La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan 19-26, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Scott Bryant from Colorado has himself some good eating cabrilla for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa.
Jigging with yo-yo iron, Dr. Santiago Gamaliel hung this nice yellowtail and had two other break off.
From Alaska, Mic Ward came down to enjoy a few days of sunshine at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos south of La Paz and landed a double-hand of cabrilla.
Not much of anyone out fishing this past week with mostly windy rough days outside. Most of the fishing was confined to inshore species as anglers hugged the coastal areas seeking calmer water and protection from the north winds and choppy ocean.
Using Rapalas, stripped bait, squid and live bait (when it could be found), produced a mixed bag of pargo, snapper, triggerfish and cabrilla as well as some bonito, sierra and jack crevalle. Slowly dragging smaller dark Rapalas over the rocky spots were especially productive for a variety of species. Some yellowtail popped up as well and hopefully, this is the vanguard of our yellowtail
Despite the winds, it’s been sunny with highs in the mid to upper 70’s and nights down to the mid-50’s, but it looks like more wind will hit later this week.
DOWN THE ROAD WE GO!
Jill and I are just wrapping up here at the Washington State Fairgrounds where we spent the last 5 days in our booth at the Washington Sportsman’s Show! It was the best show we’ve ever had here in almost 2 decades at this show. Welcome to all our new amigos to the Tailhunter Nation and to see so many old friends and faces. Also had alot of folks sign up to come down to see us as well and made reservations to fish with us in 2020. We’re excited to have you down to visit!
Thanks for all the hospitality Washington! (And rain too…loved it! We don’t get much rain in Baja!)
So, here we go…next stop down the road south to Portland for the Pacific Northwest Sportsmans Show at the Portland Expo Center. This is one of the largest outdoor shows in the Western U.S. and if you’re in the area, you gotta check it out! Here’s details. Click the link:
Next stop…OREGON at the Portland Expo Center Feb. 5-9! Come see us!
WHALE WATCHING SEASON UNDERWAY AT BAHIA MAGDALENA
Although there might not be lots of folks fishing right now, the 2002 whale watching season is just getting underway. Whales should just about starting to show up.
It’s not too late to book a trip with us to head on over to experience an incredible day with these gentle creatures that migrate all the way from the Bering Sea year-after-year to spend the early months in the warm shallow waters of Bahia Magdalena. Just write to me directly at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 5-12, 2020
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Like alot of places in North America this past week…
It’s been COLD in La Paz to go along with some windy weather. The winds are expected this time of year, but it’s been colder than normal…at least by La Paz standards with us locals bundling up and even the tourists donning the occasional sweatshirt or windbreaker. Although most look at us kinda strange as they walk around in shorts and flip-flops.
Check out this video clip. The voice you hear is Benny outiside Tailhunter Restaurant:
Lots of snowbirds in town and although the temps are in the 60’s and 70’s with the wind, it’s still a lot warmer than where they live back in places like Minnesota, Wyoming and Alaska!
The climate, of course, affects the ability to be out there fishing. It’s been hard to put anyone out there and there’s not that many folks wanting to fish anyway. Or, folks that want to fish understandably get discouraged when they see the winds. Best to just hang out drinking a margarita by the pool!
When folks have been fishing, the better fishing has been tucked in close to shore, especially in areas where you can find some protection from wind and waves. Therefore, the majority of the fish have been inshore specias like cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish, pargo, jack crevalle and sierra. All fun and good eating fish.
When there are window’s of calm, there’s still some dorado around running to about 10 or 15 pounds plus some good action on 5-pound bonito. The larger issue has been finding live bait in which case lures are the most productive way to catch fish. With rough waters it’s tough to get into the areas where the live bait is holding along the shores and rocks.
I’ve heard a few stories about commercial guys finding some yellowtail as well as some private boaters. We’ll keep an eye on that!
ROAD TOUR 2020 HEADED TO SACRAMENTO!
Thank you for the hospitality Denver! We always have a great time!!!
