Our Amigo, Paul Nagata, from San Francisco always comes down this time of year. He toughed out a rough week. Not only did he have to fish in rough weather but the airlines also lost his fishing reels (he got them back!) but he kept a smile and got good dorado fishing all week like this solid bull north of La Paz. Note the grey skies and rougher waters behind him. That’s Tropical Storm Hector that blew through and left us with a bit of rain.
Such a beautiful fish…a big bull dorado still “lit up” straight out’ve the water posed by our Captain Joel who had been fishing with Paul Nagata that day with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.
Thankfully, we did not get flooded like other Baja cities, but we did get some very gentle rain and wind which were a nice break from the heat for a few days. It didn’t make for the best fishing conditions, although we still got some nice dorado. But this was thet wet view of the malecon in front of our Tailhunter Restaurant in the afternoon.
TV actor and TV show host, Rick Kasper fishes with us just about every-other-week during the season and never fails to do well. Check out this trophy bull dorado he caught while the sun was still shining earlier in the week fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.
Old-time friends of Tailhunter, Jim Booth and Bill Sharp, wrestle with a fresh big bull dorado they just put in the boat near Cerralvo Island.
Professional chef, Vartan Bagdasaryan, put the wood to this nice roosterfish off Bahia de Los Muertos. He had a good week with roosters and dorado. This fish was released.
Daniel Compton from Arizona with Bill and grandfather, Dan Compton from Kansas wanted to get at least 1 dorado during the week. They ended up with 3 solid days of dorado fishing with both our Tailhunter La Paz and Las Arenas fleets. They are posed her at Bahia de Los Muertos near Las Arenas.
Big smiles for Greg Drezil just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos where the roosterfish continue to provide some great action on trophy fish. Greg released this one after the photo. Greg also got into some nice dorado fishing during the week as well.
I’m not sure what kind of setting he had on his camera when he took this photo, but it’s kinda cool! Burke Roble fished 4 days with us and did some damage to the dorado schools including this healthy slugger bull dorado! Check out Burke’s video clip below.
VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK:
Burke Roble of Riverside had a nice bit of fishing this past week. In addition to the nice dorado above, he got several others including the one shown in the video clip below taken near Cerralvo Island near Las Arenas. I have it in 3 different formats for you since some players play one format, but not the other. Click the link or any of the TV icons!
TROPICAL STORM HECTOR CLOUDS SKIES BUT DORADO STILL BITE
La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 12-19, 2012
We have certainly had better weeks of weather down here. As a tropical storm pushed up the west side of the Baja Peninsula several hundred miles out it dropped some considerable rain on southern Baja. Cabo and Todos Santos and some of those areas were flooded. In La Paz, we got some nice gentle drizzles although some areas did get some sporadic short thundershowers that came and went. We were still spared the brunt of what hit areas to the south of us.
Still, it made for a lot of cloudy, windy and blustery days on the water. We were pretty much not able to fish Las Arenas at all from about Tuesday on. Too bad because the dorado and tuna bite had just kicked in. But with the storms, it was just too windy to get off the beach or even get to Cerralvo Island for bait. As the week went on, the road and arroyos became too slogged to get through also.
So, we had all our anglers fishing with our La Paz fleet. They didn’t do too badly. Most days there were limits or near limits of dorado. Most fish were about 10-20 pounds. Nice grade fighters ,but we also had some 30’s taken and several stories of “pilot error” on behalf of cursing fishermen who battled larger dorado only to lose the battles to fish that were easily over 40 pounds…and some larger to hear them tell!
As well, we still hooked some marlin and sailfish, but not many roosters once the storm front moved through. By the time you’re reading this, the sunshine has returned according to the predictions, along with some great sunshine and blue skies. However, as with any storm’s aftermath, I’m a bit worried about high winds that follow that are tougher and have a greater effect on fish and fishermen than the rain. As I’m writing this report, and looking out the window at the water…so far…so good! Just a little bit of a breeze! Fingers crossed for a good week of fishing. You have a good week too!
Not bad for a quick morning of fishing! TV Show host and actor, Rick Kasper from California and his amigo, Scott Behnken, all the way from Ohio on his first-ever Baja fishing trip knocked out the yellowfin tuna off Las Arenas. Hopefully, the tuna season is going to kick into gear full turbo soon! It’s that time of the year. To see more of Rick and Scott, check out this week’s video clip below!
The tuna were elusive this week, but the one day that Joe Fuschetti fished Las Arenas he found the tuna more than willing to go in a hot spot between the east side of Cerralvo Island and the 88 spot hammering nice-grade tuna like this one and back on the beach before noon. The next day, the same spot produced only a few small tuna and lots of bonito. Joe is a high school coach in Orange Co. , California and has fished with us many times over the years. He told me, “This was the best tuna fishing ever and my personal best tuna!”
Everytime they visit us, Jana and Lauren often outfish the guys. They come once-a-year with brother Scott McKenzie who fishes with us several times a year from Washington. The ladies fish every single day non-stop hardcore and next year want a full-week of fishing! Here, they pose with some of the dorado they caught fishing north of La Paz.
What a great shot of a leaping striped marlin! Dan Puetz had just had full shoulder re-constructive surgery and was still nursing it but ended up with two days of pulling on fish like this one. Sore, but happy! Another shot of Dan below with one of his dorado.
Dan was supposed to fish 3 days with us, but after two solid days of pulling on dorado and marlin, he laughingly decided to put up his feet and take it easy! Here’s one of the dorado he put in the boat posed at Balandra Bay.
They have been so few and far between this year, but Joe Arata of Pacifica CA got one of the much-sought-after wahoo near Cerralvo Island this past week. All year, I think we’ve only boated about 10 wahoo. Where are they? Our divers are seeing them way way down below the thermocline. Perhaps like last year, they’re just not coming up to the surface to feed. Fingers crossed. The fall is usually prime time for the skinnies!
