La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 13-20, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A great first day for Sue and Bobby Stanley from the San Diego area on their first trip to La Paz with a nice yellowtail and some great action on some big boy cabrilla.
Johnny Enright from Lemon Grove CA shows off our first roosterfish of the season taken on a live bait near Bahia Muertos. The fish was released. Schools of roosters are now showing up in the shallows.
YEOW! This is a huge pompano…a member of the jack family like yellowtail, roosterfish and jack crevalle. Great eating! Captain Moncho handling the great pose.
Great way to start the day! First sardine in the water produced this big yellowtail for Nancy fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos with Captain Pancho.
Our Salt Lake City amigo, Robert Pettit with his favorite Captain Arcangel and a crazy variety of fish including two big yellowtail, cabrilla, white bonito and a big pargo as well.
Cabrilla, sierra and two kinds of pargo…a pargo liso (mullet snapper) and pargo perro (dog-tooth snapper) for John and Nancy on the cutting board.
Captain Blas with another yellowtail. This one taken near Espirito Santo Island.
Two of our new San Diego friends, Cindi Rice and Howard Cook have two huge sierra, some white bonito and some of those big cabrilla that went off last week.
Alla Cazier is all smiles with her thick yellowtail she hung north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island. Alla came to visit us from San Antonio, Texas.
The mornings were cool and jackets were recommended, but honestly, we could not have had better weather this week. By the time the sun came up, it broke into clear blue days that weren’t too hot and flat calm waters mostly. They were the kind of days to spend on the beach and the Chamber of Commerce loves to taut.
So, what happened to the fishing?
The better part of the week, for lack of a better word, it STUNK!
Compared to what we had in the previous weeks, it was almost like a liquid desert out there! I don’t know if this was the whole Sea of Cortez, but I even had guys from Loreto drive down because they said fishing up there was really slow. I had guys on the East Cape asking if our fishing was any better than down there because they were wondering if they should drive up and fish our waters instead.
Gotta be honest, but everyone really had to work hard for the few fish that were taken. That includes both our Las Arenas and our La Paz Fleet.
Sure, there were occasional flurries or some boat would get lucky and everyone around them would be getting blanked, but for the most part, it was less than stellar fishing we we picked through pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito and even some sierra. Some boats even struggled to catch a few bonito.
Then, it was like a switch was thrown the latter part of the week. In fact, most of the photos for this week’s fishing were from the last few days of the week.
Yellowtail bit again, maybe not as crazy as previous weeks, but alot better than earlier in the week. We got our first roosterfish of the season. Dog-tooth snapper and pargo liso bit. In addition to some hefty pargo, bonito and cabrilla, we got pompano, huge jack crevalle and some mega-sized sierra for quite a variety.
It saved our week for a number of anglers who had been having a tough time! (And lowered our own anxiety levels!)
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 5-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great shot of Brenda Bovee with big smiles and a big yellowtail with Captain Pancho. Brenda came to see us from San Diego.
Taken on the troll, Jim finally got a yellowtail in the boat the last day and it’s a thick one.
More San Diego boys in the house! Mike Mauzy brought his buddies down for a day of fishing with us. Big yellowtail, again taken on the troll, this time on a Nomad lure on the way back from Cerralvo Island to Bahia Muertos as well as a tasty pargo. They were fishing with Captain Victor.
Keith and Mark from Washington with Captain Pancho took a nice box of yellows at the end of a slower day.
Nick and Brandy Wilks with Kim and Brett Kopchitz on the beach at Muertos with a nice day’s catch. Everyone is from Detroit.
Beautiful beach weather all-week for spring breakers and post Easter visitors with temps in the high 80’s and down to the 60’s at night. Actually, in the early mornings, it was rather chilly. All of us had sweatshirts and jackets on in the mornings and the fishing clients in shorts and t-shirts were laughing at us.
Despite the beach weather, it wasn’t always the best on the water.
Those problematic winter winds have been diminishing every week, but there are times when the winds dig their heels in and come roaring back every few days. Additionally, some days Las Arenas was calmer. Some days La Paz was calmer. It kept flip-flopping. If you were fishing with our Las Arenas fleet and you had a blustery day, the fishing was terrible to be honest. If you were fishing with our La Paz fleet, it would be calm and the fishing was much better.
