That’s a BIG “goldfish!” Doug McInnis was slow trolling a big ladyfish for roosters when this huge dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro / cubera snapper) came up and chomped it. He only had 40-pound test on and says the line came up incredibly frayed from the rocks! These are difficult catches! Captain Armando is rightfully beaming! They also hooked a rooster and about a big black marlin that got away.
Then…look what Doug McInnis and John Eddy did the 2nd day! They followed up one day of big pargo with MORE big pargo plus a dorado as well again with Captain Armando!
Bob LeBrun is all smiles under that hat with his first and largest roosterfish that he fought on light line for about 45 minutes in a tough battle. The fish bit a ladyfish early in the morning just off the Las Arenas lighthouse with Captain Gerardo. Good release on the fish too!
You just never know! Our buddy, Gama Flores from Desert Hot Springs CA was trolling in deep water for wahoo with Captain Pancho and both times got slammed by these huge dog-tooth snapper in deep water!
Dennis O’Brien from the San Diego area, caught and released his first roosterfish of about 40 pounds and topped it with some dorado to take home also!
She always does great! Check out Alicias Clegg’s huge jack crevalle! These are tough fish and the Mexican name for them is “toro” (bull) for just that reason!
Accomplished fisherman Al “El Al” Schneider from Orange CA has fished our area for many years but got his personal best roosterfish this week right off the sand near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Shelly Donnell has been a friend of ours for almost 20 years and brought his sister down this time. Fishing with Captain Joel, they got a nice mess of dorado fishing north of La Paz. Shelly and Gaby are from Portland OR area.
Big smiles and another dorado for Steve Harvey from the San Diego area. If you found the right spot, the dorado could be thick at times!
Nothing wrong with this big roosterfish and Bennett Clegg who had a banner day with a number of big roosters caught and released.
Some folks turn their noses up at triggerfish forgetting how tough they fight and how tasty they can be plus can provide lots of action. Andrew Harvey is holding a really big one here!
GREAT WEATHER BUT ERRATIC FISHING WEEK
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 16-23, 2017
Great weather but a mixed bag of fishing this past week. The key was finding the warm water. Some patches of cold water moved in from the south so some of our more southern fishing spots like around Las Arenas were extremely picky but if you found the blue water areas more to the north, there were fish to be found.
LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS/ SUENOS
The bite was really stick. Some might call it stink. Waters came from south and down deep bringing colder off-color water into the area and while there were some interesting fish caught, it was truly picky fishing at best. There were some scattered dorado. A few marlin hooked…most lost; an occasional wahoo; and some nice roosters and big pargo (best dog-tooth fishing I have ever seen!), but even those required some real work and luck to find. Overall, just not real great fishing. Fortunately, having the two fleets we moved folks over to fish with our La Paz Fleet where most found some better action.
LA PAZ
Dorado fishing held most of the interest for the week. But, it varied from place-to-place and literally from boat-to-boat. Five boats could be in a single area and two of those boats could be going crazy on the dorado. A third boat would get maybe 2 fish. The other two boats wouldn’t even get a bite but be only yards away from the others.
The next day, the boats that caught nothing would be the new superstar boats. Just no way to figure.
Likewise, areas that looked so promising with lots of sargasso and good currents wouldn’t produce anything while areas that looked like the desert without a sign of fish would suddenly explode with fish!
One note of importance. Lots of opportunities being lost by folks using our live bait. The live bait is big. Folks get a little impatient and not letting these dorado get the baits down into their moths and pulling the baits too soon. A little patience goes a long way. Let these dorado eat!
Another note, we could be into some typical seasonal afternoon showers this week with some predictions of afternoon rains. Just that time of year! Feeling very tropical down here.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – 8 (Sunny hot and getting hotter. Great weather!)
Water – 7 (Still recovering from that mess 2 weeks ago, but getting bluer and warmer)
Fishing – 7 (Started slow but got better)
Fish Catching – 8 (Everyone catching)
SPECIES – 8 (I counted 15 different species caught this past week)
THE BIG PICTURE COMPLETE FISHING REPORT
Chris Layne came for “one big fish.” We all tried hard to get him a marlin, but he was pretty happy with this giant roosterfish he caught and released near the Las Arenas lighthouse in shallow water!
Whopper slug of a rooster fish for Bennett Clegg from Sacramento CA who has a knack for hitting big roosters when he fishes with Captain Victor of the Tailhunter Fleet. He released the fish. He and his wife hooked 7 large roosters that day.
Chuck Chandler from Alaska landed this big boy dog-tooth snapper off the rocks not far from Punta Arenas while staying at the Rancho Costa lodge in Bahia de los Muertos.
We hooked several wahoo this week, but couldn’t seem to get them to the boat, unlike our amigo, Gary Wagner who rocked this ‘hoo while visiting his place at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
San Diego was well-represented this week with Andrew Harvey who had some nice days of dorado fishing toward the end of this week with his dad.
One of our friends from Canada, MacKay Spence, shows off one of his dorado.
Good start for Jason Amaro from New Mexico who spent the week fishing with us.
Yes, a couple of yellowfin popped into the mix like this one by our San Diego amigo, Scott Harvey.
She’s a regular roosterfish queen whenever she visits, Captain Victor with Alicia Clegg and ANOTHER roosterfish for the report! She and husband, Bennett, hooked and released 7 roosters that day.
Sydney Wagner with big smiles and another nice cabrilla for dinner at her dad’s place at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos.
Captain Joel with Murielle Chacron from Los Angeles and two of their several nice dorado they hooked fishing north out’ve La Paz.
Carlos didn’t catch this big tuna, but this was caught by Captain Rigo off the south end of Cerralvo Island fishing for the Tortugas. Big tuna keep popping up, but we can’t seem to get them stuck! This one was estimated over 100 pounds. If you look closely, you’ll see where a shark took a chunk off it’s back!
Miles Wagner from Colorado and Garrett Clark from Kansas have themselves a mess of mahi mahi steaks for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa Hotel. Dorado are getting bigger!
Tony and Alex with some of their catch at Muertos Bay. Tony caught and released his first rooster that day.
