Steve Green from Alaska staying at Rancho Costa in Bahia de los Muertos took a nice big cabrilla with some afternoon fishing dragging a deep diver. Thanks Gary Wagner for the photo.
You can tell it’s a little chilly when folks from Alaska like Mic Ward is wearing long pants and fleecewear! But another nice cabrilla off the rocks while staying at Rancho Costa.
Captain Moncho working for Rancho Costa there in Muertos Bay used a Rapala to hang this grouper with Chuck Chandler from Idaho.
CHILLY AND COLD KEEPS THE FISHING TO INSHORE SPECIES
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 5-12, 2017
The cold and windy conditions returned this past week which was the downside. The upside is that there weren’t many folks fishing. But, that’s how it is in the winter off-season. The fishing that could be had was confined mostly to inshore fishing so we couldn’t follow up on last-week’s yellowtail bite over at the sound end of Cerralvo Island. Or look for mackerel.
That being said, slow trolling off the rocky areas of Punta Perrico and just outside the point at Bahia de los Muertos using Rapalas. The areas also produced yellow snapper, jack crevalle and barred pargo. Just off the drop-off, we also found some bonito. Encouragingly, we also spotted some rooster fish off the Arenas lighthouse, but the fish weren’t interested and were moving fast.
Looks like there’s going to be a bit more wind this coming week and a chance of rain. We’ll keep you posted.
WHALES WATCHING SEASON IN FULL SWING
Our yearly whale-watching tours in Bahia Magdalena are in full swing right now. The whales are here usually until mid-March. Check out this video sent to us by our Tailhunter Restaurant manager, Gerry Becerra. Turn up your sound! Write us directly for more info and we’ll set you up for an incredible time! Write to me at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
THANKS FOR THE HOSPITALITY OREGON!
We just spent an incredible awesome week in Portland at the Northwest Sportsmans Expo…the largest hunting and fishing show Pacific Northwest. Once again, Oregon, you were great and we always have an awesome time and it was great to see so many of our good friends and Tailhunter Tribe! You rock. We are also looking forward to seeing lots of you in La Paz this year and we got lots of reservations.
Now after 5 weeks and 4 weeks of shows…Denver…Sacramento…Seattle…Portland in the books, here we come Salt Lake City and the Western Hunt Show at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City. Thursday to Sunday! Come see us. To wrap up. here’s some fun shots from last weeks’ show.
Thanks to Bob Layko and Craig Brown for the great BEAVER STATE gift. The life ring is actually off a ship that Bob worked on and will look great in our Tailhunter Restaurant if we can find a way to get it down there!
Funny shirt! Posing with Jilly and Shea!
It’s always a party at the Tailhunter Booth! Our Oregon friends toasting with something in those little dixie cups!
The original Bob LeBeau originator of the Hunter Hohner knife sharpener “Making Knives Great Again” who has been on the road with us over 30 years!
Two of the best! Phil and Matt sharing some laughs and an adult beverage with Jilly! Thanks for the “goodies” guys! We love the care package!
Once again, Craig Brown and Bob Layko! They’re coming back to visit us in October for the 5th straight year!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Not just a pretty fish, but a pretty photo! I hope our amigo and ace fisherman, Roger Thompson, frames this photo of his golden grouper. He’s caught a ton of great fish over the years, but this one is especially cool. He was fishing with his favorite Captain Hugo and took this on a…(wait for it)…a trolled Rapala!
Carl Lange and Ken Gragg from Bakersfield visit us 2-3 times a year and are two of our best winter-time fishermen. As Ken told me, “We caught the only two dorado in the bay!” It’s not normal to see warm-water fish like this in the winter.
Talk about unusual fish in the winter…TUNA? Our own captain Armando was out with his amigo from La Paz and they tied onto these two 30-pound class yellowfin tuna right off the beach near the old Hotel Las Arenas in shallow water using mackerel and squid.
Donna Thompson always gets fish and on this particular day, she nailed two nice yellowtail…our first documented yellowtail of the season…off the south end of Cerralvo Island and they lost a few more they couldn’t stop from busting off while trolling Rapalas with Capt. Hugo.
Happy smile from Chuck Chandler of Idaho with a nice fat cabrilla! Great eating.
Our friend Gary Wagner who owns the Rancho Costa Hotel and the famous Giggling Marlin Bar in Cabo with a nice cabrilla and Ken Ward from Alaska sort of photo-bombing with a sierra over Gary’s head.
It was a great week to pull big fish out’ve the rocks! Steve Green from Idaho with another fat cabrilla.
Not an usual combination this week! Ken Gragg with the cabrilla and Carl Lange with a sierra and their favorite Captain Pancho.
Jack got into the big yellowtail as well. You can see the deep-running Rapala sticking out’ve the fish’s mouth. He was working that area at the south end of Cerralvo Island just across from where he was staying in La Ventana.
Here we come, Oregon! We’ve done 3 weeks of shows now…Denver…Sacramento…and Seattle and we’re doing great with reservations! The Tailhunter Tour now takes us to the largest show in the Pacific Northwest. From Wednesday to Sunday, we’ll be at the Portland Expo Center. More info below! Come see us and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz!
WHAT A DIFFERENCE WHEN THE WIND GIVES US A BREAK!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 2017
What a difference a week makes! Whereas the past few weeks we had the regularly season strong winds that really stirred things up and made most days unmissable, this past week we had some of the nicest weather in quite a while. It was still on the cool side (our staff used the word “COLD!”), but it’s all relative, right? It still usually required fishing with jackets and sweatshirts. But, having some flat water and lower winds made all the difference.
It wasn’t wide open or crazy fishing by any stretch, but generally speaking, at least we caught fish and there were some real surprises. In addition to the usual cold-water fish we catch this time of year that included inshore species like cabrilla, snapper, sierra, bonito and cargo, we also saw some of the quality fish like yellowtail as well as dorado and tuna.
The yellowtail aren’t a real surprise, although maybe they are a tad early. It’s great news because these are the first yellowtail we’re seeing. But, the real surprise was also having warm-water species like dorado and tuna also in the same areas! Those are the kind of species we might see in May or June mixed together. Again, nothing spectacular in the bite, but still really a bonus to go out on the water and get species like these!
One of the best spots was at the south end of Cerralvo Island. We found some mackerel in the area which is great candy-bait for these fish but also trolling deep-running crank baits like the Rapala 15’s and 30’s worked some of these big fish up.
Hopefully the winds stay down, but generally the windy months continue until March. We’ll keep you posted!
HERE WE COME PORTLAND SPORTSMANS SHOW!
One of our funnest shows and the largest in the Pacific Northwest, we’ll be in Portland this week from Wednesday to Sunday in the Tailhunter booth! We’re looking forward to seeing you!
