La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan 19-26, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Scott Bryant from Colorado has himself some good eating cabrilla for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa.
Jigging with yo-yo iron, Dr. Santiago Gamaliel hung this nice yellowtail and had two other break off.
From Alaska, Mic Ward came down to enjoy a few days of sunshine at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos south of La Paz and landed a double-hand of cabrilla.
Not much of anyone out fishing this past week with mostly windy rough days outside. Most of the fishing was confined to inshore species as anglers hugged the coastal areas seeking calmer water and protection from the north winds and choppy ocean.
Using Rapalas, stripped bait, squid and live bait (when it could be found), produced a mixed bag of pargo, snapper, triggerfish and cabrilla as well as some bonito, sierra and jack crevalle. Slowly dragging smaller dark Rapalas over the rocky spots were especially productive for a variety of species. Some yellowtail popped up as well and hopefully, this is the vanguard of our yellowtail
Despite the winds, it’s been sunny with highs in the mid to upper 70’s and nights down to the mid-50’s, but it looks like more wind will hit later this week.
DOWN THE ROAD WE GO!
Jill and I are just wrapping up here at the Washington State Fairgrounds where we spent the last 5 days in our booth at the Washington Sportsman’s Show! It was the best show we’ve ever had here in almost 2 decades at this show. Welcome to all our new amigos to the Tailhunter Nation and to see so many old friends and faces. Also had alot of folks sign up to come down to see us as well and made reservations to fish with us in 2020. We’re excited to have you down to visit!
Thanks for all the hospitality Washington! (And rain too…loved it! We don’t get much rain in Baja!)
So, here we go…next stop down the road south to Portland for the Pacific Northwest Sportsmans Show at the Portland Expo Center. This is one of the largest outdoor shows in the Western U.S. and if you’re in the area, you gotta check it out! Here’s details. Click the link:
Next stop…OREGON at the Portland Expo Center Feb. 5-9! Come see us!
WHALE WATCHING SEASON UNDERWAY AT BAHIA MAGDALENA
Although there might not be lots of folks fishing right now, the 2002 whale watching season is just getting underway. Whales should just about starting to show up.
It’s not too late to book a trip with us to head on over to experience an incredible day with these gentle creatures that migrate all the way from the Bering Sea year-after-year to spend the early months in the warm shallow waters of Bahia Magdalena. Just write to me directly at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 12-19, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Some good eating sierra on board for Robert Boyd from Colorado.
Gary Wagner, our amigo, who owns the Rancho Costa Resort in Muertos has himself a handful or winter dorado.
All the way from Alaska, winter is a little different in Baja! Mic Ward shows off one of her sierra.
It’s been COLD in La Paz this past week 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.
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.
Sierra have a moutful of choppers! Best to use wire when you fish them!
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!
TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR 2020 !
We finished the Denver Sportsmans Show two weeks ago then just wrapped up another fantastic show at the California Expo Fairgrounds in Sacramento CA.
That drive from Denver to Sacramento was incredible! In almost 3 decades driving to and from these shows, this was some of the craziest driving we ever had, especially through Wyoming, Utah and Nevada. We went through several blizzards where it was white-out conditions and almost zero visibility! Plus winds blowing 60-70 mph. All kinds of trucks and cars spinning off the road and flipping over. Check out this video:
Packed to the gills, Jonathan, Jill and Catlyn (the Mexican Pocket Panther)
Jill “Mustang Sally” after a long long drive through the snow and ice!
So, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be on the highway again going north from Sacramento towards Seattle. We’ll be at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup WA for the Washington Sportsmans Show which starts Wednesday and goes to Sunday. Lots to see and do for the entire family! Come see us. We’ll be in our Tailhunter booth for all 5 days. We’ll get you set up on your 2020 La Paz fishing vacation!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 5-12, 2020
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Like alot of places in North America this past week…
It’s been COLD in La Paz to go along with some windy weather. The winds are expected this time of year, but it’s been colder than normal…at least by La Paz standards with us locals bundling up and even the tourists donning the occasional sweatshirt or windbreaker. Although most look at us kinda strange as they walk around in shorts and flip-flops.
Check out this video clip. The voice you hear is Benny outiside Tailhunter Restaurant:
Lots of snowbirds in town and although the temps are in the 60’s and 70’s with the wind, it’s still a lot warmer than where they live back in places like Minnesota, Wyoming and Alaska!
