La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Jan 19-29, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
We actually tried to send out some boats this past week. Everyone was informed that it might be very windy and rough, but they wanted to give it a go. One day they had to cancel because of the winds. Another day, the only got to fish a few hours then were blown off by the winds. They got one bite from an unknown fish and lost it. That was it. Another day, was also a cancelations.
Just not a great time to be on the water. Air temps are sunny and warm going up to the low 80’s in the day, but the north winds continue to be pesky and prohibitive. Mostly the only folks fishing right now are some of the commercial guys as well as some of our captains with family or friends for sustenance during the off-season which runs November to April.
Live bait has also been an issue because with so very few folks on the water, it’s not economical for the bait guys to work all morning to get bait they can’t sell to anyone or they have trouble getting the bait because the areas holding bait are too rough.
The few catches that are being made are mostly the usual inshore stuff. Generally small snapper, some cabrilla and pargo. Peripherally hooking jack and bonito.
GRATEFULLY BACK ON OUR WAY and THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!
Busted the glass, the wrap, the pistons AND the tailgate!
In case you hadn’t heard, we are finally back on the road and headed to our third show which will be at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup WA. More on that below.
However, we wanted to give a shout-out to all of our Tailhunter Tribe, Family and Friends who came to our rescue. Last week during the show in Sacramento, our Tailhunter vehicle got broken into. Nothing taken, but the intruders pretty much destroyed not only the glass and custom wrap but also the pistons and part of the tailgate.
The vehicle was not driveable and had to be towed.
We have more than 2 more months of shows to attend and were initially told that parts and repairs might take as much as 3 weeks! There were simply no parts in Sacramento because of supply chain issues. One part was all the way in Michigan. The one tech who could do the repairs was TWO months backed up with work!
Jill worked like crazy on the phones with dealers and found Epic Chevy in Sacramento who went above-and-beyond. They found subcontractors in other cities who had parts and they all pulled together to get the parts expedited to the Chevy dealer where a tech put us to the head of the line and worked all weekend to get us on the road!
Instead of 3 week, it was done in 5 days!
Good job, Jilly. She used to work in the car industry for 20 years and dug deep to get us back on tour!
However, so many of you offered cars, trucks, trailers, your homes, your connections and even meals to help us get through or get back on our show circuit! The out-pouring was incredible. We are more than touched and grateful and you humbled us with your thoughtfulness! God bless you all for being angels when we needed you!
On a side note, we’ve been doing the show in Sacramento for over 20 years. Never had an issue. But, sad and distressing to see the area around the fairgrounds. Lots of homeless living everywhere and pretty much anywhere they decide to set up a camp or boxes on the sidewalk or a parking lot. Vagrants walking all over. Folks living in derelict cars. At the stores and markets, there are no baskets or carts…they have all been stolen.
One of our good friend who is an hunting outfitter in Idaho had his whole rig stolen from the parking lot. One of our clients was carjacked at gunpoint by a guy fleeing a murder.
So sad to see the deterioration. Praying and hoping for better!
…SO HERE WE COME WASHINGTON!
Thanks to everyone who has come to visit us at our Reno and Sacramento show and to all of you who signed up for trips to come visit, we’re excited to have you come fishing with us this year! Muchas gracias!
So from Feb. 3-6, we’ll be at the Washington State Fairgrounds south of Seattle at the Washington State Sportsman’s Show. It’s always a good one and we love visiting the area every year. Come say hi and let’s talk about fishing in 2022!
The calendar is filling up with reservations coming in daily! Do NOT wait to check with us or to come to your city in the next few months. We don’t want to miss you and dates are really filling up fast!
SHOWS COMING UP:
Salt Lake City, UT
Portland, OR
Bend, OR
Spokane, WA
Denver, CO
Hope to see you !
WHALEWATCHING SEASON IS READY FOR YOU!
Prime time for whale watching at Bahia Magdalena! Now through March when the whales come to hang out in the shallow bay before heading back up to the Bering Sea near Alaska on their annual migration. Get in touch with us to set up the whole package trip! It’s a life-time experience!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 11-19, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A rare calm day, but there’s marlin in our waters!
Captain Pancho was out on his own with family friends near Bahia Muertos when he hooked this baby sailfish. An unusual catch in the winter. The fish was released and they went home with some cabrilla and pargo for dinner.
Unexpected biter on light tackle!
A windy week again and even a bit of rain this past week. Most of the winds are still coming from the north between 10 and 20 mph with some stronger gusts making it difficult to be on the water. Air temps are running from the low 60’s at night to the mid-70’s in the daytime.
There were a few very small windows to fish. Either because the winds diminished a bit (but it was still rough) or at least to get out for a very short time before the winds pushed everyone off the water.
Most of the fishing has been inshore since captains are hesitant to either go out too far where it can be rough or staying inside just-in-case the winds kick up. Also, if the winds are blowing, it’s difficult for the bait guys to get live bait so slow trolling inshore with crank baits or similar is often the only way to catch fish. However, catches inshore can still be fun with sierra, jacks, small bonito, cabrilla and snapper.
