La Paz-Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-Jan. 1, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Comfortable day and night temps, but still some gusty seasonal winds up to 20 mph at times that are prohibitive to being on the water whether you’re fishing, snorkeling, kayaking or SCUBA. So, you need to find those dates when the wind is blowing less.
WATER: Simple. If it’s windy, the water will be rough and cloudy. If it’s not windy, the waters settle down nicely. Surprisingly warmer than normal.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, sailfish, roosterfish, tuna – you gotta be kidding me! Plus sierra, pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, yellowtail.
BAIT BEING USED: If it’s windy, it’s tough to get live bait. Plus, this is off-season so there’s not that many fishermen on the water. That means sometimes, the live bait guys won’t go catch bait to sell. Not practical. If you don’t have live bait, then dead bait; frozen bait and lures can still be effective.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
The right kind! Wow! Hard to believe wahoo in December, but John Davis did the trick on this ‘hoo off Cerralvo Island.
Awww…a “cute” juvenile sailfish boated by Norm Busch fishing with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.
Love the facial expression! Greg Earles battled this hog yellowfin tuna for 2.5 hours. WHOA! Well done!
Double roosters and lots of fun in Bahia Muertos for Norm and Greg. We don’t usually see roosterfish in the winter. The big 100 pounders show up in the spring. These were released to grow big.
Bull dorado for a serious-looking John. Seas look a bit rough!
Love this photo or Norm Busch with another fun winter roosterfish. Another release!
Another dorado for Greg headed for the fish box.
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OK…this is just weird.
Granted…winter is the WINDY season and yes, the winds have been blowing up to 20 mph. But even if you find the occasional window when the winds slack off and you can go fishing, the catch is usually inshore stuff like pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra and jacks.
Mostly shallow water species found over the rocks and reefs. Alot of that is because with the winds, it’s not a great idea to go too far out in the rough waters. However, also the waters are cold and the warm water species are still months away.
So, what’s happening in our waters?
As this is off-season, there’s not much of anyone fishing. Mostly locals, commercial fishermen and the occasional visitor. But, the catch has been rather…unusual to say the least.
Yes, the shallow water rock species are still there.
But, were hooking dorado! Fish up to 30 pounds are still swimming around and readily taking lures and live bait.
There are tuna around Cerralvo Island with football-sized fish like 10 pounders, but also sluggers over 50 pounds!
Want more?
How about wahoo also around Cerralvo. Sailfish in the channel up to 130 pounds. And what about the 10 pound roosterfish along the beaches and in the bays. Great for light tackle. Not the big hogs over 100 pounds we get later in the year but some fun feisty roosters to play with.
Totally unseasonable catches and highly unusual. Not sure how long they’ll be around. Probably as long as the waters stay on the warmer side, but alot of fun while they are here.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Dec. 12-22, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly mild. Some clouds, but the key, as far as fishing has been the wind. Earlier, it was really gusty, but then the last week (Christmas week) some of the calmest winter weather we’ve seen in…forever.
WATER: When the winds blew, the water was junk and uncomfortable. But, when the wind didn’t blow, the water was almost glassy blue and flat!
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Crazy dorado fishing…hard to believe this is “off-season.” School-sized dorado of about 10 pound size. But, larger 20-40 pound fish still running around as well. Then, late in the period…sailfish? Yup! Inshore, sierra, bonito, jacks and cabrilla and a few yellowtail also showed up in the boxes.
BAIT: Bait stocks have been good when the wind isn’t blowing. Nice sardines for live bait.
OUTLOOK: Winds will be coming back, but there’s a few windows here and there.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Francisco and Ramiro were out at Bahia Muertos to catch a few filets for the freezer! Wow…never expected a box full of dorado as well as the nice sailfish like this and surely not in December! They tried to release the sailfish but were unsuccessful.
Celebrating his birthday in La Paz, Greg Earles was deternined to get in a day of two of fishing! He had some banner fishing like this nice bull. Amigo, John Davis lends a hand!
Our La Paz amigo, Jimmy Williams with a trophy sail. It almost looks like a fiberglass mount with great colors. Check out the flat ocean. Looks like a lake! Jimmy released the fish, but also caught dorado.
Captain Pancho with Norm Busch. Take a look at the big bull that Pancho is holding up for the photo. It’s a beast! Nice rack of mahi meat!
Another local, amigo, Phil always gets into good fish. Bull dorado like this are NOT typical winter fish. Great catch!
Even the guys who fished north of La Paz where it’s usually windy got into a nice jag of dorado!
Happy Birthday to Greg! Starting the day off right!
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WOW! WOW! WOW!
Hard to believe some of the fishing right now…in December!
I know the fishing report is a little later than usual. I really do try to get them out on a weekly basis now going on almost 30 years. But, as you’ve often heard me say, November to April is off-season. Barely anyone fishing because it’s usually extremely windy and rough!
So, I was waiting a few extra days for something to happen so I could have something a bit meatier to write you about. Even I get bored talking about the same old thing!
I also knew I had some local friends going fishing plus a small group of guys who were going to brave it and go fishing for a day or two. Additionally, some of my friends who are local commercial fishermen were supposed to give me a better report.
Also, well, it’s the holidays. I’m still recovering my my knee replacement surgery even though it has now been about 6 weeks and on top of it…everyone (me included) has gotten the cold/flu bug! It’s that time of year.
So, apologies that it’s a little late, but it was worth it!
Check it out…
Earlier in the period it was typical windy, rough, choppy…blah blah blah. But then, Christmas week, I don’t know what happened.
The winds diminished. The waters calmed down. The waters turned blue! It was like someone threw a switch!
Dorado between 5 and 20 pound schoolies bit like it was summer! Both Las Arenas and La Paz fleets produced some good catches and there were even larger fish up to the 40-50 pound class bulls! Pretty much unheard of.
With plentiful supplies of bait including live sardines, the dorado were ready to chew. Still not much of anyone fishing, but everyone who was out got fish.
As well, inshore fish like cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra and yellowtail more typical of this time of year were also hooked.
The biggest surprise probably were the sailfish that showed up. And these were some nice-sized legit sails running 90 to maybe 140 pounds. Much larger than normal. Most of the fish were released, but especially because many were hooked on lighter tackle, there were some epic battles.
Not sure if this will continue, but the key is the wind and finding the windows when the winds aren’t blasting folks off the water! A great Christmas week of fishing!
LATE BREAK REPORT – Just as I was about to publish…tuna and wahoo biting now!
BLESSINGS TO YOU!
Hard to believe that Christmas has come again so soon, but always a special time. Wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, please…from Jill and I and our Tailhunter family and team in La Paz…we wish you a special peace and happy holidays and Christmas and many blessings for the new year. We hope to have you visit us in 2024!
