally, with the winds blowing in from the north, it’s just often too rough to even get out’ve the bay or, when you get to the spots, it’s hard to fish the areas.
However, with some pretty good post-Easter conditions, I was blown away by the variety of species that ended up on the hook! We didn’t find quantity of fish, but the variety was remarkable especially for inshore species. This included several species of pargo, snapper, cabrilla, grouper, jacks and bonito. As well, we hooked some yellowtail up to about 20 pounds and even got a tuna about 50 yards from the rocks!
BAHIA MAGDALENA
Ben Fox from Huntington Beach CA shows off a nice snook he caught light tackle fishing inside the shallow waters of Bahia Magdalena with Tailhunter Sportfishing. He and his dad caught snook, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and other species using live shrimp and spinning gear.
He’s our guy! Jorge Romero with a nice snook (robabo) taken just outside the treeline in the flats off Bahia Magdalena using live shrimp.
That’s quite a box of pargo and snapper!
Almost all the fish was donated to the local church to clean and distribute.
Some video of the kind of fishing they were doing
We had anglers fishing our inshore waters with light tackle again and they scored great. Using live shrimp for bait, they rocked snook, cabrilla, corvina and several kinds of snapper working in the shallow waters and in the eddys and backbays and sandbars among the trees.
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