Mostly, it’s the captains, their friends and other locals fishing.
There must be some warmer water outside because on those rare occasions when the boats can push out a little further, there are some dorado hanging out. Either holdovers from last season or that have arrived early for the 2022 season! Who knows?
The biggest surprise were finding billfish in our waters so early in the season. Normally, we don’t see billfish until maybe May or even June depending on the water temperatures. But, in the small windows of fishing opportunity the last few days, the guys are hooking striped marlin. Again, there must be some warm water around and obviously, a food source for the billfish!
But, still a nice surprise.
SACRAMENTO INTERNATIONAL SPORTSMANS EXPO
We just wrapped up a fantastic show at the Reno Convention Center in Reno, Nevada for the Wild Sheep Foundation last week. With all the shows closed down for almost two years, it’s a crapshoot wondering if anyone will show up, but we had lots of attendees and hundreds of exhibitors so thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi…grabbed a brochure…and for those who booked with us! We’re looking forward to the visit!
This week, we are back in the booth at the International Sportsman’s Expo taking place Thursday to Sunday at the Calfornia State Fairgrounds in Sacramento. It’s the biggest show in California now and I’ve heard there’s over 600 exhibitors from all over the world for fishing, camping, hunting, boating, RV’s, off-road, seminars, demonstrations and more! Stuff for the whole family!
Come bay and say hi. Let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year. The calendar is getting filled so we don’t want to miss you. We’ve got a new brochure this year as well. Here’s more info:
Hope to see you here. After this, we’ll be at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup WA from Feb. 2-6.
WHALEWATCHING SEASON IS HERE AGAIN!
February and March are ideal times to come see the whales in the warm calmwaters off the Pacific in Bahia Magdalena. It’s the largest migration in the world as these great animals venture down from the Bering Sea to mate and give birth every year. Contact us now to set up a trip of a lifetime!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Dec. 19, 2022-Jan. 2, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not much happening during the holidays. Temperatures took a dip and weather remained inconsistent with some days showing very strong winds and rough waters and not many folks out at all on the water. We even had some strong rain come through.
Because of the weather, we cancelled a few bookings and just advised folks it was better to roam around town or hang out at the pool. No sense in wasting money getting bounced around and not catching fish.
Some folks who did go out, had to come back early. With the rough waters, it was difficult to find live bait so they spent the day trolling up a few cabrilla and snapper. However, some of the commercial guys reported some stray dorado and even a few wahoo taken far outside. Some bonito and jacks also picked up as well.
But, overall, very slow mostly because no one is fishing this time of year. Off-season is November to April.
ON OUR WAY TO SEE YOU IN 2022 – TAILHUNTER BACK ON THE ROAD!
Come visit our booth to say hi and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year!
Looks like we’re headed back out on the road this year!
In 2020, our show tour got curtailed about half-way through. Then, last year, all the shows were cancelled. However, this year, we’ve got 8 shows on the calendar and hopefully adding a few more before the end. We are really excited and hope to have you come see us and say hi and let’s set up a trip to come visit us this coming fishing season!
Here’s the schedule:
TAILHUNTER 2022 ROAD TOUR
RENO NV – Wild Sheep Foundation Show (Jan. 13-15) (Reno Convention Center)
SACRAMENTO CA – International Sportsmans Expo (Jan. 20-23) / California State Fairgrounds
PUYALLUP WA – Washington Sportsman’s Show (Feb. 2-6) (Washington State Fairgrounds)
SALT LAKE CITY UT – Great Western Hunt & Conservation Show (Feb. 10-13) / Salt Palace
PORTLAND OR – Pacific NW Sportsman’s Show ( Feb. 16-20) / Portland Expo Center
REDMOND OR – Central Oregon Sportsmans Show (Mar. 10-13) / Central Oregon Fairgrounds
SPOKANE WA – Bighorn Sheep Show (Mar. 17-20) / Spokane County Fair and Expo Center
DENVER CO – International Sportsmans Expo (Mar. 24-27) / Denver Convention Center
We hope you can come visit. You can Google the shows for further details or write to us at Jonathan@tailhunter.com
Also, don’t wait until the show comes! Spaces are already filling and some dates are already filled. Get in contact with us as soon as you can so we don’t miss you, especially if you want certain dates, hotels, captains or are looking to catch a specific species!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 24-Nov. 2, 2021
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Long-time friends of Tailhunter from Oregon, Bob and Fran Handegard spent a few days fishing with us and really did well. Take a look at the rack of dorado, palometa and pargo!
Crazy tuna! We’ve literally caught almost zero tuna this year, but Tak and Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles were with Captain Pancho trolling Rapalas trying to catch a bonito for bait (since there was no live bait that day) in the shallows in front of Boca de Alamo when they got slammed by these two 40-pound class yellowfin. Pretty good on the dorado as well!
Yes, amazingly, there are still some roosterfish hanging out, Big smiles from Catherine Bennett who caught this pretty fish just outside of Muertos Bay. The fish was released. Catherine is from Washington.