The next day, it could totally flip-flop. Just a matter of being in the right spots fishing at the right time or the wrong spot at the wrong time.
Fortunately, most of our anglers fish several days and are flexible. Also, having fleets in both areas, it was pretty easy to flip folks back and forth depending on the wind forecasts. The biggest problem were the few days where the forecast said nothing about the winds and they roared up during fishing hours then just as quickly died down after a few hours.
Jim and Brenda Bovee, our San Diego amigos with yellowtail, jack crevalle, a big sierra and several tasty white bonito.
The other issue was with folks that were only fishing 1 day. No flexibility because of whatever…travel schedules…etc. so the weather was…what the weather was. Pot luck. Some did OK. Others, regretfully, not so much.
When the fish DID bite, the yellowtail were still the hot bite. Areas around Cerralvo Island were again productive especially the north and south ends of the islands plus the backside at Los Pilis. Fish were also found between Bahia Muertos and the Punta Arena lighthouse.
For our La Paz Fleet heading north to fish around the deeper drop-offs at Espirito Santo Island were the most productive especially on the eastern side of the island all the way up to the El Baja Seamount.
Interestingly the last few weeks yo-yo iron seems to produce more and bigger fish when it came to yellowtail fishing. However, this past week, it seemed that there were days when the fish were not interested at all in the jigs and would only eat live bait. Good size on these forkies…15-30 pound fish on the average.
Other species this week included both common bonito and the tastier white bonito plus a good bite of jack crevalle and rounded out with cabrilla, pargo, snapper, amberjack, sierra and even the occasional dorado. We’re seeing a number of wahoo, but they’re just not ready to bite. Could be any day as the waters warm up the deeper we get into the season.
BAHIA MAGDALENA REPORT
We had our first group of amigos head out to Bahia Magdalena to fish the mangroves around Lopez Mateos there on the Pacific Side. Two days of fishing with Captain Rigo produced a great variety of fish including halibut, spotted bay bass, pargo, triggerfish, croaker, snook and lots of corvina all on light tackle. Dr. Guy Nazareno and his daughters Bella and Nataly come with family friend, Verda Boyd, every year to whale watch and fish. Check out the photos!
Verda’s leopard grouper
Bella and Nataly with a table full of spotted bay bass.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 21-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Great say to spend Spring Break…fishing! Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs CO, put this big mossback yellowtail in the boat off the back side of Cerralvo Island.
A great start for our long-time amigo, Darrell Manginelli, who started his 3 days of fishing with a spectacular day of 5 big yellowtail and a huge cabrilla. one yellowtail was caught on a sardine, but other fish fell for butterfly jigs.
Checking out a trophy catch! Campbell Grage has his hands full with a big-time barred pargo taken off the reef in shallow water. Check how calm the ocean is!
These two characters always get fish! Our Tailhunter amigo, Jimmy Williams and Bill McCarthy came back with 3 yellowtail and a big snapper using bait at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but Jimmy told me the fish were thick and so many of the powerful fish they could not stop on 60-pound-test!
Great to see Mike O’Neill on the water. Our amigo was jigging with light tackle for yellowtail and snagged this 140-pound striped marlin instead! Game on! Mike battled the fish for over and hour on the light rig. You can see the jig attached to the reel. First marlin of the season. The fish was not able to be released and meat was donated.
Speaking of “characters” most of you know our awesome drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero looking like twins now that Esteban has grown a beard! They got in on the yellowtail bite as well this week and took two big forkies plus a nice dog-tooth snapper, a fat cabrilla and a huachinango (not pictured) that I think they gave to Captain Armando.
Great photo of a smiling Captain Pancho with amigo, Gary Wagner, owner of the El Rancho Resort holding the gaff on this slug yellowtail.
What a great week! Simple as that.
The winds cut us some slack. We had anglers on the water. The fish bit. All the planets lined up and what a week it was!
With general calm waters most of the week, we had probably the best week of fishing in many months.
It was also the best week of yellowtail fishing of the season.
On top of that, I’d have to say this is the best yellowtail season we have had in many many years.
