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/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Jan. 15-25, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY
For the past 25 or so years, I’ve done these reports religiously almost every single week. I think I can only count about a dozen weekends that I missed and one of them was the weekend Jill and I got married 13 years ago when she told me to put away my computer that weekend.
It’s just that with covid happening and then alot of bad weather and no one really fishing, well…I hate sounding like a broken record although I know alot of folks look forward to getting the reports regularly.
I promise things will get better. I has to!
Winter doesn’t last forever and the warmer weather, water and big fish will show up. Like they always do!
They’ll get a handle on Covid too. I have to believe that and have some faith.
But…here you go…to be honest…
Not a whole lot to report. Opportunities to fish have been few and far between with very few anglers around and not many chances for anyone to fish. For almost two weeks it has been cold, windy, rough, rainy or wet. Or a combination of any two of those conditions. The thermometer has been all over the place with temps as low as the lower 30’s and as high as the high 60’s. It’s quite erratic.
In the small windows for opportunity have arisen, it’s mostly local captains or local residents. Mostly sustenance fishing to put something on the table or frig.
Sierra like this are great fun on light tackle and are incredible on the table cooked or a local favorite as ceviche. There’s some nice schools of sierra around La Paz right now.
Our amigo, Keith “Jimmy” Williams went out and caught a mess of sierra and I asked him for a photo I could use. I expected a typical fishing photo. Instead, he sends me this photo of his fish cooked at our Tailhunter Restaurant…which might be even better! Alot of good things going on here…sierra sauteed in garlic…crispy french fries…poblano chili en cream sauce…fresh tortillas…a shot of tequila…a Heineken…a bottle of Topo Chico. He’s got it going on full turbo! Thanks, Jimmy!
Most of the catch has been inshore as not too many folks want to venture very far when the waters are so rough and winds are blustery. It also makes it difficult to catch live bait. So, catches of cabrilla, snapper, common and white bonito, pargo and some nice-sized sierra have made up the majority of the catch.
CDC BIG NEWS – IMPORTANT FOR MEXICO TRAVELERS (MUST READ)
Big news dropped on us last week when the CDC announced that it will now require proof of a negative covid test to enter the U.S. by air. Alternatively, medical documentation that you have recovered from covid is also valid. Needless to say… It sent everyone from airlines to hotels to charter operations and anyone involved in tourism scrambling to find a solution to this since the new restrictions begin promptly on Jan. 26th.
As it turns out a number of hotels in Cabo San Lucas already have testing facilities and more are being set up in that city as well as other cities. The Mexican government is setting up facilities at Cabo San Lucas Airport, La Paz Airport as well as airports in Tijuana, Guadalajara, Puerto Vallarta and others.
The test seems like it will only take about 15 minutes and results online in about an hour. Costs range average about $20-25 dollars with the government trying to obtain further discounts. They’re doing their best to make this as convenient and easy as possible, but ask that you arrive at the airport an extra hour earlier than normal.
For us in La Paz, we’ll keep you posted about facilities at La Paz Airport, but there are plans for some hotels to offer the test and in checking around the city, we found at least a half-dozen labs offering the tests. As this only applies to air travel at the moment, that means “international flights” so for many of you folks that arrive on Volaris from Tijuana, I don’t think any of this will apply to you since you will be returning through Tijuana and not FLYING back to the U.S.
This is a developing story and fluid issue.
As mentioned, this just dropped like a ton of bricks about a week ago. Most of our fishermen don’t even start showing up until April or May so many things could change as this goes into effect and Mexico steps up to meet the challenge of the vital tourism industry. Also, we can only hope that with new measures plus the vaccine, things will get under control.
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. 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 for Week of Oct. 26-Nov. 2, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Yup…those are yellowfin tuna! Only the 2nd batch of tuna we have seen all season in a STRANGE year! Leif Dover from Atlanta GA and Mark Bronge from Los Angeles CA went south almost to the northern east cape to find the fish as well as a nice dorado and a big triggerfish. The next day, winds came up and they weren’t able to get to the spot again.