Our BFF from La Ventana, James “Hawk” Davis gets in the report this week showing off a slug roosterfish he slammed and then released. The big pez gallos are still out there although now that there’s sardines around, more folks are out chasing dorado and tuna. This is the type of roosterfish that made the Las Arenas/ Cerralvo Area famous!
Limits of tuna for Mike Akiyoshi and his son, Kevin, from Redondo Beach. They pose with a pair of fish but filled their box with dorado their last day fishing out’ve La Paz. Congratulations especially to Kevin…he went home and proposed to his girlfriend!
Virgil Bascos was with us for his first trip to La Paz. He was looking for tuna and didn’t do so well, the the billfish and dorado were very cooperative as she shows off one of his dorado caught with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.
No matter the age, it’s always great to have father-son trips! Two of the funniest guys we’ve had were Paul Zech and son, Mike, who fished 3 days with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet and stocked up on nice dorado like this one.
This lady not only like to fish…she CAN fish! Pam Sharp spent a week in our waters and blew up all kinds of fish like this trophy roosterfish off Cerralvo Island. Fish was released.
Roger Thompson has been in our fishing report so often, he’s a virtual poster-child. He makes the report again with another big rooster caught and released plus his classic fishing pose! Thanks, Roger!
VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK
TV Actor and host of the outdoor hunting show, “Living on the Wild Side” , Rick Kasper fished with his amigo, Scott Behnken, a few times this week and did a great little video clip for us. Check it out above, or see it on YOUTUBE by clicking this:
UNEVEN FISHING BUT RODS STILL BEND ON DORADO WITH TUNA STILL TEASING!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 5-12, 2012
Every day fishing this past week was at best…a surprise! I don’t want to go so far as to say it was anemic, but maybe “inconsistent” was a better word. I guess if you wanted to fill the ice chest, dorado continued to be solid for our anglers that fished with our La Paz fleet.
But, even for our La Paz anglers, it could be frustratingly good and bad. One day you could hammer limits and crazy good fishing and fill the fish box with dorado between 10 and 50 pounds. The next day..same spot…same captain….same good bait…seemingly similar conditions would produce 2 fish! With no rhyme or reason! Fortunately, most folks fished a number of day so the good days more than made up for the off-days! Besides the dorado there were still the occasional marlin, sailfish, roosterfish, pargo or cabrilla to round things out.
For our Las Arenas anglers, it was perhaps even more frustrating. Lots of finger-pointing at the yellow-“fun” tuna! They were the source of more teeth gnashing than any other fish this week.
Several days they came up live mad dogs! Boats plugged with fish and back on the beach before noon with no more energy or space for any more tuna. Fish from 10-50 pounds were boiling around boats in several spots near the south and east sides of Cerralvo Island. Everyone would go crazy. The next day…NOTHING! Maybe a bunch of bonito but the tuna were nowhere to be found!
On the plus-side…there were some nicer dorado if you chose not to chase the tuna and there were also our usual slugger-sized roosterfish up to 65 pounds this week.
Tailhunter Captain Victor goofs with Gerry Acosta and Victor Gildelmontes who got into the nice bite of football tuna late in the week of Cerralvo Island. The guys got into the bite but ran out’ve beer and came back to shore. Then, they went back out and caught more fish! All the tuna were fun 8-12 pounders, but the first school-sized fish we’ve seen all season.
Mario Salazar and Luis Arandia started hooking tuna when this nice sailfish bit while fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. Attempts to release the sail weren’t successful and the meat was donated. The guys also got some nice dorado while fishing several days with us.
Our long time amigo, Victor Ochoa with Captain Jorge. This is one of the great stories. Several years ago, Victor was fishing with us and Capt. Jorge was running the panga. As the day went on, they realized they were COUSINS! Victor’s mother had moved to California but was the cousin to Capt. Jorge’s mother! So, the two guys are related and always fish well together plus have a good time showing off one of their larger dorado of the trip.
Pam Sharp rocked her day with this trophy roosterfish that was released while she was fishing off the Ventana-Cerralvo area with Capt. Fabio. Great fish and super shot. (Thanks Hawk!)
We have sure had some good fishermen from New Mexico this season! Darren Hanson flew his own plane down and spent several days on the water with us. He took this huge bull north of La Paz near Espiritu Santo Island.
Our buddy, James “Hawk” Davis, took this incredible shot of Pam Sharp’s marlin doing the dance as it’s close to the panga. You can see her special “pink lure” on the line as the fish does it’s thing. Great shot and Pam also released the big fish.
Jim Lipkowski wanted one day to get a shot at getitng a roosterfish and successfully got this nice pez gallo of Las Arenas.
Nice buffet…yellowfin tuna…a pargo…even a small mako shark as Captain Archangel with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet poses with Don Slaiman.
TUNA SHOW UP AT LAS ARENAS WHILE DORADO CONTINUE FULL MOON FEEDING!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 29 to Aug. 5, 2012
Despite the full moon, it wasn’t a bad week of fishing at all! The past few months, the full moon has actually been our better fishing. However, while the fishing seemed to slow just a tad, it was still pretty steady enough to fill some ice chests and keep anglers happy.
The dorado bite north of La Paz continued. Some days were better than others and some of our pangas did better than others but overall, if you fished a few days, you were going to get some nice limits of dorado that averaged about 15 pounds, but no unusual to have others in the 20-45 pound class as well. As far as I can remember this week, we had a lot of pangas out and I think pretty much everyone had shots at some of the bigger boys. Some of them caught them and some well…got away! That’s why they’re BIG! But there was some great action. The biggest factor seemed to be the wind. Some days were a little breezy and those days made finding the dorado a bit harder. The less wind…the better the dorado bite seemed to be.