Here we come Portland! Jill and I will be bringing the new Tailhunter booth plus new shirts and brochures to the Portland Expo Center this week. We’ll be at the Pacific Northwest Outdoor Show from Wednesday to Sunday. Here’s more info and how to get discount tickets:
This is the largest show in the Pacific Northwest and massively huge with tons of stuff for the whole family to see. Come say hi and check out the new t-shirts and brochures and let’s chat about fishing in La Paz this year!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Turn up the sound! This is some incredible video of what it can be like trying to fish right now. This is normally calm-flat Bahia de Los Muertos. Folks get sometimes upset and disappointed when I try to tell them why this is off-season for fishing.
Robert Hutton hosts another big jack aboard.
Despite the crazy weather, bravo to Robert Hutton who still wanted to go out two days and did remarkably well with big jacks, cabrilla and a few other other species fishing both days with Captain Armando
Cold and Windy Days Mark the Week
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 22-29, 2017
I guess I could fib a bit and finally say fishing was great and conditions are great, but that wouldn’t be true and definitely not do anyone any good. I’d rather be up-front. It was cold. It was windy. There were waves. Even locals hunkered down a bit.
But, I keep getting asked why, it’s like this and why the fishing reports sound repetitive. It’s like this because IT’S WINTER! It’s ALWAYS like this in winter. It’s windy. It’s cold. That’s why it’s called W-I-N-T-E-R. From December to about March or so, this is how it can be. It’s not like winter in say, Canada or Montana or anywhere like that, but relatively speaking, we think it’s kinda chilly when it’s in the high 60’s in the day and down to 50 at night. That’s kinda chilly for those of us south of the border. To our snowbirds that are in town, that are visiting from Massachusetts or Colorado, it’s wonderful and sunny. It beats being in the snow, right?
However, not so good being on the water.
Anyway, despite the less than stellar conditions, we did have some folks who wanted to brave the elements. I was surprised by how well they did. In addition to bonito, some huge yellowtail jacks (not THE yellowtail), smaller pargo, snapper and even some small dorado, we almost had two marlin baited. All of these were pretty much close to shore since we couldn’t get too far out anyway. But, given the weather situation and the time of year, I’m surprised we’ve got marlin and dorado around. But that’s encouraging.
The weather forecast looks to be improving for the coming week, but normally, this is gonna be like this off-and-on until about March or April.
WHALEWATCHING SEASON ROCKING IT!
Our annual whale watching season is in full swing and we’re making daily trips out to Bahia Magdalena at Lopez Mateos where the whales migrate to and hang out every year from January to March. It’s a great family outing to visit the whales in the shallow warm waters for the bay. Contact me directly for more info and how we can set you up. Jonathan@tailhunter.com
THANKS WASHINGTON – TAILHUNTER TOUR MOVES TO OREGON NOW!
Turn up the volume. A quick video of some of the action at our Tailhunter booth at the Washington State Sportsman’s Show this past week!
We had another fantastic 5-day show at the Washington State Fairgrounds this past week. Great to see so many old amigos and we’re looking forward to so many coming to see us again in La Paz to come fish. Here’s some quick shots of some of the fun and friends.
We’re now headed to the awesome Pacific Northwest Sportman’s Show. It’ll be at the Portland Expo Center and this is massive. It’s the largest show in the Pacific NW and it’s huge. Incredible things for the whole family. Come visit us and let’s chat about visiting La Paz this year!
Dave Rose and his family have been part of the Tailhunter Tribe for so many years. He and the boys, A.J. and Sean will be visiting us again in August.
Travis Millspaugh and his family visited us for the first time last year. And they’re coming back this October!!!
What a great surprise to have our La Paz friends, Tom and Jeanne Brown suddenly just jump on a plane and show up in Washington to see us!
Jilly shares some special “Tailhunter Brew” with Matt and Darcia Garrett…and that’s how it started…LOL
Karen Egbert just found out her photo from last year with her big roosterfish just showed up on our new tablecloth and our 2017 brochure!
Dan and Lisa Hicks with Sammy…one of our most favorite of families will be visiting us again this September!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Here we go! We’re starting our 2017 Road Tour! Jill and I will be on the road for our 21st year travelling with our booth to all the best and biggest fishing and hunting shows and this week, we kick it off at the Denver Convention Center for the International Sportsmens Expo. It’s Jan. 12-15th. Come see us and let’s talk fishing!
Whalewatching season is finally on! The whales have started arriving at Bahia Magdalena and Tailhunter is running day trips or overnight trips to spend time with these unbelievable creatures! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Ask me about details: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
Whalesharks are now right in La Paz Bay in the shallow water just a few hundred yards from the malecon. We’re running trips to go swim with the whalesharks now. Ask us about this incredible adventure!
MOSTLY INSHORE FISH and WIND to START THE YEAR
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 2-9, 2017
Not much to tell this week. I think the town and visitors were still in “holiday hangover” from Christmas and New Years. Normally, this time of year, the folks who come fishing are walk-in clients off the street. Instead of being anglers who book months in advance who come for a “fishing trip,” these are visitors to town or snowbirds who’d just like a day of fishing.
However, it’s windy this time of year so either we’re up-front and tell them it can be rough and bumpy or the day they want will be so bad, we don’t recommend going out at all. Or, in some cases, they look out at the bay and see all the white-caps they decide to just soak up the 80 degree sun on the beach with a margarita instead. Nothing wrong with that scenario either!
So, just not many folks out fishing.
HERE WE COME DENVER!
We only had about 2 days this past week that were fishable. Inshore is where most of the action was found with cabrilla (sea bass), snapper, barred pargo and jack crevalle. All fun action especially on lighter tackle, but a few of the larger pargo broke off in the rocks even on the heavier gear. Offshore, a few wahoo bit and were lost, but a few of the commercial fishermen landed a couple and also some tuna were hooked. We’ll keep an eye on that. Pretty unusual to see blue-water species like that this time of year!
Tailhunter Sportfishing starts it’s 2017 “road tour” this week. We’ll be at the International Sportsman’s Expo in our booth at the Denver Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday, January 12-15th. Come visit us and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year!
Weather – Pleasantly sunny, but cooling off. Days high 80’s. Nights high 60’s (We’re using blankets at night!)
Water – Relatively still warm in the 80’s, but losing visibility as winds starting to churn up the water a bit
Wind – Becoming more of an issue and now getting more northerns. Had to suggest some folks wait a few days to fish because it was too rough outside and gusts blowing double digits.
Fishing Quantity – Lots of dorado if you fished with our La Paz Fleet. Only 1-2 fish per panga at Las Arenas, but they could be 20-50 pounders.
Fishing Quality – The La Paz dorado continue to be dinks…5-10 pounds. The larger wahoo this week were 40-pound class.
Jonathan’s Forecast – Gonna get windier and cooler as we head towards winter. Not hardly anyone on the water anymore.
Jonathan’s Attitude – Grateful and blessed to have reached pretty much the end of our 21st season here. Another year of great memories and so many smiles with all our Tailhunter Tribe.
THE FULL EDITION FISHING REPORT
That’s alot of wahoo meat! Linda Canizzo and Jack Stewart just had one day to fish but put this phat ‘hoo in the boat at Muertos Bay.