That’s alot of meat! Yellowtail and pargo for dinner right after a quick beach photo.
Straight up, I’ll tell you that La Paz is NOT a big-time yellowtail spot. Areas way north of us such as Loreto and Mulege are traditionally the hot spots for yellowtail further up the Sea of Cortez. We’re known more for tuna, dorado, roosterfish and marlin.
But, what to make of these last 3 months? Yellowtail in numbers we have not seen in many years! I mean, we get our share, but nothing like what we’re seeing these days! I have no idea how long it will last. It could be over by the time you read this. Maybe the full-moon coming up will blow it apart. But, we’re sure enjoying it RIGHT NOW!
With fish scattered in a number of hot spots, yellowtail from 10-40 pounds were schooling up and chomping live bait, trolled lures and yo-yo/ stick jigs. Fish were stacked up at the north end of Cerralvo Island. They were at the south end of Cerralvo Island. They were caught as close as the rocks right outside of Bahia Muertos between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. On top of that they also came up to foam around Espirito Santo Island for the first time this year.
The fish were generally around structure, but about half of the fish were breaking off either from sheer power or from taking lines back into the rocks. One angler told us, that even with 60-pound-test, he had trouble stopping a number of fish.
One more day to go! Darrell had 3 days of fishing. Day 1 produced 5 yellowtail and 1 cabrilla. This is day 2…with three yellowtail and limits of cabrilla for him and Captain Pancho. All caught trolling Rapalas.
On top of that, we had big cabrilla also in the area and taking the jigs, the live bait and the trolled Rapalas. Dog tooth snapper up to about 20 pounds were also bending rods plus big schools of tasty white hard-fighting bonito, jack crevalle and even the occasional dorado.
Matt, Gary, Campbell with some chunky bonito.
We also got our first marlin of the season when one of our amigos was jigging for yellowtail and snagged about a 140-pound striped marlin he ended up fighting over an hour on crazy light tackle.
All-in-all a solid week and maybe the start of a great fishing season.
YELLOWTAIL LURES
Darrell got this mossback yellowtail to swallow a lively sardine.
Just a head’s up on what these yellowtail have been eating. No telling how long this bite will last, but wanted to pass along some info. There are 3 main ways to catch them. Live bait such as sardines always get the fish to bite.
However, slow trolling diving lures over the rocky areas is also very effective for these yellows as well as pargo, cabrilla and even wahoo. Lures such as this purple/black Rapala Xrap 20 is an example but other companies make similar lures such as Yo-Zuri and others. The numbers such as “20” represent an approximation of how deep these lures will “dive” when trolled or retrieved. So, the example below will get down to about 20′. They also make an Xrap 10, 30, and 40.
Another deadly method involves using “yo-yo iron” or “yo-yo technique. ”
Lip-hook on a jig with a powerful yellowtail and Jorge Romero on the jig rod.
One of the most exciting moments in fishing big sportfish is having one take your jig and slam it right in the jaw! It’s an electrifying strike!
This requires using heavy lures and casting or free-spooling them to the bottom. Then rapidly winding them back towards the boat. But, then stopping. Letting the lure flutter back down. Then rapidly retrieving again in a “Z” type pattern back to the boat. It can be tiring, but incredibly effective as all kinds of sportfish will often viciously slam the lure as it flutters down or as soon as the retrieve takes place.
Here’s some samples:
A number of companies make similar lures like Salas, UFO, Sea Strike, Daiwa, Diamond Jigs, Raider Lures and so many others. My favorite colors include blue and white; chrome combinations; scrambled egg; zuchino or dorado color; all white.
Some of the jigs in my tackle box. Looking busted up because they’ve been beat up and eaten by fish many times!
These are all Shimano lures, but so many other companies make similar lures. I’m not paid by Shimano or Rapala or any other company and am only using these as an example.
La Paz/ Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos Fishing Report for Feb. 18-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Jim and his buddy live in Los Barriles and came all the way up to get in on the yellowtail bite. Fishing with Captain Moncho they got a great load of yellowtail, cabrilla and even some surprise dorado.
Fishing with Captain Pancho, Dr. Santiago is a physician in La Paz and he and Pancho stuffed the fish box with some legit yellowtail on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Our own popular Captain “Fettucini” Alfredo Gaxiola got out with his wife to fish around Cerralvo Island on one of the calmer days and he nailed this horse of a trophy cabrilla.