The nicest surprise was the tuna boil that took place late in the week off Cerralvo Island. In spots between the island and the 88 spot to the east there were some nice boils of tuna going off. Nothing big, but for some pangas all the football sized 8-15 pounders they could handle! At the time of this writing, I don’t know if this is a fluke or the start of some nice tuna shots, but at least at the end of the week things sure looked promising. Some of the commercial guys who were out as far as 25-35 miles said there were some spots of larger fish in the 30-50 pound category.
But for our Las Arenas fleet, even if they didn’t fish for tuna, it remains the spot for roosterfish. Boy, did we have some nice roosterfish going this week. Several of the fish were in the 40-65 pound class plus a good number in the 20-30 pound class. It continues to be one of the best roosterfish seasons in a long time.
Also, quite few marlin and sailfish around still. We’re not specifically targeting them, but we hooked a number just while fishing for dorado or other species. Most were released.
It was another good week to get a trophy-sized dorado, especially if you fished with our La Paz fleet. Solid good dorado fishing pretty much all of this past week, like this bull taken by Brent Fischer and posing at Balandra Beach.
Roger Thompson seems to be king of the big fish. This is not only a gorgeous giant bull dorado, but also just a great photo. The fish was taken in the channel near Cerralvo Island.
This is like a poster! James “Hawk” Davis got this photo of about a 40-pound bull dorado under his panga and the filtered light caught it just right! (Thanks, Hawk!)
Our two college-professor friends, Llew Williams from Florida and Prof. Mark Marcus from Washington, tag-teamed this big boy off Las Arenas. The fish looks like it’s ready to bite Marks face!
Don Rea is the long-tme head football coach at Pacific High School near Ventura CA and a long-time amigo of Tailhunters. He’s a hardcore fisherman and always gets into the big guys like this hug bull dorado he took fishing with Captain Marcos north of La Paz.
Here’s a pair…and I don’t mean the roosterfish! Darrell George and Bo Herrera are two of our funniest fishermen and fly out from New Mexico several times a year. They post up two of their double-hook-up roosterfish just off the rocks at Punta Perico. They released a week’s worth of roosterfish includingthese two!
A beast of a roosterfish and the kind of fish that helps give Las Arenas the reputation of being the “roosterfish capital of the world!” John Rygiol gets a hand from Captain Pancho to take a photo of this big boy before they release it. That’s the south end of Cerralvo Island in the background.
That’s a lotta bull…dorado! Fish slam for four! From New Mexico…Darren Hanson, Darrell Hanson, Steve Hanson and Josh Van Dam!
Rob Caron and Capt. Rogelio show off another of Rob’s dorado. Rob spent over a week with us in the middle of the dorado schools limiting on the fish almost daily. Check out the flat ocean behind them. Rob’s from Boise, Idaho.
Darrell “Gomer” Oleson and his buddy, Brent, drove all the way from Utah for a few days of fishing in La Paz. This was Gomer’s first trip and they got a limit of dorado and this striped marlin. Marlin were again active all week with a number of fish hooked, lost or released.
A trophy trio for Brent, Dan and Matt Fischer who got 6 of these big dorado on a day fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet near Espirito Santo Island.
Almost too big to lift! Steve Hanson from New Mexico put the gaff to this huge bull dorado he got on live bait north of La Paz just outside the bay fishing with Captain Marcos.
It’s not the biggest, but it’s his first! Erik Peterson finally got the dorado he was looking for while fishing between Espirito Santo Island and Cerralvo Island.
One of our long-time amigos, Tim Blagen, holds up his catch-of-the day…a big bull dorado that inhaled a bait and bent the rod. Tim had a few banner days with our La Paz fleet.
BIG DORADO AGAIN PUT ON A SHOW!
La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 22-29, 2012
Pretty simple this week…TAKE A LOOK at the PHOTOS!
Overall, a really good dorado week, especially for our anglers that fished with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Fishing north of the city around Espirito Santo Island then around the tips near Las Cruces and the channel in between Espirito Santo and Cerralvo Island, nice schools of the mahi were being found my locating floating sargasso weeds or bringing schools to the boats by slow-trolling live or dead bait; getting a hook up; then chumming the rest of the school to the panga resulting in multiple hookups.
The highlights for the past week were the continued catches of larger dorado. Fish in the 30 to 40 pound class were not uncommon and many lost as well as the “huge giant fish that bit and broke up.” (Or course to many anglers EVERY large fish is a “fifty pounder!”) But, even our captains verified that there were some big boys out there that simply left the clients out-gunned.
For the most part, we had one slow-day, but almost every day our clients each got limits or, if they didn’t get limits they were really busy with the larger fish.
Plus, the bite on marlin…stripers mostly…continued. Every day we had a few hookups on marlin with most fish being lost or released as the billfish were often found in the middle of the dorado schools often chasing the smaller baby dorado. (Which meant trolling a yellow and green feather was a good way to hook a marlin!).
As for other species, there were more roosterfish and a smattering of tuna and pargo at Las Arenas, but the area still has not produced a consistent bite even tho’ we’re finally finding some sardines. If you’ve been following our reports, for the last 3 months, there has been very little sardines around the Las Arenas area to use as bait. Despite little flurries of promise, it’s just not that good for fishing there. We keep our fingers crossed.
Another big week for big dorado and another big week where it seems like the ladies were on fire! Debbie White from Oregon isn’t that big herself, but take a look at the size of this dorado she took off the east side of Cerralvo Island with Captain Pancho! Debbie comes down with her husband at least once-a-year and always does well. This fish is HUGE!
