La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Nov. 21-Dec. 1, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: Quite a temperature range. As high as low 80’s, but more likely the high 70’s but cooling down to the lower 60’s. Big issue were the northern winds we get this time of year. Blew pretty hard and the port of La Paz was closed a majority of the week to all boat traffic because of the rough waters outside that bay. That meant all fishing, snorkeling, scuba, whaleshark, as well as commercial activity was shut down or cancelled on that side. Even got some rain this past week as well.
WATER: Ocean conditions are predicated by the rest of the weather and with the northern winds becoming more prevalent, waters are cooling as reflected in the fish that were hooked when the winds calmed down enough to get out on the water. If the wind is blowing, it’s pretty rough!
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Sierra, trevally, pompano, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, snapper, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish, dorado
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A good day for 3 generations of the Taylor men! Grandpa Jim, Trent and son Massi from San Diego.
Captain Jorge is getting ready to filet a nice batch of tasty sierra for John, Tyler and Justin that got taken to our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner.
Oh the joy! Jim Taylor gives grandson Massi an assist with his roosterfish!
BAM! A roosterfish in winter? Photographic proof and a big smile from 13-year-old Massi with his grandpa Jim. The fish was released.
Nice variety of good eating fish for George Diwachak with Aiden and Andrew Coon. I see sierra, a dorado, cabrilla and several pargo/snapper!
Our amigo, Jimmy Williams went to the north end of Cerralvo with friends and did a banner day on sierra and palometa (trevally).
Proud dad, Trent with Massi’s bull dorado on the beach!
___________________________________
Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving!
As is typical this time of year, the northern winds were blowing, but this particular week, they really kicked in. So, for the majority of the week, the port captains shut down the port to all boat traffic for safety reasons.
Really tough luck for so many visitors in town for Thanksgiving week, but the closure meant all fishing, snorkeling, scuba, whaleshark and other boating activities had to be cancelled. Even commercial boat traffic was shut down.
Often, it’s difficult for visitor to understand because at times, the waters in the bay don’t look too bad. What they don’t understand is that outside the bay, it could (and was) incredibly rough and precarious.
Fortunately, we simply don’t put out many fishermen from November to April so we didn’t have to cancel any of our fishing trips. Additionally, we have our other fleet at Las Arenas and were able to get a few trips out. The area tends to be more sheltered from the northern winds and fishing spots can be found without having to go too far.
Judging by the catches, the winter water conditions have arrived with cooler ocean currents reflected in the nice catches of sierra, pargo, cabrilla, snapper and other cooler water species we tend to find during the winter months. However, there must still be some warm water patches as a few stray dorado were hooked in the channel and some roosterfish were still found along the beaches.
RESERVATIONS for 2026
After such a good season, lots of reservations are rolling in for 2026. Some dates are already filled or filling so don’t hesitate getting in touch so we can set you up to come visit. We’ll take care of fishing, lodging, transportation and other activities with a customized vacation package for you.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 31-Aug. 8, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Won’t lie. It’s HOT and STEAMY and sunny. Even for us who live here, it seems intensely more hot even tho’ the temp say it’s a normal 98. The real feel is about 104 or so. Folks getting sick every day because they are not hydrating!
WATER: Mostly warm and blue! Getting readings of about 82 to as high as 86 on the outside.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:. Roosterfish, dorado, striped marlin, sailfish, bonito, jack crevalle, pargo liso, barred pargo, needlefish (big ones), snapper, triggerfish, cabrilla
LAS ARENAS FISHING: More variety with dorado, roosters, jacks, bonito, pargo, cabrilla.
LA PAZ FISHING:. Mostly dorado with some marlin biters. A few roosters and cabrilla .
FISHING ON A SCALE of 10 (10 is best): 6-7
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Cody Crawford from Florida on his first visit with us had a nice week of pretty solid fishing including some big bulls like this one, but check out the pargo liso as well as the fat triggerfish! Fishing with Captain Pancho 3 days.
There was a time when Noah Stark was alot smaller than his dad, Chris and myself. Now, he’s starting high school! Good first day of dorado and tuna!
Brian Pierce with a great rack of dorado and football tuna plus I see a snapper and a pargo liso on the table as well.
It’s been over a decade since Wade Ralston from Washington was with us. He’s usually on the Columbia River guiding, but came down and couldn’t be more enthusiastic, especially using his custom-made rods of his own. Check out the nice roosterfish on the flyrod! It was released.
Somewhere behind this big roosterfish is a big fella! That’s Oscar Alba somewhere behind that big comb. The fish was released after the photo. I think Juan behind him has a fish on as well!
Nice shot! Crystalynn Lilly with Captain Joel’s thumbs-up! First time visit for Crystalynn. She had quite a week!
The man behind the mask is Captain Gerardo with the barred pargo. But Takashi Rutherford and and dad, Keith, have the dorado in hand and on the table!
Thad Loomis all smiles right off the beach with another rooster for the photo and release!
Sweetest gal, Mandy Caron from Boise ID with Captain Rogelio and another nice cabrilla for the box! Mandy and the family were last with us 13 years ago!
Takashi and his bull dorado make for a great photo! Super colors!
This photo should be framed. Jesus Morales with a big rooster! Photo’d and released after the pose!
Oscar and Juan…they won’t tell us who actually caught the marlin while fishing with Captain Julio. The fish could not be released. First marlin for one or both of them!
Arcie Propster was able to get her son Austin down for a quick trip and he landed a number of dorado like this. They live in Redondo Beach CA
Cody again…with another big bull, some triggerfish, a pargo liso and several more dorado! Fishing with Captain Pancho
Captain Armando checks out Danny and Rusty’s dorado on the beach at Muertos!
Gaby Donnell from Oregon is just a joy everytime she comes down. She seems to have a knack every year for pargo liso no matter what time of year. Captain Pancho helps with the pose.
Roger McCracken has been fishing with us over 20 years but the last few George Hatziyiannis has been joining him. We’ve had some good times over the year. Both are from the Portland area.
Great first day for Nick Brown who brought his family down with him this time fishing with Captain Hugo. Great rack of dorado!
Wade Ralston was really happy with this dorado on his light tackle custom rod!
Crystalynn with another dorado for the freezer to take home!
Oscar poses with a legit bull dorado fishing just outside Muertos Bay where the dorado bite has started to turn on finally .
I think this is Noah Stark behind the bandana with another nice bull dorado. He only had 2 days to fish and put some nice meat in the box fishing with dad, Chris.
A prehistoric monsters needlefish! Keith Rutherford is 6’4″ and this needlefish is still taller! Most needlefish are about 2′ long or so! Captain Gerardo said it was the biggest needlefish he had ever seen in his life fishing these waters.
Check the flat ocean! Thad Loomis with first day bull dorado!
Good way to start the morning for Mike McFeely. A nice roosterfish bite for some quick action and releases.
She had a good week! Crystalynn with a fresh one on the gaff to take home to Washington.
_______________________________________________
Sorry this is a few days late. Good excuses…
We lost electricity and wifi for about 2 1/2 days (see explanation below)
We had a storm come through and I didn’t know if it was going to be sprinkles or a full blown crusher and I wanted to have the latest and best info (turned out to be about an hour thunderstorm…that’s it!)
So that’s my story…
Let’s talk fishing!
Well, it finally happened.
