La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 8-15, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not too different even in Mexico! Christmas scenes like this one with kids lining up for visits with Santa and their favorite cartoon characters downtown La Paz.
Manger scenes for Christmas in La Paz
Town is kinda quiet right now! It’s that lull between the holidays and not many folks in town right now except for some snowbirds and kiteboarders and windsurfers taking advantage of the winter breezes. Not really many folks on the water as this is off-season for fishing, but even then, most folks in town are just enjoying the sunshine and getting ready for Christmas. Definitely seems like you can already smell the tamales cooking on the streets! But, lights are up and folks are doing Christmas shopping and that’s kind of it.
Some action for fishing has mostly been inshore. There’s a decent bite over the rocky spots of cabrilla up to about 5 pounds plus snapper and pargo. All great eating fish. The hard-pullers include some nice jack-crevalle running up to about 10 pounds plus good activity on bonito. Really hard to get a complete fishing picture when not many folks are fishing. It was too bad because this past week was one of the better weeks for weather and minimal winds.
I’m sure town is gonna start getting more crowded in the next few days as we get closer to Christmas.
BOOKING FOR 2020
It’s not too early to check on getting your dates together for next year which hits us in just a few weeks already! Reservations are already coming in steadily and some dates are filling fast and a few are already sold out. Don’t wait to see at at one of the sport shows. Last year, by March, we were largely all booked up. Get in touch with us today. Check out the website at http://www.tailhunter.com or e-mail me directly at Jonathan@tailhunter.com and let’s get you set up to fish with us in La Paz in 2020!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 3-10, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary Wagner has caught lots of big fish, but knew he had a battle on his hand when he switched down to 25-pound test fluorocarbon and this big yellowfin tuna bit the lines. He was on the fish for more than 3 ½ hours! Gary owns the Giggling Marlin Bar in Cabo San Lucas but was staying at his Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay near Las Arenas.
Don Fee was in town from Florida and we got him out on the water for one day for his first time and he said he had bites all day producing some dorado, cabrilla, bonito and even some small roosterfish.
He said he was embarrassed to admit this fish took about 4 hours to put in the boat, but Roger Thompson has caught bigger tuna, but few that were this scrappy and he had to do it on 40 pound test. “It pulled the panga,” he told us. Roger was fishing the south side of Cerralvo Island across from Las Arenas.
Efrain and Patrick hold up a couple of their dorado with Captain Jorge.
Don caught and released a couple of these fiesty little roosterfish in Bahia Muertos. He let them grow so they’ll be the big 60-pounders in the spring-time!
Great eating pargo! Gary said he could have caught these all day long on light tackle just south of Bahia Muertos towards Boca de Alamo.
Three dorado! Dinner for Don to pack up and bring back to La Paz.
There were some blustery days that it was good no one was fishing, but there were some nice days too. The problem was…no one was fishing! Snow birds have started to descend on La Paz to enjoy the sunshine and our new Malecon, but the off-season has started and not much of anyone fishing these days because the winds are unpredictable.
However, we did have some folks out and on the days it wasn’t bumpy and windy, there were some fish to be caught.
Most suprising were the big tuna hung on the south side of Cerralvo Island. Go figure. Everyone leaves and all the fishermen are pretty much gone and the big tuna show up.
These were pretty beastly animals. The ranged from 60-100 pounds and there weren’t many of them, but the ones that did bite would only eat light line which is incredibly problematic when you are using 25-40 pound line and a powerful tuna crunches your bait. These fish required 3-4 hours of backbreaking battles to get them to the boats!
For other species, there’s still some decent dorado around running 10-15 pounds or so. Not a lot, but enough to keep it interesting. Mix in some bonito, jack crevalle, a few pargo and snapper and the occasional little roosterfish and it could be a fun day.
That’s our story!
Hope you have a great Veteran’s Day Weekend and thank you all who have served!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 13-20, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Alot of meat! Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles had a live mackerel pinned to her line not far from Punta Arenas with Captain Pancho when she hooked this massive wahoo not far from the shoreline. The big fish was weighed on a scale and measured 56-pounds!
It’s been over 10 years since Mark Rubin came to visit us so it was good to see him. He was out fishing with Captain Arcangel and got this colorful dorado up for a great photo!
On her first day out and first-time in La Paz, Kathy Parker was with Captain Luis and deckie Miguel in the channel between the city and Espirito Santo Island in an area where big 50-150 pound tuna had been sighted. On her first bait in the water, this big yellowfin inhaled her little sardine and the fight was on! With her sister, Sherry (see photo below), trading the rod-back-and-forth for 4 long hours, the ladies finally got this big boy to the boat!
Holly Kunzler’s big dorado of the week was caught while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. Holly’s first trip to Baja and she was with us for the better part of the week visiting from Utah.
Our long-time amigos with their favorite Captain Jorge, Marianne and Jeff Sakuda enjoying Jeff’s retirement vacation after 30 years as a pilot for United, they kicked off things with a nice rack of bull dorado.
Double tag-team! Sherry Cady was on her 2nd visit to us this year and this time brought her sister, Kathy Parker (see photo above) when they hung this big yellowfin tuna with deckhand Miguel and Captain Luis and battled the fat fish for 4 hours!
Montana Dewey and Leslie Spafford guide trips in Arizona and came to visit this week and go into some dorado and cabrilla their first day at Las Arenas.
First-timer and happy fisherman, George Misner, started his trip with a nice bull dorado just south of Bahia Muertos.
Popular Captain Chito hung two of those big tuna that were boiling north of La Paz for a few days. Unfortunately, photos of the clients didn’t come out!
Hi Craig! Always good to have Craig Corda back with us . He’s been our amigo for over 20 years and never has a bad day.
Al Chaves lives outside of Phoenix and was out with Captain Jorge when he got this dorado. He had a big tuna on briefly.
Jarat Bagwell from Arizona got the jackpot with his buddies when he caught the most fish for the day including dorado, cabrilla and snapper.
Texas in the house! Cody Timberlake is a professional cowboy and former bullrider and lives in Banderas TX. First trip with us and a dorado with Captain Alfredo.
Monte Aldridge shows off a bull dorado he picked up fishing off Espirito Santo Island. He’s from Richfield UT and always good to have him visit.
Eric Gunnells and Steve Bayer picked up these dorado on their one day out’ve Bahia Muertos.
Barbara Burnett and her husband Jerry have their own great salmon operation in Juneau AK, but came to visit us and started off with a day of dorado.
These are great eating triggerfish! Best ceviche and fish tacos! Captain Jorge with or friends, Jeff and Marianne Sakuda.
Captain Fili is hidden behind a dorado, but no hiding Zach Arnold and Trent Baysinger and a couple of nice mahi.
Good to see Captain Arcangel smiling. Nice dorado in the box again for Mark.
Things have fallen off rapidly with cooler temperature, stronger winds and currents and rougher water the last week-and-a-half. Fishing has also dropped off dramatically. The warm water season ended sooner than expected and I think things will continue to change as warm water species like the dorado, tuna, wahoo, and billfish move out and are replaced by more inshore cooler water species.