Big grins all around for another big dorado! Captain “Jolly Roger” Rogelio helps Mandy Carron with her first big fish of the trip. Mandy is from Boise, Idaho was on her first trip to La Paz (and is still here as I write this and out fishing!). This week fish of 30-50 pounds were no uncommon!
From New Mexico on his first trip, Dick Carroll, had 3 super days of fishing and spent one day chasing our exotic roosterish. He got this one just off Las Arenas.
This is one of the craziest fun guys who visits us every year at least once or twice! He rolls in from New Mexico and fishes hardcore and no one gets more excited about a fish. He spent 5 days riipping up on big roosterfish and added this trophy dorado with Captain Victor off Las Arenas.
It was another good week of billfish again! Quite a few fish hooked and released or lost. Many are being found around the dorado schools feeding on the same baitfish as well as the dorado themselves. Leticia Hayler holds up a nice on while posing north of La Paz.
Another hefty bull dorado off Cerralvo Island! Don White pulled this one while dragging a small pink feather trying to locate a school or tuna! Don’s our good amigo from Oregon. Take a look at the video clip below for more details.
I was hoping Jeanette Carroll was going to adopt us! No one had more fun than her fishing every day. Always laughing! Captain Victor was fishing with her just off Punta Arenas Beach (in the background) and got this nice roosterfish which she photo’d and released.
Not sure if Dr. Bo Herrera is ready to launch this roosterfish out into the water, but he did release it. Bo spent 5 days fishing and caught and released quite a few big roosters!
From Oceanside CA, Tom Slaughter and his son spent a few days fishing with us with our both Las Arenas and our La Paz fleet plus some snorkeling out at the island. Tom poses with one of his dorado north of La Paz.
As you can tell, it was a good week for roosters! For some co-incidence, we had alot of amigos from New Mexico this past week. John George was working a spot of Cerralvo Island and got his roosterfish before releasing it.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Don White boats a huge bull dorado off Cerralvo Island! Click the screen or the YOUTUBE link!
BIG DORADO ROOSTERFISH AND MARLIN SET THE PACE THIS PAST WEEK!
La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 14-22, 2012
We just had one of the most solid and steady weeks of fishing of the season. No down days. It was almost like a reading a book a menu. If you wanted roosters fish with our Las Arenas Fleet. If you wanted dorado, you fished with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet!
Overall… Good fishing for both dorado, roosterfish and marlin. If you fished with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, the roosterfishing was good to outstanding with 3-8 nice roosters each day ranging from 20-50 pounders (all getting released). As well, if you went outside, there was a shot at larger bull dorado up to 50 pounds as well as striped marlin.
If you wanted dorado, you simply told us you wanted to fish with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. It was almost like dialing in an order on the internet. Every day most of our pangas got full limits of dorado and losing and releasing many many more fish. We got several fish that did not fit on the 50-pound handscales and several in that class that were lost each day by the captains’ accounts!
Our largest that hit the scales was a slug bull of 47 pounds and that same day, I believe we had over a dozen fish that were at least 30 pounders. There were several keys. One was finding the right spot near Espiritu Santo Island or around the corner in the canyon or around Las Cruces. If you found sargasso weeds, that would be a decent indicator. Second was just being patient. Sometimes, it would literally be slack bite for hours and clients getting pretty frustrated. Then, WHAM! Just after 1 or so in the afternoon the fish just blew up and it would be pandemonium in for an hour or so of double and triple hookups…catching and releasing as fast as they could go…and at the end a fish box stuffed with tails and exhausted anglers ready to head back.
All-in-all, a pretty good week!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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
It was a great week for the larger dorado! Captain Victor gives and assist to Nicki Vavao on a huge pig-of-a-bull doado! It was not unusual to see 30-50 pound fish this past week. Nicki took over an hour to put this fish aboard, but total props to her. Not only was it her first time fishing in Baja. It was her FIRST TIME fishing…EVER! And this is her FIRST FISH…EVER! That’s gonna set the bar pretty high for the future!
Once again, the ladies were on fire this week! Geri Sandstrom, is from Idaho and she’s LOVES to fish, but had never gotten anything larger than big kokanee. Needless to say, she more than topped her personal best with 3 days of solid fishing for dorado and roosterfish!
We love having father-son fishing trips! Tom Slaughter and his son, Mike, spent 3 days fishing and snorkeling with us and got into some of the nice dorado bite we had including these two while posing at Balandra Bay north of La Paz.
This has been one of the best roosterfish seasons ever! Take a look at this huge trophy roosterfish that Scott Voldness took off Las Arenas. Scott’s from Utah and the big fish was released.
From Arizona, these two were a kick to have around for 4 days of fishing. Joe Cullwell and Dylan Martin hold up a double pair of dorado after one day of fishing north of La Paz.
Sam Sybesma comes to see us every year. He spent a few days fishing with our La Paz fleet having fun with the dorado but on his last day went with our Las Arenas fleet to see if he could get a roosterfish! WINNING! That’s Punta Arenas Beach in the background.
Another one of our father-son trips this week. Lyndon Mumm and his son, Matt, pulled on some great dorado during the week. Big smiles all the way around. They also took our island snorkel trip with the sealions as well.
Our good amigo, Dick, had to cancel his trip this last year, but towed his boat down to get in on the dorado bite and shows off his first day catch with, Randy Lyons.
Good way to start the week with a striped marlin for Al Sandstrom from Idaho. It was another good week on the billfish with most fish running 90-150 pounds. I believe we got over 20 hooked this week with all but a few released. We probably had another 10-15 break off or get unbuttoned. Al got this his first day and also got into the dorado nicely!
Jimmy Csutoras almost didn’t make it down, but got here at the last minute and slammed into nice dorado like this one. Jimmy is from Northern Cal.