Cheers and best fishes always!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 21-28, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Daytime in the low 80’s and nights in the mid-60’s. For about the first time in weeks, the winds did not blow and we had almost perfect weather which was reflected in the fishing.
WATER: Without the winds kicking everyone and everything, waters settled down and were relatively flat. Given the fish that were caught, there are obviously still warm and cooler spots of water.
LIVE BAIT: Still and issue and tough to come across so dead and frozen bait or trolling is what we’re doing, but still working well.
NOTES: About 2 months late, but enough whalesharks finally arrived in La Paz Bay (8 of them) to open the season to swimming with them with licensed guides. Not sure how long the season will stay open depends on how many animals stick around. They’re not on anyone’s schedule!
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary and Miles Wagner at Gary’s Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos. Wow, hard to believe bulls like this massive dorados are biting in November, but great catch!
Tailhunter’s own Jorge Romero, got a “kitchen pass” for a few days fishing from his lovely wife, Sandra, so he got out on the water. He was told to get some meat into the freezer. Nice load of dorado!
Wow! Roosterfish in November. Sydney Wagner hooked this pretty gallo in Bahia Muertos and released it. Rooster season is normally, April to July or so! Check the flat waters!
Yup! Even yellowfin tuna this week. Jim Nichols is all smiles. Jim is from Colorado.
Jorge getting his Santa Claus beard in gear for the holidays with another bull dorado for the box.
Our buddy, Jimmy Williams, got out and fished the north end of Cerralvo Island for Thanksgiving and pulled several big dorado up like this beauty. Jimmy is about 6’2″ so you can gauge the size of this bull!
Jorge got out another day. Went south out’ve Muertos and struck out so he headed to the south end of Cerralvo Island looking for wahoo. No wahoo, but two nice tuna and a bunch of dorado plus white bonito on the troll and using dead bait.
Miguel Campos from Puerta Vallarta comes over for quick winter trips to La Paz. Nice YFT!
MIguel with another dorado to get into the ice chest!
Cold water fish, but delicious especially for ceviche. Gary has himself a nice sierra.
Jim Nichols with another surprise roosterfish. Caught and released!
Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving and the holidays are off to a good start!
Well…what a difference a few days make!
For about the first time in about 5 weeks, Mother Nature cut us some slack and those fierce northern winds gave us a break for about 7 days. They’re scheduled to be coming back but in the meantime, it was a great time to be on the water!
Not many folks fishing this time of year, but many of our friends or even our captains got out with their friends and families to take advantage of the great conditions. Hopefully, to put some fish in the freezers for the holidays.
Normally, this time of year because of the weather, the catch is mostly inshore species like pargo, cabrilla and snapper. However, this past week, it was about as good as we’ve had since mid-October!
Schools of dorado came up hungry for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets with decent-sized school-fish running about 10-15 pounds, but also larger fish up to 40 pounds. Additionally, tuna up to maybe 30 pounds were hitting at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island and there were some rumors of a wahoo or two breaking off as well as billfish!
Inshore, yes, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, white bonito, pacific bonito and two kinds of pargo were biting, but the big surprise were the roosterfish in the 10-40 pound size being caught and released. Normally, our roosterfish season runs about April to early July!
And, the pargo that we hooked were the pargo liso (mullet snapper) that get up to 20-40 pounds and usually don’t show up until the spring that made it into the fish boxes!
Some amberjack were also hooked and the commercial pangeros reported some yellowtail were hooked as well.
Still not much in the way of live bait because of the turbulent waters and also, if there’s not many fishermen, it’s economically a waste of time for the commercial bait guys to go out. So, most fishermen either trolled or made good use of dead or frozen bait like ballyhoo, frozen sardines or chunked bonito.
Enjoy it while we can! Winds predicted to start up again!
WHALE SHARK SEASON FINALLY OPENS
After waiting many weeks, authorities finally opened the popular swimming with the whaleshark season. Normally, the season runs October to April in the Bay of La Paz.
However, that’s dependent on water conditions…if it’s too rough and windy ,it’s hard to find the animals in the shallow waters. And it’s also dependent on how many animals are around.
At last count, there were 8-10 whalesharks in the bay.
The problem is that so many folks want to get in the water and so many operators from all over Baja sell and oversell tickets and trips. Many are unlicensed.
Only 6 persons are allowed in the water for each individual animal and only for a limited amount of time. For the safety and wellbeing of the animal. Plus, having too many boats in the water scares the animals away.
If dozens of people are booked to get in the water on a given day and there are only 3 or 4 animals, most folks will never get in the water or their trips will get cancelled. Even if you get in a boat, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get in the water because there is a rotation of people. And it’s not like the animals are on a schedule or in a cage like at the zoo so there’s no guarantees. You take your chances.
So before you book, check with us or another licensed operator.
RESERVATIONS FOR 2024
Our spots are booking fast for the coming year as we come off an incredible season this past year . Reservations are coming in daily so get in touch with me personally:
We’ll get you set up! Let me know so you don’t miss out on your favorite captains or hotel rooms. Or, if you’re brand new, write me and we can tell you all about our services that we’ve offered here in La Paz almost 30 years now! We’re great for experienced as well as first-timers; families; friends; kids…something for everyone!
We’ll customize a complete fishing/ hotel/ activity package for you!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 11-20, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny in the low to mid-80’s in the day time. Evenings comfortable mid-60’s. Great time for the holidays and all the snow-birds visiting. The problem has been the winds blowing 15-25 knots from the north. Some gusts stronger. Important to choose your activities accordingly. If you’re going to do something, do it in the mornings before winds get stronger
WATER: Cooler and rougher. If the wind is blowing, very choppy. Heading north out’ve La Paz Bay can be wet and bouncy at best. Impossible at worst.
FISH HOOKED: Dorado, bonito, sailfish, jack crevalle, pargo, cabrilla, snapper.
BAIT AVAILABILTY: Erratic. If winds are blowing and it’s rough, the bait guys have a hard time getting live bait and you should plan on a day of trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First stop of the morning for Michael Novotny who had just pulled out for the day and had this pretty dorado hit a trolled feather!
Miles Wagner staying with his dad in Bahia Muertos at Costa Rancho got this nice pargo liso (mullet snapper) to come out’ve the rocks, but not without a tough battle to be sure. Punta Perico in the background. Seas looking a little choppy too! Miles is from Colorado Spring CO.
If there’s fish around, Kevin Shiotano is a fish magnet! He had some rough windy days, but did get a day where the dorado blew up on him. Check out the cleaning table!
