Tailhunter Fish Report

WAHOO BOIL! MARLIN CHEW!!! BLUE WATER SPECIES FINALLY TURN OUT TO BITE!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for May 6, 2007

Whoa…what a week, amigo! Let me let the fishermen tell it…

“I’ve been coming here for 20 years and never even got on esniff of wahoo. I got two in one day!” said one of our anglers.

“It was like a boil of wahoo there at the sound end of the island!” added another.

“My buddy had never hooked an ocean fish before and he goes and ‘tail-hooks’ a marlin..not tail ‘wrap.’ The hook actually got stuck in the fish’s tail and we fought it over 2 hours!” said another.

“There were marlin everywhere. We hooked one on light tackle and the striper took us to the rack for over an hour efore busting off. We were gonna release it anyway, but that was great fun!” commented another.

Just today, I had Scott and Eric Zimbler from Los Angeles out at Las Arenas they Scott told me, “We got 12 different species today and even some that the captain couldn’t identify!”

Paul Shepherd from San Jose wrote this:

“Needless to say my bro and I had a great time . I’ve never seen him cut loose like this , ever . On our last fishing day we smoked e’m , over 25 Sierra & 20 Roosters & the 2 days prior included Amberjack , Pargo , Green Pargo , and a numerous array of other junk fish , but hell’a fun. For a grand total of 80 + fish in 3 days . John was reeling in fish all day long .” (many fish released!)

Hard to top that, amigos. I was expecting the bluewater fish to turn on any day, but you just never know. For weeks we’ve been seeing the fish around, but they just weren’t biting. Well, it’s hard to know if fishing has turned the corner or not, but for this past week it sure got my hopes up and we’ll soon find out. It’s still a bit more windy than we’d like, but for our anglers fishing this past week, what a surprise1

I think we got more wahoo this past week then we got all of last year. We had several great years but then last year, the wahoo bite tanked. I think we got 4 wahoo all season. However this past week, bait, dark Rapalas (CD 18 size in black and purple or else black and white NO WIRE) were the rig of choice!

All of this was for our Las Arenas fleet. As well, bull dorado also showed up at the outer bouys also. Say what? Yup…not alot, but the ones that were caught were quality 20-40 pound fish! Like I said, it was just a matter of time.

Inshore for our Las Arenas boats…sheesh…talk about species…roosters, cabrilla, pargo, snapper, bonito… I had Eric and Scott Zimbler out today and they got 12 different species…”Including some that even the captain couldn’t identify,” said Scott. So…offshore, blue water species. Inshore pretty much the gamut of our inshore species. This is pretty typical of this time of year…you just never know what’s gonna bite.

For our La Paz fleet…no doubt there’s fish around. Big roosters, pargo, yellowtail are around the high spots, but again that wind is just so unpredictable. When it’s rough, it’s pretty bumpy and one moment the wind are coming from the south and the next from the north. But unless you’re pretty hardcore and enjoy getting bounced and wet…we’ve been switching alot of our clients to fish Las Arenas instead. That’s the nice thing about having two fleets available to our clients. We can move folks around to the better conditions and fish. Even if the wind is blowing, at Las Arenas, the fish are more consistent, closer and the waters are calmer.

We’ll see how long this bite lasts and hopefully, we’ll keep this rolling. We’ll keep you posted, but this is pretty exciting stuff!

OTHER STUFF!

If you weren’t in La Paz this past week you missed out. Not only were were celebrating Cinco de Mayo, but it was also the celebration of the Founding of La Paz. Three straight nights they closed down the waterfront malecon and turned it into a mardi gras style street fair with booths, music, games and pretty much non-stop party. I keep forgetting that they do this every year until it suddenly drops on us. Great fun.

If you’re trying to decide whether to fly down here on Alaska or Delta, both of them have great rates, but all other things being equal and having flown both of them, I gotta give the nod to Alaska.

They have larger planes. They allow you to bring your rods with no charge. If you have overweight or extra items, it’s $50 bucks instead of the 100 dollars that Delta charges. Alaska also sells food on their flights as well.

But…there’s drawbacks…if you fly through Los Angeles you do have to stand in a few lines. You stand on one line to get your boarding pass from a machine…much like and ATM. Then, you take all your stuff into another line to show them your boarding pass. After that…it’s off to see the folks at TSA to ex-ray your gear so that’s another line. Then, off to the other line to take off your shoes and get your hairspray taken away.

Just some observations.

