La Paz – Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of April 21-28, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Not bad for one day. 2 nice yellowtail, a snapper and some white bonito.
Biggest rooster of the season so far. Right off the Perrico Rocks in shallow water. Gary with a nice catch-and-release.
Jimmy Williams spent the day spanking the big cabrilla at the north end of Cerralvo. He and his buddies came back with full fish boxes.
Just when I thought the yellowtail might have left…double ‘tails plus cabrilla, pargo and bonito.
Captain Jorge had a good day with the boys…Bonito, big sierra and a yellowtail. No shortage of action.
The right kind! Gary Wagner with a big dog-tooth snapper just outside of Bahia Muertos and his place at Rancho Costa.
Hard to beat a cold Modelo after a good day on the water of a fat yellowtail, some snapper and cabrilla.
Nancy Enright from Lemon Grove CA has a tasty pompano just off the rocks.
Geoff Wilkinson from Lakewood CA has a big yellowtail ready to slice up for sashime.
Captain Gerardo mugs with Gregg Wurtz on a first-time trip with us. Lots of meat on the fillet table with yellowtail, big bonito, snapper and some good-sized cabrilla.
Tough fish…fun guy! Johnny Enright battled this feisty jack crevalle just outside of Bahia Muertos.
Gary sure had a good week. Check out this big big big cabrilla!
Like the week before, things started slowly despite really excellent conditions with air temps in the low 80’s during the day and high 50’s at night with just daily breezes.
The early week bite mostly consisted of inshore species like cabrilla, pargo, sierra and snapper taken over the rocky areas and shallow structure.
However as the week went on the bite got stronger with yellowtail once again jumping into the picture and fish up to about 25 pounds taken on baits and yo-yo jigs around Cerralvo Island. Even some tuna popped up, but quickly disappeared and getting everyone excited.
In addition to the yellowtail, lots of huge white bonito blew up plus some larger roosterfish caught and released to add to fish boxes of big cabrilla and even some dog-tooth, barred and lisa pargo.
I was surprised with the yellowtail. It has been on-and-off for the last 2 weeks and I figured that the fish might have moved off to deeper water since the ocean appears to be warming and more bluewater species expected. But, it was great to have the fish back in the counts.
It will be interesting to see what happens with the full moon!
BUT WAIT…!!!
Just as I was about to publish this week’s fish report…an update!
WINTER decided to kick back . Holy cow. It got cold and windy again.
This is how it looked one day:
Gorgeous. Beautiful. Not a cloud in the sky. 85 degree sunshine.
TURN UP THE SOUND!
Then this is what happened the next day. Blew us off the water. Could not even fish. Could not even launch the boats! Winds came out’ve nowhere. They were not even on the weather advisories. It was like someone threw a switch:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 28-April 4, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
All the way from Detroit for one day of fishing and she made the most of it. Brandy Wilks and her husband Nick fished with Captain Victor and crushed the yellowtail and even a dorado in the box! They generously gifted all the fish to everyone too!
This is called a “good start” to 3 days of fishing. Eric and Mark.
Great shot of Captain Victor sticking the gaff for Kim Kopchitz from Michigan on one of several big yellowtail.
On the spinning rod, another fat yellowtail on a Rapala for Darrell Manginelli.
Captain Pancho with Mark Diegert and a feisty jack crevalle. Great tough fish on light tackle. The fish was released.
Lures like this little Rapala mackerel pattern were deadly on the cabrilla slow trolled over the rock as Darrell found out and took alot of cabrilla home with him.
Sheer joy! Mark Bonsack and Eric Deigert from Washington jigged up 6 big yellowtail before 8:30 a.m. Mark said they saw an 80-pound wahoo swim by but couldn’t get him to bite!
OH yea…some good eating there on the cutting board. Big cabrilla for Brad and Eric plus a nice amberjack.
The week started started slow with a return of those blustery wintry winds really tearing up the waters. Each week conditions get better, but winter still isn’t quite done with us and it kicks and screams from time-to-time.
Even when the winds cut out, the waters were still a mess. Temps had cooled and the cooler murkier water knocked down any kind of bite that we had.
However, as the week went on, things cleared up significantly with the yellowtail again returning to centerstage with fish up to 30 pounds eating live sardines, yo-yo iron, knife jigs as well as trolled Rapala-style lures.