Alicia and Bennett Clegg got themselves a good day of dorado fishing after catching and releasing a number of dorado that day out’ve La Paz.
STARTS SLOW GATHERS SPEED
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 9-16, 2017
I hate to ever blame things on the full moon, but I need something to use as a scapegoat because early in the week fishing was horrendous. We had some pretty good fishing going then the week started like a flat tire on a old bicycle. It wasn’t going anywhere!
Then, as the week progressed, fishing got better! I don’t know why. I didn’t see many changes in the weather (hot) or water (warming and bluer) so the only thing I can point to is the full moon because as it waned the fish seemed to wake up.
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
With our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the numerous dorado we had been seeing that were all over the place, but not interested in feeding suddenly woke up and got hungry. Action improved as the week went on with mostly 5-20 pound mahi-mahi north of town. Add to that some great action on some huge jack crevalle and inshore species like snapper and cabrilla plus bonito and the week ended up on an up-note!
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, pretty much the same thing. Early in the week, it was really slack. The conditions looked good but the fish just weren’t helping us out. Then, it got better and better each day.
Small football tuna (and some larger ones for commercial boats); big roosterfsh; a few wahoo; some larger pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and snapper and more dorado turned a nervous week into alot of variety!
Can only hope it gets better!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT FOR THE WEEK
WEEK AT A GLANCE (1-10 being best)
Fishing: 5 (respectably OK at best. Last week it was a 1 or 2!)
Catching: 3 (some of the biggest fish still getting away…wahoo/ marlin/ dorado/roosterfish/ pargo)
Variety: 8 ( incredible variety possible: dorado, tuna, wahoo, blue marlin, sailfish, striped marlin, roosterfish, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, bonito, cabrilla, palometa, pompano, red snapper, yellow snapper, triggerfish all hooked this week)
Weather: 7 (hot and sunny in the mid-90’s with evening and afternoon breezes)
Water: 4 (still messed up from last week’s red tide and cold upwellings, but improved over last week’s 2)
As a reward for finishing his first year at Texas A&M University with good grades, Quinn Mattson from Austin TX got to come down with his dad to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing, and over two days latched onto 10 huge rooster fish at Las Arenas getting 5 to the panga for photos including this monster. Notice the great squint as he holds the rooster for a photo in very tired arms! All fish were released. He was fishing with Captain Arcangel.
Jed Hinkle, state senator from Montana, on his first trip to Mexico and first time fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz hooked and released 5 of these big rooster fish in a day right off the rocks and beach at Las Arenas east of La Paz all on live ladyfish in shallow water.
I”m sorry we didn’t get Chris Layne his marlin, but his first day started out with a nice rack of dorado north of La Paz fishing with his wife Anna!
Lisa Hernandez from Orange Co. saved the day with this big rooster she cradles in her arms just off the rocks at Punta Perrico east of La Paz. The fish was released.
Cathy Corda, a regular visitor yearly to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz with her favorite captain Pancho, poses with her wahoo she caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos on a deep running Rapala.
Yes, some football tuna popped up . Nick Ferguson on the beach in front of the Rancho Costa Hotel in Bahia de los Muertos.
Big smiles from Captain Pancho and Kimiko Inoue and a trophy cabrilla that ended up partially prepared at Tailhunter Restaurant as delicious sashime! She and husband Keith also got some tuna as well.
These two had the best week of fishing! Duane and son, Quinn with a pair of the larger dorado they caught with Captain Rogelio and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet over near Las Cruces.
She’s the best! Michele Conklin, our amiga, from Washington fished hard when fishing was tough and pulled out this nice big snapper!
Last week, for some reason, this great roostefish photo of Randy Kuntz didn’t post and it’s a beauty of a fish. Big smiles and a strong release! Well done, Randy!
Good start for long-time friend, Steve Duran (left) and Zainul Abedin (right) both from the Los Angeles area with a dorado and two awesome-eating barred pargo.
Montana in the house with Captain Gerardo once again and a great photo and big rooster for Kyndall Hinkle on her first time visiting us! She got several of these and released them all!
Captain Arcangel with Duane Mattson from Texas with one of several nice roosters he battled and released!
Alot of dog-tooth snapper for Mike Feign from Colorado! Wow. Thanks to Gary Wagner owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia de los Muertos for the photo of Mike.
Lisee Ferguson from Colorado with Gary Wagner and a pretty barred pargo ready for dinner at Rancho Costa!
Yes! The roosters are big! Mark Buchanan and Lisa Hernandez pose with another big rooster before letting it go. The rocks of Punta Perico right behind them. These fish are in shallow water!
Tony from Montebello CA and Juan Licon from Carson CA with a nice pair of Muertos Bay dorado to pack home!
Check out the great variety of inshore fish from Kyndall and Jed Hinkle from Montana. Yellow snapper…cabrilla…palometa…triggerfish…pompano all in the mix and all great-eating! Jed and Kyndall came to visit from Montana.
First day on the water for Quinn Mattson turned out to be epic with one of several huge roosterfish he took just off the Punta Arenas lighthouse and released!
Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia Suenos got out with his daughter, Sydney, on a successful day for gallos!
A visit from Canada and a tough jack crevalle for MacKay Spence and Captain Armando.
Captain Arcangel was on fire this week with the roosterfish. Here with Duane Mattson and another rooster for him! All fish released.
Kris Kobach from Kansas with Gary Wagner and another big catch-and-release roosterfish this week!
Just an amazing week of roosterfish! Jed Hinkle with a monster and captain Gerardo running the boat right off the rocks. Fish was released.
Nice smattering of yellowfin tuna this week. Quinn and his dad, Duane, got this one in addition to roosterfish.
Strangest story of the week…one of our La Paz fishing boats was out north of La Paz and found this pig swimming out in the middle of the ocean. The little guy was shivering when pulled aboard and no idea what or why he was doing way out there. He was brought back to shore and reportedly doing well. No…he was not made into carnitas and eaten!
