La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 21-31, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Again, not much to report. Most of the past few days were again blown out by strong winds.
As I often mention, winter time, fierce north winds blow down the Sea of Cortez making it not only rough and choppy but at times unsafe, especially if you’re headed north of town since the winds come out’ve the north and you need to go north to get out’ve La Paz Bay.
Alot of folks coming down are here to grab some sunshine and there’s no shortage of that, but then are surprised about the winds. Folks seem to think that weather stops being bad at the U.S. border.
Not so! If there’s storms in the north as there have been the last few weeks in the states, then it has a direct affect on weather in Baja and Mexico. In fact, the storms have been quite severe over the holidays and it’s been reflective on the winds in La Paz. They have been stronger and more severe than normal.
About the only folks out are locals and commercial fishermen who either need to work to feed their families or can pick-and-choose which dates are better to be on the water given windows of calmer conditions. I’m hearing there have been catches of sierra, some yellowtail, a few dorado (must be some warm water around), plus reef fish like snapper, triggerfish, cabrilla and some pargo.
The current forecast for the week shows more winds and maybe two days that are borderline in terms of getting on the water. The last few weeks, we’ve had to cancel any reservations that were made. These days it’s about a 50-50 chance of getting canceled or blown out. Hate to be a buzzkill, but would rather be honest about expectations.
TAILHUNTER SHOW SEASON STARTING
Jill and I will be starting our annual 3 month show season on the road. We’ll be in our booth meeting and greeting and looking forward to seeing you and talking about having you visit us in La Paz in 2023.
Our first show will be at the Reno Convention Center in Reno, Nevada for the Wild Sheep Foundation Show. Big big show with lots to see for hunting, fishin, camping, travel and more!
Check out this great video that will tell you all about this show:
We hope to see you there in the new year and in La Paz in 2023!
The next show after that will be Feb. 2-5 in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace Convention Center downtown for the Western Hunt and Conservation Show!
Happy and Blessed New Year to everyone!
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
P.O. Box 159
Hewitt TX. 76643Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 13-20, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Keaton Lesnik and his dad had just one day to squeeze in some fishing and happened to pick that ONE day that was nice enough to be out! Got themselves a couple of dorado that they had cooked up at our Tailhunter Restaurant.
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Not much to report. About the only ones on the water this week seemed to be commercial guys who are working to catch fish to sell. Or they were captains feeding their family or catching fish for the holidays or a few locals. But, the thing with all of them is that they can pick-and-choose which days are better to be on the water. Or, they know they can get out for just a few hours then come right back in with whatever they can catch if the winds kick up…and they often did.
For most, the winds were just too strong and the waters too rough this past week with just a few little windows of opportunity. In fact, it was so windy the city of La Paz even cancelled the Christmas Boat Parade. And that was INSIDE the harbor and bay!
But, there were some interesting catches. Still seems to strangely be some dorado swimming around despite the weather and the fact that dorado season pretty much ended back in October. Some nice 20-25 pound fish are still getting hooked, but most are the fun 10-pound-class fish. As well, there are sierra, white bonito (good eating), jack crevalle, snapper and cabrilla reported this week. But, again, not many reports coming off the water since not many folks fishing and everyone getting ready for the holidays.
All is calm…all is bright on the La Paz Malecon
FROM OUR TAILHUNTER FAMILY TO YOURS…
“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.”
Just hoping your holidays and Christmas is filled with blessings and all things good. You are all a gift to us with all the smiles you bring!
That’s our story!
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
P.O. Box 159
Hewitt TX. 76643Phones:
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. 3-9, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Our very own, Jorge Romero who managers Tailhunter’s Tecolote Transportation Company took a day off to get out on the water and by all counts, he sure had a nice day on the dorado schools. He said not much of anyone else was on the water.
Eduardo Gomez, who works for Mattel Toys in Mexico, came out with his wife and caught a limit of dorado. All on live bait.
Since it’s off-season and not much of anyone fishing, Jorge took another day off to get out on the water and racked this pretty bull dorado just south of Bahia Muertos. Jorge also said he had two wahoo bite him off and briefly had a marlin on the line as well.
