La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 5-12, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A good start on the first day for Frank Kunze and Lee Carlson, our long-time amigos who came back to the beach with some dorado and a pompano that ended up on the grill at our Fubar Cocina Cantina.
Captain Geraldo stands behind Matt Cirillo as he poses with a big long roosterfish just off the beach at Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Lorraine McDonald from Utah is all smiles with Captain Armando and her dorado.
Our buddy, Kip Slaugh, from Salt Lake City, holds up a huge roosterfish caught in the surf off Punta Arenas on live bait. Kip released the big slugger.
Dave from Dutch John, Utah, has a sailfish to his day! The fish was released.
Thumbs-up from Captain Jorge with Sommer Adams from San Diego on her first trip to visit us. Nice rack of dorado to start the week for her!
That’s a big one! Another rooster for a quick photo and release!
Elena Galvan and Steve Ortega visited us for the first time and put some dorado into the box. Standing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Sue Slaugh has been with us for many years from Salt Lake City and has herself a dorado on the gaff headed for the grill!
From the Los Angeles area on a first-time visit, Daniel Ahman and Jimmy Stathis pose with Captain Victor and a nice batch. of dorado on the cleaning table.
Kip with another dorado from the blue waters at Bahia Muertos!
It was an OK week. Honestly, nothing spectacular. That’s the bottom line. Not much more to say about it.
Dorado were surely the focus of attention with 90% of the catch being mahi mahi between 5-20 pounds. But, it was a weird week. For all of you out there that think the full-moon is a terrible time to fish…last week’s full-moon fishing was far better than this week!
The week started out fairly OK. Dorado, pargo, snapper, cabrilla. Even some billfish. Thankfully, the big roosterfish picked up some of the slack. However, no wahoo. No tuna. No dog-tooth.
But, then as the week went on, the last several days, it just kind of shut off. Even the dorado took a powder and got lockjaw. We had one day of very strong winds that bounced everyone and turned the waters over and even after the waters flattened the subsequent days really didn’t produce much and captains and anglers really had to work hard for their fish. Las Arenas was definitely better than fishing out’ve La Paz and although summer-like conditions are only now just starting to hit, the waters are remarkably cooler than normal. Hopefully, the fish get with the program again real quick.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 27-Aug. 5, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Full moon bull! Lynn Crooks from Sparks, NV, battled this big bull “until her arms fell off” but with the help of Captain Joel, got it to the boat! Fillets were eaten here in town that night, but she donated the rest of the meat to local folks.
Grins and smiles from Roger Meyer (head) and Joe Duryea (tail) from Phoenix, AZ. Roger caught this slugger of a roosterfish just off the point at Punta Arenas with the Tailhunter Fleet using live bait. It was his biggest and was released.
Some good eating pompano in the hands of Jake Oosterman. Members of the jack family related to yellowtail, roosterfish, jack crevalle and amberjack.
You do not have to go very far to get big fish. With the rocks of Punta Perrico just over his shoulder, Dave Roos, from Escalon CA, is pretty happy with this dandy roosterfish. It’s alot bigger than it looks as Dave is NFL lineman sized 6’3”. He released the rooster.
Personal best roosterfish for our amigo, Bernie Crooks visiting us from Sparks, NV with Captain Moncho. That’s the beach at Punta Arenas behind them. Bernie released the big rooster.
Mauricio made the trip up from Cabo to visit Rancho Costa at Bahia Muertos and was out with Gary Wagner when he put this dorado on the deck.
…and here’s Gary at his place there in Bahia Muertos with a tuna he told me ended up as ceviche at Rancho Costa.
Darrell Manginelli visits us once or twice a year from Camarillo CA and started his trip out finding a nice school or dorado.
It was a good week for big roosters! Lynn back on the board with Captain Moncho and her own big rooster for a quick photo and release.
Nothing prettier than a lit up dorado in the water!
Like everything else in the world, this definitely is not typical summer-time fishing. For sure, this isn’t typical August fishing. Temperatures are cooler with day time highs in the low 90’s. Humidity is down. It can be breezy. So, it’s been rather more pleasant as far as being in town. But, waters are also cooler. That’s not to say fishing is bad. There’s definitely action to be had. It’s just very different.
Oh…and although I’m not a big “full moon” believer, combined with other variables like temperatures, winds and water clarity, can make a big difference so that surely had some bearing on this week’s past bite.