We just wrapped up an incredible 4 day show at the International Sportsmans Expo at the Denver Convention Center. It was fantastic! So great for Jill and I to see so many of our old amigos and make so many new ones! Welcome to the Tailhunter Nation! We took lots of new reservations for 2020 and we’re looking foward to the visit!
At the time you’re reading this, Jill and I will be on the road headed west. We have about 1000 miles to cover to get to the next show which is the International Sportsmans Expo at the California Fairgrounds in Sacramento CA. This is a HUGE show with tons of stuff to see and do. Bring your walking shoes and the whole family! I’m told more than 700 exhibitors will be on hand to talk about fishing, hunting, camping, boating, RV’s, kayaking and so much more!
Jill and I will be there in our booth with new flyers, brochures and hats all four days Jan. 16-19 (Thursday to Sunday). Let’s talk about fishing in 2020! Hope to see you there!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 28, 2019-Jan. 5, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY. . .
From Richfield, Utah, Monte and Marlene Aldridge got in one day of fishing and picked the one day of the week when waters were calm enough and got some nice biters on some big sierra mixed in with dorado out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos south of La Paz.
Yup…it’s wintertime, but there’s still dorado around! Nice little bull mahi for Marlene.
Some great eating and great fun on light tackle, Monte has a speedy toothy sierra.
It pays to watch the weather. This past week there were some incredible uber windy and cold days. Normally, these are days we would recommend not going fishing. We even had some rain this past week. It happens. It’s winter. It’s off-season.
Some folks decided they still wanted to go fishing. So, off they went despite my warnings. Didn’t catch much of anything and it was so rough they had to come back early. We had others booked but had to cancel them because of the rough weather.
Honestly, only about 2 days this week would have been fishable at all.
However, we also had folks who were flexible on their fishing days and let me tell them when they should go fishing. And, sure enough, they found fish. Surprisingly, pretty decent fishing. Most amazing was the mixture of fish.
Cold-water fish like big sierra typical of this time of year were running 5-8 pounds. However, mixed right in were some school-sized dorado. The strange thing is that dorado are warm water fish that we usually catch during the warmer summer and fall months. So, they’re normally not running this time of year!
Along with those species, there were jags of bonito and scattered jack crevalle as well as snapper and cabrilla along the shoreslines where there was structure such as reefs, rocks and drop offs.
The weather makes all the difference. The coming week forecast mostly cloudy weather again to start the year with winds running 15-20 mph at times.
WE ARE COMING YOUR WAY! ROAD TOUR 2020!
By the time you’re reading this, Jilly and I will be on the road for our 2020 Tailhunter Road Tour coming to see you! We’ll be on the road through April criss-crossing the western U.S. and hitting up the biggest and most awesome fishing and hunting shows in the world!
In our brand new Tailhunter-mobile, we’ll be hitting a different show each week with our booth, flyers and brochure and would love to see you and talk to you about fishing with us in La Paz in 2020.
These shows are massive and there are hundreds-upon-hundreds of exhibitors from all over the world to tell you about fishing, hunting, camping, RV’s, kayaking, boating, trekking…basically anything outdoors! Great for the entire family.
In order, we’ll be hitting:
DENVER CO
SACRAMENTO CA
SEATTLE/PUYALLUP WA
PORTLAND OR
SALT LAKE CITY UT
LONG BEACH CA
SCOTTSDALE/PHOENIX AZ
SANDY (Salt Lake City) UT
DEL MAR (San Diego) CA
Our first show will be this week at the International Sportsmans Expo held Thursday to Sunday at the Denver Convention Centerdowntown. Here’s a link with all the info:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Dec. 15-29, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Typical winter rack of fish. Bonito, snapper, pargo and some nice cabrilla for the ice chest!
The rocks are holding some nice cabrilla right now…if you can pull them from their hiding spots! They’re feisty fish when hooked.
Mostly a quiet Christmas and holiday week in La Paz. Sun’s out. Occasionally some showers and breezy. Most folks in town aren’t here to fish or hit the water. Those that are in town for watersports are windsurfers and kiteboarder taking advantage of the strong winter winds. Or they’re here to swim with the whalesharks in the bay.