The areas were spread from Punta Perrico and Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to the Las Arenas lighthouse and across to Cerralvo Island where fish blew up at both the north and south ends of the island as well as on the backside at Pilis.
Cerralvo Island showing north point. Facing south. Las Arenas way in the distance haze. Pilis is about 1/3 down the left side (eastern side) of the island.
Wahoo were seen, but wouldn’t chew. However, big cabrilla, snapper, pargo, jack crevalle and lots of bonito rounded out some good solid action the latter part of the week. There was also a stray dorado or two (waters getting warmer) and some early amberjack.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for March 11-20, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Omar and Fay live in La Paz and took the afternoon to fish with Captain Pancho and had a good few hours on the water with nice-sized cabrilla and a trio of yellowtail using yo-yo jigs.
If the conditions are right, limits of slugger yellowtail were not uncommon. Jimmy got these at south point.
Our amigo..Jimmy Williams got out on a flat day before the winds and was able to make it over to Cerralvo Island and took a limit of yellowtail including some big-shouldered ones like this one that jumped on a live sardine.
Nothing but smiles for Paco. He’s taking home this yellowtail headed for the grill.
An uptick in the winds and chillier weather chased off alot of the local folks that were fishing earlier in the month. No question, there was much less traffic on the water. Not so many vacation anglers around, but many locals had been fishing getting in on the good yellowtail bite we’ve had over the last few weeks.
However, in those interim moments when winds slacked off, yellowtail to 25 pounds were still to be found…sometimes alot of them…in the usual hot spots around the backside of Cerralvo Island as well as south point of the island over the high spots. As well, fish were taken just outside of Bahia Muertos and ranging up towards the lighthouse at Punta Arenas following the beach to the north.
The fish took a combination of live sardines; slow trolled lures or yo-yo jigs. Lots of fish getting lost in the rocks. The strong fish need to be turned quickly to keep them from heading back to their structure.
On the windier days or when it’s difficult to get to the yellowtail spots, there’s some occasional dorado biting, but inshore along the shallows, especially over the reefs and rocks, there’s a decent bite of nice-sized cabrilla mixed with snapper, jacks, pargo and sierra.
Town is getting a little more crowded, but mostly just folks coming for Spring Break or Easter vacations. Not many fishermen visiting yet.
FIELD & STREAM
First issue 1899…a different time.
Just 35 cents in 1963!
…and 2014…times have changed!
We were recently interviewed by one of the most iconic outdoor publications, Field & Stream, which has been in print for over 100 years. It was pretty cool. The interview was published about a week ago. Here’s a link to the edition. Hope you enjoy it.
We were not able to do our usual shows these past 3 months because they were all cancelled. However, bookings have been coming in heavy to make reservations for this 2021 fishing season. Many dates are already sold out or your favorite captains have already been taken. Don’t miss out. Get in touch with us ASAP so we make sure we have you covered. You can write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com.
La Paz/ Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos Fishing Report for Feb. 18-27, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Jim and his buddy live in Los Barriles and came all the way up to get in on the yellowtail bite. Fishing with Captain Moncho they got a great load of yellowtail, cabrilla and even some surprise dorado.
Fishing with Captain Pancho, Dr. Santiago is a physician in La Paz and he and Pancho stuffed the fish box with some legit yellowtail on the backside of Cerralvo Island.
Our own popular Captain “Fettucini” Alfredo Gaxiola got out with his wife to fish around Cerralvo Island on one of the calmer days and he nailed this horse of a trophy cabrilla.
Lots of boats were on the hot spots at the backside of Cerralvo Island taking yellowtail like Dr. Santiago’s fish.
Our own Tailhunter amigos and popular favorite van drivers, Jorge and Esteban Romero took the spinning rods out to Bahia Muertos with the plastic jigs and took home a cooler full of tasty snapper and cabrilla. All fishing from the beach and rocks.
Relatively speaking the winds cut us some slack again this past week and we probably had the best week of fishing in the last 2 or so months. While the United States was largely wrapped in ice and snow, things were reversed in La Paz which is normally windy and generally quite windy this time of year making it difficult to fish.
With temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s, sunny skies and mostly moderate seas, anglers were able to get in on that hot yellowtail bite that’s been going on for the better part of two weeks. There aren’t many tourist anglers as this is off-season, but captains, their families and locals from La Paz and as far as Los Barriles (the East Cape) far to the south were jumping on boats to get on top of these fish. Last weekend on Saturday, as many as 80 pangas and other assorted vessels were sitting on the honey-holes taking limits. On Sunday fewer fish with about half the boats counted. But, that’s to be expected when there’s that much traffic on the water. However…
It’s maybe one of the best yellowtail bite we’ve see in years with fish running 10-25 pounds and taking a variety of jigs including yo-yo and knife jigs plus sardines when around. Some reported larger fish are also being lost as these fish are generally in heavy structure and the waters are not especially deep. Therefore, if you can’t turn their heads, these bruising fish are busting anglers off in the rocks.
Hot spots included the areas around Bahia Muertos (Suenos) up to Punta Perrico and then to the areas just around the Las Arenas lighthouse at Castilla. Another spot that has been on fire is Los Pilis which up the backside of Cerralvo Island about 2/3 of the way up the island. One of our Tailhunter captains counted “at least” 40 boats there one day.
But, the travel has been worth it. Boats are landing limits or near limits of the feisty fork tails. I saw photos of the parking lot at Muertos and you would think there was a rock concert going on. There were no parking spaces with all the trucks, cars, boat trailers and vans parked there.
Additionally, there have been white bonito (tasty) plus jack crevalle, cabrilla, snapper, Sierra and pargo mixed in as well.
The biggest surprise was that a few respectable tuna have mixed in and some wahoo and dorado also showed up this week. These are normally warmer water fish and we don’t see these until later in the year unless these are hold-over fish from last season.
At the time of this writing, winds were already starting to ramp up again so hopefully the return of the winds doesn’t knock the bite back down. We know the fish are surely there!
SHALLOW WATER…LIGHT TACKLE…Great results!
Not much going on right now for driving so everyone’s favorite guy and driver, Jorge Romero went out a 2nd day later in the week. In the photos above, he was just out walking the beach with his brother, Esteban. This time he got out on one of the pangas. Still recovering from neck surgery he had at the end of last season, he didn’t want to try tangling with a big yellowtail, tuna or dorado…doctor’s orders! However…
He got in a quick 4 hour trip. It was late in the afternoon. There was not even live bait available. But using dead bait and poppers on light line and light tackle, he had a pretty epic day. All in shallow water close to shore in and over the rocks. A big pompano and lots of feisty tasty cabrilla in the box!
Trophy pompano for Jorge. We usually don’t see these guys until later spring, but I guess some warm water has moved in. These are fun fighters and make great table fare…especially sashime!
This is an epic day on light tackle in shallow water! The cabrilla heads are especially prized for soup and the meat is tender white and highly prized.
Cabrilla that fell to a surface popper.
GOOD NEWS ON COVID FRONT
This past week, the authorities lowered the covid restrictions from orange (level 4) to yellow (level 3).
This allows all work activities again with occupancy increased from 40% to 50% for places like hotels, restaurants and other businesses. The La Paz Malecon has been re-opened with restricted hours that will be monitored.
Also, since the CDC implemented the new rules requiring all international travellers entering or returning to the U.S. (like American tourists coming home from Mexico) to show evidence of a negative covid test within 72 hours of travel, Mexico has really ramped up it’s efforts to construct facilities at hotels, airports, and around the various cities, especially those that see a large influx of international travel.
After one month, Cabo San Lucas (where most folks fly to get to us) has had more than 60,000 international travelers. Of that, only 50 persons tested positive and none of them ended up exhibiting symptoms.
They were not allowed to fly, but hotels now have special discounted rooms, dining and services for those that get detained. They are given a new covid test every 2 days and as soon as they test negative, they are allowed to leave!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 4-12, 2021
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Crazy variety for a few hours of morning fishing for Fernando, his brother and son. On the rack…dorado, big sierra, snapper, pargo liso and cabrilla.
They’re early! The big pargo liso (mullet snapper) normally don’t start schooling up until spring-time but they’re already here and hunkered in the rocks and reefs and will bust you up!
It’s January, but yes, those are wahoo on the cutting board along with dorado, cabrilla and tasty white bonito.
Some big sierra crusing around right now like this tasty fella caught by amigo, Gary Wagner, from his Rancho Costa there in Bahia Muertos.
