FISHING STILL DAZED and CONFUSED
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 28-Aug. 4, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: We were worried about some dual tropical storms this week, but they stayed well to the south, but dropped about 5 minutes of rain sprinkles on car windshields. It did up the intensity of the humidity with 50-70% humidity some days and continued hot daytime temps in the hi-90’s. Nights are comfortable. Can be breezy at times more than normal
WATER: Had a few rough days, especially for south-facing areas like Las Arenas with had some big swells caused by the storms to the south. Lots of cold green water still around which is problematic for fishing, but later in the week, finding more blue patches holding fish.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, dorado, little tuna, marlin, sailfish, amberjack, roosterfish, pargo, cabrilla, trevally, pompano, bonito, jack crevalle, triggerfish, snapper, rainbow runner
FISHING SCALE of 1-10; 3.5 still tough going
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE AND THE REST OF THE STORY…

Talk about a mix. Perfect example. It’s August and we got warm water fish (dorado) and cold water fish (yellowtail)! Nice haul from new Texas friends, Lawrence Piccagli and son Henry.

DJ Oleson has a great grin to go with a big-time roosterfish right off the rocks at Punta Perrico. He released the fish too! Check out the glassy water! DJ is from Utah.

Ohio man, Brian Bleichrodt first time with us picks off a bucket-list rooster near the sands of Punta Arenas. He released the fish.

Captain Jorge with a thumb-up and helping hand for Paul Jewell from Portland. First-timer with a trophy dorado for the photo!

Maybe 80 pounds according to Captain Jorge with a sunrise pose with Darrell Oleson and his big rooster! Darrell released the fish!

Just graduated from University of Texas…first day on the water for Alex Piccagli and Billy Conn. Two nice dorado. A fat yellowtail and TWO marlin…they were able to release one of them. Good first day!

Brent Bleichrodt from Denver with his favorite, Capt. Arcangel and Brent’s biggest rooster. Catch and release!

Captain Boli helps Shelton with a big mossback yellowtail that should NOT be here in August, but they got 4 on the day!

Captain Jorge with a smiling Destany Fawcett visiting us for the first time from Texas and a colorful dorado.

First day bruiser rooster for Brent Racker from Utah. The fish was released. He had a crazy few days with us. Drove all the way down with friends from Utah. Two days down…two days back..about 3800 miles round trip!

Michael Amodeo and son Michael from the San Diego area fished with us years ago and found some dorado and some of those little pop warner football tuna.

BAM…right off the bat. Jonathan Dille from Arizona with Captain Pancho punches two big roosterfish. Both released.

Might be one of my most favorite photos of the week. Lawrence Piccagli from Dallas TX got this tough bonito on the flyrod! He looks kinda happy! 😆

If the dorado looks smallish, don’t be fooled. Micah is about 6’6″ and plays college volleyball. It’s a good fish!

Josh with Captain Joel and a chunky yellowtail near Espirito Santo Island. Crazy to be getting these quality fish in August. These are cold water fish we see in the springtime!

Wow! It’s August, but roostefish alley there off the Punta Arenas lighthouse is still kicking out some trophy roosters! Check out the catch-and-release rooster caught by Lawrence Piccagli!

If Brent looks tired, he is. This striper busted him up and gave him quite a tussle on a very light rod that they had to keep handing off!

Roger Mc Cracken and Paul Jewell from Portland had a nice day on the dorado and a bunch of those little yellowfin tuna!

Valerie Burgin…one of the sweetest gals every time they come to visit. She has no bad days! Six dorado for the fish box!
It’s rare, but sometimes the fish make it look easy!

Henry Piccagli and Captain Victor got a hog rooster for a great photos and release. Cerralvo Island in the background .

Jimmy and Amanda have quite a table of fish…dorado, palometa (trevally), barred pargo, yellow snapper, amberjack and cabrilla!

Yea! That’s the right kind! Billy Conn with his first trophy rooster. Quick release followed. Billy is from Texas.

Alex and Captain Jorge with his famous thumb…which is a good sign for this big rooster. Alex was visiting us from Texas and released the fish!
____________________________________________With so many fish pictures, you would think we had a great week of fishing. And no doubt there were some really nice catches.
But, once again, we really had to work to find biters. Captains pushed hard and guests gritted their teeth and fished patiently.
The weird weather, water and winds that we’ve had now for over a month continued to play havoc with the fishing season . Every day was different. Ever boat seemed different.
There were hot days. There were cool days. There were calm days. There were breezy, windy and rough days. We had two big tropical storms to the south that never made it up here, thankfully. But they did push up a few days of some really big waves and wind and just enough rain to mess up our dusty windshields. I think the fish are as confused as we are.
What has been the biggest issue and causing the erratic bite has been all the cold dirty water that has been pushed from the south and from deep upwellings. The colder water is clearly visible. The trick is to find the patches of blue warmer water holding fish! And that moves from day-to-day and hour-to-hour! There’s no rhyme or reason. In my 30 years down here, I’ve never seen anything like this.
Whereas we should be deep into bluewater warm-water pelagic species this time of year, we are hunting and pecking for dorado which are usually numerous. The ones we’re getting are ones we used to throw back in previous years. Yes, there’s the occasional 20-40 pounder, but most are the 5-10 pound schoolie dinks.
The weird thing is that here we are in August…2/3 through the summer and all of a sudden cold water fish have shown up. These are fish we never ever see in the summer. Fish like 20-40 pound yellowtail…amberjack…rainbow runners…pompano…trevally…pargo…cabrilla…are all cooler water fish that we catch in the winter and spring.
They kinda disappeared around June, but now they’re back! Weird.
But, warm water marlin and sailfish are here. So are lots of sharks. More than I have ever seen!
Another fish that we usually never see this time of year are big roosterfish. Yet, here they are with 30-80 pounders suddenly back and providing action. Go figure.
Here’s the thing to think about. Yes, there are some big fish around and yes, you have a shot at them even with this unpredictable fishing. But, you have to be ready. It could be a trophy marlin or roosterfish. Or a toad yellowtail or dorado. You might have just one shot at the big boy. There’s usually no 2nd chance if you miss it our bounce the fish. There have been some big dissapointments because of lost fish!
All we can do is keep looking and keep fishing. The season has been full of surprises. It seems to be like this all over the world with the funky weather!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
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