So…
Instead of mostly pelagic species typical of this time of year like dorado, tuna, wahoo and billfish…the blue water species…of a normal year, catches have been marked by a variety of fish more characteristic of later spring fishing.
Sure, we’re getting some good bites of dorado there’s some billfish mixed with the occasional tuna and wahoo, but anglers are also still getting big roosterfish up to about 70 pounds these past weeks. At the end of the day, I’m seeing fish boxes with species such as dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro), mullet snapper (pargo list), barred pargo and cabrilla. As well, this past week, there were catches of jack crevalle, yellow snapper, bonito, big triggerfish, pompano and even sierra…a fish we see between November and March when waters are colder.
Bait such as sardines and mackerel and ballyhoo are pretty good this year and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season plays out.
ALMOST THERE!
Regretfully, back in March when the quarantine hit La Paz, we had to close our fun and famous Tailhunter Restaurant. It was a sad moment after 12 years of great memories.
However, after almost 2 months of re-model and crazy work with our team, we’ll finally be opening up our FUBAR COCINA CANTINA. It’s not the Tailhunter Restaurant but the closest thing to it…it’s our first floor right on the Malecon waterfront. We’ll have a new expanded street-side dining menu plus full bar featuring our new Bloody Mary Bar.
We’ll have many of your favorites that we had upstairs:
Huge burgers
Street hot dogs
Fish and Chips
Shrimp, Fish and Carne Asada Tacos
Fubar Fries and Loaded Nachos
Your Fish Preparations
…and more!
Hopefully, live music again too!
We’ll also be opening our Sirena Mini-Super Market with beer, sodas, munchies, souveniers plus beach gear as well. Of course, we still have our fish processing plant as well.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 12-20, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…(Part 1)
Suitable for framing with great colors and a great ocean! Our amiga, Alicia Clegg with a fresh mahi for the camera!
Behind the mask, Jess, Sean and Adam with a striped marlin at Bahia Muertos. The fish hit a bait then snagged on the side making it extremely difficult to reel and a tough fight for over an hour which exhausted the fish. The guys donated a majority of the meat as good sports.
It’s a keeper! Quality over quantity! He didn’t get many, but Al Vasquez from Santa Ana with a beautiful bull dorado caught outside La Paz Bay.
There’s a some nice bull mahi running around. Early in the week, there weren’t many dorado around or you could find them, but they weren’t interested, but some that were caught like this one by Santiago were gems!
They’re not much for eating, but they’ll put of an incredible battle just off the sandy beaches like this jack crevalle that Jesse is cradling for the photo! The fish was released.
It’s just what he wanted! First wahoo for Jim Stahlman and first wahoo of the season for us. The fish ate a blue Rapala.
Martin Santiago with family members, Tony and and Sergio hold a fat roosterfish they released.
Alicia again with double fisted mahi.
The week started out kinda slow and picky. After Tropical Storm Christine moved through the winds on the backend left us with some blustery days that really made fishing tough and we had to work hard for bites. Captains really pushed hard trying to find fish, but the winds not only made it choppy, but pushed cold waters up from the deep resulting in off-color green water more reminiscent of spring-time seas instead of July water.
Either fish weren’t showing up and were lock-jaw or we saw schools and they just weren’t interested in chewing.
Consequently, the first few days of the week resulted in a mixed bag of school-sized dorado, bonito, and not much else, although there was lot of inshore action on small roosterfish and tough jack crevalle which provided some great action for our folks using light tackle. Some smaller cabrilla and pargo and triggerfish also wound up on the lines. Lots of fish tossed back.
As the week went on, waters cleared and consequently fishing improved…somewhat!
More dorado came through with some fish up to 30 pounds. Several marlin were hooked, lost and/or released. We got our first wahoo of the season as well, some larger roosterfish came back. Everyone who wanted fish, got fish, but not as much as expected and we had to push a little harder than normal for this time of year. However, with waters turning blue again, we’re looking forward to a better week. Got our first wahoo of the year too so that might be a good sign!
BUT WAIT!!!!! (Fishing Report Part 2)
Just as I was about to publish all this…the ocean exploded!