Nothing wrong with these items. Tasty cabrilla (Mexican seabass) posed with Jason and Alisa..
Not many folks fishing post-holidays, but town is pretty busy with escapees from the colder weather in the U.S. and Canada. However, this contrary to the gusting winds normally associated with this time of year, there were some incredibly pretty days right out’ve a postcard this past week. Winds settled, skies cleared and day-time temps reached into the 70’s. We could not have asked for better weather and a great window to get on the water.
That being said, it allowed folks to get out in the bay to swim with the whalesharks finally. The shallow water just inside the bay has been holding 6-10 baby whalesharks to swim with, but often it’s too windy and choppy to find them.
With the fishing, it’s been confusing and mixed…in a good way!
Normally, this time of year, when we can get out, we’re hitting mostly cold-water species inshore because well, the waters are cooler and it’s often too rough to get too far out.
However, not only did anglers find the cooler water species like cabrilla, snapper and some unusually big sierra, but a bit crazy because they also hit dorado, white bonito, wahoo and even a few marlin were seen and hooked!
This is indicative of some warm water still holding over so maybe these species will stick around. It’s making for a great variety of fish. Also with abundant sardines for bait, the fish are ready to chew.
One noticeably event seems to be that the big pargo liso (mullet snapper) that we don’t see until later in the spring have already shown up and are schooling over the rocky areas like Cerralvo Island and Punta Perrico. These tough fish are really difficult to wrestle out’ve the rocks and can test both angler and his gear, but are spectacular fighters and great eating and look like giant goldfish.
Also, flights are now coming in directly from the United States to La Paz now for the first time in 14 years. American Airlines from Dallas and Phoenix has been bringing folks now for almost a month.
Nice to have American Airlines now flying directly from Phoenix and Dallas to La Paz. First time we’ve had direct flights in over a decade. No more long drives up from Cabo. The flights have been very popular since they started a month ago. Easy flights into the uncrowded La Paz Airport then it’s just a few minutes to your hotel.
NICE TIME TO BE IN LA PAZ – BUT NOT NECESSARILY FOR FISHING
EVERY DAY!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 15-23, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
CHRISTMAS MESSAGE from Our Family to Yours!
Jill and I just wanted to send the best blessings of the season to your family from ours. It’s been a tough year, but we’re hanging in there as we hope you are. All things aside, we are blessed to be together and to have you as our friends and extended Tailhunter Tribe and Family. Best fishes and Felices Fiestas!
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Long-time amigo, Tom Rautert from Arizona brought his son, Fred who lives in Manteca CA for the first time to La Paz to fish with us. As luck would have it, on the one and only day they had to fish, Fred outfished dad as they found a nice school of dorado.
Thumbs-up for Fred with a nice winter-bull dorado. Usually, we don’t find dorado when the waters and temperatures start to get colder in December.
For most folks visiting La Paz these last weeks, the town has been pretty perfect. It’s a great time to be in town. Beaches aren’t real crowded. Restaurants and hotels aren’t real crowded. It’s been about 73 degrees in the day and 60 at night. Nice breeze. It beats being in New York or N. Dakota or Canada this time of the year.
Not alot of hard-core fishers in the groups. If anyone wants to go out, they want to go maybe a day and that’s it.
Regretfully, as nice as it is on the shore, on the water, it’s not always so accommodating. November to April, there aren’t alot of fishermen because it can be pretty windy. Northerly winds blow down the Sea of Cortez this time of year and it can be incredibly and deceptively rough. There are times, when it’s impossible or worthless to even go out.
So, anyone that wants to fish, we try to ask them to be flexible with their dates so we can check the forecasts to see which days might be better than others. This time of year, maybe 2-4 days per week might be OK. Other days, the winds can howl!
So, we did have some folks out and surprisingly, it wasn’t that they caught fish. It was the quantity and quality of fish! Normally, but this time of year, we’re into the inshore species like cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle and pargo. But, apparently, there’s still some warm water spots here-and-there holding schools of quality dorado, wahoo and even some billfish.
The biggest issues, really is that with so few boats on the water, it’s tough to find some spots sometimes. When there’s alot of boats on the water like during the regular season, word gets out and spreads about the hot spots. When there’s only 1 or 2 boats out, it’s a different story! Fortunately, we are able to jump into the good areas and hit the bite this past week.