Surprising to still find roosterfish this late in the season, but Mark caught and released his first rooster just off Punta Perrico.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, from Colorado loves to fish the twilight bite when staying at his Rancho Costa Resort in Muertos and shows off a tasty barred pargo.
Captain Alfredo helps Alla Cazier from Arizona on her first trip to La Paz and found some nice dorado north of La Paz.
Oh yea, this is the right kind! Leif has a big dog-tooth snapper on the gaff caught the last of 6 days on the water with us.
If you find the right spot, the dorado can go nuts! First day success for Leif and Mark with some good-looking mahi on the cutting table.
Well…we can definitely tell the seasons are changing. The air temps are getting cooler with the highs this last week a really comfortable 85 on the average and really pleasant evenings.
However, with the change in temperature, we’re also getting more winds, especially the north winds that blow from about November to April that can make fishing a little bumpy and choppy. It can also hinder our ability to get to certain fishing holes and even to get to the places where we get live bait.
That’s what happened this past week. We had 2-3 days of pretty good windy conditions and whitewater on the ocean. For better-or-worse, not too many folks fishing this week which will be typical as we get closer to the holidays. More snowbirds looking for sunshine coming to town than anglers. More walk-in anglers to our offices and folks just looking for one day of fishing out on the water.
All that being said, there was still some excellent fishing to be had. Some boats did better than others. Some area were much more productive than others.
Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet had the most variety.
We actually got into some tuna…finally…after almost an entire season with no tuna. The guys had to run really far, however. They went south almost to the north end of the East Cape. They made it one day, but then after that, it was too windy to get there on subsequent days.
Still, there were some legit 10-20 pound dorado, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, bonito, several types of pargo and we even got one big dog-tooth snapper as well pulled out’ve the rocks.
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, several days, it was simply too windy. All whitecaps and rough water. However, there’s dorado right in the bay around where the big tanker ships are anchored off Punta Prieta only about 5 minutes from where we launch. There’s also sierra under those big boats.
Outside, seeing more marlin although we couldn’t get any of them to bite this week.
This coming week, it’s going to be breezy again, but not as bad as last week.
END OF YEAR SPECIALS TO LA PAZ
If you’ve got a bad case of “cabin fever” after a year like this, how about a quick getaway to come see us in La Paz?
We’ll customize whatever you want to do. Trips as low as $899 per person (double occupancy). Take a look at this sample:
4 days in La Paz
3 night water-facing room
2 days panga fishing
Fishing includes: boat/ skipper/ tackle/ ice/ fish cleaning/ breakast/ lunch/ soft drinks and water/ shuttles to the boats/ all taxes
Based up availability
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP!
Don’t miss out on some “COASTAL DISTANCING!”
Our 2021 Whale Watching season is coming up soon. Prime dates are mid-January to March and spots are filling fast! We can set up daily trips from La Paz or multi-day trips to Lopez Mateos to get several days spent with these beautiful creatures! A fantastic family experience in the calm waters or Bahia Magdalena. Let us set you up with an entire package and maybe even get in some fishing too! Get in touch with us directly: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 18-26, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Well-deserved thumbs-up from Captain Jorge and Jeff Sakuda who finally got his wahoo on his birthday! You can see the purple Rapala Xrap dangling from the wahoo’s mouth. Jeff also had a really nice week on dorado too. See photos below.
Our friends from Henderson NV, Gary and Lois Tsunoda had a great week on dorado and pose for one-day’s catch on the beach at Bahia Muertos. The fish were definitely larger this week.
In 25 years in La Paz, I’ve only seen maybe one other white marlin caught. Captain Pancho and Leif Dover caught and released this one near Las Arenas. They also caught a mess of dorado and released many of them as well.
John Washington is another of our favorite Nevada amigos. In fact, he and his wife have visited us twice in the last 6 weeks! John got himself a nice late-season roosterfish here that he released. More of their photos below. I think they must have caught about 8 different species.
Now that’s color for you! A fresh bull dorado with Marianne Sugawara and her favorite Captain Jorge.
