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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Mag Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 15-22, 2018

FISH RESPOND TO BETTER WEATHER

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Magdalena Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 15-22, 2018

MEXICAN MINUTE FISHING REPORT

WEEK at a GLANCE

Weather – Much more stable and winds backed off.  But, this coming week, we could have some winds back again.

Water – Warming.  Surface temps in the mid-70’s now.

Fishing – Always responds to less wind.  Week started slow, but as the week went on, fishing got better with both inshore and a smattering of offshore species as well.

Catching – Lost more fish than we should have!  Especially, the larger fish and those in the rocks.  But, that’s why they are big fish!

THE BIG PICTURE REPORT

 

You just never know! Dragging a small Rapala over the rocks for cabrilla and pargo a huge dog-tooth ripped Gama Flores from Palm Desert CA and he managed to keep it out’ve the reef! Gama comes down with buddy Ray Salanga from Carson CA one or two times a year to fish with us.

Enjoying the sunshine and a bit of fishing too! Happy Steve and Becca Freimark from Edmonds WA show off some nice snapper and bonito.

Red snapper and cabrilla on the beach posing with Gama Flores.

Sorry I didn’t have more photos this week!  Folks either didn’t take any…forgot their cameras or cell phones…or didn’t want their photos taken!

Anyway…

The winds dropped off and gave us a bit of a break this past week after several weeks of strong breezes.  The abatement of wind produced a decent mix of fish that ran the gamut from inshore species to bluewater breezers.  Not a lot of any one type of fish, but the mix is pretty typical of this time of year when cooler water species like yellowtail, sierra and amberjack are moving out, but lingering.  Warmer water species like dorado and wahoo, may have never left from last year, but are getting more active and following the warmer currents and food sources.

For inshore species this week, we tallied up quite a nice bite on snapper and pargo including barred pargo and dog-tooth as well as a few mullet snapper (pargo liso).  We also got into more of those tasty white bonito, jack crevalle and a few pompano.
Bluewater species that showed up including some 10-20 pound yellowfin tuna and some free-swimming dorado.  They’re not really schooling up, but seem to be hitting solo or in smaller schools.  Bait works best.

BAHIA MAGDALENA REPORT

Jorge Romero pulled this dog-tooth out’ve the mangoves and roots on a live sardine.

A couple of pargo headed to the grill that I got out’ve a deep hole that was right up against the bank and holding fish. We lost larger fish to all the roots and structure down there.

Jilly and Rigo pose with a pargo and snook!

Yay…not huge, but my first snook (robalo).  Can’t wait to try it on the table.  Supposed to be excellent!

Jorge with one of a number of corbina that were voraciously feeding in the shallows.

We got several types of croaker too!

First one in the box for Jilly

The box is getting full . And we lost quite a few fish and released alot of fish too!  The majority of the fish was donated.

Jill and I with Jorge Romero ran our own personal exporatory trip out to Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) this past week and what a trip we had.  Three hours from La Paz, Mag Bay boats a length of over 50 miles and hundreds of miles of shoreline that encompasses countless lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, sand dunes, sand bars and islands.

And best of all…almost no one there.  It’s remote.  It’s rustic.  It’s the boonies.  This is not Club Med land.  There’s no swimming pools or health spas.  There’s no craft beer or fancy restaurants.  It’s dusty and largely unspoiled.   It’s not for tourists.

Little fishing pueblos are spotted here and there.  Hard-working blue-collar fishermen and their families.  All making a living in one way-shape or form from the sea…for generations.

And,  it’s an incredible area and an unbelievable ecosystem.  Birdlife…wildlife…lobster…shrimp…clams…oysters…and so many varieties of fish!

I lost count, but I believe we caught about 17 different varieties of fish that included snook, several species of pargo, seabass, corvina, croaker, and more.  They told me fishing was “slow” because of the strong currents, but it was the best inshore, light tackle fishing I have ever had in Baja!  And this is just the inshore stuff.

I’ve fished offshore and there’s bountiful grounds for wahoo, tuna, dorado, marlin, yellowtail and grouper.   That will be on our next trip.  If you’re interested, get in touch with us!  We’ll set up the transportation, hotel, meals and fishing!

That’s our story!

Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:

“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 8-15, 2018

WINDS LEAVE US WITH PICKY FISHING

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay / Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 8-15, 2018

MEXICAN MINUTE La Paz Fishing Report

WEEK at a GLANCE

Weather – Sunny and super with highs mid-80’s, but cool enough for a light sweatshirt in the mornings and evenings

Wind – CURSED!  Storm in the U.S. = winds in Baja.  They were back again.  Maybe only 2 days this week not windy.  One day winds were gusting 20-25 knots and the port captain shut everything down in La Paz.  No boats in or out . Fortunately, we have our Las Arenas fleet and our folks were able to fish, but it was still a difficult effort.

Water – Warming, but with the winds, there were strong currents and big rollers at time.  Even crashing surf here in La Paz Bay which is highly unusual.  On the days the wind was not blowing the waters were really turned up and cloudy from the winds.

Fishing – Dictated by the winds.  Better fishing on days when it was less windy.  Hard to get bait also when it’s windy.