The dorado finally showed up. They’re only about 2 or 3 months behind schedule. Normally, we would have seen dorado schools by late May or early June. This year, despite ticklers here and there where we got excited about seeing fish that then petered out, the expected mahi bite just never quite materialized.
Last year was late as well, but that was because the waters stayed cold until August. Heck, we were still catching some cold-water yellowtail and amberjack into August last year.
This year? Go figure. The waters got warm like usual. But the dorado just never came. Actually, they’ve been around. We’ve seen them. But, they wouldn’t eat. Not interested. They would just turn and swim away from baits and lures.
Just one more strange thing to add to our experience.
But in the last week or so, the dorado finally seem to have woken up. I hope I don’t jinx things by talking about it.
The bite is not full-speed WFO the way it normally is. However, there’s enough of a bite that maybe 70% of our catch this past period are mahi. Both our Las Arenas and our La Paz fleets are into the fish.
But, like I said, it’s not wide open. One boat might hit the school and come back with limits. The next boat might only get 2 or 3 fish total. One boat might pick pick pick all day for fish and come back full . Another boat might get bit and that’s the only bite of the day. Or, a boat might find a sweet school and BAM…they are slammed one-stop shopping and they’re done.
It’s not consistent.
But, overall, most folks are fishing numerous days with us and they’re all catching fish. An off-day is off-set by a good day and everyone has fish to take home.
The dorado are mostly school-sized fish up to about 15 pounds. Fun for everyone. Ready to bite. Great for first-timers or on light tackle for the veteran anglers. Some larger fish up to maybe 30 pounds are around as well and some larger fish have been lost.
We’re still getting roosterfish which has been steady.
Easily this is the best roosterfish season I’ve had in 30 years. We’re not seeing the big pig roosters now as the formal roosterfish season normally tapers in July . We’re still getting the occasional 40-50 pounder, but have not seen the bigger 70-100 pounders in several weeks. Most of the fish are fun 5-30 pound fish all getting released. Easy to catch and release a handful pretty much any day of the week right off the beach between Los Alamos and Ventana/ Sargento Beaches.
I thought we’d be deep in billfish by now. Normally, we are, but it’s only the occasional striper, blue or sailfish these days . Maybe 1 or 2 biters per week and most seem to quickly be lost or broken off. I will say that every time I’ve sent anglers out who specifically want a billfish, they get skunked. The billfish seem to always get hooked by folks who are rookies or while trying to catch something else.
Other than that, no wahoo, but there have been a smattering of yellowfin tuna footballs, but nothing to get excited about. There are still some pargo liso around (mullet snapper) which is also surprsing because they are cold-water fish and surface water temps right now are anywhere from 82 up to 86 degrees.
Speaking of heat…folks…the heat is intense. Even us locals are commenting that it’s hotter than a grill these days. Don’t know what it is. The thermometer says 95, but the real feel is about 105!
I’ve had guests getting sick almost every day from heat and lack of hydration. You gotta stay hydrated and folks don’t listen. The sun sucks moisture right out’ve you like a sponge.
Folks are feeling light-headed, cramping, stomach aches, head-aches, the runs…they think it’s the flu or a bug or food poisoning. 99% of the time, it’s the heat. I jack them with some electrolytes and and a banana for potassium and BOOM…almost instant recovery.
However, folks are cancelling trips because they’re not taking care!
Bring some electrolyte powder packs with you. Cover up. Drink lots of water even tho’ you’re not peeing it out.
The heat has been so intense, the there have been rolling blackouts around the city because of the high AC usage. At our Tailhunter Restaurant, we lost 2 1/2 days of no water, power, lights, no wifi no phones or A/C. Our office got up 110 degrees INSIDE.
Lastly, I warn all of our guests to not come down here without purchasing trip insurance. This is just the thing to cover missed trips because of getting sick. Moreso, this is storm season. Tropical storms come and go. We just had one the other day. Fortunately, it was in the afternoon when everyone was done fishing. But, these can pop up anytime.
We hope they don’t turn into hurricanes, but even the 2 or 3 hour thunderstorm can mess up plans. So, once again, DO NOT COME DOWN WITHOUT PURCHASING trip insurance! There’s no refunds for weather-related cancelations. Unfortunately, it just so happens that the best fishing time of the year also happens to be the best time to get a storm now and then!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-18, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Definitely getting warmer! Day time temps now in the high 90’s and humidity rising also. Surprisingly, however, mornings can be breezy and just a tad chilly. Had a few days that were actually unusually windy.
WATER: Surface temps into the 80’s now. Thermocline down about 30′ drops another 5-10 degrees.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Roosters/ marlin/ pargo liso/ barred pargo/ dog-tooth snapper/ sierra/ trevally/ pompano/ bonito/ amberjack/ jack crevalle/ snapper/ triggerfish/ dorado/ sailfish/ wahoo
FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10: Solid 6.5 to 7
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Nick Butler on his first trip to see us taking a break from being stationed at Fort Bragg in N.Carolina where he’s with the 82nd Airborne. He sure is holding a pretty roosterfish here just off Punta Perrico just outside of Bahia Muertos. Quick release also!
Captain Chito with one of our Ground Engineering amigos who came down from Denver. I see 5 mahi here. Hopefully, more soon!
They got married in Utah and came straight down from the reception to the airport to fish on their honeymoon! Jessica and Mitchell Kukson had 2 marlin on at the same time fishing with Captain Alfredo. One got released but the other was not able to release. They donated a bunch of the meat.
Our Utah amigo, Kelly Moore, first day fishing with quite a smorgasbord of species…barred pargo, triggerfish, tevaly, snapper and bonito!
The life of the party whenever I see him…Fritz Richards from Reno NV on his first trip to see us had some fun with roosterfish and dorado. Fritz is a master taxidermist and travels the country fixing and repairing other people’s taxidermy mounts!
Another Utah amigo, Tony Davis with his big rooster while Captain Victor tries to lend a hand. The fish was released!
Brian Hyland was back with us and started his 3 days with a nice batch of great eating snapper and trevally and released some roosterfish as well.
Ooof!!! That’s a big trophy cabrilla! Wow. Bert Butler from Maryland has some meat to put in the freezer!
I think I’ve known Rafael Rios for over 20 years. Always good to see him. Starting the morning with a rooster to photo and release. Rafa is from the Houston TX area.
Newlywed Mitchell Kukson had some nice variety including this barred pargo.
One of the toughest fighting fish in our waters, this pargo liso tangled with Holly Butler who put it in the boat with some gaff assistance from Captain Pancho .
Cory and Amy Mahan from Nevada with just one day to fish put 4 nice roosters in the boat for photos and releases. This is a fatty! Punta Perrico in the background.
He had never fished before and Eric was pretty surprised at how strong ocean fish are! One of his roosters for a photo and release! I think Rafa in the background is hooked up to another rooster. Check the flat seas!
Seattle’s own Steve Bryan our roosterfish king. Only big roosters for Steve! I think he got a dozen between 60 and 100 pounds over 3 weeks. All released.
Cute fish and fun amiga, Laurie Moore, with a great photo of her rooster off Bahia Muertos!
Captain Rogelio helps heft another of Holly’s big cabrilla for a photo then into the fish box to take back to Maryland!
Captain Armando with Jeff Butron’s striped marlin. Brian Hyland on the other end. The marlin was not able to be released.