First day on the water for L.P. Hieb and his dad, Paul, produced this nice wahoo and a yellowfin tuna. Several other fish were also lost. It was a week where we got wahoo, but there were alot of bite-offs and lost lures. The wahoo were getting smarter!
You can tell the seasons are changing. From Rock Springs, Wyoming, Brandon and Tanya McGarr show off the type of catch we’ll be seeing more of…a mix of offshore/inshore species with the inshore species becoming more prevailant. But a sweet mix of fish including a tuna snapper, pargo, triggerfish and bonito.
Day 2 on the water for L.P and Paul produced a double handful of more wahoo for them out’ve Muertos Bay.
Happy Fella…Jack Steele spends a good part of the year in La Ventana and fishing with Captain Hugo put the wood to another speedy wahoo.
FULL MOON WAHOO PACE CHANGING BITE & CONDITIONS
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 6-13, 2016
Fishing conditions and seasons are definitely changing.
With each passing week, it’s a little cooler…a little breezier…the sun is going down earlier…the shadows are getting longer. But, it’s still a great time to be here with lots of sunshine mixed with an occasional passing localized pleasant afternoon shower. Temperatures have been in the high 80’s and evenings have been great an in the high 60’s. Fewer fishermen are here. Fewer families are here as well now that we’re approaching the holiday season. However, there’s snowbirds coming for vacations or seasonal residents escaping their colder homes to spend the winter here in La Paz.
As for fishing, once again, it seems that the closer we get to the full moon…and during the full moon…the better the fishing. As I mentioned, there’s not many anglers out on the water so you almost have the whole ocean to yourself and, although we’re seeing more and more cooler water fish like sierras, cabrilla, jack crevalle, pargo and rainbow runner, there’s still some great blue water pelagic fishing to be done. And, as I said, without many folks here, you’ve got the fishing grounds pretty much to yourself and not much pressure on the fish!
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, as it has been been pretty much all season, the schoolie-sized dorado are still the main catch. They’re smallish, but fun and provide lots of action. Catch-and-release has been very common because you can hook way over your limit in short order. Anglers get enough for their limits and coolers or for dinner and then keep fishing just for fun and letting the extra fish go.
Most of the dorado continue to be 5-10 pounds, but occasionally, there’s a 15 or 20 pounder makes it in. Often, there’s so many “squirts” they don’t give the bigger fish a chance to grab the bait! In those same areas, there’s still some marlin and sailfish feeding as well providing the occasional hookups.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet out’ve Muertos Bay, I was really surprised that we are still getting so many wahoo! In fact, almost every day, our pangas were hooking 1-5 wahoo each. Of course, that’s a generalization. It changed from day-to-day. Howver… Maybe getting 1 or 2 to the panga, but these are quality 20-40 pound fish! Great fun and great eating. Experienced anglers are getting even better scores.
One thing…we’ve been seeing wahoo almost all year. Now that we’re at the end of the year, I think the wahoo have gotten a little more clever. We’re sure losing alot more fish than before…even for our veteran anglers. I think the wahoo have learned to hit the trolled Rapalas from the side thereby cutting the lines. Rods go bendo then ZIP!!! Just like that, the lure is gone in a snap.
As well, there’s still flurries of 20-30 pound yellowfin tuna hanging out as well and willing to eat the chunked squid drifted down on a bare hook in the current.
No real roosterfish to speak of this week, but not really anyone chasing roosterfish this time of year. But it doesn’t mean they aren’t still out there. It’s just the wahoo and tuna have gotten (understandably) most of the focus.
But, with the cooling conditions, we’re seeing alot more variety. A little more of this and that and more inshore species. For sure, winds have become more and more of an issue and there were several days this week that we recommended that the clients stay in and wait a day or two before going out on the water.
It’s going to be coming more common as the north winds increase.
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION
All the way from Alaska, Lonn and Emma Goldbeck brought down school supplies and toothbrushes along with some great smiles. Lonn is a guide for Hellbent Sportfishing in Alaska. Emma is a school teacher.
End of the season big shout out to EVERYONE all year who brought down so many good and great things for our families and kids in the barrio and the orphanage as well as the women’s shelter. Grateful beyond words at what a difference you made in other’s lives and the smiles you all created. I’m sorry that I also didn’t get Brandon and Tanya McGarr’s photo for this week’s donations!
…and one more big thank you from us
Well…eleven months later, it looks like we’ve come to the end of another season here in La Paz. If anyone is counting, I believe that wraps up 21-years! Jill has already left for the states and I’ll be following in a few days to start getting ready to hit the road on our annual tour of the fishing and hunting shows from late December to the end of March.
We have alot to do now to get the booth together…print out a zillion t-shirts…and brand new 24-page brochure…re-build a new website and find all our winter clothes in storage! I’ll post up all the cities we’ll be visiting in a report in a few weeks. I believe we hit 14 cities in 2017 so I hope we see you there!
But before we pull the curtain down, a few parting words…
You can still come to fish. Our awesome staff will take good care of you in our absence.
The Tailhunter Restaurant is ALWAY open and the margaritas and tacos will still be waiting for you along with our great Tailhunter Team so don’t be shy!
Finally, NOTHING happens without you and because of YOU! We are blessed to do what we do and honored that you share your special vacations and Kodak moments with us. We are beyond grateful. How many jobs can claim that “most of our clients also become our friends?” Thank you all. God bless and best fishes!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL
La Paz, Baja, Mexico
Mexico office: 755 Obregon, La Paz, BCS, Mexico
Phone: 612-12-53311
U.S. Office Mailing Address: 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Weather – Nice Sunny high 80’s to low 90’s. Getting a little more breezy and cooling down. More north winds.
Water– Still nice, but cooling. Mid-80’s. Seeing more cooler water fish moving in. Colder thermoclines.
Quality of Fish – Billfish, tuna and wahoo are good sized when you can get them.
Quantity of Fish – If you fish La Paz, you can get lots of dorado. If you fish Las Arenas, fewer fish, but bigger fish.
Forecast– For coming week weather looks good. Nothing special forecast except sun! But winds getting stronger.
Jonathan’s Attitude – Great! It’s been a long season and we’re coming to end of our 21st season. And fish are still biting!
THE BIG PICTURE FULL EDITION FISHING REPORT
Bruce McFadden is the sales director at the famous Peregine Lodge in Canada and had just one day to fish on a quick visit to us in La Paz. With his wife Leticia and Captain Pancho, they tied into Bruce’s first marlin that he fought for 40 minutes before it got off. (they were going to release it) Then, they got this sailfish but were unable to let it go and generously donated the meat to the pueblo.
Our good amigo, Paul Nagata from San Francisco, with a chunky tuna he caught earlier in the week off Las Arenas on dead squid.
Really great first-timer with us, Scott Evans, tied into this yellowfin tuna and is all smiles and thumbs with Captain Jorge.
