La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of April 17-26, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mornings and evenings have really been windy, but then usually diminishing by mid or later morning to sunshine although there were some cloudy days. Day time temps around 80-85, but not much humidity. Nights are cool. About 60 degrees. Overally a really nice time to be down here .
WATERS – Real simple. If it’s windy it’s going to be bumpy. At times, even white caps if the wind is blowing strong enough. But mostly calming down when the winds cut back later in the day.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, bonito, jack crevalle, pompano, triggerfish, roosterfish
BAIT: Live sardines and mackerel most days.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY
Amigo, Jeff got out north of La Paz towards Espirito Santo Island and rocked a nice fatty yellowtail!
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Well, the transition is one. It’s not quite winter conditions and not quite spring or summer. But it’s getting there.
It’s kind of a nice time to be here. Air temps are in the lower to mid-80’s without the humidity that comes later. Night are cool. Actually the nights and mornings can be VERY cool as I find myself wearing a sweatshirt wandering around in the evenings and especially launching boats in the morning. It can also still be very breezy and bumpy. A few days this week there were still whitecaps on the bay and that didn’t help fishing .
But overall, you can feel the change.
Cooler water fish like yellowtail are moving out. Some days we find them. Some days we don’t. Or the fish are lockjawed. The fish are overall moving deeper to find the colder water. Deep yo-yo jigs and live bait like mackerel or the larger sardines are still good for hitting 10-25 pound forkies.
The same areas are still producing some amberjack as well. But clearly, with waters warming and getting more blue, the cooler water fish are moving on.
But, we’re still getting some nice cabrilla and snapper along the rocks and over the reefs plus sierra and pompano nearer the sandy beach areas along with roosterfish that are now in the 5-30 pound class (all released).
Big pargo liso are here as well which have migrated into the areas around Cerralvo Island and south along the shore from Punta Arenas. We’re seeing some 20-30 pounders, but these are tough fish. Don’t underestimate them! If 10 of them bite, we’re lucky to get 1 or 2 to the boats! Vicious tenacious fish and among the most frustrating because you can see the schools on the surface and you throw a bait on them and it explodes and you literally get yanked outta your socks!
A few dorado here and there. We’ll see more as the waters warm and some marlin and sailfish now starting to show on the surface although their not quite ready to chew. Bonito and jack crevalle schools are also providing action!
The Easter and Spring Break crowds have mostly dissipated. Check out the difference at Tecolote Beach! Someone told me there were as many as 3,000 cars there daily during Holy Week. Yikes. More back to normal again!
Nice time to be here before the summer crowds come down, but nothing is anywhere near like Easter time!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 9-16, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Cooler than last week, but daytime temps still in the low 80’s. Nights and mornings a bit chilly down to the mid-50’s. Breezy at times.
WATER: Warming and getting bluer and clearer, but down deep it’s still chilly and dark, but changing every week. Nice mackerel and sardines for bait. Can get bumpy if the wind is blowing.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail (fewer), pargo liso, barred pargo, yellow snapper, roosterfish, bonito, sierra, jack crevalle.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tailhunter’s own and everyone’s favorite, Jorge Romero, was out north of town near Punta Coyote and the yellowtail weren’t being very cooperative, but he got this one on a live mackerel. Usually, he has a big smile, especially when he is fishing and he always catches fish.
Our amigo, Jimmy Williams was out at the north end of Cerralvo Island looking for yellowtail that never showed up, but Jimmy tied into some big pargo liso that are as tough as you can find down here for fighters! He and his pals also nailed some nice snapper. Jimmy thinks the yellowtail bite has dwindled.
Popular Captain Chito is one of the best. Poses here with a trophy cabrilla that I’m sure ended up whole in the fish box then onto the grill!
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A little cooler overall this week, but still clearly we’re on a warming trend with temps in the mid-80’s and mostly sunny days. Windy days can still pop up, but are more the exception than the rule. But, there’s still some breeze out on the water. Nights and early mornings are where you really need to take care because temps drop into the cooler mid-50’s.
With the warmer temps, the waters are also warming…on the surface. Down deeper waters are still cool. There’s a thermocline down about 40′ where the waters are darker and colder although surface temps show clearer, bluer water.
Lots of changes…
it would seem as predicted, the yellowtail bite for the season is tapering off. The fish are getting harder to find. Some days there are no biters. Even with all the great live bait like mackerel and sardines. Even dropping the jigs on them. When we do find them, there are fewer fish.