This coming week, looks pretty gusty with winds up to 25 knots per hour as the day goes on. Maybe two days look promising. Check with us!
TIME TO BOOK! NEW DIRECT FLIGHTS TO LA PAZ FIRST TIME
Probably the biggest news of the week has to do with flights!
Finally! We hope others will follow up and add more routes!
Water cannon salute for the first plane!
Knuckle bumps from Governor Carlos Mendoza-Davis to the first arrivals!
It’s hard to believe it has been that long but for the first time in over a decade, we have direct flights into La Paz from the U.S. American Airlines inaugurated direct flights from both Phoenix and Dallas! The first flights were greeted by governor Carlos Mendoza-Davis with water cannon salutes and knuckle bumps from the head man!
We are hopeful that American Air will add more routes and even moreso that other airlines will jump aboard as well. American has some great rates too and statistics are showing that even with the pandemic, Americans are flocking to Mexico and finding it’s an easy and quick get-away.
For us at Tailhunter, alot of reservations are rolling in daily for 2021. Don’t wait! I’m not kidding. If you have a favorite hotel or captain or time-of-year, dates are filling up and some are already sold out. Get in touch with us so we make sure we have you covered! Write me directly at: tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
NO SPORTSMENS SHOWS THIS YEAR!
Me, Catlyn and Jilly driving to the next big show. We’ll miss seeing you this year!
Our booth…sort of a 10 x 10 home-away-from home for 14 weeks each year. I will NOT miss setting it all up and taking it down!
Those icy drives through Wyoming, Idaho and Montana were grueling, but an adventure.
For the first time in almost 30 years, we will NOT be on the road from January to March. All of the fishing & hunting shows where we see so many of you have either been cancelled…will be cancelled…or it just doesn’t make economic sense to travel that far for only one show. Normally, it’s a different show every week for 14 weeks!
We will miss all our friends and seeing YOU especially. It is what it is, regretfully.
However, all the more reason to get in touch with us to lock in your spots for fishing in 2021. Everyone is booking online with us so don’t wait! We don’t want to miss you!
That’s our story!
Be well. Be safe. Hug each other and Merry Christmas!
La Paz – Las Arenas / Muertos Bay / Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 26-Dec. 3, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
The Big Picture and the Rest of the Story…
Marcus Yoo from Cupertino CA has fished with us numerous times and unfortunately picked two of the roughest days of the season to come out with his flyrod. With all the wind, that was pretty much impossible. He’s a gamer and stuck it out and at least he got some nice cabrilla and pargo to take home and had to do quite a big of fishing from the beach.
Some tasty rock fish was what we had to fish for when we could get out
Not much to tell this week. Thanksgiving week normally doesn’t produce many anglers. Mostly it’s folks in town looking for some sunshine during the holidays. Maybe, they’ll try to get in a day or two on the water fishing, snorkeling, swimming with the whalesharks in the bay or just hanging out on the beach.
The week started well. Good temps. Good water conditions and hungry dorado up to 20 pounds were pretty easy to find and catch. They were spread over a number of areas. If you found the spot, you could go crazy right there and not have to look any further to catch limits. Quite a few smaller fish were released. I heard commercial guys saw big tuna breaking at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but no one could get them to bite.
As the week went on, conditions diminished. Skies got hazy and winds gradually increased. Dorado go a bit harder to find so fishing went inshore for cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle and sierra.
However, by the latter few days of the week, the winds were blowing strong enough from the north with gusts up to 20 mph that La Paz Bay was almost completely white water and the surge was creating rideable small waves. Consequently, for safety reasons, the port captain shut down all water activities. No fishing. No snorkeling. No diving, etc. We had to cancel a number of bookings.
It wasn’t just the winds, but add in a full moon; extremely strong currents; colder waters; and really strong tides and it was too much to overcome.
Even as the winds calmed down a bit, it was just better to advise folks to stay ashore and enjoy their vacations rather than bounce around and not have fun.
These winds are seasonal north winds that start up about now and will continue on-and-off through the winter months.
SWIMMING WITH WHALESHARKS and WHALE WATCHING TOURS – BOOK NOW!
Whalesharks are in the bay now and the season is open to swim with these gentle giants. An incredible experience in our shallow bay waters.
