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Archive for the ‘triple tail’ Category

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 19-26, 2024

LITTLE OF THIS…LITTLE OF THAT

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Apri 19-27, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Chilly breezy mornings in the high-50’s or low 60’s (bring a sweatshirt or windbreaker) then hitting the low 90’s by daytime.  A few clouds giving way to bright sunshine.

WATER:  Getting warmer and more blue as it clears up . Temps ranging fromthe high 60’s to mid-70’s some spots.  Warmer water is bringing in a sargasso bloom that will grow until warmer water burns it off.

WIND:  Can be a bit gusty in the mornings and even kicking up some whitecaps in the bay, then it settles down.  Still a bit choppy outside, but most of the winds are now from the south and not preventing us from getting to most fishing spots…this week!

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Yellowtail, dorado, tuna, cabrilla, pargo liso, barred pargo, snapper, sierra, jack crevalle, bonito, roosterfish, skipjack, pompano, palometa(yellow trevally)

BAIT:  Lots of sardines but the schools are moving around a lot.  Some mornings, it takes a little longer to find the spots.   La Paz has mackerel under the anchored tankers in the bay.

SCALE of 1-10:  Four. (I think the full moon had a bit of an effect as fishing got better as the full moon faded.)

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Carlos Sanabria, Jr. just had two days to fish with his dad before heading off on his honeymoon then getting deployed to Kuwait. Big smiles…a flat sea…and a nice yellowtail he snagged with a jig! Doesn’t matter if it ends up in the fish box!

Darrell Manginelli, from Ventura CA, visits us several times a year and always does well. He got a nice variety here on his spinning rod with a pargo liso, some cabrilla and a dorado on the table.

Our two newest amigos, Peter Tobias and Eugene Wowk from New Jersey, spent the week with us and show off a few of the roosterfish they hooked. Nice double here! All roosters were released.

You don’t realize how tough pargo liso fight…even the smaller ones…until you have one hooked! Carlos Sanabria pulled this one from the rocks. Great eating and the fish are in the shallows spawning now!

Great first day for Johnny and Allison Hogan who visited us from Oklahoma. Nice variety! Cabriila, rainbow runner, yellowtail, snapper and dorado at Bahia Muertos!

He’s visited us several times, but Andy Lauber from Louisiana, had never hooked a rooster on the flyrod. He and his wife found a nice school of small and medium roosters right up along the beach and said, “We could have stayed there all day with the light tackle. It was way fun!” All roosters were released.

A few dorado creeping into the counts as the waters warm! Carlos got this just south of Bahia Muertos along the cliffs.

Peter Tobias all the way from New Jersey with Captain Hugo and a bull dorado. To me, more impressive are the big pargo lying on the fish cleaning table!

Cabrilla are the favorite fish for locals here in La Paz and the meat is tender and white! These are two legit fish for Darrell. He said he missed a few others in the rocks!

Captain Hugo posing with Peter and Eugene.  Some legit-sized cabrilla and pompano on the cutting table and a nice bull dorado that they had a laugh over as the mahi ate both their hooks and a friendly argument ensued as to who’s fish it was!

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It was an interesting week.

Good action and lots of variety the entire time and everyone had fun, but earlier in the week, it was a bit picky…the fishing was somewhat scratchy.  Everyone was catching fish, but it wasn’t as good as the previous week.

I couldn’t figure out why.

Then one dark morning as I was putting out the boats, I looked up…DANGIT…full moon!  That had to be it.  I’m not a big “full moon theory” person, but that was the only variable that I could point to.  (And of course throw blame like any good fisherman!).

What else could it be?  Because as the full moon diminished, the fish got better.  I mean, it improved tremendously!  Everyone was catching and taking home fish, but as the week went on and the full moon got darker, the fish got more active.  We started getting more variety.  The fish also got bigger.

The list of fish hooked this week was pretty amazing and not completely unusual for this time of the year:

Yellowtail

Amberjack

Jack Crevalle

Pompano

Trevally

Dorado

Sierra

White Bonito

Skipjack

Roosterfish

Barred Pargo

Dog Tooth Snapper

Mullet Snapper (Pargo Liso)

Yellow Snapper

Cabrilla

Grouper

Commercial guys also hooked some big tuna

It’s probably going to be like that for a few weeks as waters get warmer.  The patches of colder water are producing the colder water species and the patches of warmer water are kicking out the blue-water pelagic species like the tuna and dorado.

Gotta tell you, it’s reflected in the daytime temps.  The nights and mornings can be chilly sweatshirt weather with temps down to the mid-50’s and breezy.  Then, within a few hours, the thermometer zooms up to the high 80’s or low 90’s.  Frankly, it’s been mostly gorgeous sunny weather with minimal humidity.  A really nice time to be here in town.