They didn’t catch ALOT of any one species, but Captain Gerardo got Arla and John Washington on a bunch of different species. On the table, I see dorado, jack crevale, triggerfish, snapper, cabrilla and bonito.
Nothing like those first bites early in the morning on your first day fishing, right-off-the-bat. Nice legit bull dorado in the boat for Jeff and Captain Jorge.
Dorado are incredibly colorful sportfish. Lois Tsunoda has another one to put in the box! She went home with alot of bags of fish!
Some tasty cabrilla headed for the dinner table at his resort in Muertos, Gary Wagner owner of the Rancho Costa.
A good first day on the water for Leif (from Atlanta GA) and Mark (from California)
Alex Grant lives in San Francisco, but stopped in La Paz on his way to go fishing in Florida so we got him on the water for one day and he ran into the dorado schools as well.
A “decent” day of fishing! Jeff and Marianne Sakuda with Captain Jorge on their first of 3 days of fishing showing dorado, pargo and cabrilla!
Despite a few bumps during the week like a bit of drizzle; some wind days; and some bumpy oceans…most of the week was pretty good and for fishing turned into one of the better fishing weeks of the season.
With water temps running about 85 degrees and air temperatures about 95, the dorado really came on strongly. Limits of not unusual.
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, limits were not only unusual, but often folks caught and then had to release so many dorado, they sometimes were back to the beach before lunch. Most of the fish were school-sized 5 to 15 pounders, but lots of fun, especially on light tackle or for first-timers. About half the fish hooked were released either because boxes were already full or folks were only keeping the larger fish.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, there weren’t as many dorado, but the dorado were some of the largest of the season. No big monsters, but fish were 10-25 pounders…a size we hadn’t seen in many months. Areas included the buoys, Punta Perrico and south towards Los Alamos. But, the schools could honesty show up anywhere. There were a few days when it was bumpy and windy and our anglers had to fish inshore for pargo, snapper and cabrilla, but overall, most folks fish several days with us and they made of for the slow days on their other days when they stacked up the larger dorado.
Additionally, there was always the chance of wahoo as well. Not many wahoo caught, but the fish were definitely there. Maybe one panga per day got a wahoo on the average. The dark Rapalas and dark Nomads were the best lures. The downside was that if you went trolling for wahoo and they didn’t bite, it was often too late to go chase anything else so you stood the chance of missing out on something else to put in the box.
There’s still some 5-20 pound roosterfish around plus a few marlin biters that we haven’t seen in a bit…and there are always rockfish to chase as well.
Just a heads-up that as typical this time of year, the winds are getting strong and from the north. Once these get pretty consistent, waters can start to cool; get rougher; and change the complexion of the fishing. Looking at the forecast for the coming week, several days this week will have strong north winds. It is definitely cooler. Fall is in the air.
2021 FILLING FAST – STILL OPENINGS FOR 2020 WHILE FISH BITE!
Our 2021 bookings are filling fast so check your calendars and don’t wait. We will NOT be attending any of the sportsmans shows this year, as far as we know. It could change, but most have been canceled. So, don’t wait to see us at a show! Get in touch with us. Some dates are already sold out. We still have spots open for this year so how about a quick get-away before the holidays? Write me directly: Jonathan@tailhunter.com!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 3-9, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First day, right off the bat. Andy Hail with a thick wahoo on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Our own Jorge Romero cradles a big roosterfish. Unusual for these big guys to still be around. Jorge released the fish. See the next photo.
Unceremoniously back you go, but it works! Roosterfish release!
Bob Larson from Washington (at the head) with his first striped marlin. Posing with Captain Armando and Billy Bigelman. The marlin could not be released and meat was donated. A big dorado also on the table.
Some great variety of good eating here! Steve Manney with the pargo. John Stendstra with the wahoo plus dorado and another big barred pargo on the cutting table.
Happy guy! The sailfish have been larger than usual this past week. That’s Billy Bigelman behind that sail. Caught on live bait
Captain Pancho poses a wahoo with Ted Hamm from Paso Robles CA and Jim Bovee from San Diego who has been down 3 times to visit us this year!
Big wahoo on the troll for Jorge Romero!