Just the way it is. Yellowtail are colder water fish and they are moving off to deeper cooler waters. Last year, our waters stayed cold so we were actually still hooking a few yellowtail into August. Unheard of!
But, the departure of the yellowtail doesn’t mean there’s a lack of action. There is still a good variety of fish to chase that are biting.
Most notable are the big schools of pargo liso (mullet snapper) that have moved into the shallows. These incredibly tough-fighting fish move in during this time of year to spawn and are both exciting and frustrating to hook! Some would argue that pound-for-pound, these might be the best slugger fish on our waters. With their sharp teeth, sharp gills, armor plating, powerful muscular backs and fins plus being in the rocky areas, these fish have anglers at a huge disadvantage! These fish range from about 5-40 pound right now.
Best spots so far have been the backside and north side of Cerralvo Island, the high spot off the south end of Cerralvo and Punta Perrico area near the Las Arenas lighthouse.
Not seeing any dorado just yet, but hopefully, the waters get warmer and the fish show up. We do know that there have been some sightings of tuna and marlin which are both warm water fish, but hook-ups from anglers to speak of at the moment.
Roosterfish are getting more active. Not the big pigs yet that go up to 100 pounds, but some sporty 20-30 pounder have been getting hooked and released over the sandy areas and shallow rocks south of Bahia Muertos and the east side of Espirito Santo Island.
Other species biting include some sierra, smaller amberjack, barred pargo, yellow snapper, triggerfish, jack crevalle and pompano.
A STILL A FEW SPOTS TO FILL TO COME FISHING IN LA PAZ!
We got a great response last week from these so I thought I’d put them up again…
Reservations are coming in daily and, after 30 years at this, we have so many great regulars who visit us year-after-year! Many dates are filled or filling pretty fast.
However, we have some limited spots here and there with some space just for you! Also, don’t forget that Alaska Air is now flying direct to La Paz. It’s the first time we’ve had direct flights in 12 years!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 1-8, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny mid-80’s to low 90’s in the day, but drops to high 50’s at night. Fewer windy days, but still some very windy gusty bouts here and there.
WATER: If the winds are blowing, can be rough and bumpy. The less wind the calmer the waters. Getting bluer and clearer. Waters warming and sargasso building up so maybe warm water fish like dorado will start moving in.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, dorado, dog-tooth snapper, barred pargo, pargo liso, yellow snapper, roosterfish, bonito, jack crevalle, golden trevally, triggerfish, sierra,
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A good day! Long-time Tailhunter friends of ours, Henry Vuong and Marline Casillas with a nice table of snapper, pargo, cabrilla, a sierra and a hefty yellowtail that Marline caught!
Brian Pierce just had one day to squeeze in for fishing and had a nice day with plenty of action including sierra, triggerfish, cabrilla and pargo. All great eating.
Finally some larger roosters starting to show up. Darrell got this one on a live sardine for a quick photo and release. Hopefully, bigger ones are around the corner!
Jeff and Marianne Sakuda have fished with us and Captain Jorge over 20 years! Some great catch and eat with the table full of sierra!
A tough day! Actually, hard to get better than this for Darrell Manginelli with a big yellowtail, a big trophy cabrilla, a triggerfish, a pargo, a sierra and Captain Pancho holds up two tasty golden trevally!
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No doubt, conditions are changing. Maybe too fast! But, it is what it is!
The weather, especially the winter winds are calming down. Not so many windy days and the windy days aren’t as bad as they had been. So more days are open to fish. But we still had a couple of blustery days. We were able to get boats out to wet lines, but winds prevented us from getting to some of the spots holding larger or better quality fish.
Still, we had a good week of action with plenty of variety!
With daytime temps now hitting the low 90’s with not much humidity, it’s a pleasant time in town. Evenings and mornings can still be chilly down to the high 50’s so a good idea to keep a sweatshirt or windbreaker handy that can be taken off later.
Of course, the focus has been on the yellowtail bite. Still getting some quality fish around Cerralvo and Espirito Santo Island with fish up to 30 pounds, but most hovering around 10-20 and willing to eat live sardines, mackerel a swell as cast or tossed jigs.
Many of the same area are holding amberjack, pargo and cabrilla as well.
The “problem” if you want to call it that is that the waters are warming faster than normal. That means that the yellowtail and other cold-water species will likely start moving off. In fact, it seems there were fewer yellowtail already around the islands.
However, this means that warm water species like dorado might start showing up early as well as possibly tuna, wahoo and billfish. In fact, the winds have been blowing big patches of sargasso into bunches north of town which is perfect habitat for baitfish and brings in the dorado.