NOT GREAT BUT FISHING REBOUNDS!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-9, 2017
It wasn’t great fishing. It was good at best, but “spectacular” compared to the previous week when cold waters from Hurricane Dora to the south pushed in and turned waters green and cold. Then warmer waters from the north set off a huge red tide algae bloom that not only turned waters the color of rust and wine but chokes oxygen out’ve the waters and shut down what had been a very promising bite.
(I barely had any photos two weeks ago!!!)
Bottom line for this past week was that fishing was definitely on the re-bound as waters recovered daily from nature’s quirks! But still some “bumps” in the fishing. Not back to status quo yet.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
The week started slow. Very slow. To some degree waters remained chillier than normal and relatively off-color as it re-bounded from the previous week.
But, the fish definitely woke up about mid-week led by some outstanding rooster fish. It wasn’t consistent, but some days we had 2, 3, 4 or more hookups per panga with big fish close to shore in shallow water and taking it out on many first-time anglers. The “smaller fish” were 30 pounders. The larger fish were in the 70-80 pound class and willing to hit live ladyfish. It all depended on getting the lady fish which were like gold. All fish were released.
The amount of variety was more akin to May or April fishing. When the fish finally got with the program, we had not only rooster fish, but dorado, barred pargo, yellow and red pargo (snapper), dog-tooth snapper, big cabrilla (seabass), jack crevalle, sierra, triggerfish, pompano, palometa, some wahoo, a few football tuna and even some marlin hooked! You just never knew what would hit. Some boats did better than others but compared to last week at least the fish gave it some effort to the relief of all of us! Still scratchy fishing to where it SHOULD be, but things improving.
Last minute note: As of writing this, an offshore storm on the Pacific side on Saturday shut down fishing at Las Arenas with big waves and winds and dropped fishing back down. Can’t win. Nature always comes out on top. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, it bounces back.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
The red tide that shut down fishing a week ago it taking it’s time leaving us. The water was so choked with algea that some places almost looked like someone had poured red wine into the sea. You could put your hand into the ocean and not see your hand! That’s how bad it was and all that algae depletes the oxygen from the fish. The fish were lock-jawed all last week and it took awhile for them to get with the program this week.
Things got better as the week went on. Not great, but better. Waters turned blue again although still not up to speed. Fish activity increased as both dorado and marlin can easily be seen. The problem is that they didn’t alway bite or show much interest. However, as the week progressed, the dorado started to wake up. There were some nice flurries of 5-25 pound mahi-mahi and some full-on dorado rodeos with multiple rods bending. But one boat could be going full tilt and just a handful or yards away, another boat could be staring at limp rods. Same with the marlin. They’re showing up more and more but just not quite ready to go yet!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Lots of reasons to love this great photo! First…nice roosterfish just off the beach! Second…Claire Swift’s big smile on her first roosterfish that she REALLY came down to catch! Third…in 20 years of working for us, Captain Arcangel rarely smiles for the camera although he’s a fun guy! He’s got it going on here in this photo! They had 3 other fish that got away also! This beauty was released as well! Claire is from Dana Point CA.
Great start of the week of fishing for our great Washington friends, Grant and Carol Darby with Captain Gerardo and a nice box of dorado!
Every year, Diego Jimenez from Loveland, Colorado comes to visit us and does well. Check out the big roosterfish with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.
We call him the “Mayor.” Butch Tropez from Los Angeles brought the family to see us this year and usually makes at least one or two trips a year to come fish. He got into the dorado right off the Punta Perrico rocks just outside of Muertos Bay. Don’t have to go far for these fish!
Grant Darby from Washington has fished with us a zillion years, but got into three sizeable roosters with Captain Gerardo and said, “No mas!” These fish are a handful. All released. Grant had fun on the light tackle.
This lady can fish! Verda Boyd visits us every year and our amiga loves to fish…so much so that she left husband Tim back in the San Francisco area and came alone! He wishes he had come now after she had a full 3 days of pretty good fishing with Captain Victor!
From Colorado, Craig Weitzer was fishing with Captain Armando when he got two huge roosters . The largest got released but this one was not able to be let go, but the meat was donated. His first two roosters were beasty-fish!
Another of our regular great amigos who visits us sometimes twice a year and loves fishing with Captain Jorge, John McVey got into this week’s dorado bite.
This lady always gets her fish! Big roosterfish for Kelly Jimenez (Happy Anniversary, amiga!) with Captain Pancho. The fish was released .
Limits for our friend and first time, visitor Jeff Swift from Dana Point, who got a limit of dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. (Those wily pargo and cabrilla are waiting for your next trip, Jeff!)
Carol Darby had quite a week with the dorado and also this roosterfish that’s almost as big as she is and a smiling big Captain Gerardo! They caught the fish not far off the Arenas lighthouse on light tackle. They also released the fish.
Verda Boyd has a nice variety of fish for the day with Captain Victor and Carlos including dorado, a big pompano, triggerfish, a barred pargo and a palometa! All great eating!
Captain Jorge and Diego Jimenez started his week off with some pretty dorado to fill the ice chest.
Wow! We’ve had some big needlefish this season but this one is prehistoric! Captain Rogelio helps Carol Darby (longer than she is tall!) pose with this creature!
DORADO SEASON OFFICIALLY ON…FOR AT LEAST THIS WEEK!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 17-25, 2017
It’s been a long time…several seasons actually…since I’ve been able to blow the “dorado trumpet!” After about 2 1/2 seasons where el Nino conditions kept the dorado eenie-meenie small or almost non-existent, it’s nice to have the mahi-mahi back in our waters and, while not beasts, they’re nice good-sized fun fish that kept rods bent and folks (especially first-timers) happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say these two words…”DORADO LIMITS!”
While there’s still a bit of chill and wind in the mornings, it’s warm and sunny during the day and some of the best conditions we’ve seen in awhile. I’m sure that has had a lot to do with the improved fishing. Still some bump out there, but surely better than it has been and, although I hear there’s been a crazy heat wave in much of the lower U.S. and Pacific States, it’s been a balmy 95 here most of the week.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
There’s still some big rooster fish around. There’s still wahoo around. But, our counts surely didn’t show it this week although we did get a few of each. For once, there was something else to chase and for alot of folks, the opted for fun and action chasing the dorado schools that moved in rather than spend long hours chasing the bigger home run fish like the roosters and wahoo.