Sailfish in November? Almost unheard of, but Michael Novotny hooked this big sail while fishing with Captain Arcangel and they were able to also release the fish.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner fishing with Captain Hugo got one of the nice spawning pargo liso just offshore. Great eating! Gary owns the famous Giggling Marlin Bar and Restaurant in Cabo.
Not many folks fishing right now. Most of the folks arriving in town were here either for the big Baja 1000 race that filled town for a week of race teams and fans or they’re snow birds looking for some sunshine and not necessarily in town to be fishing, or participating in other water sports.
But, we did have some folks on boats. However, most were folks who were flexible on their days or were locals who could pick and choose specific dates when the winds weren’t blowing as hard.
That’s the key. The seasons have changed for the rougher and this weather with strong northern winds is pretty typical during the winter months when it can often make it worthless to even try being on the water.
However, there are some windows and if you can take advantage of those or get your fishing done early before the winds kick in.
We actually got some late-season dorado. Nothing huge, but fun-sized 10-20 pound class fish. Even if the winds might be a little more blustery than wanted, fishing inshore over the rocks is producing some jacks, mullet snapper (pargo liso), cabrilla, sierra and bonito (great to cutting and using for bait).
Surprisingly, we also got a few hookups on sailfish which is very unusual for this time of year.
If you’re planning to go out just be aware that winds could blow you out or force you back to shore sooner than you want. It can also affect whether live bait will be available. If not, you’ll either be trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
BAHIA MADGALENA FISHING
We had some of our good clients out at Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific Coast out fishing with us. Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) is about 4 hours drive from La Paz and our guides fish inshore in the zillion miles of mangroves. They also fish offshore on the seamounts.
Mike Jennings and his amigos fished 2 days offshore sticking great fun with tuna and dorado then a day inshore in the shallows in the mangroves for numerous species including, pargo, snapper, spotted bay bass, corvina and others.
BAJA 1000 OFF ROAD RACE
This year the annual BAJA 1000 Race started in La Paz and for the better part of a week, town was filled with thousands of fans; off-road race teams from all over the world and all the festivities that go along with it.
It was pretty much a full-party on the Malecon waterfront 24 hours-a-day with revving motors, crowds, music and more. The drivers and teams are like rock-stars and it was quite an event with the Malecon closed for miles.
FISHING in 2024 BOOKINGS COMING IN FAST!
We’ve been in La Paz now almost 30 years and are coming off one of the best fishing seasons in 2023. Just a heads-up that our bookings for 2024 are really filling things up quickly with reservations coming in daily.
If you want to come visit this year or have a favorite captains or hotel, don’t wait. Get in touch with me directly: jonathan@tailhunter.com
I can check our availabilties before we get filled up. We don’t want to miss you. We’ll customize a special fishing vacation package for you, your friends, family or group!
Right now, we have great openings and boats available:
April 16-30
May 1-8
May 22-31
June 1-12
June 25-30
July 1-31
Aug. 1-11
September 1-30
October 1-24
Hope to hear from you and let’s get you fishing in 2024.
That’s our story! Have a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving and holidays!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 24-30, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – After taking it out on us by sending us Hurricane Norma the blast away at Baja, the subsequent weather was mild by comparison. Windy at times, but mostly sunny. Definitely cooler.
WATER – Mostly a mess. So much runoff from the heavy rains that waters looked like chocolate milk. It got a little better reluctantly each day, but water temps remained on the cooler side. One encouraging thing is the tons of debris in the water. Good habitat for dorado.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK – Not real great, and it took awhile to even have fishable conditions, but we did hook some dorado, sailfish, tuna, bonito. Not alot and not super, but not better than expected after such a tremendous storm.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET – The whole bay and outlying waters were a mess of debris and dirty silty water that took awhile to clear up and is still slowly improving. The big problem is that the marinas sustained serious damages and there are many boats sunk. Fortunately, we had pulled all our boats out’ve the water. However, the ramps were destroyed so we couldn’t put our boats back in the water, even if we wanted to. Oh, and no live bait to be found was no help either. And it looks like those pesky north winds are starting up.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET – Like everywhere else, waters were dirty and turned over. No bait to speak of. But, we had a few exploratory trips and at first nothing more than bonito, but then thing improved. And using dead bait and chunked bonito, some of the dorado started biting again.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT –
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Ryan Brockway is a guide and owner of several lodges up in Vancouver, but still came down to fish after the hurricane and we’re happy he got into some dorado action his last day!
Check out the huge sailfish that Sara Jenkins hooked with Captain Pancho. Son, Ryder lends a hand. Sara fought this on light tackle the whole time and then made a great release as well!
Still a few tuna hanging out. Brandon Cowhey with a great photo of a chunky YFT!
Ryder…9 years old…Love to see this. Great form! This young man loves to fish. His 2nd trip to see us!
Ryan Jenkins was able to get out a few days just before Hurricane Norma dropped in on us and was able to get into some nice dorado biters!
More than a few ended up on the beach.
Many of the owners aren’t in La Paz which complicates the clean-up. Lots of boats piled right onto the Malecon by the fierce winds and waves of Hurrican Norma.
Lots of things in La Paz got turned upside down like these beach palapas after almost 3 days of battering. Fortunately, no reports of injuries.
All the marinas are a mess of sunken and damaged watercraft and trash.
Clean-up is going to take awhile. Especially hard to clean with no running water or power.
Many volunteer groups came down to the beaches to help clear off the muck.
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This is going to be somewhat convoluted for a fishing report because well…it was a convoluted week.
Basically, if you hadn’t heard, Hurricane Norma slammed directly into La Paz . It was alot harder then the experts predicted. It stayed around alot longer than predicted. It hit us with alot more rain and wind than anyone expected.
By the time it hit us it was a Category 2 hurricane with winds well over 100 mph. It dropped 8-15 inches of rain on us. Worse, is that it just sat and sat and pummeled the area for about 30 hours. It’s like getting hit by a boxer over and over. At some point, things start to break.
I’ve heard that over 100 boats were sunk or damaged including some huge yachts. All the marinas sustained extensive damage. Fortunately, all our captains pulled their boats out’ve the water ahead of time, but all the ramps were damaged and there was no way to launch the boats again.
Even moreso, hotels, businesses, restaurants, and homes took it hard. The popular restaurants at Tecolote Beach that had been around for decades, were completely destroyed. The front of our own Tailhunter Restaurant blew away and received extensive other damage.
The bigger issue might have been the loss of water and power with a good portion of the city in the dark (that included cell phone and wifi of course). Many folks were without it for days. Our restaurant had no power for 5 days.