Also, for the first time in many many years, some of the giant squid are showing up. They come up from the deep trenches. Not only are they fun and a handful to catch and make tasty eating, but in the past often the tuna follow the squid out of the deep trenches! We’ll keep you posted.
In the meantime, no shortage of inshore action on the aforementioned cabrilla and pargo, snapper, triggerfish, sierra, pompano and trevally among others.
One exciting aspect is the big pargo liso are now spawning in the shallows. Real brutes when hooked on rod and reel and difficult to bring to the boat and one of the most frustrating fish in our waters. With sharp teeth and scales and powerful bodies, they school over the rocks and reefs and broken lines are the norm. They look like giant red carp!
Lastly, some nice model roosterfish are also showing up finally as well. Previously, small fun 5-pounders were around, but we’re now seeing some 10-25 pound grade fish. Hopefully, the big truck roosterfish will be around soon!
A FEW SPOTS TO FILL TO COME FISHING IN LA PAZ
Reservations are coming in daily and, after 30 years at this, we have so many great regulars who visit us year-after-year! Many dates are filled or filling pretty fast.
However, we have some limited spots here and there with some space just for you! Also, don’t forget that Alaska Air is now flying direct to La Paz. It’s the first time we’ve had direct flights in 12 years!
Check out these specials.
Spaces are limited and some restrictions apply, but contact me directly so we can get you set up!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Mar. 15-23, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny with daytime highs into the lower 80’s. Still cool in the evenings and mornings down to the low 60’s and breezy. Overall winds are diminishing, but we’re not done yet! Still some windy days in store.
WATER: Cool and cloudy, but getting better and warmer. Some really dirty patches of cold water in some areas. Down deep still cold and a red tide came in a few days and shut things down.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, amberjack, small roosterfish, sierra, dorado, cabrilla, snapper.
MEXICAN MINIUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Finally getting boats out in calmer seas! Pushing off the docks in the morning with Captain Joel
San Diego amigo, Jim Bovee with one of several yellowtail he picked up north of La Paz on live mackeral.
Daniel has a thick slugger yellowtail! He always does well
Welcome to spring!
It’s about time. While we’re still getting our share of windy days, it’s nice to finally have some calmer days to get folks out on the water. Still not that many wanting to go fishing as most folks in town are here for spring break/ Easter breaks and not so interested in fishing.
But, at least we’ve got some opportunities to get some folks on the water that wanted to get out instead of turning them away because it was too windy.
The areas around the islands of Cerralvo and Espirito Santo have been especially productive for some legit-grade yellowtail if you know the spots. Fish have been bending rods have been 15-30 pounds and larger fish are getting lost in the rocks. In fact, the majority of fish are being lost as most of these tough jacks are found near structure and their first instinct is to head right back to cover.
Live mackerel and jigs are working best. Especially chrome, blue/white, scrambled egg and green/yellow (zuchini). Also chrome knife jigs are getting bit as well as slow trolled deep running Rapala/ Yo-Zuri/ Nomad lures.
I’d start fishing them with 40-pound test, but even then, sometimes it’s not enough to stop these fish, but other times, the fish are touchy and you have to drop down in line class so you are at an even greater disadvantage.
Other species include some amberjack that are being found in the same rocky areas as the yellowtail. Some of these can get close to 100 pounds, although we’ve mostly seen 10-20 pounders, but I would venture to say that some of the larger fish that never came to color and could not be stopped might have been bigger class amberjack or yellowtail.
Inshore, great fun on lighter tackle for sierra and smaller roosterfish along the beaches plus bonito, jack crevalle, snapper, pargo and cabrilla. A few dorado are showing up as well.
Daytime temps have been in the lower to mid-80’s now, but nights and fishing mornings can still be cooler dropping down to the high 50’s and lower 60’s.
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 Mar. 4-14, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: Still most days are windy blowing 10-20 knots, but the calmer days are getting nicer and mostly sunny with temps up to the low 80’s now, but still chilly in the nights and mornings down into the 50’s.
WATER: Still cloudier and cooler than we would like but typical this time of year, but warming as the temps improve overall.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, dorado, triggerfish, bonito, jack crevalle, small roosterfish
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Jacques Garon from Canada had just one day to fish and found some sunshine and a great little bit of action on siera, dorado, cabrilla and triggerfish fishing out’ve Bahia Muertos!
Dorado right up against the rocks near Punta Perrico. Warmer waters are starting to bring in the dorado. Nice fish for Jacques!
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Overall, things are starting to look up after a long windy winter!