“Wow! And we still have 4 more days to fish. Plus we got dorado too!” Captain Pancho put Kelly and Diego Jimenez and grandson Roman from Loveland, Colorado on the first tuna of the season!
From Utah, Bryan Richardson brought his boys, Cole and Cameron down and hit it just right on their first day on the water with a load of fish to take home!
…and yes…they also caught dorado in addition to all that tuna. They say they released and lost way more fish than they caught!
Uh yea…not who’s gonna clean all of those? Everyone disappears when it’s time to clean the fish!
.
I was in the process of posting the report. Everything was ready. The video was set up. The photos were edited and ready and was about to press send and all of a sudden…WHAM!
The fishing blew up at Las Arenas…off the charts…off the hook!
“We could have put 50 fish in the boat! We kept 9 but released and lost almost as many. We could have stayed there all day. We ran outta bait and had to go buy more!”
“The fish were in shallow water and we could see the tuna swimming under the panga!”
“We got tuna, then went over to the buoys and the dorado went nuts! I don’t remember how many we lost and released. I had my GoPro camera under water filming it all!”
There were already plenty of tuna and dorado in the box and decided to go for roosterfish and pargo and those went crazy too. We released so many fish!
My…how things turned around. Best day of the year so far! Will it continue? I have no idea. We can only hope this is the start of good things! We’ll keep you posted!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 29-July 6, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nice looking bunch of fish for the day from Ismael Hernandez and Paul Rodriguez holding with two bull dorado apiece while fishing out of Bahia Muertos south of La Paz. Both anglers live in La Paz.
Captain Pancho took two of his friends Omar and Chema from La Paz out fishing from Bahia Muertos. They hooked 3 marlin and released 2 of them. This one could not be released but the meat was welcomed by the three families.
One of the marlin released by Captain Pancho and his friends.
There are some good numbers of sizable roosterfish prowling the La Paz beaches right now. Big ones like this one caught by the Barta Family from Colorado was hooked near Punta Arenas while they were staying at Rancho Costa resort. The fish was released.
Captain Ramon ( “Moncho”) with the Tailhunter Fleet took out the son of one of his friends. Young Paul Rodriguez, Jr. from La Paz poses with his great looking bull dorado.
Another local, Erick was out and poses with one of his dorado. Great colors!
More pretty colors and a healthy roosterfish caught and released by Jovani who lives in La Paz.
Alisha Clegg and husband Bennett have fished with us many years and always do well. They started fishing this week just a bit south of us on the East Cape and Palmas de Cortez. They’ll be fishing with us later this week in La Paz. They caught and released 3 striped marlin.
Bennett Clegg in on the action too with another caught and released striper to start the day.
The Cleggs also put some fat football tuna in the box as well. Hopefully, the tuna will follow the Cleggs to La Paz this week.
I could sum it all up in 3 sentences. Fishing is pretty great. Weather is pretty hot. Tourism is slow but getting a little better.
Warm water species typical of this time of year are getting on on the action although truthfully, there’s not really that many folks in town and even fewer that are fishing. Mostly, it’s our captains and friends or locals taking themselves out. The city, like the rest of Baja Sur, has only been open for about 3 weeks now and the wheels are taking a bit to get up-to-speed.
Normally, this would be prime time, but many businesses are still cleaning and sanitizing as well as implementing the health protocols required by the government. Like everywhere else that has opened up their economies, Baja is watching it’s covid infections surge as well. The government says it was not unexpected although they are certainly worried about new spikes, just like in the U.S.
Baja is currently in Level 5 Orange.
Initially, many locals ignored the restrictions about masks and social distancing as well as only 30% maximum occupancy of hotels, restaurants, businesses and beaches. Consequently, this past week, the government has shut down the beaches once again, although they indicated this may only be for a week or two. This pretty much includes all of the beaches from Mulege all the way down the Peninsula. The only exception are the beaches in Cabo San Lucas which remain open. However, in Cabo, they shut down all watersports business like kayaks, booze cruises, parasailing and scuba, but kept sportfishing open.
Sportfishing is not affected in La Paz even with the beaches closed. Hoewever…The La Paz Malecon is also closed except for vehicles and bikes. Likewise, alcohol sales have been limited to 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
One other thing is the the border between the U.S. and Mexico is still closed through the latter part of July. However, this does NOT apply to travel by plane, rail or boat. That being said, I know lots of folks who seem to have crossed the border going both way via car without any real problem.