It’s pretty hard to clean up when you have no water or electricity. As of writing this, there are still lots of homes and businesses waiting for the lights to come on.
As for fishing…
We had just started to re-bound after what Hurricane Hilary and the full-moon did to us. Dorado had started to bite again . Waters had cleaned up. Tuna were showing again as were billfish and even some nice-sized roosterfish.
Then up comes Norma.
Waters have been a mess. It’s a big chocolate-colored soup of silt, mud and floating debris. It has taken and continues to take days to clear up.
We have not been able to fish out’ve La Paz. The marinas were wrecked and the ramps were all torn up. There’s no way to launch our boats, even if the conditions looked more promising. I’m just glad we pulled our boats out’ve the water before the storm. Some marinas look like a boat graveyard.
For our Las Arenas fleet, waters cleared a little bit but bait remained difficult or non-existent. Bonito bit somewhat in the begining. As waters cleared, however, the dorado started to come back. Still not bait but we were using dead bait, frozen bait and chunks of fresh bonito.
Honestly, as the season is changing and it’s getting colder and windier, we don’t have that many folks on the water so not that many folks lost any days on the water.
A SPECIAL NOTE FROM US!
To everyone who offered their good thoughts, prayer and wishes and even offered to come down to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Norma, we appreciate you all! We’re all fine. That’s the most important. No one was hurt and this is not our first rodeo. We’ll be bigger and better on the other side.
NEXT REPORT MIGHT BE A BIT LATE…
The other thing…As you’re reading this, I’m headed for knee replacement surgery. I’m told I’m going to be out’ve it for awhile. I’ve done the weekly fishing reports basically every week for over 28 years. Please excuse me if the next report is a tad later than normal! I might be on “performing enhancing medications” according to my surgeon to alleviate the OUCH!!!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 6-13, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: It has been erratic to say the least. Definitely cooling down a bit. Mostly now in the high 80’s during the day but feels hotter because of the humidity. Hurricane Lidia didn’t hit us, but it did send some torrential rain one afternoon with big floods. Winds and even waterspouts showed up this week. Cooler? Yes…I’m wearing a sweatshirt as I write this!
WATER: Overall, definitely rougher. More wind. Waters are hotter than normal and very very off-color requiring we find blue water to be able to fish. As the week went on however, each day got a little bit better as the waters cleared up.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, bonito, sailfish, jack crevalle, roosterfish, pompano, snapper
LAS ARENAS FLEET: It’s been the toughest two weeks I have ever seen. Waters are cloudy and hot. I think there’s very little oxygen in the upper layers and the fish have gone deep. Plus hurricane Lidia to the south of us pushed up waves and winds and more crazy water. Very little bait. Hope this changes soon. I’ve never had days where there were literally no fish. Just before this report, however, we started getting clearer water and the bite improved.
LA PAZ FLEET: Once we found the blue water way way up past Espirito Santo Island, we also hit the dorado again.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Even Captain Boli gets a smile over Kenny Nishimura’s dorado caught near Espirito Santo Island. After the slow-down two weeks ago, fishing started to rebound for the dorado.
Two of our long-time Tailhunter Fish Brothers…Brad Baker and newly retired Jim Adair.
Two of our besties! John and Arla Washington from Reno come to visit us each year for their anniversary.
Alan Paonessa and his sister, Dru Toeniskoetter take a nice pose with a pair of dorado on Bahia Muertos Beach.
Kenny Campbell and Angelo Oliverio have visited us for years. The retired firefighters got a nice bull on the gaff among others! Ken’s in Arizona now and Angelo is in S.Cal.
Jim Bovee our San Diego, amigo, loves dorado fishing and this is his 4th trip this year to see us. Despite the rough weather, he still managed a nice rack of fish.
First-timing with us, Matt Malone, had a banner 3 days of fishing and went home with a nice batch of dorado fillets like this one with Captain Pancho.
Julie and Travis Millspaugh from Washington bring their extended families to visit us almost every year. Even with the tough fishing, they never lost the smiles.
Captain Hugo with David Wakabayashi and Gary Okamoto from the Sacramento CA area have visited us many times over the years and found a couple of dorado and a slug tuna even with the fishing being a bit sticky.
Crazy for it to be October, but we’re catching quite a few pompano which are usually caught in the spring like this one that Kenny Nishimura caught. The waters are cooling off.
The big bonito we have right now are either a super prize or a big PITA! They are vicious fighters that can beat the heck out’ve any angler. Brad Baker has a sample.
You’ve heard of “air guitar?” Colby Harris with his mom, Brenda takes a pose with “air dorado.” He just applied for college. They’re from Arizona.
Our amigo, Dana Milano, was out with Captai Raul and found a good jag of dorado north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.
Angelo and Kenny again. Kenny has one of those pretty all-blue dorado that we’ve caught a few times this season.
The Harris family had just one day to squeeze in some fishing. Sienna, Colby, Brenda and Neil did a line up with some of their dorado. Each boat got a nice limit.
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I’m not even sure where to start this week.
This fishing report will be all over the board and possibly as difficult to understand as the weather and fishing the past week or two…
I will say this. We’re hopefully emerging from some of the worst/ strangest fishing and conditions that I have ever encountered in some 30 years down here.
The genesis of this was about 2 weeks ago. We had a tremendous full moon which, in and of itself, is usually not a big deal. But this one created huge current and tide swings. Coupled with increasing winds as the seasons changed had a big effect.
Moreover, we had several big tropical storms…short but powerful coupled with big waves and a huge up-welling of tremendously warm water. Surface temps were unbelievably in the high 80’s!
What happened was that the waters turned murky and dirty. A huge plankton bloom went off. Apparently this chased to fish to other areas and also depleted the oxygen supply in the upper layers of the water columns. Fish went deep or just refused to eat. Live bait disappeared.
It was like the ocean had turned into a barren aqua desert!
I’ve never had so many boats coming back with zero fish! ZERO FISH! Think about that.
Sure, every now and then a boat has an off day. It happens. It’s fishing. But, they’ll tell me they caught some bonito or jacks or had a day of needlefish.
But we actually had boats coming back without even a single bite! Plus we had to resort to using dead bait, frozen bait or chopped bonito or squid to even make it through the day.
We went from having one of the best fishing seasons ever to a non-existent fishing season almost over night. On top of that, it was evident that the seasons started to turn. Normally, things start to cool down about the end of October or the beginning of November. But, it’s hard to deny that the northern winds are already starting to blow hard. It’s hard not to notice that the air temperatures and humidity are dropping. It’s hard to ignore that we have started to catch cooler water fish species now like sierra and pompano.