As the waters get warmer, we’ll be seeing fewer species, but  more dorado (we hope) as well as tuna, billfish, wahoo and larger roosterfish.

The fun thing right now is that if you have a bait in the water, there’s just no telling what’s gonna bite.  It could be any number of species!  And each day can be completely different than the other days.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico 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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 11-18, 2024

THAT’s MORE LIKE IT!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 11-18, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

Weather: Quite a temperature swing some days.  High 50’s at night to high 80’s or low 90’s at night.  Mostly sunny although some mornings are cloudy and can be chilly.  Winds cut back this week nicely. 

Water:  Much calmer this week since the winds cut back and much bluer and warmer which reflected in a better fish bite.  You can tell the waters are warming since there has been a sargasso bloom which could last a few weeks until the water gets even warm and it does off. 

Bait:  Sardines and mackerel in abundance! 

Fish Hooked This Week:  Yellowtail, pargo, roosterfish, tuna, banqueta, cabrilla, sierra, jack crevalle and bonito

 

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Jorge has a big grin on his face with his catch of a gorgeous barred pargo. These are great eating fish and highly prized. The heads are highly valued for delicious fish soup! Jorge was using a live mackerel fishing over the rocks.

The big schools of big pargo liso (mullet snapper) have moved into the shallows to spawn and can be extremely aggressive and put up an impressive fight. Mark Bonsack from Cle Elam, Washington always fishes well with us.

Wow! Paul Nagata, another of our regular amigos for many years and visits us several times a year, poses with a trophy cabrilla he caught off Punta Perrico.

Another of the solid anglers who fish our area often, you can tell that it can be a bit nippy in the morning as Kevin Shiotani holds up an early morning jack crevalle. Another slugger when hooked.

Mark hooked this yellowfin tuna just off the beach just south of Bahia Muertos. On a scale, it logged in a legit 56-pounds!

Jorge was out with Captain Boli and headed north to El Bajo north of La Paz and using live mackerel scored a limit of yellowtail and were done fishing after an hour! The yellowtail have been on the chew around Espirito Santo Island!

Mark has a knack for these baquetas which are deeper water grouper. We don’t see many of these in the counts during the season!

____________________________________________

It seems every week…even every day is different right now.  I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s erratic.  I’d say it’s pretty typical of this time of year.

Last week we talked about how the strong north winds came back and how that might have affected the bite along with the eclipse perhaps being another variable that affected currents, tides and surely the fish!

The bite was off and the northern winds returning caused us to have to cancel a few trips…like like in the winter when it gets too rough oftentimes to get out and fish or simply makes it too uncomfortable or even dangerous.

Well, this past week, the winds cut back again.  Waters settled.  Waters warmed.  And all kinds of schools of bait showed up…en masse!

Those are a great combination for fishing and for sure, it reflected in the bite.

The big schools of pargo liso showed up around Punta Arenas, Punta Perrico, Muertos Bay and Cerralvo Island.  These fish school up this time of year to spawn and can range from 5-50 pound “horses” in the shallow waters where sharp teeth, sharp gillplates, sharp scales, a rocky environment and simply a beligerent and aggressive attitude make them difficult and tough sportfish.  They can be extremely frustrating and most fish are lost after rugged battles.

Pargo like these mullet snapper are now on the spawn in the shallows!

Also in the shallow inshore areas, there was a good bite of jack crevalle, bonito, cabrilla and even a few smaller roosterfish.

Smaller roosters have moved in. Waiting for the big boys!

Around the islands and especially north of Espirito Santo Island and the El Bajo Seamount the yellowtail have been putting on a great chew with fish going 10-30 pounds.  In some cases, the fish were literally foaming and limits were coming in fast.  The fish were eating live mackerel which we were easily caught using sabiki rigs in La Paz Bay under the tankers anchored just offshore, then heading out to the fishing grounds.

Yellowtail can pull hard. We had a good week for them!

The forktails were also chasing the yo-yo jigs in blue/white and green/yellow patterns as well as slow trolled deep running Rapalas, Yo-Zuris and Nomad lures.

Almost to the gaff!

But, like I said, things change every week.  No dorado to speak of just when I thought the dorado bite might be taking off as per last week’s report.  Strange because the waters were warming, but most of our catch this week was of the colder water variety.

I think overall, things will improve although we’re still going to get little episodes of wind for a few more weeks.   And I’m sure for a few more weeks, at least, we can expect the unexpected which just means if you have a bait in the water, we’re not sure what we’ll hook!