This past week presented us with another weird twist-and-turn in an already erratic and chaotic fishing season…and year.
All season, fishing has been up one week and down the next with no rhyme or reason. Fish that should be biting are scarce and the entire season has pretty much been taken up by dorado and roosterfish that should not even be around this late in the year. Frankly, we’re grateful for both because both fish have kept rods bent and people smiling.
With some additional catches of bonito, jack crevalle, pargo, cabrilla and snapper, that’s pretty much been the whole season.
Until this past week…with a full moon at that.
Fishing did not go wide-open. In all honesty, I can’t even say it was great fishing. However, numbers of fish have been replaced by quality.
Billfish started biting. We’re seeing striped marlin. We’re seeing big sailfish that are unusually larger than normal and have caught more sails in the last week than the last several years combined. The sailfish are easily in the 100 pound class or larger.
More exciting are the wahoo. Near the south end of Cerralvo Island and near Bahia Muertos, we’ve been seeing wahoo for a bit ,but they’ve been reluctant biters. This week, they went on the chew with boats often hooking (and often losing) multiple fish as the speedsters with sharp teeth tore into trolled lures. However, the fish have been legit 30-50 pound skinnies.
During this time, the dorado bite that has sustained us had dropped by 50%. Either it’s because the dorado just aren’t biting or folks are spending more time chasing the home run fish like the billfish and wahoo.
Hopefully, we’ll finally see some tuna which are way overdue!
BAJA LIFTS MORE RESTRICTIONS
In case you hadn’t heard, last Monday (Oct. 5), the government of Southern Baja (including the areas of La Paz, Cabo San Lucas, San Jose del Cabo, Todos Santos and the East Cape/ Los Barriles areas) eased up on more Covid Restrictions!
The danger level has gone from Red…to Orange…and now YELLOW (level 3). More beaches are open. Increased occupancy in hotels and restaurants, live music in clubs and restaurants and more! All good news.
2021 BOOKING FILLING UP
Many of the folks who had to cancel their trips this year are already booking for next year and many dates are filled or filling. Don’t wait to get your reservations in, especially if you have a certain hotel or captain that you want. It doesn’t look like many of the sportsmans shows are being canceled so we probably won’t be on the road doing our fishing/hunting shows like we normally do. So, get in touch with us.
We are also booking fishing for January to March plus whalewatching trips and fishing at Bahia Magdalena for 2021 as well. Hope to see you!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 17-24, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Happy Trio! Jim Stahlman from Idaho on his 2nd trip with us this year; Jim Morelli from Oregon and Captain Jorge show off some of their dorado catch on the beach at Muertos Bay.
Mark Whisler with his first-ever billfish…actually our first sailfish of the year. Caught north of La Paz with Captain Luis. The fish could not be released and meat was donated. Mark is from the Carmel area of California on his first trip with us.
If I ever need a good photo with a big fish, it’s Roger Thompson who hooked one of the rare wahoo of the season. Fishing with his Captain Hugo.
New Tailhunter friends! First time visitors from Arizona with us, Frank and Jadwiga Francuzik had a nice week of dorado fishing. Here with Captain Adolfo and some nice bulls.
From Cambell CA, Rob “Leon Chilibean” Martinez holds up one of several roosterfish he caught and released out’ve Bahia Muertos.
Long time, Tailhunter amigos, we have watched Sean Rose coming here with his dad, Dave for many many years and always good to see them. The Rose’s are from Washington.
Brandon McGarr had a banner day on the roosterfish catching and releasing 3 big fish like this one! Brandon is from Rock Springs, Wyoming. (Thanks again for the jalapeno pickles, Tanya!)
If you look really carefully, you’ll see Greg Saubolle giving a thumbs-up with a big bandaged thumb! Nice catch of dorado and triggerfish for the day.
If you only have one day to fish together, this isn’t bad for Dan Millikan and Mari Benson who fished with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet and Captain Alfredo who put them into a school of dorado.
Our San Francisco amigos, Mich Nekota and Paul Nagata added more dorado to their fish box.