LASTLY

Thanks to all of you who have been reading my columns in Western Outdoor News this past 3 years. Last week we received an award from the Outdoor Writers Association for the column. Pretty neat stuff! Very honored to be in some elite company.

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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

WAHOO BOIL! MARLIN LIGHT IT UP! BLUEWATER SEASON FINALLY TURNS ON! ROOSTERS, PARGO, SEABASS ROLL INSHORE!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for May 6, 2007

AS one of our anglers told me this week…”It was like a boil of wahoo out there! I couldn’t believe it! My captain told me people come out here for years and never even get sniff, but I finally nailed my wahoo!”

Another said, “I didn’t get a wahoo, but I got bit and couldn’t get ’em to stick! But, we did hook marlin and that was awesome to get them on light tackle! I never expected that. We fought one fish for almost 2 hours before it busted off and what a great time! We were going to release it anyway.”

“We tailhooked another! Not tail “wrapped.” Tail “hooked!” added another of our anglers. “The hook actually got stuck in the tip of it’s tail and took us for a ride for over 2 hours!”

“I was more than happy to be catching the big bonito, sierra and roosters, but I got two wahoo my first day!” interjected another of our guys.

What can I say, amigos? That kinda says it all. It was still windy…winds shifting daily…sometimes several times a day from the north and south making it tougher to fish out’ve La Paz, but we had most of our clients fishing out’ve Las Arenas instead where the fish were more consistent, closer and had more variety. Who’d have guessed this would be the week!

I was sure it was just a matter of time because we’ve been seeing the big boys for several weeks, but they just wouldn’t go. Well, this past week they went off! We still got great action inside on the pargo, cabrilla, snapper, roosters and sierra, but the bite off the south end of Cerralvo Island surprised everyone!

Bait and fast trolled Rapalas (CD-18 size in black and white and purple and black…NO WIRE!) were the hot tickets. Oh…almost forgot…at the buoys offshore from Las Arenas…bull dorado too! Nice 20-40 pound fish. Not alot but enough to make it worth the trip and certainly nothing to sneeze at which is very encouraging that maybe the season has turned the corner!

For our La Paz boats…the issue is the wind. When the winds don’t blow, there’s fish to be had…yellowtail, big roosters, pargo and snapper. But again…it’s been tough to predict. I’ve had long-time friends here tell me they’ve not see so much springtime wind as they’ve seen this year. If you’re willing to get bumped and maybe a little wet, there’s fish to be had. But, that’s the advantage for our clients…I have TWO fleets…Las Arenas AND La Paz so we’re able to stay flexible and move our clients around to where the conditions and fishing are more accommodating.

Don’t know how long this bite will last, but you can be sure we’ll keep you posted.

BITS AND PIECES

If you weren’t in town this week…you missed a helluva party! Not only was it Cinco de Mayo, but it was also La Paz Founding week so they had 3 full days/nights of mardi-gras style party. Every night for 3 nights, the malecon along the waterfront was closed to street traffic and massive street-fair/parties took place. Music…food…gaming. Wow…nothing like a good street fair.

Lastly…if you’re trying to decide whether to fly Delta or Alaska down here, I give my nod to Alaska. Fares are comparable although maybe Alaska has a bit of an edge. However, all other things equal, Alaska has bigger planes. Alaska allows rods without charging. If you do have overweight or extra baggage…as long as it’s under 100 pounds, it’s 50 bucks. Delta charges 100 bucks! The only drawback is if you’re headed through Alaska Airlines terminal in LAX. What a zoo. You go to a kiosk to electronically get your boarding pass (it’s like an ATM machine). Then, you go to another line to check your bags using your boarding pass. Then, you go to another line with TSA to get your stuff ex-rayed. Then…you have to go through yet another line for the individual screening wehre

CONSISTENT INSHORE FISHING WITH LOTS OF VARIETY AS PELAGIC BLUEWATER SPECIES START TO SHOW UP!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 29, 2007

PHOTO 1: Randy Breault and his son Philip from the S. Francisco Bay Area made their first trip to La Paz combining fishing and scuba diving. Here they show off a nice mixed catch at Muertos Bay including sierra, pargo lisa, cabrilla (seabass) and pargo mulatto (barred pargo).
Photo 2: Cole Chavira from Encinitas CA has made many trips to La Paz and always does well usually outfishing the adults. He hung this pretty dog tooth snapper on a jig off Cerralvo Island.

