La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 25-Sept 1, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of THE STORY…
Jimmy Williams (right) was out on the north end of Cerralvo Island with his neighbor Derrek when they hit these pair of jurassic bull dorado! Jimmy was fishing a live cocinero and Derrek nailed his fish on a flyrod!
Captain Ramiro helps Doctor Angie with her first dorado. First time visitor and first time fishing. She took home a nice load of fish.
Really fun folks visiting us for the first time and spent a few days fishing with us while staying at Rancho Costa. John and Sally Jongsma started their trip with a nice pair of just inside Bahia Muertos.
Steve Fajardo from Havasu City AZ looks like a postcard holding his bull there in Bahia Muertos!
A rare shot of Captain Arcangel smiling while helping Corey Giles from Utah on the gaff and photo. Arkie has worked for us almost 30 years at Tailhunter and a great guy and captain, but rarely smiles when the camera comes out.
All the way from Michigan, Jason Brown holds a legit bull dorado while uncle Brian McClelland looks on.
Steve has doubles! Both caught fishing just outside of La Paz Bay.
Always smiling, Sue McClelland has visited us many times from Utah and always gets into some nice fish.
Bringing back a nice load of dorado meat! Peggy Fry and Corey Giles headed back to the beach.
New addition to our Tailhunter Tribe, Brian Devlin from Colorado, spent 3 days fishing the dorado with us.
Big beast bull dorado! Captain Armando helps pose it with Tricia and Gary Bondoc.
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BOOM – LAST MINUTE UPDATE! TROPICAL STORM XAVIER HITS US
Just as I was about to publish this week’s report, Tropical Storm Xavier hit us. Well…mostly it glanced off the Baja and headed west to sea, but enough of it so that today (Friday Sept 2) it’s now raining and winds are blowing up to 30 mph. Some areas have lost electricity. In the video you can hear car and building alarms that got set off by the storm.
The port captain has shut down all boat traffic in and out’ve the port so we regretfully had to cancel all fishing for our guests. Hope we can get back on the water soon!
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It took a long time for summer to reach us down here with summer-time fishing as La Niña kept waters cool and fishing unseasonable until almost mid-July. Then, things finally hit stride and the fishing has been solidly summer and conditions more normal with sunshine, blue waters and typical Baja humidity.
However, this past week, it almost seems like the seasons are already changing to fall conditions. It’s been sunny but cooler. Warm, but breezier. We’ve had afternoon tropical showers. In fact, this coming week, the weather predictions show chances of thunderstorms here and there almost every day. (See update above…”tropical showers” turned into major tropical storm!)
Afternoon rainshower blows across La Paz Bay.
Hopefully, things aren’t changing too fast because the fishing has been mostly very good, especially for dorado. That being said, we even hooked some “cold water” fish like sierra that we usually catch in the winter and pompano and trevally that we usually see in the cooler spring! We’ll have to see…
It wasn’t a fantastic week of fishing, but overall pretty good. Some good days. Some not so much.
The mahi have been 98% of the catch with fish in a wide area. You can pick up fish here and there all day or you can hit that one school and have dorado pandemonium for an hour until your bait is gone and the fish box is full of limits and exhausted fishermen say they’re too tired! Many of the fish have been school-sized 10-15 pounders. Many smaller fish are getting kicked back. A few 20-30 pounders in the mix with larger ones breaking off.
Not much else showing up in the counts, but I think alot of that has to do with folks are fishing for and having fun for the dorado. They’re great fun and abundant and it’s not complicated fishing. So, no one is really chasing roosters, marlin, tuna, wahoo or the inshore species. We have had a few marlin and wahoo hookups, but nothing landed and the bites were incidental. (The anglers were fishing for dorado!). The few times that folks fished the rocks, they hit pargo, cabrilla and even some pompano, but everyone really is chasing the dorado.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 18-24, 2022
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our long-time amigo from Camarillo CA has another big-head bull dorado to put in the box. Note the clouds, but flat seas.
Big smile…Raleigh Inglis fishing off Espirito Santo Island with some mahi fillets for dinner.
Idaho John Stevenson fishing just off La Ventana got an early morning dorado to put in the box.
I’m always teasing Roger that he doesn’t smile enough when he’s fishing! With Captain Rogelio in La Paz Bay.
Jeff Inglis with a fresh mahi coming over the rail!
Shiloah and Pete Wilson had a good day on the water!
Shelton Donnell looks a big disheveled after battling a tough jack crevalle, but he’s been fishing with us for decades and he’s always up for the fight. His 2nd trip this year from Portland.
It was another decent week of fishing overall except for two things that made it different. Once again, dorado were the mainstay of the bite with fish running 5 to 15 pounds on the average and conditions being mostly hot and humid.
However, the week had a few bumps in terms of the weather. We did have a couple of those little baby tropical rainstorms blow through that really kicked it up. Not that we don’t need some rain, but when it rains down here, it really rains. Flooding is not unusual.
Often, these storms are not on the weather radar. With all the heat, they suddenly just build into a big weather conditions.
Usually, it’s sporadic and isolated. For example it can rain in one spot, but 200 yards away it’s dry. It can rain for 10 minutes solid or an hour solid, then the sun comes blazing out. If it happens while you’re on the water, you need to either come back in and hunker down for a bit and let it pass or, if possible, at least drive to a spot where it’s not raining.
We had one day, when one of these storms raced up and it was big enough to chase all the boats off the water. These things are to be expected this time of year. At least (so far), none of these has been a hurricane. Just alot of wind and rain.
The other thing that happened is that there was a noticeable downtick in the number of fishermen on the water and folks in town. This is the bit of slowdown during the season when many families and fishermen are ending summer vacations. Kids are going back to school. Parents have family things to attend to like football and other school or athletic-related activities. So, while fishing remains good, the crowds are diminishing.
Although dorado are the central focus because they are numerous, we also hooked a few striped marlin plus rounded out catches with bonito, jack crevalle, small roosterfish, cabrilla and snapper.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 10-17, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Just another good day on the water! Joni and John Stevenson from Idaho with some fish for the freezer!
Kyle Alexander, first time fishing with us and Captain Jorge, hooked two of these striped marlin and released them both. Really well done! On light tackle at that! Cerralvo Island in the background .
Jeanne Cabales from San Diego is always fun to have visit. Check out her two dorado and the rest of the catch sitting on the transom behind her .
Pete Wilson got two of these mahi on the flyrod as well as bonito and took several on bait.