We’re not out’ve it yet, but you can feel things are starting to come around. Sometimes you never know. About this time it normally starts to feel like spring, but last year it seemed to stay chilly and cold well into the summer months.
However, this looks like a more normal year. The windy days are less windy although there are days when it’s still blowing 10-20 knots. But those days are fewer and there are more fishable days and those days seem more pleasant as well with flatter warmer seas and pretty decent action.
The fish are there! They’ve been there all off-season. The issue is whether the winds and rough seas would let us get to them. Still not that many folks even interested in fishing that are visiting town, but, reservations are rolling in and lots of folks are ready to get going.
The variety of fish is pretty good. We call this transitional time because we have both warm and cold water fish in the area which means there’s alot of variety that could be. caught this time of year.
Around Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo, the yellowtail are running 15-25 pound on average and are eating live mackerel and sardines as well as trolled and cast jigs like yo-yo and knife jigs.
In the warmer waters, more dorado are starting to show here and there and commercial fishermen tell me there’s some jags of tuna moving in some areas.
Inshore, there’s great variety with sierra, jack crevalle, smaller roosterfish, amberjack, rainbow runners, pargo, cabrilla snapper and bonito.
Daytime temps are mostly sunny and in the lower to mid-80’s now, but nighttime temps and morning temps still warrant a sweatshirt dropping down to the mid-50’s.
Lots of reservations coming in and dates are filling so don’t wait. We don’t want to miss you! Write me directly: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
LET’s GET THE SEASON GOING!
After being on the road since early January, we’re looking forward to kicking off the 2025 season. It’s looking really promising and the reservations are rolling in and dates are filling up!
First, we just wanted to give a shout out to everyone who visited us at the Reno, Nashville, Salt Lake and Orange Co. Shows who came from all over and dosed us on all the incredible hospitality. Great to see so many friends and regulars of our Tailhunter Nation.
A special MUCHAS GRACIAS to all our friends who came out to the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds last week. Even with the rain, the show was packed and Jill and I never left our booth for all four days as we were surrounded by all our friends who came by to say hi or make reservations. A week later, we are still recovering our lost voices.
But, also a special shout out to everyone who came by with Birthday Wishes or dropped by our pre-show get-together at the Marlin Grill in Huntington Beach and Chris, Wendy, Val, Tom, Dennis, Larry and the rest of the gang who put that all together for us! What a great time!
GET ME OUTTA HERE SPECIAL!
For those of you who missed the show or missed the offering, we’re going to extend our “GET ME OUTTA HERE” Special:
5 days in La Paz
4 nights water-facing hotel room on the beach
3 days private panga fishing charter
All Gear
Breakfasts, lunches, soft drinks, water, ice
Fish Cleaning and Freezing
Shuttles to boats
All taxes
Tell us this is the show special and get a 5th night free!
PRICE: $1799 per person double occupancy (two per room/ two per boat)
$300 deposit holds your spot!
Also available:
Airport Shuttles (There are finally flights into La Paz on Alaska Air through LAX!)
Day trips/ Scuba/ Snorkeling/ Kayaking and More!
Commercial Fish Processing
Based on availability. Some restrictions apply and dates are filling fast. Good for only a limited time.
You can write me directly: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
We’ll see you in La Paz in 2025!
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 Feb. 2-18, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WATER: Kinda crazy . There’s warm water and cold water spots all over the ocean. Water down deep is definitely cooler. If it’s windy, it can be pretty rough. But there have been a few really nice flat days.
WEATHER: Variable. Some days sunny. Some days hazy. Some days cloudy. Temperatures rising but a big thermometer with daytime temps in the low-to-mid-80’s but night time dropping all the way to the high 50’s. Winds can be variable as well. Some days not a whisper but others blowing up to 20 mph.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, amberjack, pargo, cabrilla, sierra, bonito, jack crevalle, dorado.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
The struggle was real! Phil Desautels was at the north end of Cerralvo Island when they got slammed by yellowtail. Phil has alot of experience, but even he admitted that it was a struggle to get fish into the boat as the big sluggers tore them up and busted alot of lines.
Sierra are on the bite which is very typical of this time of year. Great eating and fun on light tackle, Zach Reinig and John Draminsky put a 1/2 dozen into the boat. Makes great ceviche.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, had his family out at his place at Rancho Costa visiting from Colorado Springs. They like to fish the late afternoon and early evening there at his place at Bahia Muertos and it looks like it paid off with a nice catch of dorado and a pargo liso (Gary’s fish).