LATE SEASON STILL HOLDING BLUE WATER FISH
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2016
Conditions couldn’t have been nicer this past week for weather and water although it’s obvious that everything is changing as we move through the late fall and towards winter. The sun is out and you really couldn’t ask for nicer days in the high 80’s with cooler nights in the low 70’s and high 60’s. (Us locals are wearing sweatshirts and even some jackets now!). Water is getting a little cooler too. All part of the cycle.
Moreso, you can tell we’ve pretty much come to the end of our regular season.
We’ve been rolling full steam since the end of March with as many as 20-50 anglers per day for 7 days-per-week. Now, we’re down to about less than 10 per week and that will continue to taper. From November to March, we might see only a handful as winds get stronger from the north; the waters get a bit rougher; and the “glamour” fish go elsewhere. There will still be fish to catch, but the majority will be inshore species and cooler water species like pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners and sierra. That doesn’t mean fishing is bad. Just different and surely not to discount some of our cooler water “beasts” like amberjack and yellowtail that can still yank you right outta your socks!
So…to be more specific…we didn’t really fish too much with our La Paz fleet. Winds are already coming from the north and making it bumpy and most of our anglers might do one or two days, and catch a cooler of small dorado between 5-10 pounds, but then want to chase the larger species.
So most of our fishing has been with our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fleet.
There’s some larger dorado there. The wahoo are still hanging around and surprisingly some marlin and sailfish pretty late in the season. There were two blue marlin hooked this week and several stripers and at least one-sailfish.
No tuna for once, but there are several factors that might play into that:
1. The tuna might have started moving out after about 2 months of them being around.
2. We did see some tuna, but moving fast on the surface and headed elsewhere and too fast to get on them
3. Not as many anglers out there from our fleet or any fleet to really pinpoint where the fish might be. (It’s alot easier when a number of pangas are on the water)
4. The few anglers we had this week wanted to spend most of their time chasing other species.
I guess we’ll see how it goes this week!
Some of the other species we got were rainbow runners, pargo, cabrilla and small bonito.
18th ANNUAL LOS CABOS TUNA JACKPOT TOURNAMENT
Team “Tu Corazon” from Los Barriles had the biggest tuna of the tournament with a fish that pulled at 298 pounds. It was worth over $100 thousand dollars, but was not the biggest money winner of the tournament. It did win for biggest fish of the tournament and biggest fish of the first day.
There were lots of fish in the 80-150 pound class that were caught by the 169 teams, but were never weighed because they would not have qualified since we had alot of 180-200 pounders and 8 fish over 200 pounds. These were beasts that were taking 3-4 hours to pull aboard.
Lots of big wahoo were caught both days. The two winning wahoo were 53 and 52 pounds respectively and were worth more than $60 thousand dollars each.
There were a record breaking 169 teams involved from all over the world and all over the U.S. and Mexico. Lots of teams from California, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. We had one team from Luxembourg and we’ve had teams from Japan and Russia competing. Good to see so many local teams and also teams from Mexico City as well. There was a record payout for the tournament of almost $800 thousand dollars.
Mark Rayor’s boat the “Vaquera” briefly held the money lead with this 251-pound yellowfin. This was the largest tournament in Mexico history and the largest tuna tournament in the world.
The teams from Texas are always colorful! “It’s not fuschia…that’s too big a word in Texas…It’s PINK!” they told us!
On the last day with only minutes to go before the scales closed, Team Reel Quest literally destroyed the field when they backed into the docks with 5 huge yellowfin tuna parked up against their transom weighing between 150 and 274 pounds. No one had seen anything like it and the huge crowd was cheering! Their 274 and another fish of 251 were the 2nd and 3rd largest fish of the tournament. Largest was a 298 caught the first day.
Team Reel Quest’s fish of 274 pounds wasn’t the largest fish of the tournament, but it was the largest of the 2nd day and it swept all the jackpot categories and resulted in the highest payout ever in the history of the tournament of almost $400 thousand dollars.
Jill and spent this last week working at the Western Outdoor News 18th Annual Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot Tournament in Cabo San Lucas. It’s always fun and great to see so many good friends every year.
This year had the largest field ever with 168 teams and 621 anglers from around the world. Lots of teams from the Western U.S including California, Alaska, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and Idaho. Plus so many teams from Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Florida. I met anglers from Russia, Japan and even one team from Luxembourg in Europe…a first! (And their first time ever in Cabo or Mexico!).
Mexico also had a great representation with a huge number of teams from Cabo San Lucas, Los Barriles and La Paz plus teams from Mexico City and Puerta Vallarta as well. As you can imagine, these local “experts” all did well!
The field made this the largest tuna tournament in the world…and the largest tournament in Mexico. We had a record purse of almost $800 thousand dollars plus raised almost $40 thousand in charity funds for dental work for kids in Los Cabos.
Thanks to everyone who made it the best tournament ever. What a great time with great friends!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
This was done really really early in the morning after we had put out our boats and I did NOT wear my day-glow green shirt this time!
THE ABBREVIATED FISHING REPORT
Weather – Nice. High 90’s day/ high 60’s night Very pleasant. Getting cooler. Had two days quite windy
Water – Blue and generally clear. Surface temps in the mid-80’s. But cooling down with the weather
Las Arenas Bite – The fish were twice as big. But not many. Tuna and wahoo main targets. Lost more fish than we should.
La Paz Bite – All the little dorado you want. Can be like a fish pond. Releasing lots. Some marlin still around.
Forecast – Really tapering off. Gone from 20-40 fishermen a day to 4-8 per day. Holidays approaching. More snowbirds. and folks who just look for some sunshine and not necessarily here for water sports. Town is nicely quiet!
Whalesharks – Got 3-8 right out in front in 10 feet of water. Mostly 10-15 foot “babies” but there’s a few 20-30 footers too! Fun swimming with them!
Quote of the Week – “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can by a fishing rod and that’s pretty much the same thing!”
THE WHOLE ENCHILADA EDITION FISHING REPORT
Now THIS is a good day! Jorge Romero with Captain Ramon “Moncho” Green stuck 6 nice tuna out’ve Muertos Bay using squid.
Rusty Cain has made two trips with us this year and loves fishing with Captain Armando. He got his first tuna and he also nailed this fat speedy wahoo as well!
Our great fun family from Washington, the Millspaughs spent the whole week fishing with us. Check out the variety here…tuna…wahoo…roosterfish…dorado. Left to right, we have Tanner, Travis, Kendell and Julie. They tried to release the rooster, but couldn’t.
Captain Gerardo poses with Kirsten Ettner and Mike Hanson from Oregon and a couple of their Muertos Bay tuna!
Our San Francisco buddy, Paul Nagata visits us each year…sometimes twice a year and poses with one of the heavier tuna of the week.
New amigo from the Bay Area, Scott Evans was always smiling and fished hard despite the tougher bite. He’s all smiles here with one of his tuna.
Captain Armando with Justin Thomas from San Diego fishing with his father-in-law, Rusty Cain from Lemoore, CA. For each of them, it was their first tuna!