Brothers Fred and Mike Sontag rolled on the dorado big time after 4 days fishing. Fred is from St. Louis and Mike is from S. Carolina. They hold up a nice pair standing on the beach at Balandra Beach north of La Paz.
BIG BITE OF BIG DORADO SET PACE FOR THE WEEK WITH ROOSTERS AND MARLIN!
La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 8-15, 2012
It wasn’t as spectacular as last week’s dorado slam during the full moon, but there was some excellent fishing to be had nonetheless. I was a little worried as the first 2 days of the week it was like someone turned off the mahi-mahi spigot!
Whereas the week before our anglers were reporting 10, 20…40 or more dorado hookups per day and releasing fish as fast-as-they-could-go, the first two days this past week suddenly shut down to 2 to 6 dorado per panga. That’s a huge drop in production! I was sweating!
However, as the week went on, we got into a little rhythm again. It was not wide up and there was an occasional day or panga that had an off-day, but more-often-than-not, the fishing day produced limits or near-limits of dorado. If you were only fishing 1 day, that might be the day you had the stink on you, but if you fished 2, 3 or 4 days, at the end of the trip, our clients usually still found they had more fish than they knew what to do with! They might have a day or two that was less than stellar, but then they had another day or two that was an explosion of fish that made up for the other slack times.
Often, I had to tell our anglers to just be patient. Often, the days started slow. I mean…really SLOW! It’s noon and they have 1 fish aboard! Then, at noon or 1 p.m.often when other fleets are heading in, our guys would hang out just a bit longer. It would be all the difference in the world as that late bite would turn into dorado pandemonium with double-triple-and-quadruple hookups! Often, our captains weren’t bringing in our clients until 3 or 4 p.m. or even later…giving that little bit of extra time to get onto the bite.
The coolest thing about this week that differed from last week was the appearance of some big quality bulls. Whereas last week there were just a few of the fish over 20 pounds, this week fish between 25 and 40 pounds were hooked daily and many of the larger fish were lost and the clients coming back with only wide-eyed stories of big battles or broken lines. Even some of our captains were talking about 50-pound class fish swimming out there or busting off after long fights.
Another big surprise were the marlin. I think this past week, I counted over 20 striped marlin hooked amoung our Tailhunter anglers of which almost all of them were released. There were probably as many that broke off or came unbuttoned during the battle. Personally, I think the marlin are more active because there’s not only more bait in the water (sardines, mackerel, cocineros, jacks, and caballitos), but also, there’s so many little dorado swimming around that they’re feeding on the young dorado. In fact, one of the best trolling color feathers right now just happens to be yellow and green!
One other item of big news…LAS ARENAS FINALLY TURNED ON!
That’s major headlines. After almost 3 months of some of the dreariest fishing I have seen in years with no bait, we finally got some smaller tiny sardines this week as well as the larger baits and what a difference it made! It wasn’t wide open, but our pangas were getting into some nice dorado between 10 and 15 pounds, but also some of the big slugger mahi over 30 pounds. In addition, it also produced good billfish action…I think one day 3 of our pangas hooked and released 7 marlin alone! Plus, the roosterfish continue to bite as well. So, this is all very promising and I’m glad both sides finally started to kick out some fish!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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
Yes! Even we get to fish now and then and it was great to get on the water with Jilly for an epic day of non-stop dorado fishing where we hooked and released over 40 fish before noon! Great week of dorado fishing even with the full moon! Here, Jill ducks behind Captain Joel with another bull dorado that was thrashing around wildly before Joel released the fish!
The ladies were on fire this week! Especially alot of first timers like Sylva Ourghoulian from Pasadena CA who came with our long-time amigo and her new husband Avo. Avo is a great fisherman and wanted to have a good experience for Sylva. She got limits of dorado each day plus some nice roosterfish!
Like I said, the ladies were rocking this week! From Sacramento, another first-timer, Becky Csotoras, was just off the Las Arenas lighthouse when she caught and released this nice roosterfish. She and her dad also got into the dorado bite this week as well.
Every time he comes down, Fred Sontag, from St. Louis MO says, “This is the best trip ever!” Four days of hot dorado, roosterfish and marlin fishing resulted in lots of fillets headed back to the midwest including this trophy big-headed bull dorado taken near Espirito Santo Island.
Our long time friend from Colorado, Doug Oclassen got his son, Andrew out with us for a day and off Las Arenas pulled in some nice roosterfish like this one. It’s turning into thee best roosterfish season in memory. Pretty much 99 percent of all the roosters like this one are getting released. Great job, guys! Andy is looking alot like dad these days!
Not many of these in Montana! Phil Matteson said he got “everything on his bucket list” on this trip to La Paz, his first! Dorado, roosterfish and this marlin shown with Captain Boli holding on!
Rex Smith has been visiting us for years. Our amigo did three days fishing with our La Paz fleet and had limits of dorado like this one every day. Rex is from the Phoenix AZ area and is posing here at Balandra Beach north of La Paz.
Big smiles for another of our ladies who had a good trip. From Utah, Kim Woodard, shows off another nice bull dorado that jumped on the line. Kim and her family had good results on dorado and roostefish over several days of fishing with us!
Fishing with grandpa, John Ehlers, from Colorado, 14-year-old Cheyenne says she cannot get enough of the ocean and was on her first trip ever to La Paz! Posing here with our popular Captain Pancho with our Las Arenas fleet, she’s holding one of several big roosterfish she caught and released. She also did several days of banner dorado fishing with grandpa, John!
One of the larger striped marlin of the week, Mike Sontag, has visited us a number of times and finally got his billfish. From North Carolina, Mike’s fish was estimated at about 150 pounds. The billfish have really gotten up to speed this past week even with the full moon and about 90 percent have been released. Mike’s panga hooked two others that got away.