The Blisses just had one day to fish and Captain Jorge put them on some nice dorado.
Long time Tailhunter amigo who has been fishing with us for about 20 years sometimes twice a year, Darrell Manginelli always gets into the fish. Another good day of dorado fishing here with some big mahi on the cleaning table. Darrell is from Camarillo CA .
Brothers Greg and Wade Gomes from Oregon and Nevada respectively have fished with us for years and got in 3 solid days on the dorado schools and topped it with their last day and a box full of bulls.
Mark Alexander from Sacramento CA was visiting us for the first time. He poses with one of his many dorado he caught over 3 days.
Kevin Ritchie from Galt CA finally got down to us and poses with a few of his dorado ready for the cleaning table.
Captain Victor with Elsie Mulcare from Pendleton OR who is pretty happy with her dorado. Looks like husband Kevin in the background might have another on the line.
Big smiles from Joni Stevenson posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos with one of her dorado.
Trophy pargo for Pete Wilson who gets a hand from his wife, Shiloah. They caught this in the channel between La Paz and Espirito Santo Island.
Favorite goofball friends…Ray and Jeanne Cabales from San Diego. Always fun having them visit.
Tough jack crevalle and a big one too! Shiloah with another great shot.
The Wilsons stacked up the dorado over 4 days of fishing with us.
Dan’s a happy fella! Good day on the water.
Nothing wrong with two nice bull dorado in hand for Wade Gomes. Good way to end 3 days of fishing with us. He had more in the fish box.
Ray…always a funny guy! Love these shots!
Going into this week, I was a bit nervous what would happen to our bite because of the big Super Moon that was predicted. It’s the 3rd and last time this will occur this year and is a larger-than-normal full moon. Indeed, especially early in the morning as I boarded our fishermen, the moon was spectacularly huge and gorgeous sitting over the dark waters in the early hours.
However, our fishing bite has been really solid the last few weeks and I was worried what such a big moon might do as it affects currents, tides, the bait situation and how the fishing schools would react…especially the dorado. Over the past 3 or 4 weeks, we have finally gotten into a more typical summer-time bite that we expected for so long and was delayed for several months by La Nina conditions which kept the water chillier than normal.
Well, after all was said-and-done, I won’t say the moon didn’t have an effect, it did. But, not as drastically as I had feared.
Overall, at the end of the day, everyone caught fish. Everyone that wanted to bring home fish brought home fish. Maybe not quite as abundantly as the week before the full moon, but the fishing days were sold, if not spectacular.
Perhaps the fish were a tad smaller. Maybe not as many of those huge trophy bull dorado. And the schools seemed a little more scattered over a wider area and had dispersed along the warmer water currents. However, many days our anglers were back on the beach early with limits.
Most fish were 5-15 pounds. Lots of fish released. Some larger fish in the 20-30 pound class. Overall, lots of action that varied from day-to-day and boat-to-boat. A hot boat one day could find it a little slower the next. And vice versa. Or a cold spot one day could be the hot spot the next.
Fortunately, most of our anglers fish multiple days so slower days for dorado were off-set by better days and everyone went home with fish.
In addition to the dorado, we had a few nice biters or striped marlin. A few scattered roosterfish between 10 and 30 pounds are still hanging out and some of our light-tackle anglers are having a blast catching-and-releasing all the little 2 and 3 pound dink roosters along the shore.
As well, there’s still some horse bonito, jack crevalle, pargo and cabrilla rounding out the mix.
One last thing, no doubt this is summer. It’s very tropical. Very humid! Every day, we get a little rain shower or some intermittent thundershowers that can last 5 minutes to an hour. It can be a drizzle or a downpour. Then, it’s over. Sun comes blazing out again.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 2-9, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Captain Gerardo gives gives a big smile and thumbs-up to Shiloah Wilson’s bull dorado caught south of Cerralvo Island. Pretty fish on live bait. She’s from Meridian ID.
Two of our long-time friends from Portland OR, Roger McCracken and Shelton Donnell started off their trip with a table full of dorado.
First fish of the day is a nice one for Wayne Small with Captain Jorge.
Elsie Mulcare from Pendleton OR was out with Captain Victor and had a fun time for her first time fishing our area.
John and Joni Stevenson pose on the beach at Bahia Muertos with a rack full of sizeable dorado for the cooler. Fun folks from Idaho.
This is a big wahoo! Sheldon with Captain Pancho were into the wahoo until a sudden rainstorm pushed the brakes and boats had to run for the beach.
Nashville in the house. Josh Robert was with us the first time and had a good day with Captain Joel fishing outside of La Paz Bay.
Beast wahoo for amigo, Joe Treves, who was dragging the purple Rapala still hanging from the fish’s mouth when this big wahoo crushed it! Captain Gerardo with the gaff and happy face.
A fish you cannot discount for it’s tenacious fighting ability, but taken and released by Julia Robert from Tennessee. Big fish!
Corpus Christi, TX representing! Our long-time amigo, Raphael Rios stuck this gorgeous bull dorado off the beach at Bahia Muertos.
More dorado for the ice chest. Wayne Small and Kevin Cunanan pose with a good day’s catch.
Josh got his marlin to the boat.
From Sacramento CA, Kyle and Mark Alexander finally made it down and we got them on the water for their first day with Captain Jorge and some great dorado action!
First time fun family from Pendleton OR, the Mulcare trio of Elsie, Kevin and Robert on their first day out.
The rain clouds were just about to bust open, but not before Roger finally got his first wahoo after so many years fishing with us. He insists that he’s smiling!
Pancho and Paolo teamed up for this huge bull dorado.
Yup…there’s still a few around! Josh finally got his roosterfish and Captain Gerardo pumps his fist in the air! The fish was released.
Except for an unexpected bump in the weather at the end of the week, it was pretty solid week of fishing. Sunny hot temperatures mixed with some good to excellent fishing.
I guess if there was a downside to things, there wasn’t alot of variety. Compared to earlier in the summer when we had 8, 10, 14 different varieties of fish when the water was unseasonably cool, there’s no doubt that our summer bite is firmly in place. I say that because probably 95% of the catch this past week was dorado.
…and more dorado!
OH yea! Great way to start the day with sunrise just popping up. Pete Wilson kicks it off with a legit bull dorado! Pete is from Idaho.
Our Tailhunter La Paz fleet needed to run as far as San Juan de la Costa to find the schools, but then in an hour or less, some boats were nailing limits of 10-15 pound fish then catching-and-releasing sometimes as many as they could.