First-timer luck? Hysby Ramirez did pretty darned good with big dorado, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and big triggerfish!
Birthday dorado! Bill Smith from Santa Cruz CA spent his birthday with us in La Paz visiting us for the first time and put this nice bull in the boat just north of La Paz.
Armando gives Grant Nakagawa a hand for the dorado photo.
Quite a variety for Marlene and husband Taky of great eating fish including lots of pargo, cabrilla, snapper, palometa and dorado!
Ron gives Dan and Keith, both first timers with their dorado. Good to have the guys visiting. They were lots of fun.
From Washington, J.D. Fouts got his first roosterfish just off Punta Perrico with live bait. J.D. was able to release the fish after the photo.
Captain Armando with Juli and Grant before putting the fillets on ice with a nice variety for the day .
Good to see long-time amigo, John McVay from Lake Havasu AZ with his favorite Captain Jorge.
There are always feisty bonito to tear up the lines for some fun! Jennifer and J.S. show off a couple of these tough fighters .
More fish for the freezer! A good day for Henry and Hysby. Henry took some of the snapper home whole for some great eating. Both live in Glendale CA. Henry has been with us many times over the years, but it was Hysby’s first time and Henry says she outfished him!
It was an up-and-down week for fishing in La Paz. At best.
Some boats do better than others. Some days are better than other days. Live bait is getting harder to find.
It’s clear that the season has definitely changed and we’ve moved into the transition towards cooler temperatures, windier days and nights and rougher seas. It’s a trend that will continue into the winter months.
We are definitely seeing fewer fishermen understandably and we consider November to April our off-season when there honestly are very few people on the water due to the erratic water and weather conditions. For instance, there are days this coming week when I’m glad we do not have any fishermen scheduled as the winds will be blowing up to 20 knots from the north.
No question, the sun is out and it’s very pleasant to be in town. Crowds are down as we approach the holidays, but the visitors now are mostly snowbirds escaping from colder climates.
However for fishing, it’s changing with the season. There are still warm water species around. In fact, some legit-sized 20-30 pound class dorado can still be caught as well as some stray sailfish and marlin. We even hooked a few rare tuna this weekend that were 40 pound sluggers. We haven’t seen much tuna or wahoo at all this year which is unusual and I pretty much wrote off both species this season. However, it’s been a great year for dorado, billfish and yes…even roosterfish are still around as well.
But these fish are getting harder to find so the bite on the warm water species is diminishing rapidly.
With the changing water, more focus is on the inshore and cooler water species like pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, snapper, triggerfish and grouper. We did hook a few of those big dog-tooth snapper in the rocks, but all the fish broke off. You know that any fish that can eat a whole bonito has to be huge! But, stopping them is another story.
Bonito and jacks rounded out the catch this week. With rougher water, live bait is getting more difficult to obtain and that’s a big key to where and how we fish and ultimately what we catch as well.
2022 BOOKINGS STARTING TO FILL
Dates for 2022 already filling!
It’s only November, but many of our 2022 dates are starting to fill up. In fact, some dates are already sold out with reservations coming in daily. Don’t wait. Get in touch with me so we can get you set up. My direct e-mail is Jonathan@tailhunter.com. Especially if you want certain captains or hotel rooms, get in touch with me! We don’t want to miss you or disappoint you!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 16-23, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Sherry Cady made me promise she’d make the fishing report this week with this beautiful big roosterfish she battled with Captain Pancho. So, here you go, Sherry! Nicely done and nice release too! Sherry is from Denver.
Big smiles and a big bull. Greg Saubolle has another one for the box.
Clair Olson and Mich Nekota have themselves a nice rack of dorado after a day of fishing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Might be one of my favorite photos of the year. John Sessums was on his first trip down with us and got his first roosterfish…finally! He was pretty happy! His biggest fish to that point. The rooster was released. Punta Perrico in the background.
Gary Okizaki from Cypress CA said “Dorado fishing this year was like the old days!” Great colors on this bull just outside of La Paz Bay.
From San Francisco, our amigo Paul Nagata, visits us each year and gets big fish and takes great photos. He did it again this year with an incredibly colorful bull mahi and an assist from Captain Pancho.
After visiting us for so many years, Tim Nishimura finally got a marlin plus a boatload of other species including dorado, pargo and snapper all on light tackle.
These two amigos had themselves a fun few days fishing with us the first time. Nate Odell gives his amigo, John Sessums a hand with his first marlin. It could not be released and meat was donated.
Now THIS is how to fish…a bottle of Don Julio in hand and an ice chest of great eating triggerfish, pargo, snapper and cabrilla ready to fillet!
Captain Joel gets a solo photo with a fish he gaffed for Gary and Danny Okazaki. They got 2 days of nice dorado limits.
Claire Olson and Greg Saubolle from the Bay Areas got more fish to add to the freezer wth 6 dorado and a couple of fat triggerfish they brought to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner.
Another of our fun Colorado friends, Ron Cady likes to bring his flyrod out and got into a couple of of fun dorado just outside of Bahia Muertos. He had a sailfish on the flyrod as well that straightened the hook!