The roosters we did get were in the 25-60 pound class. The wahoo…well…we lost most of them but were about 30 pounders.
The excitement focused on some of the best dorado fishing we’ve seen in ages. Not huge fish, but good respectable 8-20 pounders and we were getting limits or near limits on some days with fish being released, especially smaller or female fish! There were also some larger bulls in the 25-30 pound class as well.
Another good sign is that these dorado will wake up the billfish and sure enough there was a huge black marlin and a blue marlin hooked as well!
Still some white bonito, pompano, huge jack crevalle and pargo mixed in as well.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Another nice mix of fish with dorado leading the way. Again, it’s been awhile since dorado have been center-stage and even a longer time since I’ve been able to say that both our La Paz and our Las Arenas fleets are into the fish!
Like Las Arenas, the dorado have been that nice-grade medium-sized with occasionally larger bulls and not unusual to get early limits. The issue, mostly is finding the fish. There’s still some thick cold green water muddling around the island so the idea is to find the warmer water and blue currents. It’s so markedly different you can stand in the panga and see the two waters next to each other like night-and-day.
In the inshore waters, you can have fun all day if you’re tired of chasing dorado. In the rocks we had some great…but frustrating acition…on tough pargo, cabrilla and amberjack that rocked alot our efforts!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE MINI-VIDEO FISHING REPORT for WEEK of May 21-28, 2017
WEEK at a GLANCE (1-10)
Weather – 8 (what an improvement although still some wind!) But sunny and great!
Fishing – 6 (better than it has been all season, but lots of room to get better)
Catching – 5 (only because we lost so many darned good fish!)
Quality of Fish – 7 (Wahoo / big roosters / big cabrilla and pargo/ lost marlin and tuna)
Bait – 1 (Las Arenas almost non-existent) . 4 (La Paz not bad but not great)
THE BIG PICTURE AND REPORT
Largest pargo liso of the season and one of the largest we’ve seen in a long time for Oregon amigo, Cody Johnson and Captain Pancho.
Captain Armando went out with Dwayne and Debbie Petenaude from the San Diego Anglers Fishing Club that’s here with us this week and put this beast wahoo in the boat!
Scott Damron from Oregon was the un-questioned roosterfish king of the week with 5 or 6 huge roosterfish (I lost count!) taken that averaged 60-80 pounds! All released like this big boy with a hand from Captain Pancho.
From Huntington Beach CA, first-timer with Tailhunter Sportfishing Mark Garrity and his wahoo with Captain Gerardo.
Great mix of eating fish for Dave Codding from Idaho and Captain Armando including big triggerfish, a dorado and some nice pargo.
Our good amigo, Tom Mullican from Idaho finally put a wahoo in the box after getting bit off or losing several during the week. With Captain Jorge!
Another huge roosterfish for the Damron family! Dale Damron used to be a charter captain in Oregon and is all smiles with Captain Pancho for another catch-and-release giant roosterfish.
Paul Markowitz had only one day to fish with us, but hit a homerun with this wahoo. Paul is from Idaho.
Kyle Monsrud really wanted to get a roosterfish and got this beauty fishing out of Las Arenas with our Tailhunter fleet. Kyle is from Portland and released the fish.
Gorgeous bull dorado for Mark Garrity of Huntington Beach CA. One of our largest dorado so far. We are seeing more and more dorado this season! He was fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleeet north of town.
Good eating meat with this trophy cabrilla taken by Kirk Petre from Colorado who pulled this nice fish outta the rocks north of La Paz.
Captain Arcangel with the Duffy boys from New York with quite a variety including red snapper, dorado and wahoo.
Deanna Damron with Captain Adolfo had just hooked and fought a huge roosterfish but came up short, but right after, hooked this big old barred pargo.
Kyle and Holli Monsrud from Portland with a handful including a big bull dorado and a huge jack crevalle while fishing with our La Paz fleet.
Another nice wahoo on the first try! New York in the house!
Is this a big needlefish or what? Captain Adolfo gives Deanne Damron a hand with this monster!
Well-done Kyle! A good week for some big dorado like Kyle’s bull here.
WINDS LAY DOWN AND FISH WAKE UP!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 21-28, 2017
What a difference a week makes and what a difference in the fishing when the winds give us a break! For weeks, we’ve been lamenting the winds and how it affected the fishing, but we finally got the winds to dial-it-back for the most part and although fishing wasn’t WFO, or even great, it was 500% better than it has been with lots of variety and big fish. I think this week I saw over a dozen different species caught including wahoo, tuna, marlin, roosterfish, several species of pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, pompano, sierra, several species of bonito, triggerfish, snapper and more! You just never knew what you were going to hook up!
LAS ARENAS TAILHUNTER FLEET
Usually, this is the area where we get the most action and the most variety, but that just wasn’t the case this past week. This is where the bigger fish were hanging out! We must have lost 4 out’ve every 5 wahoo hooked up. Early in the week, I don’t think we landed a single wahoo and it wasn’t until later in the week when the guys started putting some ‘hoo into the pangas and not losing so many. In their defense, these are fast powerful fish with sharp teeth, but it would have been nice to land a few more!
We also got some huge roosterfish. The average rooster ran about 60 pounds this week with a number of fish in the 80 pound class. These were beasts and you had to catch the big foot-long ladyfish to use for bait. There’s a reason we’re called the roosterfish capital of the world.
We also hooked some striped marlin and rounded things out with bonito, triggerfish and some jack crevalle, reef fish and dorado. One of our guys had on a 50-pound tuna lost at color after about a 30 minute battle as well!
This was the best fishing we’ve seen in the area all year. Nothing spectacular by our standards, but any improvement was welcome. It can only get better. We did have one day where the winds blew our folks all over the place but they still caught fish. But, mostly this is bigger fish we’re seeing. So, you either get big fish and hit home run, or you don’t do so well. There’s not a lot of “in-between” action right now. If you chase roosterfish or wahoo or marlin, if you get one, you’re a hero. But you could also be one of the boats that gets goose-egged.
