Tailhunter Fish Report

PHOTO 1: Still quite a few roosterfish around considering it’s so early/late in the season. It’s like they never left. In addition to the small school-sized fish like this young roosterfish, some of the larger toad fish are here as well. Larry Daniels holds this one he caught and released. Captain Victor checks over his shoulder.

PHOTO 2: Another surprise fish we’re still catching are dorado. Tim Zimmer and Captain Jorge show off the great colors of this bull. We had several days this week when our pangas fishing out’ve Las Arenas caught limits of dorado which we usually only find from about April to October.

PHOTO 3: No, this isn’t Baja. It’s the plains of Colorado where we encountered temperatures as low as 11 degrees below zero while driving from Los Angeles to Denver where we spent this past week at the Denver International Sportsmans Show at the Colorado Convention Center.

PHOTO 4: Here’s Jill in our booth at the Colorado Convention Center at the ISE Show this past week. Great to see so many of you who came by to visit. Next stop…we drive back towards to California for the International Sportsman’s Show at the San Mateo Expo Center near San Francisco from Jan. 14-17 (Thursday to Sunday) Come by the booth and say hi as well as pick up a new copy of our brochure and DVD.

SURPRISINGLY MILD CONDITIONS SPARK ANOTHER RUN OF DORADO, ROOSTERFISH and OTHER SPECIES!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of January 3-10, 2010

Been a tad chilly in La Paz, especially at night and early mornings. Temperatures in the mid-40’s at night but sunny and comfortable mid-70’s in the daytime. The best part is not much wind.

We’re having a blast catching sierra pretty much everywhere right now. Jump in a boat and put down a bait or some kind of small shiny lure and it seems that within minutes you’re hooked up. Throw more baits and soon, there’s a school or you pick up or or two more. You go again and wham, you start all over again. Before too long you’ve got limits and you’re looking to throw back as many as you can!

I’ve been recommending that our anglers either crimp or cut off treble hooks from their crank baits or other lures so that you can unhook the fish easier. It’s pretty tough to have a flipping sierra which has a very slippery slime on it plus a mouth full of snapping teeth in your hand while you try to take a treble hook out of it’s mouth. You end up spending more time unhooking the fish than catching them! A single hook works so much better…much like barracuda fishing!

In addition to the sierra, we’ve still got schools of 5-10 pound roosters roaming the rocky and sandy areas, often in the same spots as the sierra so this is light tackle and spinning rod heaven right now. The roosters are also hitting the flies as well. There are larger roosters about, but they seem more interested in taking only the larger live bait like the big 12 inch sabalo which you have to catch to use for baits. Some 30-60 pounders were hooked and lost this week and some other larger ones were seen.

Offshore, it’s amazing to still be getting dorado this late/early in the season, but yes…there’s still some dorado about. In fact, if you find the school, there’s ALOT of dorado about! These aren’t big fish, but 10-20 pounders are not uncommon. Best way to find them is to either slow troll a hoochie skirt or a strip of fresh bonito. Combining the two on a single hook is even more deadly. When you hook one fish, keep an eye out for followers and multi-hook-ups are not uncommon.

In addition to these species, inshore action, especially on light tackle has been solid for cabrilla, pargo, and snapper.

TAILHUNTER COMING TO THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

We leave chilly Denver on Sunday January 10th and drive back to California to set up for our next fishing and hunting show. We’ll be at the San Mateo Expo Center in San Mateo, California near San Francisco for the International Sportsman’s Expo. The show opens January 14-17. Come say hi at our booth!

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: We’re in Denver, Colorado this week for the first of our 2010 appearances at the major hunting and fishing shows on the west coast. This week were at the International Sportsmans Expo at the Denver Convention center. This is our booth from last year. Come say hi and pick up a copy of our new brochure a DVD and talk to us about fishing in La Paz this year!