Once again this week, captains and clients worked hard to find picky fish. Bait was harder to come by in the rougher waters and there were times with there were some uncharacteristically big swells, chop and gusty winds making it more difficult to fish. The winds will only get stronger as normally calm La Paz Bay even got some big wind-generated rollers that smashed waves onto the waterfront areas.
There were still some dorado around although the schools are diminishing. Most days boats scratched out a catch of 1-5 dorado per day with most about 10 pounds or so. Smaller ones were released. Lots of bonito, fortunately usually kept rods bent.
More inshore fish like triggerfish, snapper, pargo and cabrilla as well as sierra and jack crevalle and pompano increased in the counts as waters cooled and it became more incumbent to fish closer to the beaches and rocks.
There are, however, some great catches still waiting!
We had a few nice wahoo this week including a whopper 56-pounder by Marlene Kikuchi from Los Angeles. As well, there’s still the occasional 30-50 pound roosterfish.
The biggest surprise was the appearance of some pig yellowfin tuna that were in the 50-150 pound class between Punta Tecolote and Espirito Santo Island in the channel. These fish were toads that tore into anglers for 1-4 hour battles, when they would bite. Sometimes, they were just a tease boiling around the pangas, but not interested in eating a hooked bait. But, when they did bite, they were beasts! Normally, we don’t see tuna around La Paz as we catch them mainly around Las Arenas so this was a nice surprise!
BOOKING FOR 2020 STARTING TO FILL
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our reservations are coming in faster than normal and many dates in 2020 are getting filled. Calls and e-mails are coming in daily. Some dates are already sold out. In 2019 we were filled by March.
We don’t want to miss you. If you have a favorite captain, hotel or date in mind, don’t wait. Especially, don’t wait until we do our fishing and hunting show tour in the winter. We want to be sure we have you down and covered so we can have you visit next year!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 6, 2019
Mexican Minute Video Report
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
You never forget the first. Especially, when you have been trying for years like John Gibbs and Wiley Randolph who visit us every year and finally nailed their first wahoo…on the same day…on the same panga with Captain Pancho.
It’s easy to see why these guys are fun. With Captain Jorge, James Ekern, Corey Sowers and George Aun from Utah and a bunch of dorado.
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First day and first time fishing with us, Steve Salbeck, rocked this big dog-tooth snapper with Captain Moncho. That’s alot of meat for the ice chest.
Eric Sanchez gives buddy Adam Nystuen with a nice wahoo they took off Bahia Muertos.
Scott Milligan and Dave Sedeno posing with their first day catch with quite a variety including, dorado, pompano and snapper .
Funny shot with Dana Murray our amigo from Washington who has a tuckered tongue out hefting this 50-pound class tuna to pose with Captain Armando.
A sweet-looking bull dorado and blue water! Brian Schwalbe gets some grins with Captain Luis who caught this with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Captain Fili with another pompano and Rich Sisk and Scott Pepper hold up some of their first-day catch on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Enjoying some Baja sunshine from Montana where it was snowing 30″ this week, Pepper Paul Hamlin has a couple of nice bull dorado and a great shirt!
Brothers who fish together, the Suzumoto brothers, Thomas, Luke and John with Captain Jorge. Couldn’t find nicer guys. With us for the first time.
This trio is trouble and always having fun catching a big rack of dorado to match their shirts, Nino Bonfiglio, Captain Victor and Jim Gatti.
Mark Self just had one day to fish and got one of the largest dorado of the week.
Wiley’s biggest dorado ever despite many trips to fish with us here in La Paz! He was fishing north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.
Brian had himself a nice week of fishing with this marlin his largest of the week and he shared the meat with his group.
Check out Al Jones and the variety of fish on the cutting board. He’s got dorado, white bonito, cabrilla, triggerfish and yellow snapper.
Our newly retired forestry amigos from Carson City NV, on their 2nd trip with us got a pile of dorado, triggerfish, pompano and jack crevalle.
A solid trophy barred pargo on the gaff for Chris Aiello. Great eating.
Kim Bell fought this nice plug yellowfin tuna for 45 minutes all by herself as it pulled the panga around. Good job!
Too cool from Colorado, Dave Van Steenkiste and Randall Sullivan got themselves a good batch of dorado for the day.
Great colors. Ken has another mahi for the box.
Gerardo gets into the photo with Bob Larson and Bill Bigelman who have a big pompano to go along with their dorado.
We finally got some wahoo in the boat! Wiley Randolph and Captain Pancho got the gaff in this big boy.
Early morning mahi! John Gibbs starts the day with a bull in the boat. Incredible colors.
Eric from Phoenix and Kendall from Denver on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
The man behind the mask with the huge bull is Brian Schwalbe.
Bob Manney is all smiles with his day’s fishing results. Bob is from Washington and visits us each year.
Captain Arcangel has been on our team for almost 25 years and is popular with many of our Tailhunter anglers. Take a look at the baby wahoo in his left hand. They thought it was a needlefish at first!
Tim Bell is all grins with Captain Jorge. Tuna and dorado headed to the fillet table.
Three of the best folks in the world…Captain Joel…Emily Duncan from Santa Barbara…our own Jorge Romero.
The Zuckerman brothers, Mike and Dave with a load of pompano, a barred pargo and a dorado. Lots of variety this past week.
Scott and Alfred after their first day with dorado, pompano, jack crevalle.
This is just funny…it’s not every day that the police inspector on the beach let’s loose and poses with the fishermen, but Angelo Oliverio, Captain Armando and Ken Campbell get a thumbs-up from the big man!
We probably could not have asked for a better week. The seasons are changing and to go along with mild sunny temperatures and cool tropical breezes, the fish were on their game finally!
Whether you fished with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet or our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, there was no shortage of action. Occasionally, one boat might be off-target, but for the most part, it was all the dorado you could possibly stand!
Limits or near limits of mahi were common with lots more released for being too small or over-limits. We had some boat on some days back on the beach by 10 or 11 a.m. with happy anglers ready to hit the pool, nice lunch and a siesta!
If there was any difference between our two fleets, the dorado seemed larger for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and for our La Paz Fleet, there were a lot more fish. .. but they tended to be smaller. Most fish ran 10-15 pounds with occasional 20-35 pounders and larger fish lost.
In between the dorado, add a smattering of hard-fighting bonito, jack crevalle, a pargo or cabrilla and too many pesky needlefish and it was usually a fully day of bent rods and grinning clients!
The highlights of the week were surely the jags of yellowfin tuna that finally popped up and landed in the boats. Best spots were with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet using live bait with the fish as small as footballs but as large as 50-pounders. I wouldn’t go so far as saying we have a “tuna bite” starting up, but it’s encouraging to finally see some tuna in the boxes.
Even better was that we finally hit some wahoo as well. We’ve been getting teased by biters for that last week or two, but none of the fish stuck and it’s been months since one was landed. We lost a few more this week, but at least we also got some onto the gaffs and onto the fish cleaning tables. They were nice 20-45 pound ‘hoos!
Waters are cooling down. Air temps are very moderate with minimal humidity. Breezes are coming more from the north so the season is changing. It’s really really pleasant here right now.
ALERT for 2020 FISHING WITH TAILHUNTERS!