But that’s why this time of year is called the “transition” period when we have both cold water fish and warm water fish and so much variety.  The cold water fish will gradually be moving out and warm water fish like the dorado, tuna, wahoo and billfish and hopefully larger roosters will start moving in!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 3-10, 2024

WIND AND THE ECLIPSE?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 3-10, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER – Mostly warmer days, but winds came back up this week getting the waters back up to choppy and some days limiting where we could get to fish.  Had to even cancel one day of fishing and snorkeling.   Don’t know how much the eclipse affected things.  It affected animals!

WATER – Getting warmer, but a bit choppier this week and rough when the winds kicked back up.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK – Yellowtail, dorado, bonito, jack crevalle, sierra, snapper, pargo

FISHING ON A SCALE OF 1-10 SINCE LAST REPORT (10 is best) – 3.5

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

It’s been a few years since Gavin Chun has visited us, but he was out with Captain Boli and took this sizeable dorado off Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz.  They hung a big yellowtail as well that they battled before it got unbuttoned.

First roosterfish for Kevin Lyons. They actually hooked 5 roosters all released.  Kevin is from Long Island NY and grew up watching American Sportsman and dreamed of catching a roosterfish!

Captain Luis has a laugh with Jeff Pagliuca as they unhook a fresh yellowtail.

Dave Pollard and Hector Chacon started fishing with us about 25 years ago. Nice photo of their catch of dorado, snapper, a cabrilla and palometa.

Captain Armando helped put another dorado in the boat!

One of the larger dorado of the young season for Steve! His first time with us.

Kevin has a nice big sierra that’s going back to the freezers!

_____________________________________

Pump the brakes!

Despite my optimism over the last several fishing reports,  the bite still isn’t quite ready to go full-speed.  I kept warning that the winds would be coming back and this past week, it did get breezy again.  Not enough to blow folks off the water like the previous months but enough to make it choppy and difficult to fish.

We had to cancel two fishing trips as well as a snorkel trip this past week because of the rough weather.

…and the fish weren’t exactly cooperative either.

Was it the weather?  Was it the atmospheric changes caused by the eclipse?  Maybe the combination of the two?  I won’t discount that any of those could have had a major affect on things.  I mean the moon has an affect on tides and currents normally.  And news reports during the eclipse talked about how the zoo animals behaved…confused and agitated.

So, maybe the fish were affected too.  Who knows?  I don’t think it helped!

Not only were the counts down compared to previous weeks, but also the variety was reduced as well.

We did get some nice dorado…the largest of the season so far.  And a few smaller roosterfish as well as pargo, cabrilla, snapper, jacks and bonito.  And some large sierra.  And not really many at that.  And that was kinda it!

Things will change.  Just being honest.  We’re going to see more winds, but it’ll get better.  It always does.  In fact, the next few days after you’re reading this, the forecasts call for diminished winds.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico 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

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La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Mar. 14-24, 2023

THINGS WARMING UP?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Mar. 14-24, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

Weather:  Mostly sunny.  Some clouds, but temps ranging from the mid-50’s to mid-70’s

Water:  Still cold water around, but more patches of clear blue showing up.  Fewer rough days as there are still some very windy days, but somewhat diminishing.

Fish Species Hooked This Week:  Yellowtail, sierra, pompano, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle, snapper, barred pargo, cabrilla. A few dorado also hooked.

Better Spots:  North and south ends of Cerralvo Island.  Inshore rocky areas or over submerged reefs.  Northern and eastern Espirito Santo Island.

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

 

Some of the biggest pompano I’ve seen in a long time came up like this big fella caught by our amigo from Atlanta, Leif Dover.

Yellowtail action is improving, but the trick is getting out to the spots and sometimes ploughing through windy and rough seas. Kip Slaugh from Utah has been a long-time amigo making several trips a year poses with a double handful of forktails.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Our popular Captain Gerardo took some of our clients to North Cerralvo to find the big yellowtail and poses for a quick shot while in his new panga.

John Turner has another nice forkie for the fish box and ready to pack up for the ice chest.

No photos of the clients, but Captain Rogelio poses with one of their yellowtail unloading back at the La Paz docks on the Malecon.

 

Hugo puts a fresh yellowtail on the gaff. Knowing Hugo, I know he loves the heads and collars of these tasty jacks.

_____________________________

Happy Easter and Easter Week everyone!

I won’t go so far as to say we’re out’ve the winter winds yet, but there’s certainly reason for some optimism.  There are more calm days than windy rough days and waters are getting warmer and clearer.