So, everything was pretty much dead in the water…no pun intended.
Oh, I almost forgot. We had Hurricane Lidia. It started to head out to the Pacific. It then made a crazy right turn right towards Mexico. It ramped up to a Cat 3 tempest and fortunately did not hit Baja directly. Instead it went to and crashed into Nayarit.
Still…some of those hurricane arms came over us and dropped some heavy rains and crazy weather on us. We got some big-time flooding.
Amazing how many people try to drive through the floodwaters.
Uh yea…30 minutes of torrential rain and wind do a number on our waterfront. Then the sun pops out again!
We had sunshine that would suddenly turn bleak and ominous.
The view from Bahia Muertos where we launch is looking kinda foreboding.
We even got some dangerous-looking waterspouts that had boats running in the opposite directions understandably. Then, it would disappear the and sun would pop out again.
Yeow! 6 waterspouts were seen this day.
However, little-by-little we started getting some breaks. The captains worked hard. The fishermen hung in there and kept their smiles and patience. And little patches of blue water started to emerge.
With the blue water, there were some decent biters or dorado again. Even a few tuna popped up as well. Still not up-to-speed, but at least boats started to find fish and some fish were making it into the fish boxes.
So, as of this writing, it looks like every day there’s a little improvement. We can only hope. There’s still a few weeks left of the formal fishing season before the big winds and big seas crash into us so I can only hope that it holds off for a little while longer. It all showed up several weeks too soon!
But, bottom line…I’ve never seen so many variables collide at one time affect the fishing so adversely.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Noticeably cooler. Less humidity. Lower temps. MORE WIND. I’m afraid that the season changed on us about a month earlier than normal. The northern winds of winter have started too soon. Not to mention, a HUGE FULL MOON that wouldn’t go away. Hope it was just the full moon.
WATER: It was like someone switched things off. Waters went from blue to incredibly green and murky overnight. Usually, it’s because the waters got colder. but this is weird because the waters got WARMER! It’s almost like we had a secondary plankton bloom. The fish decided not to bite. Waters are HOT…86 degrees!
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado (fewer). Sailfish (fewer). Tuna (fewer). Pompano. Bonito. Cabrilla. Snapper. Some roosters. Tough pickings!
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET: Like night and day. It virtually shut off. Bait disappeared. Green dirty water that was so warm that it seemed like the fish all went deep and stayed there or decided not to bite. Caught a few pompano, a few dorado, bonito. A tuna or two and pargo.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET: Went from super great to having boats coming back with almost nothing a few days. Not even a bonito or needlefish. Started to pick up again as the full moon waned and our captains found some rare patches of blue water. But now northern winds are increasing making it tough to fish.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
This lady can fish! Lisa Hicks from Washington has been visiting us for years and despite tough fishing managed several nice dorado like this one fishing with Captain Victor, her favorite.
Wow! Another good-sized rooster caught when they SHOULD NOT BE HERE! Roosters are spring-time fish our long-time amigo, Jeff Sakuda with his favorite Captain Jorge got this beauty right off Punta Perrico. Jeff released the fish as well!
Our Denver amigo, Joe Hicks always bring his two boys, Hudson and Marco down as well as family friends. On the beach at Bahia Muertos with some of their catch. Joe is the one without the shirt!
There could not be a happier character than 88-year-old Raymond Ahner who lives in Yosemite. Love this gent and he said he wants to keep coming back until he has the record of being our oldest fisherman ever!
Tuna were few and far between this week, but Bob Pair got one. He’s been with us for many years!
Tammy Cousins from Oregon just wanted to catch “One dorado please!” She did better than that with Captain Luis, but this is a photo of her FIRST dorado!
Brothers-in-law, Adam Florence (Topeka KS) and Jim Bailey (San Diego CA) got some nice variety on the table including a barred pargo and dorado and a slug 68-pound yellowfin tuna that Jim battled dogggedly for over 90 minutes before getting it to the gaff!
When Al Jones comes down each year from his ranch in Idaho he’s always way fun. He wanted at least one tuna and got it fishing with Captain Gerardo.
Crazy to be catching pompano this time of year, but Hudson Hicks got this one. He’s headed off to college next year and has been visting us with his dad for several years.
Robert Peterson and a doardo on the gaff. Just a great photo . Suitable for framing! Great smile!
Whoa! When I first saw Robby Peterson’s fish it was so big, I thought it was a giant trevally (GT!). But it turns out to be a massive pompano! Great eating!
Andy Hall…our firefighter amigo who gets called to emergencies around the country visits us each year got himself one of the rare yellowfin tuna this week!
Pretty bull dorado for Marlene! She always fishes with Captain Pancho and had to work hard this week to even get this dorado. But, she never stopped smiling and fishing!
Marianne Sugawara has been fishing with Captain Jorge since…well…since before I had hair! LOL. Nice dorado, Ms. M! She filled the empty space in the chest this time with tamales to take home!
This is a super photo! Brian Guetz caught this good-looking roosterfish not far off Punta Arenas. Catch and release!
It’s our own photogenic Lisa Hicks showing off her barred pargo!
Neil Gansebom was with us this year and had a good day finding some blue water and dorado like this one north of La Paz outside the bay.
Jeff and Captain Jorge! Great shot and nice fat barred pargo for the ice chest!
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It was one of the strangest periods of weather and fishing that I can remember in almost 30 years down here. It was also one of the ugliest.
In the span of a day, things changed from one of the best fishing seasons ever…to suddenly fish zombie-land…ZERO FISH!
I’ve never seen this happen. My captains tell me they’ve never seen this happen. The ocean turned into a liquid desert. No birds. No fish. No bait.
Every now and then sure, a boat comes back and had a slow day. Maybe they missed the bite. Maybe they were just that one unlucky boat. It happens. But, usually, they tell me they still caught bonito or needlefish or a pelican or SOMETHING!
I actually had boats and anglers coming back telling me they didn’t catch or hook a thing!
It wasn’t like things just tapered off a bit or diminished. It was like someone threw a switch!
What happened?
Well, almost overnight, waters went from blue to green and cloudy. Usually that happens because the waters get cold. This time the waters got HOT! Waters were up to 86 degrees on the surface!
It was almost like there was a secondary plankton bloom. Or maybe the waters were so hot there was a lack of oxygen. There might be some creedence that. When there was no fish on the surface, some of the captains tied on sinkers and hit dorado 200-300 feet .
Let me say that again…DORADO at 200-300′ down! None of us have ever heard of that. Dorado are surface fish and we don’t do deep water fishing like that anyway.
The other issue…a big one…the live bait disappeared! If you got a handful of live bait, you were lucky. We resorted to dead bait, frozen bait and even squid.