Just a heads-up for all our Tailhunter amigos…we are really booking up fast for 2020! This year 2019 we were largely sold out by MARCH!!! Some dates for next year are already sold out.
If you have some favorites dates, rooms hotels AND CAPTAINS, don’t hesitate. Do not wait until we come to your town at one of the sportsman’s shows. We are even getting bookings for 2021 and we want to make sure we have you covered for fishing and visiting us next year!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 8-15, 2019
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK-AT-A-GLANCE
Weather – hot and humid. Very tropical. Afternoon and occasional thunderstorms and flash flooding but otherwise sunny and in the mid to high 90’s. Evenings low 80’s with a breeze.
Water – blue bathwater overall, but still come cold patches. Might start getting colder soon. Feels a bit like fall already. A short summer.
Fishing (Scale of 1-10) – Maybe a high 6. Still not where we should be this time of year although there’s solid dorado fishing mostly. This is what it should be in July.
Fish Caught – 90% dorado mainly because that’s what 90% are fishing for! But we’ve had some jags of tuna. We’ve lost marlin and wahoo. Roosterfish are still around but not many folks fishing for them. Dorado are easy and fun. Seeing more of those big dog-tooth, snapper, cabrilla, sierra, pargo, bonito, jack crevalle, pompano, needlefish.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Just a great frameable shot with awesome colors! Lee Hazelquist with a big grin!
Another joyous ecstasy photo! Steve Avery with us for the first time put this beast dog-tooth snapper in the boat and he has every reason to be happy about this trophy!
Oh yea! About time! Joe Duffy who runs a charter operation up in the Bay Area with his dad, Noel (who came all the way from Ireland) and a nice yellowfin tuna just off Punta Perrico!
My funny buddy, Brian Buchanan, had a good week of dorado fishing with us. Brian is from the Salt Lake City area.
These two great guys had a fun week of fishing. First timers with Tailhunter Paul Marshall and Steve Avery.
For almost 20 years, our buddy retired firefighter Mac Treasure from Reno NV brings a great bunch of guys to visit us. This week, Mac stuck himself this big fat dog-tooth fishing with Captain Pancho.
They got Captain Arcangel to smile! Rob Markarian and Tom Worrel with a load of fish to start their trip.
Everyone’s favorite guy and hard working amigo, Jorge Romero, finally took a day off and got out to fish! Nice dorado Jorge!
The right kind! It’s about time! Captain Jorge gives a thumbs up for Jaimy Stolberg’s hefty tuna she battled just outside of Muertos Bay!
Great shot! Captain Armando helps out Geoff Merker from San Diego with a nice dorado off Punta Perico. Check the flat waters!
Dale and Dean Dzwonierek with Captain Jorge and a bunch of dorado on the fish cleaning table.
Nyle Miyamoto from Washington with a colorful bull.
First rooster for Jon Gallant from San Diego just off Punta Perico. Fish was released. Roosters are still around but with so much attention on dorado no one is really fishing for them.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a nicer dorado photo than this one with John Birtwistle from Woodland CA. Great shot and good fish, JB!
Two of our nicest friends for many years from Oregon, Dorothy and Steve Murata started their vacation with some dorado and a couple of yellowfin tuna fishing with Captain Gerardo.
Trudy Grove with another dorado! She had a super week with the mahi and has been visiting us from Salt Lake City for many many seasons. Always good to have her down to see us!
Joaquin Perea from Woodland CA never has a bad day and always a pleasure to have him down. Another nice dorado for the cooler!
Denver in the house! Bill Johnson put a double pair on the cleaning table his first day.
A big fish dinner in their future! Fishing with Captain Jorge (in the background) Clint and Jaimy Stolberg pose with a good day’s production of dorado and tuna!
I told Tim Larson if he took a good photo, I would finally get him in the fishing report! Nicely done, Tim! You’re on!!! It’s a great shot. We told him no hat. No sunglasses. Good lighting. No blood!
You can always tell a flyfishing guy. They always put their rods in their mouths! They need one extra hand! Well-done, Joaquin! He got several fish on his flyrod.
Stephen Chalbourg and his amigo, Bo, came all the way from Minnesota to fish and got these two lengthy females.
Another of our great Washington amigos, Jim Lundeen shows off one of his mahi.
Funniest guy of the week…Billy Baker! You’re on the fishing report, Billy! Good to have you here and thanks for all the laughs!
Two of our retired firefighters, Bernie Smith and Brian Rubino with Captain Adolfo.
Just another good day for Captain Gerardo as he checks out the dorado catch of Les Lovell and Terry Daniels.
Visting us for the 2nd year-in-a-row. Good to have you down, Fish Brother! Ryan Netherton who also got in a day of SCUBA diving as well! Ryan is from San Diego.
Joaquin Perea and Paul Marshall having some fun on the beach after another solid day on the water.
That’s a legit fish! John Birtwistle and a shiny dorado. Cerralvo Island in the background.
Paul and Steve with more dorado fillets coming up!
Despite the full-moon, another pretty solid week of dorado fishing overall with fish scattered over a wide-range of ocean both inshore and offshore. It’s pretty hard NOT to catch a dorado right now if you have a bait, lure or jig in the water. It’s probably 90% of the catch!
There’s lots of other species around, but when the fun-fighting, easily caught and tasty dorado around, folks don’t usually spend much time chasing the other species! This is especially true for a lot of our first-timers or less-experienced anglers.
Not every boat does great every single day. There’s always the 1 or 2 boats that only get a few dorado or really have to work at it on a given day, and I hate it when maybe those folks are only fishing single day. But, if you’re fishing multiple days, it’s difficult to keep the dorado off your hook and you’ll go home with some great meat for the dinner plate and freezer.
But, there are other species around.
We had some marlin hook-ups and breakoffs.
We had at least 1 or 2 wahoo bites that got unbuttoned per day.
If you wanted a roosterfish, yes ,the 30-60 pounders are still around.
Inshore, there’s cabrilla, pargo and those big-dog-tooth snapper are willing to bite if you are into putting in the time and are up to the frustration of nearly getting yanked out’ve your socks only to have the fish bust you off in the shallow rocks.
More excitingly, late in the week, we had some jags of 20-40 pound yellowfin tuna pop up. These fish have been absent for about 2 months and this is the time we should be seeing them, but have been conspicuously absent the latter part of this week. I don’t wanna jinx it and say the tuna season has started, but hopefully, this is the start of some better tuna fishing.
SHOUT OUT THANK YOU
Our community outreach program is still rolling full turbo. Just sent a huge load of goods out to Los Planes to the kids and the community out there! We also collected enough money this last week to sponsor two more kids for a whole year of school (books, food, uniforms, transportation…and they in turn have to keep up their grades and mentor another student).
No sooner did that load go out, then even more started coming in! I was not able to get everyone’s photos, but some are below. But a special shout-out to Tim Schlander who’s guys brought in numerous ice chests packed full of clothes, school clothes, hygiene items and more!! Thanks for the big hearts to them and all of you who keep bringing both adult and childrens items and have helped us deliver several TONS of needed items over the last few years!