Also our whalewatching season in Bahia Magdalena will start up in about 6 weeks from about mid-January to mid-March as the grey whales are migrating down from the Bering Sea to spend the winter months in the warm Baja waters of Bahia Magdalena to mate and calf.
We can book your entire trip to La Paz with activities, lodging and transportation. Write me directly at tailhunterfishinglapaz@gmail.com
2021 BOOKINGS FILLING FAST
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Our bookings for 2021 are filling fast, especially from folks who had to cancel 2020 fishing trips. According to the news, Mexico is the #1 get-away destination for Americans and record numbers of folks are flying in or booking trips. In November, tourism was up 179% over what it was last year. Baja is especially easy to get to; it’s close; and it economical.
Check your calendar and get in touch with us so we make sure we get you on the books. We’re using 2020 prices until the end of the year! We’re looking forward to seeing you on the water with us.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 18-25, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY...
Former San Diego Chargers linebacker now retired high school football coach, Donnie Rea from Camarillo CA fishes yearly with us and has been our amigo for many many years. He was with Captain Blas when they hooked this baby sailfish. Captain Blas gently cradled the fish to pull the hook and was the only one to touch it and supported it completely to take a quick photo then release it. They said it swam away strongly.
Newly engaged with just one day to fish, Elijah Rush and Julianne Argent from San Diego put some quality dorado in the boat while fishing with Captain Gerardo. Check out the catch standing on the beach at Bahia Muertos.
From San Diego and here for Thanksgiving week, Mike Jaso and his son, Jacob pose with some of their dorado after a day of fishing.
Nice bull! Elijah and Captain Gerardo just off el Cardonal.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Overall, a pretty nice week. Temperatures have dropped to a very comfortable 79-82 degrees during the day with alot of sunshine. Nights are a cool 61. Interestingly, water temps are actually warmer than the air temperatures and are holding at just about 80-85 degrees which is keeping the warm water species around.
North winds are starting to blow which will eventually drop water temperatures and change the fishing to a cooler-species production like sierra, amberjack, pargo, cabrilla and snapper. Not to mention it could be getting rough and choppy.
Pretty lady and pretty fish. Great shot of a fresh dorado with full colors that Julianne caught.
In the meantime, with just a bit of breeze, most days were pretty nice and the warm-water species like dorado, wahoo, smaller roosterfish, and billfish stayed productive. Most of the catch focused on the dorado which are fairly abundant once you find the right spot and limits can be the rule rather than the exception. Fish are running 10-20 pounds on the average with some larger units mixed in. Live bait has generally not been an issue.
Still no tuna, but it’s been like that all year in one of the strangest years ever down here. However, there’s a good jag of wahoo on the south end of Cerralvo Island with fish as small as 20 pounds, but as large as 50 pounds. The ticket seems to be to fish them on the right tide change and then dragging dark colored Rapalas, Yo-Zuris or similar lures .
Our amigo, Roger Thompson, has the wahoo honey-hole south of Cerralvo Island dialed in!
Honestly, not that many folks fishing these days in the lull between the end of summer vacations and the holidays, but alot of snowbirds are filtering in to enjoy the sunshine to get away from colder areas. Many flights are pretty full. Also, folks just seem to have “quarantine fatigue” and just need to get out and away.
Great news in that after being closed since March, we are finally allowed to swim with the baby whalesharks in La Paz Bay. Normally, the season run October to April, but once the Covid quarantine began, all activity was shut down at the end of March. The government has issued only a limited number of permits to escort folks to swim with the whalesharks and only certain outfitters are allowed to participate so as not to crowd or harm the animals. Our Tailhunter captains have received these permits and we’ve been taking folks for the swim.
The animals are in about 10’ of water and at times there have been over a dozen of them in the shallow water!
That’s my story! Have a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 18-26, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Well-deserved thumbs-up from Captain Jorge and Jeff Sakuda who finally got his wahoo on his birthday! You can see the purple Rapala Xrap dangling from the wahoo’s mouth. Jeff also had a really nice week on dorado too. See photos below.
Our friends from Henderson NV, Gary and Lois Tsunoda had a great week on dorado and pose for one-day’s catch on the beach at Bahia Muertos. The fish were definitely larger this week.