The climate, of course, affects the ability to be out there fishing. It’s been hard to put anyone out there and there’s not that many folks wanting to fish anyway. Or, folks that want to fish understandably get discouraged when they see the winds. Best to just hang out drinking a margarita by the pool!
When folks have been fishing, the better fishing has been tucked in close to shore, especially in areas where you can find some protection from wind and waves. Therefore, the majority of the fish have been inshore specias like cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish, pargo, jack crevalle and sierra. All fun and good eating fish.
When there are window’s of calm, there’s still some dorado around running to about 10 or 15 pounds plus some good action on 5-pound bonito. The larger issue has been finding live bait in which case lures are the most productive way to catch fish. With rough waters it’s tough to get into the areas where the live bait is holding along the shores and rocks.
I’ve heard a few stories about commercial guys finding some yellowtail as well as some private boaters. We’ll keep an eye on that!
ROAD TOUR 2020 HEADED TO SACRAMENTO!
Thank you for the hospitality Denver! We always have a great time!!!
We just wrapped up an incredible 4 day show at the International Sportsmans Expo at the Denver Convention Center. It was fantastic! So great for Jill and I to see so many of our old amigos and make so many new ones! Welcome to the Tailhunter Nation! We took lots of new reservations for 2020 and we’re looking foward to the visit!
At the time you’re reading this, Jill and I will be on the road headed west. We have about 1000 miles to cover to get to the next show which is the International Sportsmans Expo at the California Fairgrounds in Sacramento CA. This is a HUGE show with tons of stuff to see and do. Bring your walking shoes and the whole family! I’m told more than 700 exhibitors will be on hand to talk about fishing, hunting, camping, boating, RV’s, kayaking and so much more!
Jill and I will be there in our booth with new flyers, brochures and hats all four days Jan. 16-19 (Thursday to Sunday). Let’s talk about fishing in 2020! Hope to see you there!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 28, 2019-Jan. 5, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY. . .
From Richfield, Utah, Monte and Marlene Aldridge got in one day of fishing and picked the one day of the week when waters were calm enough and got some nice biters on some big sierra mixed in with dorado out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos south of La Paz.
Yup…it’s wintertime, but there’s still dorado around! Nice little bull mahi for Marlene.
Some great eating and great fun on light tackle, Monte has a speedy toothy sierra.
It pays to watch the weather. This past week there were some incredible uber windy and cold days. Normally, these are days we would recommend not going fishing. We even had some rain this past week. It happens. It’s winter. It’s off-season.
Some folks decided they still wanted to go fishing. So, off they went despite my warnings. Didn’t catch much of anything and it was so rough they had to come back early. We had others booked but had to cancel them because of the rough weather.
Honestly, only about 2 days this week would have been fishable at all.
However, we also had folks who were flexible on their fishing days and let me tell them when they should go fishing. And, sure enough, they found fish. Surprisingly, pretty decent fishing. Most amazing was the mixture of fish.
Cold-water fish like big sierra typical of this time of year were running 5-8 pounds. However, mixed right in were some school-sized dorado. The strange thing is that dorado are warm water fish that we usually catch during the warmer summer and fall months. So, they’re normally not running this time of year!
Along with those species, there were jags of bonito and scattered jack crevalle as well as snapper and cabrilla along the shoreslines where there was structure such as reefs, rocks and drop offs.
The weather makes all the difference. The coming week forecast mostly cloudy weather again to start the year with winds running 15-20 mph at times.
WE ARE COMING YOUR WAY! ROAD TOUR 2020!
By the time you’re reading this, Jilly and I will be on the road for our 2020 Tailhunter Road Tour coming to see you! We’ll be on the road through April criss-crossing the western U.S. and hitting up the biggest and most awesome fishing and hunting shows in the world!
In our brand new Tailhunter-mobile, we’ll be hitting a different show each week with our booth, flyers and brochure and would love to see you and talk to you about fishing with us in La Paz in 2020.
These shows are massive and there are hundreds-upon-hundreds of exhibitors from all over the world to tell you about fishing, hunting, camping, RV’s, kayaking, boating, trekking…basically anything outdoors! Great for the entire family.
In order, we’ll be hitting:
DENVER CO
SACRAMENTO CA
SEATTLE/PUYALLUP WA
PORTLAND OR
SALT LAKE CITY UT
LONG BEACH CA
SCOTTSDALE/PHOENIX AZ
SANDY (Salt Lake City) UT
DEL MAR (San Diego) CA
Our first show will be this week at the International Sportsmans Expo held Thursday to Sunday at the Denver Convention Centerdowntown. Here’s a link with all the info:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 8-15, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not too different even in Mexico! Christmas scenes like this one with kids lining up for visits with Santa and their favorite cartoon characters downtown La Paz.
