La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of April 21-28, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not bad for one day. 2 nice yellowtail, a snapper and some white bonito.
Biggest rooster of the season so far. Right off the Perrico Rocks in shallow water. Gary with a nice catch-and-release.
Jimmy Williams spent the day spanking the big cabrilla at the north end of Cerralvo. He and his buddies came back with full fish boxes.
Just when I thought the yellowtail might have left…double ‘tails plus cabrilla, pargo and bonito.
Captain Jorge had a good day with the boys…Bonito, big sierra and a yellowtail. No shortage of action.
The right kind! Gary Wagner with a big dog-tooth snapper just outside of Bahia Muertos and his place at Rancho Costa.
Hard to beat a cold Modelo after a good day on the water of a fat yellowtail, some snapper and cabrilla.
Nancy Enright from Lemon Grove CA has a tasty pompano just off the rocks.
Geoff Wilkinson from Lakewood CA has a big yellowtail ready to slice up for sashime.
Captain Gerardo mugs with Gregg Wurtz on a first-time trip with us. Lots of meat on the fillet table with yellowtail, big bonito, snapper and some good-sized cabrilla.
Tough fish…fun guy! Johnny Enright battled this feisty jack crevalle just outside of Bahia Muertos.
Gary sure had a good week. Check out this big big big cabrilla!
Like the week before, things started slowly despite really excellent conditions with air temps in the low 80’s during the day and high 50’s at night with just daily breezes.
The early week bite mostly consisted of inshore species like cabrilla, pargo, sierra and snapper taken over the rocky areas and shallow structure.
However as the week went on the bite got stronger with yellowtail once again jumping into the picture and fish up to about 25 pounds taken on baits and yo-yo jigs around Cerralvo Island. Even some tuna popped up, but quickly disappeared and getting everyone excited.
In addition to the yellowtail, lots of huge white bonito blew up plus some larger roosterfish caught and released to add to fish boxes of big cabrilla and even some dog-tooth, barred and lisa pargo.
I was surprised with the yellowtail. It has been on-and-off for the last 2 weeks and I figured that the fish might have moved off to deeper water since the ocean appears to be warming and more bluewater species expected. But, it was great to have the fish back in the counts.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the full moon!
BUT WAIT…!!!
Just as I was about to publish this week’s fish report…an update!
WINTER decided to kick back . Holy cow. It got cold and windy again.
This is how it looked one day:
Gorgeous. Beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. 85 degree sunshine.
TURN UP THE SOUND!
Then this is what happened the next day. Blew us off the water. Could not even fish. Could not even launch the boats! Winds came out’ve nowhere. They were not even on the weather advisories. It was like someone threw a switch:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 13-20, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A great first day for Sue and Bobby Stanley from the San Diego area on their first trip to La Paz with a nice yellowtail and some great action on some big boy cabrilla.
Johnny Enright from Lemon Grove CA shows off our first roosterfish of the season taken on a live bait near Bahia Muertos. The fish was released. Schools of roosters are now showing up in the shallows.
YEOW! This is a huge pompano…a member of the jack family like yellowtail, roosterfish and jack crevalle. Great eating! Captain Moncho handling the great pose.
Great way to start the day! First sardine in the water produced this big yellowtail for Nancy fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos with Captain Pancho.
Our Salt Lake City amigo, Robert Pettit with his favorite Captain Arcangel and a crazy variety of fish including two big yellowtail, cabrilla, white bonito and a big pargo as well.
Cabrilla, sierra and two kinds of pargo…a pargo liso (mullet snapper) and pargo perro (dog-tooth snapper) for John and Nancy on the cutting board.
Captain Blas with another yellowtail. This one taken near Espirito Santo Island.
Two of our new San Diego friends, Cindi Rice and Howard Cook have two huge sierra, some white bonito and some of those big cabrilla that went off last week.
Alla Cazier is all smiles with her thick yellowtail she hung north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island. Alla came to visit us from San Antonio, Texas.
The mornings were cool and jackets were recommended, but honestly, we could not have had better weather this week. By the time the sun came up, it broke into clear blue days that weren’t too hot and flat calm waters mostly. They were the kind of days to spend on the beach and the Chamber of Commerce loves to taut.