OH…by the way, we also have the biggest crazy full moon…ever! And it stuck around the WHOLE week. Did the full moon cause all this or is all of this because of the full moon?
All we can do is wait and see how fishing is once the full moon disappears. I will say that things seemed to pick up a bit as the full moon dissipated. I hope it continues because we still have a few more weeks to go of the regular season.
And that’s the other thing. Usually, we can count on the weather to hold until at least the end of October or the beginning of November. That’s when the northern winds start to blow.
And they usually keep blowing until April or May. We stay off the water. Only the windsurfers and kite boarders love it. But that doesn’t usually start for a few more weeks.
Well…I gotta tell you…the northern winds seem like they already started. Waters are getting rougher already.
Again, a big effect on the fishing. Just a huge combination of alot of things:
Big full moon
Dirty water
Hot water
No bait
Northern winds
Rougher water
That was just too many punches in the nose for our fishing.
So, we got a few dorado. Some roosters. Pompano and jacks and some bonito and pargo and not a whole lot more. We can only hope that by the time you’re reading this we get back on track to some degree.
A big shout out to all our clients and friends and our captains who were on the water and visited us this week. It was really tough fishing. Our captains worked hard to find whatever they could find. Our anglers all hung in there and also worked hard and stayed patient. Not a single person complained or lost their smiles. We were awfully grateful for that. Cheers to all of you and hung tough!
Sorry this isn’t the usual glowing report, but gotta be honest.
Captain Luis turned a slow day into an outstanding day. He had his son, Dylan, with him and took the guys out to one of our deserted beach. He took some of their dorado and made sashime and ceviche then dove for some fresh clams to have with the guys as well! No bad days!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug 28-Sept. 3, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Typical for this time of year. Days are hot and humid in the 90’s and there’s always a chance of a quick rain shower or thunderstorm…mostly in the afternoon. But we got two gully-washers this week. One dropped 2 1/2 inches of rain on us in 30 minutes.
WATER: You would think after the rains they might be pretty muddied up with run-off, but waters are good. Mostly blue and pretty good visibility and temps in the hi-70’s to mid-80’s on the surface.
SPECIES CAUGHT: Dorado still the predominant species. But we got a nice jag of 15-50 pound yellowfin tuna and our first sailfish this week. Also caught: rainbow runners, jack crevalle, bonito, roosterfish, triggerfish, snapper, pargo, cabrilla, trevally.
OUR LAS ARENAS FLEET: Dorado, tuna and sailfish. The bigger dorado caught here. Tuna are early biters a bit of a drive down the coast. If you’re late, you miss the bite.
BREAKING UPDATE…today Sept. 3 as I’m putting this report together something happened at Las Arenas…the bite shut off completely! Hope it changes!
OUR LA PAZ FLEET: Best for dorado. Limits can come easily. Decent inshore for rockfish
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
What a team! Captain Pancho and our amigo, John Ehlers from Colorado always rocking the big fish like this bull dorado.
That’s ALOT o’ meat on the table! Baja prime yellowfin tuna for Daniel and dad, Jim Bovee from San Diego.
Another good day for Karen and Chris Uyemura with Captain Jorge and more dorado to add to the fish ice chest to take home!
Andy Malone from Montana! On fire this week with his fishing took his first sailfish and our first of the season with Captain Jorge. The sail bit a live bait and Andy did a great job releasing the fish!
Darin Moriarity and Ron Wray with Captain Armando. This was not only Ron’s first trip with us, but the big bull was his first dorado ever! There are more dorado on the cleaning table plus some surprise rainbow runners…cousin to yellowtail.
Santa Clause on vacation! Our amigo, Rusty Cain with a huge bull dorado. The photo doesn’t do justice, but Captain Rogelio estimated this fish to roll in the 50-pound-class. The head is enormous!
Hi Taryn! Taryn Mitoma is always fun when she and dad come to visit and has a great pose with a day’s catch! Her dad says, “She catches all the fish!”
Whoa!!! Beast mode! Chris Uyemura and Captain Joel with a massive bull dorado and big smiles to go with it!
Dean Alvarez was here at the start of the tuna bite and has a couple fat ones to with his dorado.
Captain Jorge with Bill Lingo had a good day on the dorado spot!
Now THAT’s alot of variety! Mark and Alex Dirbyshire have been wanting to visit for a long time from Oregon and show off about 5 different species…dorado, snapper, triggerfish, pargo and trevally.
Sherri and Bob Rowe were way fun to visit us. Their first trip and they took home a nice load of dorado fillets. Here’s 1 day’s catch! They already plan to come back!
Montana in the house! First day on the water for Shani and Andy Malone. I think this is Shani’s fish! LOL
Big headed- bull dorado on the gaff for Travis Fries from Idaho. They had 3 nice days of fishing with us and his folks and family!
Herb Preszler and Iris are alway fun visitors and pose with a nice batch of tuna and a dorado on the beach at Muertos Bay. Herb is from the Sacramento area.
Captain Armando became new favorites with Shea and Nick Brown from Utah who had several good days including this one with a pair of slugger yellowfin tuna.
John and Nancy Quiring from Sacramento always do well. First day catch of big dorado on the beach.
Don’t let anyone tell you different! Tuna will tear you up. Good thing, Jim Bovee has some experience with big fish because he battled this yellowfin on a spinning rod for 45 minutes and runs maybe 50+ pounds.
Bob Rowe with his new buddy Captain Rogelio and Bob’s big dorado of the week!
The Laughon brothers from Bishop CA stuck some nice dorado posing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Tyler Ehlers with grandpa John and a quiver of mahi and one tuna for the day to add to the previous day’s catch!
Captain Jorge with two more of the Laughon Brothers (5 of them came down) on their first of 3 days fishing.
Love this photo! I think Andy Malone is pretty excited to catch his biggest-ever dorado with Captain Jorge.
Our Texas friends visiting us for the 2nd time this year. Randy Stolte and Brett Watts put a double pair of tuna on the cleaning table!
Day 2, John Quiring hit the tuna honey hole that produced 4 beefy yellowfin.
The excitement! A sailfish grabbing air. Andy Malone’s fish. Caught and released!
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What a crazy week. Could not have been more hectic or erratic! For those of you who know me, if I had hair it would’ve been on fire this week the way I was running around…except the rain woulda put it out!
Normally, any of these could have a big-time effect on the fishing:
NOT JUST A FULL MOON – BUT A SUPER FULL MOON
HUGE TIDE SWINGS
STRONG CURRENT
THUNDERSTORMS
TORRENTIAL RAIN
BIG WINDS
BIG WAVES
We had ALL of the above this week PLUS being pretty much completely sold out and packed with our fishermen!