More big smiles to go with a big dorado! The ladies were pulling hard on the fish all week and Karen Matteson from Montana was no exception. Nice dorado…big roosterfish…pargo…a real good trip and nice to have fun folks from Montana. I think Montana people just bring good fishing with them! Nicely done, Karen!
Dustyn Woodard is 17-years-old, and had a great trip sticking a bunch of big roosters with Captain Gerardo and releasing them all. He and his family, from Utah, also popped some great dorado. This was Dustyn’s first trip to see us.
Northern Cal resident, Jimmy Csutoras, saw an article in the S.F. Chronicle about Tailhunter and booked a trip with us. He got dorado and roosters and also got one of the only pargo we’ve seen in awhile! He got several of these nice barred pargo. That’s Punta Arenas in the background and they were very close to the beach!
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Check out this underwater clip in slo-motion of a wild dorado hooked (then released)! Turn up the sound. If you can’t see the embedded video clip, click the youtube link!
FULL MOON PRODUCES BEST DORADO BITE OF THE SEASON!
La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 1-8, 2012
What’s the big deal about the full moon? I keep telling people it really doesn’t seem to make much difference down here. As a matter of fact, we just had the best dorado week of the season in the full moon. At times, folks were catching and releasing fish as fast as they could go! Somedays the bite was later in the day but other our anglers were full of fish by breakfast time! Once it started it could be pandemonium with double and triple hook ups. Some of our clients told us they released dozens of dorado each day.
Most of the dorado fishing was north of La Paz and was found in a nice wedge from the Las Cruces/ Gordo area then up to the east side of Espirito Santo Island and up to the Charo Bank. There’s a nice current line of sargasso weeds holding fish all up and down that area. There’s lots of voracious 10-15 pounders all along that area that are almost fighting each other to get to the hooks but there’s also some nicer 20-50 pound bruisers mixed in as well. In the last 2 weeks, it’s like someone threw a switch!
On Friday, Jill and I snuck out for a “quick day of fishing.” What we ran into was one of our all-time best days on the water in 16 years of living here. We ran into that line of sargasso weed along the east side of Espirito Santo Island. Just on a lark we did not follow the rest of the fleet that morning which had gone south to check out the Las Cruces area where the dorado had been biting fairly steadily.
Our first bait immediately got slammed…as did our 2nd and 3rd…by 8 a.m. we had caught and released almost 20 dorado! By 10 a.m. we had over 30 fish hooked and released. And we were still the only ones fishing the area! By 10:30 we were joined by the rest of the fleet and everyone hooked up! There were dorado everywhere. Under the boat, it looked like a fish pond! There were dorado darting in and out of the weed line and current break. Dorado were jumping following flying fish and one flying fish smacked Jill on the arm followed by a dorado that was chasing the bait that blew up in her face and narrowly missed her.
By 11 that morning we stopped counting at 40 dorado caught and released! By this time we had switched to complete circle hooks and were also using all kinds of goofy lures that were in the tackle box! Our last 3 fish were caught by us just dangling BARE HOOKS in the water and watching dorado come out from under the boat and 1…2…3…SLAM! HOOK UP! BARE HOOKS!
As we pulled off the spot at 11:30 so we could back to the office, dorado were still jumping all around the boat as if yelling, “FEED ME! “ Way fun day. Of course not every boat did that well, but more often than not all the pangas this week fishing La Paz came back with limits. And if not, a quick query would tell you that they lost quite a few fish!
In that same area, especially with all the smaller punk dorado around, marlin and sailfish have also moved in to the area and are actively feeding. We had quite a few hooked, lost and released this week with most in the 100-120 pound class.
Around Las Arenas, our fleet there continues to do well on the roosterfish. If you’ve ever wanted to check a roosterfish off your “bucket list, ” this has been the year for it. Roosters in the 20-50 pound class have not been uncommon and they’re very close to the beaches where you can visually cast to them and watch the pick up! Pretty exciting stuff to watch those huge dorsal fins cut through the water! Las Arenas also produced some marlin and sailfish for us this week as well as pargo.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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
That’s a mouthful! Our friend, Rich Jones, from Hyrum Utah knows a photo opportunity when he catches one! Take a look at the great colors on this fresh giant bull dorado he took this week north of La Paz! It looks like dorado season finally hit!
Lots of first-timers visiting us this past week including Rob and Natalie Carroll who took advantage of the dorado bite that finally kick started with a nice roar. This big bull was caught near Espiritu Santo Island on live bait.
Yes, it is THAT big! It’s 89 pounds to be exact and Roger Thompson and Captain Hugo have a knack for big fish! Roger was fishing around Cerralvo Island and stuck FOUR big wahoo including this TREE! Of course, the next day everyone went to the same spot and nothing showed up! But, what a day for Roger!
Like I said, lots of first timers this past week and many went home with some great stories to tell. Like Kelly Jimenez, who’s been trying to fish with us for years and finally made it down from Loveland, Colorado. On her first day, she stuck this trophy roosterfish just south of Bahia de Los Muertos! The fish was released. It was just the start of a spectacular week of fishing and diving!
Ya gotta love this photo! Gerda Siewert from Anaheim CA gives and OK sign as she peeks out from behind Captain Blas holding two slug bull dorado taken out of La Paz. Gerda was on her first trip and over several days of fishing outfished many of the veterans!
He came a long way for this. All the way from Montana, Mike Harvey finally put the bend on a few roosters fishing out’ve Las Arenas. Mike’s coming back in September. The fish was released.