Easy to get excited when a couple of tuna get hooked, but so far, except for a few stray individual fish, the tuna bite has just not happened this year although the guys got two chunky football YFT’s here.
Captain Armando has a knack for the billfish this year. In addition to two dorado, Bing Presnell also got this marlin. It could not be released and meat was donated.
Pretty water. Pretty fish. That’s what it’s like fishing for roosterfish this time of year. Ron poses with a big boy before letting it go. Looks like a lake.
First time new amigos from Washington, Terri Marshall and Tim Doyle have quite the variety on the cleaning table of dorado, pargo, snapper ,triggerfish and cabrilla.
One of our yearly amigos who has been visiting us for years, Danny Okazaki with one of his roosterfish caught right up against the rocks for the photo and release.
Captain Adolfo poses with Joe Brown’s marlin plus a big barred pargo and a double dorado. The meat was donated.
Steve never stops smiling. From Seattle, he’s visited us 3 times this year already and fishes for 6 days with his favorite Captain Jorge. He always chases the bigger and unusual fish, but this particular day he got a sole dorado and tries to hide it from the camera.
Here’s trouble…Andrew Harrison, Jon Eide and Captain Gerardo are a fun trio. Check it out…marlin, tuna, dorado, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish. What a day!
Usually, after a big storm like Hurricane Olaf that hit us last week, it takes a week-or-so for the waters to get back in shape for fishing. Hurricane Olaf surprisingly turned into a Category 2 storm with up to 15 inches of rain in 20 hours and gusts of wind up to 150 mph.
That kind of storm churns the waters. There’s lots of mud and debris runoff into the ocean. Big current bring in dirtier and cooler water. There can be alot of stuff floating in the ocean and frankly the fish get lockjaw and we really have to work hard to find the bite.
However, surprisingly, the waters and fishing bounced back faster than expected. Not as good as before the hurricane, but the thankfully did come back so that at least anglers got into some action and everyone had fish to put in the boats and/or bring home.
Each day post Olaf, it seems to get a little better.
Dorado, especially for our Tailhunter La Paz fleet are 90% of the catch with most fish about 10 pounds, but if you find the right spot, fish up to 20 or even 30 pounds are not uncommon. Quite a few fish are getting lost, but that’s part of the fun.
The dorado are not quite up-to-speed for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. One day, the dorado are there. Next day not so much. It’s up-and-down . Or, one boat finds a few dorado and others scratch to find even one dorado.
However, for both of our fleets, thankfully, there are other species willing to bite.
Healty-sized cabrilla, jack crevalle and some toad bonito provide lots of action as well as pargo, snapper and even some sierra, pompano, palometas and amberjack. Very unusual to catch sierra and amberjack this time of year as those are cooler water fish and we don’t see them until November or December. It leads me to believe that maybe waters are getting cooler.
Surprisingly, we still have roosterfish around which is quite late in the season. On light tackle, you can have fun all day along the beaches and rocky areas with 2-10 pound fish. However, some of the legit 30-50 pound fish are still cruising as well.
Additionally, marlin and sailfish are still getting hooked in numbers I have not seen in decades. It’s been like that all year. Most are getting released, but there’s sailfish, striped and blue marlin still biting and most are getting hooked on light tackle.
We did get a few tuna this week. Just a little jag of 30-pound fish that got everyone excited. We also got a wahoo. But, overall, there’s been a dearth of both species this season. Maybe, they’ll kick in soon.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 25-Aug.1, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
NOTE: MARLIN and SAILFISH PHOTOS! Folks…before you send me e-mails or post up hate messages, please take notice that there are ALOT of billfish photos in this report. These represent perhaps 5% of the billfish that our fishing fleet hooked this past week. There are THAT many billfish out there. Some days, the waters are thick with billfish. Many times our anglers are NOT trying to catch billfish. But the billfish are biting. The vast majority of the fish that we hook are released by our anglers or (being big fish), they break off or get unhooked). In many cases, the billfish you see here were unable to be released or, after the photo was taken, the fish were indeed returned to the water. In many cases, when the fish was not or could not be released, the meat was donated to local folks who were very grateful for the meat. But, that being said, anglers are entitled to keep a billfish if they did want to keep one and we are very stringent about never exceeding the billfish limits.
Marius came all the way from South Africa to spend two weeks fishing with us every-other-day. He was so impressed, he purchased property in La Paz! He caught lots of dorado and on this particular day hooked, landed and released four billfish all on light tackle including this striper.
Jeanne Cabales had to cancel her yearly trip last year, but is always fun to have visit. She’s pretty excited about these nice dorado. Jeanne is from San Diego.
Not too many funnier guys to have visit us each year than Sal Lopez with another dorado in the boat with our La Paz fleet.
Young Jacob Radloff from northern California…first day…fishing in the rocks in shallow water hooks his first marlin! You don’t have to go a zillion miles out to find big sportfish!
Bo Henke has been fishing with us for a generation every year. He always does well. Here with his son Gio and two of his box of dorado for the day. Loves fishing with Captain Chito.