There were still some days when it was better to just stay off the water and there were days when anglers went charging out anyway as town starts to fill up with Spring Breakers and Easter visitors.

Consequently, there were good days on the water and not-so good days on the water.  There were some days that were just “Meh.”  But, the better days were marginally productive and generated some nice and interesting catches.

Most noteable were the yellowtail biters.  Fish ranging from about 10-25 pounds hit live bait, dead bait as well as yo-yo jigs and trolled jigs.  The trick was being in the right spot and some of those spots sometimes required hitting some rough patches of wind and water.  However, anglers working the high spots off Cerralvo Island and Espirito Santo Island found fish willing to chew.  Other areas including the rock spots off Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos.

Those same areas kicked out some nice pargo and cabrilla as well as the occasional amberjack.

Inshore fishing held the same species, but also sierra, jack crevalle, bonito and some really huge pompano.  These were some hog-sized pompano too.  We usually don’t see the pompano until about May or June so catching them was a treat, but also surprising in size as well.

The upcoming week, there will be some gusts and windy days, but overall, not too bad to take a shot out on the water.  Just have to pick and choose the correct days.

MAG BAY REPORT

We had some good friends,  Kip Slaugh and Jim Molinari from Utah out with Captain Rigo for a few days fishing the mangroves at Bahia Magdalena this past week.

Miles and miles of tangled mangrove roots and shoals holding numerous species!

Easy to get lost in the days before GPS!

Captain Rigo takes the guys out to start the day.

Over two days the guys hooked and released numerous species, keeping about a half-dozen including some good-sized grouper, spotted bay bass, snapper, cabrilla  and others.

Captain Rigo with Kip and Jim. Good first day. Captain Rigo has more than a bit of fish cleaning to do! Lots of grouper and cabrilla!

Another day and more light tackle grouper for the fish box!

Jim Molinari poses with one of his grouper in the bay.

They also realeased many more fish as well.

 

That’s my story!  Happy Easter and Easter Week  everyone!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Mar. 2-12, 2024

CONDITIONS GRADUALLY IMPROVING!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Mar. 2-12, 2024

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Phil and Captain Beto rocked some nice yellowtail at the north end of Cerralvo Island before winds chased them off.

Our amigo, Gary Wagner, was at his place at Rancho Costa and sent us some great photos this week. Check out the nice bull dorado…in MARCH!

 

Hard not to have a big smile like Mauricio here. He knows how good these barred pargo taste and the heads make some great soup too!

Gary again with a huge sierra! I have no doubt Gary had this turned into several delicious plates of ceviche.

Our amigo, Jimmy Williams with his friend, Phil took a load of yellowtail off Cerralvo Island.

A great shot of the kind of inshore variety right now…snapper, cabrilla, bonito and pargo!

_______________________________

Sorry for not posting more often!  I honestly try to get these reports out weekly as I have for almost 30 years.   But, we’ve been constantly on the road with the Tailhunter 2024 Road Tour and just finished shows in Salt Lake City and Southern California (see below).

However, frankly, there just hasn’t been alot of exciting stuff to impart!  Even I get bored writing about the winter winds and especially no one is really fishing or I’m actively discouraging folks from going out…especially if they are first-timers or have kids.  No fun being seasick and wet!

Anyway…that being said…can things really be improving?  Stand by!

It seems we’re finally getting some spring-time conditions!  We’re not out’ve the windy zone yet, but little-by-little, there are more calm days than blustery days.  More clear blue water than cloudy cold water.  More flat water than choppy whitecaps!

Not good for all the windsurfers and kite boarders, but better for sportfishing!  I still expect there will be some crazy windy times, but there’s reason to be optimistic.

There are some nice grade yellowtail busting around areas of Cerralvo Island and Espirito Santo Island.  Fish are running 15-30 pounds mostly and willing to take jigs, live sardines and mackerel as well as deep trolled Rapalas and Y0-zuri lures near structure.  The same areas are also kicking out some of yellowtail’s cousins the amberjack.  Most of them are in the 10-20 pound class, but some of these fish can easily go well over 50 pounds…if you can land them and keep them out’ve the rocks.

As well, there have been some jags of fast moving 20-40 pound yellowfin tuna and the warmer waters are have some spots of dorado as well which we usually don’t see either species unti much later in the season like May or so.

Inshore, the usual variety of fish are actively feeding on seemingly plentiful bait schools of sardines.  So we’re getting reports of sierra, pargo liso (mullet snapper), barred pargo, yellow snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and even a few roosterfish…another fish that we usually don’t see until a little later.