Manger scenes for Christmas in La Paz
Town is kinda quiet right now! It’s that lull between the holidays and not many folks in town right now except for some snowbirds and kiteboarders and windsurfers taking advantage of the winter breezes. Not really many folks on the water as this is off-season for fishing, but even then, most folks in town are just enjoying the sunshine and getting ready for Christmas. Definitely seems like you can already smell the tamales cooking on the streets! But, lights are up and folks are doing Christmas shopping and that’s kind of it.
Some action for fishing has mostly been inshore. There’s a decent bite over the rocky spots of cabrilla up to about 5 pounds plus snapper and pargo. All great eating fish. The hard-pullers include some nice jack-crevalle running up to about 10 pounds plus good activity on bonito. Really hard to get a complete fishing picture when not many folks are fishing. It was too bad because this past week was one of the better weeks for weather and minimal winds.
I’m sure town is gonna start getting more crowded in the next few days as we get closer to Christmas.
BOOKING FOR 2020
It’s not too early to check on getting your dates together for next year which hits us in just a few weeks already! Reservations are already coming in steadily and some dates are filling fast and a few are already sold out. Don’t wait to see at at one of the sport shows. Last year, by March, we were largely all booked up. Get in touch with us today. Check out the website at http://www.tailhunter.com or e-mail me directly at Jonathan@tailhunter.com and let’s get you set up to fish with us in La Paz in 2020!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Yea…there was alot of rain this past week when heavy rains hit for almost 3 days and caused some crazy flooding. This is downtown La Paz.
Kevin Shiotani from Thousand Oaks, CA makes the most of a quick day on the water before storms hit the La Paz area to put a load of dorado in the box while fishing out of Bahia Muertos southeast of La Paz.
Decent bull dorado still hanging out late in the season. Captain Moncho running the boat handlng gaff duties.
Our own Esteban Romero got out as the clouds built up for a little dorado fishing of his own out’ve Bahia Muertos.
We hope you had a great Thanksgiving!
Well…
Pretty hard to do a fishing report when a good part of the week was filled with storms! In a late season deluge where it rained for 2-3 days at times torrentially, there was lots of unseasonable flooding which put a damper on a lot of snowbird vacationers who usually don’t see this kind of storms this time of year.
Sometimes it was drizzle. Other times, it came in buckets.
Normally the bottom of the La Paz sign on the beach is 4 feet above the water.
Alot of this all over the city.
Deep waters ahead.
After the storm, winds came up on the backside making for rough seas and waters were filled with muddy runoff and were really turned-over to be very conducive to fishing.
However, before the storm hit, there was a small window of opportunity for some anglers to get out even with cloudy ominous skies. Surprisingly some decent dorado were on the chew ranging from 10-20 pounders mostly indicative of lingering warm waters in the area.
Inshore, still decent action on bonito, smaller pargo, snapper and cabrilla as well as jack crevalle. Live bait is sometimes problematic if winds and waves are whipping the shallow areas where the live bait is caught.
The coming week shows no rain but a possibility of winds.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-10, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary Wagner has caught lots of big fish, but knew he had a battle on his hand when he switched down to 25-pound test fluorocarbon and this big yellowfin tuna bit the lines. He was on the fish for more than 3 ½ hours! Gary owns the Giggling Marlin Bar in Cabo San Lucas but was staying at his Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay near Las Arenas.
Don Fee was in town from Florida and we got him out on the water for one day for his first time and he said he had bites all day producing some dorado, cabrilla, bonito and even some small roosterfish.
He said he was embarrassed to admit this fish took about 4 hours to put in the boat, but Roger Thompson has caught bigger tuna, but few that were this scrappy and he had to do it on 40 pound test. “It pulled the panga,” he told us. Roger was fishing the south side of Cerralvo Island across from Las Arenas.
Efrain and Patrick hold up a couple of their dorado with Captain Jorge.
Don caught and released a couple of these fiesty little roosterfish in Bahia Muertos. He let them grow so they’ll be the big 60-pounders in the spring-time!
Great eating pargo! Gary said he could have caught these all day long on light tackle just south of Bahia Muertos towards Boca de Alamo.
Three dorado! Dinner for Don to pack up and bring back to La Paz.