Sorry I don’t have any fishing photos this week for the first time all year. Either fishermen didn’t bring a camera or…one guy dropped his camera into the bait tank and another forgot lost his camera on the beach! Oh well…

A nice week of fishing with overall great, but cool conditions and lots of sun interrupted one day of drizzle! But the fish still bit. Highlights of the week were many, despite the time of year. The tuna came back solidly for our Las Arenas boats pushing out of Muertos Bay. We found fish as close as Punta Perrico and then scattered out towards the south end of Cerralvo Island with some larger fish at the north end of the island. Most of the fish were fun-sized 15-25 pounders, but some larger 30-35 pounders were taken and a few large ones lost.

As well, dorado are still in the area. School sized 10-15 pounders are not uncommon with some larger 20 pound bulls cruising along the drop offs. The most action comes off the beaches and rocky areas with literally unlimited sierra fishing. You can pop almost as many of these as you can stand within limits! Same with the roosterfish. Several dozen roosterfish in the right school are not uncommon and happily most fish are getting released.

We did have two marlin bite and fall off and three times wahoo bit guys off so there’s still alot of variety.

Air temperatures are in the mid-60’s to high 70’s with lots of sunshine!

DENVER INTERNATIONAL SPORTSMAN’S SHOW

As I write this, we are on the road driving towards Denver, Colorado for our first hunting/fishing show for 2010. In the span of two days we have gone from temperatures in La Paz in the “chilly” mid-70’s to driving through Nevada where it was 32 degrees. . . to here in Grand Junction, Colorado where it is now MINUS 5 degrees below zero! Hijole, it is cold!!! Sheesh…the wind is also blowing too. Will post up photos next week and on Facebook. Nothing but white everywhere!

We’ll be at the ISE show at the Denver Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday (January 7-10). Come see our booth and say hello and talk to us about fishing in 2010 in La Paz! Pick up a new brochure and DVD too!

Next week we drive to California to the San Mateo (San Francisco ) ISE show so put that on your calendar too!

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: Steve Hastings was in town from Washington State to study with our friend Juli Goff at Se Habla La Paz Spanish Language School. He figured to take a day or two and go fishing just for a break-in-the-action. He ripped on a variety of fish including bull dorado such as this, despite winter-conditions. Captain Pancho looks on. Bahia de Los Muertos in the background. On his 2nd day, Steve even hooked a marlin on a light tackle spinning rod before it broke off.

PHOTO 2: Craig Black from Canada was on his first trip to La Paz. He’s an avid flyfisher and despite warnings to perhaps not expect too much since it’s windy and the off-season, Craig caught and released 26 roosterfish in the span of 3 hours as well as several nice jack crevalle that tore into him plus hooking numerous needlefish and losing several pargo.

PHOTO 3: Captain Pancho standing on the beach at Muertos Bay with Stan Kirkland from British Columbia and Steve Hastings from Washington. They are holding some nice dorado as well as pargo. Fun fishing to get both warm and cooler water species at the same time!

PHOTO 4: Calm waters and tough fish are a great combination, especially for flyfishing. This is Craig Black again with one of the jack crevalle he caught and released. He was impressed with the power of the fish the Mexicans nickname “toro” (bull) for good reason.

PHOTO 5: Match the hatch! This is a sample of the fly pattern used this past week on the roosterfish and jack crevalle. They match the sardines that we use for bait very well.

PHOTO 6: Leonard “Don’t call me Leo Di Caprio” Bishop is a transplanted Canadian flyfisher who got into the roosterfish as well. He got dozens of the schoolie gallos and is now trying for one of the bigger toads. Notice how close he is to the beach.