The few that are out fishing are mostly finding action inshore along the rocks and beaches.
It’s not bad fishing at all. There’s been a decent bite on some nice cabrilla up to about 10 pounds with most in the 2-5 pound range and lots of little ones getting released. Snapper were also on the chew. All good fish for the table. The biggest issue is getting live bait. If waters are rough and winds are blowing, getting live bait in the shallow areas where the bait school-up can be problematic. If bait is an issue, slow trolling small crankbaits like Rapalas, Rebels, Yo-Zuri, Mirolures or similar can still be very productive and fun.
Moving slightly offshore, bonito are still there for some harder battles as well as jack crevalle. There’s a chance of an occasional dorado as well. I’m surprised we aren’t getting into more sierra as this is the time of year we should be getting them, but perhaps we’ll see more as the waters get cooler.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 8-15, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not too different even in Mexico! Christmas scenes like this one with kids lining up for visits with Santa and their favorite cartoon characters downtown La Paz.
Manger scenes for Christmas in La Paz
Town is kinda quiet right now! It’s that lull between the holidays and not many folks in town right now except for some snowbirds and kiteboarders and windsurfers taking advantage of the winter breezes. Not really many folks on the water as this is off-season for fishing, but even then, most folks in town are just enjoying the sunshine and getting ready for Christmas. Definitely seems like you can already smell the tamales cooking on the streets! But, lights are up and folks are doing Christmas shopping and that’s kind of it.
Some action for fishing has mostly been inshore. There’s a decent bite over the rocky spots of cabrilla up to about 5 pounds plus snapper and pargo. All great eating fish. The hard-pullers include some nice jack-crevalle running up to about 10 pounds plus good activity on bonito. Really hard to get a complete fishing picture when not many folks are fishing. It was too bad because this past week was one of the better weeks for weather and minimal winds.
I’m sure town is gonna start getting more crowded in the next few days as we get closer to Christmas.
BOOKING FOR 2020
It’s not too early to check on getting your dates together for next year which hits us in just a few weeks already! Reservations are already coming in steadily and some dates are filling fast and a few are already sold out. Don’t wait to see at at one of the sport shows. Last year, by March, we were largely all booked up. Get in touch with us today. Check out the website at http://www.tailhunter.com or e-mail me directly at Jonathan@tailhunter.com and let’s get you set up to fish with us in La Paz in 2020!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Yea…there was alot of rain this past week when heavy rains hit for almost 3 days and caused some crazy flooding. This is downtown La Paz.
Kevin Shiotani from Thousand Oaks, CA makes the most of a quick day on the water before storms hit the La Paz area to put a load of dorado in the box while fishing out of Bahia Muertos southeast of La Paz.
Decent bull dorado still hanging out late in the season. Captain Moncho running the boat handlng gaff duties.
Our own Esteban Romero got out as the clouds built up for a little dorado fishing of his own out’ve Bahia Muertos.
We hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Well…
Pretty hard to do a fishing report when a good part of the week was filled with storms! In a late season deluge where it rained for 2-3 days at times torrentially, there was lots of unseasonable flooding which put a damper on a lot of snowbird vacationers who usually don’t see this kind of storms this time of year.
Sometimes it was drizzle. Other times, it came in buckets.
Normally the bottom of the La Paz sign on the beach is 4 feet above the water.
Alot of this all over the city.
Deep waters ahead.
After the storm, winds came up on the backside making for rough seas and waters were filled with muddy runoff and were really turned-over to be very conducive to fishing.
However, before the storm hit, there was a small window of opportunity for some anglers to get out even with cloudy ominous skies. Surprisingly some decent dorado were on the chew ranging from 10-20 pounders mostly indicative of lingering warm waters in the area.
Inshore, still decent action on bonito, smaller pargo, snapper and cabrilla as well as jack crevalle. Live bait is sometimes problematic if winds and waves are whipping the shallow areas where the live bait is caught.
