Tailhunter Fish Report

DORADO STILL AROUND BUT NOT MANY ANGLERS!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for December 31, 2006

Photo: Captain Joel lends a hand on this nice dorado about to get cleaned on Balandra Beach. Despite winds and waters that would seem too cold for mahi mahi, there’s still dorado to be caught north of La Paz

FISHING REPORT

Understandably, with the holidays being here, not many fishermen around. Mostly, it’s snow birds trying to get some sun on white legs and arms and attempting to escape colder climes like New Hampshire and Canada that fill the town right now. Locals are walking around with long pants and jackets. The tourists have their shorts and t-shirts!

The fish are there when we have fishermen! No doubt about it. When it’s windy, the inshore fishing produces some big jack crevalle, sierra, and snapper plus schools of bonito shooting through. During those days when we can get further out or towards the islands or outter banks or ridges, there’s still dorado unbelievably even though it’s the dead of winter! Go figure. Oh well. No one is complaining. But honestly, the winds are the factor. When it lays down, we get dorado and there seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of wind and the amount of dorado. Less wind = more dorado! The cool thing is that most folks down right now are here f0r some sunshine, tacos or just getting away. Unlike the warmer months when the primary focus is fishing, the expectations right now are muted so whatever we catch, as long as the weather is good, putting some fish in the boat is a nice bonus and even if it’s not dorado, the other fish like the sierra and snapper are fun and good eating.

WHALE WATCHING JANUARY to MARCH 2007

Just a head’s up again that whale watching should start in the next months when the grey whales start showing up in Magdalena Bay. From about the middle or end of January to about March (it all depends on when the whales show up and leave…they don’t e-mail me their “schedule” so please don’t ask!) we’ll be arranging our day trips to go see the whales. It’s really an incredible experience to get close enough to the whales to touch them in the calm shallow waters of Magdalena Bay. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime-experience that would be great for the family. Let us know if you’d like more information.

CABIN FEVER CLASSIC APRIL 12-16, 2007

More calendar stuff…our only officially hosted event to kick off the year is the Cabin Fever Classic on tap for April 12-16th at La Concha Beach Resort. Our most popular event, many anglers, couples and amigos return every year just for this! Three days of fishing and basically a great excuse to eat some tacos, drink some beer and get outta your freezing cold cabin and have some fun with some great people. We have a blast every year. Spots are filling and are limited so get in touch with us ASAP and we’ll give you more details and get you dialed in. Last year, we hammered big yellowtail and pargo!

FISHING AND OUTDOOR SHOW CALENDAR 2007

Tailhunter International is heading out on it’s 2007 road tour and we hope you’ll come by to see us at our booth. Here’s our schedule for the next few months. Our first show will be in the San Francisco Bay Area at San Mateo January 11-14. Here’s the list:

Jan. 11- 14 – International Sportsmen’s Expo, San Mateo Expo Center, San Mateo CA
Jan. 18-21 – International Sportsmen’s Expo, California State Fairgrounds, Sacramento CA
Jan. 25-28 – International Sportsmen’s Expo, Denver Convention Center, Denver CO
Feb. 7-11 – O’Laughlin Outdoor Shows, Portland Expo Center, Portland OR
Mar. 7-11 – Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach CA
Mar. 15-18 – International Sportsman’s Show, Salt Lake City CA
Mar. 29-April 1 – Great Outdoor Show , Anchorage AK

Hope to see you there!

PASSPORTS for 2007

One final note, don’t forget that if YOU are flying into Mexico this year, you MUST have a passport. Homeland Security no longer will allow you back into the U.S. with just your certified birth certifcate and your smiling face on your driver’s license. This is new for 2007 for anyone flying in North American and the Caribbean. Right now, if you’re driving, you’re OK for another year. By 2008 you’ll need a passport for ANY travel over international borders.

Happy New Year everyone! May it be an awesome 2007 for you, your families and all of us!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://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.”

DORADO STILL AROUND WHEN WINDS NOT BLOWING

La Paz/Las Arenas Fishing Report for Dec. 23, 2006

Photo 1: Just wanted to start the report out with a “Feliz Navidad” to everyone!

Photo 2: Guess what? It’s December and dorado like these are still around! Hard to believe, but fish like this are a nice winter surprise!

The FISHING REPORT

Because of the holidays and because I plan on being tucked into my “long winter nap” Sunday (Christmas Eve night) waiting for Santa, I wanted to get the fishing report out early. Basically, the last place I wanted to be was staring at my computer screeen as much as I love putting up my fishing reports!

Anyway, amigos…

It’s winter. The winds are loco. They blow one day and not the next with on rhyme or reason. You can come down and get 3 solid days of warm sunshine and flat waters or get 4 days of chop and windbreaker weather. Still, it’s a nice time to be in La Paz if you have to stay on the beach. Town is quiet and in the holiday mode and you can smell tamales cooking everywhere!

On the days it’s not windy…

There’s still some pretty good fishing considering it’s winter! Dorado are still north of town around the island and in the channel willing to eat a slow trolled sardine, bonito or slab of dead bait. Nothing like our warm weather fishing, but on the calm days everyone has caught a few dorado in the 10-20 pound class with an occasional 30 pound bull (and tales of other fish lost!) and mixed in with a few cabrilla, snapper or sierra, that makes for a nice ice chest of fillets! No one is complaining.