In 25 years in La Paz, I’ve only seen maybe one other white marlin caught. Captain Pancho and Leif Dover caught and released this one near Las Arenas. They also caught a mess of dorado and released many of them as well.
John Washington is another of our favorite Nevada amigos. In fact, he and his wife have visited us twice in the last 6 weeks! John got himself a nice late-season roosterfish here that he released. More of their photos below. I think they must have caught about 8 different species.
Now that’s color for you! A fresh bull dorado with Marianne Sugawara and her favorite Captain Jorge.
They didn’t catch ALOT of any one species, but Captain Gerardo got Arla and John Washington on a bunch of different species. On the table, I see dorado, jack crevale, triggerfish, snapper, cabrilla and bonito.
Nothing like those first bites early in the morning on your first day fishing, right-off-the-bat. Nice legit bull dorado in the boat for Jeff and Captain Jorge.
Dorado are incredibly colorful sportfish. Lois Tsunoda has another one to put in the box! She went home with alot of bags of fish!
Some tasty cabrilla headed for the dinner table at his resort in Muertos, Gary Wagner owner of the Rancho Costa.
A good first day on the water for Leif (from Atlanta GA) and Mark (from California)
Alex Grant lives in San Francisco, but stopped in La Paz on his way to go fishing in Florida so we got him on the water for one day and he ran into the dorado schools as well.
A “decent” day of fishing! Jeff and Marianne Sakuda with Captain Jorge on their first of 3 days of fishing showing dorado, pargo and cabrilla!
Despite a few bumps during the week like a bit of drizzle; some wind days; and some bumpy oceans…most of the week was pretty good and for fishing turned into one of the better fishing weeks of the season.
With water temps running about 85 degrees and air temperatures about 95, the dorado really came on strongly. Limits of not unusual.
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, limits were not only unusual, but often folks caught and then had to release so many dorado, they sometimes were back to the beach before lunch. Most of the fish were school-sized 5 to 15 pounders, but lots of fun, especially on light tackle or for first-timers. About half the fish hooked were released either because boxes were already full or folks were only keeping the larger fish.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, there weren’t as many dorado, but the dorado were some of the largest of the season. No big monsters, but fish were 10-25 pounders…a size we hadn’t seen in many months. Areas included the buoys, Punta Perrico and south towards Los Alamos. But, the schools could honesty show up anywhere. There were a few days when it was bumpy and windy and our anglers had to fish inshore for pargo, snapper and cabrilla, but overall, most folks fish several days with us and they made of for the slow days on their other days when they stacked up the larger dorado.
Additionally, there was always the chance of wahoo as well. Not many wahoo caught, but the fish were definitely there. Maybe one panga per day got a wahoo on the average. The dark Rapalas and dark Nomads were the best lures. The downside was that if you went trolling for wahoo and they didn’t bite, it was often too late to go chase anything else so you stood the chance of missing out on something else to put in the box.
There’s still some 5-20 pound roosterfish around plus a few marlin biters that we haven’t seen in a bit…and there are always rockfish to chase as well.
Just a heads-up that as typical this time of year, the winds are getting strong and from the north. Once these get pretty consistent, waters can start to cool; get rougher; and change the complexion of the fishing. Looking at the forecast for the coming week, several days this week will have strong north winds. It is definitely cooler. Fall is in the air.
2021 FILLING FAST – STILL OPENINGS FOR 2020 WHILE FISH BITE!
Our 2021 bookings are filling fast so check your calendars and don’t wait. We will NOT be attending any of the sportsmans shows this year, as far as we know. It could change, but most have been canceled. So, don’t wait to see us at a show! Get in touch with us. Some dates are already sold out. We still have spots open for this year so how about a quick get-away before the holidays? Write me directly: Jonathan@tailhunter.com!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 10-17, 2020
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY
Not a bad way to start the fishing week for Tim Butterworth (behind the big wahoo) and Paul Machado with the the dorado. The wahoo was caught trolling a Nomad lure just outside Bahia Muertos. They went on to get several wahoo and some larger dorado (see more photos below).
Birthday boy, Bob Layko with a big wahoo, Captain Armando and Craig Brown with the dorado. Craig brings his cousin Bob down to see us every year as a birthday present. Craig is from Vancouver and Bob is a merchant seaman based in Portland, Oregon. This is their 8th year with us.