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Another typical windy rough week on the water, but that’s to be expected this time of the year. Town is surprisingly quiet as well. Normally, alot more tourists and snowbirds are around, but I’m hearing and seeing around the city and from businesses that it’s amazingly sedate this year. Certainly alot fewer than expected or normal for the holiday season.
Fishermen are few or non-existent as this time of year can be particularly rough and difficult to be on the water. About the only ones fishing are locals who have the luxury of being able to pick-and-choose the calmer days to give fishing a try. Even then, some of them are telling me it can get pretty rough even though the sun is out.
However, there are fish to be caught. Friends have caught good numbers of cold-water fish like sierra and small amberjack and yellowtail along with reef fish like pargo, snapper and cabrilla.
Nevertheless, there’s an unusual number of dorado still hanging out if you can find the warm patches of water. I’ve even heard of an occasional wahoo or marlin getting hooked. Crazy that they are still around with the waters cooling off and turning greener. These are warm water fish and normally, we would have seen the last of them back in November.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muerto Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 2, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Dave Wancyzk (middle) and two of his buddies are in town for work, but got away one day and found some nice dorado surprisingly.
More sierra like this one that Monty caught are showing up with more frequency now that the waters are getting colder.
Not much happening on the water. Mostly folks in town for Thanksgiving holidays. Had several folks interested in fishing this week, but winds changed their minds. This coming week doesn’t look much better with most of the days gusting 15-20 mph.
We did get a couple of guys out for one day. We had to juggle a bit to find a day that was least windy. He had them fish with our Las Arenas fleet which is more protected and the fishing grounds are closer. Surprisingly, so late in the season, but they got into some healthy legit dorado. Warm water fish! We figured dorado season kinda left us when things got cooler, but I guess there’s a few still hanging around. Nice surprise.
Beyond that…it’s mostly cold water species.
Some of the locals and commercial guys are out catching snapper, cabrilla and sierra inshore. Live bait is hard to get when the winds are blowing so mostly using frozen baits and lures.
Town is pretty quiet, but getting fuller for the holidays. It’s kind of a real nice time to be around!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 15-22, 2023
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
This past week was pretty typical late fall type conditions. Lots of sunshine for the snowbirds with temps in the low 80’s to high 70’s and cool evening conditions in the mid-60’s. Some days really nice and others blustery and windy. Seems like each week the air temps are getting a tad cooler and the waters are getting just a bit greener as they cool off as well.
Honestly, not many folks in town as this is the lull before the holidays. I expect that to change this coming week with Thanksgiving coming up. So, not many tourists in town. It’s actually a very peaceful time.
There are even fewer folks interested in fishing. Just a few walk-in’s now and then. Not in town specifically to fish, but just looking for a day on the water. Unfortunately, the couple of bookings we had, were cancelled due to windy conditions on those particular days. Some folks don’t have very flexible schedules so we warn folks if the particular day they want to go out doesn’t look good. Or looks like it might get blown out.
Captain Armando got out with Miguel Campos and found a nice bit of dorado that wanted to chew on one of the least windy days. Miguel is from Puerto Vallarta.
On the other hand, the few days that conditions were amenable, there are still fish biting, although it’s mostly locals from La Paz in the boats.
There’s a few dorado here and there. As well, there were a few hookups on wahoo and billfish. However, most of the catch is turning towards cooler water species with cabrilla, snapper, rainbow runners, sierra and jacks. Most of this is inshore fishing. We even found small yellowtail under the tankers anchored in the bay.
Sydney Wagner with big smiles and a big cabrilla that I’m sure went to the dinner table at her dad, Gary Wagner’s place there at Bahia Muertos at Rancho Costa just south of La Paz.
With the rougher waters, it’s getting more difficult to find live bait, but that’s one of the variables with fishing this time of year. The coming week for Thanksgiving is looking like there will be strong winds from the north pretty much all week.