Still, a word of advice if you’re coming down in the next few…bring a windbreaker or sweatshirt!

QUICK AIRLINE NEWS

Delta Airlines is now flying daily flights out of Los Angeles direct to La Paz! Yay! Flight prices look pretty good for 2007 and it looks like they’ll be neck-and-neck with Alaska which is also flying into La Paz.

DON’T FORGET PASSPORTS!

This is the biggie! Starting in 2007, if you’re flying in or out of Mexico, you MUST have a valid passport. Don’t wait until the last minute. They’re not hard to get and pretty cool to have!

Travel tip: I still carry a copy of my certified birth certicate with me when I fly. I also carry photo copies of my passport and my driver’s license with me as well and I put them in a ziplock bag and hide them somewhere else in my luggage. That way if I ever lose my real paperwork, I can at least have copies with me at all times.

LASTLY…

Just wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. This last year was a tough one for us losing our only airline into town plus a series of storms that really busted us up a couple of times! Still, I gotta say that we had one of the most outstanding fishing seasons I’ve ever seen and I appreciate everyone who came down despite all the hardships and changes and had a good time or made the best of it. We kicked butt more often than not and it was great seeing so many amigos catch their first first; largest fish; first of a species; most fish, etc. or see a kid, friend or loved one have such a great time! Even moreso, I appreciate all of you who also didn’t make it down or couldn’t make it down for all the support and good wishes. You hung with us too! We’re still hanging in here and no one has told us to take our ball and go home yet and we are still blessed with good health, our families and friends around us. To each of you reading this, I wish you the same. Stay safe. Stay healthy. Enjoy those who care about you and God bless always!

Here’s a little Christmas story for you:

One beautiful December evening Pedro and his girlfriend Rosita were sitting by the side of the ocean. It was a romantic full moon, when Pedro said, “Hey, mamacita, let’s do Weeweechu.” Oh no, not now, let’s look at the moon!” said Rosita.Oh, c’mon baby, let’s you and I do Weeweechu. I love you and it’s the perfect time,” Pedro begged.
“But I wanna just hold your hand and watch the moon.” replied Rosita.Please, corazoncito, just once, do Weeweechu with me.”Rosita looked at Pedro and said, “OK, one time, we’ll do Weeweechu.”Pedro grabbed his guitar and they both sang…..

“Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.”MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

“Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, Weeweechu a Merry Christmas,Weeweechu a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.”MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

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.”

TOO MUCH WIND AND NOT ENOUGH FISHERMEN

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Dec. 17, 2006

Photo 1: Verda Boyd and Tim Zimmer are both sheriff’s officers from the San Francisco BayArea 0f California so they’re used to clouds, wind and chilly conditions. They always come in December when no one else is around and always seem to do well and have a good time. Here, Verda shows off a day’s work of sierra.

THE FISHING REPORT

Crummy week! Earlier in the week we had anglers, but had to cancel most trips because the winds were whipping so hard. By the time the winds calmed down later in the week, all the fishermen had gone home. We really were living on borrowed time. The dorado bite from the summer continued a good 2 months longer than expected right into late November with great conditions when we had no right to be expecting that kind of warm water fishing. However, two weeks ago the winds whipped up out of the north like they do this time of year and it’s amazing how fast the water temps dropped a good 5-10 degrees in some spots to the lower 70’s so I think the warm water season has finally come to a close and getting cooler.

Photo 2: Verda holds up a nice dorado taken off the south end of Espiritu Santo Island. I think this officially marks pretty much the end of the warm water season and the end of the best dorado bite I have ever seen that lasted from late May to early December with some of the most prolific mahi fishing ever. That’s Tim Zimmer peaking out from the background. He’s been cursed lately and Verda keeps outfishing him even though he rigs up all the gear and baits everything the same!
Photo 3: Tim is finally on the board! Tim holds a nice jack crevalle which like the dorado is normally a warm-water species. It tastes terrible so we release most, but they are terrific fighters. On the right is popular Captain Raul “Papa” Martinez.

CABIN FEVER CLASSIC IS ANNOUNCED

Everyone has been asking and I’m sorry for taking so long to pick a date, but I just wanted to make sure we had airflights and they weren’t sky-high (so to speak), especiallly after the experiences of last year when so many of us got stranded by Aero California! However, now that both Alaska Air and Delta Air have joined Aero Mexico in flights to La Paz, let’s rock! In fact, we’ve been checking random dates for much of 2007 and there’s some good rates out there! Delta seems to have the cheapest, but if you shop around they’re between $300 and 400 dollar round trip which is about 1/2 of what it was sometimes in 2006!

Anyway…here’s the scoop!

Event: SIXTH ANNUAL CABIN FEVER CLASSIC

Dates: April 12-16, 2007

Package: 5 days in La Paz/4 nights waterfront hotel at La Concha Beach Resort/ 3 days panga fishing Las Arenas with option on 3rd day to fish La Paz weather permitting/ round trip airport transfers La Paz airport to hotel and back/ boat/ skipper/ tackle/ ice/ fish cleaning/ fish freezing/ breaktfast, lunch, soft drinks, water on fishing days/ shuttles to boats/ welcome cocktails/ beach taco barbecue/ all taxes

Price: $630 per person double occupancy (two per room and two per boat)

Extras: tips/ bait/ alcohol/personal items

Notes: This started as a joke and has become one of the most popular events we’ve ever hosted. The idea is to officially start our fishing season by getting you out of your “cabin” after a long winter! We don’t promise there will even be fish, but we do promise a good time with some really fun people, many who come year-after year! Some only come for this event and become regulars!