These guys are always goofing. Andrew Harrison and Jon Eide with Captain Gerardo.
Greg has some nice variety for the day including a few dorado, some triggerfish, snapper and cabrilla. All great eating!
It’s been a pretty good week of fish and weather down here. Everyone who wanted fish, caught fish! Everyone who wanted to bring home fish, brought home fish! Whoever wanted to jump in the ocean or play on the beach; dive or snorkel; dine at a La Paz restaurant was pretty much covered and went home with smiles!
I guess I could end the report. That says it all!
Air temps were in the low 90’s in the day and night temps were in the high 70’s. Both unseasonably cooler than normal, but made life much more pleasant than normal too with less humidity as well. We did have some afternoon thunderstorms pass through that were very tropical, but they blew through quickly and were generally after the fishermen were already back from being on the water.
The fishing was steady-to-good! Again, dorado were the main catch with fish scattered all over wherever the warmer water was located. It could be a pick day with a fish-or-two here and there and at the end of the day you had a good box of fish. Or, anglers could run into a nice school and it would be crazy pandemonium with fish slashing all over and quick limits.
Surprisingly, roosterfish up to about 50 or 60 pounds are still here as well. Most of the fish are around Las Arenas and all our fish were released. But normally, these fish are long gone for the most part. It could have something to do with the cooler temperatures.
Other species included the random (and rare) wahoo that must be hanging out with the tuna that still have not shown up. Plus, inshore species like pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito, jack crevalle, cabrilla and even “cold water” sierra.
We did get our first sailfish of the season. Normally, by now we are usually smack in the middle of billfish season, but there have been very few all year. Same with tuna. Just haven’t been around this year…yet!
Honestly, with all the variables, this seems more like late June/ early July fishing. Crazy year.
Surprisingly, some of those species like dorado are right here in La Paz Bay only a few hundred yards off the beach and within minutes of leaving the beach.
HUGE NEWS…DIRECT FLIGHTS STARTING TO LA PAZ!
For the first time in almost a decade air service will be coming directly from the U.S. to La Paz! American Airlines has announced flights beginning this December through April. Then again for the summer. This is huge big news!
For almost 10 years, we have had most of our folks having to fly to Cabo San Lucas then have us shuttle you all up 100 miles to La Paz and a 3-4 hour van ride! Also, if you don’t have to drive that route and can fly directly, that’s a huge savings (more beer and fishing money available!)
At this time, flights are only from Dallas to La Paz. However, American is huge and this hopefully, will mean that other airlines will follow-up or American will add routes from other U.S. cities.
BOOKING FOR 2021 – CHECK YOUR CALENDARS!
Dates for 2021 already filling!
With many folks having to cancel their trips in 2020 because of you-know-what…many have already given us new dates for 2021. Many dates are already filling up. So, give some thought to your calendar, especially if you want a certain date…hotel…or your favorite captain!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 10-17, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
There’s a number of photos this week of roosterfish with Dan Stewart from Bishop, CA. They are NOT the same fish! Dan had a banner few days chasing the big gallos and caught a number of them like this fish in the 50-pound class! All fish were released.
Could not find a better roosterfish shot than Paul Nagata and Captain Pancho with this big-headed bull. Paul has a knack for putting good fish in the boat every year.
Johnny Lucero from the Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos was trolling the marlin lures and hooked THREE wahoo like this one!
One of our new “best amigos!” This is Bruce “White bread and baloney” Blumenthal who made his first trip down to see us and started off with a nice table o dorado to put in the freezer!
Fishing with out Tailhunter La Paz fleet, Eric shows off one of his mahi. He had 2 good days of fishing with us.
If she looks grim, Tanya McGarr from snowy Rock Springs, Wyoming it’s not because she’s unhappy! This big roosterfish not only busted her chops before she beat it, but she’s struggling to hold the big head up for a photo. Captain Pancho helps out. The fish was released!
Campbell CA, amigo, Rob “Leon Redbone” Martinez shows some of the crazy variety that is still around with a sierra in hand plus dorado, pargo and cabrilla on the cleaning table. All great-eating fish!