The biggest issue is bait. For all intents and purposes, there’s no live bait to be had so we’re using dead bait. We are selling bags of fresh frozen mackerel in the mornings and some of the guys are bringing fresh dead squid as well.
Fly fishing is a non-issue. We’ve had a handful of flyfishers this season, but they’ve done OK because they were also willing to use conventional gear and have some fun. Some of the fly fishing only outfitters in town are really hurting. If you’re coming with a flyrod, be ready to use conventional gear and you’ll have a good time. Bring the flyrod just-in-case the opportunity presents itself, but not only has it been pretty breezy to throw the rod, but also with no live bait to chum with, it’s hard to get the fish to come up.
Conditions are improving so have our fingers crossed and like I said, this was the best consistent bite we’ve seen.
LA PAZ TAILHUNTER FLEET
Normally, this is where the larger fish are found and the variety is over at Las Arenas. It’s been just the opposite this past week with fishing steadily improving as the week went on!
We got into some nicer dorado…in fact, some of the nicest dorado we’ve seen in two seasons. Plus there were big cabrilla, pargo, triggerfish and snapper to be had as well. Really some nice action and just like at Las Arenas, regretfully so many big fish lost, especially in the rocks. I think we lost about 60% of the hookups to inexperience of to rocks. But, still fun.
My captains are telling me the conditions are looking great. There were places where dorado and marlin were jumping everywhere, but just weren’t ready to chew quite yet. There’s sargasso weed building up everywhere which is a great sign for more dorado. They say it’s just about ready to bust loose if the water temps edge up just a degree or two more!
Hopefully soon!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Fishing Quality – 4 (not many big fish but we are seeing them!)
Fishing Quantity – 6 (lots of action on smaller to medium fish)
Weather – 7 (Sunny but windy and not too hot)
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT
Raquel Johnson from Phoenix AZ on her first trip to La Paz only had one day to fish and scored this nice rooster right off the rocks just outside Bahia de los Muertos with Captain Victor for the Tailhunter Sportfishing Fleet. The fish was released.
Robin Weber from Washington lives in La Paz for part of the year and was trolling a Rapala behind his 75’ sailboat not too far offshore this huge yellowtail slammed him! Between trying to control a sailboat under full sail and battling the big fish he had his hands full, but finally got the fish to gaff. Estimated over 50 pounds.
Hefty barred pargo for our amigo, Gary Wagner from Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
Ben Lindell from La Grande, Oregon on his first trip to La Paz was fishing in Bahia de los Muertos with the Tailhunter Fleet and ran into a thick school of amberjack in the shallows and pulled several out on light tackle as well as big triggerfish!
Gary Wagner helps out Jen Wilson from Colorado with a sunset biter of a big jack crevalle.
WINDS BACK UP BUT GOOD VARIETY AT MUERTOS
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 1-7, 2017
Weather is warming and a great time to be in La Paz this past week, but lingering winds made fishing difficult in some areas and during various parts of the day.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS
This is where we had everyone fishing this week. With the winds back up, it was easier to send folks here where fishing was closer to shore; there was variety and action (especially with so many one-time fishermen this week); and there was more protection for the winds.
We had some shots at yellowtail and there were some tuna boils, but none of the bigger game fish showed up. But, also we had quite a few folks just fishing either for the first time or they just had one day and we wanted them to have some fun and action rather then trying for home runs.
So, we did get into some nice variety.
There were some spots of smaller dorado. In the structures, we found some nice schools of amberjack, pargo and cabrilla. Closer to the beaches, pompano and jack crevalle offered some tough battles as well as sierra.
Roosterfish in the 10-40 pound class were found off the shore breaks and in the rocky areas around Punta Perrico.
Another indication that the waters are warming and the season is changing is that there’s marlin starting to show up. They’re not quite ready to bite yet, but we did get one hooked this week and others were seen.
LA PAZ
Not much to report. As stated above, it was easier to just have everyone fish out’ve Las Arenas this past week. With winds coming from the north and blowing up whitecaps and chop, it was too exposed to fish comfortably. Nice to have two fleets so that we could move folks over to Las Arenas and still catch fish! It’s supposed to be fun, not an exercise in staying dry and keeping your kidneys from rattling! No one seemed to mind when we moved them!
That’s our story
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for WEEK of April 24-May 1, 2017
I’m a bit rusty as it’s been 4-months since my last video, but if you’re short on time, here it is in a nutshell! Forgive my verbal stumbling!
PAST WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – Pretty windy at times. Sunny. Daytime temps high 70’s to low 80’s. Nights high 60’s.
Water – Mostly blue and clear but choppy from winds some days.
Fishing: 5 on a scale of 10. Good action on bonito. Big fish, but many lost. Yellowtail surprised us.
THE BIG PICTURE
Attaching photo of Patty Killian’s big amberjack. She and Tracy Chung were with Capt. Chito and she fought the fish for a long time . As the fish got to the boat and was right next to it, the hook just came out. Simply came out of the mouth. The fish was flapping on the surface and quick thinking Chito when he realized that moved fast with a long reach and gaffed it quick as it was swimming away from the boat on the surface. You can see where he barely got the gaff in near the tummy. Chito and Patty rocked it. She’s from Portland.
Paul Nagata has some fun with his yellowtail along with buddy Michi Nakota and Captain Pancho who has a big pompano to go along with the forktails. The amigos are from San Francisco.
Now THIS is a big yellowtail because Paddi is 6’5″ and this is a horse of a fish! Caught at the north end of Cerralvo using jigs and fishing with Captain Hugo.
Always cracking up! Jeff Killian from Oregon poses with his nice yellowtail on the beach at Muertos.
From Colorado, Jeff Ferguson, holds a huge sierra! Jeff was staying at the Rancho Costa in Muertos. Thanks for the shot, Gary!
You know the sierra are big when they’re almost…not quite…as big as the yellowtail! Michi Nakota and Paul Nagata have some good eating in store!
Big smiles for Angie Meehan from Montana who just had one day to fish driving up from Cabo San Lucas and had a big jack crevalle to show off plus hooking other fish for her first time on salt water!