The coming week shows no rain but a possibility of winds.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-10, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary Wagner has caught lots of big fish, but knew he had a battle on his hand when he switched down to 25-pound test fluorocarbon and this big yellowfin tuna bit the lines. He was on the fish for more than 3 ½ hours! Gary owns the Giggling Marlin Bar in Cabo San Lucas but was staying at his Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay near Las Arenas.
Don Fee was in town from Florida and we got him out on the water for one day for his first time and he said he had bites all day producing some dorado, cabrilla, bonito and even some small roosterfish.
He said he was embarrassed to admit this fish took about 4 hours to put in the boat, but Roger Thompson has caught bigger tuna, but few that were this scrappy and he had to do it on 40 pound test. “It pulled the panga,” he told us. Roger was fishing the south side of Cerralvo Island across from Las Arenas.
Efrain and Patrick hold up a couple of their dorado with Captain Jorge.
Don caught and released a couple of these fiesty little roosterfish in Bahia Muertos. He let them grow so they’ll be the big 60-pounders in the spring-time!
Great eating pargo! Gary said he could have caught these all day long on light tackle just south of Bahia Muertos towards Boca de Alamo.
Three dorado! Dinner for Don to pack up and bring back to La Paz.
There were some blustery days that it was good no one was fishing, but there were some nice days too. The problem was…no one was fishing! Snow birds have started to descend on La Paz to enjoy the sunshine and our new Malecon, but the off-season has started and not much of anyone fishing these days because the winds are unpredictable.
However, we did have some folks out and on the days it wasn’t bumpy and windy, there were some fish to be caught.
Most suprising were the big tuna hung on the south side of Cerralvo Island. Go figure. Everyone leaves and all the fishermen are pretty much gone and the big tuna show up.
These were pretty beastly animals. The ranged from 60-100 pounds and there weren’t many of them, but the ones that did bite would only eat light line which is incredibly problematic when you are using 25-40 pound line and a powerful tuna crunches your bait. These fish required 3-4 hours of backbreaking battles to get them to the boats!
For other species, there’s still some decent dorado around running 10-15 pounds or so. Not a lot, but enough to keep it interesting. Mix in some bonito, jack crevalle, a few pargo and snapper and the occasional little roosterfish and it could be a fun day.
That’s our story!
Hope you have a great Veteran’s Day Weekend and thank you all who have served!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great colorful fish and photo! Captain Victor had Chris Wilber on board when he pulled on this pretty bull dorado! Dorado bites really took off this past week.
Our Kansas amigo, Adam Florence, brought another great group to see us this past week. Here he is with Captain Pancho and some of their dorado at Muertos Bay. More on the cutting table too!
That’s a PIG! Darrell “Gomer” Oleson drove all the way from Salt Lake City UT area in two days to get in some fishing with us and his last day was able to drag this huge dog-tooth snapper out’ve the rocks!
Two of the nicest new folks this week, Dan Adams and Kim Howard with a good day of dorado on the cleaning board.
Yup…the tuna picked up a little bit stronger this week as well. Chris and Mike Wilber show off two chunky YFT’s!
Now, this is a great shot! Fly guys seem to like to put their rods in their mouth, but can’t blame them when your other two hands have fish! Marie and Joe Fanelli had to cancel last year when a hurricane got in the way but were able to come down this year and spend time with us. Fun fun folks and Joe has an operation in the Amazon for peacock bass so we want to go see him! They got these dorado on the fly as well as a small tuna fishing north of La Paz!
Finally! A big roosterfish for Brent “Mountain Dew” Racker and Captain Pancho. Good shot after a good fight. The fish was released. Brent also got a huge rare milkfish and I only wish we had a better photo to post up! Brent is from Utah.
Talk about variety! This is what I mean. Take a look at Bobby and Stacy Florence’s board and you’ll see dorado, snapper, pargo, a rainbow runner and a palometa!
Captain Jorge with two of our besties! Verda Boyd from the bay area has been coming to see us sometimes 3 times a year for many years. She’s teamed up with Pam Bolles who has run the Baja Big Fish Company up in Loreto for almost 25 years and is a well-known flyfishing expert. Two great amigas of Tailhunter.