So, lots of reasons to keep an eye on things and we’ll keep you posted.  We’re “offically” calling April 15th the start of the season, but it looks like maybe the fish won’t wait!

END OF THE ROAD (TOUR!)

Well…3 months on the road criss-crossing the country.  More than 30 years of doing these fantastic outdoor shows during the winter months.  Just finished up our last show in S.California at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Festival.

Just an incredible time and what a way to wrap up the tour for the year.  Thank you to all our friends and Tailhunter Tribe Nation who came to see us and say hi…and booked their fishing trips for 2024 and especially a big shout out to everyone who came to party for my birthday and sent wishes and goodies.  You always make Jilly and I feel pretty darned special!  God bless you all!

So…by the time you’re reading this, we’re on our way driving back to Texas to re-group and re-load then back home finally to La Paz to get the season rolling!  We’ll see you there.

We still have spots open too if you want to come down and put your toes in the sand and a line in the waters!

That’s our story!

Jonathan & Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 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

When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Feb. 16-Mar. 1, 2024

WINDY QUIET TIMES FOR FISHING

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Feb. 16-Mar. 1, 2024

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Commercial mix of fish…jackk crevalle, an amberjack even two smaller dorado.

Typical inshore catch. Again from one of our commercial fishing amigos. Two barred pargo and a yellow snapper. Great eating!

I know this week’s report is REALLY late, but I was kinda holding out.

I was hoping that there would be a break in the winds or that there would be something exciting to write about other than the usual boring winter reports about strong winds; rough seas and non one fishing.

But, that’s just the way it is and I couldn’t hold out any longer.  We actually did have a booking or two the past two weeks, but had to cancel all of them because of the weather.  As one of the prospective anglers wrote to me, “I’m glad you warned us about the weather.  We had planned to take the family out for an easy day of fishing, but I’m writing this looking at the ocean and it’s all white caps and rough!  Thanks for the FYI!”

There’s some fish to be caught but if you can’t get out because of the weather, it’s pretty typical this time of year.  That’s why we say that November to April is off-season.  The winsurfers and kiteboarder love it, but for fishing, not so much!

The few reports I’m getting are from friends that are commercial fishermen who tell me that they are hooking some yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, plus the usual rock fish like cabrilla, snapper and pargo.   There have been a few dorado still being caught and a few tuna hookups near Cerralvo Island, but that’s about it.  Quiet times mostly.

Reservations for our regular season from late April to October, however, are rolling in every day.  After the last two years since Covid, fishing has been pretty spectacular and I think everyone is excited to get in on it again for 2024.  Get in touch with me directly if you want to come visit us this year.  My personal e-mail is jonathan@tailhunter.com   Don’t wait, dates are filling up pretty fast.

As a matter of fact, we’ll be making our own S.California appearance this coming week from Mar. 7-10 at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.

We’ve been on the road now some 3 months and have had some crazy great shows in Dallas, Reno, Nashville and Salt Lake City.  We really miss not being able to attend some other shows in S.Cal and some of our other favorite areas but we’re really looking forward to this week at the PCS show.    It’s gonna be huge and all your favorites will be there.  I hear is now takes up 7 of the massive exhibition halls.  Check out the video:

This will be our final show of the 2024 season before heading home to La Paz to kick things off.  Hope you can join us.  Jilly and I will be in the booth every day and it would be great to see you!

That’s our story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 28 – Feb. 5, 2024

SUMMER SPECIES IN WINTER?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER – Mostly sunny.  Daytimes low to mid-70’s.  Nights low 60’s.  Winds from the north 15-20 mph most days.  Stronger gusting as the day goes on.

WATER – Some strange patches of unseasonably warm water in the 70’s holding some surprising species of fish (el Nino?).  Colder water is darker and cloudier.  Warmer water is blue.

SPECIES HOOKED – tuna/ dorado/ wahoo/ yellowtail/ amberjack/ yellowtail/ sierra/ snapper/ pargo/ bonito/ jack crevalle

BAIT AVAILABILITY – Depends on the winds and waves.  The rougher it is the harder to get live bait this time of year

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE AND THE REST OF THE STORY…

Yellowtail starting to show up at the islands now with some cooler waters moving in. Cabrilla also along the shoreline and rocky reefs. Jigs and live bait working best.

Our own Captain Victor with a yellowfin tuna. Surprisingly, the YFT’s are still getting caught this late/ early in the year. Normally, we don’t see these guys until later. It’s been a weird season!

Strange mix of winter-time fish for sure! Dorado and tuna in the winter? In my 30 years down here, I can’t remember too many times this happened.

It’s been a strange winter.