So, what happened to the fishing?
The better part of the week, for lack of a better word, it STUNK!
Compared to what we had in the previous weeks, it was almost like a liquid desert out there! I don’t know if this was the whole Sea of Cortez, but I even had guys from Loreto drive down because they said fishing up there was really slow. I had guys on the East Cape asking if our fishing was any better than down there because they were wondering if they should drive up and fish our waters instead.
Gotta be honest, but everyone really had to work hard for the few fish that were taken. That includes both our Las Arenas and our La Paz Fleet.
Sure, there were occasional flurries or some boat would get lucky and everyone around them would be getting blanked, but for the most part, it was less than stellar fishing we we picked through pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito and even some sierra. Some boats even struggled to catch a few bonito.
Then, it was like a switch was thrown the latter part of the week. In fact, most of the photos for this week’s fishing were from the last few days of the week.
Yellowtail bit again, maybe not as crazy as previous weeks, but alot better than earlier in the week. We got our first roosterfish of the season. Dog-tooth snapper and pargo liso bit. In addition to some hefty pargo, bonito and cabrilla, we got pompano, huge jack crevalle and some mega-sized sierra for quite a variety.
It saved our week for a number of anglers who had been having a tough time! (And lowered our own anxiety levels!)
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 21-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great say to spend Spring Break…fishing! Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs CO, put this big mossback yellowtail in the boat off the back side of Cerralvo Island.
A great start for our long-time amigo, Darrell Manginelli, who started his 3 days of fishing with a spectacular day of 5 big yellowtail and a huge cabrilla. one yellowtail was caught on a sardine, but other fish fell for butterfly jigs.
Checking out a trophy catch! Campbell Grage has his hands full with a big-time barred pargo taken off the reef in shallow water. Check how calm the ocean is!
These two characters always get fish! Our Tailhunter amigo, Jimmy Williams and Bill McCarthy came back with 3 yellowtail and a big snapper using bait at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but Jimmy told me the fish were thick and so many of the powerful fish they could not stop on 60-pound-test!
Great to see Mike O’Neill on the water. Our amigo was jigging with light tackle for yellowtail and snagged this 140-pound striped marlin instead! Game on! Mike battled the fish for over and hour on the light rig. You can see the jig attached to the reel. First marlin of the season. The fish was not able to be released and meat was donated.
Speaking of “characters” most of you know our awesome drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero looking like twins now that Esteban has grown a beard! They got in on the yellowtail bite as well this week and took two big forkies plus a nice dog-tooth snapper, a fat cabrilla and a huachinango (not pictured) that I think they gave to Captain Armando.
Great photo of a smiling Captain Pancho with amigo, Gary Wagner, owner of the El Rancho Resort holding the gaff on this slug yellowtail.
What a great week! Simple as that.
The winds cut us some slack. We had anglers on the water. The fish bit. All the planets lined up and what a week it was!
With general calm waters most of the week, we had probably the best week of fishing in many months.
It was also the best week of yellowtail fishing of the season.
On top of that, I’d have to say this is the best yellowtail season we have had in many many years.
That’s alot of meat! Yellowtail and pargo for dinner right after a quick beach photo.
Straight up, I’ll tell you that La Paz is NOT a big-time yellowtail spot. Areas way north of us such as Loreto and Mulege are traditionally the hot spots for yellowtail further up the Sea of Cortez. We’re known more for tuna, dorado, roosterfish and marlin.
But, what to make of these last 3 months? Yellowtail in numbers we have not seen in many years! I mean, we get our share, but nothing like what we’re seeing these days! I have no idea how long it will last. It could be over by the time you read this. Maybe the full-moon coming up will blow it apart. But, we’re sure enjoying it RIGHT NOW!
With fish scattered in a number of hot spots, yellowtail from 10-40 pounds were schooling up and chomping live bait, trolled lures and yo-yo/ stick jigs. Fish were stacked up at the north end of Cerralvo Island. They were at the south end of Cerralvo Island. They were caught as close as the rocks right outside of Bahia Muertos between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. On top of that they also came up to foam around Espirito Santo Island for the first time this year.