Dan has another big rooster and it’s a slug! Cerralvo Island just behind him and Captain Gerardo with the thumbs-up!
Texas in the house y’all! Randy Moe and Kevin Preuss from Thrall TX started out their fishing week with a mess of dorado fillets for dinner. Thanks to Randy who brought Jilly and I some big Texas steak from his ranch!
Goofing for the photo…Andrew Harrison, Captain Gerardo, Joe Vondrak and Joe Eide.
GAK! Captain Victor with the scourge of the sea…a big needlefish.
Kevin, Bob and Dave made it down to see us again this year from L.A. and really worked hard to get tuna and wahoo. However, they were alot more successful with the dorado!
This time wife, Becky, gives Dan Stewart a hand with another roosterfish for the camera before releasing the big fish.
Steve Bryan is too fun. No stress. Just easy fishing while hanging with us almost 2 full weeks here in La Paz! Captain Jorge helped get Steve into a day of dorado.
Jim Glaze has the gaff. Bruce Blumenthal holds the fish. They were with Captain Joel and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet for two days and had fun with the dorado schools.
Dan has yet ANOTHER rooster!
This past week was the exact opposite of the previous week.
We started excruciatingly slow with a picky bite at best. Had to really work hard to get fish and find fish.
However, as the week progressed, fishing picked up speed. Still not fast, but compared to the week before, it was nice to have folks come back to shore with big smiles and fish in the box.
Dorado were once again center-stage. Most got limits or near limits on most days. Not every boat on every day did OK, but for the most part every boat still came back with daily fish and if one particular boat had a slack day, the next day made up for it. Locations and schools kept changing, but overall, the fish were nicely cooperative this week.
The dorado were schoolies-sized fish. Most were 5 to 15 pounds with the occasional fish in the 20-pound class. Lots of smaller fish were released. The fish hit live bait mostly, but would also hit trolled lures or cut bait.
It was also nice to see a few wahoo in the counts. We haven’t seen many this year and the wahoo that were caught this week were taken by anglers who were trolling lures trying to catch something else when the wahoo bit. But, I would still say, it’s been a down year for the speedsters. Same with tuna. We should be thick in the tuna, but after several years of tuna biters, we’ve not seen any at all. There’s some tuna biting to the south of us so hopefully, they’ll start swimming north.
After several weeks of no roosters, it’s good to know they are still out there. Normally, this is too late in the year to see the roosters around, but several fish running 25-60 pounds were caught and released. Just when I thought they were gone after not seeing any for a few weeks, the big boys came back.
If you go outside-the-box, there’s not many folks fishing the structure around the reefs and rocks because most anglers are chasing the blue-water species, but there’s big triggerfish to be had as well as cabrilla, pargo, snapper and even sierra!
E-MAIL SNAFU at TAILHUNTER
If you’ve tried to reach us the last few days, our server has been down that handles all our e-mails. Apparently, it either got hacked or corrupted so the brainy-guys in New York are working on it.
However, that means for the past few days, we have not been able to receive or send e-mails! GACK! That means we’ve been dead-in-the-water with our communications and unable to respond with our usual speediness! We apologize and are on hectic damage control!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 27-Sept. 2, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Sherry Cady from Denver CO, had a pretty good week on the dorado. This is one of the larger mahi of the week she caught fishing with Captain Raul with our La Paz fleet.
Big smiles and bucket list fish for Mateo Rangel from Atascadero CA with captain Jorge and his first roosterfish.
Rob Markarian from Camarillo CA with one of the larger dorado of the week. He and his amigo, slammed dorado all week.
One of our funnest regular amigos, John Washington started his week with a nice load of dorado. He’s from Carson City NV and planning to come back to visit next month!
Somewhere behind that mask, Gary from Florida got himself a big roosterfish outside of Bahia Muertos. Thanks to Gary Wagner from Rancho Costa for the photo.
Mike Welch and his bunch of crazy firefighter friends with just a small sample of dorado from their first day. They started with quite a bang..
More dorado! Rob Markarian and Tom Worrell found some nice schools of mahi north of La Paz near Las Cruces.