Jose Mohler from Carlsbad CA had just one day to squeeze in for fishing and had a pretty good day of it with one of several dorado in the photo.
Captain Raul took Luis Arandia out for several days. One of them produced this striper. They took a number of dorado as well. Luis has been fishing with us for years and owns his own high end clothing line. Most of this marlin was donated.
My San Diego “bruddah” from Hawaii has never taken a straight-faced fishing photo in all the years he’s fished with us. This pargo is headed home in the box.
Molly and Travis came all the way from Texas with just one day to fish. They wanted to do some inshore fishing and had alot of action with cabrilla, snapper and triggerfish.
One of our long-standing amigos for so many years came back to see us and got a load of dorado over two days. Hector Chacon from Arcadia CA came down with his dad. Always good to see him.
Dan Sayin and son Aidan squeezed in a day of fishing at the end of their vacation and found a productive day on the dorado schools. Both are from Carlsbad CA.
Daniel Acosta on his first trip to fish with us for 3 days took this striper. Most of the meat was donated.
With the full moon earlier in the week, the fish counts took a tiny bit of a dip, but overall, it was just a nice solid summer week of fishing. It was hot, humid and sunny. Waters were blue and warm and mostly it was pleasant vacation style fishing which is perfect for most folks that are here right now. Lots of couples and families. Lots of first-timers experiencing Mexico and salt-water fishing for the first time. Quite a few kids. So the kind of fishing we had was pretty much just-right!
Dorado made up the mainstay of the catch, especially for our Tailhunter fleets that fish out’ve La Paz. Most of the fish were perfect fun-sized 10-20 pounders with the occasional larger fish. Schools were scattered over a wide area and could provide crazy action if the right school was found.
Sometimes a boat didn’t do as well as other boats, but the next could could be the exact opposite or the boat that didn’t bring back much fish might be because they tied into the other pre-dominant species we had this week…billfish.
Once again, as has been the case for the last two months, we’re seeing more marlin and sailfish than we have ever seen in many seasons. Often, whether you wanted one or not, it was not unusual to hook a billfish…or two…or three!
Many times the anglers are trying to catch a dorado or some keeper fish and along come the marlin and bites and they are in the middle of dorado or bonito or other species. The billfish comes along eating the bonito or the dorado and even the little sardine bait on the tiny hook and light line! Then, the angler is in for a crazy long battle or the fish gets off. It makes for some fun fishing and there is always the unexpected anxiety of not knowing just what is going to bite if you have a line in the water.
Most of the billfish were released or broke off. For all the photos, it represents only a fraction of the billfish that were hooked. If a fish could not be released, more-often-than-not the anglers donated the meat.
Other than dorado and billfish, the rest of the catch included roosterfish which are surprisingly still around with fish up to 40 or 50 pounds as well as jack crevalle, bonito, snapper, pargo and a few other random species. No shortage of action, especially if you’re fishing several days.
Like I said, you could have an off-day here or there, but if you’re fishing several days, the other days might well make up for it.
By the way, beaches have been re-opened and alcohol sales in restaurants and markets are now back to 11 p.m. instead of the 8 p.m. cut off. 😁👍
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of July 11-17, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Bennett Clegg always does well on the light tackle. This pretty bull dorado he caught while fishing with Captain Joel is no exception.
Ken Smith had just one day to squeeze in to try to catch his bucket-list rooster. He and Captain Armando rocked this big one and several others. All released.
That’s some good eating! Scott Pitts put this nice cabrilla in the fish box.
With Captain Rogelio our first-timer Utah amigos, Morgan Robinson and her dad, Cody just off Espirito Santo Island.
Tim Weaver is usually wearing black robes and has a gavel in his hand as a judge from Arkansas. This time he’s got himself a nice roosterfish. One of several all released.
I love this photo and we love this amiga…sheer joy! Toni Brown and Captain Alfredo with a fresh dorado on the gaff!
She’s been with us for years and always does well with her favorite Captain Pancho. Dolores Ehlers with another roosterfish. Photo and release!
Scott Dull squeezed in a quick drive down from Loreto to fish one day with us and ended with a sucessful catch of pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish to drive back up north.
Morgan Robinson with her first roosterfish off Bahia Muertos. Photo and release.
I THINK this is Greg Wetherbee behind the mask! He worked his flyrod for five days and caught a number of species including this slugger jack crevalle.
Pro fishing guide, John Daly, was a first-time visitor with us and shows off his first roosterfish outside of Suenos for a photo and release.
Now, here’s a nice photo! Colorful bull dorado caught by young Drake Rowland from Texas.
Ben Rodriguez, another of our first-timers this week, shows off a first-day catch off the reef with triggers cabrilla, big pargo and snapper .Ben is from San Diego.
Tim had himself a pretty active week with lots of species including this dog-tooth snapper. He did release alot of fish too!
Always a pleasure to have Mark Brown visit us. Last year, they had to cancel, but he was back this week and fished with Captain Alfredo taking this fat roosterfish north of La Paz. The fish was released .