Justin and Noah Lauby with lot of great adult clothes! (Everyone targets the kids so great to get some adult stuff!)
From Bakersfield, nice smiles and great school supplies from Don and Gwen Parnell.
Our Utah Tailhunter Tribe…Brian Buchanan, Trudy Grove, Kathy and John Terbu with a whole table full of great stuff!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 4-11, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Retired firefighter Craig Braswell strains to hold up a hefty roosterfish estimated at 60 pounds that hit Craig’s little sardine right close to the rocks as they were fishing for shallow water pargo and cabrilla. The fish battled and pulled the panga around on light tackle for almost an hour which is why Craig says, “I could barely lift the fish!” The fish was released. Craig is from Chico C and our buddy is a long-time Tailhunter friend!
Denni Chin from Salt Lake City UT has a laugh with Captain Victor from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz on the beach at Bahia Muertos. It was Denni’s first La Paz trip and he took a number of fish off his bucket list including a striped marlin; several big roosterfish (released) as well as dorado and this yellowtail and tuna!
A crazy mix of fish for Trevor Akiyoshi and Ryan Vorisek hold up some of their catch that included a strange mix of fish for August. The catch included dorado (summer fish) , pompano (spring fish) and pargo liso (mullet snapper…a winter fish). Dad Mike Akiyoshi with the photobomb. They are from Upland CA. They were fishing with the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz.
Amazing fish! Our biggest dorado of the season. It’s huge. Adam Jones is about 6′ tall and the head of the fish is turned away from the camera. He and cousin, Steve Braithwaite (photo below) tag-teamed the big fish over 40 minutes!
Another shot of the big bull dorado. Steve Braithwaite posing for this shot! Both guys are pretty tall and the photo doesn’t do justice to the size and girth of the fish.
Our long-time amigo, Kip Slaugh, hoisted this big roosterfish on a bit of a choppy day outside of Bahia de los Muertos. The fish was released.
Yup!!! Yellowtail in August? Check the photo! Phil and dad, Larry Braithwaite from Salt Lake City UT with captain Pancho on the beach at Bahia Muertos. Dorado are warm water fish. Yellowtail are cold water fish!
Colorado in the house! Louie Sanchez rocked this big roosterfish while fishing near Las Arenas on live bait and released it. It’s his personal best!
Just an incredible shot of a dorado jumping at sunrise! Captured by pro photographer amiga, Lynn Crooks from Reno NV who was fishing with her husband, Bernie.
Hard not to love our buddy, Denny Gallegos, who mugs for this shot. He’s always doing stuff like this over the years! With his buddy, Grant Parr, holding a big pargo perro.
The gent behind the mask with Captain Monch and the trophy roosterfish is Bernie Crooks who got several nice roosterfish and released them all. Our amigo, Bernie, is from Reno, Nevada.
All of a sudden, these big dog-tooth also started chewing this week! With Cerralvo Island in the background, Kip Slaugh, lifts the thick fish on the gaff for the money shot! Great eating!
Just a wonderful shot by this young lady! Oh the joy! Chloe Crum from San Antonio, Texas makes the shot with this dorado and captain Alfredo helping from off-camera!
Love the kid shots! We’ve known Sierra Sanchez since she was smaller than this dorado and it’s fun watching her grow up every year and enjoy the fishing with her family and Captain Rogelio. Dorado…right off the rocks in shallow water!
Victor Gil Delmonte comes to visit us every year and told me this fish “really hurt me!” You can see it on his face and Captain Archangel had to give Vic a hand! He gamely battled the fish then released the pretty fish too!
Yes, you CAN have too much fun! Pete Natividad from Los Angeles with Captain Alfredo, was on his first trip to see us and had only one day to fish, but caught about 6 different species including this amberjack.
Dr. Marc Crum came to visit us for the first time from Texas and was able to put this nice roosterfish aboard for the photoshot before letting it go to fight another day.
Talk about variety! Lynn Crooks has about 6 different species on the transom after a good day on the water fishing north of La Paz.
Just incredible colors in this photo to go along with Gaby Donnell’s pretty smile. Gaby is from Oregon and took the colorful bull dorado just outside of Las Arenas.
Our buddy, Roger “Fluffy” McCracken battled this feisty jack crevalle south of Espirito Santo Island. These are tough fighters!
Doing it like a boss! Gavin Carroll has himself a dorado in the boat with Captain Armando!
Dorado started biting better late in the week. Adam Jones and Steve Braithwaite.
Not normally something we recommend or target, but we DO occasionally hook sharks. It usually never lasts long before the shark busts the line nor do we recommend putting any shark in the boat. But, Jeff Slater is one of our long-time anglers and very very experienced and fought this hammerhead estimated at 300 pounds. Actually very good eating and he donated much of the meat as well.
This is frameable! Hard to get a better photo or smile than Cortez Sanchez with his bull dorado on the beach at Muertos.
Good way to greet a sunrise! Captain Rogelio and our first-timer Nick Arandia started the morning with a fine catch-and-release roosterfish near La Paz.
One of our all-time favorite families (Team Penguino). Louie, Sierra and Cortez Sanchez with some of their La Paz catch. Clouds building in the background. They were able to get two nice days of fishing in with us this year!
Not sure what’s more colorful. Louie Mogabgab’s sunglasses or the dorado! Both are admittedly almost a match! Captain Victor adds to the photo too!
When it’s your first time fishing and your first fish, it’s a great moment. Imelda Natividad got herself a fat triggerfish for ceviche with Captain Alfredo.
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There is no doubt that this has been an incredibly crazy year for weather as well as fishing! It seemed that winter took forever to leave and summer to take hold and given the types of fish we’re catching, summer is still reluctant even though we’re now half into August.
The week started somewhat sluggish and got better as the week progressed. Lots of cloudy days (similar to San Diego grey skies of summer) kept things cooler which was appreciated by many of the anglers. We even had about a 30 minute downpour one afternoon like a mini tropical hurricane that caused a lot of flooding and winds then quickly blew out.
Here it comes! Good thing everyone is off the water already.
Early in the week, we had the usual smattering of dorado mostly in the 10-20 pound class. But we continued to show up with unusual cold-water fish like pargo liso (mullet snapper), giant dog-tooth snapper, cabrilla, pompano, amberjack, jack crevalle and even sierra.
Yup! Amberjack in August. Louie Mogabgab.
Wish we could see his photo, but Captain Moncho give Bernie Crooks (I think that’s Bernie in there!) a hand with his jack crevalle which was released right there off the beach.
But, then the kicker showed up late in the week. Not only did 20-100 pound tuna show up (most fish lost after long battles on light tackle) but we started getting YELLOWTAIL!
None of us can ever remember yellowtail so late in the season. In my 25 years here we have never seen yellowtail in August. Mostly by May, these cold-water fish are long gone!
Never ever ever ever seen yellowtail caught in August. It’s like getting a snowstorm in the summer. It just doesn’t happen!
I’ve given up telling folks what they’re gonna catch these days! Oh, and the fish got bigger as the week went on.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 14-21, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not a bad start! Leif Dover (right) celebrating his bachelor party with Brian O’Neil kicked off their trip with a load of dorado and snapper out’ve Las Arenas. Both guys are long-time Tailhunter amigos and are from Atlanta GA.