Captain Armando and Jeff Killian showing off some of the big sierra we had this week near Muertos.
First yellowtail is a fine one for Michi Nakota getting a hand on the gaff from our buddy, Paul Nagata.
Angie Meehan again from Montana holds up her sierra. She had two dorado on the line, but got away.
John Chung, Captain Armando and Jeff Killian had a pretty good day on the water with some hefty yellowtail and three others got off!
Roosterfish for Jen Wilson from Colorado right inside of Bahia de los Muertos. Caught and released!
If you know how to fish iron, here’s some samples of the iron that worked this week on the yellowtail, but most of the fish were caught on mackerel which are abundant right now.
WIND BACK BUT SO ARE THE YELLOWTAIL!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 24-May 1, 2017
Just when I thought the winter winds were finally behind us and we were forward into the warmth of the season, Mother Nature came up with a (hopefully) final reminder that she can do what she wants and is entitled to be fickle. After several really nice weeks we were into double-digit winds again for the better part of the week, mostly coming up in the mornings (ugly) then at night (nice…to cool things down).
It was still sunny and a great place to be for vacation, but it did make for some really rough fishing some days.
By the same token, just when it looked like we were into our “warm water species” it was like the clock turned backwards a month or two. Not a terribly bad thing because we still got some really nice fish. But they were the cooler water fish that we hadn’t seen in awhile.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
What I said above was probably best reflected in our catch this past week from Muertos Bay and working around Cerralvo Island.
In the past few weeks, we’ve seen more and more warm water species like tuna, wahoo and such. Barely any cold water species!
Well, I’m not sure what happened. As mentioned, the winds did come back but the water surface temperatures stayed pretty warm about 72-75 degrees. All I can think of is that maybe the turbulence brought up some of the deeper cooler waters from down below so there was a sub-surface thermocline that caused the cold water species to come up and get active.
For sure, not much in the way of the bluewater fish (a few dorado) but holy cow…we got big yellowtail all of a sudden! Maybe our best yellowtail week of the year and this is already MAY! This is what we should have been catching in March! These yellowtail were 20-40 pound slugs and we probably lost 3 times as many as were caught. Many went right back to the rocks or simply busted off for other reasons.
Areas at both the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island produced fish willing to eat mackerel, squid, Rapalas and jigged iron. They also showed up just off the rocky areas at Punta Perico and Castillo near the Arenas lighthouse. These are heavy, healthy powerful fish and the same areas produced pargo and cabrilla as well. Generally fish we associate with cooler water fishing!
It was’t wide open and it wasn’t every day and some boats struggled ever day despite best efforts from the captains and anglers themselves, but there were quality fish to be found.
In addition, we had some of the largest sierra I have seen in a long time. These were thick long and more like baby wahoo than big mackerel! Great eating and we just haven’t seen many of them all season until this week. There’s also lots of bonito for action including white bonito which are great eating and have a soft pink meat not unlike their big cousin tuna.
Some rooster fish around, but hard to tell since not many folks are fishing for them right now and are chasing the more edible fish.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
For our La Paz Fleet fishing straight north out’ve the bay and around Espirito Santo Island, they were most affected by the winds which come mostly from the north making it a rough rough trip to the fishing grounds then getting bounced around until the winds settle down in the day.
There’s a few dorado around, but most of the focus was on the yellowtail and amberjack around the island with a number of big fish lost, but some really nice amberjack in the 30-60 pound class caught. A few rooster fish around mixed with pargo, cabrilla and triggerfish.
PACK FOR A PURPOSE
Thanks for Paul Nagata and Michi Nakota who hauled down an ice chest full of school supplies, dental supplies and medical things for our charities! Thanks, guys!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
I lke putting first-timers up. Especially great guys like John Pol all the way from Alberta, Canada who told me he had never fished in the ocean and his first fish turns out to be a yellowfin tuna that he battled for 2 hours! Nice start! Next day he rolls a 50-pound roosterfish and his last day, a fat pompano (picture down below).
Darrin Williams is another first timer who came to visit this week and had one day full of bonito bendo then his 2nd day ran into some nice dorado north of La Paz. He’s from the Bay Area and runs a very popular basketball academy in the Bay Area. Check him out on Google. Great to have him visit!
You probably wont’ see many great photos like this one. Great colors and this is what a tuna should look like! Roger Thompson our amigo living in La Ventana was working Cerralvo Island with Captain Hugo and rocked this bad boy on some chunked squid.
Eli Rush poses with about a 45-pound amberjack he took off Espirito Santo Island. Eli is from San Diego. It was a good day of action as they also got into alot of big bonito.
Todd Ross from Granite Bay CA and Ken McConnell from Chico CA are two more first timers who got into the bonito as well as this speedy wahoo while fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.
Amigo Gavin Chun has fished with us several times and shows off some nicer dorado from La Paz as well as one of several nice cabrilla he caught. Gavin is from San Francisco.
Big bonito like this are really tough to pull in, let alone hold up for a photo, but there’s lots of bonito providing action right now like this one in the hands of Julianne Argent from San Diego.
It’s our Canadian amigo, John Pols again, this time with a photo of his big pompano!
NICE WEEK ON THE WATER – FISHING WAKING UP!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 16-23, 2017
Kids here all heading back to school and “spring break” for Mexican kids comes to a close. It’s been a crazy busy two or three weeks with lots of folks on the beaches and on the water as these holidays are actually the largest in Mexico. Even bigger than Christmas in terms of traveling and visiting. It’s also been just great beach weather with highs in the mid-80’s and evenings in the low 60’s.
For fishing, it’s been a decent week. Not great. But not bad either. Lots of action but that needs some explaining. Everyone is catching fish, but we’re still transitioning from winter/ cooler to spring/warmer conditions so the fishing is still mixed up. Those pesky winter winds seemed to have finally calmed down. The last two weeks it’s been great weather to be on the water, but as I write this, the coming week, the winds are coming back up! So, it could be a bumpy week.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
If you wanted action this was a great place to fish all week. There’s tonnage of mackerel and ballyhoo in the bay. Still not much sign of sardines which doesn’t bode well for our fly fishers who have been watching the reports, but most of them don’t show up for awhile when the winds start dying down. Still, the sardines are what we like to see.