I’ve known Ray Laney for years and he brought his son, Daniel, down for his high school graduation. They had to work hard for their fish, but the last day finally turned on with some nice dorado. Ray is from Oxnard CA
Dave Elliott and Bill Cogdall are two more of our new amigos who had to cancel last year, but came back this year for 3 days on the water with us. Great guys and glad to have them finally make it. They did pretty good on the dorado!
Cindy Weaver with her first rooster! Captain Armando lends a hand and helps with the release afterwards.
This photo is just too special. John Carser and his wife, Carol from Huntington Beach CA brought grandson Patrick to La Paz. Patrick is from Rhode Island and spending the summer with grandma and grandpa. This was his first time saltwater fishing and this was his first dorado! He did it! But, check the great facial expression! Grandpa John is all smiles.
His first marlin plus on live bait…on light tackle…and from a panga in shallow water! Tim Weave with his first striper…caught and released.
Hard to tell, but I think this is Mark Buddy behind the mask showing off one of several roosterfish he took on the fly while fishing the whole week with us . He got a number of species on the flyrod. All fish were released.
One of the best guys around…long time amigo from Denver, John Ehlers with his favorite Captain Pancho. John’s got another rooster to put back in the water as soon as he takes the photo.
Alicia Clegg from the East Bay of San Francisco can fish! She does so well every year. She’s got another dorado for the box!
Captain Rogelio poses with one of our new Utah friends, Stephanie Robinson and a nice dorado on the gaff.
Sam Sybesma from Bellflower is another of our good amigos who has been fishing with us for years. He brought down his son, Micah, this year. I think Micah caught bigger fish than dad!
Lots of first-timer roosterfish. Captain Armando with Teal Smith and her first gallo!
Late season rainbow runner caught by Crystal Bernhart outside of Bahia Muertos. Great eating fish we usually catch in the springtime months.
When you’re hot, you’re hot. Tim with another rooster for a photo and release!
Dan Hibma was visiting us for the first time from S. California and it looks like he’s got a nice dorado ready for the box.
It wasn’t a spectacular week of fishing to be honest. There weren’t alot of big trophy fish caught.
But, it was good steady summer fun fishing! Except for a few slack times, overall, everyone caught fish. There was plenty of action to go around.
Sometimes when it’s all big fish, especially for families, kids or first timers, big fish can be a tough fight. And often a big disappointment when they break off. With the fish we had this week, it was just pretty good steady fun fishing.
There might be the occasion off day, but most of our anglers fish several days. The good days usually made up for the slower days and the bite produced a good mix of dorado, billfish, lots of small to medium roosterfish, jack crevalle, big bonito, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and even some late season amberjack and rainbow runners.
The dorado have definitely slowed from the wild bite of a few weeks ago, but fish are still out there holding especially under the sargasso paddies. There were two days when there were lots of fish all around, but they just wouldn’t bite. It was frustrating. We figured it was just because the tides were especially slack and the fish simply weren’t feeding. That applied to the dorado as well as other species. The currents picked up and they fish started biting again.
Marlin have tapered as well. I think that has alot to do with the current, but also there has been so much traffic on the fishing grounds that the marlin have gotten lock-jawed. The marlin have been so thick over the last month that everyone and their brother, especially locals have been pounding the waters for the billfish. Hopefully, the bite comes back.
If you’re coming down, it’s been warm! High 90’s to low 100’s with humidity.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 4-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Crazy variety for a few hours of morning fishing for Fernando, his brother and son. On the rack…dorado, big sierra, snapper, pargo liso and cabrilla.
They’re early! The big pargo liso (mullet snapper) normally don’t start schooling up until spring-time but they’re already here and hunkered in the rocks and reefs and will bust you up!
It’s January, but yes, those are wahoo on the cutting board along with dorado, cabrilla and tasty white bonito.
Some big sierra crusing around right now like this tasty fella caught by amigo, Gary Wagner, from his Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos.
Nothing wrong with these items. Tasty cabrilla (Mexican seabass) posed with Jason and Alisa..
Not many folks fishing post-holidays, but town is pretty busy with escapees from the colder weather in the U.S. and Canada. However, this contrary to the gusting winds normally associated with this time of year, there were some incredibly pretty days right out’ve a postcard this past week. Winds settled, skies cleared and day-time temps reached into the 70’s. We could not have asked for better weather and a great window to get on the water.
That being said, it allowed folks to get out in the bay to swim with the whalesharks finally. The shallow water just inside the bay has been holding 6-10 baby whalesharks to swim with, but often it’s too windy and choppy to find them.
With the fishing, it’s been confusing and mixed…in a good way!
Normally, this time of year, when we can get out, we’re hitting mostly cold-water species inshore because well, the waters are cooler and it’s often too rough to get too far out.
However, not only did anglers find the cooler water species like cabrilla, snapper and some unusually big sierra, but a bit crazy because they also hit dorado, white bonito, wahoo and even a few marlin were seen and hooked!
This is indicative of some warm water still holding over so maybe these species will stick around. It’s making for a great variety of fish. Also with abundant sardines for bait, the fish are ready to chew.