But, here’s the thing…most of these things thankfully, all took place in the afternoon or evenings! The daytime conditions were not affected…hot…blue water…eager fish!
We had a couple crazy afternoons where the heaven’s literally dumped on us. Not sheets of rain! It was like someone just opened a giant spigot. In one storm, we got a whopping 2 1/2 inches of rain in just 30 minutes that turned La Paz into a giant river of mud and rushing water.
Cars and people swept away (fortunately no one seriously hurt and they rescued everyone)
Downtown streets were raging rivers with water up to car windows
Arroyos were category 5 rapids of mud and debris
Winds tossed waves 6′ into the air against the Malecon breakwater dousing cars driving by
Like I said, it was just fortunate that most of these things were AFTER everyone was off the water and could watch from safety with a cold one in their hands! But, this is the time of year when these things can come up at any time. Most lasted less than an hour (except for the full moon of course!).
As for the fishing, no effect! It was a GOOD week on so many levels!
The dorado still bit strong with most fish running 10-15 pounds but the larger bulls still lurk up to 40 pounds or so. Some real trophy fish still here.
We had some great surprises:
We finally got a consistent jag of yellowfin tuna! We haven’t had much tuna in two seasons, but we had some nice-grade fish in the 15-50 pound class with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. I try not to get too excited because you just never know how long the tuna will stick around. They can be fickle and move fast. But, we’re due for a good solid tuna bite.
The thing with the tuna is that it’s a long boat ride to the spot. You don’t have to go out very far. But, the honey hole is quite a ways down south along the shore/ coast. And the bite is early. You gotta jump the spot while the fish are chewing. If you miss it…you miss it. That’s the chance you take and you’re probably too late to get back north and catch something else. It’s a swing for the fences, but can really be worth it. Or not…
We also got our first billfish of the season. I have no idea why the billfish haven’t shown up for months so hopefully, they’re ready to go. It was as single sailfish and it was (good job!) released so maybe we’ll see more along with marlin.
The other surprise were the roosterfish. Normally this is NOT roosterfish season. We get the big 50-100 pounders in the spring. If any are around this late, they are the fun 5-10 pounders. However, some of our anglers popped some 30-40 pound fish on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Lots of bonito to bend rods all over the place. Inshore, we got some nice cabrilla, several species of pargo, rainbow runners, jack crevalle and trevally.
BREAKING UPDATE…today (SUNDAY) Sept. 3 as I’m putting this report together something happened at Las Arenas…the bite shut off completely! Hope it changes!
MEMOS:
BALANCES: If you’re coming down soon, don’t forget that your balances are due 45 days out. Get in touch with us.
BUGS: Everytime we have a strong rain, for about 2 weeks afterwards, bugs hatch like crazy. This means, flies, mosquitos, moths, butterflies, etc. Bring some repellant. Keep your hotel screens closed!
BAJA 1000: Is coming back to La Paz the 2nd week of November and everything has been sold out for months. However, we have a 3 BR condo on the beach with 4 restrooms available if anyone is interested. Contact me directly: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
That’s our story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 19-26, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Hurricane Hilary has come and gone. It’s back to hot, sunny and humid. Day temps are in the high 90’s.
WATER: It took a few days for the waters to clean themselves back up after the storm, but not it’s mostly back to blue and perfect fishing conditions.
SPECIES CAUGHT THIS WEEK: Dorado, bonito, skipjack, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, roosterfish, jack crevalle .
LAS ARENAS FLEET: It seemed that generally, there were fewer fish caught here, but more of the monster dorado were caught here.
LA PAZ: Seems that there are more dorado on this side and more action than Las Arenas, but not as many trophy fish.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Ralph Lopez used a gift certificate from his wife to fish with us all week and started the trip with some nice dorado like this one fishing with Captain Jorge.
Beast Mode!!! Captain Luis gives Dennis Cameron from Orange Co, CA a hand with this huge bull dorado. Dennis said he saw it swim by the transom. He flipped a bait on it and it turned…SLAMMED…then peeled off more than 100 yards of line in the first run!
Brian Chu brought the family of 4 down for a few days and started of the week with a nice load of dorado, here posing with just a few of their fish!
Bob Cowan and Jeff Loh have fished with us many times and always good to see them A good start at Bahia Muertos!
Craig Braswell is one of our Sacramento firefighters that has been visiting us for about 20 years. Great to have him down now that he’s retired and he cam with Dave Smith who is still with the department. Captain Pancho got them into a nice bite. “The Braz” is still able to fish even with bad gout (just had to toss that in there, Braz!) 😛
This is one of my new favorite first-timers! From Idaho, Ryder Lee had such a great time with us and us with him. He just graduated from 8th grade and poses with a hefty bull dorado with Captain Luis.
Cecilia Berumen says the bar is now set pretty high after 3 good days right after Hurricane Hilary. She did great on the dorado like this one!
The man behind the mask is Angel Navarro. First-time visitor with and gets to check a roosterfish off his bucket list. He released the fish as well! Good job.
Captain Armando poses with Tom Lelevich who got some nice filets to take home after 3 days fishing with his wife, Donna, celebrating their 30th anniversary with us!
Stefani and Steve Fries from Idaho are too much fun whenever they fish with us. They decided to take one day and fish the rocks and came back with quite a variety including, dorado, pargo, snapper and cabrilla. Oh and a bonito!
Captain Licho hoists this big-headed bull that Mike Zech (left) fought for the better part of an hour until his hands started cramping and he handed the rod to his buddy, Ryan, to finish off. In all Mike’s years fishing with us, this was his biggest.
It’s not always the size…it’s the moment. A lifetime smile from Ryder Lee and his first roosterfish. Caught and released!
We love having youngsters with us and there’s no denying that Hunter Lee is having a good time. Here posing on the beach at La Concha with one of his fish.
Ralph Burnett with Captain Jorge and a nice rack of fish to start the week!
After a good day of fishing, there’s nothing quite like that first icy cold one. Roy Trejo has the right idea.
Excellent eating variety on the cutting table! Cabrilla, pargo and dorado for Bobby Hira and Daryl Chang.
Yessir!!! Two pig dorado. Albert Leung and John Pak!
Shea and Nick Brown had a fun time with Captain Gerardo their first of 3 days on the water.
First-timer rocks it with Daryl Chang from Los Angeles with two of his dorado right after the storm.
Might be one of my favorite photos of the week! Just the sheer joy! Cecilia puts another one on the deck.
Good to have our 3 amigos back to visit us from Portland. Wes Perkins; Dennis McCleod and Roger Hall were with us all week and topped off their fishing with some massive dorado!