A heavy lift, but a big smile from Dan Bovee who always seems to nail a big guy on every trip. He took this big dog-tooth just outside of Bahia Muertos and is a load to lift up for the camera. Dan is from Orange Co.
Two funny guys from San Diego, Tom Rose and Doug Ladderbush with some of their first-day catch.
Doing like a boss…nice rack of dorado for Lynn. Not a bad day at all!
It’a been about 12 years since Glenn Delmendo last came to see us but he picked up right where he left off and started the trip with a nice bull dorado!
Hard to believe these big pargo liso (mullet snapper) are still around. Normally they are a cold water fish that we only catch in the early spring. Incredible tough fighters, Riley Florence, from Kansas posts up with Captain Pancho.
Good start to vacation with a hefty table of tuna, dorado and pompano for Andrew Fernandez and Tony Smith.
Two of our newest amigos, Dale and Pete got into some nice dorado as well for their first time fishing with Tailhunters. They did quite well over 3 days!
Could not have had two nicer folks visiting us this week for the first time, but Ron and Sherry Cady from Colorado pose up with some of their dorado from their first day on the water at Bahia Muertos.
Captain Armando with two of our long-time Tailhunter amigos, Terry Biggs and Rich Keogh and a nice rack of mahi.
Arizona on board with two more of our good amigos for many years, Wade Gomes and Bill Moore who fished 3 days with us and got in on the dorado bite that kicked up a notch this week! Check more fish on the fish board at the bottom of the photo.
Captain Pancho gives a well-deserved thumbs-up for Darrel Oleson and his roosterfish. Darell had quite a day on the water with a variety of fish. This one was released.
LeaEila Oleson visited us for the first time, and as you can tell, got right into it with Captain Fili and the dorado bite.
Football season started? Chris Wilber with a football-sized yellowfin tuna.
Double Gomers! Darrell Oleson and son Young Darrell on their first day on the water. First time down for the younger Gomer.
Bill Young from Northern California had to cancel his trip last year when a hurricane got in the way. But he made it back this year and poses with some dorado and a yellowfin tuna on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Captain Pancho photo-bombing Riley and his dorado! Great shot!
Great colors! That’s Terry Biggs with Captain Armando just off the sand there at Punta Arenas! Don’t have to go far to catch fish!
___________
The week had a as many ups-downs and sideways as a Disneyland ride. The short version of the week was that it was the best dorado bite of the season as the fish finally seemed to hit their summer stride and the mahi finally woke up.
The week started kind of so-so. Not bad. Just not real consistent. Some of this. Some of that. Just a mix-match-hodgepodge of species.
Then, Tuesday we got hammered by an unexpected storm that was not on the radar. We call them “Toritos” (baby bulls) because they come out’ve nowhere generated by the huge amounts of heat off the ocean and lots of water vapor in the air (humidity is easily in the 60-70% range). It hit TUESDAY morning with a fury that had thunder shaking glass window panes like being in a bass drum and so much close lighting you could easily have read a book as streak after streak ripped through the sky right overhead and some bolt even hitting the water!
Turn up the sound and listen to this…This is when it was starting to “diminish!” The flashes are lightning and I was hiding under an alcove. The lighting was so close, the static electricty had the hair on my arms standing up!
The thing is, I had several dozen people ready to climb into boats that morning and as the storm passed overhead with such turbulence the rain started to come down as well, not sure what to do except wait it out. These things usually pass fairly quickly, but while you’re in it, it feels like you should be running for cover! But, we waited and despite the nervousness of all of us and what it would do to the fishing, we got everyone out…and it turned out to be the best dorado day of the year.
And it continued pretty solid all week.
Jay taking some shots of some nice bull dorado
Some boats did better than others then things would reverse the next day, but overall, it was pretty hard NOT to catch a dorado. The fish are scattered all over and a dull day could suddenly turn into a feeding frenzy if you hit the right spot with dorado crashing all around. Some fish were literally caught within 10 yards of the beach!