Johnny “Reno” Standley from Reno NV wrestles with a hefty rooster hooked just off the Punta Perrico rocks for a photo and release. John was on his first visit to fish with us.
Julie Rios has a big smile and a rooster for the photo then release. Check the flat ocean. Punta Arenas beach in the background.
Steve with another pig of a roosterfish!
Dan Moore caught and released a bunch of roosters then put meat in the ice chest with this nice selection of pargo, snapper, triggerfish and trevally! Dan is from Texas and this was his first trip fishing with Tailhunter.
Captain Rogelio has a knack for finding big cabrilla. Eric and Tony with a couple of nice ones north of La Paz Bay.
Just one day to fish, Amy Mahan had quite a day with several big roosterfish like this one . Catch and release after a great photo. Amy visits us from Nevada.
Great photo and fish! Captain Pancho gives Bert Butler a hand with his thick rooster!
______________________________________________
I don’t want to start out saying we had bad fishing this past week. It was actually pretty solid once again, but it was different for some reason . Y’know like when something is off and you just can’t put your finger on it?
Everyone caught fish, but it wasn’t like it has been the past 4 or 5 weeks and I don’t quite know what it was how to describe it. There was a disturbance in the force!
I don’t want to get too dramatic about it because obviously everyone caught fish, but something was different.
I thought maybe it was the full moon.
But, actually, once again, the bite during the full moon was just fine. I looked at the calendar and realized the weird stuff kinda happened in the days AFTER the full moon.
Bait was a bit harder to find. The current seemed a tad off. The weather seemed to get more intensely hot. And there were several days when the winds were unseasonably strong.
Again, everyone caught fish, but we had to work harder to change tactics to find them and get them into the boat! Possibly, it was a combination of all those things put together that affected things.
Roosterfish were still around and biting nicely. Those 10-30 pound fish are still on the chew around Las Arenas areas. You can have fun almost all day catching and releasing like I have never seen. I would love it if someone put a GoPro camera underwater sometime there in the middle of the roosterfish schools!
The big 50-100 pounders were fewer, however. That could be a function of several things. One is that the big ladyfish baits were harder to find. Secondly, you have to commit to chasing those baits. The bigger fish love the bigger baits and you have to commit to getting those baits if you wanted to get the hog roosters. Fewer folks wanted to do that understandably. It’s more fun to go chase and get bit on the smaller roosters and other species!
Dorado are showing up in bigger numbers, but they’re not quite ready to bite yet. We were seeing them all week in the waters and chasing baits, etc. but just not willing to chew for the most part. We picked a few here and there and it’s definitely improving, but I think we’re going to need a little uptick in the water temps. That could be any day. It SHOULD be any day!
Same with the billfish. There are marlin and sailfish swimming around. You can see them on the surface. But, like the dorado, they just have not been willing to bite. Again, I’m expecting that any day.
In the meantime, the rockfish species like the pargo and huge cabrilla have kept the rods bent. Big pargo liso are still spawning and I’m still amazed at the size of the cabrilla this season which are grouper-sized fish! We are losing some big fish in the rocks!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 2-9, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Definitely racing into summer. Daytime temps in the mid to high 90’s. Humidity creeping up there! Nights are warm. Had 2 cooler breezy mornings that zoomed off as soon as the sun came up.
WATER: Bluer all the time. Surface temps in the high 70’s. Sargasso weed balling up now north of town into paddies which is good for dorado.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Roosters, dorado, marlin, amberjack, pargo liso, dog-tooth snapper, barred pargo, yellow snapper, silver snapper, jack crevalle, needlefish, trumpetfish, bonito, sierra, triggerfish, pompano, African trevally, black trevally, cabrilla
FISHING ON SCALE of 1-10: SEVEN
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First time from Oklahoma with a big trophy pargo liso, Jalee Crofford poses with one of these tough but tasty fighters. The pargo are in the shallows spawning right now!
Sako Kechichian and Howard Folmer had some fun their first day on their first trip visiting us with some brute roosterfish like this one! All released. I think this is Sako’s fish. Scroll down to see Howard’s rooster. First day they got a 60, 70 and 80 pound class roosterfish.
Rich Gardner and Captain Joel are pretty happy with this bull dorado. Great colors and photo. We’re finally getting some dorado schools showing up!
Finally! Roosterfish on the flyrod. Norm Fujimoto came back this year and finally got his roosterfish on the flyrod! Actually, he caught and released several! What a battle!
Kim Gardner gets a hand from husband, Rich, on her big roosterfish. They’re from Reno and were on their first trip with us at Tailhunter. Rich is having a reproduction made of the fish for Kim. The actual fish was released.
Proud mom, Holly Butler and her husband, Bert, from Maryland were able to get their son, Nick away from Ft. Bragg where he is serving with the 82nd Airborne for a quick get-away. Started the vay-cay with a bunch of roosters (all released) including this trophy! (BTW…it’s Holly’s fish! Nick stepped in to help!)
Our roosterfish king, Steve Bryan, from Seattle comes down every year for 3 weeks and all he fishes for is big roosters. Home runs or nothing. I lost count, but I think Steve has about 11 or 12 fish this run between 60 and 80 pounds and at least 3 roosters like this one that are over the 100 pound mark! Lookit the gut and girth on this fish! All roosters released! Steve said the first run took almost 200 yards of line and they had to chase the fish with the boat!
Our Washington friends, Ginger and Jeff Thorpe with Captain Moncho and a table full of good-eating pargo, cabrilla and huge triggers!
Brad Baker has been fishing with us for years. He’s having some fun here with Captain Alfredo and a barred pargo that’s headed for the freezer.
Finally got his roosterfish! John Zoetjes and his dad came all the way from New Jersey and got several nice roosters. All released.
Love this photo for Captain Victor with Janet Jordan from Michigan on her first day fishing. Flat seas. A big smile and a nice rooster to start the trip!
Johnny Stone with a hefty dog-tooth (cubera) snapper! Tough fighters and great eating! John is from San Diego and fishes with us every year and always does well.
Captain Pancho helps out for the photo and Bert Butler’s stubby fat roosterfish just off the Punta Perrico rocks. Bert’s first day and first trip with Tailhunter. The fish and all roosters were released.
Our good San Diego amigo, Jim Bovee, visits us 3 or 4 times a year for quick little fishing trips and it’s always great to see him. He got this dorado fishing with Captain Boli outside the bay.
Just another amazing pig roosterfish! Mike Muehl from San Diego got this one up just long enough for the photo and release! Mike is from San Diego.
Bob Francy with yet another rooster. Three days of fishing and he and his amigos from San Diego had some fun!
Jimmy Adair gets a thumbs-up from Captain Alfredo. Even tho’ jack crevalle aren’t good eating, anglers will argue all day long that there aren’t a more difficult fighter than these toro!
Our Colorado, amiga, Lori Ballweber from Fort Collins, is back with us and has a big smile and a roosterfish her first day before letting it swim away!
This is funny. I think that is Captain Moncho’s arm holding the flyrod over Norm Fujimoto’s head! Finally put some roosterfish on the end of the flyrod with major props. It’s alot of work and a tough battle on the flyrod!
Two of the funnest gals to have here visiting us! Patty Killian and Tracy Chung can fish! They often put their husbands on another boat so the ladies can outfish them! Two fatty cabrilla are headed for the fish box. Patty and Tracy have been with us for years and are from Oregon. Always fun visits!