They say it’s El Nino.  I dunno.  But, I can tell you that the weather is about right.  Still lots of windy gusty days and bouncy seas.  That’s pretty typical.  Not much of anyone on the waters most of the time except windsurfers who revel in the world-class winds.

However, the rub is the fishing.

Normally, we’re catching inshore species if we’re even out.  That means inshore cold-water species like pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra, amberjack mixed with bonito and jack crevalle.  So, yes, those are still around to be caught.

 

But, the real craziness is the warm water species that are around.

These include dorado, sailfish, marlin, tuna, wahoo…WHAAAT???  We normally don’t see these species until at least the springtime when the waters warm.  And that could be the key.  There are patches of warm water as much as 68-73 degrees.  That’s quite a bit higher than normal.

As mentioned, not many folks are even out on the water, let alone fishing because of the winds, but most of the reports are coming from friends in La Paz who can pick the least windy days to go out or go out before the winds kick in or else they are the commercial captains who have to work for a living no matter the weather.

We’ll just have to keep an eye out.  I have my fingers crossed that these species will still be around when the season kicks into full gear around April when the winds are usually diminished.

NASHVILLE OFF THE CHARTS – SALT LAKE CITY NEXT!

Just wrapped up maybe our best show of the season at the Safari Club International Convention in Nashville.  After 4 days in the booth, Jill and I were plain whupped!  We talked to so many great folks.  We met so many old friends and made so many new ones.  We booked lots of folks to come fishing with us in La Paz.  The show featured almost 1000 exhibitors from over 30 countries and attendees over the 4 day event pulled in folks from pretty much every state in the U.S.  plus Europe, Asia, S. America, Canada and Australia among others.  It’s really the Super Bowl of hunting…and for us we learned long ago that “hunters like to fish!”

We wanted to thank everyone for all the hospitality and everyone who came by our booth to say hi.  We will take a bit to re-group and recover from the great time!

 

So now…we’re all packed up and wheeling our way west towards Salt Lake City and the Western Hunt and Conservations Show at the downtown Salt Palace.  It has always been a great show and we see so many friends.  It’s more like a huge social event!

Check out this video:

The show runs from Feb. 15-18 in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace.  Jill and I will be in the booth every day and we’re looking forward to seeing you! Reservations are coming in daily and our fishing year is filling up.  Get in touch with me directly:  jonathan@tailhunter.com.   We don’t want to miss you!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Jan. 10-16, 2024

TYPICAL WEATHER…ATYPICAL FISHING!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 10-16, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER – Mostly in the 70’s and sunny.  Northern winds came back up and we had to cancel a few trips for fishing; snorkeling and swimming with the whalesharks.

WATER –  If the winds are blowing, you really don’t wanna be out.  Just not worth it.

WIND –  Up to 25 mph gusts from the north.  We had only 2 days of the week that could have been available.

SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK – Tuna, yellowtail, marlin, dorado, sierra, cabrilla, bonito

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Definitely NOT fishing in Canada! Josh puts the gaff to a yellowfin tuna. Josh is from Vancouver.

They had just one day to fish, but Captain Victor pout Josh, Chris and Lyanna onto a good day of fishing including this unusual striped marlin that we rarely ever see in the winter months!  The fish could not be released.

A great photo with big smiles and a pretty fish! Lyanna and Captain Victor with a nice bull dorado!

Yup! Let’s get these fish packed up and on ice! Great day on the water and an unusual catch!

_______________________

Pretty typical winter stuff this past week.

We had a few folks ask to go out and after showing them the weather forcast wisely decided to sit it out or we had a few that decided to give it a try and we ended up having to cancel because of the winds.  This was for some folks that wanted to fish, but also some folks that wanted to snorkel and some that wanted to swim with the whalesharks.   On several occasions, we canceled and re-booked only to have the winds cut us down and disappoint.

But, that’s the way it is during the winter.  And with all the frigid arctic winter weather taking place in the U.S. this week, it’s gonna have an effect on Baja with cooler temperatures and overall higher winds.

That doesn’t mean there’s no fish.

What it means is that you need to carefully pick and choose the dates you go out on the water.  Check with several days in advance or up to a week in advance to I can check the extended forecast and you can make an informed decision.

We did have some folks actually get out one day.  It was the only day they had to squeeze it in during their vacation.  They picked well.

They got dorado, tuna, and even a marlin!  That’s crazy fishing because none of these fish are typical winter-time fish.  The catch was even more remarkable because they had very little fishing experience and came down all the way from Canada!