The fish were generally around structure, but about half of the fish were breaking off either from sheer power or from taking lines back into the rocks. One angler told us, that even with 60-pound-test, he had trouble stopping a number of fish.
One more day to go! Darrell had 3 days of fishing. Day 1 produced 5 yellowtail and 1 cabrilla. This is day 2…with three yellowtail and limits of cabrilla for him and Captain Pancho. All caught trolling Rapalas.
On top of that, we had big cabrilla also in the area and taking the jigs, the live bait and the trolled Rapalas. Dog tooth snapper up to about 20 pounds were also bending rods plus big schools of tasty white hard-fighting bonito, jack crevalle and even the occasional dorado.
Matt, Gary, Campbell with some chunky bonito.
We also got our first marlin of the season when one of our amigos was jigging for yellowtail and snagged about a 140-pound striped marlin he ended up fighting over an hour on crazy light tackle.
All-in-all a solid week and maybe the start of a great fishing season.
YELLOWTAIL LURES
Darrell got this mossback yellowtail to swallow a lively sardine.
Just a head’s up on what these yellowtail have been eating. No telling how long this bite will last, but wanted to pass along some info. There are 3 main ways to catch them. Live bait such as sardines always get the fish to bite.
However, slow trolling diving lures over the rocky areas is also very effective for these yellows as well as pargo, cabrilla and even wahoo. Lures such as this purple/black Rapala Xrap 20 is an example but other companies make similar lures such as Yo-Zuri and others. The numbers such as “20” represent an approximation of how deep these lures will “dive” when trolled or retrieved. So, the example below will get down to about 20′. They also make an Xrap 10, 30, and 40.
Another deadly method involves using “yo-yo iron” or “yo-yo technique. ”
Lip-hook on a jig with a powerful yellowtail and Jorge Romero on the jig rod.
One of the most exciting moments in fishing big sportfish is having one take your jig and slam it right in the jaw! It’s an electrifying strike!
This requires using heavy lures and casting or free-spooling them to the bottom. Then rapidly winding them back towards the boat. But, then stopping. Letting the lure flutter back down. Then rapidly retrieving again in a “Z” type pattern back to the boat. It can be tiring, but incredibly effective as all kinds of sportfish will often viciously slam the lure as it flutters down or as soon as the retrieve takes place.
Here’s some samples:
A number of companies make similar lures like Salas, UFO, Sea Strike, Daiwa, Diamond Jigs, Raider Lures and so many others. My favorite colors include blue and white; chrome combinations; scrambled egg; zuchino or dorado color; all white.
Some of the jigs in my tackle box. Looking busted up because they’ve been beat up and eaten by fish many times!
These are all Shimano lures, but so many other companies make similar lures. I’m not paid by Shimano or Rapala or any other company and am only using these as an example.
La Paz/ Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos Fishing Report for Feb. 18-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Jim and his buddy live in Los Barriles and came all the way up to get in on the yellowtail bite. Fishing with Captain Moncho they got a great load of yellowtail, cabrilla and even some surprise dorado.
Fishing with Captain Pancho, Dr. Santiago is a physician in La Paz and he and Pancho stuffed the fish box with some legit yellowtail on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Our own popular Captain “Fettucini” Alfredo Gaxiola got out with his wife to fish around Cerralvo Island on one of the calmer days and he nailed this horse of a trophy cabrilla.
Lots of boats were on the hot spots at the backside of Cerralvo Island taking yellowtail like Dr. Santiago’s fish.
Our own Tailhunter amigos and popular favorite van drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero took the spinning rods out to Bahia Muertos with the plastic jigs and took home a cooler full of tasty snapper and cabrilla. All fishing from the beach and rocks.
Relatively speaking the winds cut us some slack again this past week and we probably had the best week of fishing in the last 2 or so months. While the United States was largely wrapped in ice and snow, things were reversed in La Paz which is normally windy and generally quite windy this time of year making it difficult to fish.
With temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s, sunny skies and mostly moderate seas, anglers were able to get in on that hot yellowtail bite that’s been going on for the better part of two weeks. There aren’t many tourist anglers as this is off-season, but captains, their families and locals from La Paz and as far as Los Barriles (the East Cape) far to the south were jumping on boats to get on top of these fish. Last weekend on Saturday, as many as 80 pangas and other assorted vessels were sitting on the honey-holes taking limits. On Sunday fewer fish with about half the boats counted. But, that’s to be expected when there’s that much traffic on the water. However…
It’s maybe one of the best yellowtail bite we’ve see in years with fish running 10-25 pounds and taking a variety of jigs including yo-yo and knife jigs plus sardines when around. Some reported larger fish are also being lost as these fish are generally in heavy structure and the waters are not especially deep. Therefore, if you can’t turn their heads, these bruising fish are busting anglers off in the rocks.
Hot spots included the areas around Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to Punta Perrico and then to the areas just around the Las Arenas lighthouse at Castilla. Another spot that has been on fire is Los Pilis which up the backside of Cerralvo Island about 2/3 of the way up the island. One of our Tailhunter captains counted “at least” 40 boats there one day.
But, the travel has been worth it. Boats are landing limits or near limits of the feisty fork tails. I saw photos of the parking lot at Muertos and you would think there was a rock concert going on. There were no parking spaces with all the trucks, cars, boat trailers and vans parked there.
Additionally, there have been white bonito (tasty) plus jack crevalle, cabrilla, snapper, Sierra and pargo mixed in as well.
The biggest surprise was that a few respectable tuna have mixed in and some wahoo and dorado also showed up this week. These are normally warmer water fish and we don’t see these until later in the year unless these are hold-over fish from last season.
At the time of this writing, winds were already starting to ramp up again so hopefully the return of the winds doesn’t knock the bite back down. We know the fish are surely there!
SHALLOW WATER…LIGHT TACKLE…Great results!
Not much going on right now for driving so everyone’s favorite guy and driver, Jorge Romero went out a 2nd day later in the week. In the photos above, he was just out walking the beach with his brother, Esteban. This time he got out on one of the pangas. Still recovering from neck surgery he had at the end of last season, he didn’t want to try tangling with a big yellowtail, tuna or dorado…doctor’s orders! However…
He got in a quick 4 hour trip. It was late in the afternoon. There was not even live bait available. But using dead bait and poppers on light line and light tackle, he had a pretty epic day. All in shallow water close to shore in and over the rocks. A big pompano and lots of feisty tasty cabrilla in the box!
Trophy pompano for Jorge. We usually don’t see these guys until later spring, but I guess some warm water has moved in. These are fun fighters and make great table fare…especially sashime!
This is an epic day on light tackle in shallow water! The cabrilla heads are especially prized for soup and the meat is tender white and highly prized.
Cabrilla that fell to a surface popper.
GOOD NEWS ON COVID FRONT
This past week, the authorities lowered the covid restrictions from orange (level 4) to yellow (level 3).
This allows all work activities again with occupancy increased from 40% to 50% for places like hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The La Paz Malecon has been re-opened with restricted hours that will be monitored.
Also, since the CDC implemented the new rules requiring all international travellers entering or returning to the U.S. (like American tourists coming home from Mexico) to show evidence of a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel, Mexico has really ramped up it’s efforts to construct facilities at hotels, airports, and around the various cities, especially those that see a large influx of international travel.
After one month, Cabo San Lucas (where most folks fly to get to us) has had more than 60,000 international travelers. Of that, only 50 persons tested positive and none of them ended up exhibiting symptoms.
They were not allowed to fly, but hotels now have special discounted rooms, dining and services for those that get detained. They are given a new covid test every 2 days and as soon as they test negative, they are allowed to leave!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Jan. 26-Feb. 8, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Five for the cooler ready to be filleted! Drs. Beltran and Santiago took some time from their offices in La Paz to fish with us and caught these working the waters with yo-yo iron for these yellowtail.
Not a bad morning. Raul Chollet from La Ventana was out fishing with us and nailed these thick yellowtail just off Punta Perrico.