Thick-bodied yellowtail around Cerralvo took one of Jimmy William’s baits in. a rare calm day, but Jimmy told me they lost more than they caught as the fish were even busting heavy leader.
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There are some days recently, where it sure seems like there’s a bit of spring in the air. We’re not out’ve winter yet and every few days it kinda roars back with the heavy north winds, but there were some nice windows of calm days here and there since the last report.
Temperatures are surely starting to edge up. Highs are now in the low 80’s, but nights are cool. Temps can be as low as the mid-50’s so not a bad idea to have a sweatshirt or windbreaker handy and especially if you’re planning ot go fishing or any water activity.
As far as the catch, it remains mixed.
However, the highlight has been the jag of nice yellowtail that have shown up. They have actually probably been around for a bit, but with the winds and rough seas, it was simply difficult to get onto the fish spots with any consistency.
With the calmer conditions, however, there were some nice bites of the big forktails found around both Cerralvo and Espirito Santo Islands with the fish eating live mackerel, sardines as well as casted and trolled jigs over the high spots.
These have been slugger fish with catches ranging from 15-30 pounds or more and many fish lots to broken lines and rocks.
Other notables like sierra seem to have moved into the areas along the shores near the dropoffs. These toothy members are like baby wahoo and are a hoot on light tackle. Good idea to fish them with wire leaders as their sharp teeth will shred mono, but these are great eating and a prized catch for making ceviche!
Other biters have been the usual species found during the winter. Especially inshore and along the rocky areas, we’re getting several species of pargo, including some spawning pargo liso, snapper, smaller dog-tooth, amberjack, bonito and jack crevalle.
There must also still be some warmer waters around as a few dorado are getting picke up and I heard that a striped marlin was also caught by a commercial angler.
OFF TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NOW
We’ve been on the road now for over a month and our Tailhunter Tour 2025 has taken us to some great shows and expos in Reno, Nevada (Wild Sheep Foundation); Nashville, Tennessee (Safari Club International) and most recently we had a crazy great show in Salt Lake City, UT for the Western Hunt and Conservation Show.
I think it has been our best show. Jill and I were in the booth 4 straight days and it was 9 hours-a-day non-stop talking and enjoying meeting new and old friends. We signed up a ton of new reservations to come see us in La Paz in 2025 as well. Thank you to everyone who came by and spent some time with us and for all the Utah hospitality.
So now…
Jilly and I are taking the long car haul to S.California for the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show. It’s the largest fishing show on the West Coast and pretty much takes over the entire Orange Co. Fairgrounds!
Showtimes are March 6-9 and we’ll be in the booth all four days (Thursday to Sunday). There’s a ton to see and do for fishing, adventure travel, outdoors, boating and more. Bring the whole family and we’ll see you there!
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 Jan. 28-Feb. 2, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WATER: Because of the winds, generally rough and cold and murky
WEATHER: Mostly sunny with daytime temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s. Nightime cool down to the mid-50’s. Winds from the north mostly up to 25+mph.
FISH HOOKED THIS PERIOD: Cabrilla, snapper, bonito, pargo, amberjack, sierra, tuna (lost).
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE REST OF THE STORY…
To be perfectly honest, not much has been happening.
We haven’t been able to put anyone in the water in almost 3 weeks. Just being real. As I often re-iterate, this is off-season from November to April. Not many folks on the water at all.
We did have a few requests and reservations for fishing and snorkeling, but in each case, we had to suggest not going out because it was going to be too rough or cancel the trip. Just the way it is, this time of year and I make sure I advise and warn folks ahead of time.
The few reports I get are from local friends who have the luxury of picking and choosing the better times and days or windows when the winds aren’t blowing so hard and they can squeeze in a day or even just a few hours.
Or, we get reports from some of our friends who are commercial fishermen who need to go out even if it’s rough in order to feed their famlies and make a living.
What they’re saying is that most of the fishing is confined to inshore over the rocks and reefs and where the water is somewhat calmer. Catches produce the usual species like cabrilla, snapper, sierra, pargo, jack crevalle and bonito. Occasionally, a dorado gets hooked.
Live bait has been an issue.
One of our good friends did get out to the north end of Cerralvo Island and found himself on top of a school of big freight train tuna breezing through. His bait got hammered and he found himself battling a beast for over 2 hours before the fish unfortunately broke off! He’s a good fisherman so I have no doubt he was on a big boy slugger tuna!
This coming week, we actually have some days when the winds are somewhat diminished. Much quieter than it has been so maybe we’ll get a boat or two out! We’ll let you know!