WINTER WHALE WATCHING NOW BOOKING
The annual migration of the gray whales to Bahia Magdalena will be coming soon and prime time to see them is mid- February to late March. This is the largest migration of animals in the world and this is a great opportunity to get about as close as you can imagine for a trip of a lifetime.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 7-14, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
More and more of these rainbow runners showing up in the counts as waters get cooler. These are cousin to the yellowtail and Sidney Wagner caught this one just off Punta Perrico around from her dad’s place at Bahia Muertos.
Finally got a chance to get out with Jilly for just a few hours and we found some nice dorado under a couple of buoys in the channel in front of Cerralvo Island. You can tell the waters are getting colder and greener.
These four guys rocked it! Captain Gaby from Las Cruces was out with Marshall Hydorn, John Clayton and Carter Mack at the north end of Las Cruces dragging some Marauders and hit the hat trick of wahoo…3 nice ones on board. Gaby with the bonito!
JIlly with Captain Joel got the biggest dorado of the day on a live sardine. She totaled up 4 dorado and 3 cabrilla on the day.
Gary Wagner at his place at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos was able to get out one day and took this late season bull dorado!
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This is that big lull before the holidays. Town is pretty quiet. The folks that are here are mostly tourists and snowbirds looking for some sunshine. Not much of anyone here that is specifically here to fish.
If someone does want to fish, they are usually walk-in folks just looking for a day on the water. Nothing hard-core. Most of the savvy fisher-folk have left as the 2022 fishing season winds down.
The winter winds have started blowing from the north making a fish trip an exercise in trying to figure out which days the winds won’t blow you off the water. Two weeks ago, we had three days of the week that were too blustery. This past week, there were two days. As I write this, it appears that maybe 5 days will be quite windy.
Some of those days, you can probably get out and we would fish you in some of the more protected in-shore areas. But, if the wind is really howling, there’s a good chance the port captain will shut down all boat traffic departing or arriving.
There are still some dorado around. Most of the are the fun smaller 5-12 pounders with some occasional big toad bulls still lurking. One thing nice is that you could just go to the big tankers anchored in La Paz Bay and find some schools without having to go out too far.
There’s some wahoo at the north end of Cerralvo Island, but for the most part, the weather is cooling and so are the waters with blue waters starting to turn green and cloudy. Consequently, more cooler-water species are moving in.
This includes, sierra, rainbow runners, pargo, cabrilla, jacks and even a few amberjack and yellowtail. These will become more predominant as the waters continue to cool off.
Mostly, live bait (sardines) and cut bait (stripped bonito) have been the most effective attractants, but as waters get rougher, it’s harder to find the sardines. Also, the bait guys will be more reluctant to go find bait to sell if there aren’t many folks fishing.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Bay for Week of Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST OF THE STORY…
Not the best time to be out on the water in a panga! (turn up the sound)
Brent Ritchie has a big smile for his early morning dorado hook-up.
Our own, Brian Reid from Hewitt, Texas hit a school or dorado right out in front of the city where the big tankers sit at anchor and had a limit in about 45 minutes.
Sal Pamiza, first-timer with us from S. Carolina is our good family amigo and gets a hand from Captain Pancho with one of his first-ever fish!
Tom Brewer was able to squeeze in 3 days of fishing over a week by picking out days when the winds were down and scored good fishing for several species during his days on the water.
I wish I could say there’s alot going on and alot to tell you about, but the straight-up honest report is that as I’m writing this report, the port has been closed now for two days shutting down all boat traffic because of the fierce winds. It will probably be shut down tomorrow as well for the better part of the day.
These are the northern winds that start up about this time of year and will blow erratically now through April or May. That’s why we say that November to April is our off-season and there’s honestly not many folks on the water except windsurfers and kite-boarders who love these crazy northern winds.
In the past 2 weeks, in fact, we’ve had 2-3 days each week where the winds blew us off the water or we had to cancel the few fishing trips we still had booked. Most of our regulars understand that it’s pretty much the end of the season so we don’t have that many anglers anyway.
You can probably tell by the fact that I don’t have many fish photos to post!