There were some blustery days that it was good no one was fishing, but there were some nice days too. The problem was…no one was fishing! Snow birds have started to descend on La Paz to enjoy the sunshine and our new Malecon, but the off-season has started and not much of anyone fishing these days because the winds are unpredictable.
However, we did have some folks out and on the days it wasn’t bumpy and windy, there were some fish to be caught.
Most suprising were the big tuna hung on the south side of Cerralvo Island. Go figure. Everyone leaves and all the fishermen are pretty much gone and the big tuna show up.
These were pretty beastly animals. The ranged from 60-100 pounds and there weren’t many of them, but the ones that did bite would only eat light line which is incredibly problematic when you are using 25-40 pound line and a powerful tuna crunches your bait. These fish required 3-4 hours of backbreaking battles to get them to the boats!
For other species, there’s still some decent dorado around running 10-15 pounds or so. Not a lot, but enough to keep it interesting. Mix in some bonito, jack crevalle, a few pargo and snapper and the occasional little roosterfish and it could be a fun day.
That’s our story!
Hope you have a great Veteran’s Day Weekend and thank you all who have served!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of 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.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 6-13, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Firefighters Tim Nishimura and Scott Johnson from the Sacramento CA area have been coming for years to fish around La Paz and have caught almost every fish in the area. However, the wahoo have been elusive until this week when they were out with their favorite Captain Gerardo of the Tailhunter Fleet and they each finally got their wahoo as well as a 3rd ‘hoo as well while trolling Rapalas.
John Kennedy from Auburn, California tries to make a yearly trip to La Paz to fish with the Tailhunter Fleet and his favorite Captain Victor. He was with Victor when they caught a bonito and Victor quickly grabbed it; put it on a heavier rig; and went over to shallow water where they hooked and landed this whopper dog-tooth snapper. John said they lost several others that they couldn’t stop.
Beautiful photo and beautiful dorado for Don Vegter from Redondo Beach CA with Captain Gerardo goofing off behind the shot. The fish was Don’s personal best dorado and caught on live bait near Punta Arenas.
There’s a zillion reasons to love this photo of Roger Thompson and this big ‘hoo! He said it was almost an instant biter upon dropping the lures back. He was fishing with Captain Hugo.
There are good days fishing and then there are REALLY good days fishing! Their first vacation in 25 years, Kimberlee and Kurt Cochran run a commercial fishing operation in Homer, Alaska. Their first day out was with Captain Moncho. They got their first marlin but look at the table in front…a huge wahoo…dorado…cabrilla…triggerfish too.
Our long time friends from Sacramento, Dennis Fujii and Wayne Kurahara start off with some good-sized dorado.
Making his 2nd trip in 2019 to see us, Chad McConnell from Arizona hung this colorful bull mahi fishing on Captain Alfredo’s boat.
I don’t know if this is his first or his 2nd wahoo, but Andy had never fished before and he takes down TWO wahoo! Awesome!
There were a few tuna here and there like the one Captain Jorge is holding and some nice bit of dorado to take home for Lon Tsukamoto and Walt Menda.
Great shot of Andy McIntyre and his wahoo . Note…there’s another on the cleaning table behind him!
This is a pig of a tuna! Dave Lindell from Pendleton OR has fished with us for many years and caught lots of fish, but this one was a bruiser and estimated between 70-80 pounds. Captain Armando gives a hand . Dave fought the fish almost 90 minutes!
First time with us from Denver, Jaren Jackson and Mike Miller got themselves a pair of fast-moving wahoo trophies.
Just a pretty shot in the channel in front of Cerralvo Island with Laurie Reynolds from Lake Havasu, AZ.
Captain Jorge with a couple of our newest and nicest visitors, Darren Robinson and Traci Kidman.
Tom Mullican from Dallas TX visits us twice a year and always does well, especially with Captain Pancho. Nice tuna and big pargo!
Gary Okamoto and Captain Jorge got themselves a wahoo!
From Washington, Bill Bigelman, wanted to make sure he finaly got in the fishing report!
Captain Gerardo with our amiga, Chelsea Roos, celebrating her engagement to Don Vegter with a couple day of fishing and here with a sleep wahoo.
It looks a bit bumpy and rough out there, but Candace and Captain Raul got this dorado under control just east of Espirito Santo Island.
Oh wow…John Stone might have one of the most colorful shots of the week with this dorado! John’s 2nd trip to year to visit us.
Now, this beats starting your day on the freeway any day! Don Vegter got his first wahoo at daybreak outside Bahia Muertos.