WHALESHARK SWIMS CLOSED AGAIN
Just a heads-up.
Normally, the whaleshark season in La Paz Bay runs October to April. However, over the past few years, fewer and fewer of the animals have been showing up. Coupled with rough turbulent water conditions in the bay, the “season” has gone through a series of “open-closed-open-closed” etc. If it’s too rough, there’s no way to find the animals in the shallow waters of La Paz Bay
There was never any way to tell when or if the season would be open. You really just had to take your chances.
This year, the season was open for a few weeks but now it looks like the season has been closed indefinitely for the rest of the year.
Folks forget these are wild, albeit gentle animals. It’s not like the zoo where you can guarantee that from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. there will be 10 gorillas in the pens. The whalesharks come and go. We might get 5 or 12 or 0. Even if they show up, they could stay all day or be gone in 20 minutes.
We’ll keep you posted.
TAILHUNTER STILL ON THE ROAD TO SEE YOU!
Jill and I are headed to our 3rd show of the season! After two super shows in Reno, then Nashville, we are now headed to Salt Lake City for the Western Hunt and Conservation Expo.
This will be at the Salt Palace Convention Center right downtown in Salt Lake City and promises to possibly be the largest show of our tour season. Last year, some 60,000 folks attended over 4 days and there were exhibitors from over 40 countries showcasing fishing, hunting, camping, boating, outdoor adventures, tours and all kinds of gear!
The show takes place Feb. 13-16 (Thursday to Sunday) and Jill and I will be in the booth everyday! We’d love to see you to say hi and talk about coming to visit us this year in La Paz. Spots are filling up fast!
Hope to see you!
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 Dec. 31-Jan. 7, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WATER: Waters getting colder and greener. Still some blue warmer water around with some holdover warm water species like dorado. Overall choppy ocean.
WEATHER: Definitely got colder this past week. Also some very windy days that we had to pull boats off the water or advise folks not to fish or go snorkeling. Still sunny, but it felt more like winter finally.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado/ wahoo/ bonito/ jack crevalle/ bonito/ amberjack/ sierra/cabrilla
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Normally, Rich Collard is up in Michigan commercial fishing, but came down for a few days and knocked it out with a wahoo fishing with Captain Gerardo!
Just one day to fish, but Scott and Gerilynn Lehman got 3 nice dorado and had us prepare some of it at our Tailhunter Restaurant. Very unusual to find dorado in the winter!
Greg Earles striking one of his favorite fishing poses with another dorado for the box. Greg spent 3 weeks during his birthday with us and fished several times a week. He took him over 100 pounds of fillets to Michigan. Great guy to have visit!
Waters are getting cooler and more sierra showing up. Rich got this one on the troll. They are incredibly tasty for the table!
Rich and Greg had a nice day with Captain Gerardo!
We got through the first week of the new year and to cut to the chase…it got colder and a bit windier!
In fact, as you’re reading this, La Paz and a good portion of the Baja is going to get his with a jag of really cold weather (cold for Baja!) with temps down into the 50’s at night and never really getting much above the low 70’s and even a possibility of a bit of rain this week.
For sure, folks are keeping their jackets and sweatshirts handy.
Had to keep boats in a few days because of winter winds and the cold which are pretty typical this time of year, but we did get in 2 days of fishing for a scattered bite.
With waters getting colder, we’re seeing more sierra, amberjack, rainbow runners and jack crevalle as well as pargo, cabrilla and snapper for inshore fishing. Often, with winds blowing, that’s about as far as you’ll get from the beach because it’s too rough.
However there are still some patches of blue water holding dorado and over by the south end of Cerralvo, there’s a bite of wahoo that’s on-and-off. The biggest problem is being able to get across the channel from Bahia Muertos to the south end of the island. If the winds are blowing from the north and the chop is blasting, there’s just no way.
The winds and waves also make it problematic to procure live bait at times so we’ll have to troll. If the waves are pounding some of the beaches and rocky area, the guys can’t get into the shallows to throw the nets for live bait.
Now that the holidays are passed, town is getting quieter again. A nice time to be in town actually, but not always a good time to be on the water!
WE’RE ON THE ROAD!
Jilly and I are hitting the road for our annual road show. This will be our 30th year and our first show is:
RENO WILD SHEEP FOUNDATION
Reno Convention Center
Reno, Nevada
Jan. 16-18th
We’ll be in our booth ever day and it would be great to see you and talk about getting you to visit us in La Paz!