Crazy to be catching these big mullet snapper (pargo liso) so late in the year, but Diana Hernandez and Mark Buchanan from San Diego pulled several of these tough fish out’ve the rocks.
They were done fishing early with limits of dorado. Kennedy Dixon poses with fish on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
Don has big smiles and a big rooster ready to photo and release just off the rocks at Punta Perrico.
Captain Rogelio with a great photo and tasty pargo mulato with Grayson Richmond from Colorado near the cliffs off Espirito Santo Island.
Jim Looney has a nice bull dorado just outside of Bahia Muertos.
Her biggest rooster after so many trips with us, Angela Farrell from Oceanside CA, with her favorite captain Moncho. Estimated size was 60 pounds and Angela released the fish.
Another good day with meat for the ice chest, Brian O’Neil and Leif Dover showing dorado, snapper, pargo liso and cabrilla. Quite a variety! They said they lost some huge pargo in the rocks and just couldn’t get the big fish headed up.
Pargo liso for Diana. Good eating members of the snapper family, they usually spawn and school up in the spring. Unusual for us to be catching them in the summer.
Beautiful beach shot of Don and his jack crevalle off Punta Arenas. The fish was released and are members of the jack family. Same as the roosterfish without the mohawk fin.
Family day, Captain Pancho’s family out for the day (Carlos y Marisol), nailed the dorado and a big fat pargo. You better catch fish when it’s your own family!
Our Colorado, buddy Bill Richmond, with some inshore light tackle pargo in flat seas.
Big jack crevalle for Brian. Fish was released.
It’s finally feeling more like summer-time with both the weather (hot); the waters (warmer and bluer) and the fishing (almost there!). We still had some flurries of crazy winds, but overall, it’s seemingly more typical overall. It’s just that it seems like this fishing season, it’s taking it’s sweet time getting up to speed.
Dorado AND pargo? One is decidedly a warm water fish. The latter is a cold water fish! And catching them the same day? Sometimes in the same spot? Crazy!
Surely, the dorado are the best indication since these are the hallmark of our warmer months. We’ve had them on-and-off with out La Paz fishing fleets, but strangely, it’s not been quite so good with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet until about a week or so ago when the dorado seemed to have finally got into the game.
This past week, some boats were limiting on the dorado by mid-morning with most fish in the 10-25 pound class. Catches were rounded out with bonito, skipjack, jack crevalle, and rockfish like cabrilla and snapper. Or, in a few cases, the folks just figured they had a good day and came back to shore early to have lunch and lay by the pool or beach! Either way, a good day.
However, just a note that there must still be some cold water around and lingering wisps of springtime insofar as we’re still hanging some big dog-tooth and mullet snapper that normally, we stop seeing about April and are usually spawning in schools during the springtime. It’s rare to have them this deep into the summer. But, anglers were still catching them or at least hooking these powerful fish and getting broken off in the rocks.
No wahoo to speak of this week. We had a few tuna hooked up, but lost and billfish as well. Most folks were concentrating on the easier dorado bite. Only a few roosterfish as well, but again, that’s probably a function of the fact that the dorado are taking over everyone’s focus.
It’s feeling really tropical lately. Humidity is way up and some sporadic brief rainshowers, especially, in the afternoons are not uncommon . Time to get the trashbag and cut out some holes for your arms and head!
TAILHUNTER COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Because we’ve been filled with so many fishing photos, I’ve been slacking on something even more important in the big scheme of things. Every year our Tailhunter Tribe member bring hundreds and hundreds of pound of donations to us for distribution in the community.
It’s a program that my wife, Jilly, started and it’s been incredibly successful because of our amigos like you. The need is real and so are the smiles. These are just some of the big-hearted folks who have brought stuff to us (I’m sorry I don’t have everyone’s photos), but the gratitude is huge.
Justin and dad, Adam, Larson.
The Toeniskoetter Family
Brian brings down several full suitcases every year stuff with clothes and other needed items.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 23-30, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY….
Dave Lester from Temecula CA with another beast roosterfish for the camera before putting it back in the water. Dave and his 3 buddies estimate they hooked and released 31 roosterfish over 4 days.
What beast is this? DJ Bovee from San Diego fishes with us several times a year and hooked this massive bull dorado, the likes of which we have not seen in years!
Enzo Moreno is just 11-years-old from San Antonio, Texas. He caught and fought a marlin all by himself; he caught numerous other species including dorado and put this hefty yellowtail in the box as well.
Zach Smith had an eventful 2 days of fishing with us. His first day he hooked this pretty striped marlin. The fish could not be released and Zach donated all the meat to the local folks who welcomed the fresh fish
Our fun amigos for many years who always do well, Tim and Angela Farrell from Oceanside, CA with their favorite Captain Moncho and a handful of tough-fighting pargo liso and yellow snapper!
Pretty as could be. Joe has another pretty roosterfish to the boat to photo and release. The roosters were sure thick this week.
This might be my favorite photo of the week. Nina Moreno and Captain Rogelio mug for the camera with Espirito Santo island right behind them just a stone’s throw away.
Big fish…big mouth! The kind that can inhale a 12-inch-long bait! Ron Burgess gets a hand from Captain Moncho. Fish was released.
That’s a handful of pargo liso for Dave Gee from San Francisco who grimaces to hold the stout fish for the camera. Great eating meat!
From Florida, our long-time amigo, Al Burgess needs to take a seat after battling this 100 + pound yellowfin tuna off Cerralvo Island for almost 2 hours!
Kim Hunt and Gabe Lao are doing their best to subdue this feisty rooster so they can take a photo and release it, but the rooster is having none of that and smacks them all over the place. Great effort by Kim and Gabe who caught 4 roosters this day.
Shaka sign from Captain Luis and Cathy Boos from Washington posing with one of her La Paz dorado.
Tom Hoey and Terry Hawk with the right kind of dorado! They hooked this legit pair off Muertos Bay. Some of the largest dorado of the season!
This is a great photo. It’s not often over the 2 decades that we’ve gotten Captain Arcangel to smile, but we got him here with Jonah Voigstberger from Bakersfield and her first rooster. Caught and released.
No shortage of fun and crazy fishing when the schools of jack crevalle move in like this one caught by Alise Ferguson from Colorado Springs CO. Las Arenas Beach and lighthouse nearby.
Victor with some tasty pargo lisos.
Nothing like starting off your day with a trophy catch of a roosterfish right off the bat for Joe and quickly released.
Zach Smith and Captain Fili give Nick Tovar (right) a hand posing with his sailfish on the beach at Bahia Muertos. Nick was not able to release the fish and donated all the meat to local families.
These fish might not look big, but hit and fight like freight trains. Kent holds up a colorful pargo liso he managed to pull from the rocks.
An incredible shot! Off Cerralvo Island, Captain Moncho poses with one roosterfish while Ron Burgess already has another big rooster on the line!
Alot of good eating and variety on the fish cleaning table including big triggerfish, pargo, yellow snapper and cabrilla (seabass) for Jonah and John Voigtsberger.
