La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 16-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY
Popular Captain Ramon “Moncho” Green went north to Espirito Santo Island and took this 80-pound yellowfin tuna and several big 20-pound class yellowtail using sardines.
Gary Wagner, who owns the Rancho Costa there in Muertos has been a bright spot in getting us photos these past few weeks since he’s able to get his own boat right off the beach and go fishing. He sure has a colorful dorado here. Thanks, Gary.
Alot of you know our great Captain Pancho. His son Carlos is growing up (heck of a guitar player too!) and looks he definitely has dad’s fishing DNA. Big tasty pompano in the boat!
Wish I could say things were better, but no one out on the water. Even the locals are having an issue with fishing for personal consumption. The ports have been closed for several weeks now to all traffic, but there’s quite a bit of confusion over whether local fishermen can fish for their families. Some think no problem and are out. But others have been stopped and told they can only be out if they have permits and apparently the paper process is lengthy and confusing in itself.
From the couple of reports that I did get from local fishermen, there’s some nice jags of 25-pound class yellowtail around both Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island. Tuna up to 70-pounds also at the north end of Cerralvo with scattered schools of dorado moving in as waters warm up. Roosterfish have started showing up near the beaches as well as pargo liso started their yearly spawn. No shortage of bonito either.
Tons of bait. No fishermen.
RIPPED FROM THE HEADLINES (AS OF APRIL 22)
Mexico almost has over 10,000 confirmed virus cases a jump of over 3,000 in a single week.
Coronavirus deaths are over 950 and climbing daily. Three weeks ago it was 125.
Health officials think that as many as 54,000 is a true number of cases because of so many unreported cases and very little testing.
Four Mexican states with more than 33 million residents are not reporting any statistics because they do not want to violate people’s privacy or “cause panic.”
More than 200 municipalities in 10 Mexican states have closed their roads unilaterally to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the towns.
Hospitals in Mexico City are already almost at capacity.
Baja (states of Baja Norte and Baja Sur) has almost 800 confirmed cases with 38 deaths.
Baja has the highest incidence of infection per capita in the country. Mexico City has the 2nd highest per 100,000 people.
Baja has extended the quarantine past the original April 30th In the absence of something changing, the quarantine is now extended to May 30th.
Health officials estimate that only about 60% of the population are adhering to the quarantine. Many are ignoring the mandates while law enforcement and the military continue to chase people off beaches, public areas and gathering locations.
Healthcare workers are pleading for non-existent personal protection while now themselves becoming targeted for attacks by people who say the workers are spreading the disease.
There’s no stimulus checks, unemployment or health insurance (socialized medicine). In fact 40% of the working population aren’t even on anyone’s books. They work as laborers, vendors and other “cash-only” workers.
The Mexico Undersecretary of Health has not recommended face masks because it gives people a “false sense of security.”
LA PAZ IN QUARANTINE – You Might Recognize a Few Places
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 6-14, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
East side of Cerralvo Island is still holding sizeable yellowtail in shallow water not far off the beach like this one that Miles Wagner took. He’s been staying at his dad’s place at Bahia Muertos now for almost a month so still has the ability to go fishing now that his school back in Colorado is shut down.
La Paz resident, Erik Holthouse was with his brother Juan were out at Bahia Muertos with Captain Moncho and found a nice school of dorado.
Gary Wagner who lives there in Bahia Muertos has thankfully kept sending me photos and has the ability to fish very easily there and has been on top of the yellowtail schools all week and for the past month.
Not much if anyone fishing at all except gringos who live in the area or locals. And even then, not much and the waters are empty. However, the few reports we got this week showed there are still slugger yellowtail around especially the rocky areas around Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island on the northeast side.
More schools of dorado in the 5-15 pound class also becoming more prevalent as the waters warm. There’s a nice spawn of those big mullet snapper (pargo liso) that have shown up. If you can get one of these horses to the boat in that shallow water, they’ve been 15-20 pounders in the school.
Aguamarga on the road to Las Arenas basically says all visitors and you’re not welcome.
More Todos Santos – basically says stay at home. This is not for vacation. There is a national quarantine. Be responsible. Sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you.
Bahia Muertos is usually covered with folks during Easter Week.
All hotels are still closed until at least April 30th. Police and military are enforcing the closure of the malecon and all beaches, especially during Holy Week/ Easter Week which has traditionally been a big beach week for Mexico with many people still ignoring the shelter-in-place laws.
