YELLOWTAIL AND OTHERS WONDERING WHERE THE
FISHERMEN WENT!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 23-30, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Captain Pancho got out one day with his son and were dragging a Rapala when they hit up this big husky yellowtail.
Visiting his dad in Bahia Muertos, Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs, Colorado has time off from school so he’s been fishing the last two weeks and found a some sweet spots of pargo on the far east side of Cerralvo Island near La Paz. This is that time of year when the big pargo liso like this come into the shallows to spawn.
Prime time ceviche if I know what Gary Wagner will do with this nice sierra. Despite being a member of the mackerel family, sierra have a delicate white flesh that is incredibly tasty.
Captain Luis fishes with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet and has been fishing with family north of La Paz but was out alone and stuck this pair of slugger yellowtail towards Espirito Santo Island using live bait.
Gary’s got another yellowtail to put in the fish box!
Mixed weather conditions but generally flat seas and a decent bite on yellowtail and other species. Just no one really fishing except locals and captains with family and friends.
Temps are warming up into the 80’s and so is the fishing. The yellowtail have been biting in a number of areas and are taking sardines, mackerel, ballyhoo live baits as well as chasing slow trolled Rapalas, Yo-Zuris or jigging with iron. The fish have been chunky at times too! Some of the fish running up into the 30-pound class.
In those same areas, we’ve also had amberjack biting with some hefty fish over 50-pounds. Plus pargo, cabrilla and snapper are willing to bend rods as well. Plus add in bonito, jack crevalle and sierra and there’s no shortage of biters. Offshore a few yards, the possibility of dorado and even tuna (rumored) plus big squid are in the area.
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BREAKING UPDATE…Just as I was finishing this up, Gary Wagner sent me this story about tying into a tuna he estimated at 300 pounds:
“..last Thursday was the only day of the week that was fishable. So Miles and I ran out to Cerralvo Island. After catching some Pargo, white bonita, Cabrilla and all the Skip jack you could ever want, we tied into a Tuna. Not just any tuna but the Tuna from Hell. In our 6 hour and 15 minute fight we got to see this 55 gal drum about 10 times. Over 300 lbs, we hooked the Tuna at 8:30 in the morning in 50 ft of water, and then the Tuna headed for Mazatlan. Took us due East 2 miles then turned and headed right back to where we hooked it. Then out again, the fish turned and eventually broke us off in the rocks on the North end of the Island. We were using a top shot of 30# Flouracarbon with 50# braid, so we really couldn’t pull his lips off. One heck of a father and son memory, we both could use a Chiropractor right about now.”
Here’s Miles Wagner just a few hours into the fight…
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But, like I said, there’s no one around. Things are pretty quiet. Hotels have staff on reduced hours or skeleton crews. A few hotels are either closing or in the process of closing. Bars are closed if they are just selling alcohol, but restaurants remain open…or trying to stay open and hoping to stay afloat with food delivery.
The Marina in Cabo was closed this past week to all boat traffic and water activities and it is expected that La Paz might not be far behind. We’ll see. Changes coming daily.
JILL JONATHAN and LA PAZ
Jilly and I are still in the states dug in and hunkered down like everyone else. Our last two fishing/ hunting expos in Salt Lake City and San Diego, respectively, got canceled so we’ve come off the road and are in the same “wait-and-see” mode like most folks.
The few reservations we had for late March and April have all postponed until later in the year. Flights down are limited or non-existent as airlines have drastically curtailed flights. But, even if we went back home to La Paz, what then?
Not only are there no fishermen, but town is pretty empty. Mostly, it’s our captains fishing with their friends and family to put some meat on the table. Although there’s generally no mandatory closures in La Paz, since no one is around, many places are shuttered. New regulations have closed down bars that only serve alcohol, but restaurants like Tailhunter have been allowed to stay open because we also serve food.
However, we’ve had to move tables apart and found it necessary to severely curtail hours and regretfully, have had to let some of our employees go. Hopefully, we can remain open and keep our employees working. Just like in the U.S. we’re trying to augment business with take-out service and food specials.
Baja is taking the virus pretty seriously especially because of the state’s reliance upon tourism and the handful of cases in Baja have mostly all been related to folks who traveled or came in contact with travelers.
Mainland, Mexico, on the other hand has not been very quick to re-act. President Obregon has told the people that it’s not time to panic and they should continue with social activities, eating out, and getting together. He says Mexico is ready for anything should the virus blow up, but even one of the governors came out this week and said, “Poor people are immune from the virus.”
However, Mexican health authorities are bracing themselves. Mexico has serious problems with diabetes (10% of the population); obesity (right up there with the United States); hypertension; heart disease and other health issues. However, it does not have the ability to cope with an outbreak. Mexico City alone has 15 million people, but only 400 ICE beds in the whole city. Plus, especially in the cities, social distancing will be very difficult because of the population density with many people living in close proximity. Plus, even if closures are put into effect, something like 60-70% of the working population live day-to-day and hand-to-mouth in small mom-and-pop stands or tiny businesses. If they don’t work, they don’t eat.
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CAVEAT: WITH THINGS CHANGING SO RAPIDLY ANYTHING WRITTEN HERE IS DONE WITH THE FACTS AT THE GIVEN MOMENT. BY THE TIME YOU ARE READING THIS THINGS COULD HAVE AND PROBABLY WILL HAVE CHANGED. I ONLY CLAIM ACCURACY FOR THE FISHING PART! AND OUR WISHES THAT YOU AND YOURS STAY WELL!
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So, with Jill and I, we do not want to be the ones who perhaps bring an infection to our friends, family and employees. It’s about social responsibility. Although we feel fine, we could be carriers. Even if not, we could easily pick up something in the airport, a car, the airplane…this virus is so resilient that I have problems with anyone going down to Mexico right now “for fun.”
I’ve had e-mails from folks asking me about going down “because the fishing is good; airline prices are cheap; and there’s no one else on the water!” Just my personal opinion, that until we get ahead of this thing, folks who go down right now could be the one that’s responsible for killing someone. And they’ll never know it. No way to know who is contagious because the virus can be completely asymptomatic.
So, we’re hunkered down for the time-being just like you. We’re working like crazy from home (reservations for later in the year are still coming in). Jill is making big batches of soups and casseroles to store for later. She’s organizing her office. I’m cleaning out the garage and trying (failing) to get in some work outs! We’re not hoarding, but we’ve got enough toilet paper. We’re watching movies we’ve never had time to watch together and catching up on a bit of reading and staying in touch with family on FaceTime.
Trying to stay well and keep others well. I hope you are well and stay that way also! Please take care of each other and let’s take this seriously so we can get back to normal and hopefully catch some fish!
That’s our story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
Tailhunter Sportfishing
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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