Most of the fish were respectable 10-15 pounders, but some 20’s were mixed in and a few 30-pounders were taken and larger fish lost . The only thing that diminished the bite was that once the word got out, traffic on the “honey holes” sometimes had the fish running for cover and the bite would slow until the crowds drifted to other spots.
Add to the dorado a nice smattering of yellowfin tuna that ran 10-25 pounds; some 40-60 pound roosterfish and a few wahoo (lost) plus plenty of bonito and it made for a pretty decent day of action most days for most folks. For a good number of anglers, especially some of the new-comers, they lost a lot of fish until they got the hang of it so often, numbers would be down when they got to the beach, but then find out they lost a half-dozen fish or more!
We also got into big-time dog-tooth snapper (cubera snapper) that were 30-50 pounders in the shallow rocks; pargo, cabrilla, the occasional amberjack and even rainbow runners plus a surprising showing of cold-water sierra and it was hard NOT to head home with some fish in the coolers.
BAHIA MAGDALENA TRIP
We had 6 of our amigos spend 2 days with our Bahia Magdalena folks fishing inside the mangroves as well as outside on the ridge. They had two productive days with about a dozen different species of fish in the coolers including tuna, sierra, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, halibut, triggerfish, snook and corvina.
Ready for a good day fishing the mangroves of Bahia Magdalena with Captain Rigo. It was pretty misty and drizzly sometimes but the fishing was productive.
Good table of grouper, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish and halibut for Rich, Terry, Captain Rigo, Ed and Matt.
Rich Keogh with a nice snook on the gaff.
A darned good day! 14 tuna and 14 big sierra for Jay, Ed and Matt. Lots of fish cleaning coming up!
Pop another beer, Ed! Another day and another pile of fish!
YELLOW STICKY NOTES FROM THE TACKLE BOX
PLASTIC BAN – If you’re coming down, La Paz has just enacted a plastic ban. So, if you go to the market or convenience store, be prepared to buy one of those fabric bags or bring your own or bring a box. No more plastic. That includes doggie containers from restaurants and “Red Solo” cups for drinks!
TRIP INSURANCE – Don’t forget to purchase some inexpensive trip insurance if you’re visiting us or anywhere else in Baja. It’s the best time of the year for fishing now and the busiest, but also there can be occasional unexpected storms. There’s no refunds for weather-related cancelations. It’s part of fishing. So, cheap trip insurance will help cover canceled airlines, hotels, activities or other unforseen occurances. https://www.insuremytrip.com/
BOOKINGS for 2020 – We’re getting alot of bookings for 2020 already and some dates are filing up. Folks are going home from trips this year and immediately giving us dates for next year. If you are thinking about it and especially if you have a favorite room or captain, get in touch with us. We were pretty much sold out for 2019 by March so let us know! We do still have a spot here and there for the rest of this season, but let us know! Go to the website at www.tailhunter.com Or write us directly at Jonathan@tailhunter.com
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 18-25, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Just a few hours of strong winds, but it was AFTER everyone was done fishing!
Nice spread of dorado. Smaller ones got released.
Long-time amigo, John McVay and Captain Jorge finally finding some quality tuna! John fought the larger fish for 45 minutes and said he didn’t get bit until he dropped down to 30-pound test line. Note the pending clouds!
No shortage of jack crevalle to keep rods bent and folks smiling! All the way from Russia to fish one day!
Fat bonito are still keeping the action going in between dorado bites and other species.
John has 3 more ready to be filleted.
It’s almost the end of summer and for once, it felt like summer and fished like summer here in La Paz. Air temps in the high 90’s with lots of humidity. Waters blue with a surface temp of about 84 degrees. We even dodged our first real storm of the season.
It’s chubasco weather and we had storm system IVO to the south and offshore to keep an eye on, but fortunately, it went outside and up the coast on the Pacific side. However, it did leave us with quite a few cloudy days and, at the end of the week really strong winds and wave with wave surge for south-facing beaches. Some rain fell as well, but localized.
We almost had to cancel some trips, but luckily things blew out quickly or they were days when the fish bit early.