Lots of boats were on the hot spots at the backside of Cerralvo Island taking yellowtail like Dr. Santiago’s fish.
Our own Tailhunter amigos and popular favorite van drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero took the spinning rods out to Bahia Muertos with the plastic jigs and took home a cooler full of tasty snapper and cabrilla. All fishing from the beach and rocks.
Relatively speaking the winds cut us some slack again this past week and we probably had the best week of fishing in the last 2 or so months. While the United States was largely wrapped in ice and snow, things were reversed in La Paz which is normally windy and generally quite windy this time of year making it difficult to fish.
With temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s, sunny skies and mostly moderate seas, anglers were able to get in on that hot yellowtail bite that’s been going on for the better part of two weeks. There aren’t many tourist anglers as this is off-season, but captains, their families and locals from La Paz and as far as Los Barriles (the East Cape) far to the south were jumping on boats to get on top of these fish. Last weekend on Saturday, as many as 80 pangas and other assorted vessels were sitting on the honey-holes taking limits. On Sunday fewer fish with about half the boats counted. But, that’s to be expected when there’s that much traffic on the water. However…
It’s maybe one of the best yellowtail bite we’ve see in years with fish running 10-25 pounds and taking a variety of jigs including yo-yo and knife jigs plus sardines when around. Some reported larger fish are also being lost as these fish are generally in heavy structure and the waters are not especially deep. Therefore, if you can’t turn their heads, these bruising fish are busting anglers off in the rocks.
Hot spots included the areas around Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to Punta Perrico and then to the areas just around the Las Arenas lighthouse at Castilla. Another spot that has been on fire is Los Pilis which up the backside of Cerralvo Island about 2/3 of the way up the island. One of our Tailhunter captains counted “at least” 40 boats there one day.
But, the travel has been worth it. Boats are landing limits or near limits of the feisty fork tails. I saw photos of the parking lot at Muertos and you would think there was a rock concert going on. There were no parking spaces with all the trucks, cars, boat trailers and vans parked there.
Additionally, there have been white bonito (tasty) plus jack crevalle, cabrilla, snapper, Sierra and pargo mixed in as well.
The biggest surprise was that a few respectable tuna have mixed in and some wahoo and dorado also showed up this week. These are normally warmer water fish and we don’t see these until later in the year unless these are hold-over fish from last season.
At the time of this writing, winds were already starting to ramp up again so hopefully the return of the winds doesn’t knock the bite back down. We know the fish are surely there!
SHALLOW WATER…LIGHT TACKLE…Great results!
Not much going on right now for driving so everyone’s favorite guy and driver, Jorge Romero went out a 2nd day later in the week. In the photos above, he was just out walking the beach with his brother, Esteban. This time he got out on one of the pangas. Still recovering from neck surgery he had at the end of last season, he didn’t want to try tangling with a big yellowtail, tuna or dorado…doctor’s orders! However…
He got in a quick 4 hour trip. It was late in the afternoon. There was not even live bait available. But using dead bait and poppers on light line and light tackle, he had a pretty epic day. All in shallow water close to shore in and over the rocks. A big pompano and lots of feisty tasty cabrilla in the box!
Trophy pompano for Jorge. We usually don’t see these guys until later spring, but I guess some warm water has moved in. These are fun fighters and make great table fare…especially sashime!
This is an epic day on light tackle in shallow water! The cabrilla heads are especially prized for soup and the meat is tender white and highly prized.
Cabrilla that fell to a surface popper.
GOOD NEWS ON COVID FRONT
This past week, the authorities lowered the covid restrictions from orange (level 4) to yellow (level 3).
This allows all work activities again with occupancy increased from 40% to 50% for places like hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The La Paz Malecon has been re-opened with restricted hours that will be monitored.
Also, since the CDC implemented the new rules requiring all international travellers entering or returning to the U.S. (like American tourists coming home from Mexico) to show evidence of a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel, Mexico has really ramped up it’s efforts to construct facilities at hotels, airports, and around the various cities, especially those that see a large influx of international travel.