As one of our anglers said, “The dorado schools were like an aquarium. As soon as a hook hit the water, the dorado seemed to fight to grab the bait. “ Some larger fish in the 20-25 pound class were in the mix, but often, the smaller fish were so much more voracious and fast that the larger ones in the school or cruising the perimeter never got a chance. I didn’t hear many complaints as our boats came back with alot of worn-out anglers most of the time.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, the dorado bite wasn’t quite so good. It could be a bit sticky at times and we had to work harder to find the fish. However, for what the bite lacked in numbers, the dorado we caught were usually larger with some fish hitting the 30-40 pound class.
The big news as the appearance of wahoo near the south end of Cerralvo Island. We had some fat 30-50 pound “skinny” ‘ hoo taken, but some of our other anglers reported that they got bit off clean through their lines or the wahoo shook off or bit through the wire of their trolled Rapalas. Dark-rapalas seemed to be the most productive.
They get to be the “wahoo kings” of the week. Roger McCracken and Shelton Donnell had a few others bite off. Then, it started to rain and they had to fun for shore
I think we would have caught even more if not for a surprise storm that came rolling through late in the week that was never on anyone’s radar. Strong wind and rains chased the boats off the water while the bite was still going strong causing pangas to race for shore.
We call these storms “toritos” (little bulls) because the heat from the ocean suddenly rears up an unexpected lashing of rain like a little hurricane. It lasts 10 minutes to an hour or so then blows out. But, you definitely don’t want to be out there in the middle of one so heading for shore is the more prudent thing to do and wait-it-out until is dissipates. Then go back out.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 25-Aug. 1, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Oh yea! What a haul of big dorado for Jim and Daniel Bovee from San Diego out with Captain Pancho.
Captain Rogelio looks on as Seth Crowder from Oregon hefts a bull dorado into the boat. Seth was visiting us for the first time from Oregon.
Texas smile in the house! First time fishing with us and Valerie Burgin puts a roosterfish in the photo. The fish was released.
Captain Jorge give Oscar Alba with his big bull dorado. Not only was this his first time fishing in La Paz, but this was Oscar’s first-ever dorado and it turned out to be a trophy fish! He wanted the head for soup and it weighed 18 pounds all by itself and we had trouble vacuum sealing it for him!
The fun Kraushaar Family in a super pose after a day on the water with some cooperative dorado. It’s Tanner, Ashley (mom), Tallen and Jason (dad). This could easily turn into their Christmas card photo!
Hero move by Chase Willis from Kentucky staying at Bahia Muertos at Rancho Costa who boated this pretty striped marlin then released it!
One of the nicest guys you could possibly meet or fish with, this is Chris Burgin from Texas who got to cross roosterfish off his bucket list on his first try. He also released his catch!
Julia and Josh Robert from Nashville were also some of our first-timers this week and had a great time each day on the water . Here’s a picture of the with their first day catch of dorado, rainbow runner and triggerfish. Great folks!
Captain Pancho estimated that Jim’s big dorado weighed somewhere around 60 pounds! That’s just a beast! Everyone thinks their fish weighs a huge amount, but when the captain says “60 pounds” that’s alot of cred. Jim fought this fish on light tackle for over an hour!
When this happened earlier in the week, I wanted to get really excited when Daniel and Jim Bovee and some of our other boats ran into. school of football tuna busting the water. This is about as many tuna as we caught all last year. But, I didn’t want to jinx things because I figured the tuna were just breezing through. Sure enough, it was a one-day hit-and-run.
Tallen has a nice tasty cabrilla for dinner. Captain Rogelio helps out. Espirito Santo Island in the background.
Yes! Valerie wil tell you she caught largest dorado on her boat that day! Captain Rogelio would not disagree.
Long-time Tailhunter amigo, George Bonner brought is grandsons Dan and Jack down to fish with us and experience La Paz. First day out with Captain Jorge, a striped marlin and a bunch of dorado. Dan fought the marlin on a spinning reel for over an hour.
Captain Pancho with Shane, Valerie and Chris Burgin and a nice load of fish headed to the freezers.
Big smile from Jason Kraushaar and help from a mystery hand in posing with his dorado.
Tanner Kraushaar is headed back in a few weeks for his senior year as QB for his high school football team, but is getting in some summer fishing first!
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We had one of our most consistent weeks of fishing this past week. That’s not saying everyone caught fish every day or the every boat always caught fish, but given that most of our folks fish 2-6 days, most everyone had lots of action and probably better fishing than they thought and everyone went home with a load of fish that wanted a load of fish.
With weather in the high 90’s, there’s no doubt it’s summertime. Water temps are in the mid to upper 70’s now which is a good sign . We waiting some extra months for this to happen.
The dorado were more than cooperative. Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Tailhunter La Paz Fleet had steady to spectacular bites on the mahi. For sheer numbers, our Tailhunter La Paz fleet was the place to fish. Pretty much sure fire action on 5 to 10 pound fish with some larger fish around as well .
For quality, our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet finally got into the game after being surprisingly slow for several weeks with bigger dorado in the 10-30 pound class not uncommon and some beasts in the 40-50 pound range taken every day (captains’ estimates on the sizes!). In addition, we had one day where the tuna erupted and produced footballs in the 10-15 pound class.
I got really excited about the tuna, but had to temper my enthusiasm as the tuna are anemic and I didn’t want everyone to get excited. Sure enough that was the one day that the tuna blew up.
However, it’s been a pretty good week of striped marlin. It was probably the best marlin week we’ve had all season with several getting hooked every day. Most lost or break off. Most of the ones that got to the boats were released. Size ranged up to about 120 pounds .
Still some roosterfish around up to about 40 pounds and surprisingly some cold water fish like rainbow runners and pargo liso were still being caught.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 9-16, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE…and the REST OF THE STORY…
First timer Wrin Wells (left) on his first day on the water gets a hand from his amigo, Ryan, on this trophy bull dorado he pulled while fishing just past Cerralvo Island.
Our long-time amigo, Dave Lopez got his personal best biggest dorado while fishing with Captain Gerardo. A beastie bull!
A darned good day for our Oregon amigos, Scott and Sarah Pitts. Check out all the meat on the cleaning table with 3 big dorado plus a couple of rainbow runners.
Holy cow…well, a bull actually! Captain Pancho estimated this bull dorado to be well over 50 pounds caught by Cheyenne Wenholz from Fresno CA. She had quite a week. Check out her other photos below!