Authorities are now posting signs, but the local population has also started unilaterally blocking entrances into their areas for tourists, visitors and even some of their own residents, if the residents have been out’ve the area. In an attempt to block the spread of the virus, Mulege, Loreto, San Xavier, Todos Santos, Pescadero, Cedros Island and others have all blocked their roads.
Around La Paz, the road to Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay with entrances to the pueblitos where many of the fishermen and their families live including, Aguamarga, San Pedro, Bahia Muertos, Punta Arenas and Los Alamos have blocked their roads. They’re asking everyone to please stay away and if you leave, they might not let you back in.
HEADLINES FROM MEXICO
Please remember this is a changing situation so anything you read here might have changed by the time you’re reading it.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING, MEXICO’S VIRUS CASES HAVE MORE THAN DOUBLED IN THE LAST WEEK.
MEXICO REPORTS MORE THAN 5000 CASES WITH OVER 300 DEATHS. HEALTH OFFICIALS THINK THE UNOFFICIAL COUNT IS PROBABLY OVER 20,000 CASES SINCE NOT MUCH TESTING OR OFFICIAL REPORTING IS GOING ON.
IN THE SPAN OF A WEEK, BAJA HAS BECOME THE #1 HIGHEST RATE OF VIRUS INCIDENT (PER CAPITA) THAN ANY OTHER PLACE IN MEXICO BEHIND ONLY MEXICO CITY. BAJA HAS ABOUT 500 CASES AND HAS SEEN 20 DEATHS.
IT WAS A VERY SLOW EASTER WEEK WHICH IS TRADITIONALLY PACKED WITH LOCAL AND FOREIGN TOURISTS.
DESPITE THE QUARANTINE LAW ENFORCEMENT AND MILITARY HAD TO STILL CHASE MANY PEOPLE OFF THE BEACHES
ONE BEACH IN OAXACA THAT IS USUALLY COVERED WITH BATHERS IS NOW FULL OF CROCODILES THAT HAVE RETURNED AFTER DECADES OF ABSENCE.
WITH NO COORDINATED QUARANTINE PLAN MANY PEOPLE ARE STILL IGNORING THE RESTRICTIONS. THOUSANDS PACKED SHOULDER-TO-SHOULDER AT THE MEXICO CITY FISH MARKET TO PURCHASE FISH FOR GOOD FRIDAY
MUCH TO THE DISTRESS OF RETAIL GROCERY STORES, MANY VENDORS HAVE TURNED TO SELLNG PRODUCE, MEAT AND OTHER ITEMS FROM THE SIDE-OF-THE-ROAD AT PRICES HUGELY BELOW RETAIL
HEALTH CARE WORKERS ARE REFUSING TO WORK BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY
SADLY, HEALTH CARE WORKERS ARE ALSO BEING ATTACKED IN SOME CITIES BECAUSE PEOPLE THINK THE HEALTH CARE WORKERS WILL CARRY THE DISEASE INTO THE COMMUNITY.
SANITATION STATIONS FOR HAND WASHING HAVE BEEN SET UP IN VARIOUS CITIES. HOWEVER, PEOPLE HAVE BEEN STEALING THE SANITATION STATIONS.
MANY CITIES AHVE ENACTED “DRY LAWS” PROHIBITING LIQUOR SALES OF ANY KIND. CABO SAN LUCAS INITIALLY WAS PART OF THAT GROUP, BUT HAS SINCE CHANGED THE RULE ONLY RESTRICTING THE HOURS FOR ALCOHOL SALES. “PEOPLE NEED ALCOHOL TO STAY CALM DURING THE STRESS.”
BREWERIES LIKE CORONA/MODELO WERE SHUT DOWN TWO WEEKS AGO DEEMED “NON-ESSENTIAL” BUSINESS. THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE ALLOWED THEM TO RE-OPEN LAST WEEK…FOR ONE DAY…THEN THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH OVER-RODE THE EDICT AND SHUT THE BREWERIES DOWN AGAIN.
Hope you all had a good, safe, and healthy Easter all things considered. Jill and I are still stuck in the states. There’s no flights from where we have our house and there’s nothing to go back to at the moment in La Paz. No fishermen. No fishing. Our restaurant is closed. The hotel we live at is closed. So, we’re staying put like so many of you and still grateful and blessed to have a roof and food and yes…even toilet paper and paper towels!