PHOTO 7: Matt Fiamengo came in last week to celebrate his 1 year wedding anniversary and took a day to knock down some fish with his wife. Not a bad day with pargo, dorado and sierra standing on the beach at Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 8: I couldn’t resist this Jimmy Buffet shirt worn by Matt Fiamengo at our Tailhunter Bar. “The Weather is Here. Wish You Were Beautiful.” Thanks to all of you this past year who helped us open the new bar and restaurant in style and being part of the fun. We’ve already been rated #1 on Trip Advisor. Thanks also to all of you who wrote a review or comment! If you’d like to add your own or post a photo click this:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g150771-d1480691-Reviews-Tailhunter_Fubar_Cantina-La_Paz_Baja_California.html

BEAUTIFUL WEEK OF CHRISTMAS FISHING WITH COOPERATIVE FISH AND WEATHER!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 20-27, 2009

We probably could not have asked for a better week for fishing conditions. There were some strong breezes, but that didn’t stop the fish from biting and overall, it was just really pleasant time on the water with sunny skies and temperatures in the high 70’s to low 80’s. All of our fishing was done out of Muertos Bay and we really got a surprising variety of fish. Despite the cooler temperatures and it being late in the season, pelagic species such as tuna, wahoo, dorado, marlin and roosterfish are still around!

The tuna were just off the drop off between Punta Perrico and the old Hotel Las Arenas. Nothing big, but a fun size 20 pound class fish were great on light tackle. There also seemed to be a school running around the high spots south of Cerralvo…er Jacques Cousteau Island! It’s the same place were getting the occasional wahoo rip as well! The 2nd mount seems to be some type of concentration of wahoo with fish around 30 pounds there. One boat got 6 fish one day. Another day, a panga got 3 while several others dropped fish.

Dorado are just as surprising. Pretty much, the mahi are free ranging. We’ve been finding the fish by dragging a strip of fresh bonito behind the pangas, especially around concentrations of bait or where the waters fall to deeper waters. No telling. But all of a sudden if you get bit on the strip bait, tossing some live sardines around often brings 2, 3 or more dorado into the bite as well. The fish aren’t big, but you can have a blast on 10-25 pound fish! Straight live bait with nothing else except possibly a heavier leader, like 30-40 pound test, is about all it’s taking!

And then, there’s the billfish…striped marlin and sailfish. Steve Hastings from Washington fished several times with us and he was busy with tuna and dorado and a striper went swimming by the panga. He grabbed the nearest rod and fired out a sardine which got inhaled by the striper. Unfortunately, as Steve laughed later…it was his light spinning rod! He immediately realized his error and hung on for about 2 minutes but said it was incredible fun. He would have released the fish anyway.

As well, what’s up with the roosterfish? I think this is the longest roosterfish season I’ve ever had down here! We were getting them as early as February and even now in December, there’s big sluggers around as well as schoolie fish! My amigo, Leonard Bishop and his amigo, Craig Black from Canada took out the flyrods and in a matter of about 3 hours caught and released close to 30 school-sized roosterfish and some nice sized jack crevalle and had a hoot.

TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR 2010 COMING SOON NEAR YOU!

In a few days, we climb in our trusty white van and hit the road to visit all of you back in the states as we start our 2010 Tailhunter Road Tour setting up our booth at all the big hunting and fishing shows in the Western United States.

Our first show is January 7-10th at the International Sportsman’s Expo in Denver CO at the Denver Convention Center. Come say hi and pick up a copy or our DVD and brochures!

Here’s our full schedule:

January 7-10 – Denver Convention Center for the International Sportsman’s Expo Booth 648

January 14-17 – San Mate Expo Center (San Francisco) for the International Sportsman’s Expo Booth 556C

January 21-24 – International Sportsmens Expo Sacramento CA at the State Fairgrounds Booth 3108

January 27 -31 – Washington Sportsmens Show at Puyallup Washington Booth 1041

Feb. 10-14 – Pacific Northwest Sportmens Expo at Portland OR Booth 1231

Feb. 26-28 – Cardinal Football Stadium Phoenix AZ for the International Sportsmen’s Expo Booth 533C

March 3-7 – Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at Long Beach Convention Center

March 9-15 – Central Oregon Sportmens Show Redmond OR Booth 135

March 18-21 – International Sportsmens Expo at Salt Lake City UT Both L1422C

Hope to see you in 2010.