Captain Gerardo with the thumbs-up photo bomb of Dave Boos and his roosterfish.
From Kentucky, Chase Wallis staying at Bahia Muertos in the Rancho Costa Resort got himself and big striped marlin after a good battle. He donated all of the meat to the local families when the fish could not be revived.
I love photos that are different and kooky like Nick and his big amberjack while he sports the cool beard and mustache face garb!
Fishing with us for years, Terry Hawk, has caught and released quite a few roosterfish with us.
Two great guys. Dave “Splash” Lopez and nephew Nick Gatelein from Los Angeles wit two pretty dog-tooth snapper.
Yes, pompano are still biting and yes, they are the largest I have ever seen down here in our waters in 25 years. Zach Smith has this one under control and released it.
Good amigo and owner of Rancho Costa Resort in Bahia Suenos, Gary Wagner with his son, Jason took this long roosterfish just outside of the bay. The fish was released.
The parade of weird and unusual fish continues. We’ve had milkfish…blue treval;y and now an island trevally. Another member of the diverse jack family. In 25 years, I’ve never seen one down here and neither had any of our captains.
I want to say it was really a great week of fishing. But, I can’t. So many times, I thought we were right on the verge of it, but then it got crazy again. For sure, we had some spectacular fishing and maybe one of the best if not the best fishing of the season.
However, the fishing is still all mixed up and unpredictable. Many folks caught the fish of a lifetime; or their largest; or their first or the most they have ever caught and that was great.
Gabe Lao, Elk Grove CA Roosterfish off the beach. Released.
But, there was just no getting a handle on what was biting . One day the bite was in one spot and the next, it was shut down. Clear blue water one day become green dirty water with current the next day. One panga rips up the fish and the boat next to it can’t get a bite. It was that kind of week.
I’m not sure where to start so let me break it out with our two different fleets. The fact that we have two fleets fishing two different areas often made the difference between having a good day or a so-so day!
For our La Paz Tailhunter Fleet
The week started well. This is where we’ve been getting yellowtail, amberjack, pargo and cabrilla and snapper. Plus lots of great eating white bonito. Really weird because these are all coldwater fish, except for the bonito! And it’s already 100 degrees and the end of June and beginning of July. For example yellowtail are a fish we usually don’t see much of after April or so!
However ,yellowtail between 15-25 pounds have been biting now for almost 3 weeks. By far our La Paz fishing north of town has been the most solid fishing most of the month.
If you wanted to just have a solid day of fun and action, this is where I had you fish. I could really depend on it doing well and everyone having fun.
Espirito Santo Island. Sy’s first dorado experience was a good one.
No, that’s not Richard Branson, but Rick Kasper has been on many TV shows and had his own hunting show for many years. He’s an old hand at fishing with us down here.
The weird thing, however, is that almost in the same spots where we were hooking the cold water fish, we were also hooking dorado which are warm water fish! The dorado ran 10-25 pounds and these are the kinds of fish we should be hooking this time of year. But with the presence of both fish, this means there’s a thermocline in the water column with warm waters about 81 degrees at the surface, but below that is a very chilly thermocline holding colder waters. This was confirmed by our scuba divers who ran into the colder water about 20-40 feet down.
Very unusual! But, like I said, everyone catching fish.
Until about mid-week. The fishing really died down. My captains told me cold green water with lots of current and strong winds kicked the bite to the curb. However, as the week went on…the bite came back little by little as temperatures rose again (we set a record 107 degrees Saturday) and waters calmed with dorado and other species once again getting active.
Nina hooks another one!
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet…
The week was mostly slow. But let me clarify.
Jack crevalle “Toro” Captain Fili and Zach Smith
There were fish biting! No doubt. There were lots of those cool white bonito. And pargo, jack crevalle, cabrilla and amberjack and (Needlefish…yuk).
Dave and a pretty and big yellow snapper.
But, the big pargo liso were schooling! These huge mullet snapper are 10-30 pounds and are really difficult fish in the shallow waters, but these fish are normally schooling in these big groups in the colder waters of March and April.
Among the toughest and most difficult fish in our waters, pargo liso frustrate many an angler and frustrate strong men. However, Tim and Angela Farrell with Captain Moncho yanked these bad boys out’ve the rocks.
All of a sudden, here they are. The thing with them is that they are tough tough tough to catch. I have often told folks that if you get 10 hookups and get 2 or 3 to the boat, it’s about par.
So, folks were coming back saying what a tough day they had. Then, I’d find out they really hooked 6, 8, 10 pargo but busted them all off! That’s GOOD fishing…but bad CATCHING!
Pargo liso for Joe! Great eating.
Similarly, we had some tuna biting…and these were all 100+ pound beasts! 1 and 2 hour battles ended up with broken lines. In one case, our guys had the fish right next to the boat ready to stick the gaff after an epic battle and suddenly a huge shark rolls up and in two bites completely wipes out the fish!
Striped marlin waiting to be carted off to local homes.
Oh…and marlin and sailfish caught too finally although a couple of nice fish broke off. Best billfish bite of the season!
But the best part of the week…(drumroll)…ROOSTERFEST!!!
Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay is known as the “Roosterfish Capital of the World.” World record roosterfish up to 150 pounds have been caught on this beach area.
Well, this week, I’ve never seen the roosters go off like they did. I estimate almost 100 roosters were hooked and released between 5 and 70 pounders!
Captain Armando and Dave Lester in the Baja sunrise with an early big roosterfish released.
On a single day alone, our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet had 8 pangas on the water and got 35 roosterfish! That’s unheard of! One of our boats caught and released at least 10 fish. This doesn’t even include the fish that were lost or broke off!
From Denver, Adam Tarowoski got his first roosterfish this week. Fish was released.
Then, at the end of the week, another surprise. We have not had many dorado caught this year around the Las Arenas area. Most of the fish have been around La Paz. Other than an occasional dink fish, not much to speak of.
Wow!! That’s huge bull dorado! Whoa…Jen Wilson from Colorado Springs CO with one of the largest dorado of the season.
Well, all of a sudden we have bit 20-45 pound bull dorado in the water! Where’d they come from? We haven’t seen dorado of that size in 3 years.
It’s a strange strange season! Oh…and we broke heat records this week too. 107 degrees over the weekend.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for
Week of June 16-23, 2019
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY. . .
My hero of the week! Enzo Moreno is only 11-years-old from the San Antonio area of Texas. He hooked this marlin with Captain Armando. He fought the fish for 2 hours on 30 pound test line! He refused help and battled it all by himself. He got the fish to the boat…took the photo…and released it! AWESOME!
The tuna popped up again after being somewhat absent the last few weeks. Bob Lederer from Massachusetts with Captain Jorge and a nice rack of footballs and some larger models!
San Diego birthday girl, Michele Conklin, was just off Punta Perico and dozing off when this big boy rooster hit her bait. Her largest rooster and she was able to release it!
That’s alot of cabrilla meat. This big seabass was taken by Dave Gee from San Francisco.
A legit La Paz dorado! Gary Lunger poses with a pretty mahi caught north of La Paz.