There are two parts to this photo of the nice sailfish…her first…caught by our daughter-in-law Diana Pfost from Lakeside CA near San Diego on light tackle. See the photo below.
Such a trooper! Diana and Captain Pancho released the fish (Congratulations!), but Diana gets a big of dorsal fin in the face! She was fine. Fish was fine. All good!
It’s a long way from Illinois but Ted Leitliter had quite a week fishing with us. Here’s his big roosterfish he caught and released fishing with Captain Victor.
Quite a story here! Kelly and Diego Jimenez have been our Tailhunter friends for several decades. Kelly hooked this big marlin on a spinning rod with 15 pound test and a tiny hook that had sardine on it! She battled this fish for almost 3 hours before getting it to the boat with both fish and Kelly exhausted. The fish was not able to be released. Kelly never relinquished the rod!
Oh yea! Marcus Yu is an army major who visits us at least twice a year. This trip, he only had a quick 2 days to fish but got into a thick dorado bite off La Paz including these two nice fish.
Pink-shirted Captain Alfredo lifts up another nice dorado for Renee Daly from Oregon who were with us for 9 days on their vacation.
Scott Pitts can fish! He always does well. Great pose with this colorful bull dorado.
Bob Woodard on his first day fishing on his first fishing trip with us got his bucket list roosterfish off Bahia Muertos. The fish was released.
Crystal Barnhart and Chris Crawford are always such a pleasure to have down with us. They were with us for two weeks and got in a few day of fishing. I’m glad they got into the nice dorado bite before heading back to Oregon.
Ahhhh…John Ehlers from Colorado has been fishing with us for ages. Always great fun to have with us and always does well. He and Pancho with another bull for the fish box.
Yes…quite a week of fishing for Cheyenne. She battled this striped marlin off Las Arenas then was able to happily release it! Nicely done!
Dennis Conn with Captain Victor on his first trip with us from Illinois caught and released his first roosterfish.
Captain Pancho said this is the largest rainbow runner he had ever seen. Just another fish for Cheyenne! She and her grandpa John brought the fish back to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner that evening.
Beautiful shot and fish for Ryan Bottensak with Captain Jorge. They got two nice bulls that day but 3 others got away. All big fish!
Crazy fish guy, Diego Jimenez from Colorado seems to never stop fishing. One more dorado on the deck!
Normally, Jay Daly is the guy doing the guiding, but he got away from his guide service up in Oregon to put on some shorts and flip-flops to visit us. Obviously, he knows how to fish! He hung these two dorado just north of the city towards Espirito Santo Island.
Captain Alfredo gives Scott a hand with another bull and the gaff. I think it’s the cool dorado shorts that Scott wears when he fishes. Fish can’t see him!
Marcus Yoo on his first day. Baby blue marlin in the boat off Punta Arenas.
Our local amigo from here in La Paz, Jimmy Williams on the right got out and jumped on the big dorado bite as well finding his fish around La Ventana. A good chunk of that fish came to Tailhunter Restaurant where Jimmy hosted some friends for a big fish cook-out dinner!
It’s almost as big as her. Sarah Pitts get an assist from husband Scott and her bull dorado on the beach after a good day on the water. Lots of meat to pack up!
For sure a thumb’s up for Teds big dorado.
Colorful shot and fish for the camera. Bob Woodard does the honors. The dorado were definitely more cooperative this week! Bob is from Oregon.
Cheyenne hooked this on a little fresh water spinning rod. She fought this dorado for almost 45 minutes and that’s why she looks a little disheveled and heated! Well done, chica!
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Fishing is still more erratic than I would like it to be and definitely more erratic than what it would normally be. But we sure had a nice week of fishing finally.
Sure, there were some low spots and some slow spots, but overall, we had the most consistent weather and fishing bite of the season with dorado, especially big bulls making their presence known. Jags of schoolie-sized 10-15 pounders often provided some non-stop action, especially north of the city but then there were some spots of sturdy 30-50 pound beasts willing to bite, fight and in a good number of cases lost! That’s why they’re big fish!
The bottom line is that I think we are finally into our long-awaited summer bite about 2 months late! If you’re coming down to get onto the huge yellowtail chew we’ve had or to catch some cold-water species like amberjack, pargo, trevally, sierra and pompano, you might have missed the boat.
With cold La Nina conditions that stubbornly held on for months and provided an unusual cold-water catch, it’s nice to finally get back on track hopefully, with warmer water species like the dorado, and even a few wahoo.
Still no sign of any tuna willing to bite although we did find breaking fish here and there, but nothing willing to jump a line. Nevertheless, we had the best billfish bite of the season, again about a month or two later than normal with striped marlin, sailfish and even a few small blue marlin getting hooked.
Like I said, there were some slow spots and some boats would get hooked and the boat next to it would be sitting slack all day. Or one spots that was hot turns cold the next. However, overall, a nice week to be on the water.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-8, 2022
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dave Lopez (middle) has been fishing with us for a few decades. He gets a hand with his big dorado for the photo! Some big bulls showed up this past week!
From Washington on his first trip with us, Walt La Boda put the hurt on this beautiful dorado north of La Paz. Great colors and a super fish!
Not bad for a first timer! Kevin Lister was fishing with us for the first time from Oregon and right-off-the-bat hooks this striper. The fish was not able to be released and Kevin donated all the meat to the pueblo.
One of our roosterfish kings! Bennett Clegg has so many big fish every time he visits Baja and us in La Paz. Another catch-and-release rooster for the photo.
Maybe with waters now worming, these might be the last few yellowtail we see for the best yellowtail season I can remember. The yellowtail are definitely being found in deeper colder water when we do find them. Nice shot with Robert, Robert Jr. and Karel!
Super shot and a great day for Taylor Sering and Jakelyn Enriquez on the dorado spot. Tay has been with us several fun times. For Jakelyn, it was not only her first time to visit us, it was her first time EVER to even go fishing! She did great!
I’ve known James Kikkawa from Rosemead CA since he was in high school about 30 years ago. I’ve been trying to get him to visit us in La Paz. Well, he finally visited ,but only had 1 day to fish and got his bucket list big yellowtail with captain Arcangel. The fish was released!
One of the first indications that the dorado had moved in was Justin Jenks hooking this beast bull dorado early on! After that, the dorado bite just got better for the next few days. Justin was visiting us for the first time and is from Washington.