Have a great New Year! That’s our story…

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: From all of our staff at the Tailhunter Bar…Thanks for helping us finally get open and a fun year. Best to you for the holidays!

PHOTO 2: From me and Jill, you all make it happen! God bless you all for a safe and happy Christmas!

PHOTO 3: Dave Rose drove all the way down from frozen Denver in his car for a “quick getaway.” It paid off in dorado, roosterfish, pargo and yes…even yellowfin tuna like this nice football taken off Muertos Bay south of La Paz.

PHOTO 4: This is normally the type of bull dorado we get in the summer and fall, but the big bulls are still around! Captain Jorge assists our amiga, Verda Boyd from the East Bay area of San Francisco. She always does well when she comes down for her birthday every December.

PHOTO 5: Dave Rose from Denver CO again. Nice bull dorado! He was fishing with Captain Pancho.

PHOTO 6: No shortage of sierra right now and some of them are BIG! Verda Boyd shows off one of many sierra she and her husband, Tim, caught over two days fishing. All our boats have been fishing off the Muertos/ Las Arenas areas.

VARIETY OF FISH BRING IT ON IN DECEMBER BITE!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 13-19, 2009

Despite some winds and chop, we sure had a nice week of fishing. We did all of our fishing out of Muertos Bay and the area around Las Arenas and despite it being December, our anglers got into some nice dorado, tuna and even baited up a few marlin. No mistaking that it’s a bit cooler and rougher, but if you looked at the species of fish, it’d be hard to tell. These are all warm water fish. There were also several wahoo hooked and lost. The tuna were in the 15-20 pound class. Dorado went as large as 30 pounds.

Inshore, there were all the school-sized roosterfish you could want. When the winds blow, these were a nice fallback on these 5-10 pounders. Plus sierra are all over the beach areas with pargo and cabrilla along the rocky areas. We’ve got great temperatures and it’s a nice time to be in La Paz without many folks. It’s a pleasant 80 degrees during the day and in the mid-60’s at night.

Have a safe and happy Christmas, amigos!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745

Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

Read Full Post »

PHOTO 1: No, this wasn’t taken in July! However, it’s highly unusual to find this kind of a dorado feed so late in the season. Fernando Sucre and his group of amigos from the San Francisco area with three of them shown here: Vince Saunders, Fernando, Paul Scheuring, and Eric Techel from L-R. They also lost and released a number of fish as well. They were fishing just off Muertos Bay and got in a day of scuba diving as well. Live sardines did the trick.

PHOTO 2: Texan Dave Crawford put in 3 days of fishing and got a tremendous number of variety. In addtion to warm water dorado, they got some of the largest sierra I’ve seen in many seasons. The sierra are thick and can provide a day-long bite by themselves. Here, a fresh one is headed for the box with Captain Victor looking on.

PHOTO 3: Escaping chilly New Mexico, our amigo Larry Daniel, fished 3 days and seemed to hook just about everything swimming. In addition to a number or roosterfish like this one (released) they also go dorado, pargo, sierra and others and released many fish as well.

PHOTO 4: Dave Crawford showing off a few of his dorado again. The fish were not far off the shoreline and on several days were thick and eating as fast a new baits could be thrown in the water.

PHOTO 5: One in every crowd and this is Gary “Lefty” Evans from S. California show demonstrates how to hold up 3 fish when you only have TWO hands! He has a dorado in each hand and that’s a pargo hanging from his uh…well…it’s hanging…

PHOTO 6: No, you can’t catch fish here, but you can put a club in your hand now and take some swings. The Paraiso del Mar on Mogote Peninsula is now in full operation and Tailhunter is now offering fishing/golfing packages for the coming season so you can get in a few days of fishing and golf now! Ask us about it. This is the view from the clubhouse/restaurant.

PHOTO 7: They’ve really done a nice job on the course and it will be great to offer the fishing/ golf packages now.