It’s been many years since Jeff Stephens came down, but always good to see him. Nice cabrilla for the day . Jeff generously gifted all his fish to the captains.
Whoa! This pargo liso is almost as big as Holly Butler, but she’s the winner of the battle. Captain Pancho helps out!
Finally! Rick got his roosterfish the first day and it’s a pretty one! Fish was released. Rich was visiting us for the first time from Reno NV.
Barred pargo and Jeff Stephens.
He wanted to get it off his bucket list…Walter Jordan poses with one of his roosters. Walt came all the way down from Michigan. He released all his roosters, but still took home an ice chest of other fillets!
Joshua Herrera, all the way from Rawlins WYO on his first trip to see us and can count this trophy cabrilla as part of his take-home catch!
Steve with another toad roosterfish! Captain Jorge said this was around 100 pounds and Steve said he needed help lifting it for the quick photo so he could get it back into the water!
Tony Crofford had to postone his visit to us last year, but came back strong this year and started off with a good day on the roosterfish grounds just off the beach with his first rooster!
Al Bielstein and Chris Heisse from San Diego with a double. They caught and released over a dozen big roosters. Chris called it the best 5 hours of fishing in his life.
YEOW! That’s a huge cabrilla in the hands of Jeff Killian with Captain Boli pretending to help out!
One of my favorite photos of the week. Doesn’t get better than Sako and Howard, both hooked up to big roosterfish on a flat sea having a great time!
Talk about variety! Matt and Jason Correia from San Diego with Captain Jorge cradling a dorado and triggerfish! I also see pargo liso, cabrilla, green trevally, black trevally, yellow snapper and silver snapper!
The times of your life! The best of the best photos! Jalee Crofford and Captain Joel with her first dorado! Sheer joy!
Poster shot! John Stone and his rooster.
John Chung, Captain Boli…a big cabrilla. Knowing John, he gonna make some good eats outta this fish!
Pretty colors and a great shot of Jeff Killian, Captain Boli and a bull mahi.
Rachel and Greg Stafford with son, Monty, and a rack of fish on their first day…not shown are the roosterfish they released earlier. Check out the huge sierra on the table. It looks almost iike a baby wahoo!
it doesn’t look like a great day, but Mark Hinds and Lee Bennett from Texas caught a bunch of roosterfish to start, then finished off whith these eaters…a dorado, snapper, pargo liso and a triggerfish!
Oh yea! The right kind. Trio of dorado for Tony and Jalee from Oklahoma.
Nice rack of fish including pargo liso, yellow snapper and cabrilla for Scott Rodde.
I think this is Howard Folmer’s big roosterfish and Sako is giving him a hand so they can get it back in the water.
New fun friends from Michigan. Quite a variety! in addtion to their roosterfish, they also got a dorado, big pompano, green trevally, amberjack, cabrilla and a triggerfish .
A good start to the vacation. Releasing a bunch of roosterfish then some take-home trevally and snapper for the freezer. Nice to have Lora and Jeff Ballweber back to visit us!
Good way to start the day at sunrise. Flat seas and hungry fish for Tony Crofford.
Sako’s bull dorado!
Captain Victor and Janet. She really really wanted to catch a dorado. Well, she finally got one. She was beyond thrilled. She didn’t realize that it would be the first of several!
_____________________________________
Once again…where the heck do I start?
I know for you, just start by looking at the fishing gallery for the week. I thought LAST week we had alot of photos. This week tops it! I didn’t have enough space for all the great shots. The photos will pretty much tell the whole story!
But, after about a month of this crazy bite, I think we’re getting a little spoiled. If we’re not hooking a half-dozen roosterfish a day, I hear it was a bad day. If we’re not getting 20 pound cabrilla and filling the box, I hear it was a slow day. If we have only 3 dorado instead of 5 or 6 or don’t have at least a half-dozen species of fish, I hear “fishing was off today!
I say this with a grin and a laugh, but we can’t win!
I have no idea how long this bite will last. Nothing lasts forever, but we gotta enjoy it while we can because this is one of the most epic bites I have ever seen in 30 year in both size and quantity of the species we are hooking.
I mean, in a normal year during roosterfish season, we a boat get 2 or 3 it’s a great day. This year? Heck 5, 8, 10 or more fish per boat per day is not unheard of or even more! I had one boat take 12. Another get 20 fish! All released of course!
And the size? YEOW…50 pounds to fish over 100 pounds are swimming in the waters right now.
Same for cabrilla and the big pargo liso.
Have they been eating steroids in the off-season or working out? We are catching more of both species than I have ever seen and these are NOT easy fish to battle. Plus, they seem to be 30-50% larger than other years! When I see the fillets on our packing room table, they are the size of doormats.
Other species in the wings…
Dorado finally started showing up in better numbers as the sargasso weed starts to build up north or town. Nothing wide open yet, but there are some schools willing to bite and this is about the right time of year when it breaks open.
Marlin are all over just sitting and sunning themselves. Not quite ready to go on the chew, but like the dorado, it could happen any day.
That’s my story! Check the photos and watch the video!
Cheers and best fishes!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 23-June 1, 2025
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: We had a little anxiety as Tropical Storm Alvin made it’s way up the coast towards us ,but thankfully, we dodged the bullet. A little wind. A little drizzle and lots of humidity. We were still able to fish. It’s warm now for sure. Temps in the mid-90’s during the day and don’t be a dummy…put the sunscreen on! Had some painful lessons this week.
WATER: Warmer and bluer, but there’s still some chilly stuff deeper below the thermocline judging by the colder water species we hooked at times.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Where to start…
Roosterfish, dorado, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, silver snapper, pargo liso (mullet snapper), trevally, green palometa, black palometa, pompano, amberjack, sierra, wahoo, bonito, jack crevalle, triggerfish, cabrilla, grouper.
FISHING ON THE 1-10 SCALE: 7 plus!
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Finally! Chad Schearer, our long-time amigo from Montana and host of the long-running famous “Shoot Straight” TV show got his big rooster on the flyrod! In fact, he caught and released two with Captain Moncho running the boat! If you look carefully in the background, that ripple of water is a school of roosterfish boiling!
Three years ago, we got the IGFA world record 46 pound pargo liso. When we saw Leif Dover’s big fish, we quickly ran it to the scales, but it was “only ” 42 pounds, but a heck of a fish and catch!
Our “Rooster King” Steve Bryan is back in town for 3 weeks of chasing big roosters every years . In 3 days…so far…9 roosters caught and released including this one that might push 80-100 pounds! Steve is from Seattle. Always good to have him here.
First-timer with us Rawley Thackery has a big bull dorado in hand. More dorado are showing up although not yet at full speed. They’re coming! Rawley is from Utah.
Yea..this is a dog-tooth snapper with a mouth full of choppers! Randy Choate from Boise ID has been with us for a month getting bent on all manners of fish. It was his retirement gift to himself!
The Holy Grail of fish! Doug Fowler finally got his wahoo and it’s a fatty at the south end of Cerralvo Island with Captain Hugo.
Mike Bies caught this Baja Grouper/ Golden Grouper which is really a cabrilla. We only see about 1 of these a year. Mike was first-time with us from Denver.
A prize catch no matter how you look at it. These pargo liso are the toughest, meanest and most viciously frustrating fish we have, but Lori Baydo got a trophy! Captain Victor helps with the photo!