Catching – Nice variety.  Some tuna, dorado, yellowtail, several species of pargo and snapper, cabrilla and some hefty white bonito.

LAST MINUTE FLASH – Just as we were going to post this report and too late to make changes, we had a great dorado bite take off. Go figure!  Will have more in next week’s report.

THE BIG PICTURE

Not sure how much longer there will be yellowtail in the water with waters getting warmer, but this forktail didn’t know that and got hammered by Chuck Toeniskoetter.

Chuck Toeniskoetter and son, Adam, from Los Gatos CA try to come down to La Paz at least once a year to fish and did relatively well despite tough conditions while fishing, once again, with the Tailhunter Fleet. This one day rack of fish shows an incredible variety including yellowfin tuna, a big yellowtail, a nice cabrilla, white bonito, pargo mulatto and a red snapper.

Captain Victor with a big cabrilla and some great reef fish including pargo liso, barred pargo and huachinango.

You remember the thrill? Big bonito for 12-year-old Nick Genovese with Captain Armando. He also had a big tuna on for awhile.

Sweet yellowfin tuna for Adam Toeniskoetter.

Couldn’t be any nicer folks! Steve Friemark with a handful of tasty white bonito and Captain Jorge on the beach at Muertos.

____________________________________________________
Just when we thought it might be mellowing out, those winds came back and hit us again this week.  In fact, one day the northerns were so bad, there were surfable breakers in our normally calm La Paz Bay and the port captain closed the port for any boats leaving.   As one person described it, it’s like winter all over the Northern hemisphere being like an angry boyfriend or girlfriend who stomps out’ve the room then comes back and says, “And One More Thing!!!”  Blah blah blah…

Basically, as long as storms keep showing up in the U.S., it’s going to affect things in Baja and the Sea of Cortez!

 

So, it wasn’t the greatest week for fishing.
There was some variety, but not much for quantity although some days there was some great action on some pig bonito. Not only good fighters, but these are “white bonito.”  (Bonito Diente).  They have teeth, but also have some incredible great white meat for table fare.  Most folks would not be able to tell it from tuna.
In addition, we did have some 15-30 pound yellowfin tuna show up around Cerralvo Island and some larger that were lost after long battles.  But, the issue is getting across the channel to the island.  If there’s wind and rollers happening then getting across to the island (and to get sardines) is pretty futile.
But, inshore offered alternatives like several species of pargo including pargo mulatto (barred pargo); pargo liso (mullett snapper); cubera snapper (pargo perro/ dog-tooth snapper) as well as red and yellow snapper (huachinango). We also got some action off cabrilla (seabass) and some decent triggerfish and jack crevalle.
Honestly, however, not the best fishing and kudos to our anglers who hung in there and grinned through it all the kept smiling.  But, one reason, not many folks are fishing this early in the season.
BUT WAIT…Just as I was posting this up but too late to make changes, we had dorado go off in La Paz Bay!  Go figure . I’ll have more on that in the next report!
That’s our story!
Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:

“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 1-April 8, 2018

BETTER CONDITIONS and LOTS OF VARIETY

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Mag Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 1-8, 2018

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

 

WEEK at A GLANCE

Water – Warming and better and flatter this past week.  Coming week maybe not so much.

Weather – Mid 80’s now.  Bring the sunscreen.  Breezy at times, especially the afternoons

Fishing – Much better . Alot of vareity as warm water fish move in and mix with colder water fish

Catching – Lost alot of larger fish!

THE BIG PICTURE

Whoa! Just off the rocks, Jeff Brown and his son, Cole, were with Captain Joel Martinez from the Tailhunter Fleet in La Paz catching smaller snapper, pargo and cabrilla when this big grouper gulped Jeff’s live bait in shallow water and they were able to winch it away from the rocks! Jeff and Cole are from Minnesota and come down every year to La Paz for sunshine and fishing!

Steve and son, Ben Fox from Huntington Beach were visting La Paz for the first time and got into some of those Cerralvo Island yellowfin tuna their first day on live bait.

Good amigo from Wrangell, Alaska, Rod Brown comes down every year for about 10 days of fishing and got a variety of fish again this year. He took yellowtail, snapper, pargo, cabrilla, jacks, tuna and bonito among others while fishing north around Espirito Santo Island.

First-timer with a big smile, Cole Brown, and a real colorful dorado among several he caught fishing with our La Paz fleet.

Love how he fishes! Light tackle and top-water jigs! Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs with one of his nice dorado fishing out’ve Muertos Bay/ Las Arenas.

This kind of fishing is a hoot! Like tackle right up in the rocks for cabrilla, snapper and pargo. All great eating and these are tough fish on light or heavier tackle. Larger fish all lost in the rocks! Cole and dad, Jeff Brown, with Captain Joel.

Anyone who asks me about getting bluewater fish and not believing that the fish can be caught close to shore, take a look at the rocks just behind Jeff and Cole Brown holding a legit yellowfin tuna. Yup…just a few yards off the island!