Oh geeze…what a fish! Jennifer Meyer is a professor at Utah Tech University and was out with Captain Rogelio when she stuck this incredible bull dorado.
What a great shot! Mike Meyer with Captain Gerardo and a pretty roosterfish. Mike is from Michigan and was able to release the fish.
There are no boring times around this fella! Marty Sering always has us laughing every time he visit. Nice dorado right in the shallow waters near the rocks. You can see the bottom. No need to go a zillion miles off-shore!
April and Ryan Perry with a double handful of bull dorado from the channel north of La Paz. They got a fish box full of these in short order and were back on the beach early.
Nice rack of rainbow runner and pargo for Spencer on the beach at Las Arenas.
First timer, Gayana Kikkawa, wasn’t sure she wanted to go fishing, but check out the big roosterfish she caught and released with the help of Captain Arcangel.
So many years! Finally, Taylor gets his roosterfish…even if it’s a small guy! Captain Fili thinks he needs some help! All fun. The fish was released.
We call these “tiger dorado.” One of the most colorful fish in our waters. Mike and Captan Rogelio with one on the gaff.
A masked Captain Licho helps Kevin with a bull dorado that looks to be about 5 1/2 feet long! Wow. Kevin had a good couple of days with us!
All smiles. Jakelyn Enriquez with a smiling Captain Fili and a Las Arenas roosterfish for the camera. The fish was released.
Young Kale Jenks had quite a week with a marlin, a sailfish and yellowtail among others! Kale was visiting us from Washington with his dad.
She’s a regular poster-girl for us down here. Always in the big fish and she’s especially good on the roosterfish, but Alicia Clegg got her biggest rooster this past week.
Walt La Boda had himself a blast tossing baits and lures into the shallows on light tackle hooking fish like these snapper, pargo and cabrilla!
One of the toughest fish you could hook into down here pound-for-pound. The Mexican name for them is “TORO” which means “Bull.” Jennifer with a big jack crevalle just off the sand at Punta Arenas.
Another yellowtail for the cooler for Justin! Some good eating to take home to Washington.
A good day on the water is off to a good start when the dorado are biting early. Spencer Sering as the sun comes up!
Well, Mother Nature gave us a tease again.
We’ve been locked in this cold-water La Nina condition now for months. Waters are cooler. Air temps are cooler. Water is cold and green and cloudy. Consequently, fishing has been pretty erratic, unpredictable and frankly confined to mostly cold-water species.
We’ve been catching species that we normally catch in the winter and early spring instead of the warm-water species that should have been biting 2 months ago.
That’s not to say fishing is bad. It’s just well..ABNORMAL!
We’ve had probably the best yellowtail season in memory. Big 20-40 pound yellowtail have been our bread-and-butter fish now most of the season. But, these are cold-water fish that are usually gone by April!
We’ve also had a great catch of rainbow runner, cabrilla, pargo, snapper, pompano, trevally, jack crevalle and white bonito. All fun fish and we’re indeed still putting alot of these into the box.
However, most of these fish, like the yellowtail should be long gone!
Fortunately, we’ve still got big roosterfish running around and these pigs are still 20 to 60 pound fish.
But…
Where are the tuna, wahoo, billfish and dorado? We’ve had little teasers, but nothing has broken loose. Just need the waters to warm up!
Well, this week, it finally seems like things blew open in a big way. We had several days where our anglers fishing straight out’ve La Paz just hammered all the dorado they could handle. I mean, dozens of fish everywhere. Catching and releasing so many and coming back to the beach with fish boxes completely plugged! Big bulls in the 20-40 pound class were not uncommon. It was crazy good dorado fishing like we have not seen in ages.
Then, just when we got all fired up…
There’s a hurricane far to the south of us. It never reached us, but the arms of the storm were enough to blow cold water and winds up our way again. Our waters got cold and green. Bait got harder to find. The fishing tanked!
A few dorado showed up here and there. Some billfish were hooked. But, we were back to inshore rock fishing again!
We just need things to settle down. In some respects, the fact that our waters are cooler kept the hurricane away from as these storms track the warm water. On the other hand, it still blew waves, winds and cold water back up our way.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of June 25-July 1, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First day biggest fish ever! Chris Graham from Louisiana hit his personal best fish on his first day out with this big roosterfish just off the Punta Arenas lighthouse. The fish was released.
Long-time Tailhunter amigo, Dave Conklin, was fishing deep just off the rocks near Punta Coyote when he stuck this nice yellowtail to add to his fish box.
She’s a regular poster-girl for Tailhunter ever year with the fish she catches . Alicia Clegg is always on the fish. Big bull dorado and she obviously could have used one more hand with that dorsal fin!
Young Kale Jenks from Washington had himself a banner week of fishing and got a hand from his dad, Justin, on this big sailfish he caught on a sardine off Bahia Muertos
It’s been awhile since Kevin Beehn from Lake Tahoe CA has visited us but he picked up right where he left off putting fish, like this big yellowtail onto the deck.
Funnest family! Kelly and Diego Jimenez from Loveland CO always come down this time of year and usually bring one of the grandkids. This time Neriah got the nod and a table full of fish including rainbow runners, a hawkfish and pompano.
Montana in the house! Andy Malone was with us for the first time this week and really wanted a roosterfish! Not a bad first try. Good catch and release with Captain Gerardo.
One of the nicest guys on his first trip with us. Justin Jenks from Washington sure went home with alot of fish including some nice yellowtail fillets!
Thumbs-up from Captain Jorge and Robbie Sickels, Jr. who put this big roosterfish aboard on his 27th birthday! The fish was released. Punta Perrico in the background.
A great fishing team every year. Captain Joel and Bennett Clegg know how to put fish on a rod like this yellowtail north of La Paz Bay.
Captain Pancho estimated this roosterfish to go 40 kilos…about 85 pounds and his biggest of the season. It was also the biggest fish ever for Andy Lauber as well! Andy was able to release the big gallo and is from New Orleans.
We sure don’t get many of these! Ken Smith from Idaho picked up a rare barracuda! I’ve seen schools of the while diving, but maybe only 2 or 3 caught on hook and line in my 30 years here.
Our own Ms. Michele! Big smile and a big yellowtail on the gaff for Michele Conklin who has visited us many times over the years from Spokane WA.
Not many dorado so far this year, but Bennett Clegg found a few one day including this nice bull.