EXCELLENT WEEK OF FISHING WITH A BREAK IN THE WINDS PROVIDES VARIETY OF FISH!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 6-12, 2009

Really an exceptional week of fishing here. Given that it’s almost Christmas, the sun was out and the winds stayed down and the fish bit like it was summer-time, except that we had a great mix of unusual warm-water fish as well as the more typical seasonal fish. In fact, the dorado bit like mad dogs some days where the anglers had to pull away from the spots or were throwing fish back as fast as they could unhook them. Some of these dorado were easily in the 30-pound class and we had reports of some monster 40 pounders lost at the boat.

By contrast, the cooler water fish were also hogging center ring. It was an incredible week for sierra fishing as well with some of the biggest sierra I have ever seen. Some of the anglers were calling them “baby wahoo.” You could load up a limit of sierra in short order then round it out with pargo, snapper, cabrilla, rainbow runners then finish the day catching and releasing roosterfish and jack crevalle.

GOLF PACKAGES FOR 2010

Just to let you know that beginning this coming fishing season, we’re now able to offer fishing/golf packages now that the beautiful Paraiso Del Mar Golf Course is open. Tailhunter has special prices for it’s anglers so fish a little and take a day and swing some clubs. Ask us for details.

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: His first wahoo, Brian “Bill” Harnack of Los Angeles poses with Captain Jorge south of Cerralvo Island. It’s late in the year, but the wahoo are still around. Bill and his family caught a variety of fish over several days of fishing including this wahoo, tuna, dorado, sierra and roosterfish.

Photo 2: Sue Cross from San Francisco was on her first trip to La Paz and shows off a great dorado caught near shore with Captain Pancho. Dorado are still in the area eating live sardines and slow-trolled bonito strips. The fish range from 5-20 pounds, but larger fish in the 25-30 pound class have been hooked and lost.

PHOTO 3: He’s just 12 years old, but Andre Harnack has pulled on quite a few fish, but got into some really nice fishing this past week with a variety of fish that included sierra, dorado, roosterfish and this nice tuna he hooked with our Las Arenas fleet. He also had on a wahoo that came unbuttoned.

PHOTO 4: Headed for the dinner table, Bill Lee, was on his 2nd trip of the year with us. From the San Francisco area, he holds up a barred pargo also known as a pargo mulatto. Great eating. Get to be about 40 pounds, but the smaller ones taste better. Tough fighters in the rocks!

PHOTO 5: This is a great catch with lots of variety more typical of winter fishing. Bill Lee and Sue Cross have sierra, triggerfish, green pargo and pargo liso on the box. They were fishing with our Tailhunter Fleet off Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 6: Trenton Staley from chilly Parker, Colorado got to take off his jacket and got into some good dorado fishing outside of Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 7: It’s about time for these pargo liso to start moving into the shallows to start spawning. Casey Staley is from Colorado, but lives part-time here in La Paz. He’s fishing with Captain Jorge.

GREAT VARIETY INCLUDING TUNA WAHOO DORADO AND ROOSTERFISH KEEP WINTER ANGLERS BENT!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, 2009

A nice mixed week of fishing. Town is almost empty. Weather is beautiful and a great time to be in La Paz and if you go fishing, it’s like having the whole ocean to yourselves! The winds pretty much dictate where we fish and what we fish for these days. Almost all of our fishing is being done with our Las Arenas fleet launching out of Bahia de Los Muertos. That way, even if it’s windy we can still hug the shore and catch fish. Surprisingly, we’re not only getting inshore species, but offshore species are close to shore as well.

There are abundant sierra to be caught as the schools have now moved into the inshore areas and you can spend your whole day tearing it up with these speedsters. Live bait fished with a little bit of wire on the hook works great as does slow trolling small crank baits with wire. Good idea to change all treble hooks to single hooks or simply cut off two of the treble hooks as it gets tough to pull three hooks out of the snapping teeth of a sierra.