Empty beaches once again.
However, the fishing has been fairly solid although things change from day-to-day and place to place. It’s difficult to get a good read on anything since there’s just not the usual boat traffic on the water.
However, blue water species like marlin, tuna and dorado have come in, pretty much marking the summer season as waters get warmer.
Some boats are hooking (and releasing) multiple marlin which are mostly stripers in the 90-120 pound range. One huge black marlin of about 400 pounds was landed by some commercial fishermen in a panga when the massive fish got tangle in the grapples of their anchor and anchor line.
Dorado numbers are increasing as well with quality fish up to about 30 pounds which we normally don’t see this early. With lots of bait along the beaches, roosterfish and other jacks such as pompano and jack crevalle are providing great inshore action. Some of the roosterfish are running between 50 and 70 pounds and most getting released.
Bottom fishing on the reefs is producing pargo, snapper, cabrilla and triggerfish.
CRAZY STORY
Commercial fishermen were out in a panga when this huge black marlin estimated at maybe 400 pounds got tangled in their anchor lines and snagged itself on the grapple hooks of the anchor. Check out the photo and the two videos! In the photo, you can see the anchor!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay for June 19-29, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dennis Gaetz lives there near Bahia Muertos and is able to get out and jump on some of the roosterfish that have shown up along the beaches. This hefty fella was caught on live bait and released.
Bryan lives there in Todos Santos and was out fishing from Bahia Muertos when he got this colorful bull dorado.
Still not many fishermen around yet, but our captains are rocking it to catch food to eat or taking out neighbors and friends. Our Tailhunter Captain Luis (Chito’s nephew / Raul’s Grandson) stuck 4 of these big dog-tooth at the island! I’m sure someone took that head to make a big pot of soup!
Our captain Pancho took out a doctor friend of the family and got one of the roosterfish showing up along Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Early in the year for such nice dorado, but Captain Blas and Captain Alfredo (his dad) took their neighbor out from La Paz Bay and stuck this sweet dorado near Espirito Santo Island.
Beautiful colors…the water…the fish…a good day for Yohan and this roosterfish that he released.
Mostly alot of locals like our captains out fishing with friends and neighbors and yea…dorado showing up! Our popular Captain Moncho’s son, Ramon Jr. , was out with a friend from Todos Santos.
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La Paz is still figuring it’s way through the “new normal” after restrictions started to lift on June 16th and the government especially tries to find a balance between health and a struggling economy. Currently, restrictions include only 30% occupancy for all activities and locations including restaurants, hotels, businesses and even beaches. Facemarks are also a requirement.
It was hoped that restrictions might be further loosened, but like many places, folks have been taking advantage of the eased restrictions and ignoring prohibitions, so the government has extended the current restrictions and is threatening to revert back to full lockdown. So, for the time-being things remain at ORANGE LEVEL 5.
In the meantime, Covid infections are unabated much like many places in the world that open up. The government says this was to be expected and the levels are acceptable, but in places like Cabo, they have already shut down water-based activities again, such as water tours, kayaking, paddle boards, wakeboard operations, snorkeling, diving, booze cruises and others. Sportfishing has remained open but with restrictions.
The government says restrictions will remain at Orange Level 5 for now.
It’s important also that U.S. and Mexico extended the border closure until July 22, but it does NOTapply to travel by air, water or rail.
For fishing in La Paz, not many sport fishermen out yet since hotels are still struggling to get open by early July and training their staffs and airlines are scrambling to re-open and re-schedule routes.
However, locals, including our captains have been fishing and doing pretty well.
Our Las Arenas captains that have gone out’ve Bahia Muertos, are finding lots of live bait and good spots of rooster fish between 20-80 pounds. Lots of jacks, bonito are also around as well as decent action over structure for barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, red and yellow snapper and big mullet snapper and cabrilla. Some small spots of dorado between 5 and 30 pounds also starting to show up.
For our La Paz captains working north from la Paz Bay, yellowtail, pargo and amberjack have been bending rods over the reefs and more dorado are being found including some legit-sized bulls as sargasso weed starts to build up in the current lines.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 23-June 1, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Popular Captain Pancho got out to fish close-in for some cabrilla and pargo for the family and said there’s alot of roosterfish along the shoreline like this one he caught and released.