As mentioned, we have no idea what we’ll catch. Maybe nothing! It all depends on what Mother Nature throws at us. However, in the past, one year we caught a ton of big roosters and jacks. Another year, dorado showed up and blew us all away. Another year, I think we had 15 different species of fish! Last year, was the year of the giant yellowtail with huge 30 and 40 pound yellowtail showing up in shallow water plus big pargo in the rocks! You just never know! But, we sure had a good time!

If you’re interested, just fire me an e-mail at riplipboy@aol.com and we’ll hook it up for you. We already have about 10 people booked with deposits even though we didn’t even know the dates so let us know ASAP. We have limited space for this one!

WHALE WATCHING SEASON APPROACHING!

Yes, it’s here again. From about January to March, the California grey whales show up in Baja. It’s incredible to see so many whales in the calm lagoons of Mag Bay. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that would make a great gift for yourself or family. We can set it all up for you. Get up and close and personal with these magnificent creatures. Just click this to get to my other webpage: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/jonathansblog.htm. Best time is in February when the whales are usually all in place and aren’t nervous about having the pangas around them and will often come right up to the boats!

TAILHUNTER’s SHOW SEASON for 2007

Everyone is asking us when we’re going to be in their neck of the woods for our fishing shows! I posted it a few weeks ago but happily put it out again. I’ll do it every few weeks so the info is fresh. Please come say hello. It’s always nice to see old friends and make new ones!

January 11 to 14 – International Sportsmen’s Expo San Mateo Expo Center, San Mateo CA
January 18 to 21 – International Sportmens’ Expo California State Fairgrounds, Sacramento CA
January 25 to 28 – International Sportsmen Expo Denver Convention Center, Denver CO
Feb. 7 to 11 – Pacific Northwest Sportsmens Show, Portland Expo Center, Portland OR
March 1 to 5 – Fred Hall Fishing & Boating Show, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach CA
March 15 to 18 – International Sportsmens’ Expo, Sandy Convention Center, Salt Lake City UT
March 29 to April 1 – Great Alaskan Sportsman’s Show, Anchorage AK

NEW WORLD RECORD BLUE MARLIN ON A SPEARGUN!

Check this out! Just click: http://video.msn.com/v/us/msnbc.htm?g=725799E7-A6A9-481A-BFA8-41775E00826D&f=00&fg=email Pretty incredible. Remember, this is the world of freediving…no tanks allowed!

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 91745Mexico 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.”

WINDS WHIP ANGLERS AND MAKE FISHING TOUGH

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for December 10, 2006

Photo 1: Steve Clarence from Menlo Park was hadn’t done much fishing and this was also his first trip to La Paz, but here he holds bragging rights for a slugger of a nice bull dorado north of La Paz. Mahi like this are still biting in between some really strong northern winds all week

THE FISHING REPORT

This is kind of tough to write…mainly because this was perhaps our roughest week of fishing in a long long time. We knew it had to happen sometime and well…the northern winds didn’t just blow a day or two! They blew most of the week and most anglers opted to try to wait it out. It even rained one day also.

The problem is that these winds come from the north. For our boats heading out of La Paz, that means heading directly north and getting either wet or getting their kidneys and teeth rattled. If you wanted to fish the Las Arenas area, yes, it was possible to fish Muertos Bay. However, the problem was that the sardines we use for bait were all NORTH at Cerralvo Island. There’s that word again…”North!” So, again you’d have to go crashing north to get bait and that’s no fun either.

That being said, we did get some boats out and they didn’t do too badly. In fact, sierra were on fire. Some of these were chunky speedsters and it was almost impossible not to get a limit or two of these fish. Using either bait or wired smaller Rapalas or hoochies were dynamite on these fish that are known for their slashing attacks and sharp teeth. Think of a baby wahoo and that’s what a sierra looks like (see the photo below). On top of that, these are just incredible for the table either as ceviche or cooked up in any number of ways.

Aside from the sierra, there’s still dorado around the island. Hard to realy judge when not that many boats are there, but the mahi are still biting. Again, however, you’d have to head north and waiting for a break in the wind or weather was really the key. Once you got to the grounds, you were in good shape.

Overall, definitely cooler this week with most of the time being cool, cloudy and/or windy too. Air temps were in the 70’s but water temps were still rather warm although you can sure tell things are cooling down! Folks were saying this was the first time all year they had seen me in long pants!

Photo 2: Steve Marabella or Wilmington holds up a sierra (kind of like a “mini wahoo”) which is what we caught alot of this week. These fish can arrive in schools and it’s not uncommon to hook several dozen which can be great fun on light tackle. Some of the larger fish will go 10 pounds. Don’t let the official name “sierra mackerel” throw you off. Unlike their cousins, these sierra make great eating!

GOT SOME DISPOSABLE INCOME?

If you have some extra green stuff in your pocket during the holidays or a fat checkbook, Cerralvo Island is officially for sale. Yes, you can be the emperor of all you see..as well as several herds of wild goats and a bunch of pelicans!