PHOTO 3: You’ll find few fish as tasty or as good looking at this fat cabrila being held by Shawn James of Los Angeles who was fishing north of La Paz around Espiritu Santo Island with his dad, Jack.
PHOTO 4 – Steve Marabella is going to hate that I’m going to call him one of my “poster boys” but Steve always seems to come out with some great catches whenever he comes down. Steve is from the San Pedro CA area and his holding onto a nice pargo lisa (mullet snapper) that he pulled out of the rocks off Punta Perrico.

SIERRA SET THE PACE FOR ACTION

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 22, 2007

PHOTO 1: Jillene Stevens of S. California came down on her birthday and has a hold of a nice sierra taken right off the beach in front of the old Hotel Las Arenas. Literally within feet of the waterline (note how flat the water is!) schools of the fast moving toothy fish have been the top catch this past week.

PHOTO 2: Jon Luker of Santa Maria CA hung this nice roosterfish off Espiritu Santo Island north of La Paz fishing live bait.

PHOTO 3: Another of our good amigos, Steve Marabella of Wilmington CA got a variety of fish while fishing with us for 4 days all out of Muertos/ Las Arenas including, sierra, yellow snapper, pargo, bonito, and pargo and jack crevalle like the one’s he’s holding here.

THE FISHING REPORT



I don’t know if it was post-Easter blues or what. A bit of an up-and-down week. Everyone caught fish, but I dunno…I just couldn’t put my finger on it. I’m trying my best to read this season, but can’t.

One day, it’s fishing paradise and the next, it’s ripping wind. One day from the north. Next day from the south. Some days it starts one way and ends up from the other. Then we get 3 days of dynamite 85 degree sun. Go figure. It’s just that time of the year. But, like I said, everyone has been hanging fish. Not shortage of action, it’s just not been real consistent this past week.

Out of La Paz, our fleet hit the most wind, but still got out to the islands for some of those big roosters and a few of the yellowtail that are on-again-off-again. I can’t imagine that in a few weeks with all the good sign that the La Paz side is going to go off.

Our best and most consistent fishing has been for our Las Arenas/ Muertos Fleet. That’s where we’ve been doing most of our fishing. Because of the winds, we’re having to run to the island to get bait, but then run back to Punta Perrico and right on the beach in front of Las Arenas.

Water was a big green this week from the wind compared to the clear blue of last week, but it still kicked out major amounts of nice sierra. On light tackle, it’s been a blast. Some of the larger sierra are in the 8 or 9 pound range and readily hitting sardines (better have some wire leader); smaller rapalas or chrome spoons. Limits are the rule most days, but also cutting throug the area, there have been some nice schools of jack (jack crevalle). Not great eating, but some of the feistiest fish you’ll encounter.

In addition, there’s still large bonito around, snapper and smaller roosters. However, some of the larger pargo schools that were bumping heads with us last week seemed to have gone to ground. I think they’re still around, but the problem is that a few days last week there were so many boats on the honey hole (plus we lose so many fish) that the fish just went shy on us and hunkered down.

If you’re headed down here…bring some light wire for leaders (the kind you can tie is a bonus) and flurocarbon leader is also a plus. Looks like we’re in for a nice week of mid-80’s weather and calmer winds so we’ll keep you posted!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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

SIERRA CRASH THE PARTY! ROOSTERS ARRIVE WITH ATTITUDE! PARGO IN THE SHALLOWS…AND STAYING THERE!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 14, 2007

PHOTO 1 – Gary Palese and Bob Robbins, both from Tucson AZ, are freqent fishermen to La Paz. This past week they were into pargo, sierra, bonito and other species. However, here’s Gary’s got himself and trophy cabrilla and Bob’s holding up the pargo lisa (mullet snapper) that have moved into the shallows around Punta Las Arenas. Both Gary and Bob were down here for our Cabin Fever Classic.

PHOTO 2 – Jerry and Daniele Caldwell came all the way from the snows of Wyoming to fish with us this week at our Cabin Fever Classic. Jerry is holding one of the numerous bigeye jacks that were caught this week. Daniele is holding up one of numerous sierras!
PHOTO 3 – Group photo of our 7th Annual Cabin Fever Classic April 12-16. The animals are loose! This was taken on the sand at Muertos Bay SE of La Paz.

PHOTO 4 – Glen Marks from Northern California hefts one of several nice yellowtail that were taken this week and last. Fish have all been bruisers ranging from 40 to 60 pounds.

PHOTO 5 : Beth Sarachman from Huntington Beach helps manage www.charbait.com as well as the Charbait Tackle Store. She was attending her 2nd Cabin Fever Classic and blew up the fish with 3 big pargo and a number of cabrilla.