However, the schools of mackerel have drawn in big spots of bonito that are just ripping everyone up. It’s great fun, especially for a lot of our first-timers; snow birds; or light tackle folks. A dozen or two bonito a day with every bait hitting the water getting slammed is awesome sport! Most of the fish are getting tossed back to chew again, but there’s also white bonito in the mix which are pretty good eating. So, if your captains suggest you keep a bonito, don’t scrunch up your face! Keep it! Don’t tell folks it’s bonito and they will think it’s tuna! Honest. Seen it happen a lot, especially for the white bonito. Makes pretty good poke and sashimi too!
The other side of the great bonito explosion is that there’s also some nice 20-50 pound tuna in the area and near the south end of Cerralvo. The tuna are deeper and not as as as the scooting bonito! So, often as soon as a bait hits the water, the bonito blow up on it and the bait never has a chance to get down to the tuna or for the lumbering tuna (no slouch for speed) to get up and grab the bait.
However, yes, there’s some bigger model tuna around and we did get a couple. Squid is also working on them as well as the mackerel. Also, we have some wahoo swimming up in the same areas too!
There’s been some rooster fish action along the beaches, but it’s hard to gauge because everyone is out chasing the fast action on the bonito or looking for the tuna, wahoo or other species they can eat.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
For our anglers that fished with our La Paz fleet north out’ve La Paz and around Espirito Santo Island, the effects of the transition from cooler to warmer water is definitely evident.
The cooler water around the island is still holding nice yellowtail, some pargo and cabrilla. We hooked a number of yellowtail this week, but the problem is that these fish are tough and in the rocks and near reefs. So many fish were busted off. You really gotta lean into these fish or you’re gonna end up with some limp line and a frown. If you look at our numbers, it doesn’t look good, but it doesn’t tell the whole story because some big fish got lost.
Outside of the island, waters are warming and the sargasso weeds are starting to build up which are a great haven for the dorado. There’s not a lot yet, but the conditions look great. Blue water and sargasso are a great combo plus bait to eat! We just need the waters to warm a tad. We did get a few nicer mahi-mahi in the 20-pound class near San Juan de la Costa.
There’s some big roosters near the white sand beaches and along the rocks, cabrilla, pargo and triggers are around.
However, just like for our Las Arenas fleet, there’s big schools of bonito. Not only are the schools big, but the bonito are heffers too! Good rod-bending action, but getting through the bonito schools with your bait so you can get other species was an issue all week.
THE REDHEAD IS LOOSE!
First bottle out’ve the first case for a “test drive.”
Jason Hite zoomed down to the restaurant as soon as he heard we had the beer…and his band broke down on the way and he still was there to drink the first official bottle!
We wanted to welcome our new Tailhunter IPA to our Tailhunter Restaurant. It finally arrived and we have it for sale now at our place on the La Paz Malecon. It’s our first micro-brewed craft beer with more to follow and we’re excited and really proud to finally have it waiting for you all chilled up! It’s a micro-brew so it’s being hand-crafted and made only in small batches. It’s pretty tasty especially on a sunny La Paz afternoon!
That’s our story
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Jeff Brown from Minnesota on the 2nd of two weeks fishing with us and Captain Joel scored his share of nice yellowtail like this one off Espirito Santo Island, but still left enough in the water for future trips (He comes every year!) as a number of fish took ’em into the rocks! Yellowtail are tough fighters!
Now that’s a nice day of trophy cabrilla! Fishing with Captain Hugo they’re posed just inside of Bahia de los Muertos, it’s our good friends Roger and Donna Thompson with their amigo. Some great eating!
Tanner Whitmarsh from San Diego had himself a good few days of fishing (see other photos below) while staying at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay including a number of nice roosterfish like this beauty. Catch and release!
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa always gets fish and poses with a huge jack crevalle just off Punta Perrico rocks where nice schools of these jacks hang out. The fish was released.
Iron man, Roger Thompson from Long Beach and La Ventana was fishing the iron dropping a Salas 6X blue and white at the north east side of Cerralvo Island when he got chomped by this big boy cabrilla! Captain Hugo to the head to make the soup!
Kayak fishing can be pretty productive over the reefs just off the beach in Bahia de Los Muertos. Check out Tanner Whitmore with his two giant barred pargo! Thanks for the photos, Gary Wagner.
Two fishing brothers, Rod and Jeff Brown. Rods from Alaska and Jeff’s from Minnesota and always come to fish with us every year for a few weeks. They pose with a couple of nice yellowtail with Espirito Santo Island in the backgrounds. They also got cabrilla and snapper, but Rod tells me that over the two weeks alot of fish rocked them and busted off. All these fish hang out in rocky structure.
Donna Thompson with another big cabrilla makes the report again!
San Diego in the house! Trever and Tanner Whitmarsh with more of those nice barred pargo from just off the beach at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
NICE MIX OF QUALITY FISH
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 2-9, 2017
Happy Easter everyone!
In all honesty, not a bad week. Not a great week, but not a bad week either. Unless you counted lots of bonito for great action or a fun day to just get bent or take out the kids (lots of folks on Easter break), there were not alot of fish. However, the quality of the fish we caught were pretty impressive. So it was a week of quality over quantity with some nice trophy fish taken. For a good number of our clients, they got personal bests…largest fish ever!
Also, week-by-week, the winds are diminishing from the crazy erratic winter we endured…as did much of the western continent. So, although we had a bumpy windy day or two, for the most part, they were the exception, not the rule and looking at the coming week, that pattern looks like it’s gonna continue. We’ll be having more calm days than windy let’s-just-stay-on-the-beach days!