This is storm season and, while we may or may not get a hurricane, this time of year is subject to occasional strong storms that may affect your fishing although it’s the prime time fishing season during the fall.
You never know when one of these builds up looking pretty ominous, but they blow in and then blow out.
Fishing-wise, dorado were the main target. Typical summertime bite. The fish are scattered all over and can be found pretty much anywhere. Close-to-shore…off-shore…under buoys or floating debris…under seaweed…under the birds. Once you find the spot, it can get pretty crazy. Or, you pick at a few all day long.
The fish are decent-sized from 8-20 pounds mostly with some larger up to about 25 or 30 pounds. First-timers are having a lot of fun, but also losing a lot of fish until they get the hang-of-it. Same areas are producing bonito and jack crevalle and marlin have been seen cruising through the schools feeding as well.
The ticket to increasing the odds on getting tuna bit is to use the lighter line. Drop down to 20-30 pound test or use light flurocarbon leaders. These fish are line shy!
More exciting are the tuna that pop-up and drop out…then pop up again. It’s hit or miss, but the fish seem like they’re here. Sometimes moving too fast to get on them. Sometimes, just staying too deep. But when they come up, they’re quality 20-40 pounders this past week. Most of the tuna are on the Cerralvo side of things near Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay. The same areas saw an increase in wahoo…finally! They’ve been scarce since early spring so hopefully, they’re coming back in time for the fall bite!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 4-11, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Retired firefighter Craig Braswell strains to hold up a hefty roosterfish estimated at 60 pounds that hit Craig’s little sardine right close to the rocks as they were fishing for shallow water pargo and cabrilla. The fish battled and pulled the panga around on light tackle for almost an hour which is why Craig says, “I could barely lift the fish!” The fish was released. Craig is from Chico C and our buddy is a long-time Tailhunter friend!
Denni Chin from Salt Lake City UT has a laugh with Captain Victor from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz on the beach at Bahia Muertos. It was Denni’s first La Paz trip and he took a number of fish off his bucket list including a striped marlin; several big roosterfish (released) as well as dorado and this yellowtail and tuna!
A crazy mix of fish for Trevor Akiyoshi and Ryan Vorisek hold up some of their catch that included a strange mix of fish for August. The catch included dorado (summer fish) , pompano (spring fish) and pargo liso (mullet snapper…a winter fish). Dad Mike Akiyoshi with the photobomb. They are from Upland CA. They were fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz.
Amazing fish! Our biggest dorado of the season. It’s huge. Adam Jones is about 6′ tall and the head of the fish is turned away from the camera. He and cousin, Steve Braithwaite (photo below) tag-teamed the big fish over 40 minutes!
Another shot of the big bull dorado. Steve Braithwaite posing for this shot! Both guys are pretty tall and the photo doesn’t do justice to the size and girth of the fish.
Our long-time amigo, Kip Slaugh, hoisted this big roosterfish on a bit of a choppy day outside of Bahia de los Muertos. The fish was released.
Yup!!! Yellowtail in August? Check the photo! Phil and dad, Larry Braithwaite from Salt Lake City UT with captain Pancho on the beach at Bahia Muertos. Dorado are warm water fish. Yellowtail are cold water fish!
Colorado in the house! Louie Sanchez rocked this big roosterfish while fishing near Las Arenas on live bait and released it. It’s his personal best!
Just an incredible shot of a dorado jumping at sunrise! Captured by pro photographer amiga, Lynn Crooks from Reno NV who was fishing with her husband, Bernie.
Hard not to love our buddy, Denny Gallegos, who mugs for this shot. He’s always doing stuff like this over the years! With his buddy, Grant Parr, holding a big pargo perro.
The gent behind the mask with Captain Monch and the trophy roosterfish is Bernie Crooks who got several nice roosterfish and released them all. Our amigo, Bernie, is from Reno, Nevada.
All of a sudden, these big dog-tooth also started chewing this week! With Cerralvo Island in the background, Kip Slaugh, lifts the thick fish on the gaff for the money shot! Great eating!
Just a wonderful shot by this young lady! Oh the joy! Chloe Crum from San Antonio, Texas makes the shot with this dorado and captain Alfredo helping from off-camera!