Not a bad start for Kale Jenks. His first time to La Paz. His first day on the water. His first bait in the water! And this striped marlin picks it up! Captain Boli with the smiles and asssit!
Just another day in paradise for Alicia who never fails to put fish on the deck. She can fish! Nice yellowtail, Alicia!
The bonito are all over and voracious! Ask Kelly Jimenez! These bonito are actually the white bonito and very good eating. They are all over this season.
Louisiana in the house! Chris and Andy with two big yellowtail ready for the fillet table.
If Captain Jorge has his thumb in the air, it’s always a good sign. Rob Sickels, Sr. got his first catch-and-release rooster right up against the rocks of Punta Perrico.
Tough-fighting jack crevalle will pull you all over the panga! Ken Smith would probably agree!
It’s the lucky sunglasses. Dave with another yellowtail. Flat waters like a lake!
Well…we sure have alot more photos than last week! It makes for a better looking fishing report, right?
But, remember, to be perfectly candid, it’s like watching the NFL highlights on a Sunday night. You get to see all the touchdowns and the all-star moves! You’re not seeing all the plays that got stuffed!
It’s been like that with fishing. Mother Nature just won’t give us a break. C’mon, Man!
Not only are we in a La Nina year when it’s obvious by now that waters are colder and cooler than normal along with the air temperatures…all affecting our fishing. But, the weather gods threw another wrench at us this past week.
Tropical Storm Celia hit about 500 miles south of us. It didn’t come any closer. But, that didn’t stop it from sending strong winds and big waves up our way and really jacking up our south-facing fishing areas…like Las Arenas where we had to cancel fishing for 2 days and have everyone fish with our La Paz fleet. Even after the storm conditions had passed, it’s been several days now, but waters there are still turned over, dirty , green and cold. It’s difficult to get live bait as well because of the conditions. Check out this video below and turn up the sound:
So, fishing with our Las Arenas fleet, which should be on fire under normal conditions, has been sticky and picky to say the least. There are still some big roosterfish around between 10 and 80 pounds, but other than that, there’s just some inshore action on lots of bonito, rainbow runners, pompano, trevally, jack crevalle, pargo and bonito.
I think until the waters clean up, that’s the kind of fishing it’s going to be over on that side. Our captains and clients are working really hard to find fish for sure!
For our La Paz Fleet, thankfully, the fishing closer to La Paz has rescued us much of the time. The yellowtail bite continues strangely. I say “strangely” because the yellowtail are a cold-water fish that are usually gone by April.
However, here it is in July and they are still around and have been biting strong. Fish between 20 and 40 pounds are not uncommon. Lots of these strong fish have been getting lost. They’re beasts and surprising alot of folks with their power.
We ARE starting to see more dorado so maybe that’s an indication that waters are warming (I hope!). I don’t want to get too excited. We should be thick into dorado by this time, but it just hasn’t happened. However, we did catch more dorado this week than we have all season. So, fingers crossed!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-17, 2022
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FISHING IN A NUTSHELL:
WEATHER: Very erratic. Chilly mornings one day. Warm the next morning. Daytimes usually hot and sunny. Sometimes very humid. Some mornings very windy. Other days, the afternoons and evenings are blustery. Overall, for June much cooler than normal.
WATER: Slowly very slowly seems to be clearing up, but largely still cooler and off-color than normal. Green cold water still in many areas. It doesn’t help that we keep getting winds that stir things up. Sometimes it makes getting bait difficult.
FISHING: Up-and-down to be honest. Varies from day to day and boat-to-boat. Nothing consistent because of the changing weather and water. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being best, I’d say it’s a 2 at worst. 5 at best.
SPECIES: Yellowtail, roosterfish, lots of white bonito, barred pargo, pargo liso, dog-tooth snapper, cabrilla, triggerfish, jack crevalle, rainbow runner, trevally, pompano, some dorado. Got our first sailfish finally and our 2nd marlin of the season.
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MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Chris Stark from Yucaipa CA rocked this big bull dorado. We should be thick with dorado right now, but conditions are much cooler than normal.
Gerald Damge and Jim Caskey pose with a nice pair of hefty yellowtail caught north of the city. Both guys are from the Denver area.
Daniel and dad, Jim, Bovee! OK…nice yellowtail with Daniel. But, check out Jim. That’s a halibut/ flounder! Just shows you how cold the waters are! In 30 years down here running our operation, I’ve never had an angler hook a flattie! It ate a whole mackerel. Maybe we should start running halibut charters! (Yes, I know it’s a flounder, but locals call these halibut!)
Love this shot! Alan Hed has his big rooster, but Mike Jennings happily photobombs the shot while fighting his own rooster! Both were released. Check out Mike’s big fish below. The guys are from Washington.
Jerry Rost with Captain Rogelio got this big bull while fishing in shallow water right up against the rocks! Crazy fishing. Jerry is from Idaho and, although you can’t see the whole fish, we taped it out at 54″ long!
I have never seen so many white bonito being caught as we have had in the last week. Alex Cardenas has quite a table spread of bonito with Captain Armando. These bonito are quite tasty.
First trip to visit us from Colorado, Phoebe Bleichrodt had just one day to fish and made it a good one! Great weather and several yellowtail in the fish box!
Shane Lindquist from the Logan area of Utah has been talking to me for years and we finally got him down where he got a variety of fish including a personal best dorado. Good to have him be part of the Tailhunter Tribe finally!
I think Mike is sticking his tongue out here. Not sure if it’s meant for the photographer or because the roosterfish tuckered him out. Great shot and great fish. (released)
This is just a great photo! Grant Checa from Denver has a great story to tell when he gets home. Starting early!
Two more of our Utah amigos that got initiated into the Tailhunter Tribe this week. First timers Andy and son Brandon Nebeker pose with a big first-time roosterfish. The fish was released.
Here you go! Great shot. Long-time amigo, Rich Keogh, with Armando and a sizeable amberjack. Rich gave the fish to a very happy Armando.
First sailfish of the year! Captain Pancho with Tanya and Brandon McGarr from Rock Springs, WYO took this on the east side of Cerralvo Island. Not able to release the fish, much of the meat was donated. They were able to release a striped marlin.
Dave Johnson has fished with us before, but this time, he brought his wife Rachel who took to things very nicely and spent 3 days fishing. Our amigos are from Denver CO.
John Lowdermilk has visited us a number of times and said this past trip was the best fishing has has ever had. Big boy yellowtail on the gaff. John caught about a dozen different species.