The Millspaugh family again with another fun day’s catch of tuna! That’s alot of fillets! They took 6 ice chests of fish home with them after a week on the water.
Captain Jorge holds up Scott’s tuna while he sneaks in a little peck on the cheek!
That’s a hefty chunk of tuna for Travis Millspaugh. The fish this week were definitely bigger…and tougher!
Paul didn’t get many tuna this week, but at least they were quality fish like this tuna with Captain Jorge.
END OF SEASON – FEWER FISH…BIGGER FISH!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 23-30, 2016
Now that we’ve come to the end of the month, I can say to all doubters…the best bite of the month took place during the full moon! We had some pretty great conditions this past week, but it seemed that the further we got away from the full moon the pickier the fish got. Still, everyone got bit. Everyone took home fish. The action just wasn’t as heady as it had been the previous week or the week before. In many respects, the fish were bigger…twice a big as before! But only half as many fish were caught which meant some days some anglers didn’t get anything while their buddy caught one or two fish!
Also, water are getting cooler. We’re coming up on the end of the season and conditions are changing. We’re getting cooler water fish like amberjack and sierra and the winds are also noticeably just a little stronger from the north week-by-week.
LA PAZ FISHING
For the most part, not much changed. I almost don’t even count the fishing anymore. The dorado are there. They have been there for months. Some days all you want. And more! You can catch easily limits by noon. Stay out longer and catch-and-release many more.
The problem is, they’re relatively all small fish. Five pound mahi up to maybe 10 pounds. If you wanna bring the kids or the family or don’t have much experience this is awfully fun and sometimes frantic with double and triple hookups. Fill your cooler!
On the other hand, after a day-or-two, most folks have the “cake” and go for the larger and more elusive fish at Las Arenas.
There are billfish out there still. Mostly eating the smaller dorado. Sent one panga out specifically only for marlin and they hooked four and lost 3 after nice fights.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY
In a word…the fish got twice as big this week. But, there were less than half-as-many!
Basically, whereas we were catching 3, 4…6 ten-to-fifteen-pound tuna before, this week the fish were 20-35 pounds, but the boats only averaged 1-3 fish each. Sometimes not even that. But, these were definitely bigger, heartier and feistier fish. I can only think what the counts would be like if so many fish had not been lost. But, alot were lost!
Several reasons for that…
1. Tougher fish and bigger fish
2. Lack of experience (all part of the fun!)
3. Danged triggerfish (we’re using chunked squid for bait. The triggerfish dive bomb the squid. Their teeth nick up the line. Then a tuna bites. The line snaps under pressure!)
Same with the wahoo. The fish are definitely there and we got a couple. But lost so many more. Seems like the fish are bigger and surely more vicious. Or maybe just smarter. We’re losing alot of trolling lures the past few weeks to fish that seem to know how to hit the lines from the side…or something! Only getting maybe 1 for every four fish that we hooked.
Other species included some late-season rooster fish; scattered dorado; bonito; lots of triggerfish; sierra and even an amberjack. A few marlin hooked too and lost.
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION
Check out all the sports gear and bags and bags of pencils and pens from Paul Nagata and Scott Evans. Some cool medical supplies as well and backpacks! Jilly jumps into the photo.
Always fun to have them visit, Al Jones and Jeanne Sheasby brought a load of much needed school supplies for us!
Out with a bang! If this is about the end of our season, there was surely no end to the generosity of our Tailhunter Tribal family who continued to bring so many goods for our supported charities. Thanks to all of you and a special shout-out to Vic Patton, Joe Barrera and Tom Maher who brought a huge bag of clothes I could barely carrry it. I didn’t get a chance to take their photo and give them the proper props. You guys rock! Muchas gracias!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – Cooler than normal, but lots of sun. Low 90’s and sunny in the day / High 70’s low 80’s night with breeze.
Wind – Was great all week until wind blow late in the week and screwed up the Las Arenas bite.
Water – Temps in high 80’s and blue
Fishing Quality – During full moon early in the week the bite was great for nice tuna, wahoo, roosterfish and dorado. Then at the end of the week it stank at Las Arenas. La Paz – mostly only small to medium dorado.
Fishing Quantity – Fewer but bigger slugger fish at Las Arenas with 1-6 fish per panga. La Paz, limits of small dorado most days.
Coming Week? – Waters cooling. Winter-type winds increasing. Catching more sierra and rainbow runners. Hope the tuna haven’t left us!
Quote of the Week – “To fish is human. To throw back is divine.”
THE BIG PICTURE
John Luker from Arroyo Grande CA has been our amigo for more years than I can count. Always a pleasure to have him here just like having a handful of nice fat yellowfin tuna!
I love this photo! Even Captain Arcangel looks like he’s in pain holding up these tough fish. Michelle was really really tired and said she had a sore back and arms from fighting fish! She and husband, Rudy, went home with 3 good days of fish in the ice chests.
Fresh on for the box! Great shot of Greg Hayes with a hot wahoo struggling not to get it’s photo taken!
Texas in the house! Kelli Hohn from Pipe Creek TX was fishing with Captain Hugo and has a colorful yellowfin tuna on the gaff!
This photo is frameable! Amigo from N. California, Tim Butterworth has been visiting us for over a decade and he got his biggest wahoo and a fine fine photo to prove it!
Like I said in the report, the tuna got a little chunkier this week. Julio Cornejo was fishing with Captain Gerardo and shows off one of his yellowfin!
From Lakewood CA, Tim Stansell got himself a really pretty ‘hoo fishing out’ve Bahia de los Muertos with Capitan Hugo on Roger Thompson’s boat. Check out those colors!
The Pfaff Brothers from Clovis CA started their trip off nicely with some yellowfin tuna out’ve Bahia de los Muertos! Best mustaches of the week, guys! Great to have you here!
You will be hard pressed to find funner folks who were real troopers this week! Shayna and Jason Andersen from Utah hung in there tough all week and fished harder than anyone and always smiling even when the fishing was slow.
What better way to spend your 11th birthday? Tristan Cornejo from Whittier CA with a nice dorado and big smile north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.
Captain Armando had himself a very productive week like these two nice yellowfin while fishing with John and Maryann Mussel.
This might be the biggest dorado of the year! Dana Hohn does her best to cradle the big bull for a great photo. She’s from Texas.
First timers with us, Russ and Lisa Alex went home with alot of fish including a bunch of tuna fillets that they caught with Captain Pancho. They fished most of the week.
Big smiles for John Mussel and Captain Armando and one of the larger tuna of the week.
Captain Gerardo helps with the photo shoot with Steve Long and Dana Milano with a couple of nice tuna and a wahoo from their first day of fishing.
Like I said, Armando had a good week! Wahoo here for Craig Brown and Bob Layko our good amigos from the Pacific Northwest. Bob always comes down to celebrate his birthday with us.