We always have a great time in Reno! Come say hi. Here’s more info:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-30, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Nice week to be in town for all the snowbirds. Mostly sunny. Daytime highs 78-82 degrees and night dropping as low as the low 50’s so quite a thermometer! Bring a windbreaker or sweatshirt. Quite windy at times with northern winds running 10-30 mph.
WATER – If the winds are blowing, it’s rough and the winds are usually blowing anywhere outside the bay. Check your forecasts before going out. However, surprisingly there are still warm blue patches of water holding pelagic species. Usually all the waters are cold and off-color this time of year.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado / pargo/ amberjack/ snapper/ cabrilla/ roosterfish/ bonito/ jack crevalle/ sierra
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
We DO provide lunches and breakfasts on our trips, but Greg Earles from Michigan takes a nibble off one of his dorado! Greg has been fishing on-and-off for 2 weeks with us.
Richard is a commercial walleye fisherman up in the Great Lakes area and was out with Captain Gerardo and did a banner day with nice dorado, bomitoand an amberjack.
So unusual to have warm water species like dorado in the waters in December. He’s a schoolie breezer!
Greg and our popular Jorge with a batch of dorado and white bonito.
Another day…another dorado for Greg!
Good inshore action on snapper, pargo and cabrilla. Great eating feast on the cutting table!
Happy New Year Everyone! Hope the holidays are going well and you had a great Christmas day.
Christmas week as another hit-or-miss fishing week in La Paz.
Again, the winds were pretty blustery so had to cancel a few potential bookings for fishing and snorkelng and warn folks away from rough weather. We did get a few boats out, but that was also before winds kicked up later.
As I often mention, not much of anyone really on the water during the winter months except the windsurfers. Winds were up to 20-30 mph gusts at times this past week.
Town, however, was pretty busy with visitors as is usually the case during the holidays. If you’re not on the water, it’s a nice time to be in the area. Daytime temps were as high as 82 and the nights are a cooler, but pleasant 55 degrees or so. It beats being in chillier parts of the continent this time of year!
Check out the La Paz Christmas Parade on the Malecon Waterfront that came by our Tailhunter Restaurant. With 3 levels, it was a great place to watch the parade:
Once, again very surprising to find dorado still in the area. Dorado are a warm water species that we usually see in numbers from about late May to October. It’s rare to see any in the winter so that leads me to believe that there’s still warm water patches of ocean around. Normally, waters are not only rough, but cold and green this time of year.
The dorado are a fun-sized 10-15 pound class mahi right now.
Commercial guys are reporting some tuna and wahoo around Cerralvo Island, but attempts to get across the channel were too difficult because of the winds and waves so there was no way to verify the stories. Commercial fishermen are working for a living so they go where the fish are no matter the conditions! They’re not out on the ocean for fun!
Inshore, there’s a good variety and action.
Surprisingly, small roosterfish around 5 pounds continue to be caught around Bahia Muertos and Punta Arenas. Normally, this is another species we don’t see in the winter.
As well, the colder water fish like pargo, cabrilla, snapper, sierra and amberjack are also being hooked. Live bait and jigs are working well. Big bonito are also in the mix.
Looking at the extended forecast, the first few days of the new year look like strong winds again!
TAILHUNTER SHOWTIME
We’ve been hitting the road for our show tour now for over 30 years. Our schedule and logistics are only allowing us to do 4 shows this year, but all are huge fun shows.
Time to hit the road!
Hope you can come out to see us. We’ll be in the booth every day!
RENO – Wild Sheep Foundation at the Reno Convention Center (Jan. 16-18)
NASHVILLE – Safari Club International at the Nashville Convention Center (Jan. 22-25)
SALT LAKE CITY – Western Hunt and Conservation Show at the Salt Palace (Feb. 13-16)
ORANGE CO. – Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds (Mar. 6-9)
Bookings for 2025 are coming in daily and many dates are filling up pretty fast. Don’t wait until showtime if you’re interested in visiting us in La Paz this year! Write me directly:
To all our Tailhunter family and tribe that continually send me requests for updates and get-well wishes, Jilly and I really appreciate it. After foot surgery in mid-October, I was in a lower leg cast for 8 weeks. I am now in a pressure boot for another 4 weeks which is great to be able to get out’ve the wheelchair, crutches and walker! (Jill loves it too as she has been really patient with me!).
I have a bionic left knee and now a bionic right foot. Going through airport scanners is going to be fun!
Still can’t drive as it’s my right foot, but they say in 3 more weeks, I should be able to hobble around on two legs again in time for the shows and for sure by the time the season starts!