We also know there are fish around because we have friends that are commercial fishermen.  They don’t have a choice.  They need to make a living no matter the weather.  They inform us that there are yellowtail up to about 25 pounds around the high spots of the island.

There are also a few wahoo, tuna and regular inshore fish like pargo, cabrilla and snapper mixed in with sierra.

But, really just not that many folks on the water during the winter.

DID SOMEONE SAY WILD SHEEP?

Jill and I just finished our first show of the season at the Dallas Safari Club Convention held at the Dallas Convention Center and it was 4 incredible days in the booth.   Maybe one of the best shows we have had in the more than 30 years of shows we have done.

Thank you everyone who came by to chat with us about coming down to see us in La Paz and especially to everyone who made reservations for 2024.  We’re gonna have a great time and we’re looking forward to your visit!

One special event we were invited to by our good friends Kip and Sue Slaugh was the Weatherby Firearms Awards Banquet and Auction.  A fantastic black-tie event and I don’t get dressed up for nothing!  We had a great time and it was fun getting dressed up and sharing time with our friends and hob-nobbing with celebrities in the hunting industry!

But now, as I write this, we’re on our way to Reno, Nevada.  We’ll that’s where we’re trying to go.  We’ve been stuck in the airport in Dallas because all the flights around the country seem to have been cancelled because of the winter storms.  But, we hope to be on our way by the time you’re reading this!

We’ll be at the:

WILD SHEEP CONVENTION AND SPORTS EXPO

RENO-SPARKS CONVENTION CENTER

Jan. 18th-20th (Thursday to Sunday)

Jilly and I will be in the booth every day and would love to talk to you about coming down fishing with us this year.  C’mon by and say hi.  There’s so much to see at this show if you like fishing, hunting, camping or anything outdoors!

Here’s more info:

https://www.visitrenotahoe.com/event/2024-sheep-show/

Hope to see you there this week !

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico 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

“Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don’t take anything too seriously, it’ll all work out in the end.”
-David Niven

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Dec. 23-Jan. 1, 2023

FISH BITE WHEN WIND SLACKS

La Paz-Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-Jan. 1, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Comfortable day and night temps, but still some gusty seasonal winds up to 20 mph at times that are prohibitive to being on the water whether you’re fishing, snorkeling, kayaking or SCUBA.   So, you need to find those dates when the wind is blowing less.

WATER: Simple.  If it’s windy, the water will be rough and cloudy.  If it’s not windy, the waters settle down nicely.  Surprisingly warmer than normal.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado, sailfish, roosterfish, tuna – you gotta be kidding me!  Plus sierra, pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, yellowtail.

BAIT BEING USED:  If it’s windy, it’s tough to get live bait.  Plus, this is off-season so there’s not that many fishermen on the water.  That means sometimes, the live bait guys won’t go catch bait to sell.   Not practical.  If you don’t have live bait, then dead bait; frozen bait and lures can still be effective.

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

The right kind! Wow! Hard to believe wahoo in December, but John Davis did the trick on this ‘hoo off Cerralvo Island.

Awww…a “cute” juvenile sailfish boated by Norm Busch fishing with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.

Love the facial expression! Greg Earles battled this hog yellowfin tuna for 2.5 hours. WHOA! Well done!

Double roosters and lots of fun in Bahia Muertos for Norm and Greg. We don’t usually see roosterfish in the winter. The big 100 pounders show up in the spring.  These were released to grow big.

Bull dorado for a serious-looking John. Seas look a bit rough!

Love this photo or Norm Busch with another fun winter roosterfish. Another release!

Another dorado for Greg headed for the fish box.

______________________________

OK…this is just weird.

Granted…winter is the WINDY season and yes, the winds have been blowing up to 20 mph.  But even if you find the occasional window when the winds slack off and you can go fishing, the catch is usually inshore stuff like pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra and jacks.

Mostly shallow water species found over the rocks and reefs.  Alot of that is because with the winds, it’s not a great idea to go too far out in the rough waters.   However, also the waters are cold and the warm water species are still months away.

So, what’s happening in our waters?

As this is off-season, there’s not much of anyone fishing.  Mostly locals, commercial fishermen and the occasional visitor.  But, the catch has been rather…unusual to say the least.

Yes, the shallow water rock species are still there.

But, were hooking dorado!  Fish up to 30 pounds are still swimming around and readily taking lures and live bait.

There are tuna around Cerralvo Island with football-sized fish like 10 pounders, but also sluggers over 50 pounds!

Want more?

How about wahoo also around Cerralvo.  Sailfish in the channel up to 130 pounds.  And what about the 10 pound roosterfish along the beaches and in the bays.  Great for light tackle.  Not the big hogs over 100 pounds we get later in the year but some fun feisty roosters to play with.