After almost a month of staying away from family, we finally had a little get together with our two kids and two grandkids Easter Sunday for a little chicken on the barbecue. Nothing spectacular. Just good to see them after so long and not be talking on Facetime. It was Jill’s birthday this past weekend and we were all supposed to be in Hawaii for the weekend, but that understandably got canceled.
We are eating too much, watching more TV than ever, catching up on reading and I’m getting more sleep than ever in my life. Usually, by this time of year, we’re getting 3-4 hours of sleep a night and now, there’s no alarm jolting me awake at 4 a.m. to put the fishermen out. But, we’re still working hard trying to keep everyone abreast of what’s happening and/or calming folks down who don’t know what’s going on. Hopefully, we’ll get to the other side of this sooner rather than later.
Thank you to everyone who writes to us.
I can tell alot of you are at home and on your cellphones or computers. I must get about 100 jokes, memes and videos every day. I just can’t watch them all or respond to them all but thanks for thinking of us!
In the meantime, please be well, stay well, stay healthy!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 24-Mar. 1, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Jay Statman from Los Angeles had one day to fish, but using live bait and yo-yo, iron still managed a great day of action taking several nice yellowtail, a big jack crevalle, a bonito and even this nice yellowtail. Plus a number of fish were lost to the rocks including several yellowtail and dorado. Jay donated all his fish to the local families.
We only get a few of these a year. Roger Thompson was trolling on the east side of Cerralvo Island when he got bit by this rainbow runner, which is cousin to the yellowtail and just about as tasty.
Tal Nazani brought some amigos to fish with Captain Arcangel this week and first day result were surprising even with the winds forcing them to fish inshore. Still, it produced 7 yellowtail; a bunch of sierra; a cabrilla and even a nice yellowtail. They have one more day on the water later this week.
The Guluarte Family from La Paz came out for a day fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos SE of La Paz and had some great action on a surprise fat wahoo as well as some feisty yellowtail. Seals got the one on the left.
Close-up shot of Sr. Guluarte’s wahoo with the rest of the family jumping in with Captain Pancho giving the thumb’s up!
Despite winds this past week, we had a few folks get out and there were some surprising results although often, the winds and rough waters kept the fishing close to shore. In fact, it was some of the best fishing of the year, even though this is technically still off-season from November to April.
For those few who could make it across the channel to Cerralvo Island, yellowtail, cabrilla and some wahoo were hooked. The wahoo were kind of a surprise since we normally don’t see these speedsters until about May or so.
Most of the times, we had to fish closer to shore, but sometimes that’s the best fishing in the area. We usually don’t have to go far anyway. However, given the time of the year, the action was much better than expected.
Live bait is always an issue this time of the year because rough water makes it difficult to catch the bait. However, using trolled lures like Rapalas, yo-yo jigs and frozen bait, produced more yellowtail, pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, sierra, bonito and even the occasional yellowtail. That’s quite a mixture for the time of year with a lot of fish busting off because of the shallow waters and rocks and reefs not too far below the boats. But, still great action!
Even for our whale-watching folks that we’re taking out to the Pacific at Bahia Magdalena, it was one of the better weeks after some tough weeks of winds hindering the ability to find the whales in the shallow waters. Get in touch with us if you’d like to check this out!
Hopefully, the winds will stay down and the whale-watching usually goes until mid-March or so. However, some strong unseasonable winter storms, chill and winds are predicted for this coming week so we’ll just have to see.
The lines are long and huge to get in each day so come early…especially to get the best deals to purchase tackle and gear! It’s a full day of activities, information and fun Wednesday to Sunday!
THE BIG SHOW is THIS WEEK! We leave the great sportsmans show in Boise, Idaho and drive to the Long Beach Convention Center for the Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show this week. This is the largest outdoor show on the West Coast and goes from Wed. to Sunday. It promises to be crazy! Come check it…hunting, fishing, boat, camping…everything outdoor!
The aisles get pretty packed! It’s both buildings of the Long Beach Convention Center plus more outside! Easily spend several days at this show.