Brandon McGarr took only our 2nd marlin of the season with Captain Pancho. Normally, this should be well into billfish, but conditions just aren’t right…yet! Brandon was able to release the fish.
There are lots of big toro (Jack crevalle) running around right now. They are a tough fish to have on the end of your line. “Toro” is the Spanish word for “bull.” Jeri Damge gets a hand from Captain Boli.
Big smiles and a good shot of Greg Saubolle and one of his yellowtail from a really good day on the water. I recall that the boat took 4 or 5 yellowtail that day.
Daniel Bovee always does pretty well. He found a nice amberjack hole and pulled these two sluggers out while trolling for wahoo at the south end of Cerralvo Island with Captain Pancho. Daniel lives in Costa Mesa CA.
Fun family with Captain Gerardo. Noha, Stephanie and Chris Stark got a few rare dorado plus I see more fish on the cutting table as well.
Two of our best goofy friends, Bob Duncan from Santa Barbra fish slaps everyone’s favorite guy Jorge Romero. They got 5 nice yellowtail on the day.
A good start! Utah in the house and first day catch for Shane Lindquist and Aaron Rudie with yellowtail meat for the box.
Jim Caskey has his first roosterfish for a quick photo and release! Jim came to visit us from Denver.
Flat seas and good fishing. Brett Bleichrodt only had one day to fish but had one of the better days with the yellowtail.
Personal best rooster for Alan Hed with big smiles and Cerralvo Island in the background. I think they hooked and released 4 that day.
This is a classic slugger yellowtail. Mike Jennings hammered this forkie on a live mackerel towards Espirito Santo Island.
Tanya McGarr gets a hand from Captain Pancho on her big rooster battled just off the beach near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Captain Joel gives Andy a thumb’s up on his yellowtail. His first!
Oh wow! Robert and his brother Jerry Rost hoist a trio of bull dorado that make quite a surprising catch just off the rocks of Espirito Santo Island.
After fighting a fish, it can be quite a chore to lift it for the camera. Chris Stark gets some grins watching his son, Noah, try to pose for the camera.
Tiffany Floyd from Idaho is one of the funnest folks that ever visits us. Captain Joel helps with a big yellowtail caught actually inside La Paz Bay of the San Rafaelito lighthouse.
Jeff Floyd has one for the box amid a good yellowtail bite they found just outside of La Paz Bay.
Ryan Melnick was on his first trip to visit us and got his first yellowtail worth the big smile and a good photo!
I just don’t know what to make of this season except to say, nothing is predictable. Nothing is “normal.”
Looking at all the photos, it looks like wow!!! Fishing MUST be great!
Here is the general picture. It has been a very cold cold season. Waters are 5 to 10 degrees cooler/ colder than normal. That might not seem like much, but it makes all the difference in the world to fishing. Air temps are getting warmer, but the daytime temperatures can vary from 25-35 degrees during the day. Cool and cold in the mornings then blazing hot in the afternoon. Some days very windy and choppy. Some days calm .
Some waters are green and cold. Some water is blue and clear. And that is just on the surface!
Down below under the water, our divers are saying there’s a big thermocline 20-30 feet below the surface that is another 5 more more degrees colder.
Every day seems different. Every location is different. Two fishing boats can be in easy sight of each other and have such completely different experiences that you wonder if they were even in the same ocean.
On top of it all, we had a “SUPER MOON” this week to thrown another wrench in the mix. A super moon is not just a full moon (which can be problematic all by itself!). A super moon happens rarely but it means the moon is something like 50,000 miles closer to the earth . The means huge tide swings. It means stronger currents. It affects the whole fishing environment.
In fact, I want to be perfectly honest. We had 2 of the worst days fishing this week that I can ever remember. Even on “bad” days folks still catch fish. Maybe not as many or not the species they wanted. But, they still get some action .
There were two days this week when the ocean was like a desert! Some boats didn’t get a single bite. Not even from “junk fish.” Some boat got maybe one little fish. Our captains were frustrated. Our anglers were frustrated. Everyone working hard at it, but nature just didn’t want to give it up!
That’s just the way it is. Some really “off days.” Then a good day. We get excited. Then a so-so day. Then a good day. Then a bad day. The fishing is really sideways. One boat catches fish. The boat right next to it can’t even get a seagull interested.
We should be into our summertime bite right now with dorado, tuna, billfish and wahoo.
Instead, we’re still getting cold-water species. It’s not terrible fishing. It’s just strange fishing.
We’re having an incredible yellowtail season with fish up to 35 pounds or so. But normally, the yellowtail are done by April, maybe May. But, when they have been biting, it’s been great. But even the yellowtail take a day off or two.
There’s a few dorado here and there. We got only our 2nd marlin of the season. We got our first sailfish of the season. Thankfully, big roosterfish up to 60 pounds or more are still in the area and willing to bend the rods.
Other than that, lots and lots of white bonito, pargo, cabrilla, plus trevally, amberjack, rainbow runners, jack crevalle and (just to show you how cold it is) we even got a halibut. Well, a flounder, but the locals call any flat fish a “halibut.” But in 30 years down here, I’ve never seen anyone catch a halibut/ flounder. Usually, those are in very much cooler waters.
So, if you’re coming down, just be prepared for anything. Perhaps more cold water will continue. Or, suddenly things will click and everything will change!
UPDATE:Can’t catch a break. Even as I write this, we have to weather situations to the south of us. Hurricane Blas and Tropical Storm Celia are formed up way way way down the south of the Mexican Pacific Coast. They are NOT going to hit us, but nevertheless are sending up big waves and swells as well as strong winds. There’s a possibility of some afternoon rain.
The total effect is that it looks like for the next 2 days, the sun will be out, but the waters could be rough and for our Las Arenas fleet, my captains tell me there will be no live bait for fishing out’ve Las Arenas. So, we’ll probably have everyone fish with our La Paz fleet.
ON THE UPSIDE: No more covid testing to return to the U.S. They finally got rid of it!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for June 3-9, 2022
FISHING IN A NUTSHELL
Scale of 1-10 (10 being best): 6 at best.
Temps: Cold windy mornings in the high 50’s to low 60’s with rough water but then gets hot into mid-90’s by late morning and seas flatten. Sweatshirt not a bad idea.