Dennis is a Canadian amigo who lives in San Pedro near Muertos Bay and was out trying to catch some food. He ran into this hefty jack crevalle.
With no fishing allowed, the fish have no pressure! Check this crazy video of jack crevalle on a feeding frenzy in the Cabo Marina. Turn up the sound. Thanks for the Pisces Fleet in Cabo for the footage!
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Looks like La Paz will slowly be opening after June 15th.
Although Covid is raging in many parts of Mexico, La Paz has been designated as the safest tourist city by Mexican Health authorities and will have a gradual re-opening mid-month. Authorities are saying, it would still probably take 10-14 days for businesses to resurrect themselves plus establish the safety and sanitation protocols that are being required to re-open. Some, but not all airlines are also re-establishing routes and services.
As I’ve stated before, just because everyone gets the green light on June 16th to open, that doesn’t mean automatically everyone suddenly opens! Like the U.S. many businesses suddenly just turned the keys and had to walk out. Some will take time to re-open. Others may never open again.
As of right now, I have no idea who plans to be open and when!!!!
Businesses are required to pass a health certification inspection. New sanitary protocols have to be put in place. Employees have to be found…and re-trained. Everything has to be cleaned extensively after being vacant for almost 3 months. Hotel rooms need to be sanitized from the ground up. So do restaurants. Even sportfishing boats need to be sanitized.
And then what? How will folks eat in restaurants? How many people in the shuttle from the airport? Can hotel rooms be located next to each other? How do you clean the rooms after a guest leaves? So many moving parts!
TAILHUNTER SPORTISHING
The bottom line for us is that we will be back in La Paz June 23rd. We finally found a flight home! But, that also gives hotels, etc. a chance to get going and establish new routines, etc. We lost our Tailhunter Restaurant permanently in the early days of the quarantine so we don’t have much to prep. We are READY to fish!
But, we don’t (and can’t ) have you down if we don’t even know if the hotels will be ready! Some still aren’t answering phones or e-mails because no one is in the offices. Even if you have reservations, there might not yet flights…so many airlines seem to be making adjustments daily!
I’ve sent e-mails to everyone who had reservations for the month of June to contact us. For all practicality, I think we’ll be up and going July 1st. I hope.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 14-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Secret parties being held all the time! Despite the quarantine.
Curfew time is 8 p.m. everyone off the streets, but locals use Facebook to let others know where the checkpoints are or where patrols will be.
This last weekend alone more than 8,000 people were chased off La Paz beaches which have been “closed” almost two months…supposedly. At one point, law enforcement confiscated everyone’s picnic gear, beach gear, floatie toys and ice chests.
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No fishing to report – Ports/ Marinas and all sportfishing and water activities continue to be closed and under quarantine.
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The news from Mexico and Baja continues to be conflicted and baffling…to say the least.
Amid reports that the State of Mexico and Mexico City seemingly keep setting records each week for infections and deaths, more than 300 “less infected” areas have started to ease their quarantines. This is occurring despite warnings that Mexico has not even faced it’s worst infections…yet.
So, some areas have started re-opening. Some industries like mining, auto manufacturing and construction might be re-starting.
Baja is not one of them.
Originally, slated for re-opening June 1, the government now says it is more likely to keep things shuttered until June 15th…or later. For, sure it definitely doesn’t look like anyone is opening up June 1st. Everyone from hotels to restaurants and airlines is back-peddling now.
This comes in the face of many hotels, restaurants and other businesses, and airlines who were already making plans to open their services at the beginning of June.
The U.S and Mexico also agreed to continue with the border being closed until June 22. However, this does NOT apply to air, sea or rail travel.
The problem is that Baja is among a handful of Mexican states where the virus has not abated. In fact, in areas such as Mexico City, many reports say that the infection and death counts are highly “under-reported.”
It sounds a bit like China. Experts hypothesize that the real statistics might be as much as 3 times higher than reported. As of this writing, there are more than 66,000 confirmed infections with more than 7000 deaths. Numbers that might only be 1/4 or 1/3 of the actual numbers.
In Baja, the big issue is that Baja Norte, which includes the border cities such as Tijuana and Mexicali are seeing very high numbers. It is being lumped together with Baja Sur (which includes Los Cabos, La Paz, Mulege and Loreto) which has relatively few cases.