AIRLINE FARES

Amigos, I don’t know if you’ve started looking at airfares for 2007, but if you follow my fish reports you know that Alaska is now flying into La Paz and, beginning this week, so does Delta. Aero Mexico is already flying in as of this year. There’s also some rumors that Frontier, Jet Blu, Avolar and Interjet will also have flights this year. I was hoping that the increased competition would help lower the ticket rates from the rip-off prices they were charging in 2006.

Well, we started to scan a few things and wow…Delta (which will be going under the name of Atlantic Eastern or something like that) has some super low prices. In some cases they were over 100 bucks cheaper than Alaska and more in the 300-400 dollar range than the robbery prices Aero Mexico and some of the other carriers were charging. Keep an eye out. This is good news!

WHALE WATCHING!

If you’ve ever wanted an experience of a lifetime, don’t forget that we start whale watching out of Magdalena Bay about the end of January until March. Get up close and personal with the whales in shallow calm water! Ask us about it. We’re now taking reservations!

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.”

DORADO STILL BITE DESPITE LATE WEEK WINDS

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Dec. 3, 2006

Photo 1: Sid, Brad and Mike Sicoff from Calabasas CA finally made it down to La Paz after being deterred earlier in the season when Aero California was suspended. Better late than never, they slammed some of the great late season dorado!

FISHING REPORT

Maybe things are starting to turn. It finally seems like fall is in the air as temps drop a little bit on the water as well as in the air and we had some windy weather late in the week. However, it sure seems like the dorado don’t know it’s Christmas yet!

La Paz Fishing

It was definitely a bit more brisk this week than before. In fact we had two days when it was basically a bit too snotty and uncomfortable to be out fishing. However, earlier in the week, that nice dorado bite we had through the Thanksgiving holidays continued on. What can I say? How can you argue with big 3o pound dorado in the chum line or getting double bendo on a 50 pound bull dorado coming out of the water and charging the panga? That’s a kick no matter how you look at it and that’s what we’ve had going. Add to that the island and cove fishing for pargo, sierra, snapper and cabrilla and you get the best of all worlds. Heck, if the tuna joined in, we wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves. However, hold on…late week, I got some whispers that there were some tuna at El Bajo and we’ll keep you posted on that one!

Photo 2 : Mike Sicoff hefts a toady beast of a dorado after a solid day of action with fishing more reminiscent of summer-time bites!

Las Arenas Fishing:

I feel badly for our captains at Las Arenas. Man….it’s been a rough year. Not only did we lose so many clients when the airlines took a dump, but because the fishing has just been so much better out of La Paz the latter part of the year, everyone has been fishing La Paz more than Las Arenas. This week we had to cancel trips for Las Arenas simply becuase it was too darned windy to go out. However, on the days we did send boats, there were dorado as well as pargo, sierra and even a full yellowfin tuna near the island as well as outside Punta Perrico. Hopefully, waters will calm a bit and we’ll be back out. There’s great variety there right now.

2007 Show Fishing Show Schedule Announced for Tailhunter International

Amigos, we’ve finally set our schedule for our 2007 season of fishing shows and we’d love to have you come by our booth to say howdy! Here you go:

January 11 to 14 – International Sportsmen’s Expo San Mateo Expo Center, San Mateo CA

January 18 to 21 – International Sportmens’ Expo California State Fairgrounds, Sacramento CA

January 25 to 28 – International Sportsmen Expo Denver Convention Center, Denver CO

Feb. 7 to 11 – Pacific Northwest Sportsmens Show, Portland Expo Center, Portland OR

March 1 to 5 – Fred Hall Fishing & Boating Show, Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach CA

March 15 to 18 – International Sportsmens’ Expo, Sandy Convention Center, Salt Lake City UT

March 29 to April 1 – Great Alaskan Sportsman’s Show, Anchorage AK

Hope to see you there!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: http://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.”

FISH DON’T KNOW IT’S WINTER AND CONTINUE TO BITE!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for November 26, 2o06

Photo 1: Al Burriesci from Auburn CA is getting his tan and his dorado as he hoists this good-looking bull dorado. He hooked it and others north of La Paz from that hot spot at the SE corner of Espiritu Santo Island

THE FISH REPORT

It’s sounding like a busted record, but dorado keep biting even though we’re into the holiday season. It’s surprising even old veterans but no one is complaining as rods get bent so late in the season!

La Paz Fishing

It’s been the most consistent fishing I think I’ve ever seen. Since August, the La Paz dorado bite has been off the charts. Who would have thought that this deep into November we would still be hooking dorado and these aren’t punk fish either! This past week we’re taking trophy-class bull that are pushing the 30-60 pound marks. Not all fish are that size, but bottom line is that there’s some great quality still out there not to mention just alot of fun. Hard to believe, we still have marlin in the area too! Just incredible…(see the story below)…

This is from long time amigo Walt Korbler who has been coming for 8 seasons:

“As far as the trip was concerned, all went well, except that I was not able to fish Las Arenas due to the winds. La Paz was great anyways with all the big dodos, I caught and released 8 on my first day, and 4 on my second. Jack even gave his “amazing new superpanga” on my second day with captain Miguel. Miguel is a great fisherman, we even hooked a blue marlin and had it on for a while, but it came unbuttoned, since the knot broke.(thank God I did not tye it). Anyways all in all a great trip!”