ROOSTERFISH ERUPT RIGHT OUT THE GATE AS WATERS WARM AND WIND GIVE US A BREAK!

The La Paz/ Las Arenas Report for April 8, 2008

PHOTO 1: Fred Li of Tarzana CA gets personal with a big roosterfish he took north of La Paz.

PHOTO 2: Doctor Al Yu from Simi Valley CA is a trauma doctor. He put the hurt on this big pez gallo this past week out of La Paz

PHOTO 3: Our amigo, Jorge “Campion” Romero, always does well in the local yellowtail tournament. He placed 3rd this past week with a nice 26 pounder.

PHOTO 4: I love signs! This is from Seward, Alaska! Makes sense to me!

Photo 5: Al Bruns took this great shot from the bow of “Mama’s Mink” one of our super pangas just off Espiritu Santo Island. It’s a pod of whales leaving footprints on the calm channel waters.

THE FISHING REPORT!

Well, amigos…better things to report this week fer shure! Winds weren’t quite so brutal on us and, although the fishing wasn’t quite WFO, compared to previous weeks, our people sure had some fun because THE ROOSTERS SHOWED UP!

I’ve been waiting for this. A bit late this year, but they sure came hard charging this week. Many of our guys got their first roosters ever and the best part…these weren’t punk fish! Normally, early in the season, we got the schoolie fish that are 10-30 pounds. However, this week, wow…there were some TOADS!!! These were roosters (pez gallo) in the 40-60 pound class.

As one of our amigos said, these were like “carp with bad haircuts!” But they sure came busting.

Glen Marks went out two days with us this week and the first day they ran into a mess of big yellowtail, “Man they fight like tanks!” he would tell us later.

Then, the next day to the island. “Wednesday, we went out and found ourselves in the middle of hundreds of roosters. If we were any good we should have caught 10 or more!”

Fred Li from Tarzana CA and his cousin Al Yu, from Simi Valley CA got into the roosters as well.

“We got to an area where the water was so clear that you could see 20 feet down. We then saw about 50 roosterfish swimming below us! They didn’t take the slow trolled live sabalos we had out so Captain Martin took a caballito and threw it out and we were on!. I brought in this (I believe to be 60+ lbs…I’m 250+lbs myself and couldn’t hold it up with one arm and had difficulty with two!) behemoth in about 10 minutes. I didn’t know roosterfish got that big and my cousin’s mouth dropped as he thought they got only to 15-30 lbs. The whole school of them were in the 40 to 50 lb range. My cousin then hooked into a beauty of a roosterfish also on a caballito. His also had to be 55+ lbs. ” (See the photos above)

(Fred and Al would have released the fish, but thought they’d try some for dinner. I guess no one told them how bad roosterfish tastes and I didn’t get to warn them because prior to this week I hadn’t seen any roosters, but these big sluggers taste terrible! Small ones taste like yellowtail.)

Anyway…nice to know the roosters are there! Pargo still out at Las Arenas, but also some dorado popped up. Might have something to do with the waters now in the 70’s and we also got another sailfish this week as well. Fingers crossed that we’re finally on the upswing!

ALASKA SHOUT OUT!

To all the amigos who came to visit us in Anchorage, great to meet you all. Thanks for the visit. What a magnificent state it is up there and hat’s off to some of the hardiest people I’ve ever seen. The American frontier is still alive in our northernmost state. That’s our last outdoor trade show of the year after 3 months on the road. See ya all in La Paz the rest of the year!

LUGGAGE REGULATIONS FOR LA PAZ

As many of you know, we finally have 3 airlines flying regularly servicing La Paz…Alaska, Delta and Aero Mexico. It’s great. Prices are half of what they were last year. However, you should note that there’s some changes in the luggage regulations. Looks like Alaska and Delta are both allowing rods now for free as long as they do not exceed regulations. However, instead of the customary 70 pounds for each check-in piece, you are now limited to only 50 pounds, OUCH! So keep it simple and small. No need for those 100 quart ice chests anyway! Stuff that’s overweirt or oversized are subject to as much as 100 bucks surcharge.

If you’re flying domestically, for example Tijuana to La Paz, take note that the total amount of luggage cannot exceed 50 pounds FOR EVERTHING and only one carry-on piece.