After one month, Cabo San Lucas (where most folks fly to get to us) has had more than 60,000 international travelers. Of that, only 50 persons tested positive and none of them ended up exhibiting symptoms.
They were not allowed to fly, but hotels now have special discounted rooms, dining and services for those that get detained. They are given a new covid test every 2 days and as soon as they test negative, they are allowed to leave!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 9-16, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
William McCarthy and Jimmy Williams had a banner day with big yellowtail and nice cabrilla on sardines on the backside of Cerralvo Island. Jimmy tells me they lost some larger yellowtail in the rocks!
Yeow? Tuna in February? Misael stuck this YFT not far off Bahia Muertos on a sardine.
William has one for the camera and the fish box.
This tuna estimated at 100 pounds landed at the north end of Cerralvo Island by commercial panga fishermen.
Headed for the dinner table, Christian got a couple of yellowtail as well as the big sierra.
For the second straight week, the winds diminished a bit. It was still windy, but at least there were a few days for folks to get on the water or if not for the whole day, at least for the mornings to squeeze in some fishing time before the winds came up.
With temperatures daytime in the low 70’s and mostly sunshine, conditions were not too bad and fishing was surprisingly decent.
Captain Efrens catch. Six legit yellowtail.
Yellowtail between 5 and 25 pounds were the main highlight with fish hitting sardines when available, but also yo-yo jigs worked over the rocks. Knife jigs were especially effective. Hotspots included the areas right outside Bahia Muertos around the point and up to Punta Perrico and Punta Arenas.
Hog yellowtail for our amigo, Jimmy.
As well, there were some big boys taken around the backside of Cerralvo Island on the days you could get across the channel. That same area was also holding some big cabrilla.
Nice variety for this time of year…sierra, yellowfin tuna and a yellowtail!
The big surprise was that tuna are in the area. Very unusual for this time of year. While yellowtail prefer cooler waters which are normal right now, tuna are generally warmer water fish. However, we’ve had reports of tuna moving fast here-and-there with the porpoise schools, but this week a commercial panga horsed in a 100-pounder at the north end of Cerralvo Island and there are some 15-30 pound fish mixed in with the yellowtail outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
Additionally, the fish boxes came back with a nice mix of the usual fish this time of year that included sierra, pargo, cabrilla, and white bonito.
Not many tourists at all or fishermen. Mostly locals fishing. Looks like winds might be kicking back up this week. We’ll keep you posted.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON
The dimished winds this past week also allowed us to get some folks out to Bahia Magdalena for some whale watching. John Sayre and his wife, from Florida got in two nice days with the whales. The whale migration usually lasts through March. Let us know and we’ll set you up!
LA PAZ NEWS
After being closed for quite some time, the authorities have re-opened both sides of the Malecon to foot traffic. The ocean/ beach side of the boulevard had been closed to prohibit gatherings and to promote social distancing. However, Covid cases are diminishing so for now, they have re-opened both sides of the street.
In response to the new CDC rules implemented Jan. 26th, covid testing labs are popping up everywhere. Many of the hotels in Cabo now offer the services and there is a facility now at Cabo Airport. Now, a facility has been set up a the La Paz Airport as well.
The requirements mandate a negative Covid test within 72 hours of your flight and is required for ALL INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT flying INTO the U.S. You do NOT need a test to fly out of the U.S. into Mexico. There are no quarantines involved.
The test takes about 15 minutes and you get results in about an hour. Cost is a minimal $22-24 dollars.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Jan. 26-Feb. 8, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Five for the cooler ready to be filleted! Drs. Beltran and Santiago took some time from their offices in La Paz to fish with us and caught these working the waters with yo-yo iron for these yellowtail.
Not a bad morning. Raul Chollet from La Ventana was out fishing with us and nailed these thick yellowtail just off Punta Perrico.
Mostly locals fishing right now and a great catch is to get into a school of tasty sierra. If you hit a spot, you can load up pretty fast! This one fell to the blue Rapala still stuck in the mouth.
Trophy fish on a dark purple Rapala trolled over th rocks. Raul with a big cabrilla and knowing Raul, every bit of this fish is gonna be part of dinner!