Fortunately for the few we’ve had and could get out, we are still finding some dorado around with most fish in the 10-pound range but also many more cooler-water species as the ocean temperatures start to drop off. That includes sierra, jacks, pompano, trevally, rainbow runners and even a few yellowtail. But, I think we are about the end of the blue water/ warm water species for the season.
Thankfully, for the dorado, even when it’s been blustery outside and tough to go too far from shore, dorado have been close. In La Paz Bay, in fact, there’s been a nice jag of schoolie-sized dorado right under the big tankers anchored in the bay. I was able to get out one day this week and we caught a limit in about 45 minutes which was great as the winds came up later.
With the winds, it’s also getting more difficult to get live bait with waves crashing the shallow areas where the bait guys usually net the sardines.
2023 BOOKINGS FILLING UP FAST
We’re getting heavy bookings already for 2023 and some dates are already filled or filling pretty fast. Don’t miss out on the upcoming season! We don’t want to miss you either! Here’s a sample package just for our fishing report readers for May and June next year:
Sample Special Package: 5 days/ 4 nights ocean-front hotel / 3 days panga fishing
Ocean-front rooms (2 per room)
Panga (2 per panga)
Skipper
Tackle
Ice
Fish cleaning
Breakfast, lunches, soft drinks and water on fishing days
All taxes
Does not include: tips, alcohol, other meals, bait (from the baitman), licenses (available online: http://www.sportfishingbcs.gob.mx/), commercial fish packing (available from our store)
Rates: Starting at $1399 per person x 2 (double occupancy)
Deposits: Min. $300 pre-payment per person non-refundable/ non-transferable
Balance: Due no later than 45 days prior to arrival
Payments: Cash or check / credit cards or payment apps 4% processing fee
Also available: / Scuba/ snorkeling/ whale sharks / more nights/ more fishing/ day trips / airport ground transfers
Based on availability and cannot be attached to any other specials or discounts
Deposits are non-refundable and non-transferable
Applies to Hotel La Concha (beach outside of town) or Hotel Waterfront (at the marina)
Upgrades to rooms and options for other hotels are available
Package price is good only if made before the end of the year
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 22-29, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
What a smile! Sue Cross from Santa Cruz has been waiting for awhile to come visit us again and she got right back into it with some fun on the dorado grounds and this nice bull! (Thanks again for the empanadas, Sue!)
Jim Bailey from San Diego on a first-time visit didn’t do so bad with the dorado at Bahia Muertos! Good day!
Good to have Adam Florence from Kansas back to visit us. He was out with Captain Pancho and hooked this sailfish on light tackle and a spinning reel outfit! Even moreso…they were able to release the fish which swam away strongly! Well done!
First day for Sal Pamiza from S. Carolina with our son-in-law from Hewitt TX, Brian Reid and a good start on the fishing week including a rare blue tiger dorado on the end of the table.
Brent Ritchie and Tom Brewer have some mahi meat on the table to have cleaned up for them!
Thanks, Chris Bedsaul for the awesome underwater dorado shot!
Captain Rogelio gives young Ryder Jensen a hand with his bull dorado to take a photo! Ryder had a couple of fun days with us.
Wayne Vanzandt and Mike Jennings rocked it for 3 days with the dorado producing some good quality fishing with Captain Victor.
Great new Tailhunter amigos, Julie Hansen with sons Marcus and Alex had fun with the mahi schools.
Nothing wrong tangling with some of our feisty bonito that will pull you outta your socks! Ryan Jensen with Captain Rogelio and another catch-and-release!
Some awesome sierra caught by Michelle Rahn and Sue Cross who had enough dorado from the first day and decided to fish for something else! Sierra are a sure sign that waters are cooling off. Delicious eating fish too!
Jim and Brenda Bovee with their favorite Captain Pancho.
The Haltons…Belle, Brian and Liz squeezed in one day of fishing and did well with dorado to take and have cooked up in town.
Mike with Captain Jorge and some good color on the deck!