This is it! It’s the BIG SHOW! It’s the 76th Annual Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center. This is the largest saltwater fishing show in the world but there’s so much to see including freshwater, hunting, travel, boating, outdoor products, gear, equipment, seminars and more! Stuff for the whole family! People plan all year to visit this show and often spend several days in the event checking everything out and still not seeing it all!
FRED HALL FISHING & BOATING SHOW
LONG BEACH CONVENTION CENTER
WEDNESDAY to SUNDAY (Mar. 4-8)
Our booth gets pretty packed and crowded with friend and amigos at the Fred Hall Show! We’re ready!
Jill and Jonathan will be in the booth all 4 days. This is our 6th show of the season and we’re ready for you to visit the booth. Our booth often has a crowd around it so look carefully! We want to say hi to you! We’ve got a brand new 24-page brochure and we’re ready to set you up to come fish with us in 2020…our 25th year in La Paz. Don’t wait. We’re filling up fast!
Also, don’t forget…for the first time, we’ll have our new Tailhunter Fishing Hats that Jilly had made up for us. There’s several great styles and we’ve been selling them out at all the shows.
For more info about the Fred Hall Long Beach Show as well as the Fred Hall Del Mar Show (San Diego) later this month, click the link below:
JOE JOST TAILHUNTER BEER PARTY in LONG BEACH – TUESDAY NIGHT 7:00 p.m. (Jonathan’s Birthday)
The night before the Fred Hall Show on Wednesday, we will have our annual Tailhunter Get-Together at Joe Josts Bar in Long Beach. Nothing formal. Nothing fancy. Just Tailhunter Friends and Family for a few beers at this iconic bar that has been there since 1924 and is the oldest bar west of the Mississippi and considered one of the best dive bars in the western U.S.
No liquor, but they serve their beer at 29 degrees. No fancy food. They have sausage sandwiches (the Joe Jost’s Special), pickled eggs, salami sandwiches, liverwurst sandwiches, salami sandwiches, peanuts and pretzels .
We’ll just be there a few hours because alot of us will be folks from the fishing industry and have to be at the show the next day early.
But, it’s also my birthday, so come over for a few hours and hang out! We’ll be there about 7:00 p.m. Here’s a link:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 16-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our amiga, Donna Thompson, who aced some nice yellowtail using live mackerel on the east side of Cerralvo Island.
Winter winds and chilly breezes pretty much domininated the past week. Although not really much of anyone fishing during the winter months, we had a few folks scheduled to go out this week fishing as well as whale watching over on the Pacific side all set and ready to go. However, we had to either cancel because it was too rough or re-schedule.
Had to cancel trips this week because of the winds!
Most were folks in town for a few days and not hardcore anglers. They were just looking for a day on the water and wanted to give fishing a try. Not many were too upset about staying onshore rather than braving the waves or else they had other days to re-schedule.
A few anglers did find a few small windows of opportunity to fish between bouts of wind. If you had mackerel or got lucky on a trolled Rapala, the eastern side of Cerralvo Island was holding some nice forktail yellows. These yellowtail ran about 10-25 pounds, but that can be a long run over there and you gotta scoot really fast if the winds kick up.
Also, a few schoolie-side dorado were hit here-and-there which could produce some nice surface action with fish about 10 pounds or so. As well, a few snapper and pargo pretty much round out the scant moments of fishing.
Town has been packed for Carnaval which runs from Feb. 20-26th with pretty much a good portion of the waterfront closed down with booths, rides, fireworks, parades and huge concert stages every single day. So, it’s pretty lively in town this week.
Parades every day! Food, fireworks, concerts and more!
Best place to watch the parade on the waterfront is from our 3 story Tailhunter Restaurant.!
Thanks to Jay Statman for this video clip of one of the parades!
TAILHUNTER CALENDAR
Our next show will be the 76th Annual Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center Mar. 4-8. This is the BIG ONE! 5 days of madness and fun! Here’s a link for more info:
The night before the Fred Hall Show in Long Beach we have a get together on Tuesday Night Mar. 4th to celebrate my birthday! It’s at the iconic Joe Jost’s Bar in Long Beach that’s been there since 1924! Come have a beer; eat a sausage sandwich, a pickled egg, an egg-salad sandwich and lots of peanuts! Nothing formal. Just friends and some fun!
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. 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 Dec. 1-8, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Amigo, Roger Thompson made it out to the south end of Cerralvo Island between bouts of wind and trolled up this nice wahoo.