Check out the following links from Alaska Airlines and make copies:

THE LINK BELOW CONFIRMS THAT ALASKA AIR ALLOWS SOME OF YOUR TACKLE TO BE CARRIED FREE IN ADDITION TO YOUR TWO CHECKED BAGS. I SUGGEST MAKING A COPY OF IT AND CARRYING IT WITH YOU. ALSO CHECK AGAIN NEAR YOUR TRAVEL TIME IN CASE THEY CHANGE THE RULES.

http://www.alaskaair.com/www2/help/faqs/SportRelatedItems.asp

BELOW IS THE TSA LINK THAT RECOMMENDS CARRYING YOUR REELS IN YOUR CARRY-ON. READ THNE LAST PARAGRAPH TITLED “TACKLE EQUIPMENT.” THE LAST SENTENCE IS DEFINITIVE. I HAVE USED A COPY OF THIS PAGE IN MEXICO AND HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS.

http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1188.shtm

That’s my story! Have a great week!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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

SIMPLE FORMULA: WHEN THE WINDS BLOW IT’S HARD TO FISH! WHEN THE WINDS LAY DOWN, THE FISH CHEW! ANYONE HAVE A CRYSTAL BALL?

LA PAZ/ LAS ARENAS REPORT FOR APRIL 1, 2007

PHOTO 1: No, this is not La Paz Bay covered with shaving cream! This is Anchorage, Alaska under a long winter coat and what the ocean looks like when it’s frozen solid! So much for global warming! We’ve been up here in Anchorage for our last fishing show of the season. This photo is the Cook Inlet.

PHOTO 2: Hmmmm…strange laws in old Anchorage! Look carefully at the mandates! No rum…no fun! Hot chocolate anyone?

PHOTO 3: Jeff Holcomb came all the way out from frozen Wisconsin for a week in La Paz. Jeff had told me they had been ice fishing before coming out so basically, winds or colder weather didn’t deter Jeff. He went out only 1 day…a day with minimal wind and banged 3 nice yellowtail including this one fishing with Captain Martin on Mama’s Mink at the island.

PHOTO 4: Rick Hosmer from S. Cal holds up a nice slugger pargo (mullet snapper). The pargo have finally moved into the shallows for their spring spawn. As I’ve told other clients when they move through, it can look like a carpet of red…Japanese koi on steroids! There are bigger ones than this moving around Cerralvo Island and other spots like Punta Perrico right now.

PHOTOS 4-8 : I wanted to share these photos with you. We’ve had some funky weather conditions lately, but here’s one you will rarely see. In all my years here in La Paz and all the time I spend on the water, I’ve seen fog maybe only 1 time. This is the second! It’s eerie how it moves up around the island but then behind it the sun is blazing!

THE FISHING REPORT

In like a lion and out like a lamb so much for winter…our fishing was hampered all week by winds. Early in the week, we had a break and hooked some yellowtail, dorado and even some tuna which got everyone fire up but my mid-week the winds were howling and made La Paz Bay look like beer suds with so much foam on it and chop. We couldn’t even go out. Later in the week, it got better but things are still unsettled. Still, some pargo, cabrilla and finally a few roosters were hooked. But, nothing remarkable unfortunately. If the winds would finally lay down, we’d sure like to check out the dorado and tuna a bit more and get over to Cerralvo Island where the bigger pargo have finally move in. But with the winds, it’s not only tougher to get out, but it also makes it difficult to get bait.

I guess the bottom line is that fishing kinda depends on who you talk to!!! Unfortunately, some of our amigos that fished this week had to have their trips canceled by the wind OR…made a valiant effort to hang in there during tough conditions. Others, like Jeff Holcomb holding the yellowtail in the photos above, go out on that one day when the winds lay down and just do a beat down on the fish! We know they are there! Just waiting for the conditions to turn the corner.

I will tell ya one thing…at the very end of the week, the roosterfish finally convinced me they’re up on the beaches. Several fish in the 30-50 pound class were hooked and others were lost so I guess…Rooster season is ON!

Like I said, it all depends on who you talk to! Here’s a first-hand report from our amigo from San Diego, Charlie “Stix” McGhee who fishes with us quite a bit out with Mitch Chavira and his son Cole:

” Anyway, the wind layed down but the swell was still strong and the water green from a week of wind. We found bait on the south end which made things easier. We hit all the high spots south of the island trying yoyo and dropperloop. We caught some Cabrilla, chica. Then we went to Punta Perico and spent the rest of the day slow trolling for whatever. We saw a lot of action! Yellows, Pargo, and Jacks break the surface all around us.