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Straight up…fishing was pretty good…when we could go out.
About half the day this week were bumpy and rough and windy and probably would have been best to not fish, but folks still wanted to get out. One day the wind forecasts were so strong, the La Paz port captain shut down all boat traffic preventing anyone from going out.
One day our boats pretty much got blown off the water after a brave effort to catch fish. I think we had 8 pangas out that day. They came back with 4 fish total for all those fishermen. This is what it looked like at Bahia Muertos where we launch.
Normally, what it looks like:
This is what we got in the video below. This is why all the windsurfers come to the area and love the coming months so much. These winds will only get stronger as winter arrives.
It rarely happens, because normally during the season it’s so calm, but we actually had some folks get seasick this past week which is unfortunate.
But with growing frequency, the winds will be increasing and why we consider November to April to be our off-season and why so few fishermen are out on the waters. (It’s why all the windsurfers and kiteboarders descend on our area in the winter). Plus, it’s getting cooler and our captains and I were actually wearing sweatshirts in the mornings.
However, on the days we did fish, the dorado are still biting nicely. Decent 5-20 pound fish were the average with limits or near limits most days. The fish are eating live baits, dead baits, chunked bonito strips and trolled feathers. The fish can be found in numerous places and often, not that far off the beach or shoreline or as close as the rocks and cliffs.
We still have a few billfish also being hooked as well as plenty of bonito, some jack crevalle, snapper and cabrilla. However, cooler water fish like sierra, pompano, trevally and rainbow runners are starting to show up in the counts with more frequency. I even heard that some of the commercial pangeros hung some yellowtail off the south end of Cerralvo Island.
So, warm water fishing is transitioning to cooler water fishing and species and we’re pretty much seeing the last of our fishing groups for the year now that the season is changing, but also as the holidays approach. More snowbirds coming to town looking for sunshine and not so much interested in being on the water.
BOOKINGS FOR 2023 – 30 years in La Paz!
Dates for 2023 filling faaaaast!
We are just coming off another banner year right now and we were booked up 3-6 months in advance. We had to turn many folks away or many of you were not able to get your favorite captain or hotel. We don’t want to miss you or have you disappointed.
Reservations are coming in daily and many folks left La Paz and went home and gave us dates for 2023 already. Don’t wait! Really!
We are NOT going to be able to do as many shows as we normally do. With the price of gas, it’s impossible to drive for 3 months and go 10-15,000 miles of driving so we have to cut down on the shows. So, don’t wait until show season to get in touch with us.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 15-22, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
That’s a good look! Kenji Yamada from Juneau, Alaska with another nice bull for the box. Mom, Jackie is on another fish. They own the Shelter Lodge operation up there in Juneau and always great to have them visit!
Ed Mitoma with a beautiful bull to match his shirt! Ed has been coming to visit us for years and only had two quick days to squeeze in a fishing vacation and hit this mahi his last day.
Oh man! Where have these tuna been? Leif Dover from Atlanta, GA and Kevin Todd who lives near Austin TX with Captain Gerardo and a trio of fat tuna plus a dorado and cabrilla on the cleaning deck.
Captain Victor poses with Doug Dickerson from Kentucky who brought his son down for two days of fishing and started out on the right track with a table of dorado.
As the waters cool off, we’re seeing more and more rainbow runners back in the count. These cousin to yellowtail are tasty eaters. Angela Ventura is all smiles.
Surprising to have roosterfish in the counts this time of year, but there are still some around. Richard Yamada, owner of Shelter Lodge up in Juneau, Alaska with a nice one off Punta Perrico that he caught and released.
Captain Jorge with two of our favorite folks from Henderson NV, Lois and Gary Tsunoda started 3 days of fishing with some dorado to put in the cooler.
First time, amigos from Utah, Colton Francis and his dad, Kent with Captain Jorge and one of several dorado on the day . Good to have them visit!
Adam Staible and Tony Riley with a colorful shot of dorado on the beach at Ensenada Muertos.