Captain Pancho strikes a pose with Justin Larson! The young man from San Diego caught and released 4 big roosters the same day!
A pretty good day and a pretty photo of the Steele Family…Ashley, Dan and Zach and some nice yellowtail headed for the cutting board.
Crazy to be catching yellowtail in June! These are cold water fish and normally, we don’t see them after about April. However, Dave Gee holds up another one with La Paz Malecon in the distance.
Happy Fella! Captain Jorge with our amigo, Dave Conklin and a hefty rooster taken not far off the Las Arenas sand. The fish was released.
Pretty photo with great colors! That’s a big yellowtail and Jackie Laes from Oregon enjoying some sunshine and some fun fishing.
Captain Raul gives 8-year-old Alice Wiebe from Bradley CA with her yellowtail.
Another fish we don’t see very much this late in the year, but a feisty ferocious fighter is the pargo liso (mullet snapper). Dana Jacklin wrestled this pretty fish out’ve the rocks.
First roosterfish for Ramy Shatara who gets a hand from Captain Arcangel. Ramy released the fish and caught it on light tackle.
Bob Lederer gets the tail-end of this striper he hooked just outside of Bahia Muertos while fishing with Captain Armando!
Big cabrilla like this lurk in rocky structure and reefs making them a difficult fighter, but Jeff Morgan got this tasty seabass into the boat.
Best week of roosters that I ca remember. Here’s another one for the photos gallery taken by Adam Larson. Adam released the fish which swam off strongly.
The man behind the mask is Dan Steele who gets a hand from wife, ashley on a thick pretty rooster he hooked not far off the shallow rocks at Punta Perrico then released it after the photo. Check those colors!
There’s alot of good-eating on this table. I see cabrilla, triggerfish, snapper and pargo including the one being held by Mark Jacklin.
Craig Hoffman from Phoenix AZ and brother Bryan, all the way from London got into the tuna bite with a table-load of yellowfin tuna.
These are tough fighters on hook and line…among the hardest to pull in for alot of our anglers. Ramy Shatara at the La Paz municipal pier off-loading some of his bonito
Family day! Desmond and Julia Sjauwfoekloy from Los Angeles with Julia’s cabrilla.
Keith Paulson gets a grip on double bull-dorado that he caught with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
With his first roosterfish, Bill Eggleston makes the photo gallery. The fish was released and he was fishing south of Bahia Muertos.
Lots of hard-fighting jack crevalle kept rods bent and reels screaming! Michele Conklin with big smiles and Captain Jorge.
Kyle Eggleston has to be one of the funniest first-timers we have had down here so far! First day out he got in on the rooster bite!
Captain Arcangel with Jonathan Hicks from San Francisco and yes, the big pompano are still biting.
Another rooster on the books for young Justin Larson, caught and released. He had a spectacular day.
Dan Steele, again behind the mask, with another yellowtail!
Strange fish of the week! Related to roosterfish, amberjack, pompano and jack crevalle, this is the first time we’ve had a Hawaiian trevally show up! Just goes to show you what a crazy season we are having! Tom Dietz does the honor.
Hefty amberjack (pez fuerte) for Miles Wagner and Kris Kobach coming in late with dinner at Rancho Costa.
It was like Jekyll & Hyde Week. It was also a week of strange fishing on so many other levels.
The first part of the week, cold winds, choppy seas, off-color water and strong currents really had us all working hard to get fish. After a pretty decent previous week, it was like “What next?” On top of it there was a full moon.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet…
Las Arenas fishing virtually shut off the first 3-4 days this week. Some snapper and pargo and cabrilla. Lots of bonito. Jack crevalle kept rods bent. But not much else.
Our buddy, Doug Oclassen from Colorado right off the sand with a nice jack crevalle.
Thankfully, we had the roosterfish!
The rooster cruising the shallows! Pretty pretty pretty!
What a week for roosterfish…maybe the best I have seen in 25 years. We had fish running 10-70 pounds. Some pangas caught, 2,3…4 fish each day and lost several others! Fish were literally schooling up like we have never seen them.
Dennis Adair’s rooster was so big the photographer (Glenn Oclassen) couldn’t back up any further to get the whole fish. Captain Ramiro on deck!
Justin and Adam Larson with another gallo.
Many anglers took their first or largest roosters ever! I can’t tell you how often folks came back from fishing with big smiles but asking me for a band-aid for the blisters on a thumb or inside index fingers from reel with folks fighting a single fish from 15-45 minutes. Then doing it all over again! It was crazy!
Also remarkable were the mullet snapper (pargo liso) on the backside of Cerralvo Island. Normally, these big scrappy pargo school-up in huge undulating crashing pods in March and April!
But all of a sudden, here they were! Fish up to 20-30 pounds were busting guys off as they watched this schools crashing the surface. So many fish were lost and frustrating so quite a few anglers as these powerful fish took them into the rocks!
These pargo lisos can be beasts. Captain Ramiro at Muertos.
About Wednesday, it seemed like things changed. By Thursday, it was like someone threw a lightswitch.
The winds died down. The temperatures kicked into the low 100’s. Humidity rose. The sun blazed and the waters turned bluer.
He’s bent! Ramy shows good form on a fresh one on flat waters!
And the fish suddenly got into the game!
Tuna started crashing with yellowfin as small as footballs, but as large as 40-pounds. Most fish caught on the banks near Cerralvo Island. We have not seen many tuna in about 4-6 weeks.
Fun brother and sister Nina and Enzo Moreno from Texas with a double pair of yellowfin tuna!
A pretty “football” yellowfin tuna with Chad Oclassen
Marlin also got active with a number of fish caught and released. All the fish ranged from about 100-130 pounds.
Oh yea…marlin on the line!
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet…
Fishing was much better than Las Arenas if you just wanted to fill the ice chest and wanted some good rod-bending action.
The areas around Espirito Santo Island and Punta Coyote and Punta Mejia were productive for a number of species.
Stephon and Jason Munroe with some La Paz action in the panga
Zach Steele and a tasty Mexican cabrilla
Desmond and Joshua with his snapper and a big smile. Cool sunglasses!
No shortage of both tasty white bonito and hard pulling skipjack (barriletes). Plus inshore, lots of snapper, pargo, cabrilla, trigger fish and amberjack. You could have fun all day with that.
It’s mine and I caught it! Zach has his bonito in the boat
David Goodman has another tough bonito.
Plus add in the dorado that are roaming around and getting better every week with fish running 10-25 pounds to put in the ice chest and you can have a full day of fishing.
Pam and Bill Eggleston with a few of their dorado.
However, just like the unusual pargo liso near Cerralvo Island that popped up in big schools (a cold water fish), we had yellowtail show up! In my 25 years down here, I’ve never seen yellowtail in June. Normally, by April, we’re all done with any yellowtail in these waters. Just like the pargo liso, they are cold water fish!
Dave Gee rocking the yellowtail!
Yellowtail headed for the freezer for Ramy
So, here we are almost at the end of June and at the technical beginning of summer and our boats are coming back with 2, 3 or 4 yellowtail and losing more in the rocks. Fish going 10-20 pounds…totally legit.