In addition to the sierra, there’s snapper, pargo, and cabrilla and surprisingly still some good roosterfish to be caught along the sandy areas. The real surprise is that we’re still taking bluewater species like a few tuna here and there in the 25 pound class as well as the occasional wahoo. On the days you could get out there and the wind laid down, there’s a pesky school of football tuna at the north end of Cerralvo Island and a good shot at taking a wahoo there as well around North Point and La Reyna. If not, then south end of Cerralvo Island and near Punta Perrico would be our 2nd choice. Dorado schools flurry in and out and often surprise anglers who find every rod suddenly bent. On two days, it was like summer fishing! The dorado literally swarmed the boats and it was wild. As soon as the winds came up, the fish petered out, but by then, the guys had bloody decks and full fish boxes! We also hooked and lost a few striped marlin too.

Bring a sweatshirt or light jacket for the cool mornings on the water or evenings in town. Long pants aren’t a bad idea either. It’s a “chilly” 65 at night at 82 in the daytimes. Locals like ourselves are all in long pants and sweatshirts these days!

That’s our story
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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FEW ANGLERS AND INCONSISTENT WEATHER STILL PROVIDE FAIRLY GOOD LATE SEASON FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 22-28, 2009

Not many anglers in town and fishing conditions have been variable. One day it’s sunny and calm. The next day, it’s sunny with lots of wind. The next day it’s cloudy and cold and looks like rain. We even got little sprinkles here and there. The seasons are definitely changing.

Almost all our fishing has been out of Las Arenas/Muertos. Right now with the unpredictability of the weather, it’s the best bet because even if the weather is less than desirable, at least we don’t have to go very far to catch fish. Close to shore, we can still get some roostersfish, jack crevalle and the occasional pompano.

As well, the chance of getting into a nice school of sierra is always there so that you can put easily a limit of the speedsters in the box in short time or catch-and-release as fast as you want. Good idea to bring a little wire for your hooks because these fish have sharp teeth.

If conditions are right, there’s still the opportunity to get into some of the bluewater fish still lingering. The good thing is that you don’t really have to go too far for the fish. Some schools of tuna and dorado aren’t too far from shore and a little live bait can get the fish worked up fast. But if it’s really windy, then too much chop seems to keep the fish lockjawed and down unwilling to come to the surface. There’s still some marlin and sailfish around too moving in the areas of bonito off the south end of Cerralvo (er…Jacques Cousteau Island *) Island. Also, there’s still some wahoo in the area as well. If you have the right rig in the water at the righ time, wahoo are in that same area between the south side of the island and the Punta Perrico area.

*As of Nov. 17th, that’s the new name for Cerralvo Island.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: Good friends for many years, Ray and Nathan Chow from the Bay Area of California make it down each year and always do well. This year, they came later in the season and found they had the fishing grounds almost to themselves with not much competition for hungry tuna and dorado like these. Captain Victor looks on.

PHOTO 2: We’re not doing much fishing right now with our La Paz Fleet because the winds are too strong and sporadic out of the north many days but when we do get out, there’s dorado and lots of sierra like these held up by Ray and Nathan Chow who fished 3 days out of Las Arenas and then this one day out of La Paz. They also got cabrilla and yellow snapper along with the sierra.

PHOTO 3: Taken from Las Arenas Beach near the lighthouse, this is Cerralvo Island in the background…the legendary island is no more. Say good-bye! Sadly…Story below!

NUMEROUS SPECIES STILL BITING DESPITE COOLER TEMPS AND VERY LITTLE FISHING PRESSURE

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 15-21, 2009

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PHOTO 1: So late in the season, there are surprisingly a nice batch of quality tuna still being caught around Cerralvo Island and just outside of Muertos Bay just SE of La Paz. These 25-35 pound fish aren’t wide open, but the bite can be steady and relatively close to shore. Jill Roldan (my wife!) of La Paz and Tailhunter International used drifted dead sardines and light tackle to hammer this nice yellowfin tuna after a tough battle.