That’s my story! Cheers and best fishes to ya’ll!
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
“We sell smiles. Have a free one. It looks good on you!”
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Dec. 5-21, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
Weather: Mostly nice and sunny and really pleasant with temps ranging from the 60’s to 80’s. However, winds from the north continue to be problematic with gusts between 10 and 30 mph
Water: Getting cooler, but there’s some nice patches of surprising blue/warmer water here and there. Can be extremely rough if the winds are blowing
Species Hooked This Week: Dorado, sierra, small yellowtail, triggerfish, snapper, snapper, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, marlin, amberjack,
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Our friends, Bob Sayre from Chicago and his friend Jim Fanscher weren’t able to get outside the bay because of winds but still found a dorado and a sierra…a warm water fish and cold water fish as well as a big bonito.
Enjoying some sunshine escaping from Minnesota, Greg Earles had a great star with 4 dorado, a big sierra and some white bonito plus released a bunch of small roosterfish.
Beto is going to make some great ceviche with this saw!
Our La Paz friend, Jimmy Williams always does well. Nice barred snapper!
Greg caught and released about a half-dozen of these fun little roosterfish right in Bahia Muertos on live sardines.
Some good eating on the table for Jimmy and Phil with several types of snapper plus triggers and a saw.
Once again, apologies for the late response.
With the increasing northern winter winds, I was really waiting for something to happen so that I’ve have some “meat” to the report rather than just continuously telling you that the winds are blowing and not much of anyone fishing during the winter months.
But, honestly, in the last 3 weeks, some days the winds have been kicking 10-30 mph and not a great time to be out on the water unless you’re a windsurfer. I’ve had a number of folks wanting to go out and I’ve had to flat out tell them, “I’d love the booking and money, but the reality is that you’re going to get blown off the water or seasick !”
These aren’t hardcore fishermen. They’re just in town for vacations and decide they want to try fishing for a day. Often they have youngsters with them and I would just rather be honest and transparent about expectations and the weather.
I’ve also had to cancel a few trips for fishing and snorkeling as well. It’s a great time to be in town as the weather is really pleasant and sunny with temps into the 60’s -80’s but just not a great time to be on the water.
However, we did actually get a few folks out whenwe found some windows when the winds backed off a bit. Also, we had some of our local friends get out fishing and got me some reliable reports. Other than that, most of the reports are coming from friends who are commercial fishermen who don’t have a choice. They’re not fishing for fun or sport. They’re out on the water no matter what trying to make a living.
Waters are getting cooler and rougher, but there are surprisingly still some warm patches of blue water holding dorado. Crazy to see dorado in December but there are some school-sized 5-15 pound fish still in the area plus some larger 20 pound class free swimmers. Live bait is difficult to come by because of the rough waters so frozen dead ballyhoo or striped bonito slow trolled has worked most effectively.
The warm waters have also been cited as the reason that there are still some billfish like striped marlin, sporadic tuna and wahoo have been hooked. Again, it’s very unusual to see these species in the winter and likewise, to get to some of the spots, it has to be calm enough on the ocean.
Inshore, is where the majority of the action has been found, especially if you can’t get across the channels to the islands. Big bonito, sierra, some smaller yellowtail, pargo, cabrilla, amberjacks and jack crevalle have provided decent action.
Another surprise, however, is that we’re seeing roosterfish! Not very common this time of the year, but smaller 5-10 pounders have been hooked (and released) along the shallow sandy beaches and some of the bigger 50-100 pounders have been seen cruising the drop offs. We usually don’t see those for another 3 or 4 months!
TAILHUNTER SHOW SEASON COMING UP!
We’re getting ready to hit the road again for our 30th year. We’ll be doing 4 shows this year and they’re all big ones. We had hoped to do more shows, but so many are on conflicting dates and it was hard to pick and choose:
RENO – Wild Sheep Foundation at the Reno Convention Center (Jan. 16-18)
NASHVILLE – Safari Club International at the Nashville Convention Center (Jan. 22-25)
SALT LAKE CITY – Western Hunt and Conservation Show at the Salt Palace (Feb. 13-16)
ORANGE CO. – Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds (Mar. 6-9)
We’ll be there and we’re looking forward to seeing you and getting you set up to see us in La Paz in 2025.
However, don’t wait! Dates are filling up pretty fast and reservations are coming in daily. You can write me directly: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
We don’t want to miss you, especially if you have a favorite captains or hotel!
That’s our story!
Wishing you many blessings for the holidays, Christmas and the New Year!
Tailhunter Fish Report 