Totally unseasonable catches and highly unusual.  Not sure how long they’ll be around. Probably as long as the waters stay on the warmer side, but alot of fun while they are here.

That’s my story!

Happy New Year!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
http://www.tailhunter.com

Mexico 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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Period of Dec. 12-22, 203

UNUSUAL CRAZY GOOD WINTER FISHING?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Dec. 12-22, 2023

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Mostly mild.  Some clouds, but the key, as far as fishing has been the wind.  Earlier, it was really gusty, but then the last week (Christmas week) some of the calmest winter weather we’ve seen in…forever.

WATER:  When the winds blew, the water was junk and uncomfortable.  But, when the wind didn’t blow, the water was almost glassy blue and flat!

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Crazy dorado fishing…hard to believe this is “off-season.”  School-sized dorado of about 10 pound size.  But, larger 20-40 pound fish still running around as well.   Then, late in the period…sailfish?  Yup!  Inshore, sierra, bonito, jacks and cabrilla and a few yellowtail also showed up in the boxes. 

BAIT:  Bait stocks have been good when the wind isn’t blowing.  Nice sardines for live bait. 

OUTLOOK: Winds will be coming back, but there’s a few windows here and there.

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Francisco and Ramiro were out at Bahia Muertos to catch a few filets for the freezer! Wow…never expected a box full of dorado as well as the nice sailfish like this and surely not in December! They tried to release the sailfish but were unsuccessful.

Celebrating his birthday in La Paz, Greg Earles was deternined to get in a day of two of fishing! He had some banner fishing like this nice bull. Amigo, John Davis lends a hand!

Our La Paz amigo, Jimmy Williams with a trophy sail. It almost looks like a fiberglass mount with great colors. Check out the flat ocean. Looks like a lake! Jimmy released the fish, but also caught dorado.

Captain Pancho with Norm Busch. Take a look at the big bull that Pancho is holding up for the photo. It’s a beast! Nice rack of mahi meat!

Another local, amigo, Phil always gets into good fish. Bull dorado like this are NOT typical winter fish. Great catch!

Even the guys who fished north of La Paz where it’s usually windy got into a nice jag of dorado!

Happy Birthday to Greg! Starting the day off right!

____________________________

WOW! WOW! WOW!

Hard to believe some of the fishing right now…in December!

I know the fishing report is a little later than usual.  I really do try to get them out on a weekly basis now going on almost 30 years.   But, as you’ve often heard me say, November to April is off-season.   Barely anyone fishing because it’s usually extremely windy and rough!

So, I was waiting a few extra days for something to happen so I could have something a bit meatier to write you about. Even I get bored talking about the same old thing!

I also knew I had some local friends going fishing plus a small group of guys who were going to brave it and go fishing for a day or two.  Additionally, some of my friends who are local commercial fishermen were supposed to give me a better report.

Also, well, it’s the holidays.  I’m still recovering my my knee replacement surgery even though it has now been about 6 weeks and on top of it…everyone (me included) has gotten the cold/flu bug!  It’s that time of year.

So, apologies that it’s a little late, but it was worth it!

Check it out…

Earlier in the period it was typical windy, rough, choppy…blah blah blah.  But then, Christmas week, I don’t know what happened.

The winds diminished.  The waters calmed down.  The waters turned blue!  It was like someone threw a switch!

Dorado between 5 and 20 pound schoolies bit like it was summer!  Both Las Arenas and La Paz fleets produced some good catches and there were even larger fish up to the 40-50 pound class bulls!  Pretty much unheard of.

With plentiful supplies of bait including live sardines, the dorado were ready to chew.  Still not much of anyone fishing, but everyone who was out got fish.

As well, inshore fish like cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra and yellowtail more typical of this time of year were also hooked.

The biggest surprise probably were the sailfish that showed up.  And these were some nice-sized legit sails running 90 to maybe 140 pounds.  Much larger than normal. Most of the fish were released, but especially because many were hooked on lighter tackle, there were some epic battles.

Not sure if this will continue, but the key is the wind and finding the windows when the winds aren’t blasting folks off the water!   A great Christmas week of fishing!

LATE BREAK REPORT –  Just as I was about to publish…tuna and wahoo biting now!

BLESSINGS TO YOU!

Hard to believe that Christmas has come again so soon, but always a special time.  Wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, please…from Jill and I and our Tailhunter family and team in La Paz…we wish you a special peace and happy holidays and Christmas and many blessings for the new year.  We hope to have you visit us in 2024!

 

Cheers and best fishes always!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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