It’s somewhat like grouping North Carolina and Southern Carolina together. Two different areas. Different cities and populations, etc. Or comparing New York and North Dakota.
However PER CAPITA, Baja has among the highest infection and death rates in the country. It’s always in the top 4 or so. And that’s not good and has the health officials concerned.
The tourism zones of Cabo and La Paz have been quarantined now for over a month. All non-essential businesses are closed. So, are hotels, beaches and restaurants. The ports and marinas are closed so no sportfishing is allowed either.
There’s also 8 p.m. curfews and many other restrictions.
However, as one of my gringo amigos living in La Paz told me, “The locals either ignore the restrictions or don’t give-a-s#@t! They party…sneak out to the beaches…have secret gatherings…you should have seen Mothers Day and Childrens Day!”
“The authorities are supposed to enforce the quarantine, but it is very arbitrary. Anyway, the locals use social media and other clandestine means to avoid checkpoints and to inform each other when the police are searching areas. It’s like a big game to not get caught! Many folks during the daytime wander downtown as if nothing is going on.”
So, bottom line is that no one really knows what’s going to happen. There are a lot of moving pieces.
And, I have to ask, what is the new “normal” going to look like? Do any of us even know what normal will look like in our own towns and cities in the U.S.?
In Mexico, we come to fish, dive and party and spend time with family and friends.
Fishing might be the vehicle that brings us to Mexico, but it’s the whole ambience that keeps us coming back. We come for the beaches, the great food, the nightlife, the shopping, and more.
I have no doubt that when Baja opens up again, it’s going to take time to get on it’s feet again. Whether things open up in early June, late June or whenever, it’s going to be a slow opening.
Officials predict 20-30% of all restaurants will not be able to open. I know our own Tailhunter Restaurant in La Paz had to be closed permanently as a casualty of the pandemic.
I think fishing will be some of the best ever. The fish have been left alone for months. But, which operators will still be running? I once heard that Cabo has over 500 “charter” operators. But, what now? Many could not afford the high slip fees in the marinas during the quarantine.
And what about the hotels and restaurants.
New sanitary protocols will have to be in place.
Does that mean social distancing in restaurants? In hotels? Wearing masks around town or to go to night spots or shopping? What does that mean for tours like snorkel tours or booze cruises where big groups get together? Hanging out on the beach with a mask or walking the waterfront or marina but not after a certain time or keeping social distancing? How are rooms going to be cleaned? Everyone will have to be re-trained.
How is all that going to work out?
I just don’t know. We’re all figuring it out as we go. Everywhere.
ON THE GOOD NEWS FRONT! THANK YOU ALL!
Hugo, our awesome Tailhunter team member, amigo and popular driver for our fishermen to Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos was hospitalized about 2 weeks go with Covid. It was touch-and-go for a bit.
Happy to say that he has been released and is re-cuperating at home!
I made sure to alert him to all of the e-mails, and facebook messages and prayers that you all sent on his behalf. He saw them all and said to thank you and tell you that the messages were “the best medicine.” He’s looking forward to getting back on his feet and seeing you all again in La Paz very soon!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 30-May 6, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Although no one is allowed to be Sportfishing, if there’s a bright side to the quarantine which is set through May 30th, is that we’re witnessing Mother Nature on the rebound. As we have seen throughout many places in the world, the absence of a human presence has demonstrated a remarkable change in wildlife and the environment.
Local waters and skies have been among the clearest that many people can remember. Trash on the beaches has disappeared.
There are reports of baitfish and sportfish showing up in numbers, locations and sizes that we haven’t seen in a long time. The variety has been incredible. Inshore rock and reef fish like pargo, yellowtail and amberjack are crashing shallow water baits like sardines, ballyhoo and mackerel. Yellowtail have even been seen in the marinas. Big roosterfish are cruising the beaches, but also schools of the roosters are right on the malecon where normally thousands of people are walking and driving every day. Dorado schools with fish up to 30 and 40 pounds are wondering where everyone went. Tuna over 100 pounds are at the islands. Add in jack crevalle, sierra, bonito, cabrilla and others and it’s great to see.
I can only say that when we finally kick off the season, things should be super hopefully with big hungry fish!