Mostly locals fishing right now and a great catch is to get into a school of tasty sierra. If you hit a spot, you can load up pretty fast! This one fell to the blue Rapala still stuck in the mouth.
Trophy fish on a dark purple Rapala trolled over th rocks. Raul with a big cabrilla and knowing Raul, every bit of this fish is gonna be part of dinner!
It was chilly and cold again this week but there were finally some opportunities to fish which has been rare the past weeks with lots of gusty winds. However, this past week, the winds let up for about 3 days or, at least didn’t start blowing until late. Since we’re really not having to go very far to get to fish right now, it at least allowed anglers to get in a few productive hours of fishing early before the winds kicked in.
Not many fishermen at all this time of the year. It’s mostly locals or captains fishing for their families.
However, literally within 20-50 years of the beach, there’s a good jag of yellowtail that have shown up near Punta Arenas near Punta Perrico where the old Hotel Las Arenas used to be. The fish are a nice hefty grade of 18-25 pound fish that are taking alot of guys into the rocks.
Sardines are working when you can get them, but it’s often difficult getting live bait because of the winds and the bait guys can’t get to the rocky or sandy areas where the bait usually holds out. Waves either scatter the bait or make it hard for the bait guys to get into the rocky areas which are treacherous.
When, there’s no sardines, the guys are using the yo-yo iron. It’s tiring work, but productive dropping the iron and lifting and reeling back to the boat. Alternatively, trolling lures like Rapalas and Yo-Zuris are also working and producing other species like sierra, jacks, cabrilla and barred pargo.
CDC and COVID TESTING
In case you hadn’t heard, as of Jan. 26th, the CDC has mandated that anyone traveling by plane into the U.S. must show they have had a negative Covid test within 72 hours of their trip. This only applies to air travel. You are NOT required to quarantine once you get into the U.S. although it has been suggested.
Nevertheless, the new rules sent everyone in the tourism industry from airlines to hotels and folks like us into a mad scramble. We were all just on the verge of rebounding after a difficult 2020.
However, the government and tourism boards made rapid adjustments.
Testing facilities have been set up at all international airports including Cabo, La Paz and Tijuana as well as others around the country. According to the Cabo Board of Tourism, all hotels and timeshare operations in Cabo San Lucas now offer testing services and more laboratories and testing facilities are popping up all over.
The test only takes 15 minutes and costs between $20-25 dollars. Results are returned within an hour and you receive either a printed result or get them online to show before you board your flights.
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/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 25, 2020 – Jan. 3, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Find the right spot and there’s still some water water areas holding dorado between 5-15 pounds as waters get cooler.
An incredible experience to get in the water and snorkel with the whalesharks in La Paz Bay.
It’s been rather quiet and subdued this past week for the holidays. It still has been festive, but like much of the world, things are just at a lower key and lower volume. Most folks coming to town are not looking to fish. They’re just spending vacation time for the holidays and hoping for a little sunshine and and put their toes in the sand!
The glitch in that this week was that it was actually been a bit chilly along with the normal seasonal gusty winds from the north. In fact, it’s been that way for well over a week now. Daytime temperature struggling to get out’ve the 60’s. Night temps dropping to the crazy 40’s! Yes, even in Baja, it can get chilly.
Tourists are still in their shorts and t-shirts, but La Paz residents are talking about 2-3 blankets at night and folks are wearing long pants and jackets.
For fishing, there’s still some dorado around. Most 5-12 pound school-sized fish indicative of the probably the last patches of warm water still lingering around. Inshore, there’s a good smattering of snapper, jacks, seabass (cabrilla) and some barred pargo. For most folks simply looking for a day on the water and a bit of action, these fish are perfect and alot of fun. Plus provide some good fish to take to a local restaurant. Everyone is happy.
Honestly, most folks coming to town intent on some time on the water are mostly here for either swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or headed to a whale-watching trip.
The whalesharks in the bay are mostly 10-12’ juveniles in shallow water only minutes from the Malecon. The only problem is that if it’s windy and choppy it can be difficult to find them.