Couldn’t be a sweeter lady than Marsha Schearer. She got several big roosterfish this past week. Captain Moncho is all smiles under the gator! All roosters released.
Colorado in the house! Michelle Bies with one of her roosterfish. She was fishing with us for the first time. Fish was released.
Two of new Tailhunter friends from Washington State…Gomer and Crystal Gage with a massive table of tasty black trevally/ palometa to take home.
These two were way fun! Ginger and Jeff Thorpe double hook-up on roosterfish off the island! They spent the whole week with us and kept everyone laughing.
Great colors on Chad’s dorado. Not getting alot of dorado, but the ones coming in are legit sizes. Give it a few weeks and it could be crazy!
Captain Joel (right) with Abbie and Dawson recently married living in N. Dakota with some dandy cabrilla!
We don’t see many silver snapper or understand why they are even called “silver snapper” but Brian O’Neil and Capt. Pancho pose with one and I hear they are great eating!
Somewhere under this massive roosterfish is Steve Bryan. Captain Jorge estimates this fish over 100 pounds and had to be lifted onto Steve’s lap for the photo as his arms were shaking and they wanted to get the fish into the water ASAP!
I have never seen so many big cabrilla as this season. Greg Baer had his family out with Captain Rogelio and put these nice cabrilla and pargo (look on the deck) in the fish box!
Texas Lawrence Piccagli with a great photo right next to the beach. Check the pretty water. You don’t have to go far for these fish. Lawrence took this rooster on his flyrod for the photo and release.
Long time Tailhunter amigos from Colorado, Paul Lubow, Al Martz, Daryl Marts and Al Lubow with some hefty amberjack , pargo and a big triggerfish for the ice chest!
Captain Chito give a thumb-up to Nico Harris for his bull dorado taken north of La Paz Bay.
Bear hunting guide and taxidermist from Oklahoma, Billy Bunyard fishing with us for the first time shows off a nice cabrilla.
Candy Bunyard and husband Billy (photo above) were first-timing with us but also celebrating their honeymoon! Her first rooster for a catch and release is a nice one!
Talk about a colorful cutting board! Leif Dover and Brian O’Neil have been fishing with us for years and always do well. I see trevally, a big pompano, a dog-tooth snapper, a pargo liso and a couple of silver snapper and a cabrilla in the photos. A feast in the making!
Captain Gerardo give a hand to Soon and Wade from the San Francisco area with a nice variety on a good day. Wahoo, pargo liso, cabrilla, snapper, triggerfish, amberjack on the table!
Our new Arizona friends Ernie and Lori Baydo had quite a day. he’s got a trophy cabrilla and she’s sporting a big pargo liso on the beach at Bahia Muertos!
Wyatt Schearer and Kassidy Albright…celebrating his birthday and celebrating their engagement in La Paz! Wyatt was with us as a little kid 14 years ago. This was Kassidy’s first trip and her first rooster!
There’s no doubt that these jack crevalle are well-name by locals as “toro.” (Bull). Chad fought this guy for 90 minutes and took his flyreel down to the backing and they had to chase the fish! Great battle and the fish was released.
Billy and Captain Gerardo for a quick pose with his big rooster and release. Billy is from Oklahoma and was headed to guiding bear hunts in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska when he got back from his La Paz trip.
Wyatt Schearer working the flyrod while fiance Kassidy and Captain Gerardo look on.
Nice bull! Captain Victor with Lori and Ernie Baydo on the beach at Bahia Muertos
Rawley seems pretty happy with his rooster! A quick photo and release.
Alot places folks don’t like amberjack, but ours (related to yellowtail) are pretty tasty and tough fighters growing to over 100 pounds. Soon Saelaw from San Francisco had a pretty great 3 day fishing with us and added this amberjack (pez fuerte) to his box!
Paul and Martha…just engaged were back with us again from Utah and got a double catch-and-release on these roosterfish.
Oh the joy! Brian and his buddy Leif got 16 roosters to the boat that day up to 50 pounds and lost a bigger one that might’ve gone 100 pounds.
Two dorado for Lawrence who took his fillets to Cabo to meet up with family. Lawrence is from Dallas.
The right kind…Paul Cowdell with a trophy for the quick photo and back to the water!
San Mateo Wade Ichimura with a prized pargo liso taken over the rocks off Cerralvo Island. The big snapper are spawning right now and fish can go over 50 pounds!
Only had two days to fish, but Trevor Cook from Reno NV got his rooster the first day right off Bahia Muertos. This was Trevor’s first visit with us.
Alex Piccagli with a thumb-up with Captain Armando and a tasty barred pargo. Lots of folks here throw the whole fish on the grill and stuff it with rice, garlic and veggies! Or just deep fry the whole thing!
It’s a beast! Most needlefish are about 2-3 feet long! But check out Paul’s monster! It’s jurassic! Captain Miko in the photo also!
Always great to have Jeff Brown come down every year from Minnesota with family. Abbie and Derrick help with the trio of dorado.
Mike Bies with one of his roosterfish on his first day! Mike visiting us from Colorado. Fish are right off the sandy beach at Punta Arenas.
Our gal, Marsha Schearer with Captain Chito and another big roosterfish for her. This one near Espirito Santo Island. All fish released.
Jeff and Ginger and a whole bunch of the crazy black trevally that showed up in massive schools. Never seen anything like it!
Yup…Soon Saelaw had a good few days with us. He even got a wahoo with Captain Gerardo!
Another of our fun Utah guests, Jeramy Lund shows off one of his roosters before releasing it strongly into the water.
Pesky pelican trying and succeeding in photobombing Alex and Henry Piccagli from Austin TX.
Three former Air Force officer friends…Kurt Wagner, Trevor Cook and Grant Thomas on the water.
Chad…another nice one on the flyrod. When a flyfisher has to balance his rod across his shoulder to take a photo, it’s a good thing! Nice job, amigo. Thank you for the visit!
___________________________________
Well…last week’s report during the full moon was pretty hard to top. I had never had such a large report in 30 years down here. So much info…so many photos.
…until this past week!
Listen…if you were here this last week and I missed your photo and you don’t see yourself here, I really apologize! I tried to get everyone in and probably had over 100 photos this week to try edit and squeeze in. I try to get everyone!
MORE AND BIGGER…
Wow! Compared to the last report… It kinda got better. Maybe not in terms of numbers of fish, but yes more fish were caught this past week (and released), but it also seems THE FISH GOT BIGGER!
Even my captains are commenting on the size of the fish!
The first several weeks of the season, OK, we got some big fish. There are always the occasional catch that raises an eyebrow and gets a big high-five. But after about 6 weeks into the season, it seems the fish are consistently larger than normal. And then there are the numbers!
The roosterfish bite has been the best in all my years down here!
I mean, a good day in the past meant maybe 2-4 roosters per boat per day. But these past 2-3 weeks, singular anglers (not per boat)…singular anglers are telling me they are getting 2-12 roosters in the 10-40 pound class. Some boats getting up to 20 fish per day and anglers telling me “We could have sat on the school all day and caught dozens more…it was stupid fun!” One angler told me, “I just had the finest 5 hours of fishing in my life!”
Not only are folks catching alot of roosterfish, but also landing personal best with fish ranging from 50-to possibly over 100 pounds! (Just check the photos above).
They are telling me that once you get into the schools, the roosterfish are literally boiling. You can see the roosterfish under the boat and they are foaming on baits as soon as the baits hit the water!