You know it’s a good fish when even Captain Boli smiles. Using his scale, Craig Braswell said they weighed this bull in at 38 pounds. The angle of the photo doesn’t do justice!
We had so much fun with Trisha Clark on her first rodeo with Tailhunter. She’s promising to come back!
Not a bad day at all! Steve Rons started the week with some medium bulls topped by this big boy toad dorado bull.
Ralph and Jorge!
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Well, Hurricane Hilary moved off without too much fuss after a few days and gratefully it wasn’t that big of a deal. Some heavy rain and wind a times, but fairly “lightweight” as far as hurricanes go. We’re very fortunate. The biggest drawback was that we had a few days of not being able to fish.
After a storm like that leaves, you just never know how long it will take for things to bounce back. Fortunately, it didn’t take that long. We were back on the water as soon as the storm moved of and although it started somewhat slow, within another day, it was full-speed again witht the fishing.
Once again, just as it had been before the storm, the dorado were stacked and limits were the rule rather the exception. Most fish were in the 5-15 pound class and many many fish were released.
The exciting part is that there’s still some massive fish that were hitting this week. A good many were lost (that’s why their big). And the ones that were boated were easily 30, 40 and even 50-pound fish.
Live bait continues to be the best way to get bit.
Not much else in species mainly because the dorado are so prevalent, but we dig also catch pargo, snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and even some off-season roosterfish.
IMPORTANT NOTES
BUGS – The weather is back to being hot and humid and any time after we get any rain we have a big hatch of bugs. Everything from butterflies to mosquitos for about 2 weeks is out. Normally no bug problem. Good idea to bring some repellent. Wear long sleeves. Keep doors and windows closed.
BAJA 1000 – Will return again in November to La Paz. Every room in La Paz is already sold out. However, we have a 3 BR beach condo with 4 baths available for Nov. 13-19. If you’re interested e-mail me: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
COME GET YOUR STUFF – For almost 15 years, we’ve been storing fishing gear for our folks that come down so you don’t have to hassle dragging it on planes as well as the high cost. However, we can no longer afford to store so much gear. Some folks haven’t been down for years. This is our last year we’ll be able to do it then anything left over we’ll donate.
GET YOUR BALANCES PAID – If you got a booking with us this year, don’t forget your balances are due 45 days from arrival.
That’s our story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 29-Aug. 7, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: No doubt hot and humid! Stay hydrated and covered up. Common sense! It’s in the high 90’s to low 100’s in the daytime…normal summer temps. Actually maybe cooler than many parts of the U.S. strangely enough. But, humidity is high as well. Thankfully, the beach is right outside!
WATER: Mostly warm and blue. Surface temps on the water are high 70’s to low 80’s. Actually and strangely COOLER than normal! But great swimming, snorkel and scuba conditions.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, bonito, roosterfish, wahoo (lost), marlin (lost), pargo (2 types), snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, palometa, pompano
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET: Primarily dorado. Not as many as La Paz, but more of the bigger dorado. Plus inshore species like roosters, pargo and cabrilla.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET: More dorado than La Arenas…usually…it changes all the time, but the LARGER of the larger dorado seem to be on this side. (30-50 pounders)
IMPORTANT MESSAGES IF YOU’RE COMING DOWN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS:
It’s hot. Dress accordingly with sunglasses, big brim hats, long sleeves, sunscreen and lots of water.
Your balances are due 45 days from arrival so get in touch with us if your balances are due.
The best part of our season is also hurricane season. Usually NOT an issue, but you never know with this wacky weather around the world these days. These are the tropis. TRAVEL INSURANCE is cheap and remember, there are no refunds for weather-related cancelations. Weather is part of the sport whether it’s sunny, windy, rainy…whatever. This is prime time for fishing and we are always sold out this time of year because fishing rocks, I wish we did, but we also have no control over the weather. Even if it’s a heavy rain storm for 1 hour or 1 day, it COULD affect your fishing; airline flight;
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Frank Kunze, our long-time Colorado, amigo, has been with us twice this year. We got him to put down the conventional fishing rod one day and only use his flyrod. Here’s his first fish of the day on the flyrod. It wasn’t his last! He released all his fish!
Captain Luis give Rose Vadnais a hand with a another big bull off the east end of Espirito Santo Island. They apparently had several other big boys on the line that got away!
Daniel always gets fish! This is Daniel Bovee’s 2nd trip this year to visit us and has been doing it for years. Great colors on this bull dorado taken near Bahia Muertos!
Yes! There are still roosters around. Maybe not the big pig slug roosters, but some fun 5-10 pounders can be lots of fun like this one that Darrell Manginelli hooked and released after fishing for dorado.
This is Sam Sybesma’s biggest doado every and he’s been fishing with us for years! Sam is about 6’3″ so you KNOW this fish is legit!
Always great to have Lee Carlson here with us. He got lots of fish on the conventional rod and reel, but took our his flyrod for this beauty. He released or donated all ths dorado this day.
Some good eating barred pargo that Daniel is holding. Winds came up, but still able to fish for a number of inshore species.
I lost count of how many big bull dorado Darrell Manginelli caught last week!
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It’s been an unbelievable dorado season now for more than two months. After almost 30 years down here, I’d have to call it “historic” and hope I’m not jinxing the whole ball-o’-wax and shutting it off because our fisherfolk are having a ball.
They catching either the most fish ever. Or they are catching the biggest fish ever. Or they are catching maybe their first fish ever. Or they are catching their limits of fish faster than ever.
Either way, the dorao are sure checking alot of the boxes!
Most of the fish are running 5-15 pounds. Fun legit fish. Lots of those are so voracious that they are crashing the boats which are ending up with some fast easy limits. Many many of these fish are getting thankfully released.
But, wait…there’s also the big Mo’s out there as well. The pigs. The hogs. These bull dorado are all business and when you have a 20-60 pound fish pulling line and jumping and charging the boat, it’s more than most folks can handle and alot of fun. But, we’re also losing alot of these fish which is just part of the sport! You just never know when that next fish will or might be the fish of a lifetime.
But, the dorado continue to be the big story for our fishing.
That’s not saying there are no other species. We’ve got shots at billfish, wahoo, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, pompano, snapper, pargo and cabrilla. The problem is that everyone is having way too much fun with the dorado and don’t care to invest the time or change tactics to chase the other species. Which is just fine as well! Go have fun!
We did get a little rain over the weekend and some jags of southern winds made it a tad bumpy for a few afternoons, but otherwise, there were always fish to be caught and places to find fish less windy.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
Tailhunter Fish Report 