Big smiles for Diego Jimenez, retired firefighter from Colorado, fishing with Captain Chito who had a banner day on the dorado fishing north of La Paz towards Punta Mejia. “We had two and three fish on at the same time!” said Diego. “I would have been happy with 1 or 2. What a fun time!”
Utah in the house! Kip and Sue Slaugh spent the week with us and it’s always good to see them from Salt Lake City area. Check out the nice bull. After 6 days of fishing, they and their family went home with 125 pounds of fillets!
Our amigo from Sacramento, Jim Klein, got his first sailfish this week. Both sailfish and marlin showed alot more interest and we hooked and released several every day. Jim said he’s going to fire up his smoker and get the teriyaki brine ready!
Nice colors! A flat sea and a big colorful fish on the gaff for Makani Fisher from Salt Lake City. Makani and his dad fished 3 days with us.
A happy fella! Doc Norm Harris from Santa Ana CA got his first roosterfish out of Las Arenas and the smile shows! The fish was released.
Frequent visitor and fisherman with Tailhunter is actor and TV show host, Rick Kasper. Rick always does well and knows how to pose with a fish also showing off two of his bull dorado while on the beach at Balandra.
One of the few bright spots from Las Arenas this week that wasn’t a roosterfish, Tom Radoumis from Wyoming with Captain Archangel holds up a quality bull dorado to start off his fishing week.
VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK
Check out Jim Talley’s release of a fat striped marlin with an assist from Captain Adolfo with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Jim was fishing south of Ceerralvo Island.
JUNE SLIDES OUT WITH BEST DORADO FISHING OF THE SEASON!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 24 to July 1, 2012
With temperatures up to the low 100’s this week the fishing hit the red as well! We just had the best dorado fishing week of the season. Waters finally warmed up, cleared up, and shaped up and the dorado came to chew!
The first two days of the week I was a little worried. Winds came up and the nice dorado bite that started last week seemed to waiver. Oh no, I thought. Not again just as we were kicking it into gear! So, those first day days we scratched for 2-4 dorado per day with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
Then, the winds died down…and the ocean blew up on us!
That area north of La Paz around Espiritu Santo Island and then towards the north end of Cerralvo Island and around Punta Mejia , Coyotes and Las Cruces erupted in limites of dorado each day. Guys were getteing 10-20 hookups per panga; losing many and releasing many more! The larger fish kicked in at 20-45 pounds each with captains telling me larger bulls were lost or just humiliated some anglers after long battles. This is finally the kind of fishing we’ve been waiting for.
As well, marlin and sailfish kicked it up a notch as well with several being hooked and either lost or released each day plus we had one day around Cerralvo where the wahoo decided to join the party.
Our pangas out’ve Las Arenas, were still scratching for fish unfortunately, but there’s roosterfish up to 60 pounds to be had and there were two small jags of tuna out on the 88 spot east of Cerralvo Island. Not enough action to get too excited about yet, but we’ll keep an eye out for it!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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
It’s been a long time since we had a nice dorado bite as we waited for waters to clear up and get warmer! It’s about time! Dorado finally kicked it into gear! Our buddy, Len Atkinson from the Sacramento CA area hasn’t visited us in a few seasons but good to have him back as he and Captain Marcos try not to get their shins slapped by a struggling big bull dorado!
TUNA? Yes! Mary Wehner always seems to do well. She and husband, Dave, went just east of Cerralvo Island with Captain Victor and found a couple of big dorado as well as this nice slugger yellowfin tuna! Everything just seemed to finally get better about mid-week!
Early in the week, with waters still on the chilly side, we had another run of nice yellowtail around Espirito Santo Island. Check out this trophy held by Joel Ofrancia who visited us from Washington to get some sun, fishing and diving. He caught 5 of these beauties!
Talk about a fishing vacation! Larry Watkins from Los Angeles decided to go “all in” and spend two whole weeks with us to get get ONE ROOSTERFISH! Well, he picked a good time because the roosterfish were tearing it up and he got this this colorful rooster just off Cerralvo Island. Some days the boats averaged 4-8 roosters per day in the 20-60 pound class. Almost all fish, including this one were released.
Tbis is Gerda Siewart from Anaheim CA with Captain Gerardo of our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. Gerda had never been fishing before. She was also nervous because she just had surgery last week. But she went out anyway…and had a blast! She says she’s hooked. First day 7 roosterfish. 2nd day 5 roosterfish. 3rd day big yellowtail and cabrilla. 4th day a box full of dorado. She just let the captains fish and said, “Let’s have some fun!” She’s never stopped smiling the whole time! This was the only rooster she couldn’t release.
Cameron Hutcheson from Orange Co, CA is another of our clients who had a great time on their first trip…roosterfish…yellowtail…dorado! All of them were on their list they were hoping to catch. Cam holds up a big bull dorado he caught north of La Paz!
It’s a long way from Michigan to La Paz! But check out this trophy bull dorado that Jim de Boer holds on the beach at Balandra. It was great to finally see some of the larger models decide to bite and we’re happy that Jim came all this way and was able to get into quality fish. He also got his first roosterfish as well!
I gottta hand it to Mike Harvey who lives in Montana. This guy busted his butt all week trying to get a roosterfish…even fishing from the beaches at night. He finally got one on his third day. In fact, he got several plus got a nice load of dorado as well when the bite turned on mid-week. Mike’s posing with this sizeable rooster right off the lighthouse at Las Arenas. Mike’s already got reservations to come back in September “when the fish are bigger!”
Marlin finally got a bit more active as well this week. We’ve been seeing them for week turn up their noses at us. Guy Petree and his buddy Oscar hold up a fish they got north of La Paz. They released the marlin after the photo. Guy is coming back later this week for more fishing!
The man behind the fish is Brian Hutcheson! He’s from Cote de Caza CA and on his first day popped this nice rooster off of Cerralvo Island. First time fishing with us, he had a banner 3 days of fishing.