We couldn´t get bit on ·40 so we bumped down to ·30. We got bit on ¨Bonita¨ Big Eye. NOT the Bonita from San Diego. Anyway we just couldn´t get bit from all these breaking fish! Finally Cole caught a Pargo using a crazy jig that Mitch had in his box. I don´t remember the name but it is a terrible looking thing. When all was said and done most of the boats fishing with us caught one pargo each. The size was 15 to 20. No Yellows. There was one boat that fished the NEW bouys that were placed outside. They were looking for Dodos but came up dry. “

This one is from Jeff Holcomb, our Wisconsin amigo who was fortunate to fish for the first time on a day when the winds weren’t an issue.

“Well, all of the months of anticipation and yesterday, I finally went fishing in the Sea of Cortez on the Super Panga. We stopped for bait for chum and then jigged for some mackeral. Then we headed out to the fishing area.

The guide Captain Martin was a very good boat handler, especially since he had to put up with a boat motor that was having problems with a fuel pump. We started out with some bonita and kept a few nice ones. Then the first yellowtail… and I learned the power of the fish and how to reel properly!

Then another yellowtail. Now my arms know what good fishing is like! We ran out of mackeral and had one slightly larger bait fish that we put out. the guide noticed something in the line movement and rushed for the pole and set the hook, but nothing. So he left it alone a few minutes and again went to set the hook. Finally on, I think the 3rd try was the charm and he handed me the pole for the 3rd and biggest yellowtail of the day.

Captain Martin was pleased that his boat outfished his brother´s boat and, of course Missy and I had the time of our lives.

We saw a whale, seals, and lots of dolphins. I gave my guide $20, plus a nice Wisconsin Badgers hat and a nice pocket knife. In the knife box I placed a penny. This is a tradition that when you give a knife as a gift you give a penny as good luck so the person won´t cut themselves with it.”

FINALLY OFF THE ROAD!

Well, after three months, we are finally pulling off the road! As I write this, we are wrapping up our final outdoor show here in Anchorage, Alaska and now we had back for the rest of the season and the REAL work home in La Paz! Our travels have taken us through California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and now Alaska. What a great great adventure it is every year and a great time to meet so many new amigos, and shake hands again with old amigos! Thanks to all of you who are now reading this that welcomed us to your great cities! Hope to host you someday down our way where the sun is warm and hopefully the fish are willing!

I will tell ya that this trip up here to Alaska has been one for the books! They have had an extensive winter here and it was as low as 11 degrees in Anchorage, but folks were treating it like a heatwave because two weeks ago, it was 16 degrees BELOW zero! There’s still several feet of snow on everything. The funny thing is that the Great Alaskan Outdoor Show was at the Sullivan Ice Hockey Arena. Well, it’s actually three ice rinks! Yes, I-C-E !!! They play hockey year-round here so in one hall, the literally put boards down on the ice and then the vendors set up their booths on the boards. In our own rink, they just melted the ice off before we set up on FROZEN concrete! It was so cold in there one day that we could see our breaths as we talked to customers! I think it was colder INSIDE that OUTSIDE the show!

Two little notes…it’s really strange that the sun is still blazing at 9 p.m. at night! It throws your entire body rhythm off that the sun stays up so long. Second, if you ever get a chance to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), it’s incredible. It shimmers and undulates across the sky like a florescent rainbow on LSD. Well, it’s prettier than that, but words escape me…just go see it!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

Phone: (626) 333-3355

FAX: (626) 333-0115

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

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

Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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

BITE TANKS! WINDS COME UP AGAIN! ANGLERS COME UP SHORT DESPITE EFFORTS!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 25, 2007

PHOTO 1: LAST WEEK!!! Popular Captain Raul “Papa” Martinez holds one of 4 yellowtail caught this particular day by Dean Huthman of Washington State last week!! Yes…LAST week! Dean only went fishing with us one day and had a banner time. However, that was last week!! This week the yellowtail bite really tapered off as winds again kicked our butts. Raul never smiles. In working with him for over 10 years, I have dozens of photos and not a single one smiling from one of the best Captains in La Paz!!

PHOTO 2: THIS WEEK!!! What a difference. Not such a good week on the fishing with winds and difficult bait situations making it a tough go. However, the pargo are in and a few were pulled outta the rocks. Hooking them is one thing… but putting them in the boat in the shallow waters is another issue. This is a “small” one our amigo Esteban Romero from La Paz holds up at Muertos Bay. No doubt some slabs of this ended up with garlic, butter and some fresh tortillas that night knowing Esteban!!