PHOTO 2: Where have these big fish been? Normally, the fall is the time for these big bull dorado, but most of them have been school-sized fish in the 10-15 pound class. This might be one of the larger bull dorado of the season and fell for a live sardine tossed out on 25-pound-test as it swam by the panga. I just saw the “swirl” and didn’t realize the size of the fish until it took off and went airborne! Otherwise, I would have grabbed some heavier gear or at least something with heavier leader. Fortunately, the fish was lip-hooked and couldn’t chomp the line.

PHOTO 3: Not a bad day at all. Four yellowfin tuna, 1 dorado, 1 sierra, numerous big bonito. Actually, the first day all season were were able to get out on the water together.

PHOTO 4: Two great amigos…Nathan and his dad, Ray Chow from the San Francisco Bay Area come to see us each year. They had to postpone their trip twice this year, but finally made it down albeit later in the season than they are accustomed to. They found they pretty much had the ocean all to themselves as opposed to the busier times of the year and got into some nice jags of dorado and tuna.

PHOTO 5: Although because of the northern winds that are popping up with more regularity now that the season are changing, we’re doing most of our fishing out of protected Muertos Bay, we’re still getting the occasional panga out of La Paz. Weather permitting, the dorado are still there too with fish in the 10-25 pound class. East-coaster, Gerry Mulholland holds up a sample of a nice bull.

DORADO – TUNA – WAHOO – BILLFISH – SIERRA BEND ANGLERS DESPITE WINDS

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 8-14, 2009

Seasons have definitely changed down here after a season of sweltering heat and humidity. We’re probably having some of the most pleasant weather of the year right now. Not hot. Not cold. Just right. Northern breezes, strong at times, are keeping us doing most of our fishing out of Muertos Bay now, but occasionally, when we send a boat out of La Paz with out fleet, they are getting limits or near limits of dorado to 25 pounds.

As mentioned, the better conditions and fishing have been with our Las Arenas/Muertos Bay fleet. Even when the winds blow, the fishing is so relatively close to shore that it makes for a great day. Except for having to run the island to get bait, we then come back and fish literally no more than 5 minutes out of the Bay and maybe only 100-200 yards off the beach.

Fresh dead sardines have worked great on the tuna school that seems to have planted itself between the big houses on the hill at Punta Perrico and the old Las Arenas Hotel. Some days we get 1 or 2 fish per boat. Other days, the boats will get 2-6 fish per panga. Still great fishing for November and the 25-35 pound grade fish are incredible fighters, especially on light tackle.

As well, huge bonito up to 12 pounds give the tuna a run for the money in terms of fighting power but then schools of dorado and free swimming marlin and sailfish also come through the same areas where the pangas are fishing for the tuna. Just about every day, I see some panga suddenly hooked up and chasing down a leaping billfish blowing up in the middle of the fleet and pangas trying to get out’ve the way amid lot of laughter and screaming anglers. Surprisingly, this late in the season, we’re getting quite a few billfishing. I’ve never seen so many marlin and sails this late in the year.

For the dorado, we’ve still got ‘em swimming around in relatively nice numbers, but the best way to get them going to catch bonito then slow troll strips of them behind the panga. After a hookup, toss live bait to see if the school follows the hooked fish in. Often, 2, 3 or more fish come to the boat.

In addition, every few days, someone hooks a wahoo around Cerralvo. In fact, if you’re the right person at the right time in the right spot, the wahoo can go off. Same with roosterfish and sierra as well. Just a nice time to be here for the moment.

WEEKLY VIDEO CLIP

Here’s some footage from the week of fishing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zL8PuvoaZQ

JACK VELEZ FUND

Thanks to all of you who generously donated to the family. Big and small, we collected close to 6 thousand dollars to help the family after Jack’s passing earlier this summer. We had a small memorial dinner now that the season has slowed down, and surprised them with the funds. The family wanted me to express their gratitude to all of you for your spirit and generosity. God bless you all.