Among so many complaints we are hearing these days is that there’s NO BEER! Although there aren’t any real shortages of mechandise in the markets, one noticeable space on the shelves is the beer aisle. Because breweries like Modelo (makers of Corona and many other brands) as well as Tecate (which also brews and distributes a number of brands), were labeled as non-essential businesses, they were shut down.
So, like toilet paper in the U.S., beer has become a crisis item. People hoarded it at the beginning. Now, if any shows up on the shelves, it quickly disappears. Markets are jacking the prices up to 300% of normal retail. As well, an illegal closet industry of people selling beer from their homes, online like Facebook, or out’ve the trunks of their cars has sprung up.
Because so many people were ignoring the quarantine, the governor has changed the curfew from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m. No one out after that hour. No more food sales allowed. Any businesses that defy the rules (as many were) are subject to 17,000 pesos fines.
ONE OF OUR OWN!
Our Don Hugo! Good friend and gentleman is in the hospital.
Although La Paz has relatively few cases of the virus among more than 150,000 residents one of our Tailhunter Team members is now hospitalized.
If you’ve gone to fish with our Tailhunter Fleet at Bahia Muertos/ Las Arenas you were probably driven in our van by Hugo. He’s a great fun guy and a big favorite of our fishermen and their families. Always smiling and he’s been an incredible part of our team.
Since the shutdown, Hugo has been working picking up odd-jobs as a carpenter which was his trade when he lived in the U.S. He started to show symptoms about 2 weeks ago and is now hospitalized in serious condition with the virus.
Our prayers and best wishes are with our amigo. If there’s a bright spot, it’s that we’re glad he’s in La Paz which has some of the best medical care in the state and the best facilities for handling the disease.
Hugo getting clowned by Captain Gerardo.
When will this end? When can we start fishing? Alot of hotels and restaurants are gearing up to open as soon as the quarantine in Baja ends on May 30th. Airlines are saying they will start flying again in June as well. Assuming there are no drastic changes that hit the country, we can only be optimistic!
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 March 23-30, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Captain Pancho got out one day with his son and were dragging a Rapala when they hit up this big husky yellowtail.
Visiting his dad in Bahia Muertos, Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs, Colorado has time off from school so he’s been fishing the last two weeks and found a some sweet spots of pargo on the far east side of Cerralvo Island near La Paz. This is that time of year when the big pargo liso like this come into the shallows to spawn.
Prime time ceviche if I know what Gary Wagner will do with this nice sierra. Despite being a member of the mackerel family, sierra have a delicate white flesh that is incredibly tasty.
Captain Luis fishes with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet and has been fishing with family north of La Paz but was out alone and stuck this pair of slugger yellowtail towards Espirito Santo Island using live bait.
Gary’s got another yellowtail to put in the fish box!
Mixed weather conditions but generally flat seas and a decent bite on yellowtail and other species. Just no one really fishing except locals and captains with family and friends.
Temps are warming up into the 80’s and so is the fishing. The yellowtail have been biting in a number of areas and are taking sardines, mackerel, ballyhoo live baits as well as chasing slow trolled Rapalas, Yo-Zuris or jigging with iron. The fish have been chunky at times too! Some of the fish running up into the 30-pound class.
In those same areas, we’ve also had amberjack biting with some hefty fish over 50-pounds. Plus pargo, cabrilla and snapper are willing to bend rods as well. Plus add in bonito, jack crevalle and sierra and there’s no shortage of biters. Offshore a few yards, the possibility of dorado and even tuna (rumored) plus big squid are in the area.
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BREAKING UPDATE…Just as I was finishing this up, Gary Wagner sent me this story about tying into a tuna he estimated at 300 pounds:
“..last Thursday was the only day of the week that was fishable. So Miles and I ran out to Cerralvo Island. After catching some Pargo, white bonita, Cabrilla and all the Skip jack you could ever want, we tied into a Tuna. Not just any tuna but the Tuna from Hell. In our 6 hour and 15 minute fight we got to see this 55 gal drum about 10 times. Over 300 lbs, we hooked the Tuna at 8:30 in the morning in 50 ft of water, and then the Tuna headed for Mazatlan. Took us due East 2 miles then turned and headed right back to where we hooked it. Then out again, the fish turned and eventually broke us off in the rocks on the North end of the Island. We were using a top shot of 30# Flouracarbon with 50# braid, so we really couldn’t pull his lips off. One heck of a father and son memory, we both could use a Chiropractor right about now.”