First timers score dorado! Our captain Jorge with Rick Lopez and Sean Price from Seattle who visited us for the first time and fished 3 days and took home a nice load of dorado.
Always great to see Craig and Kathy Sanford from Phoenix who have visited us for years. Fishing with Captain Jorge, they found some dorado and a big triggerfish.
Tim got his the first day, Paul Machado tore up this big wahoo on their 2nd day! Tim has the dorado and sierra this time.
With the purple Rapala sticking out’ve it’s mouth, Edgar Gutierrez poses with his early morning wahoo. He only had one day to fish and stuck it! Captain Gerardo gives the thumbs-up!
No down time! It’s a fishing vacation. Even when he’s not in the panga, Scott Herman from Redondo Beach CA grabs a kayak and paddles out behind the hotel. He’s got a nice little barred pargo he took back to the hotel for dinner!
Ashley Sanford has fished with us many times, but this year, brought her boyfriend Nate for his first time. With Captain Victor, they started the trip off with some nice dorado for the cooler!
Iovanni and Ivan had a good day on the dorado as well. Both are from La Paz. Those are tasty white bonito on the cutting table with the mahi.
Great colors for the afternoon. Fishing with our La Paz fleet, Scott Herman and Brent Skaff put dorado in the box for 3 days!
These guys again! Our amigos, Tim and Paul. No wahoo this time, but some of the larger dorado of the week. Always good to have them visit. Tim has been with us since the days I worked at Hotel Las Arenas.
There’s some good eats here…nice barred pargo for Steve Manney and Captain Gerardo. These are tough fish to pull out’ve the rocks, but some of the best eating!
Bahia Muertos in the background, Paul Machado is pretty happy with this nice bull mahi mahi!
After last week’s slow fishing we were ready for a come-back and we were happy to get it. The fishing has been up, down and sideways all season so it was good to see more smiles than frowns this week.
Despite some light rains early in the week and some post-storm chop that made it rough, we were able to get out every day. Not every boat did well. Not every day was great. But overall, compared to previous weeks, the fishing took a definitive upturn as dorado finally decided to blow back into the picture.
The better fishing was with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet where easy fast limits were the rule rather than the exception with fish somewhat larger than previous weeks where most fish were 5-10 pounders. This week 10-15 and even 20 pounders were found. Many times our boats got into the schools and came back early or, simply stayed out and released fish for the rest of the day.
Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet made up for the quantity of fish found outside of La Paz Bay, but turning in quality fish. So…fewer fish and you had to work hard to find them, but the fish were larger. They included some nice-sized 30-50 pound wahoo that bit on dark Rapalas and Nomad lures trolled just outside Bahia Muertos or on the south side of Cerralvo Island. Many times the fish were found in shallow water and about 1/2 the fish hooked were lost.
Even if the wahoo weren’t forthcoming the dorado that bit tended to be larger and thicker fish between 10 and 20 pounds.
No roosterfish or tuna this week, but catches were supplemented with jack crevalle, white bonito, skipjack, pargo, snapper, triggerfish and cabrilla.
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER SPECIALS
If you’re looking for some get-away time and have Cabin-Fever from too much downtime like the rest of us, we’ve got some fall specials for some great deals:
4 days in La Paz 3 nights water-front hotel 2 days panga fishing (includes: boat/ skipper/ tackle/ ice/ fish cleaning/ breakfast/ lunch/ soft drinks/ water/ shuttles to the boat/ all taxes) As low as $859 per person (double occupancy)
We can customize pretty much any package! Just tell us what you want to do! We also have suites and condos as well!
2021 BOOKINGS
With so many cancelations in 2020, lots of folks are giving us new dates for 2021 and our calendar is booking up pretty heavily. Some dates are already sold out or close to selling out. Don’t wait.
It doesn’t look like the sportsman’s shows will be happening next year so we won’t be on the road to visit many of our favorite areas to take bookings. So, get in touch with us as soon as you can, especially if we’re holding your deposit credits from 2020. We want to make sure we have you covered and you get the dates, hotels and captains you want!
Also, don’t forget whale-watching season from January to March is fast approaching. These trips sell out fast as well so check your calendar and come join us! Daily and overnight trips are available as well as packages to also fish Bahia Magdalena in the mangroves and La Paz fishing as well!
Tailhunter Fish Report 