This is from our another good amigo, Sid Sicoff:

” Thursday we hit the jackpot with (Captain) Martin, he is the best!
We caught 8 dorado bulls. Something for the first day of fishing. I must say that I have been coming to La Paz for over 15 years and now I really am a happy camper with you and your staff. The bonding experience that I am having with my son Brad and my son-in-law Mike is something most fathers only pray for. We expect to return very soon to experience this one time in a life experience.”

Las Arenas Fishing

Well…when the winds are down fishing is surprisingly good! But, that’s the problem. Conditions have been inconsistent but still, considering all things, there’s quite a bit of variety for our anglers who soak some boat at Las Arenas. Take a look at the photos below!

In addition to occasional late-season tuna, there’s still some roosterfish around (almost unheard of!), sierra, cabrilla, snapper and pargo. We even had a few striped marlin hookups that didn’t stick but what a great surprise for the anglers who were just soaking some sardines to have 100 pound billfish suddenly come up and grab the baits. Nothing like going from a lazy morning of fishing to all hell breaking loose in nano seconds! Either way…Great fun on light tackle and a great way to stick some different fillets in the cooler without having to go chugging too far offshore. Still a pretty place to be and one of the nice things is that even when the winds blow you can still hide a bit in the coves and the lee side of the island and still get some fish.

Photo 2: Dennis Deaver and Ron Nass from Northern CA show off a great day of fishing at Las Arenas. This is about as good as it gets for variety. What a smorgasbord. In front of the ice chest are some yellowfin tuna. On the ice chest, the reddish fish to the left are pargo (pargo lisa). The darker brown fish are seabass (cabrilla). Towards the back is a yellow snapper and towards the front is a red snapper and they add a small dorado to the mix as well.
Photo 3: Larry Manis from Los Angeles made his first trip to La Paz and is holding a dorado headed for a stack of tortillas.

Something Extra:

I don’t know if you’re a fan of TV fishing shows but I’ve worked on them and been on them and for that 1/2 hour or hour of fishing footage, there’s tons of footage taken over days or even weeks most folks never get to see. Here’s some funny outtakes from Bill Dance the champion bassmaster: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3432265409994388404

Have a great week, everyone!

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.”

LA PAZ ESCAPES ANOTHER HURRICANE SCARE AND FISH KEEP BITING!

La Paz-Las Arenas Fishing Report for Nov. 19, 2006

Photo 1: Steve Marabella from Wilmington CA is a happy fella. Although this fish blew apart his favorite Penn 500 reel, he got the last laugh and landed the big dorado which went home in his ice chest along with alot of other fillets.

Once again, in late season surprise, we got a hurricane scare as “Sergio” started brewing to the south. No one can even remember having storms so late in the season let alone so many hurricane warnings in a single year. However, like so many, nothing much materiliazed and the fish continued to bite!

LA PAZ FISHING

Hard to complain too much! Despite it being so late in the season…despite the fact that some days are seasonably windy…despiote the fact that we should only be fishing inshore for rock fish…the DORADO are still biting!

Sure, we’re getting typical fish like snapper and some of those great sierra, but it’s pretty unusual that we get this kind of dorado fishing in November. Heck it’s almost Thanksgiving! Dorado are warm-water-blue-water fish! However, around Espiritu Santo Island the honey holes keep kicking out the fish. These aren’t small fish either. Check out the photos! These are still the slugger-style fish that has made this perhaps the most increcible dorado season in memory. Will it last? Who knows? We’re enjoying it while we can.

Photo 2 : One of the prettiest flyfishing shots I have seen in a long time. This is Bill Mitchell from the Carmel CA area. Bill had problems all season coming to see us. First it was Aero California screwing things up. Then Hotel Los Arcos went on strike over the summer. Well, he finally made it down and the fish gods were good to him as you can see by one of the nice dorado he nailed. (See story below for more details)

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Earlier in the week, strong seasonal winds pushed our pangas all over the ocean and the tuna outside, but as the week went on, the weather conditions improved and so did the fishing. In addition to the nice football yellowfin tuna, sierra, dorado and a few billfish were also hooked. Pargo and snapper fishing also kept anglers in fillets.

FIRST PERSON REPORT

Louis Guillen was just down with us and fished two days…one day at Las Arenas and one day at La Paz. He was nice enough to write up his trip for us…(also see photo below)

“I had a great trip to La Paz!.

Tuesday, I fished La Paz with Capitan Miguel, and it was a wide open bite for Sierra trolling goma squid in the morning. We targeted Dorado by Espiritu De Santo, but no luck. Though the trigger fish were happy. Bottom of the ninth, and a few fish in the box. Miguel went to his secret honey hole and we boated some forearm size Pargo.

Wednesday, I drove up to Las Arenas with Carlos. It was a GREAT trip. Victor was my Capitan and he got me into fish. “Jefe Capitan” or “Patron” (???) He baited my hook with a sardenas and threw it in. I hooked up instantly and my reel spun and sprayed water in my face. Victor laughed and said, “Bonito …mucho Bonito” We moved to a second spot and we saw a boil behind us. The current was moving down stream from our Panga, so I knew I would get bit soon. I adjusted my drag and and watched my line. BAMMMM!!!