That’s our story
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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PHOTO 1: The photo does not do justice to this fish. If it looks like a big yellowfin tuna that’s becaues it is! It’s 383 pounds caught by San Jose del Cabo resident Oscar Dacarrett. Jill and I have been working all week at the Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament in Cabo San Lucas and right off the bat, this fish not only blew away the field as the first fish weighed in, it destroyed the record books. It’s the largest fish of the tournament. It’s the new record for the tournament but even moreso, it’s a new record yellowfin tuna for Mexico and only 5 pound shy of the WORLD RECORD!

PHOTO 2: It’s hard to believe that with the history of Baja fishing, no other yellowfin tuna this large have ever been caught on rod and reel, but this historic fish was taken on the Gorda Banks SE of Cabo San Lucass. It ate a live bullito and surprisingly chomped a little 4/0 circle hook!

PHOTO 3: The media crush on the docks was incredible as everyone vied for a shot or piece of video of the fish at the Cabo docks.

PHOTO 4: For years, Clarence “Butch” Tropez of Los Angeles had been trying to get his wife, Norma, down to Baja. For their 22nd anniversary she finally acquiesced and he even got her out for a day of fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Captain Adolfo. They got limits of dorado early and were done by 11 a.m. and had such a great time, Butch thinks he’ll have a hard time coming back to La Paz without her! This photo was taken just outside of Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 5: Kelli Gora from Los Angeles was on her first trip to see us with husband Dave. They fished one day with Captain Victor from our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and got a tuna and limits of dorado like this one just off Punta Perrico.

WIND SETTLE DOWN FOR SOME NICE FISHING ALTHOUGH FEW FISHERMEN IN TOWN NOW. BUT CHECK OUT NEAR WORLD RECORD YELLOWFIN TUNA!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 1-7, 2009

Well, the winds calmed down and it’s hard to describe the fishing only because there were so few fishermen and the weather was incredible. I guess the word is “pleasant.” It was no-stress fishing. No wind. No waves. The fish bit and there was almost no one on the water. Almost like having the whole ocean to yourself at times like old school-old-Baja fishing! We got a nice assortment of fish with a wide variety depending on where you fished and how you fished. Dorado were the mainstay for anglers looking for bluewater fish, but they dorado could be as close as a few yards off the beach, especially for our Las Arenas Tailhunter Fleet.

As well, as the week went on ,yellowfin tuna in the 20 pound class provided some nice action with about 2-5 fish per panga on the average to go along with the 15 pound dorado. Inshore, we got more sierra as the waters cooled but roosterfish and snapper were also in the counts as well as amberjack, pompano and jack crevalle.

BIG TUNA BREAKS MEXICO RECORDS AND ALMOST WORLD RECORD!

We spent the better part of the week working for Western Outdoor News at their 11th annual Tuna Jackpot Tournament in Cabo San Lucas south of us in La Paz. It’s always a blast being part of the tournament crew. This year was better than ever.

Right off the bat, the first fish of the two-day event turned into a fish-of-all fish. We got the radio call that they were bringing in a “huge” fish. Ok…heard that one before, but we knew the boat and crew were local and it was unusual for a tournament team to bring in a fish so soon. They said it was over 300 pounds. Ho-hum…everyone thinks their fish is BIG.

However, as soon as the boat hit the docks and we got a look at it, all skepticism melted. This was obviously, a pig of a fish! It was indeed a giant cow yellowfin tuna and we had a project just getting it off the boat and carted to the weigh-station 100 yards down the docks. The fish was so big, that we had to re-configure the ropes holding the scales!

However, when the digital scale was read out at “383 pounds!” the winning team and whole place went nuts! Not only was it the new record fish for the tournament (previous best was 319 pounds), but it was the largest yellowfin tuna ever records from Mexico waters; the 5th largest yellowfin tuna ever; AND only 5 pounds off the world record!

It was great to be here and part of the event!

Here is video footage of that first day of the tournament. The flare-gun start was shot from the stern of the official start boat so that’s why it gets a bit rocky. However, turn up the sound and we hope you enjoy this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_5YNFf5kYo

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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