I neglected to post this last week, but Greg Saubolle from N. California has come to see us twice this year and was out with Captain Arcangel when he got this big dorado as well as a bunch of others and I also see a sizeable barred pargo on the cleaning board as well!
Just another good day on the water. Keith, Leif and Kevin with a good harvest of dorado and tuna.
Roy is pretty happy.
Ron Byrd with John and Nancy Quiring got on top of the tuna when they came up. Nice dorado and pargo too!
The right kind! Mike Jennings from Washington came back to see us on a last-minute trip and hit the dorado schools for 3 days including this nice bull mahi.
Cross a roosterfish off the bucket list for Joey Nawa. Caught and released!
Another sign of cooler waters. Eric has himself a little trevally!
One of the nicests and sweetest of our amigas, Jackie Yamada brought her crew from Shelter Lodge in Juneau AK for 3 days of fishing and gets a hand here from Captain Pancho on another bull mahi.
Two double fists of dorado for Dave and Candi Staigle on a first-time visit with us here in La Paz.
Captain Jorge with a thumbs-up for Brian and Chris from Atlanta who fished 6 days with us. Dorado, rainbow runner and a snapper on the cutting board.
Leif and Chris…another good day!
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It was another fairly good week of fishing, but there’s no doubt that the seasons are changing and our top-water warm-season fishing is tapering off.
Winds are getting stronger and breezier, especially from the north. It’s getting choppier and waters are starting to cool off. The result is a gradual change in the species of fish as more colder water fish start showing up. There are some areas where it is starting to get too rough and we will not be able to fish those spots any longer.
Not co-incidentally, fewer fishermen as it not only gets cooler and rougher but we get closer to the holidays. As we get fewer fishermen, we’ll start to see more snow-birds hit town who are just here to get some sunshine and not particularly here for fishing plus windsurfers from around the world as the winds increase.
That being said, the dorado are still biting with most fish in the 5-15 pound class and larger fish up to about 30 pounds. Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleets are finding the schools which range in a wide area. I would say there are more fish around La Paz and as close as the tankers anchored in the bay, however, the larger fish are found around Las Arenas and Cerralvo Island.
Oh yea! Wayne Vanzandt with Captain Jorge, did a “bait dump” on the way back into the beach at the end of the day and tossing all their live and dead bait into the water at the same time and the waters blew up with dorado including this big bull.
We did have a little jag or two of legit quality 25-40 pound tuna on-and-off. Nothing to denote a full “tuna bite.” However, a few fish showed up in the counts mostly from south of Bahia Suenos.
We still have some marlin and sailfish taking baits and lures plus inshore pargo, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle and lots of bonito some days. However, the presence of sierra, rainbow runners, pompano and trevally are all indicative of cooler colder waters that have moved in corresponding to the changing seasons.
Bottom line…our official 2023 season is just about tapering off. It’s been a helluva season!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 7-13, 2022
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Hugo Rafael from Santa Ana was with Captain Pancho from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz and really just wanted to catch some inshore pargo and cabrilla for some dinner when he hooked this massive bull dorado. He was using a dead sardine for the rockfish and only had 25 pound test line. He battled the fish for about 30 minutes before landing it and when they put it on a handscale, it weighed out at 26 kilos (57 pounds). Hugo is only about 5’3” tall! He never did catch any rockfish, but had plenty of meat for dinner.
This is what you call a good fun day. Denver amigo, Joe Hicks with sons, Marco ad Hudson. A box of dorado plus a striped marlin that they all got to pull on.
Rusty Cain has been visiting us for years and was not gonna pass the rod of during his 4 hour battle on 25 pound test with this trophy sailfish. His hand was still cramping and shaking when he posed for this photo. Alot of the meat was donated.
Our long-time San Diego amigos, Byron Shovlain and George Bonner with their favorite captain Arcangel (managing a rare smile!) and some of their yellowfin tuna.
I”ve been waiting almost 3 years for Billy Bates from Idaho to finally make it down after Covid and other things forced cancelations. He finally made it with his son, Royal from San Diego, and they started the vacation with a nice rack of dorado and a legit yellowfin tuna. Two thumbs-up!