Yellow Fin Tuna … That one broke off after a long fight, but Victor kept another one on the string for me. He gave me the bent rod and we were able to boat that one. BAMMM!! another one on the hook…this Tuna fight went on for a while, and it drew other Pangas to us. It seemed like Victor and I we were the only ones hooking up. We would later discovered at the beach that my suspicions were true. While other Pangas got 1, 2, or none, we boated 12 Tunas and about 4 or more broke off. It was an early morning bite. I told Victor in Spanglish, “Mis Brah-sos es hurting!” …he replied, “No problem,” and laughed.

There was a bunch of needle fish and I swear they were trying to aim for our Panga. One dove into the water just before it was about to go through, or over our Panga. Victor turned his back as if to say, “tear up my ass and not my nuts.” They were like surface to air missles out of the water. I think they wanted Victor and I to go away and leave their cousins alone (Tuna). “

Cheers! Louis.

Photo 3: Louis Guillen (right) with Captain Victor on the beach at Ensenada de Muertos (Las Arenas) with his great day of fishing yellowfin tuna.

FIRST PERSON REPORT

“Jonathan,
Excellent trip. We had a 6 YFT and 2 Rooster day at Las Arenas. And out of La Paz we had a 7 Dorado day and an 8 Dorado day….BIG fish, bulls pushing 50 LBS.
And several Triggerfish, Bonita, etc. Las Arenas was all flyrod, but La Paz was all conventional gear….It’s tough to use the flyrod out of those super pangas on the La Paz side. As you know, once we get into a bunch of Dorado, rods are thumping, reels are screaming, bait is flying, etc, and the only place to cast is from a precariously balanced point on the bow, where the fish AREN’T….But it was lots of fun. I’ll try to email you some pics.
Thanks for all your conscientious help….We’ll definitely do it again.
Bill
PS That (Captain) Raoul is awesome.”

That’s my story! Happy Thanksgiving everyone…Be safe!

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.”

DORADO AND TUNA STILL ON LATE SEASON CHEW!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Nov. 12, 2006

PHOTO 1: Craig Peterson is one of our regulars in La Paz and just got himself into the record books with a new world record yellowfin tuna. Craig was freediving off Puerto Vallarta when he shot this big dawg cow that weighed in at 317 pounds. This is all done “freediving” (no air tanks!)
If you want more details, click: http://tailhunter-international.com/jonathansblog.htm

THE FISHING REPORT

Unbelievable late season fishing, amigos. Yes, the winds are up. Yes, the water and the air is cooler, but the fish don’t seem to mind. Anglers fishing both La Paz and Las Arenas continued to hang some great fish!

La Paz Fishing:

Who would have thought that it’s almost Thanksgiving and we should be fishing smaller species in the rocks that we’d still be hanging big dorado! It’s definitely NOT summertime conditions and it’s a little bumpy and breezy, but the big mahi…some in the 50-60 pound class…are still biting. Check out the photos below. That area south of Espiritu Santo Island and also near Punta Coyote has been producing dorado since August. Using sardines, bonito and strip bait the fish can be dormant one moment then come crashing like gangbusters the next and all hell breaks loose leaving bloody decks, tired anglers, busted tackle and full fish boxes.

In addition to the dorado, big bonito, sierra and snapper were also caught.

PHOTO 2 : Ron Martis from San Diego had an outstanding day on the water. Using a live puffer fish that Capt. Chito pinned on the hook, Ron fought this fish for 45 minutes from start to finish despite having a sore back. They said that the big dorado showed no hesitation eating the puffer fish. Ron couldn’t lift the fish any higher, but it was estimated that the fish was over 50 pounds.
PHOTO 3: Mark Martis has fished with us alot over the years. Mark is from Redondo Beach Ca and he’s had some great success over the years when we have fished together. However, his recent fishing this week was the best dorado fishing he has ever had. He said for an hour-and-a-half, the fish were non-stop. He lifts up this big bull dorado that’s as long as he is tall!

Las Arenas Fishing:

Well, in more surprises, I can’t remember the last time we had yellowfin tuna in November! However, sure enough…right there outside Muertos Bay, the tuna were bending rods most of the week. The fish weren’t big, but they were fun 15-30 pound fish and everyone had a blast. Winds came up later in the week and it as harder to get out and fish moved a little more outside, but it was some great fishing. In addition to the tuna, anglers also mixed it up with pargo, dorado and even a few marlin were hooked this week. Everyone took home fish!

FIRST PERSON REPORT:

Amigo, Kwame Satterfield came to see us and fish with us during the summer and came back again just this week, but this time brought his family. He took time to type this up for us. Thanks, amigo:

“Jonathan, I just want to say you have a first class outfit. Your people and the service you provide were excellent. My wife and son had the time of there life.. . In regards to the fishing, I now know what a wide open tuna bite is. I always wanted to catch a tuna, well I caught 11 hard core fighters that took me and my equipment to the limit. Man it was great! Also on the La Paz side I landed 3 nice dorado, overall this was my best trip ever. I got a chance to spend quality time with my family and also do what I love which is fish.”

PHOTO 4: Mark Kojima of Hacienda Heights CA made his first trip to La Paz and holds up one of the nice dorado he hooked.

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.”

TUNA and DORADO BEND RODS AFTER STORMS!

La Paz and Las Arenas Fishing Reports for Nov. 5, 2006

Photo 1: Kerry Armstrong has made two trips to La Paz and always seems to do well. Here she is with Capt. Martin off Espiritu Santo Island with a beautiful blue bull dorado. More on her trip below!