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet – Most variety of fish. More fish per rod. Seems like a little of everything. Pargo, dog-tooth snapper, yellowt snapper, rainbow runner, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, amberjack, yellowtail, pompano, trevally, sierra, cabrilla and a tease of wahoo and tuna
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet – Fewer but bigger fish. Mosty 20-40 pound yellowtail and some larger amberjack. Smattering of bonito and jacks. Maybe some of the best yellowtail fishing in years.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
That’s a hog yellowtail! OINK! Rich Pope puts another big boy in the boat. Great shot!
The Mexican name of the amberjack is “Pez Fuerte” (The strong fish) for good reason. These bruisers can be over 100 pounds and are related to the yellowtail and roosterfish. Corey Fujita tugged this one up on the El Baja Seamount north of Espirito Santo Island. Check the yo yo jig still dangling from the fish’s mouth!
One tuna! Every now and then, we get a reminder that tuna should be here, but aren’t! Mark Malloy and Captain Ramiro pose with a yellowfin on the beach at Muertos.
I think this roosterfish was a personal best for Mike Muehl from San Diego. His buddy Bob lends a hand (Bob’s photos are below). Mike was able to release the big roosterfish.
Our first marlin of the season! He’s 5-years-old, but Owen Fujita actually pulled on this fish (with a little help from dad)! Note the marlin is missing it’s top bill! They donate the meat to folks at Aguamarga.
John Lowdermilk says it was his best day fishing here after putting the hurt on this big dog-tooth snapper. John is from Denver.
Captain Gerardo has alot of fish cleaning to do. Dave and Rachel Johnson had quite a bit of action by the looks of their table where I see golden trevally (palometa), rainbow runner, cabrilla, pompano, snapper and pargo.
Tiffany Floyd from Idaho is just a joy whenever she visits. Great pose with Captain Armando and a big roosterfish she caught off Bahia Muertos and released.
This lady loves fishing! Dee Dee Pope gets a hand on the gaff from Captain Alfredo and another big-shouldered yellowtail for the box.
Captain Arcangel with our long-time amigo, Doug Oclassen for a quick photo and roosterfish release.
Bob Francy has a big roosterfish to lift after a good battle so he can get it back in the water. I think Bob said this was his personal best rooster.
These folks were sure fun! Jim Caskey with Jeri and Gerald Damge from Colorado started their fishing week with a variety including cabrilla, rainbow runner, white bonito and snapper.
Good shot and a good fish for Rick Baer fishing north of La Paz where the yellowtail have been hanging out.
OH yea! Our roosterfish “poster boy” Steve Bryan cradles another big rooster for the photo so he can get it back in the water. Steve must have caught more than 8 of these big sluggers and released them all.
Not many dorado have shown up so far this year with the waters staying cold, but Dan Northrop got one of the larger models to bite a live bait while fishing with Captain Pancho
Bill Johnson with John Lowdermilk “We wore our arms out!” with a great rack of fish. Big amberjack, dog-tooth snapper, yellow snapper, cabrilla, yellowtail and rainbow runner on the day. This doesn’t show all the fish they released either!
Three generations of Fujitas! Robert, Owen (grandson) and Corey (son) with a couple of Cerralvo Island roosterfish for the photo then released.
It’s hard to lift a big fish after the battle, but Al Beilstein does his best with this big roosterfish for a quick photo then release!
Captain Adolfo with Bob Lederer from Massachusetts and a hefty yellowtail for the fish box taken off Las Arenas.
Every reason for the smile and the thumb’s-up as Rich puts another big yellowtail aboard. As I recall, this as his 2nd of the day.
Corey Fujita had to get a little height to photo this big bull dorado he caught north of Espirito Santo Island.
Great colors! Great smile. Nice fish for Grant Checa from Colorado and a nice barred pargo to take home!
Captain Gerardo and Jacob Pulsifer with a nice photo-and-release roosterfish. Jacob was another of our Colorado first-time anglers who visited this past week.
It was another week of anemic weather for us here in the La Paz area. We have had unseasonably cool weather and water this year. It has been reflected in mostly cold-water species being caught which normally are not hear this later in the year.
Two weeks ago, temperatures soared and I was sure we had turned the corner into summer-time conditions. We also saw more warmer water species like dorado start to bite. It was encouraging!
However, this past week, temperatures dropped again. Winds picked up, especially in the mornings that had our skippers and even clients reaching for sweatshirts and jackets. Waters had been clear and blue and instead got murkier and greener with the erratic change in weather.
So, we were back with the cooler water species. It wasn’t bad fishing at all. It was just unusual fishing for this time of year, but there was plenty of action with a huge variety of species.
However, it seemed to change from day-to-day and boat-to-boat. One day Las Arenas is better. The next day La Paz is better. One boat gets a great bite. The boat next to it can’t buy a fish. Some days the fish came easy but the next day we had to work harder to find fish or get them to bite. For most of our anglers fishing several days, however, it usually evened out and everyone went home with fish.
Big yellowtail continued to bite on live mackerel for our clients fishing out’ve La Paz in the bay or out towards the island of Espírito Santo to the north. This is maybe the best yellowtail season we have ever had. Boats were averaging 1-3 fish per boat, but losing 3, 4 or more fish! Some occasional dorado and big cabrilla and bonito were also caught, but the focus was on the bigger yellowtail and occasionally, some bigger amberjack the cousin to the yellowtail.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, it seemed like there were a dozen species caught every day. We just never knew.
In addition to some continued great action on big roosterfish up to 70 pounds, we also caught rainbow runners, cabrilla, snapper, several species of pargo, sierra, jack crevalle, pompano, golden trevally, bonito, and amberjack among others.
ADIOS y VAYA CON DIOS AMIGO
When you’ve been doing this down here for almost 3 decades, we are blessed to have been part of so many special moments and to have known so many special amigos…part of our Tailhunter Tribe.
Sometimes, when we live and work here daily, we forget how special this place is, however. To many of our friends, this is their happy spot. It’s a place where they made so many memories with their own friends and families.
Over time, it’s invariable that we bid adios to more and more of our long-time Tailhunter Family. It’s an even more important honor when they want their ashes spread or a memorial done on our waters.
This past week, we said good-bye to Glenn Oclassen. Family and friends gathered in Bahia Muertos to place a wreath and cast individual roses in the water for him.
Glenn was one of my first customers who brought his family and friends to fish with us back in the 90’s. He had a long history in Baja even before Tailhunters and it was always a joy to be around him and his smile every year. I was honored to have been his friend and blessed with his memory.
Adios, my friend. Be with the angels and we’ll see you again sometime on the waters!
Tailhunter Fish Report 