Here she is! Always in the fish. Donna Thompson holding a pretty wahoo on her boat with Captain Hugo. The wahoo were elusive this week insofar as I heard alot of stories of fish biting off the lures! This one wasn’t so lucky.
Holy cow! That’s a big roosterfish! Captain Victor and Greg Hayes share a laugh as they try to heft up the big gallo before releasing it!
Kyle MacDonald and his buddy Chad Kerley from Glendale CA hold up a couple of their yellowfin tuna caught with Captain Armando out’ve Bahia de los Muertos. One of the fish is especially girthy!
Kelli Hohn again this time with her wahoo on the Thompson’s boat with Captain Hugo. Big smiles!
Another great shot! We love families and the Andie family from Paso Robles CA…Brooks, Kristi and sons Tye and Cooper (kissing the fish) had some fun days fishing with us!
Joe and Francisco Schimeck from Grass Valley CA got into the tuna too. Joe came back a 2nd day and got wahoo and more tuna!
Hard to see it here, but Lisa Alex could barely contain herself when she hooked and landed this trophy rooster! It was a great catch! The big fish was released.
“You really want me to fight the fish AND lift them both up for a photo?” Cooper Andie from Paso Robles looks a bit worn out!
A pretty good day and alot of heavy fillets for the cooler for the Cornejo boys with three good-sized yellowfin and a wahoo to top it off!
Greg Hayes has one of the larger bull dorado of the week. Normally ALL the dorado this time of year should be AT LEAST this size!
No one worked harder for their fish this week than Jason Andersen. He finally got his yellowfin in the boat! He always hung in there!
One of the kind of dorado we were hooking directly north of La Paz. John Mussel does the honors on this bull.
Almost bigger than him! Ty Andie does his best holding up his fish with Mike Davis for the camera. One more fish lying on the ground too!
Shayna Andersen put a number of these dorado to the wood while fishing north of La Paz around Espirito Santo Island. Check out the water!
FULL MOON BRINGS IN THE BITE
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 16-23, 2016
You would have thought the week would be exactly the opposite…at least the way alot of anglers feel. With the big full moon this past week, folks tend to shy away thinking that the bite diminishes during the big moon.
I’ve never been a big subscriber to that, at least as far as fishing down here in La Paz. There’s alot of other variables that can affect it like wind, current, etc. But standing alone, the full moon is just one factor. And crazy as many folks might think, we had one of the best bites of the year while that big moon was shining down. Perfect weather and water too.
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
True to form as it has been for months, if you just wanted to “catch fish” and just wanted “action” there were plenty of dorado to play with if you fished with our La Paz fleet. For some days and some boats it was all you wanted and boats were back by noon and clients back on the beach having lunch before mid-day! It varied a bit from day-to-day, the overall, the dorado were hungry and willing to chew. A few days, the bite was delayed and didn’t happen until late.
So, we just told folks to be patient and sure enough, the schools would charge up at the end of the day with double and triple hook-ups and fill the box. Or catch-and-release as fast as they could go.
But no one didn’t catch fish…and all dorado. We did see and hook a few marlin, but nothing stuck.
Tailhunter Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fleet
This is where the magic happened this week. Fishing had been kinda stinky and sticky. A real pick bite.
Then, as the moon got fuller…so did the bite!
Bigger tuna…20’s…25’s…30’s Wahoo came on stronger with 30-50 pound fish. Roosterfish were mostly 40-80 pounds. We even got a few dorado too. The tuna, especially bit hard and put the hurt on some arms, backs and tackle. There were several fish fought for 30, 40 minutes or longer that never got to the boats because they were lost. The wahoo were biting through leaders and a few billfish came up on light tackle for a few minutes of thrill before busting off. All-in-all, some pretty decent fishing. Not off the charts, but good, steady and strong for most folks…most days.
Then, the moon started to slide on us.
And so did the fishing. And another variable…strong winds later in the week that virtually shut down the bite. There was one day when all of our boats at Las Arenas COMBINED…got ONE needlefish. Nothing bit. We used lures, live bait, chunked bait, dead bait…and only ONE needlefish! I can never even remember a day like that…EVER!
Anyway, hopefully by the time you’re reading this things have turned around!
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION
Al Jones and Jeanne Sheasby always bring stuff and no different this year. School supplies for the kids.
We’re just about coming up to the end of the season after more than 20 years down here and I can see the home stretch. Just maybe one last shout-out to all of you Tailhunter Amigos and Tribe Members with the big generous hearts who came down and brought down donations for our charities here. Whether it was clothes, shoes, toys, school supplies, toiletries or other things for the orphanage, the Vista Hermosa Pueblo, Care for Kids or the La Paz Women’s Shelter, it was all gratefully accepted with more smiles than you can imagine.
For those of you who left cash for our FANLAP scholarship funds, I believe we kept 7 kids in school this year and enough money came in just the last 2 weeks to keep 3 more kids in school for a year. This is all done because of YOU and we cobble together those 20’s and 10’s and other denominations and just-like-that, aother kid is kept in school! GRACIAS!
Greg and April Hayes took home alot of fish this week, but they also left even more…great school supplies and clothes!
Pretty amazing that $300 keeps a kid in school who otherwise would have zero chance. That $300 buys a pair of Jordan Nike basketball shoes in the U.S. Here, it provides a uniform, books, school supplies, meals and transportation for a whole year for one kid. And that kid, in turn, must keep up their grades AND help mentor a younger child. So, kudos to all of you for making the world just a bit better and brighter!
I don’t have the exact weight, but this past fishing season YOU brought enough stuff to fill about 4 rooms from floor to ceiling with stuff for folks who don’t have it as well as you and I. I believe the tally was something like 4 TONS of very cool needed stuff. We are beyond grateful!
Weather – low to mid 90’s in the daytime and sunny. Very humid at times. Nights comfortable mid-70’s
Water – mid 80’s warm. Underwater visibility 20-70 feet.
Fishing Quality – Big wahoo 30-60 pounds / nicer tuna 20-30 pounds/ lots of small dorado
Fishing Quantity – If you fished Las Arenas very slow. Big fish or nothing. La Paz generally all the small dorado you want. (HOLD EVERYTHING…As this was going to print on Sunday, our Las Arenas pangas blew up nicely on tuna and wahoo!)
Tailhunter Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fleet – One or two bigger fish or nothing especially earlier in the week. Slightly better later in the week (Sunday after this was already written and produced, our Las Arenas pangas slammed tuna and wahoo!)
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet – Most days dum-bass fun action on lots of small dorado. Great for kids, first timers, light tackle. Fill-the-ice-chest-fishing. Bite was later and later it seemed, but still good numbers.
Quote of the Week – “All fishermen are liars except you and me. And I”m not so sure about you!”
The happy girl dance! Her 2nd wahoo of the trip and a great way to start the morning for Nina Duc Le from Albuquerque, New Mexico. You can still see the deep diver Rapala XRap hanging from the mouth. She also got tuna and rainbow runners.