In an unbelievable start to November, blue water species make a great showing after last week’s storms. Tuna and dorado mix it up with pargo, snapper, sierra and cabrilla!

LA PAZ FISHING

It was hard to believe it was November, but dorado came roaring back for our boats and our anglers fishing out’ve La Paz. Sure, there were some seasonal winds, but fishing wasn’t too far anyway. Hitting that same honey hole just off Espiritu Santo Island big dorado foamed for many of the fishermen who jumped all over fish from 20-60 pounds.

Last week it almost seemed like the bluewater season was all but done after the stormy wintry weather that jumped all over us making fishing almost impossible. However, this week, it was like nothing had changed and the dorado were willing to pick up right where they left off and have been chewing the last 3 months in what to me has been the best dorado season in many many years! I mean…hey…it’s almost winter and we’re still hanging big bull dorado.

Using sardines, whole bonito and stripped bonito, the big mahi can change a slow day into pure frenzy. One of our good amigos who has been fishing with us for years told us that they got some of their fish, including their biggest…a 50 plus pounder by using live pufferfish! He said our popular Captain Chito kept a few in the bait tank and when the big dorado came up, he pinned them on the hook and dropped them back. “The fish hit in seconds!” said Mark. His dad, who has a bad back, and is 82 years old, toughed it out and fought the fish start to finish. Whenever Mark would try to help his dad would say, “Get away from me!”

Anyway, hard to say how long this will last, but we’ll take it for as long it lasts!

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Once again…surprises!!! Who’d have guessed that this late in the season yellowfin tuna would pay us another run! All week, I had told our anglers that the bluewater stuff was probably pretty much done for the season and to expect stuff like a few stray dorado, some snapper, some sierra and maybe some seabass. H0-hum! Fun stuff no doubt, but not always rod pumping stuff!

Then, whoa…what happened? The tuna showed up! It wasn’t WFO, but make no mistake this was fun football tuna fishing and a great surprise for the anglers who were taking 2-6 fish per panga rounded out with some sierra, snapper and pargo.

FIRST PERSON ACCOUNTS

Court and Kerry Armstrong – Salt Lake City Utah

“WOW , that,s all I can say about our last trip to fish with Tailhunters international , Jonathan Roldan,s fishing experience has not failed me yet ! This is my third trip to La Paz , and every trip has it’s highlights. We might get one slow day in a week but that is about it .
My daughter, Kerry has joined me for her second year in a row and already is planning for next year ! this year I brought a friend for his first trip to La Paz , Beau Valtinson and his daughter Mckell and they has a BALL!!

Beau was plenty excited to outfish me for the biggest fish of the trip a big Bull dorado of at least fifty or more !! But pound for pound I got him!!

Kerry and I filled two ice chests , and had to buy another and still had to put more fillets in the suitcase ! The local food was excellent except for one night at Applebees, so I recommend just eating as the locals do , the mexican hotdogs off the food carts are KILLER !! We also took a day and went diving at the SeaLion colony and it was a great first time scuba experience for my daughter, Kerry, and were totally blown away with the sea lions and all the lifeforms under the water !!! Thanks again for such a great trip Jonathan , you took care of us in every way that is the most important part in making everyone enjoy themselves !!! adios amigo… Court and Kerry Armstrong”

Photo 2 : Court Armstrong from Salt Lake City UT got a number of big bulls fishing almost an entire week with us.

Photo 3: Kerry Armstrong came with her dad. This was her second trip and she is never a slouch always getting some great fish.

FIRST PERSON REPORT

Craig Petersen, an Orange Co. California , chiropractor, is one of our amigos and regular free divers in La Paz. In freediving, it’s an amazing sport. It basically means spearfishing without the use of tanks which are illegal in Mexcio. Therefore, these incredible athletes have only the air they can inhale in a single breath and dive to incredible depths to hunt! A number of world records have been set in the La Paz area, but Bruce didn’t come to La Paz this week, but he went to Puerta Vallarta and it resulted in a new world record yellowfin tuna!

“I have been going down to Puerto Vallarta the last year to hunt for this fish. We were diving high spots around a rock about 25 miles out and making dives to about 50 ft and just hanging there for 30 seconds or so.

Once in a blue moon a monster tuna will swim by. On this dive I had just leveled off at 50 ft whenI saw him in the distance maybe 40 ft from me and moving toward me and to my left. I quickly kicked hard to close the distance and was able to get about 20 feet away before the fish started to act like he didn’t want my company.

I let the shaft fly and it found its mark a bit lower and further back than I would have liked and not as deep of penetration but I hoped the shot would hold. He pulled me around for at least 45 minutes-after it took 6 or 7 minutes just to find the float and another 10 to catch up to it. I think he died or was close to death as I could finally start to pull him up. As I got him to within 30 feet and clipped the end of my float line to my float and swam down to him I could see that the slip tip was toggled just under the skin!

I decied I would try to grab him and point him up and swim up with him. Tied him off to the boat-feeling great but I thot he was only 250 to 280. When we got him on board the captain said he was definately over 300! WOOOHOOO! Luckily we found an IGFA certified scale and well… I am one happy camper.”

Photo 4: Dr. CRAIG swims his tuna to the surface! Remember…no tanks allowed. This is all done with whatever air you can inhale in your lungs.