I dunno…maybe there is too much of a good thing? It’s getting to the point where some of our guests are getting spoiled. “We got tired of roosterish! We wanna catch something else.” or “Oh man, we caught roosterfish again (bored voice).”
Enjoy it while you can. This is the kind of bite we may never see again!
MORE and BIGGER…WORLD RECORD?
The pargo liso are spawning in the shallow and these are ferocious frustrating tenacious sluggers. Again, never seen so many or so big. I tell folks if you get one to the boat after 5 hits, you’re doing pretty good.
Three years ago, we got the IGFA record at 46 pounds. A beast.
Well, Captain Pancho fishing with one of our long-time anglers and amigos, Leif Dover sent me a photos from the beach which simply said, “New world record?” I saw the photo and told them to rush it back and DO NOT CUT IT UP. They raced back to La Paz with the fish wrapped up in wet blankets and ice.
Well, we got it on the scale and unfortunately, “only 42 pounds!” Close, but not quite, but unquestionably and beast and trophy!
I tell you what…it took me over an hour to clean this thing and after cutting through all the armor plating, huge bones, tough scales and sharp teeth and fins using 3 different knives, a hammer, a saw, a wire cutter and industrial sheers and a small hatchet…this 42 pound fish yielded only 12 pounds of meat! It was a tank!
MORE and BIGGER…
Every year at this time, we catch alot of cabrilla (seabass). Tasty fun fish. Most are about 12-18 inches long. But this year holy cow…they are grouper sized fish! They must’ve been eating steroids in the off-season because they yoked out. We’re catching 24-36 inch long fish!
…and we are losing probably even bigger fish in the rocks!
MORE and BIGGER…
Other species this week…overall, I think I counted 21 different species!
Wahoo are getting cuaght finally off the south end of Cerralvo Island. Not many. I think 8 were hooked and 3 got to the boats. All caught on deep-running Rapalas and Nomads, but we’re also losing some big boys . The largest this week went about 50 pounds.
More dorado are coming in. We’re far from WFO on the mahi and only getting about 3-5 per day now for my whole fleet, but they are legit sized 10-30 pounders and I saw one fish that scaled at 49 pounds! As the waters get warmer we anticipate more coming in. Give it another 2 weeks or so. North of the city, the sargasso weed starting to bunch up and forming into paddies and that will get the dorado schooling up.
Other remarkable stuff…so many pompano and trevally this past week. I have never seen black trevally in 30 years here, but we had whole schools tearing it up like piranhas! Most fish about 5 pounds, but easy limits and these are great eating.
We also caught big jack crevalle that are probably 50% larger than normal. They are really beating folks up and giving folks more than a run for their money!
Add in bonito, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, rainbow runners, sierra, amberjack and more. It was a full full week of fun. Just look at the photos!
We did dodge Tropical Storm Alvin that had as a bit nervous as it marched up the Pacific towards Baja that promised high winds and rain. But fortunately, it petered out and gave us a few days of clouds, humidity and just enough of a sprinkle to mess up the dust on my car windshield.
That’s my story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Our regular weekly fishing video report for La Paz
from Tailhunter Sportfishing
Full-service fishing outfitters, charters and complete vacation packages
since 1995
“Let us handle your whole vacation to come fishing with us in Mexico. We can take care of the fishing, lodging, transportation, scuba, snorkeling, kayaking and more! Experienced or little experience, you’ll love this style of fishing. Calm waters…close to shore…live and dead bait fishing…no long days of trolling and dozens of possible species to catch. Families, buddies, kids, corporate groups…all welcome!”
We’re looking forward to having you come visit us!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-30, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Nice week to be in town for all the snowbirds. Mostly sunny. Daytime highs 78-82 degrees and night dropping as low as the low 50’s so quite a thermometer! Bring a windbreaker or sweatshirt. Quite windy at times with northern winds running 10-30 mph.
WATER – If the winds are blowing, it’s rough and the winds are usually blowing anywhere outside the bay. Check your forecasts before going out. However, surprisingly there are still warm blue patches of water holding pelagic species. Usually all the waters are cold and off-color this time of year.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado / pargo/ amberjack/ snapper/ cabrilla/ roosterfish/ bonito/ jack crevalle/ sierra
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
We DO provide lunches and breakfasts on our trips, but Greg Earles from Michigan takes a nibble off one of his dorado! Greg has been fishing on-and-off for 2 weeks with us.
Richard is a commercial walleye fisherman up in the Great Lakes area and was out with Captain Gerardo and did a banner day with nice dorado, bomitoand an amberjack.
So unusual to have warm water species like dorado in the waters in December. He’s a schoolie breezer!
Greg and our popular Jorge with a batch of dorado and white bonito.
Another day…another dorado for Greg!
Good inshore action on snapper, pargo and cabrilla. Great eating feast on the cutting table!
Happy New Year Everyone! Hope the holidays are going well and you had a great Christmas day.
Christmas week as another hit-or-miss fishing week in La Paz.
Again, the winds were pretty blustery so had to cancel a few potential bookings for fishing and snorkelng and warn folks away from rough weather. We did get a few boats out, but that was also before winds kicked up later.
As I often mention, not much of anyone really on the water during the winter months except the windsurfers. Winds were up to 20-30 mph gusts at times this past week.
Town, however, was pretty busy with visitors as is usually the case during the holidays. If you’re not on the water, it’s a nice time to be in the area. Daytime temps were as high as 82 and the nights are a cooler, but pleasant 55 degrees or so. It beats being in chillier parts of the continent this time of year!
Check out the La Paz Christmas Parade on the Malecon Waterfront that came by our Tailhunter Restaurant. With 3 levels, it was a great place to watch the parade:
Once, again very surprising to find dorado still in the area. Dorado are a warm water species that we usually see in numbers from about late May to October. It’s rare to see any in the winter so that leads me to believe that there’s still warm water patches of ocean around. Normally, waters are not only rough, but cold and green this time of year.
The dorado are a fun-sized 10-15 pound class mahi right now.
Commercial guys are reporting some tuna and wahoo around Cerralvo Island, but attempts to get across the channel were too difficult because of the winds and waves so there was no way to verify the stories. Commercial fishermen are working for a living so they go where the fish are no matter the conditions! They’re not out on the ocean for fun!
Inshore, there’s a good variety and action.
Surprisingly, small roosterfish around 5 pounds continue to be caught around Bahia Muertos and Punta Arenas. Normally, this is another species we don’t see in the winter.
As well, the colder water fish like pargo, cabrilla, snapper, sierra and amberjack are also being hooked. Live bait and jigs are working well. Big bonito are also in the mix.
Looking at the extended forecast, the first few days of the new year look like strong winds again!
TAILHUNTER SHOWTIME
We’ve been hitting the road for our show tour now for over 30 years. Our schedule and logistics are only allowing us to do 4 shows this year, but all are huge fun shows.
Time to hit the road!
Hope you can come out to see us. We’ll be in the booth every day!