One noticeably event seems to be that the big pargo liso (mullet snapper) that we don’t see until later in the spring have already shown up and are schooling over the rocky areas like Cerralvo Island and Punta Perrico. These tough fish are really difficult to wrestle out’ve the rocks and can test both angler and his gear, but are spectacular fighters and great eating and look like giant goldfish.
Also, flights are now coming in directly from the United States to La Paz now for the first time in 14 years. American Airlines from Dallas and Phoenix has been bringing folks now for almost a month.
Nice to have American Airlines now flying directly from Phoenix and Dallas to La Paz. First time we’ve had direct flights in over a decade. No more long drives up from Cabo. The flights have been very popular since they started a month ago. Easy flights into the uncrowded La Paz Airport then it’s just a few minutes to your hotel.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 2-9, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Back home in Denver, it was below freezing. Here in La Paz, it was 102 and after 2 slow days of fishing, John Lowdermilk and Gianni Checa finally hit the dorado schools and filled a box of fish!
By far, the best catches of a slower week, was had by our long-time amigos, Daniel and his dad, Jim Bovee from San Diego. Talk about a crazy season. Only our 2nd wahoo of the season. A big amberjack that usually is only around in the spring and two big pargo that are also usually cooler-water fish!
Eastern Washington in the house with Dan McKinley and Darrel Startin on their first trip down to visit us. They had one of the better days of fishing this past week.
Great prized catch for Don Busse who has fished with us for years and never gotten a pargo liso (mullet snapper). They are not only a difficult fish to pull from the rocks, but it’s September and these are cold-water fish we normally see in March and April. It’s a crazy year. Don is from Lakewood CA.
Firefighter Mike Welch on his first trip to visit us, shows off two of his dorado, but take a look at the box below. It was one of the better outtings this past week.
Dave Burnett with one of the tough bonito that at least provided some pulling action, even when the dorado weren’t biting.
Don Busse again with probably the biggest dorado of the week! Nice bull mahi!
The bonito north of town around Espirito Santo Island were especially tough and big fast sluggers like this one with Mike Welch hooked in between dorado.
Dave’s got another dorado in the boat. Lots of dorado did get released this week.
With the full moon, the week surprisingly started really strong! Limits of dorado for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. Thunderstorms that were predicted, never materialized and we finally had a great combination of solid fishing action and sunny weather with fairly flat seas.
The dorado weren’t big. The largest ran maybe 20 pounds, but with the 5-10 pounders, there was alot of action and many boats often limited early then caught-and -released fish. Lots of fillets ended up at our Tailhunter Fubar Cocina Restaurant every night.
In addition, we had a bit or unexpected variety. The wahoo made a show although we only got one to the boat, but it was only the 2nd wahoo of the season, but some of the other boats got hook-ups as well.
Additionally some great inshore fishing with nice cabrilla, pargo, snapper, roosterfish, amberjack plus big bonito an jacks made for some good days of fishing.
As the week went on, amazingly, the full moon waned and so did the fishing! Our Las Arenas fleet really had to work hard to find fish, but our La Paz fleet continued to do OK. But straight up…it really got tough. Overall, the fishing action dropped off tremendously.
I have no idea why. Conditions seemed normal for the time of year. Lots of bait. The fish just went “lockjaw” and captains and anglers alike really struggled to get into a solid bite of any note. Everyone who wanted to take home fish, still took home fish, but it was spotty at best!
Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this we’ll be back up-to-speed.
Maybe the best news of the week was the re-opening of the beaches and our water-front malecon after almost 5 months or Covid-closure! It was good to see people in the water; walking along the waterfront and cruising the Malecon in the evenings. It really put people in an up-beat mood and you could feel the palpable joy in the locals as well as the tourists.
Along with that, the decrease in restrictions, also applied to the opening of churches (with protocols); gyms, the movie theaters, salons, spas and so man non-essential businesses that were shuttered.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 20-27, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Every year, Kelly Jimenez from Colorado comes down with her family to visit us for years. Every year, it’s something new and better! This year, with Captain Jorge, check out the size of this huge roosterfish she battled outsid Bahia Muertos! The fish was released.
Captain Chito and Diego Jimenez are all smiles as Diego has been fishing with us for many years from Loveland CO and always wanted a sail. After releasing several marlin this week, this sail was kept and meat donated.
They hooked 4 big roosters this morning. Gary Wagner owner of the Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos with friend, Rush Whitmarsh from San Diego with one of those 4 hefty roosters caught and released.
Jim Stahlman was with us all week an fishing with Captain Jorge. Jim is from Boise, ID and caught roosterfish, jacks, wahoo and on this day, his personal best dorado.
Gary Wagner with one in the boat to start the day. The roosters were on the chew this week close to shore . Gary released this one and others.
Giving some “sugar” to their dorado, the Morales sisters from California, Christina, Kimberly and Ruby on the beach at Bahia Muertos. Ruby also landed a sailfish that day.