In the shallow waters of La Paz Bay, the whalesharks are usually 10-15′ long “babies”.
On the other hand, the official start of whale-watching season has started as the annual migration of grey whales has seen them starting to arrive over at Bahia Magdalena where they’ll enjoy the warm shallow water, breeding and calving before heading back north to the Bering Sea around March.
So, we’re booking trips now for the grey whales, swimming with the whalesharks and the occasional fisherman.
THE NO SHOW – NO SHOWS in 2021!
We will surely miss the packed aisles of friends this year!
Normally this time of year, we’re hitting the road beginning our 3 month road-tour to all the biggest and best fishing/hunting expos in the western U.S. With our Catlyn (our rescue cat); the booth, thousands of brochures and lots of winter clothes and tire chains; our road vehicle is packed floor-to-ceiling and right about now we’re on our way to our first show of the year at the Denver Convention Center…then followed the next week in Sacramento at the State Fairgrounds. Each week, a different show to see all of you!
We’ll see you for a cold one in La Paz in 2021!
In 2021, that’s not to be the case, unfortunately, as Covid restrictions have shut down all the shows. So for the first time in about 30 years, regretfully, we won’t be in our booth.
That just means, you’re all staying safe and you’ll have to contact us directly to book trips ( jonathan@tailhunter.com) and come visit us in La Paz!
NICE TIME TO BE IN LA PAZ – BUT NOT NECESSARILY FOR FISHING
EVERY DAY!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 15-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE from Our Family to Yours!
Jill and I just wanted to send the best blessings of the season to your family from ours. It’s been a tough year, but we’re hanging in there as we hope you are. All things aside, we are blessed to be together and to have you as our friends and extended Tailhunter Tribe and Family. Best fishes and Felices Fiestas!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Long-time amigo, Tom Rautert from Arizona brought his son, Fred who lives in Manteca CA for the first time to La Paz to fish with us. As luck would have it, on the one and only day they had to fish, Fred outfished dad as they found a nice school of dorado.
Thumbs-up for Fred with a nice winter-bull dorado. Usually, we don’t find dorado when the waters and temperatures start to get colder in December.
For most folks visiting La Paz these last weeks, the town has been pretty perfect. It’s a great time to be in town. Beaches aren’t real crowded. Restaurants and hotels aren’t real crowded. It’s been about 73 degrees in the day and 60 at night. Nice breeze. It beats being in New York or N. Dakota or Canada this time of the year.
Not alot of hard-core fishers in the groups. If anyone wants to go out, they want to go maybe a day and that’s it.
Regretfully, as nice as it is on the shore, on the water, it’s not always so accommodating. November to April, there aren’t alot of fishermen because it can be pretty windy. Northerly winds blow down the Sea of Cortez this time of year and it can be incredibly and deceptively rough. There are times, when it’s impossible or worthless to even go out.
So, anyone that wants to fish, we try to ask them to be flexible with their dates so we can check the forecasts to see which days might be better than others. This time of year, maybe 2-4 days per week might be OK. Other days, the winds can howl!
So, we did have some folks out and surprisingly, it wasn’t that they caught fish. It was the quantity and quality of fish! Normally, but this time of year, we’re into the inshore species like cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle and pargo. But, apparently, there’s still some warm water spots here-and-there holding schools of quality dorado, wahoo and even some billfish.
The biggest issues, really is that with so few boats on the water, it’s tough to find some spots sometimes. When there’s alot of boats on the water like during the regular season, word gets out and spreads about the hot spots. When there’s only 1 or 2 boats out, it’s a different story! Fortunately, we are able to jump into the good areas and hit the bite this past week.
This coming week, looks pretty gusty with winds up to 25 knots per hour as the day goes on. Maybe two days look promising. Check with us!
TIME TO BOOK! NEW DIRECT FLIGHTS TO LA PAZ FIRST TIME
Probably the biggest news of the week has to do with flights!
Finally! We hope others will follow up and add more routes!
Water cannon salute for the first plane!
Knuckle bumps from Governor Carlos Mendoza-Davis to the first arrivals!