Weird thing is that often they’re in the same spots as the dorado which are warm water fish! That leads me to believe that there’s warm water on the surface then a chilly thermocline down deeper that brought the yellowtail up from colder deeper waters to feed on the abundant bait. At least, that’s what I’m speculating. But no complaints! These are fun good-eating fish!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 2-9, 2019
The MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather– All over the place. From Sunny to even some rain. Mostly sunny. Winds erratic and unpredictably. Unseasonable. Should be much calmer this time of year.
Water– Winds have made waters cooler than normal. At times very very choppy and rough. Water are also cloudier than normal because of the turbulence.
Fishing – Action is good but not what we are used to catching this time of year. Have to work really hard for quality. Great inshore action saves the day. Blue water fish are tougher to get. But, there’s alot of fish out there, but often, they just didn’t want to bite.
Species Caught This Week: Tuna, Dorado, Wahoo, Barred Pargo, Dog-Tooth Snapper (pargo), Pompano, Amberjack, 2 kinds of Bonito, Skipjack, Triggerfish, Roosterfish, Rainbow Runners, Sierra, Yellowtail, Jack Crevalle, Polometa, Cabrilla
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
That’s the right kind! Big rooster for Utah amigo, Dave Waite, who went home and booked another trip to come back this September! This big fish was released.
Wow! That’s a huge huge cabrilla! John Ehlers hooked this one on he yo yo iron in shallow water and it’s one of the largest we’ve seen in awhile! Dolores, his sweet wife is on his shoulder! They’re from Colorado and have visited us for years. Great amigos! Thanks for the cool mugs! I’m drinking coffee with it right now as I type!
Doubles! Taylor Murphy and uncle Roger Thompson got a double hookup on wahoo outside of Bahia Muertos with Captain Hugo.
Our popular Capitan Jorge and a handful of tasty amberjack with Noe Fierros from Northern California on a return visit to us.
These two have a knack for big roosterfish everytime they visit us. Bennett Clegg and wife, Alicia (giving the thumbs up!) pose with another big boy they released off Las Arenas.
Big dorado of the week to Colton Matson who only had one day to fish, but boated these two big bulls.
George Talbott snuck down for two quick days of fishing and shows off the incredible variety of fish including: amberjack, triggerfish, snapper, pargo and cabrilla.
Whoa! Captain Boli helps Paul Siefert try to hold this 60-pound class tuna in a rolling seas north of La Paz. The fish was hooked in shallow water near Cerralvo Island, but over the next hour pulled the panga out to deeper water! Paul is from Utah.
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Captain Jorge holds up a couple of amberjack for John Wagner
Scott Fitchett from Idaho with a nice amber.
Brothers John and Joe Vigneault have a nice pair of dorado.
Pompano everywhere! Great eating too! John Wagner, Captain Jorge and Noe Fierros in the lineup!
Graduation trip for Cahill Parker who catches and releases two roosters on his first try! Dad, Chris has the big smile too!
Just not enough hands! Huge pompano caught by Utah amigos, Doug and Penny Nuffer and the big dog-tooth snapper caught by Penny and battled to get out of the rocks and refused to give up the rod to Doug! Nicely done. Captain Gerardo helps out with the hefty fish.
Check the variety! Triggerfish, pompano, and snapper for Bryan Sanford all the way from Nebraska.
Hank Fitchett was visiting us from Boise, Idaho and right-off-the-bat on his first day hooks the dandy roosterfish off Punta Perrico. The fish was released.
A rare fish. A big fish. It’s the biggest rainbow runner I have ever seen! It’s in the same family as the yellowtail and first-timer Parker Cahill caught it outside of Bahia Muertos.
Good start of pompano and trigger fish for Mandy and Cameron!
It’s June and we are still getting yellowtail normally a cold-water fish. The waters arer really mixed up right now! But props to our amiga, Dolores Ehlers who poses with Captain Pancho.
Reason to smile! Big rooster with Paul Siefert and Captain Gerardo. Caught and released near Las Arenas.
This is the time for pompano, but I have never seen pompano as big as the ones we are getting this season and Donna Thompson’s pompano is a horse! Just outside Muertos Bay.
This gal can fish! Taylor Murphy from Lakewood CA and another wahoo in the boat.
Captain Armando fished with Bob McAndrew and Fred Gray new first time Tailhunter tribe members! Jack crevalle, dorado and amberjack on the table!
Love this photo! Jeanne Cabales and the sheer joy! Amberjack on the gaff. Jeanne is from San Diego.
Donnie Rea probably had the best dorado day we’ve had so far this season boating limiting on dorado north of La Paz near Punta Mejia.
Our long-time Phoenix friends Craig and Kathy Sanford with their favorite Captain Armando and pompano, pargo and white bonito.
Smiling Captain Pancho helps Dolores pose with a polometa!
First day and big rooster taken off the bucket list for Paul Gassmann from San Diego on his first visit. The fish was released.
Brandy Fitchett from Idaho and a dorado caught right off the rocks with Captain Rogelio.
I have come to the conclusion that given the present conditions of the way fishing has been the last two months, it’s NOT June or summertime fishing. What we have is really early spring-time fishing. This is more like April fishing than June fishing!
The reality of things is that, air temps are cooler. Water temps are cooler than normal as well. The winds are taking their time in getting the heck out’ve town and keep being pesky while turning up waves and clouding up the water. It’s definitely NOT June fishing!
Turn up the sound and check the video below:
But, don’t get me wrong. There’s no lack of sunshine or action! (Although we did morning drizzle one day).
It’s really quite pleasant to be here and whereas we’d be in 95 degree weather with 70% humidity, it’s sunny and 85 degrees with a great breeze and only 50% humidity. Us locals are loving it. It’s like living in a postcard!
On the water, everyone is catching a variety of fish. But, like the weather, it’s erratic. Good, but erratic. Everyone is getting bent but from day-to-day, it’s hard to know what’s biting.
Parker Cahill with quite a variety for one day including palometa, rainbow runner, triggerfish and amberjack. Plus some roosterfish released as well!
One day there’s dorado and tuna. The next day it’s big pompano or snapper. 100 yards away, a panga gets yellowtail and sierra…cold water fish. One day there’s big roosters popping up and the next day, the same area is inhabited by voracious bonito and jack crevalle. Wahoo come and go. Troll for hours and nothing. Then one pangas runs over a school of them!
Marlin get us all excited, then won’t bite or simply tease the baits like doggies that just want to toss around an old rolled-up sock, then go back to being lazy.
Fish pop up in places they normally are not. We hook a tuna or dorado only yards from the rocks in water that’s so shallow you can see the bottom. But, then hook a big pargo in deep water while trolling for wahoo!
I think this past week, I counted more than a dozen different species of fish. No one is NOT catching fish. It’s just hard to tell anyone what they will catch.
TAILHUNTER COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Many thanks to our folks who brought down donations this week for our Tailhunter Community Outreach program that continues throughout the season. We have several hundred pounds now and just about ready for the first distribution of the year. Gracias to Frank Gray…The Toeniskoetter Family (Dru, Jack and Adam)…Jackie and Noe Fierros with John and Debbie Wagner.
Tailhunter Fish Report 