Love the kid shots! We’ve known Sierra Sanchez since she was smaller than this dorado and it’s fun watching her grow up every year and enjoy the fishing with her family and Captain Rogelio. Dorado…right off the rocks in shallow water!
Victor Gil Delmonte comes to visit us every year and told me this fish “really hurt me!” You can see it on his face and Captain Archangel had to give Vic a hand! He gamely battled the fish then released the pretty fish too!
Yes, you CAN have too much fun! Pete Natividad from Los Angeles with Captain Alfredo, was on his first trip to see us and had only one day to fish, but caught about 6 different species including this amberjack.
Dr. Marc Crum came to visit us for the first time from Texas and was able to put this nice roosterfish aboard for the photoshot before letting it go to fight another day.
Talk about variety! Lynn Crooks has about 6 different species on the transom after a good day on the water fishing north of La Paz.
Just incredible colors in this photo to go along with Gaby Donnell’s pretty smile. Gaby is from Oregon and took the colorful bull dorado just outside of Las Arenas.
Our buddy, Roger “Fluffy” McCracken battled this feisty jack crevalle south of Espirito Santo Island. These are tough fighters!
Doing it like a boss! Gavin Carroll has himself a dorado in the boat with Captain Armando!
Dorado started biting better late in the week. Adam Jones and Steve Braithwaite.
Not normally something we recommend or target, but we DO occasionally hook sharks. It usually never lasts long before the shark busts the line nor do we recommend putting any shark in the boat. But, Jeff Slater is one of our long-time anglers and very very experienced and fought this hammerhead estimated at 300 pounds. Actually very good eating and he donated much of the meat as well.
This is frameable! Hard to get a better photo or smile than Cortez Sanchez with his bull dorado on the beach at Muertos.
Good way to greet a sunrise! Captain Rogelio and our first-timer Nick Arandia started the morning with a fine catch-and-release roosterfish near La Paz.
One of our all-time favorite families (Team Penguino). Louie, Sierra and Cortez Sanchez with some of their La Paz catch. Clouds building in the background. They were able to get two nice days of fishing in with us this year!
Not sure what’s more colorful. Louie Mogabgab’s sunglasses or the dorado! Both are admittedly almost a match! Captain Victor adds to the photo too!
When it’s your first time fishing and your first fish, it’s a great moment. Imelda Natividad got herself a fat triggerfish for ceviche with Captain Alfredo.
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There is no doubt that this has been an incredibly crazy year for weather as well as fishing! It seemed that winter took forever to leave and summer to take hold and given the types of fish we’re catching, summer is still reluctant even though we’re now half into August.
The week started somewhat sluggish and got better as the week progressed. Lots of cloudy days (similar to San Diego grey skies of summer) kept things cooler which was appreciated by many of the anglers. We even had about a 30 minute downpour one afternoon like a mini tropical hurricane that caused a lot of flooding and winds then quickly blew out.
Here it comes! Good thing everyone is off the water already.
Early in the week, we had the usual smattering of dorado mostly in the 10-20 pound class. But we continued to show up with unusual cold-water fish like pargo liso (mullet snapper), giant dog-tooth snapper, cabrilla, pompano, amberjack, jack crevalle and even sierra.
Yup! Amberjack in August. Louie Mogabgab.
Wish we could see his photo, but Captain Moncho give Bernie Crooks (I think that’s Bernie in there!) a hand with his jack crevalle which was released right there off the beach.
But, then the kicker showed up late in the week. Not only did 20-100 pound tuna show up (most fish lost after long battles on light tackle) but we started getting YELLOWTAIL!
None of us can ever remember yellowtail so late in the season. In my 25 years here we have never seen yellowtail in August. Mostly by May, these cold-water fish are long gone!
Never ever ever ever seen yellowtail caught in August. It’s like getting a snowstorm in the summer. It just doesn’t happen!
I’ve given up telling folks what they’re gonna catch these days! Oh, and the fish got bigger as the week went on.
Tailhunter Fish Report 