It’s hard to believe it has been that long but for the first time in over a decade, we have direct flights into La Paz from the U.S. American Airlines inaugurated direct flights from both Phoenix and Dallas! The first flights were greeted by governor Carlos Mendoza-Davis with water cannon salutes and knuckle bumps from the head man!
We are hopeful that American Air will add more routes and even moreso that other airlines will jump aboard as well. American has some great rates too and statistics are showing that even with the pandemic, Americans are flocking to Mexico and finding it’s an easy and quick get-away.
For us at Tailhunter, alot of reservations are rolling in daily for 2021. Don’t wait! I’m not kidding. If you have a favorite hotel or captain or time-of-year, dates are filling up and some are already sold out. Get in touch with us so we make sure we have you covered! Write me directly at: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
NO SPORTSMENS SHOWS THIS YEAR!
Me, Catlyn and Jilly driving to the next big show. We’ll miss seeing you this year!
Our booth…sort of a 10 x 10 home-away-from home for 14 weeks each year. I will NOT miss setting it all up and taking it down!
Those icy drives through Wyoming, Idaho and Montana were grueling, but an adventure.
For the first time in almost 30 years, we will NOT be on the road from January to March. All of the fishing & hunting shows where we see so many of you have either been cancelled…will be cancelled…or it just doesn’t make economic sense to travel that far for only one show. Normally, it’s a different show every week for 14 weeks!
We will miss all our friends and seeing YOU especially. It is what it is, regretfully.
However, all the more reason to get in touch with us to lock in your spots for fishing in 2021. Everyone is booking online with us so don’t wait! We don’t want to miss you!
That’s our story!
Be well. Be safe. Hug each other and Merry Christmas!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 4-14, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
It’s not very long this week and to be honest, I recorded it while Jill and I were flyfishing on the Guadalupe River. Our anniversary and not much happening in La Paz so we took off a few days to check on the kids and then a surprise trip to the Texas Hill Country. As good a place as any to do the report!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
John Nagy from Los Angeles had some fun with one of his dorado and Captain Hoel. John was able to get in some fishing, but said mostly by noon, the winds were too strong to keep fishing. He was fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet from La Paz and the fish was caught outside of Bahia Muertos
About the only folks in town right now between the holidays are folks here to find some sunshine from colder places in the world. And indeed, the sun has been out mostly although relatively speaking, we think it’s been on the chilly side. However, I guess it’s definitely sunnier than places in Canada, Alaska and Montana. However, even that wasn’t guaranteed this week as we actually had FOG! That’s right…real FOG.
Yup! Sunny La Paz!
Just like the travel brochures pictured it!
I think in my 25 years in living in Baja, I’ve seen fog only a handful of times and that was up in the mountains. However, a thick London-style fog actually descended on the city that really made it look pretty eerie. Of course, then the sun came out and cooked it all away.
Likewise, as is typical this time of year, the winds did blow, especially as the days wore on with some gusts to 25 knots. For fishing, there aren’t that many anglers around anyway, but for those that went out, it was either pretty rough making it hard to get to fishing grounds and get bait or, they were getting blown off the water by the late morning and early afternoon.
That being said, there’s still some dorado around running up to about 20 pounds. Some wahoo were hit at the south end of Cerralvo as well and commercial guys still keep seeing some big tuna north of the island, although the fish are moving too fast and not taking any hooks. Inshore, cabrilla and snapper as well as jack crevalle provided action when there was nothing further out.
Although fishing isn’t drawing many folks right now, swimming with the whalesharks on those days when the winds aren’t churning the waters in the bay is very popular.
Regulations prevent us from getting too close for the safety of the animals, but it’s a crazy cool experience to be in the water with these gentle animals.
Swimming with the whalesharks in the shallows of La Paz Bay usually runs October to April. There can be as many as a dozen or more “baby” whalesharks at any given time.
Let us know and we can set up a trip for you to include transportation, lodging and of course…a chance to swim with the whalesharks!
We are setting up trips daily weather permitting so get in touch with us: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
We are also getting ready to kick off our whalewatching season over on the Pacific side in Bahia Magdalena. Season runs about mid-January to March when the whales swim back north to the Bering Sea. Don’t miss out!