THE FISHING REPORT

What a difference a week makes!! Buoyed by last week’s fishing where everyone got into fish, we thought the season had finally turned to corner and was on an upswing. Hold everything! It all came crashing down! I feel real badly for our anglers this week. They put in the effort as did our skippers, but dangit…. Just no controlling Mother Nature!!
As I’m writing this today (Sunday) guess what… no winds again, but no one is really out today either. But all week when I had anglers… I mean, for those of you who have fished with us before… how often is it rough enough to get seasick? Zero!! That is such a rarity, but this week it was a little bouncy and hard on some of the anglers who were hanging in there!!

Wind contributed also to an upwelling of colder waters from down deep as winds were from the south this time instead of the north. Colder water meant off color water. Winds also pushed waves up against some of our bait spots on the island so it was tough to get bait and a longer run than we like to do this time of year. Hijole!! Listen, this is Baja. Maybe you get a day or two that’s off the mark, but rarely do you get a whole week of it!!
All that being said, there were some encouraging bright spots and some hookups around the islands. A few yellowtail were hit, but more were lost. Our counts would have looked better if hookups equaled fish in the box!! But hey… that’s fishing and Lord knows how many rocks have taken my own catch from me!! Same with pargo and cabrilla. They were definitely there, but tough to get inside when you’re bouncing around or when bait is tough to chum.

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

You have no doubt tried or at least heard of kayak fishing. Several weeks ago, I had mentioned that I know some guys were trying to fish from wind surfers. If you have high speed, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDlBb-642w

And watch some great footage of marlin fishing off a wave runner!!!

CURRENT AIR FARE RATES END MARCH 31

Don’t forget… Alaska has some incredible rates if you purchase by March 31 and travel before November to La Paz. A number of our clients jumped on the rates and hit prices as low as $250 round trip. That is unheard of since the days of Aero California! They only fly on certain days, but you deed to contact the airlines directly for the lowest flights. They are partnered with Delta and it seems like they have every day of the week covered because we have folks flying into La Paz on one airline and out on the other and still getting great prices! Don’t get left out!!

SPEAKING OF ALASKA

That’s where we are this week…. Anchorage, AK! This is our final outdoor show of the season so we’ve packed up our booth, brochures, and Hawaiian shirts and we will be preaching the gospel of sunshine to our northern brothers and sisters! The show runs Thursday to Sunday, so if you’re in the area, stop by and say hi. I think it’s kinda ironic that they have our booth in the “Ice Rink” area of the expo center!!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
www.tailhunter-international.com
riplipboy@aol.com

BITE TANKS! WINDS COME UP AGAIN! ANGLERS COME UP SHORT DESPITE EFFORTS!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 25, 2007

PHOTO 1: LAST WEEK!!! Popular Captain Raul “Papa” Martinez holds one of 4 yellowtail caught this particular day by Dean Huthman of Washington state LAST week! Yes…LAST week! Dean only went fishing one day and had a banner time. However, that was LAST week! This week, the yellowtail bite really tapered off as winds again kicked our butts. Raul never smiles. In working with him in over 10 years, I hae dozens of photos and not a single one smiling from one of the best captains in La Paz!

PHOTO 2: THIS WEEK! What a difference. Not such a good week on the fishing with winds and difficult bait situations making it a tough go. However, the pargo are in and a few were pulled outta the rocks. Hooking them is one thing…but putting them in the boat in the shallow waters is another issue. This is a “small one.” Our amigo Esteban Romero from La Paz holds up one at Muertos Bay. No doubt some slabs of this ended up with garlic, butter and some fresh tortillas that night knowing Esteban!

THE FISHING REPORT

What a difference a week makes! Buoyed by last weeks fishing where everyone got into fish we thought the season had finally turned the corner and was on an upswing! Hold everything! It all came crashing down! I feel really badly for our anglers this week. They put in the effort as did our skippers, but dangit…just no controlling mother nature!

As I”m writing this today (Sunday) guess what…no winds again, but no one is really out today either. But all week when I had anglers…I mean, for those of you who have fished with us before…how often is it rough enough to get seasick? ZERO! That is such a rarity, but this week it was a little bouncy and hard on some of the anglers who were hanging in there!

Wind contributed also to an upwelling of colder waters from down deep as winds were from the south this time instead of the north. colder water meant off-color water. Winds also pushed waves up against some of our bait spots on the island so it was tough to get bait and a longer run than we like to do this time of year. Hijole! Listen, this is Baja. Maybe you get a day or two that’s off the mark, but rarely do you get a whole week of it!