Roger was pulling a dark Rapala looking for wahoo when this hefty yellowfin tuna ripped his line.
Typical catch right now…some inshore reef fish like the cabrilla and trigger fish; mix in some bonito and a bonus dorado. All close to shore.
Not too many folks fishing these days in the gap between Thanksgiving and Christmas and town almost seemed deserted this week, but the crowds will eventually come.
The city is nicely moving into Christmas mode!
Winds were a little milder than normal so some folks were able to get out fishing. Most of the fishing was inshore for jack crevalle, snapper, and cabrilla, although some larger pargo were reportedly lost. Bonito schools can be problematic or a lot of fun depending on your point of view.
There are still some small schools of dorado running around with most fish in the 10-15 pound class.
When winds are down, there’s some good action with bait on light tackle for some nicer grade of tuna in the 40-80 pound range that can be tough battles on the smaller line that get them to bite. Rapalas like the darker deep-runners also kicked up some wahoo.
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 Oct. 27-Nov. 3, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Fishing Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First day out he hits the home run! With Captain Gerardo, Jeff Wedekind who owns the Chinook Shore Lodge in Ketchican, Alaska locked up this big wahoo.
Nice tuna for Rich Choate from Idaho. One of the few YFT’s hooked this week.
Amigo, Roger Thompson, was soaking a dead mackerel down deep off the Punta Arenas lighthouse when he got slammed by this toad yellowtail.
Maybe one of the largest dorado of the season, Jeff hooked this one out’ve Bahia Muertos.
Barbara Choate always has a great smile no matter what and she’s got a reason with his pretty blue dorado.
Colorful shot! Roger Sauvegeau from Boise, Idaho, had just one day to fish, but got himself a nice load of dorado like this one fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Captain Armando with Randy and Barbara Choate and a nice batch of dorado.
Celebrating her honeymoon, Coral Ogden Hart has been our amigo since she was a little girl. She got this unusual rainbow runner off Bahia Muertos. These are cousin to the yellowtail.
Our good amigos from the Imperial Valley of California, Craig and Cathy Corda posing with a little Bahia Muertos yellowtail they released.
Another set of our fun friends from Idaho, Teri and Mac Christopherson hold up a double-hooke-up of dorado.
They always keep me laughing. Tom and Claire Ames posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Captain Pancho took Dan Friedman from San Diego out for one day and he got this nice dorado as well as a wahoo on his first try!
You can tell waters are getting colder when rainbow runners like this one by Rick Choate, show up.
A good day in November! Teri and Mac Christopherson.
Paul Octavio had himself a good week on the flyrod like with his fun roosterfish hooked and released. He had a blue marlin on the flyrod one day.
Clair McPherson took 20 minutes on this nice bull dorado giving Captain Victor and her a big reason to smile when they finally got the pretty fish in the boat.
Cheers! Rick Choate with a mess of good eating cabrilla, snapper and a trigger.
On the good side, the sun was out all week and the snowbirds from Canada, Alaska, Europe and colder areas are filtering into town. On the downside, it wasn’t the best for fishing.
Northern winds ramped up and it’s just the start. This is what happens during the colder months. Two days we couldn’t even go out because the Port Captain shut down the port to all boat traffic and there were several other days when it would have been better if we had just not gone out at all.
The strong winds have the waters stirred up and dirty. It brings in coolder greener waters as well. Additionally, the currents and waves are up so makes for a less-than-comfortable day of fishing. Plus, if the waves are crashing the shallow areas, it makes it hard to get bait.
However, kudos to our anglers and captains for hanging in there. They braved the rougher seas with tight grins and still caught some fish.
There weren’t a lot of fish caught unless you’re counting bonito, jack crevalle and needlefish. However, some of the largest dorado of the season were hooked as well as a few wahoo and tuna. We even had several marlin hook ups as well (fish were lost).
The better fishing was with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet where it’s a bit more protected. I imagine as the winds increase and become more frequent, we’ll be doing most of our fishing from that area.
2020 RESERVATIONS
Bookings are already coming in pretty fast and heavy for 2020. Some dates are already filled or filling and popular captains are getting reserved as well. In 2019, we were sold out by March and 2020 looks even busier. Don’t wait . Check your calendars so we make sure we get you locked in.
Tailhunter Fish Report 