NOT TOO EARLY TO BOOK YOUR LA PAZ FISHING for 2021!
Dates are already filling up with lots of folks who missed out on 2020. Come enjoy some “coastal distancing” and we’ll set up your entire itinerary for your next La Paz fishing trip. We can put the whole thing together. We’ve been here in La Paz 26 years and we will customize your ideal fishing vacation package. Check us out: http://www.tailhunter.com
A number of dates are sold out or getting close to it. If you have a favorite captain or hotel room, get in touch with us ASAP. We don’t want to miss you in 2021! Click here: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
LOS CABOS TUNA JACKPOT ANNOUNCED Nov. 3-6, 2021
As some of you already know…
For 2021, I’ve been named as the new director for the Los Cabos Tuna Tournament.
Last year was the 22nd year to “FISH HARD…PARTY HARDER!” The Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot for 2021 will be Nov. 3-6. We’re already getting entries and boats are getting booked up for charters! Even with the protocols in place, we still had a great event with 149 teams and over 600 anglers and almost 1000 of our “closest friends!” More than $1 million dollars was awarded! We’re expecting an even larger field for 2021!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 18-25, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY...
Former San Diego Chargers linebacker now retired high school football coach, Donnie Rea from Camarillo CA fishes yearly with us and has been our amigo for many many years. He was with Captain Blas when they hooked this baby sailfish. Captain Blas gently cradled the fish to pull the hook and was the only one to touch it and supported it completely to take a quick photo then release it. They said it swam away strongly.
Newly engaged with just one day to fish, Elijah Rush and Julianne Argent from San Diego put some quality dorado in the boat while fishing with Captain Gerardo. Check out the catch standing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
From San Diego and here for Thanksgiving week, Mike Jaso and his son, Jacob pose with some of their dorado after a day of fishing.
Nice bull! Elijah and Captain Gerardo just off el Cardonal.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Overall, a pretty nice week. Temperatures have dropped to a very comfortable 79-82 degrees during the day with alot of sunshine. Nights are a cool 61. Interestingly, water temps are actually warmer than the air temperatures and are holding at just about 80-85 degrees which is keeping the warm water species around.
North winds are starting to blow which will eventually drop water temperatures and change the fishing to a cooler-species production like sierra, amberjack, pargo, cabrilla and snapper. Not to mention it could be getting rough and choppy.
Pretty lady and pretty fish. Great shot of a fresh dorado with full colors that Julianne caught.
In the meantime, with just a bit of breeze, most days were pretty nice and the warm-water species like dorado, wahoo, smaller roosterfish, and billfish stayed productive. Most of the catch focused on the dorado which are fairly abundant once you find the right spot and limits can be the rule rather than the exception. Fish are running 10-20 pounds on the average with some larger units mixed in. Live bait has generally not been an issue.
Still no tuna, but it’s been like that all year in one of the strangest years ever down here. However, there’s a good jag of wahoo on the south end of Cerralvo Island with fish as small as 20 pounds, but as large as 50 pounds. The ticket seems to be to fish them on the right tide change and then dragging dark colored Rapalas, Yo-Zuris or similar lures .
Our amigo, Roger Thompson, has the wahoo honey-hole south of Cerralvo Island dialed in!
Honestly, not that many folks fishing these days in the lull between the end of summer vacations and the holidays, but alot of snowbirds are filtering in to enjoy the sunshine to get away from colder areas. Many flights are pretty full. Also, folks just seem to have “quarantine fatigue” and just need to get out and away.
Great news in that after being closed since March, we are finally allowed to swim with the baby whalesharks in La Paz Bay. Normally, the season run October to April, but once the Covid quarantine began, all activity was shut down at the end of March. The government has issued only a limited number of permits to escort folks to swim with the whalesharks and only certain outfitters are allowed to participate so as not to crowd or harm the animals. Our Tailhunter captains have received these permits and we’ve been taking folks for the swim.
The animals are in about 10’ of water and at times there have been over a dozen of them in the shallow water!
That’s my story! Have a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving!
Tailhunter Fish Report 