It was chilly and cold again this week but there were finally some opportunities to fish which has been rare the past weeks with lots of gusty winds. However, this past week, the winds let up for about 3 days or, at least didn’t start blowing until late. Since we’re really not having to go very far to get to fish right now, it at least allowed anglers to get in a few productive hours of fishing early before the winds kicked in.
Not many fishermen at all this time of the year. It’s mostly locals or captains fishing for their families.
However, literally within 20-50 years of the beach, there’s a good jag of yellowtail that have shown up near Punta Arenas near Punta Perrico where the old Hotel Las Arenas used to be. The fish are a nice hefty grade of 18-25 pound fish that are taking alot of guys into the rocks.
Sardines are working when you can get them, but it’s often difficult getting live bait because of the winds and the bait guys can’t get to the rocky or sandy areas where the bait usually holds out. Waves either scatter the bait or make it hard for the bait guys to get into the rocky areas which are treacherous.
When, there’s no sardines, the guys are using the yo-yo iron. It’s tiring work, but productive dropping the iron and lifting and reeling back to the boat. Alternatively, trolling lures like Rapalas and Yo-Zuris are also working and producing other species like sierra, jacks, cabrilla and barred pargo.
CDC and COVID TESTING
In case you hadn’t heard, as of Jan. 26th, the CDC has mandated that anyone traveling by plane into the U.S. must show they have had a negative Covid test within 72 hours of their trip. This only applies to air travel. You are NOT required to quarantine once you get into the U.S. although it has been suggested.
Nevertheless, the new rules sent everyone in the tourism industry from airlines to hotels and folks like us into a mad scramble. We were all just on the verge of rebounding after a difficult 2020.
However, the government and tourism boards made rapid adjustments.
Testing facilities have been set up at all international airports including Cabo, La Paz and Tijuana as well as others around the country. According to the Cabo Board of Tourism, all hotels and timeshare operations in Cabo San Lucas now offer testing services and more laboratories and testing facilities are popping up all over.
The test only takes 15 minutes and costs between $20-25 dollars. Results are returned within an hour and you receive either a printed result or get them online to show before you board your flights.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 4-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Crazy variety for a few hours of morning fishing for Fernando, his brother and son. On the rack…dorado, big sierra, snapper, pargo liso and cabrilla.
They’re early! The big pargo liso (mullet snapper) normally don’t start schooling up until spring-time but they’re already here and hunkered in the rocks and reefs and will bust you up!
It’s January, but yes, those are wahoo on the cutting board along with dorado, cabrilla and tasty white bonito.
Some big sierra crusing around right now like this tasty fella caught by amigo, Gary Wagner, from his Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos.
Nothing wrong with these items. Tasty cabrilla (Mexican seabass) posed with Jason and Alisa..
Not many folks fishing post-holidays, but town is pretty busy with escapees from the colder weather in the U.S. and Canada. However, this contrary to the gusting winds normally associated with this time of year, there were some incredibly pretty days right out’ve a postcard this past week. Winds settled, skies cleared and day-time temps reached into the 70’s. We could not have asked for better weather and a great window to get on the water.
That being said, it allowed folks to get out in the bay to swim with the whalesharks finally. The shallow water just inside the bay has been holding 6-10 baby whalesharks to swim with, but often it’s too windy and choppy to find them.
With the fishing, it’s been confusing and mixed…in a good way!
Normally, this time of year, when we can get out, we’re hitting mostly cold-water species inshore because well, the waters are cooler and it’s often too rough to get too far out.
However, not only did anglers find the cooler water species like cabrilla, snapper and some unusually big sierra, but a bit crazy because they also hit dorado, white bonito, wahoo and even a few marlin were seen and hooked!
This is indicative of some warm water still holding over so maybe these species will stick around. It’s making for a great variety of fish. Also with abundant sardines for bait, the fish are ready to chew.
One noticeably event seems to be that the big pargo liso (mullet snapper) that we don’t see until later in the spring have already shown up and are schooling over the rocky areas like Cerralvo Island and Punta Perrico. These tough fish are really difficult to wrestle out’ve the rocks and can test both angler and his gear, but are spectacular fighters and great eating and look like giant goldfish.