Captain Gerardo was on fire this week. Another wahoo, this time with Joe Cameron.
Bob McPhee came down with 6 of his buddies to celebrate their 50th birthday…all of them! And catch some dorado too!
Bobbi Kennedy from Denver with her two great kids, Erin and Raphael and a day of dorado . Bobbi never stops smiling. Great to have them visit!
Again…Andy’s first time ever..and he catches two wahoo. This might be the 2nd wahoo.
That’s a big mahi for Lon. Don’t see many female dorado that big . Great catch.
Tom Mullican again in the gallery this time with a nice load of dorado and a fat barred pargo too!
A last minute trip and they made good with a stack of dorado for Fionne and his dad, Bill Dingwell from Chandler AZ. They also squeezed in a day of diving as well.
Captain Jorge took this photo for me of the beach at Punta Arenas as the storm approached us Sunday and why we figured it was a good day to cancel the boats and not take any chances.
It was a pretty solid week of fishing mostly with fairly good conditions and cooperative fish until the end of the week when heavy rains arrived and put a damper on the bite and fishermen’s spirits.
Dorado continued to be the mainstay and if you wanted a dorado, they were 80% of the catch and found in a wide area by both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleets. La Paz seemed to have more fish most days, but Las Arenas had the larger fish. Some days were better than others. Some boats did better than others. Some days, La Paz had the better bite but the next day, Las Arenas would have the hot honey holes.
Most fish were 10-20 pounders. Lots of little dorado were released.
The true highlight of the week was the heightened action on the wahoo. This time of year is historically good for wahoo, but until this past week or so, the wahoo weren’t showing much interest in biting.
However, each day wahoo were hooked and lost by our anglers fishing around Cerralvo Island as well as Punta Perrico and in the channel between the island and Punta Arenas. Fish were between 20-and 50 pounders and most were caught trolling with dark-colored Rapalas or Yo-Zuri Magnums. Quite a few fish were lost and there were a few days when several of our pangas boated multiple wahoo.
Other catches this week included hook-ups and both blue marlin and striped marlin and a sprinkling of yellowfin tuna. Most were large footballs but one 50 pounder and another in the 70-80 pound class. We also got a few of the big dog-tooth snapper, as well as cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish, some sierra, amberjack and lots of bonito!
It was all going well until it started to rain later Saturday afternoon. And rained…and rained. Through Sunday forcing us to cancel trips. It wasn’t a strong rain. Just a steady rain. Not a hurricane, but interestingly, more rain fell from this “rainstorm” than Hurricane “Lorena” several weeks ago. We experienced power outtages and some areas had big areas of flooding. Hopefully, by the time you are reading this, we’ll be back on the water.
MAGDALENA BAY REPORT
John Kennedy has been a long-time Tailhunter amigo and he waited 2 years to do one of our light tackle trips to fish the mangroves in Bahia Magdalena. In just 1 day of fishing, Tom estimated he caught at least 10 different species including, corvina, pargo, dog-tooth snapper, grouper, cabrilla, sheephead, grunt, triggerfish and more.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
You never forget the first. Especially, when you have been trying for years like John Gibbs and Wiley Randolph who visit us every year and finally nailed their first wahoo…on the same day…on the same panga with Captain Pancho.
It’s easy to see why these guys are fun. With Captain Jorge, James Ekern, Corey Sowers and George Aun from Utah and a bunch of dorado.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
First day and first time fishing with us, Steve Salbeck, rocked this big dog-tooth snapper with Captain Moncho. That’s alot of meat for the ice chest.
Eric Sanchez gives buddy Adam Nystuen with a nice wahoo they took off Bahia Muertos.
Scott Milligan and Dave Sedeno posing with their first day catch with quite a variety including, dorado, pompano and snapper .
Funny shot with Dana Murray our amigo from Washington who has a tuckered tongue out hefting this 50-pound class tuna to pose with Captain Armando.
A sweet-looking bull dorado and blue water! Brian Schwalbe gets some grins with Captain Luis who caught this with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Captain Fili with another pompano and Rich Sisk and Scott Pepper hold up some of their first-day catch on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Enjoying some Baja sunshine from Montana where it was snowing 30″ this week, Pepper Paul Hamlin has a couple of nice bull dorado and a great shirt!
Brothers who fish together, the Suzumoto brothers, Thomas, Luke and John with Captain Jorge. Couldn’t find nicer guys. With us for the first time.