When Mateo catches a fish he’s always got the big smile!
Kevin and Tom with a nice load of dorado ready to fillet and bring back to La Paz to our FUBAR Cocina Cantina.
Good day on the flyrod! Ron and Sherry Cady with another dorado day.
Amigo Gary Wagner with yet another nice rooster for the gallery. The fish was released. Gary owns Rancho Costa there at Muertos.
Tom Worrell and his rather large variety of needlefish! That’s a beast. Espirito Santo Island in the background.
A double-fist of dorado! Ron Cady was fishing north around Las Cruces with Captain Raul and got some nice bulls.
NBA All-Star Clifford Ray was staying out at Rancho Costa for a few days and caught this colorful roosterfish as well as dorado. The rooster was released. Clifford played alot of years with the Bulls and Warriors and won and NBA championship in 1975 wit the Warriors.
Well, knock on wood, we seem to have mostly dodged a three chubascos. Two weeks ago, it was Guenevere. This week, it was Hernan and Isella. It’s that time of year.
For the storms, however, that came through…
Although they closed the port, neither did more than bring cloudy skies and a few drops of rain. Actually, the cloudy skies were kinda nice if you were on the water as it was alot cooler and more comfortable than blazing sunshine. Most of the week has been cloudy or given us sporadic sunshine.
It’s been that kind of year, however. Both air and water temps are cooler and it’s made fishing, a bit different than normal.
Even with the cloudy skies, fishing actually seemed to improve. Fortunately, the storms didn’t push alot of wind when they came through so waters stayed pretty flat and the fish seemed to wake up a bit from what they were doing previously.
Big roosterfish are still around off Las Arenas, but it was the dorado schools that seemed to turn on.
Nothing spectacular, but alot of fun 5-20 pound dorado for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Especially, this past week, we had alot of first-timers and couples so having some great dorado fishing plus add in pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and triggerfish and there could be some really fun action.
Live bait was best and included sardines, cocineros and mackerel.
Not every boat did great every day. There’s still some areas of off-color cold water and without as many boats as normal for all the fishing fleets, it’s hard to cover all the spots every day. However, if they were fishing several days, everyone went home with fish and it definitely was better fishing than the week before.
Still no tuna or wahoo showing which is unusual for this time of year, but I hear there’s some biters to the south of us so hopefully, the schools will come north.
BAHIA MAGDALENA
A couple of our regular good amigos from San Diego, Daniel Bovee and his dad, Jim…who’s already fished with us once this year, took a few days to head out to our Bahia Magdalena operation on the Pacific about 4 hours from La Paz. First day they fished inside the mangroves for cabrilla, pargo, snook and other inshore species, but the next day went outside to the ridge and really jumped some nice fatty dorado and legit dorado!
A table full of good fillets coming up…tuna and dorado!
THE BIG WHOOP!
We’re pretty excited here with the news this week that many of the covid restrictions are being eased. For many of us, it’s been 5 months of closures and strict protocols.
Initially, back in late March we were in pretty much full closure at RED LEVEL 6.
June 15th, we dropped to ORANGE LEVEL 5. Better, but still meant only 30% occupancy of hotels, restaurants and businesses. Beaches and the waterfront Malecon were closed. Masks still required. Social distancing maintained at 6 feet.
Well…this past week, the governor reduced us to LEVEL 4 which is great news.
Masks are still required, but that means social distancing was cut in half. Our waterfront Malecon is now open until 11 p.m. at night. Restaurants do not have to serve food in order to serve drinks. That means bars can open.
Hotels, restaurants and other businesses can observe 40% occupancy instead of 30%.
Gyms, churches, spas, salons and other “non-essential” businesses can open with some restrictions. Many have been closed for 5 months.
With restrictions, some of the beaches are now being opened!
The town is pretty elated. People have to work and eat and it’s nice to have a little more space and places to go! We just can’t abuse it. The government warns that they could still reverse things if folks don’t respect the rules. However, they’re optimistic that soon we could be dropped to Level 3 YELLOW.
Tailhunter Fish Report 