Also, flights are now coming in directly from the United States to La Paz now for the first time in 14 years. American Airlines from Dallas and Phoenix has been bringing folks now for almost a month.
Nice to have American Airlines now flying directly from Phoenix and Dallas to La Paz. First time we’ve had direct flights in over a decade. No more long drives up from Cabo. The flights have been very popular since they started a month ago. Easy flights into the uncrowded La Paz Airport then it’s just a few minutes to your hotel.
La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay / Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Marcus Yoo from Cupertino CA has fished with us numerous times and unfortunately picked two of the roughest days of the season to come out with his flyrod. With all the wind, that was pretty much impossible. He’s a gamer and stuck it out and at least he got some nice cabrilla and pargo to take home and had to do quite a big of fishing from the beach.
Some tasty rock fish was what we had to fish for when we could get out
Not much to tell this week. Thanksgiving week normally doesn’t produce many anglers. Mostly it’s folks in town looking for some sunshine during the holidays. Maybe, they’ll try to get in a day or two on the water fishing, snorkeling, swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or just hanging out on the beach.
The week started well. Good temps. Good water conditions and hungry dorado up to 20 pounds were pretty easy to find and catch. They were spread over a number of areas. If you found the spot, you could go crazy right there and not have to look any further to catch limits. Quite a few smaller fish were released. I heard commercial guys saw big tuna breaking at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but no one could get them to bite.
As the week went on, conditions diminished. Skies got hazy and winds gradually increased. Dorado go a bit harder to find so fishing went inshore for cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and sierra.
However, by the latter few days of the week, the winds were blowing strong enough from the north with gusts up to 20 mph that La Paz Bay was almost completely white water and the surge was creating rideable small waves. Consequently, for safety reasons, the port captain shut down all water activities. No fishing. No snorkeling. No diving, etc. We had to cancel a number of bookings.
It wasn’t just the winds, but add in a full moon; extremely strong currents; colder waters; and really strong tides and it was too much to overcome.
Even as the winds calmed down a bit, it was just better to advise folks to stay ashore and enjoy their vacations rather than bounce around and not have fun.
These winds are seasonal north winds that start up about now and will continue on-and-off through the winter months.
SWIMMING WITH WHALESHARKS and WHALE WATCHING TOURS – BOOK NOW!
Whalesharks are in the bay now and the season is open to swim with these gentle giants. An incredible experience in our shallow bay waters.
Also our whalewatching season in Bahia Magdalena will start up in about 6 weeks from about mid-January to mid-March as the grey whales are migrating down from the Bering Sea to spend the winter months in the warm Baja waters of Bahia Magdalena to mate and calf.
We can book your entire trip to La Paz with activities, lodging and transportation. Write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
2021 BOOKINGS FILLING FAST
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our bookings for 2021 are filling fast, especially from folks who had to cancel 2020 fishing trips. According to the news, Mexico is the #1 get-away destination for Americans and record numbers of folks are flying in or booking trips. In November, tourism was up 179% over what it was last year. Baja is especially easy to get to; it’s close; and it economical.
Check your calendar and get in touch with us so we make sure we get you on the books. We’re using 2020 prices until the end of the year! We’re looking forward to seeing you on the water with us.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 10-17, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our Captain Victor looks on while Gerry and Jeri Damge from Colorado put another dorado in the boat.
Sherri Foster from California had never been fishing in Saltwater and came down with friend, Larry Roemer from Colorado. Her very first ocean-fish was a wahoo and then she followed it up with a nice day of dorado fishing for the couple who were with Captain Jorge.
Our buddy Roger Thompson with his amigo, Joel Zarmati from Paso Robles CA got double-hookups near Cerralvo Island and landed a box of nice wahoo.
More fillet for the ice chest. Larry and Sherri on their 2nd day out with Captain Jorge put them on another wild dorado bite. As long as the waters stay warm, the dorado will hang around!
Gerry and Jeri again with another hook-up!
Winds were blowing strong earlier in the week but gave us a break as the week went on and provided some windows for some very good fishing. There just aren’t many anglers this time of year, especially as we get closer to the holidays.
Most of the town is starting to fill with folks just looking to enjoy some sunshine, especially with temperatures being very comfortable in the low 80’s during the day and low 70’s at night. It’s a good time to be in town. Just not that many folks are here to go fishing or, if they do, they just want a single-day on the water or so.