Tom Mullican from Idaho is on his 2nd trip to us this year and I gotta say, he put the wood to the wahoo this week! I think I lost count of his wahoo…4? 5? 6? Here’s a photo of one of the big ones. There’s another photo down below of a larger wahoo and one of his tuna.
Our good friend, writer, author and musican and all-around-good-guy Tom Gatch from near the Ensenada area finally made it down to visit us with in La Paz and got in a few days fishing. He shows off a couple of nice yellowfin tuna on the beach at Muertos with Captain Pancho.
First time fishing with us, Greg Hayes and wife April with a badboy wahoo from Muertos/ Las Arenas. Captain Victor gets in the photo too!
I love this shot of our Sacramento buddy, Dave Wakabayashi who arleady has his cigar lit for this photo with his big wahoo.
From Denver, Dr. Betsie Spoerke could not be more fun or love fishing more! She was great, especially after landing her first tuna with Captain Gerardo!
Paul Saucedo has a big smile with this dorado he caught north of La Paz with Captain Raul. The fish along with the rest of the catch ended up for dinner at Tailhunter Restaurant for a birthday dinner!
Now THIS is a log wahoo! Mike Davis from Arroyo Grande put this big one in the boat near Muertos Bay and he’s all smiles! Parts ended up as sashime for dinner.
The first tuna for Cooper Andie from Paso Robles CA! I was told he stroked the fish with perfect rhythm all the way to the boat.
Double hands of dorado for Lloyd Okimura and Lon Tsukamoto, our buddies from Sacramento who ended up taking a couple of ice chests full of dorado home.
Here’s Tom Mullican again with one of the larger tuna of the week, a healthy yellowfin just off the beach at Las Arenas.
Captain Jorge and Nina Ducle and a beautiful wahoo…her first ever after several trips to fish with us, with the Rapala still hanging from it’s mouth! She even kept the head which has so much meat in it and often gets thrown away. She ended up catching 2 wahoo and several tuna!
His biggest wahoo ever, we think this one went over 50 pounds which is hard to tell from the angle of the photo with the fish headed away from the camera but this is a BIG wahoo and Tim Butterworth also a big guy! Our buddy spent a whole week with us and is from Sebastapol CA.
Jonathan Duc Le from New Mexico has fished with us many times, but I didn’t know he had never caught a tuna until this week with a hefty yellowfin fishing with Captain Jorge.
I think this is a totally frameable photo of Brooks Andie and his son, Tyler, and some of their dorado! Great shot.
It’s a wonder!!! One of my favorite guys of all time Jon Luker from Arroyo Grande CA and Cooper Andie from Paso Robles and a first-day yellowfun tuna.
Like I said, Tom Mullican had a great week. Here’s another shot of ANOTHER of his wahoo. This is a PHAT fish!!!!
Just a great colorful photo of Captain Jorge with Nina Ducle who had quite a week with three wahoo plus and other species. Here’s one of her tuna!
If these look like a yellowtail, it’s because these rainbow runners are cousins to yellowtail and are a good indication that waters are starting to cool as we’ve been catching more and more like these that Mike Davis caught.
BIG WAHOO LARGER TUNA HELP OUT A SLOW WEEK
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 9-16, 2016
We’re coming down to the last few weeks of the season and conditions are changing!
It was difficult to describe fishing this past week for anglers who visited La Paz. In some ways it was great fishing. In some ways, it was some of the slowest fishing of the season. Weather was great. Water was great. It all depended on where you fish and what you were fishing for.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
If you were simply looking for action… if you had kids…or first timers, fishing was really quite good relatively speaking. The dorado bite had all the fish you could ask for most days. The only problem was that often the whole day could be really slow then the bite blew up very late with crazy off-the-wall double and triple hooks-ups. The other thing was that these dorado continued to be the 5-10 pound shorts we’ve had the last two seasons with only the occasional 20 or 30 pounder that simply dwarfed the other fish.
Still, if you just wanted to fill your zip-lock bags, it was hard to beat and still fun. On some occasions, the bite would be early and our anglers would catch a bunch, release a bunch and be back on the beach with their toes in the sand at the hotel before noon and having lunch! Kind of a nice day!
The biggest issue continues to be live bait. There hasn’t been any for about two weeks, so the captains are making due with dead bait; catching bonito; and then we’re also selling fresh squid in the morning as well…and it all seems to work just fine.
One thing to note, is that the bite was super all week for the most part. However, as we got into the full-moon, the bite slowed down. It’s usually just the opposite.
That’s what happened at Las Arenas…it got stronger as the full moon came on.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FLEET
For the 2nd week in a row, fishing was extremely slow in terms of NUMBERS of fish and ACTION. Our pangas averaged no more than 1-3 fish per day, which is why I was glad we have two fleets so that I could send our clients to fish in La Paz where they could load up on dorado.
For Las Arenas, what we lacked in numbers we made up for in quality. The few fish we caught were generally BIG fish. But you only got that one shot, if you got it at all. I won’t kid you that for some boats, they barely got bit.
For the ones that did get bit, they got the wahoo or their lives in some cases. All the wahoo this week averaged 40-60 pounds! These were huge ‘hoo that bit chunks of squid or dark Rapalas. Some of these were simply free swimming fish near the rocks or shore that took a bit of dead bonito or a big fat slap of squid thrown at them. We had one fish estimated at 60-70 pounds on the line for 15 minutes when a killer whale jumped in a grabbed it!
For other species, the tuna bite has slowed radically, but the ones caught were the larger 20-30 pound fatties that put the bend in some surprised rods. Again, the chunked squid was the ticket. However, we only caught 1-4 of these fish a day among several pangas.
There’s still some giant rooster fish around up to about 60 pounds. There’s a smattering of 10 pound dorado and we’re also getting more and more big rainbow runners that are cousins to yellowtail and indicative that cooler waters are moving in as the season changes and starts to come to an end.
HOLD EVERYTHING! – It was too late to get it into this report but SUNDAY our Las Arenas pangas got slammed with nice wahoo and tuna…under a full moon! You’ll have to wait until next week for all the photos and details. Hope it holds up!
TAILHUNTER TRIBE – DONATION NATION
This is so great! San Diego in the house! Joe and Sam Bina brought their family and friends and all kinds of toiletries, school supplies and and toys that are probably all headed to the women’s shelter here in La Paz!
From Moscow Idaho, our amigos Jim and Jeff with a big load of school supplies
Chris Kerley and his family filled up a bunch of really great toys and school supplies and educational materials that are probably going to Vista Hermosa Barrio.
Many thanks to all of our Tailhunter Tribe who brought stuff down this week…AND EVERY WEEK! You make such a difference to so many lives here in La Paz and also to those of you who donated to our scholarship funds as well. I think just from the little bits, three more kids will be able to stay in school for another year with clothes, books, transporation and food! God bless you all!
Weather – 8 (great time to be here…cooler than normal, but sunny beach days!)