All that being said, there were some encouraging bright spots and some hookups around the islands. A few yellowtail were hit but more were lost. Our counts would have looked better if hookups equaled fish in the box! But hey…that’s fishing and Lord knows how many rocks have taken my own catch from me! Same with pargo and cabrilla. They were definitely there, but tough to get inside when you’re bouncing around or when bait is tough to chum.

Now you can see why it’s the off-season. Just one of those weeks. We’ll keep you posted!

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

You have no doubt tried or at least heard of kayak fishing. Several weeks ago, I had also mentioned I know some guys try fishing from wind surfers. If you have high speed, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGDlBb-642w

and watch some great footage of marlin fishing off a wave runner!

AIR FARE RATES END MARCH 31

Don’t forget…Alaska has some incredible rates if you purchase by March 31 and travel before November to La Paz! A number of our clients jumped on the rates and hit prices as low as $250 round trip. That’s unheard of since the days of Aero California! They only fly on certain days, but you need to contact the airlines directly for the lowest flights. They have partnered with Delta Air and it seems like they have every day of the week covered because we have clients flying into La Paz on one airline and out on the other and still getting great prices! Don’t get left out!

SPEAKING OF ALASKA…

That’s where we are this week…Anchorage, AK! This is our final outdoor show of the season so we’ve packed up our booth and brochures and our Hawaiian shirts and we will be preaching the gospel of sunshine to our nothern brothers and sisters! The show runs Thursday to Sunday so, if you’re in the area, stop by and say hi. I think it’s kinda ironic that they have our booth in the “ICE RINK” area of the expo center!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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

BEST WEEK OF THE YEAR HIGHLIGHTED BY YELLOWTAIL, SNAPPER, BILLFISH AND DORADO!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 18, 2007

PHOTO 1 : Yellowtail like this one being held by Gama “King” Flores of Cathedral City CA finally came to chew this week.

PHOTO 2: John Luker is holding some great eating. Pargo and yellow snapper bent rods inshore and along the structure this week!

THE FISHING REPORT!

What a week, amigos! By far, the BEST fishing week we’ve had all season. It seemed that all the variables finally lined up; the planets got their acts together; and the fish gods smiled!

Not only did the winds finally take a break but also water and sun and air finally made the fish turn on. Wow! With water temps in the mid-70’s and air temps in the low 80’s (yes, it’s March and it’s already in the 8o’s) the fish were on the bite!

Check it out!

We got our first marlin and sailfish of the season. Normally, we don’t see these guys willing to bite for another month or two. We’ve had them swimming around for a few weeks, but this is the first time they were willing to bite!

Then…the yellowtail! Full bendo and lots of fish lost in the rocks, but the ones that came up were a nice grade 15-40 pound fish with several larger fish as well. The high spots like La Reyna and La Reynita at north Cerralvo Island, el Bajo Seamount and some spots on the east side of Espiritu Santo Island were the hot tickets for the slugger forkies.

Add to that the yellow snapper and pargo that were on the chew and there were some nice fillets to put in the ice chests! Undoubtedly, the best week so far! We’ll keep you posted.

Oh…I should also mention…it’s March…we also nailed a few dorado!!!!

PASSPORTS

Folks, I’ve been reminding and reminding you for weeks. Do NOT delay in getting your passports. Not kidding. This year, you MUST have a passport to fly down to see us or anywhere else in North America. If you call me and cancel your trip because you didn’t get your passport, I’m not gonna have alot of sympathy! Normally, passports take a month or so to get them in the mail. Well, notices have gone out that it could be up to 3 months to get the paperwork processed now! Don’t sit on your hands. Gedderdun!

TAILHUNTER’s TRADESHOW TRAIL

As I write this, we are just pulling out and packing out from spending the week in gorgeous Salt Lake City where we just completed the International Sportsman’s Expo. It was about 80 degrees here and I spent the whole week in our booth in shorts and flip-flops compared to my normal snow gear I have to wear whenever we are here.

Great to see so many of our old amigos and make new ones. Tell ya what…considering we’re in Utah, it was amazing how many Californian’s were running around and came to say hi. These were guys walking around the show with t-shirts from Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego or wearing long range shirts with Excel printed on it. We sure had fun this week and now we’re packing up and headed to our last show after 3 months on the road. We’re headed to the great white north…Anchorage, Alaska! Then…finally back home to La Paz.

We’re filling up fast! Let us know if we need to set you up this year!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

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

Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico

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