For the few we had, the dorado provided some great biters with generally larger fish than we have seen in the previous weeks. Fish in the 15-25 pound class were not unusual and many smaller fish were thrown back. In addition, at the south-end of Cerralvo Island, there’s still a nice spot of wahoo there if you hit it at the right time.
On the day when the winds were a bit too strong, we fished inside along the reefs and rocks and had some great action on pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, snapper and even some amberjack and sierra. Still no tuna, but some of the commercial guys hooked some hogs in the 100-pound range.
Live bait has not been an issue unless the winds are blowing too strong for the bait guys to throw nets in the shallow bait areas and big waves prevent them from catching the bait.
Winds are supposed to be coming up this week but there’s some windows in-between. Check with us. We keep a tight watch on the weather for you!
THE WHALESHARKS ARE IN THE BAY AND SEASON FINALLY OPENED!
Whalesharks are now in the bay in the shallow water just a few hundred yards from the malecon. We’re running trips to go swim with the whalesharks now. Ask us about this incredible adventure!
After being closed since the Covid-quarantine back in late March, swimming with the whalesharks has been prohibited in La Paz Bay. Well, they finally issued permits and the season was re-opened this week! It’s pretty exciting to swim with these magnificent animals in the shallow warm waters of La Paz Bay. It’s totally National Geographic stuff and a life-time experience.
Ask us about trips. We can set up the whole package with lodging, activities, transportation, fishing and more…and of course, swimning with the whalesharks! You can write me directly: tailhuntersportfishinglapaz@gmail.com
WHALEWATCHING SEASON COMING TOO!
The grey whale migration has started from the Bering Sea and the whales are headed to Baja’s warm waters and prime time whale-watching at Bahia Magdalena is late January to March! We’re putting packages together to spend time with the largest migratory animals in the world in the warm-calm waters of Bahia Magdalena. Reach out and touch!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-10, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tag-team tandem of Roger and Donna Thompson with a double hookup wahoo while trolling off the south end of Cerralvo Island.
Our own amigo, Jorge Romero pulled this 22-pound (he had a scale) barred pargo out’ve the rocks. He told me he had a big barbecue for friends and family and grilled the whole fish!
Captain Lorenzo was out with a La Paz friend and they took this nice blue marlin.
One day fishing north of town for Joe and Kristen Bettridge produced a box full of dorado like these. They also released fish as well.
Some good eating on the fish cleaning table. Mark Bronge from Los Angeles and Leif Dover from Atlanta GA have some nice barred pargo, snapper and cabrilla (seabass) ready for the freezer to take home.
Dave Hale from Northern California has a pretty typical variety of inshore fish for his efforts. I see some big triggerfish, cabrilla, snapper and pargo.
This is that time of year just before the holidays when there aren’t that many folks around that are fishing. The snowbirds are starting to arrive, but overall, town is pretty quiet and it’s a nice time to be in La Paz with sunny skies and mild temperatures in the day and comfortable temps in the evenings!
The fishing has been surprisingly good, all things considered. Some of the waters are getting cooler as we get more northerly winds that will be increasing over the next few weeks and months and transition in to cooler water fishing.
However, in the meantime, we still have some good bites taking place.
Still no tuna to talk about, but dorado from 5 to 25 pounds are relatively prevalent and are providing lots of fun for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. The fish are scattered over quite a few areas, but once you find a single fish, there’s often a whole pack swimming along with it ready to chew.
Sailfish and marlin including both blues, blacks and some stripers have been hooked and lost and at the south end of Cerralvo Island, that tends to be the hot spot for some big 40-60 pound wahoo.
For inshore fishing, that’s where we’re really getting the variety including pargo, cabrllla, dog-tooth snapper, triggerfish, bonito, jack crevalle and dog-tooth snapper along with sierra and amberjack.
WHALE WATCHING SEASON COMING UP – JANUARY to MARCH!
We’re booking our whalewatching season that’s coming up in just a few months. Don’t miss out on this incredible experience. Prime time is late January through March. We can arrange an entire package for you and the family!
Tailhunter Fish Report 