If you’re coming down, keep in mind that Holy Week is really a busy week in Baja. Not only are folks jammed down for spring break, but it’s also a really big holiday week for Mexico as well. Many families travel back to visit friends and relatives in Mexico plus many locals take the week off and expect the beaches to be jammed with campers, picnickers, boaters and more. This is probably NOT the week if you’re looking for piece and quiet at many beaches that are normally deserted so be prepared and join in the fun.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY
Not much in the way of pelagic species. We chased the tuna and wahoo and hoped for dorado, but nothing stuck. However, the inshore action kept things interesting with some sweet rooster fish between 20 and 40 pounds plus some big-boy snapper and pargo…especially the cargo mulatto (barred pargo). Just for fun and action, there were alot of bonito which folks had fun with “til’ my arms hurt!” So that made for some good rod bending.
Also, there’s some huge cabrilla (Mexican sea bass) and jack crevalle over the shallow reef areas near Punta Perrico and then at Cerralvo Island. Our guys slow trolling Rapalas or dropping iron and jigging really did some great fish.
Still no sardines to speak of but there’s ballyhoo, mackerel and caballitos.
LA PAZ
This is where our larger fish were this past week. Some hefty slugger yellowtail up to 40 pounds ended up in the boxes, but probably twice as many fish took guys into the rocks or ripped up the tackle. Also some nice amberjack as well in the same areas up to about 20 pounds were in the counts. One guy on his first trip told me, “these ocean fish don’t nibble!” Right. This isn’t trout fishing. These fish slam and head right back down to the structure and if you don’t lean into them and pull hard, you’re already toast!
There were also some nice yellow snapper, pargo and cabrilla caught as well as some smaller dorado.
That’s our story! God bless for a safe, happy and peaceful Easter and Easter week!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
The right kind! Slugger yellowtail for Jeff Brown who comes fishing with us every spring to enjoy some sunshine, fishing and his favorite Tailhunter captain Joel. He got this big yellow north of La Paz.
Roosters are back! Just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos, Beth McDonald is all smiles with her big fish. This was a catch-and-release fish and Beth is from Colorado Springs, CO and was staying at Rancho Costa in Muertos. Thanks to Gary Wagner for the photo.
Big boy jack crevalle just off the rocks for Colto Hallauer from San Diego. Thanks Gary Wagner for the photo.
Starting early! Zach Benisek is 13 years old and he brought his dad, Eric out and showed him how to land a nice roosterfish! That’s Muertos Bay in the background. The day was too windy to go out too far so roosters filled the gap inshore. Bravo to Zach for releasing the fish!
Our amigo from Wrangell AK, Rod Brown comes down for two weeks sometimes twice a year to fish with us and check out tis huge yellowtail he landed fishing with Captain Joel near Espirito Santo Island.
La Paz side has some roosters too! Eric Benisek was fishing Sunday in great conditions and caught and released another nice rooster!
Alaska in the house! Nice trophy cabrilla for Ken Ward nailed on a trolled Rapala near Punta Perico. Ken was staying at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay. Gracias to owner Gary Wagner for the photo.
Early season dorado for Jeff and Captain Joel! Normally, we’re not seeing dorado of this size so early, but Jeff Brown got two of these plus some snapper fishing out’ve La Paz.
Another rooster! Tanner Whitmarsh from San Diego was just outside of Bahia de los Muertos. He was staying at Rancho Costa. The fish was released.
Headed for the dinner plate! Eric Benisek has a yellowtail on the gaff taken near Espirito Santo Island.
CONDITIONS TRANSITION and PRODUCE VARIETY
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 25-April 2, 2017
It was an up-and-down week of fishing and weather as we transition from winter-to-spring, but things look promising. Basically, it was the same formula. When the winter winds blew, it was tough to get bait and tough to fish, even if the bait was available. When the weather laid down, there was spotty action with a mix of species. Nothing spectacular, but some OK catches. The season still hasn’t really kicked in yet so on the days when conditions were OK, some boats got fish while others had to really work hard and pick at it. There was really no pattern or consistency. The good side is that there aren’t many fishermen in town yet. Most of the folks around are spring-break or snow birds looking for a day or two of fishing, if even that.
But, let’s break it down. We actually had boats fishing with both of our fleets this past week as weather finally allowed us to put everyone out on both sides of the peninsula.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY
On the days we were able to get out, there were a few tuna around that were a nice grade, 15-40 pounds. Those fish were over by the island and eating chunked bits of fresh squid. Some days they would show up and other days, it was a gamble. If you went out there and put in the effort, but the fish didn’t show, sometimes it was too late to try to put in the time for other species. So, it was swinging for the fences. But every now and then a boat would connect.
Closer to Muertos Bay, there was a nice mix of fish including snapper, pargo, some nicer cabrilla over the rocky areas, bonito, jack crevalle and even a few sierra. The nicest surprise was finding some decent early-season rooster fish running 15-40 pounds. This was especially good on the windy days when we couldn’t get too far away from the beach which made for perfect hunting for the gallo. It’s good to know the roosters are around.
LA PAZ
We were finally able to put out our La Paz boats with more consistency this past week as there were some better days where the winds weren’t so erratic or strong. Finding bait was the issue. If the winds blew, then getting and finding the live bait became problematic. However, using a combination of trolling, jigging and baits, there was a good mix of fish, if not alot of them.
Hefty 30-45 pound yellowtail were taken and others lost in the rocks. There were even a few 15-20 pound dorado which is a bit nuts to have them so early since they are a warm water fish, but a good sign because the last two years, the dorado bite has been a bit anemic, especially with the larger dorado.
Inshore, there were triggerfish, jacks, roosters and bonito.
Daytime temps have been in the high-80’s to low 90’s, but cooler at night dropping pretty far down into the high 50’s.
BLESSED AND GRATEFUL…NOW LET”S GET FISHING!
Well…HECK YA!!!! We’re on our way home after almost 4 months on the road…13 shows and criss-crossing so many states! Just tore down the booth and packed it all up for another year in the van and we’re rolling and all I can hear in my ears is Jackson Browne singing “STAY!”
It’s our 21st year on the Tailhunter Tour and we started in Denver and finished in Bozeman, MT with another great show! Everywhere we went, nothing but smiles and hospitality. Thanks to each of you who made us feel so welcome and treated us like family on the road and for all of you who are coming to visit us in La Paz…”Let’s crank it up and let’s get fishing!”
We’ll see you in La Paz!
God bless you all!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Tailhunter Fish Report 