RENO – Wild Sheep Foundation at the Reno Convention Center (Jan. 16-18)
NASHVILLE – Safari Club International at the Nashville Convention Center (Jan. 22-25)
SALT LAKE CITY – Western Hunt and Conservation Show at the Salt Palace (Feb. 13-16)
ORANGE CO. – Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds (Mar. 6-9)
Bookings for 2025 are coming in daily and many dates are filling up pretty fast. Don’t wait until showtime if you’re interested in visiting us in La Paz this year! Write me directly:
To all our Tailhunter family and tribe that continually send me requests for updates and get-well wishes, Jilly and I really appreciate it. After foot surgery in mid-October, I was in a lower leg cast for 8 weeks. I am now in a pressure boot for another 4 weeks which is great to be able to get out’ve the wheelchair, crutches and walker! (Jill loves it too as she has been really patient with me!).
I have a bionic left knee and now a bionic right foot. Going through airport scanners is going to be fun!
Still can’t drive as it’s my right foot, but they say in 3 more weeks, I should be able to hobble around on two legs again in time for the shows and for sure by the time the season starts!
That’s my story! Cheers and best fishes to ya’ll!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
“We sell smiles. Have a free one. It looks good on you!”
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Nov. 21-Dec. 4, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WATER: Still some warm patches of blue and somewhat warm with surface temps about 75 degrees, but the ocean is cooling and getting greener as the winds come up and the deeper we get into winter.
WEATHER: Mostly pleasantly sunny. Daytime temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s. Cooler at night dropping to the low 60’s.
FISH HOOKED: Dorado, pompano, trevally, small roosters, marlin, tuna, wahoo, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, sierra, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
The fishing report is a bit tardy once again.
I was hoping for a break in the weather and hopefully something with a little more content to tell you about instead of the same broken record. So, I kept waiting!
Honestly, in the last two weeks we’ve only been able to put out one boat but have had to cancel several other trips as well as turn away some snorkel and scuba reservation requests.
I get reservation requests daily, but I like to be honest and transparent about expectations and frankly, the northern winds are getting more prevalent. It’s harder and harder to find a gap in the weather where I can tell folks they might have a shot at getting on the water. Especially these days. Many of the folks in town are not hard-core anglers. Many or on vacations and are just looking for a day to try some fishing. Often, they are families and often with youngsters in tow.
It’s not fun if I send them out and they get soaked and bounced around and get seasick and maybe even get canceled or blown out. It’s supposed to be fun. So, I turn alot of folks away and tell them it’s best to just stay on the beach.
It’s a nice time to be in town. It’s mostly sunny and in the high 70’s to low 80’s. in the day time. Definitely alot more pleasant than say Canada or North Dakota. Evenings drop down into the cooler high-60s.
But looking at the wind forecast for example, the next 10 days show’s northern winds blowing up to 18 knots per hour. That’s a big reasons all the windsurfers are often the only ones on the water.
The fishing reports I have are from the handful of guys I got out about a week ago for one day, but also from friends in town who have the luxury of knowing when the winds lay back for a bit. It also comes from friends who are commercial fishermen who don’t have the luxury of choosing their times so they have to go out to feed their families and make a living.
What I”m hearing and seeing is that there’s some good variety on the water if you can find the right weather-spot.
There are still warm patches of water holding some dorado, marlin and even the occasional tuna or wahoo. The dorado are the school-sized 5-10 pounders mostly.
However the waters are cooling and continue so as the winds get stronger the deeper we get into the winter. Hence, we also seeing species like amberjack, trevally, pompano, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito and jack crevalle. I hear there have been some jags of yellowtail at the north end of Cerralvo Island as well as the east and north sides of Espirito Santo Island.
There’s some small roosters and jacks along the beaches.
Live bait becomes and issue as it’s harder for the commercial bait-sellers to find live bait to sell if the waters are too rough so that means sportfishing can become more lure-based fishing.
RESERVATIONS FOR 2025
They’re coming in daily and a number of dates between May and October (prime time) are already sold out or filling pretty fast. We don’t want to miss you especially if you have a favorite captains or hotel or are chasing that bucket list fish! Don’t wait. Check your calendar and get in touch with us as soon as you can!
That’s my story! Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving week and your holidays are off to a good start!
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 2-9, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WATER: Mostly nice and blue the way we like it with surface temps still in the low to mid-80’s. However, judging from some of the species we are hooking some cooler water starting to move in down deeper and along some of the coastal areas.
WEATHER: Warm and sunny. Highs in the mid 90’s in the day time. Can be a tad breezy in the mornings, but overall, nothing to complain about. Evenings are comfortable. I would still keep a light windbreaker handy.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, tuna, wahoo, sailfish, marlin, sierra, jack crevalle, bonito, snapper, cabrilla, snapper, amberjack, rainbow runner, pompano, trevally, roosterfish
FISHING SCALE 1-10: Solid 7
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Ray Millman from Palos Verdes CA (middle) was on his 2nd trip of 2024 with us and brought his friend, Marc Bacon, with him this time. Captain Hugo found them a nice spot of bigger golden schoolie.
Captain Armando is a big favorite every year with Fernando and Nina Delmendo. Some nice mahi meat there on the table!
Stan Andre from San Francisco has been visiting us for years. He got onto this fatty yellowfin near Punta Pescadero on an early bite!
Love having first timers with us. Nick and Katelyn Hill from Utah had a couple of days on the water with us and took home a nice batch of dorado.
More great first timers! Aly Serafin and Shawn Mahan from Wyoming got to enjoy 2 days of fishing and some sunshine. They did pretty well on the fishing! Fun folks!
Biggest gold of the week? Wiley Randolph was with Capt. Jorge when he put the wood to this big bull! His personal best and always good to have Wiley down here!
Every year, Craig Brown and cousin, Bob Layko come down from Washington/Oregon and fish with Capt. Armando. Bob battled this 80 pound tuna on 40 pound test for over 2 hours and needed some help from cousin, Craig. But, the got it in!
Tom Maher had just one day to squeeze in some fishing and made the most of it hitting a nice spot of dorado!
Tim Campbell has been fishing with me over 20-something years. He finally brought son-in-law David Spriggs to fish down here and it was fun watching David get his first dorado. They fished the whole week.
Always great when Tim Nishimura from Sacramento comes down with son, Kenny. They have been here for years with us and love fishing with Captain Gerardo. Great guys!
Captain Armando put Steve Haeseker and Dan Schroeder on a jag of dorado for their first time down here with us. Good to have met new Tailhunter friends!
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Paul Nagata! Over the many years, our friend has been a poster-boy for Tailhunter with all his big fish and great photos. He was at it again this past week.
Lyle Huffaker with his first day big golden bull! Lyle is from Idaho.
Cody and Lucas Huffaker met me years ago in Idaho and have always wanted to come down! Finally made it and took home a bunch of great dorado and had some fun too!
Eric Pennington and Wiley Randolph got some great quality gold on the cutting table there!
Two of my all-time bestest fish brothers, Kenny Campbell and Johnny Gibbs fishing with Captain Armando.
So great to have Fred and Lisa Cruz from Washington come visit us again! With their favorite Captain Gerardo, I see dorado, pompano, cabrilla and snapper on the table!
It’s been many years since Shayne Grove came fishing with us. Great to have him back on the water!
Angelo Oliverio and Joe Malone give a couple thumbs-up on their first day fishing. Angelo…special shout-out to you on making it back after the medical incident! Blessings!
Johnny Terbu and Shayne Grove! Fishing buddies for years from Utah, good to see them on our water again. They started fishing with us almost 20 years ago!
Joe Malone has some colorful blue gold on the day’s catch!
Another view of that big tuna Bob Layko hooked and fought over 2 hours, but needed help from cousin Craig Brown here holding the fish with Captain Armando.