Water – 8 (gorgeous blue 85 degrees)
Quantity of Fish – 8 (if you’re fishing for dorado) 2 (if you’re fishing for anything else)
Quality of Fish – 4 (too many small dorado, offset by nice wahoo and larger tuna)
Jonathan’s Attitude – 7 (season winding down but fish still biting!)
Quote of the Week – “Lord grant me a fish so big that in telling the tale I won’t have to exaggerate!”
THE BIG PICTURE – FISHING REPORT
Firefighter amigo, Ken Campbell, finally got his dorado with Captain Armando this week. It was a good week for alot of our amigos to get their first wahoo!
Angelo Oliverio holds up some dinner…a nice yellowfin tuna and one of the huge triggerfish we were catching this week.
Tom Mullican has already been her in the springtime for 10 days of fishing and our Idaho friend is back again for two weeks and started off with a nice wahoo with Captain Jorge of our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.
Captain Armando was on fire this week and loaded up on some of the better dorado with Steve Manney and Dana Murray from Washington.
Kelly Mizuno has been our amigo for many many seasons! Recently retired, he’s now an Alaskan fishing guide and shows off a dorado and Captain Gerardo has a tang! In my 20 years here, I’ve never seen one caught! They’re very good eating and Kelly caught several! Kelly and his wife, Stephanie are from the Sacramento CA area.
Gary Jackson from Oceanside CA only had one day to fish our Las Arenas fleet with us and made the most of it even though he only caught one fish! He rocked it with one of the larger wahoo of the week!
From the San Francisco Bay area, John McLucas and Bill Lee have fished with us for years and started their week of right with a nice rack of dorado, wahoo and triggers!
First time with us, Betsie Spoerke, from Denver holds up one of her bull dorado! Love this lady who is always smiling! She’s such a gamer!
Jim finally got his wahoo not too far from Punta Arenas after many frustrating years! They also had another one right to the boat ready to gaff when it broke off. This particular fish snapper Jim’s fishing rod too! You can see the Rapala in the fish’s mouth. Jim is from Moscow, Idaho.
Beautiful fish with Captain Armando (again) and Steve Manney and Dana Murray from Washington with their first-day wahoo.
Bev Idsinga from New Mexico has fished with us and caught many fish, but this stubborn bonito was the first fish that she baited, set the hook, and fought all on her own all the way to the boat! Well done, amiga!
Jim Adair’s got a yellowfin too!
Alex Dumbrowski with the tuna and Bob Manney with a huge dog-tooth snapper had alot of great fillets to put in the ice chest after their day at Bahia de los Muertos. Both live in Washington.
Our buddy, Dougie Idsinga, from New Mexico has a great shot of one of our La Paz dorado he hooked north of La Paz Bay.
Captain Pancho takes a photo with John Mc Lucas and his yellowfin tuna. There were definitely fewer tuna this week, but the ones we caught were respectable-sized fish.
WEEK STARTS SLOW BUT GOT BETTER WITH WAHOO TUNA DORADO
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 2-9, 2016
With some of the best conditions for ocean and weather in awhile, the beginning of the week was pretty scary. Other than smallish dorado with our La Paz fleet, it was like the ocean shut off the fishing faucet. The ocean turned into a desert! There were no fish. We had trouble getting even a bonito, triggerfish or needlefish to bite! There was NOTHING! After several weeks of some pretty decent fishing, the fish just got lockjaw and showed no interest in anything we were throwing, dropping, chumming or dragging.
Fortunately, as the week went on we recovered!
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
This has become our most consistent area. It’s pretty hard NOT to catch some fish if you fished with our La Paz Fleet. There’s a mess of dorado and 99% of all the catch were dorado. The problem is that some of them were awfully tiny and a good majority were under 10 pounds. So, honestly, it was easy to catch 10, 20 or more dorado and hook-and-release as fast as you could go which is what most of our clients did releasing a majority of their catch after having some fun. For several days some of our pangas were coming back to the beach well-before lunchtime and found our anglers already poolside with a cold one by noon and big smiles.
The downside of all that is the issue that regretfully there were so many small fish. I’d estimate that the largest fish were only 15 pounders at most.
The other issue we faced this week is that for the first time, there was zero live bait to be had. No mackerel, sardines or caballito to be purchased. That didn’t stop anyone from getting limits of fish or having a good time, but we were using squid, chunked bonito and also trolling more often than normal.
Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing
This is where the bigger fish were this week. But, it was anemic and unpredictable. As mentioned earlier, the first few days of the week were like trying to pull teeth from a chicken. There was absolutely nothing biting. But, it got better.
But, the catch was erratic from boat to boat or area to area and it changed daily.
It seems the tuna bite is over, but there continues to be a smattering of 10-25 pound fish that like eating the big chunks of squid that we’re selling. There are also some nicer 8-20 pound dorado…much larger than than the dorado we’re finding in La Paz. But not as many. Boats averaged only a handful of dorado per day.
The upside was that every day, we had a handful of wahoo hook ups of good-sized 30-45 pound fish. I’d say about 1/2 got lost, but the ones that made it to the beach were good chunky speedsters. The wahoo were a nice bonus and had a preference for trolled Rapalas.
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION!
How to even begin to say thanks to the folks who brought down SO MUCH gear, toys, supplies and other things for our Tailhunter Outreach program! Several HUNDRED POUNDS of suitcases, ice chest and bags just filled with everything from school supplies, clothes, backpacks, hygiene products…even enough gear for a kid’s soccer team are just going to light up some lives…you have no idea! We try to distribute pretty evenly between an orphanage, women’s shelter and two underserved schools. Tailhunter Tribe…you’re the best! Take a look at the photos plus an extra shout out to Tim and Paula Campbell…I didn’t get to take your photo (I was cleaning fish!) but hugs as well to you!
Nash Johnson does his best to blow up wit his mouth one of the many soccer balls he brought down!
Here’s the Washington gang! It’s hard to tell about all the stuff they brought down but several hundred dollars worth of supplies, toys, clothes and other items. Thanks to Steve, Peter, Alex, Nash, Dana, John Erick Bob and John. Nash’s company alone donated over $150 of school supplies. Just incredible. Just bags and bags of much needed things!
What you see here, in addition to book bags, school supplies and clothes is basically enough shoes and soccer balls to outfit an entire youth soccer team! That’s Don Busse wit the soccer ball on his head, Brad Baker, Jim Adair, Angelo Oliverio, Ken Campbell and Wiley Randolph…always great to have the visit from the L.A. area! Gonna make alot of kids really happy!
The Okizaki brother, Gary and Danny came down with two soft ice chest filled wit dictionaries, book bags and so many other things for the kids!
The grow ’em differently in Indianapolis Indiana where Steve Summers and his friends come from, but none with bigger hearts…they brought down FIVE SUITCASES this week just jam packed with everything from clothes to bags and books to backpacks!!! Oh…and funny costumes too!
Awwww…Bev and Dougie Idsinga our New Mexico amigos came for just 3 short nighs, but hauled down so many great clothes for little kids! Thank you, more than you know!
Tailhunter Fish Report 