Here’s Miles Wagner just a few hours into the fight…
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But, like I said, there’s no one around. Things are pretty quiet. Hotels have staff on reduced hours or skeleton crews. A few hotels are either closing or in the process of closing. Bars are closed if they are just selling alcohol, but restaurants remain open…or trying to stay open and hoping to stay afloat with food delivery.
The Marina in Cabo was closed this past week to all boat traffic and water activities and it is expected that La Paz might not be far behind. We’ll see. Changes coming daily.
JILL JONATHAN and LA PAZ
Jilly and I are still in the states dug in and hunkered down like everyone else. Our last two fishing/ hunting expos in Salt Lake City and San Diego, respectively, got canceled so we’ve come off the road and are in the same “wait-and-see” mode like most folks.
The few reservations we had for late March and April have all postponed until later in the year. Flights down are limited or non-existent as airlines have drastically curtailed flights. But, even if we went back home to La Paz, what then?
Not only are there no fishermen, but town is pretty empty. Mostly, it’s our captains fishing with their friends and family to put some meat on the table. Although there’s generally no mandatory closures in La Paz, since no one is around, many places are shuttered. New regulations have closed down bars that only serve alcohol, but restaurants like Tailhunter have been allowed to stay open because we also serve food.
However, we’ve had to move tables apart and found it necessary to severely curtail hours and regretfully, have had to let some of our employees go. Hopefully, we can remain open and keep our employees working. Just like in the U.S. we’re trying to augment business with take-out service and food specials.
Baja is taking the virus pretty seriously especially because of the state’s reliance upon tourism and the handful of cases in Baja have mostly all been related to folks who traveled or came in contact with travelers.
Mainland, Mexico, on the other hand has not been very quick to re-act. President Obregon has told the people that it’s not time to panic and they should continue with social activities, eating out, and getting together. He says Mexico is ready for anything should the virus blow up, but even one of the governors came out this week and said, “Poor people are immune from the virus.”
However, Mexican health authorities are bracing themselves. Mexico has serious problems with diabetes (10% of the population); obesity (right up there with the United States); hypertension; heart disease and other health issues. However, it does not have the ability to cope with an outbreak. Mexico City alone has 15 million people, but only 400 ICE beds in the whole city. Plus, especially in the cities, social distancing will be very difficult because of the population density with many people living in close proximity. Plus, even if closures are put into effect, something like 60-70% of the working population live day-to-day and hand-to-mouth in small mom-and-pop stands or tiny businesses. If they don’t work, they don’t eat.
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CAVEAT: WITH THINGS CHANGING SO RAPIDLY ANYTHING WRITTEN HERE IS DONE WITH THE FACTS AT THE GIVEN MOMENT. BY THE TIME YOU ARE READING THIS THINGS COULD HAVE AND PROBABLY WILL HAVE CHANGED. I ONLY CLAIM ACCURACY FOR THE FISHING PART! AND OUR WISHES THAT YOU AND YOURS STAY WELL!
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So, with Jill and I, we do not want to be the ones who perhaps bring an infection to our friends, family and employees. It’s about social responsibility. Although we feel fine, we could be carriers. Even if not, we could easily pick up something in the airport, a car, the airplane…this virus is so resilient that I have problems with anyone going down to Mexico right now “for fun.”
I’ve had e-mails from folks asking me about going down “because the fishing is good; airline prices are cheap; and there’s no one else on the water!” Just my personal opinion, that until we get ahead of this thing, folks who go down right now could be the one that’s responsible for killing someone. And they’ll never know it. No way to know who is contagious because the virus can be completely asymptomatic.
So, we’re hunkered down for the time-being just like you. We’re working like crazy from home (reservations for later in the year are still coming in). Jill is making big batches of soups and casseroles to store for later. She’s organizing her office. I’m cleaning out the garage and trying (failing) to get in some work outs! We’re not hoarding, but we’ve got enough toilet paper. We’re watching movies we’ve never had time to watch together and catching up on a bit of reading and staying in touch with family on FaceTime.
Trying to stay well and keep others well. I hope you are well and stay that way also! Please take care of each other and let’s take this seriously so we can get back to normal and hopefully catch some fish!
Tailhunter Fish Report 