Photo 5: Fat tuna and a new world record 317 pound yellowfin tuna for CRAIG!

AIRLINE NEWS

In case you hadn’t heard, Alaska Airlines is now flying from Los Angeles to La Paz 3 times a week. They commence flights from the San Francisco Area Nov. 15th. Beginning on Dec. 15th, Delta Airlines under the name of “Eastern Atlantic” starts flying from Los Angeles to La Paz.

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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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.”

RAIN SUN WIND AND DORADO!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Oct. 28, 2006

PHOTO 1 – This is simply an incredible fish. Check out the size of the head of this freaky beast dorado! On the left is Mark Logan helping his amigo, Jerry Pelton, both from the Palm Springs area. The fish is estimated at 65 pounds and took Jerry almost 2 1/2 hours on 20 pound string. He was glad that I recommended he put on some 40 pound leader because this fish put the wood to him. The other part of the story is that Mark did not remain idle while his buddy battled the big toad mahi. Mark kept his own line in the water and caught and released several limits of his own dorado! Mark would later put an even larger fish aboard. This horse was caught just north of La Paz

WHAT A WEEK!!!!

What a way to taper off the season. Out of nowhere, hurricane warnings. Winds, waves, rain all hit La Paz in a freak storm, but in between, we still did manage a few dorado and when they hit they blew up big time!

LA PAZ FISHING

I’m not even sure where to start. What a freaky freaky week. Amigos, we’re supposed to be D-O-N-E with this kind of weather of any kind! Two weeks ago were were all saying it was finally cooling off and looking at some great fall dorado fishing. The next thing you know we’re getting the alarms going off that Hurricane Paul was on the way!!! No one can ever rememeber a hurricane this late in the year or even rain!

We did as much fishing as we could as we all watched the winds increase and clouds come in from the south. With each approaching day…it just looked more and more ominous as we also watched the computer weather screens and jumped at any info we could.

But, we kept going out until the very last minute when the rain started falling. Headed out to that same area north of La Paz and to the south of Espiritu Santo Island, the dorado weren’t much affected and if you found the right spot you could do some serious damage in short order! Not just punk fish either…I’m talking the big trophy bulls and there were several fish in the 50-70 pound class size this week. One day they would eat only sardines. The next it was only bonito strips or the whole bonito. They guys who fished those last days got slammed in the waves and wet from the rain and fished until they absolutely had to turn it around.

Then, the rain came and came and came. So did the wind. The full force of the hurricane never hit, but it was enough that we couldn’t fish. It was yucky for about 3 days. More like being in Seattle or Oregon with 100 percent humidity. The roads from Cabo were bad. Cabo itself closed the port. Almost all our clients from mid-week on canceled their trips.

On Thursday the clouds parted long enough to get out although it was still rough. The few boats that got out all got dorado.

That got us encouraged to go out on Friday. Bad move. Let me put it this way…the winds and waves were so big and so strong that the entire fleet was back by 8:30 a.m. I was on a super panga myself and we got soaked and blasted. After an hour we were going so slowly through the chop and swells that we hadn’t even passed Pichlingue Marina. Panga after panga turned around and headed back. The waves were coming straight at us and higher than the panga and we’d chug up the face then slam down over and over until our teeth rattled. By this time we had lost the bilge pump; the bait pump AND the radio! We were going to try to keep going but when we started seeing 50 and 60 foot sportfishers turn around, we figured our 22 foot super panga had not business out there!

Coming back, we literally surfed down the faces of waves trying not to broach the boat and get rolled. Kinda scary! When we got back, for those of you that have been to La Paz, imagine waves at La Concha Beach big enough to ride a surfboard or body surf! Imagine the entire bay filled with churning white water even though the sun was out bright. Imagine huge waves hitting the Malecon (waterfront) downtown and throwing spray all over the road! Yea…it was that kinda day…

The next few days it’s supposed to calm down. At least the sun is out, but the weather folks say this wind is part of the Santa Ana winds buffeting California right now.

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Easy…we couldn’t. Rain hammered the roads again making it dangerous and winds on the water made it the type of water you wouldn’t want to be on either. Northern winds are the worst!

NOT SURE I BELIEVE IT BUT…

Boys and girls…guess what? Aero California says it’s refunding money to those of us that got stuck with tickets when they were pulled outta the air. Don’t get mad at me, I’m on the messenger, but they say if you mail a letter to:

Roberto Castro
Aero California
Alvaro Obregon #550
La PazBaja California SurMexico 23000
Include the ticket numbers, passengers names, address, telephone number, and credit card for refund.

My take…

I won’t believe it until I see it! Most of you know what we’ve gone through with Aero Cal all year. In fact, last week, I purposely put on my “angry face” and marched into the Aero Cal office here in La Paz just to see what they would say if I pretended to demand a refund. I marched right up to one of the counter gals and in both English AND Spanish, I demanded a refund. She said, “No refunds!” I demanded again. She repeated her response and giggled. I demanded again and looked at the rest of the ladies at the counter all watching me. Then they started to laugh. I couldn’t keep up the charade and started laughing too. I knew that was going to happen.

Frankly, I think you’re still better off going through your credit card company. It would be just like us to mail our stuff to Aero Cal then it “disappears.” When you call them to find out what happened, they won’t know anything! They haven’t known anything all year. Why now?

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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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.”