Monster yellowtail for Dr. Norm Harris who gets a hand from Captain “Fettucine” Alfredo off Espiritu Santo Island. Great catch! Doc is from Santa Ana CA
BEST WEEK OF FISHING TO KICK INTO SUMMER! IT’S ABOUT TIME!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 17-24, 2012
It was like night and day in the difference between fishing early compared to later in the week. For 2 months, I kept saying that all we needed was a little kick in water temperature and the tough fishing would improve. Well, the water temps went up by 2 degrees this week into the low 80’s.
By the same token…it was THE BEST WEEK of the SEASON on so many levels! Still not quite up to standards, but what a difference in this week compared to the last few months! We still need to get better, but just take a look at the variety of species in the photos!
It was like someone threw light switch! The first day of summer…June 22nd…everything changed!
Early in the week, with waters still a bit chilly, our bite consisted of a very good roosterfish bite with fish between 20 and 60 pounds. Great fun but not very good eating. As well we had a pretty sweet bite of 20-40 pound yellowtail off the west end of Espiritu Santo Island. That was good for a few days and we had some fun.
But about mid-week waters started warming. We were seeing more marlin. We started seeing breezing schools of dorado. Everyone was excited. Just one problem…they wouldn’t eat. Not even remotely interested in biting! So frustrating to see so many dorado and they just had no interest in biting.
Then, about Thursday the water temps kicked up a notch. The dirty green cold water started to dissipate and BOOM! Dorado started slamming! It was like someone threw a swtich. Some of the dorado were real punk squirt fish, but others were in the 20-40 pound class and larger fish were lost. As well, marlin started to jump into the act as well as sailfish and each day we hooked, lost , caught and released several.
Not everyone caught fish everyday. Some boats did great some days then not so good the next. Also anglers lost a lot of fish as well. However, for those who fished a few days, there were definitely fish to catch and opportunities to put fish in the boat compared to what it’s been lately. All very encouraging!
Hope this is something we can finally count on. The bite has been a long time coming after a really slow spring bite.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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
A late…really late burst of fish on Sunday gave us some hope that things are turning around after what many are saying is the toughest fishing in many years in Baja…not just La Paz…IN BAJA! But on Sunday, our amigo, John McVay got two nice dorado off Las Arenas at the start of his week-long fishing!
A big high-five to Gerda Siewart! This was her FIRST DAY fishing..ever! Except for fishing off a pier. She was a bit nervous being in a panga, but on top of it all, she just had surgery last week and was ready to head for shore if things got a bit uncomfortable for her. However, on the contrary, she said she had the “best day ever!” With the help of Captain Gerardo, she put 7 roosters on the hook plus a jack crevalle and an amberjack releasing all but 3 fish. Roosters are biting! Good job, Gerda!
OK…go figure! It’s mid-June and waters are still cold enough that we’re getting yellowtail around Espiritu Santo Island. Amy Lenhart from Idaho shows off one of their many fish. It’s crazy…many days of nothing then the yellowtail start biting!
When you’re 8 and 10 years old and on your first Baja fishing trip with dad, every fish is a monster, especially when you bait your own hook; put it in the water; and reel the fish in all by yourself like 8-year-old Sean and 10-year-old A.J. Rose from Colorado.
One upside to the colder dark water and one of the reasons for the dark green water is the algea bloom going off, but that means whale sharks are back! These gentle giants are incredible creatures and one of the highlights of visiting La Paz is a swim with a “fish” that can be 10-50 feet long! Don’t worry…they eat plankton but are true members of the shark family and a highlight of any visit to get in the water with them. Thanks for Bob and Becky Solee, our Oregon, amigos who had whale sharks swimming around their fishing panga!
Nice bull for Troy Lenhart who was on his first La Paz trip with us and took this bull dorado north of La Paz where some fingers of warm water seem to have finally moved in!
The latest water temperature chart from http://www.terrafin.com shows that waters are finally getting back up there into the 80 degree range, but still unseasonably cooler than normal. We need more of the yellow and orange colors around the La Paz area, but as recently as last week, we had only cold blue colors!
TOUGH WEEK OF FISHING PUNCTUATED BY A PROMISING TURNAROUND SUNDAY!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report from Week of June 11-17, 2012
Not much to tell you about. It wasn’t that great a week of fishing. Honest. Early in the week we still had that nice snap of yellowtail of solid 20-50 pound fish off Espiritu Santo Island. But the cold waters that seemed to have brought the fish in then started getting warm like it should be in the first place. That colder water was replaced by warmer water and well…there went the yellowtail replaced by sporadic dorado, roosterfish, marlin and cabrilla fishing. But it was hard scratchy fishing for both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleet. You gotta work at it. You have to have your “A” game or be pretty lucky and if you do run into fish, you might not get a second chance if you miss the fish! That’s the way it was this last week. It might help also, if folks come to fish for what’s here rather than fishing for what’s not biting. But, everyone is trying so many different things, it’s just such a crazy non-bite! Hopefully, as we get away from the big full moon and other things, fishing will kick in again.
BUT WAIT!!!
I’m writing this SUNDAY evening. AND WE HAD A PRETTY DECENT DAY TODAY! It wasn’t all-out-nuts, but maybe the best bite in over a week! Our Las Arenas pangas ran into some scattered decent dorado, roosterfish, marlin and amberjack! Our La Paz guys…wow…bigger dorado up to 40 pounds, marlin plus…(get this) yellowtail up to 25 pounds!
Captains that were struggling to get nibbles were grinning today. Are things changing? I sure hope so. Best dorado day of the year so far! Fingers crossed that by the time you’re reading this we’ll be on the upswing!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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 Fish Report 