Dave again! Happy guy with more gold!
Rusty Cain has been fishing with us for years and loves fishing with Captain Armando. He was out with family friend, Kayla Lespade from Idaho to watch her tangle with dorado for the first time!
Terry Hawk makes it a point every year to fish with us and his favorite Captain Pancho. Obviously, he does pretty well. He’s had some great catches over the years!
Paul and Captain Pancho again!
Fred and Lisa again…different day…same result…MORE FISH!
________________________________________________
I was thinking that this time last year we were getting slammed by 3-days of Hurricane Norma. Nothing like that so far this year, but sending our thoughts and prayers to all our Tailhunter Tribe and Nation and everyone on the Eastern and Southern areas hit by storms two weeks ago and currently getting wracked again.
We had another good solid week of fishing. Lots of fun. Lots of smiles. Lots of folks catching their first…or their biggest…or the most fish!
This should really be a very short short fishing report. Just let all the photos do the talking!
It’s almost boring! We caught alot of dorado. There! That’s the report!
Both of our fleets did pretty well. Not alot of big bulls but just fun school-sized 5-15 pounders everyday. No matter, it’s a vast improvement over how the rest of the summer/fall has been with such erratic fishing. It’s good to be able to tell folks,”Have fun today. I’m pretty sure you’re gonna catch fish!”
I would say on the average, our boats have been bringing back 6-8 dorado per day. Really hard to tell because fish are getting released. Also, fish are getting lost! That’s just the way fishing is.
The bite can be pick…pick…pick all day and at the end of the day you have a nice box of fish. Or it can be agonizingly slow then all of a sudden…BAM! You hit a frantic school and all heck busts loose in a frenzy!
In addition to the dorado, we got a little jag of 50-80 pound tuna that hit us for 2 days then disappeared. You had to get on thise fish early in the morning before they went down
Also a few wahoo biters but nothing to get too exited about. Got a few billfish…all released.
Inshore, pargo, cabrilla, some roosterfish, but also seeing some cooler-water fish moving in like sierra, amberjack, pompano, trevaly and rainbow runners!
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
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.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 21-28, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Daytime in the low 80’s and nights in the mid-60’s. For about the first time in weeks, the winds did not blow and we had almost perfect weather which was reflected in the fishing.
WATER: Without the winds kicking everyone and everything, waters settled down and were relatively flat. Given the fish that were caught, there are obviously still warm and cooler spots of water.
LIVE BAIT: Still and issue and tough to come across so dead and frozen bait or trolling is what we’re doing, but still working well.
NOTES: About 2 months late, but enough whalesharks finally arrived in La Paz Bay (8 of them) to open the season to swimming with them with licensed guides. Not sure how long the season will stay open depends on how many animals stick around. They’re not on anyone’s schedule!
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary and Miles Wagner at Gary’s Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos. Wow, hard to believe bulls like this massive dorados are biting in November, but great catch!
Tailhunter’s own Jorge Romero, got a “kitchen pass” for a few days fishing from his lovely wife, Sandra, so he got out on the water. He was told to get some meat into the freezer. Nice load of dorado!
Wow! Roosterfish in November. Sydney Wagner hooked this pretty gallo in Bahia Muertos and released it. Rooster season is normally, April to July or so! Check the flat waters!
Yup! Even yellowfin tuna this week. Jim Nichols is all smiles. Jim is from Colorado.
Jorge getting his Santa Claus beard in gear for the holidays with another bull dorado for the box.
Our buddy, Jimmy Williams, got out and fished the north end of Cerralvo Island for Thanksgiving and pulled several big dorado up like this beauty. Jimmy is about 6’2″ so you can gauge the size of this bull!
Jorge got out another day. Went south out’ve Muertos and struck out so he headed to the south end of Cerralvo Island looking for wahoo. No wahoo, but two nice tuna and a bunch of dorado plus white bonito on the troll and using dead bait.
Miguel Campos from Puerta Vallarta comes over for quick winter trips to La Paz. Nice YFT!
MIguel with another dorado to get into the ice chest!
Cold water fish, but delicious especially for ceviche. Gary has himself a nice sierra.
Jim Nichols with another surprise roosterfish. Caught and released!
Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving and the holidays are off to a good start!
Well…what a difference a few days make!
For about the first time in about 5 weeks, Mother Nature cut us some slack and those fierce northern winds gave us a break for about 7 days. They’re scheduled to be coming back but in the meantime, it was a great time to be on the water!
Not many folks fishing this time of year, but many of our friends or even our captains got out with their friends and families to take advantage of the great conditions. Hopefully, to put some fish in the freezers for the holidays.
Normally, this time of year because of the weather, the catch is mostly inshore species like pargo, cabrilla and snapper. However, this past week, it was about as good as we’ve had since mid-October!
Schools of dorado came up hungry for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets with decent-sized school-fish running about 10-15 pounds, but also larger fish up to 40 pounds. Additionally, tuna up to maybe 30 pounds were hitting at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island and there were some rumors of a wahoo or two breaking off as well as billfish!
Inshore, yes, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, white bonito, pacific bonito and two kinds of pargo were biting, but the big surprise were the roosterfish in the 10-40 pound size being caught and released. Normally, our roosterfish season runs about April to early July!
And, the pargo that we hooked were the pargo liso (mullet snapper) that get up to 20-40 pounds and usually don’t show up until the spring that made it into the fish boxes!
Some amberjack were also hooked and the commercial pangeros reported some yellowtail were hooked as well.
Still not much in the way of live bait because of the turbulent waters and also, if there’s not many fishermen, it’s economically a waste of time for the commercial bait guys to go out. So, most fishermen either trolled or made good use of dead or frozen bait like ballyhoo, frozen sardines or chunked bonito.
Enjoy it while we can! Winds predicted to start up again!
WHALE SHARK SEASON FINALLY OPENS
After waiting many weeks, authorities finally opened the popular swimming with the whaleshark season. Normally, the season runs October to April in the Bay of La Paz.
However, that’s dependent on water conditions…if it’s too rough and windy ,it’s hard to find the animals in the shallow waters. And it’s also dependent on how many animals are around.
At last count, there were 8-10 whalesharks in the bay.
The problem is that so many folks want to get in the water and so many operators from all over Baja sell and oversell tickets and trips. Many are unlicensed.
Only 6 persons are allowed in the water for each individual animal and only for a limited amount of time. For the safety and wellbeing of the animal. Plus, having too many boats in the water scares the animals away.
If dozens of people are booked to get in the water on a given day and there are only 3 or 4 animals, most folks will never get in the water or their trips will get cancelled. Even if you get in a boat, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get in the water because there is a rotation of people. And it’s not like the animals are on a schedule or in a cage like at the zoo so there’s no guarantees. You take your chances.
So before you book, check with us or another licensed operator.
RESERVATIONS FOR 2024
Our spots are booking fast for the coming year as we come off an incredible season this past year . Reservations are coming in daily so get in touch with me personally:
We’ll get you set up! Let me know so you don’t miss out on your favorite captains or hotel rooms. Or, if you’re brand new, write me and we can tell you all about our services that we’ve offered here in La Paz almost 30 years now! We’re great for experienced as well as first-timers; families; friends; kids…something for everyone!
We’ll customize a complete fishing/ hotel/ activity package for you!
Tailhunter Fish Report 