Sweetiest folks from Oregon on their 4th visit to us. This is Mari and Chris Bedsaul showing off their first-day catch at Ensenada Muertos.
Kentucky in the house! Doug Dickerson fished with us early this year and had time for two quick days this past week so he brought his son down for two days on the water before heading to Sammy Hagar’s birthday in Cabo.
Carson City, Nevada is where John and Arla Washington live and it’s such a pleasure seeing them each year. Could not be more fun and they pose here with a fat tuna and some good mahi on the cutting table.
Friends since kingergarten, Walt Menda and Dave Wakabayashi have been visiting us for years until Covid hit in 2020, but finally came to see us.
Buddy Middaugh and Mike Gistlink teamed up for a nice table of mahi!
Alan Martz has visited us for several years now with his dad and brother. He’s got another dorado for the box!
There you go! Nice bull dorado for Angelo Oliverio, Captain Jorge and Joe Malone. Outside the photo, there’s also a nice bunch of dorado on the cleaning table.
Austin Texas visiting us with Mark Trutna and Jason Hurst on their visit with us at Tailhunter.
Good start for Marco, Joe and Hudson on a 3 day outing with us from Denver. They rocked it for 3 days on the water.
Captain Julio in the mask with Billy and Royal Bates after a day fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
We had Chris Girard from Washington for 14 days of great fun! He gives a thumbs-up on his catch of dorado plus a rainbow runner at the end of the table.
Gorgeous shot of Chris Bedsaul and his bull. Great colors.
Craig Shijo and smiling Walt Menda with a dorado hooked just outside of La Paz Bay.
Dale Martz has another dorado!
Joe and Angelo had some great days with Captain Jorge who has some fish cleaning to do!
Brad Baker needs a pink shirt like Captain Arcangel and Jim Adair. Some big dorado, but check out the nice pargo on the table too!
Fishing inshore in the rocks is a hoot! Mari Bedsaul with one of several cabrilla and pargo she caught.
What’s wrong with this picture of Joe Hicks? LOL. He didn’t realize until I saw this photo. Nice bull dorado!
Kenny (“K.C.”) Campbell one of the best guys ever, brings a bunch of his amigos to visit us each year. Mike Gistlink was on his first visit to us and they were out with Captain Armando.
Nice chunks of meat! Debbie and Chris Girard spent 14 days with us and were incredible fun the whole time!
Even with the full moon and some breezier conditions, still a nice solid week of fishing with a good mix of surface biters. Temporatures are definitely cooling and the seasons are changing a little sooner than normal, but it’s been that kind of strange year and we’re just happy the fish kept biting.
Once again, for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, dorado were the main attractions. Here and there one boat might have a slow days, but overall, it was limits or near limits for all our anglers. The dorado were more numerous for our La Paz anglers, but larger fish seemed to show up with our Las Arenas anglers. But, frankly, you just never knew what was coming back in the fish boxes. If you had a bait in the water, you might hit a ferocious school of 10-15 pound voracious juveniles willing to hit anything and fight each other for it or you might get that 25-40 pound trophy that you never expected and always seems to hit your lightest line and smallest reel! There were definitely some big fish lost.
Most of the fish were caught on live and dead sardines, but trolled feathers and hootchies also worked and many of the larger fish were caught on strips of fresh bloody bonito. Catching the bonito, in and of itself, provided plenty of action in between the dorado bites.
No wahoo to speak of in a year that has seen a dearth of the prized speedsters, but every day we’re still hanging some 20-30 pound yellowfin tuna south of Cerralvo Island. It’s usually an early bite before all the boat traffic shows up.
In addition, we’re having a pretty good bite on billfish. Most are un-intentional hook-ups when an angler is in the middle of a school of bonito or dorado, but we’ve hooked some nice sailfish, striped marlin and smaller blue marlin with most fish getting released.
Surprisingly, even though it’s not the season, some 5-20 pound roosterfish are biting along with sierra and rainbow runners!
Tailhunter Fish Report 