This trio is trouble and always having fun catching a big rack of dorado to match their shirts, Nino Bonfiglio, Captain Victor and Jim Gatti.
Mark Self just had one day to fish and got one of the largest dorado of the week.
Wiley’s biggest dorado ever despite many trips to fish with us here in La Paz! He was fishing north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.
Brian had himself a nice week of fishing with this marlin his largest of the week and he shared the meat with his group.
Check out Al Jones and the variety of fish on the cutting board. He’s got dorado, white bonito, cabrilla, triggerfish and yellow snapper.
Our newly retired forestry amigos from Carson City NV, on their 2nd trip with us got a pile of dorado, triggerfish, pompano and jack crevalle.
A solid trophy barred pargo on the gaff for Chris Aiello. Great eating.
Kim Bell fought this nice plug yellowfin tuna for 45 minutes all by herself as it pulled the panga around. Good job!
Too cool from Colorado, Dave Van Steenkiste and Randall Sullivan got themselves a good batch of dorado for the day.
Great colors. Ken has another mahi for the box.
Gerardo gets into the photo with Bob Larson and Bill Bigelman who have a big pompano to go along with their dorado.
We finally got some wahoo in the boat! Wiley Randolph and Captain Pancho got the gaff in this big boy.
Early morning mahi! John Gibbs starts the day with a bull in the boat. Incredible colors.
Eric from Phoenix and Kendall from Denver on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
The man behind the mask with the huge bull is Brian Schwalbe.
Bob Manney is all smiles with his day’s fishing results. Bob is from Washington and visits us each year.
Captain Arcangel has been on our team for almost 25 years and is popular with many of our Tailhunter anglers. Take a look at the baby wahoo in his left hand. They thought it was a needlefish at first!
Tim Bell is all grins with Captain Jorge. Tuna and dorado headed to the fillet table.
Three of the best folks in the world…Captain Joel…Emily Duncan from Santa Barbara…our own Jorge Romero.
The Zuckerman brothers, Mike and Dave with a load of pompano, a barred pargo and a dorado. Lots of variety this past week.
Scott and Alfred after their first day with dorado, pompano, jack crevalle.
This is just funny…it’s not every day that the police inspector on the beach let’s loose and poses with the fishermen, but Angelo Oliverio, Captain Armando and Ken Campbell get a thumbs-up from the big man!
We probably could not have asked for a better week. The seasons are changing and to go along with mild sunny temperatures and cool tropical breezes, the fish were on their game finally!
Whether you fished with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet or our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, there was no shortage of action. Occasionally, one boat might be off-target, but for the most part, it was all the dorado you could possibly stand!
Limits or near limits of mahi were common with lots more released for being too small or over-limits. We had some boat on some days back on the beach by 10 or 11 a.m. with happy anglers ready to hit the pool, nice lunch and a siesta!
If there was any difference between our two fleets, the dorado seemed larger for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and for our La Paz Fleet, there were a lot more fish. .. but they tended to be smaller. Most fish ran 10-15 pounds with occasional 20-35 pounders and larger fish lost.
In between the dorado, add a smattering of hard-fighting bonito, jack crevalle, a pargo or cabrilla and too many pesky needlefish and it was usually a fully day of bent rods and grinning clients!
The highlights of the week were surely the jags of yellowfin tuna that finally popped up and landed in the boats. Best spots were with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet using live bait with the fish as small as footballs but as large as 50-pounders. I wouldn’t go so far as saying we have a “tuna bite” starting up, but it’s encouraging to finally see some tuna in the boxes.
Even better was that we finally hit some wahoo as well. We’ve been getting teased by biters for that last week or two, but none of the fish stuck and it’s been months since one was landed. We lost a few more this week, but at least we also got some onto the gaffs and onto the fish cleaning tables. They were nice 20-45 pound ‘hoos!
Waters are cooling down. Air temps are very moderate with minimal humidity. Breezes are coming more from the north so the season is changing. It’s really really pleasant here right now.
ALERT for 2020 FISHING WITH TAILHUNTERS!
Just a heads-up for all our Tailhunter amigos…we are really booking up fast for 2020! This year 2019 we were largely sold out by MARCH!!! Some dates for next year are already sold out.
If you have some favorites dates, rooms hotels AND CAPTAINS, don’t hesitate. Do not wait until we come to your town at one of the sportsman’s shows. We are even getting bookings for 2021 and we want to make sure we have you covered for fishing and visiting us next year!
Tailhunter Fish Report 