Kelly and Diego Jimenez were on a roll this week releasing several marlin, numerous roosterfish, jacks and other species. They estimated they caught almost 20 different species. They caught this marlin and sailfish the same day with Captain Chito. The fish could not be released, but meat was gifted.
He fished hard all week and got wore out! But, 11-year-old, Roman Jimenez worked it and this was his largest jack crevalle of the week which he released.
Jesus Morales and Carlos Kanemoto with two dorado out’ve their box after a day of hitting the mahi at the buoys.
Right in front of the Punta Arenas lighthouse just off the beach, Rush and Gary with another roosterfish for a quick photo and release!
Jim Bovee from San Diego…pulling hard on a light rode with a marlin at the other end! Check the series of photos. That’s Espirito Santo Island in the background just north of La Paz. More photos below.
After a long battle, Jim’s marlin is getting closer to the boat!
…and here it is! Great shot. Great battle ! Even better, Jim released the fish to fight another day!
Ruby Morales, holding the head, gets an assist from her sisters to pose with her sailfish. Ruby always does well. Last year she single-handed a huge yellowfin tuna.
Captain Pancho lends a hand to Kelly Jimenez and a fun little rooster right up in the shallows of Bahia Muertos. The fish was released. There’s alot of little jacks and roosters in the bay that are great for catch-and-release light tackle fun.
Immensely fun when you’re throwing a surface-popper like the one hanging out’ve the mouth of this jack crevalle caught by Rush Whitmore of San Diego. The fish was released.
Surely no shortage of action on these tough-fighting jack crevalle nicknamed “toros” by the Mexican fishermen which means “bull.” Diego Jimenez with the photo and fish!
Jim Stahlman from Idaho with one of two roosters caught and released just off the sands and surf at Punta Arenas.
Our Captain Gerardo stands behind Fernando Morales and pal, Jonathan Jackson and 3 of their dorado. They caught big fish limits early in the morning and were back on the beach and back to town long before anyone else!
A very good week overall. Some boats did better than others some days. Some spots were better than others. There was a little work involved in finding the fish. But for anyone who put in a couple of days on the water, you surely went home with a bunch of fish in the cooler; some to eat for dinner; and probably released alot of fish too.
I can’t believe how many species were hooked this week!
I think I counted almost 20 different species. They included dorado, tuna sailfish, marlin, roosterfish, jacks…we even hooked some sharks and (get this) salt-water catfish!
The week started out with an explosion of tuna for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. I mean, the ocean just blew tuna out’ve the water and onto the rods and reels. Pretty much all you could want in the shallow waters off Punta Arenas and Bahia Muertos. You could see the tuna swimming under the boat and see the bottom as well. It was THAT shallow. Fish were nice-sized 10-20 pounders too.
Next day, everyone wanted the tuna again, but for the most part, that was the tuna show for the week, even though some tuna popped up here and there.
After that, dorado…some good grade legit 20-25 pounders moved in. So did big roosterfish between 10-80 pounds along the shoreline along with their jack crevalle cousins. Add in snapper, cabbrilla, pargo, triggerfish and bonito and there was no shortage of action most days with most boats. Our Las Arenas Fleet definitely had the better action but that doesn’t mean our La Paz fleet wasn’t working it.
North of town, the water just seemed a bit cooler…a bit off-color. It’s taking awhile to come around.
Honestly, with all this variety and the windy days we’re still getting, this is very much like spring-time fishing . Maybe May or June-style fishing. Plus, it’s not really as hot as I would expect for this time of year. The waters are still getting to the right spot . Even when fish weren’t biting, we were definitely seeing the fish…schools of them, but they weren’t necessarily on the chew. This was especially true of the dorado.
However, billfish really stepped up this week. Not all of them wanted to bite but we hooked more striped marlin and more sailfish this week than any week I can remember. We lost alot of them too because folks would be fishing for dorado or some other smaller species and instead a billfish would take a bite instead and well…off to the races. Usually the fish would win, but a couple of folks got their fish to the boats and most were released.
But, then again, there were marlin sometimes just sitting on the surface sunning. Not interested in feeding at tall. And that is very characteristic of spring-time behavior.
Hopefully, more and better coming up!
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
Everything pretty much open or getting there! Still holding at “Orange Level 5” which means no more than 30% occupancy and masks are required. Lots of sanitation protocols in place everywhere. Town not very full, but more fishermen coming all the time. Beaches are still mostly closed, but plans to re-open maybe this week. Social distancing required, but there’s not enough people around to make it an issue.
All water activities like scuba, snorkeling, booze cruises, kayaking, etc. were re-opened this week.
FUBAR COCINA CANTINA
As many of you know, we regretfully had to close our famous Tailhunter Restaurant Bar permanently when the quarantine was first imposed back in early April. However, these past few weeks we’ve been diligently painting, spackling and re-modeling our downtairs FUBAR cafe to include a full bar…outdoor seating…an expanded menu with many of your favorite items from upstairs…plus the Sirena Mini-Super Market next door. We can’t wait to be open again watching sports, playing live music and enjoying our many friends from around the world!
Tailhunter Fish Report 