OVERALL…

Looks like the weather is clearing up just in time for the season to kick off with alot more of our fishermen now arriving in La Paz.  There’s still some wind on tap for this coming week and indeed we had some this past week, but overall, a big improvement in not only the weather, but the fishing, catching, and variety!  Each week seems to get a little better as things warm up!  It’s all about the winds.  If the winds are gone, there’s fish starting to bite.

All signs are encouraging as just to the south of us along the East Cape, things are already starting to go off with the fishing so those conditions are moving north towards us!

LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY

It’s not crazy good…yet!  But the fishing is more like May fishing with lots of different variety in the water.  Inshore, pargo liso (mullet snapper), pargo per (dog-tooth snapper) and pargo mulatto (barred pargo) are biting along with several types of snapper, jack crevalle, bonito and cabrilla.
In the deeper water but not far off, dorado are around between 5 and 20 pounds although not in great numbers plus yellowtail up to 25 pounds.  Plus we found some tuna over at nearby Cerralvo Island although, again, not in great numbers.  Some wahoo were seen, but didn’t bite and commercial guys said billfish look like they’re moving into the area.

LA PAZ

For the first time all year, we had some consistent fishing for our La Paz Fleet.  Normally, with the winds blowing in from the north, it’s just often too rough to even get out’ve the bay or, when you get to the spots, it’s hard to fish the areas.
However, with some pretty good post-Easter conditions, I was blown away by the variety of species that ended up on the hook!  We didn’t find quantity of fish, but the variety was remarkable especially for inshore species.  This included several species of pargo, snapper, cabrilla, grouper, jacks and bonito.  As well, we hooked some yellowtail up to about 20 pounds and even got a tuna about 50 yards from the rocks!

BAHIA MAGDALENA

Ben Fox from Huntington Beach CA shows off a nice snook he caught light tackle fishing inside the shallow waters of Bahia Magdalena with Tailhunter Sportfishing. He and his dad caught snook, snapper, pargo, cabrilla and other species using live shrimp and spinning gear.

He’s our guy! Jorge Romero with a nice snook (robabo) taken just outside the treeline in the flats off Bahia Magdalena using live shrimp.

That’s quite a box of pargo and snapper!

Almost all the fish was donated to the local church to clean and distribute.

Some video of the kind of fishing they were doing
We had anglers fishing our inshore waters with light tackle again and they scored great.  Using live shrimp for bait, they rocked snook, cabrilla, corvina and several kinds of snapper working in the shallow waters and in the eddys and backbays and sandbars among the trees.

That’s our story!

Jonathan & Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:


“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay/ Magdalena Bay Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of March 25-April 1, 2018

BETTER CONDITIONS AND A BETTER WEEK!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay and Mag Bay Report for Week of March 25-April 1, 2018

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT for the WEEK

PAST WEEK AT A GLANCE

Water – Not bad. Getting warmer. Still stronger currents than we’d like

Temps – Mid 80’s day time.  Pleasant nights.  Still really windy about 1/2 the days

Fishing – I’d give it a 4 on a scale of 10, but 4 is better than it’s been.  Alot of variety and good fish signs

Catching– I’d give it a 4 also.  Could be alot better.  And I think it will get better as things get warmer and water and wind settles down more and more.

What Got Caught – Dorado, yellowtail, jack crevalle, bonito, yellow snapper, red snapper, pargo liso, pargo perro, barred bargo, triggerfish, bonito,, cabrilla, palometa, pompano, corbina

 

THE REST OF THE STORY

Our amigo for many years, Mitch Chavira has been fishing La Paz almost as long as we’ve been there. He knows his stuff and knows his way around throwing iron too. He jigged up this toad cabrilla off Espirito Santo Island.

Gary and Miles Wagner from Colorado Springs, Colorado fished inside the mangroves of Bahia Magdalena on a day Gary said, “The winds outside were blowing 40K!” and did great on the corvina and palometa on light tackle!

Two of the best fishermen, Mitch and Charlie “Stix” McGee from San Diego working just inside of La Paz Bay put the wood to some of those nice dorado that have shown up.

All the way from Germany, Claude Demith got himself some great eating variety…dorado…dog tooth snapper (cubera)…big triggerfish…and cabrilla!

Dan Miyake with Captain Pancho and a nice Muertos Bay yellowtail. Waters are warming so not sure how long we’ll see these YT’s around.

The right kind! Mitch looking good with one of those tough forkies. Yellowtail out’ve La Paz.

Guys from Colorado always know how to pose creatively with fish! Gary Wagner again with a palometa from Mag Bay!

 

Just in time for Spring Break / Semana Santa and Easter,  the winds kinda gave us a bit of a break this week.  There were still some really windy days, but at least there were some windows of opportunity.  Definitely, more folks in town for vacation.  More fishermen on the water and for sure…the beaches are just jammed.
Normally, our beaches are pretty empty, but during Semana Santa, it looks like Woodstock!  Makes you wonder where everyone is the rest of the time?  I mean, on some beaches, there’s not a square inch of empty space and in Mexico, the beaches are public so you can pretty much camp and picnic anywhere and anytime.  Afterwards, it makes for quite a clean-up as you might imagine.  At least, it’s once a year and everyone is having a good time.
Anyway, for fishing, the fish are there!  If the windows of opportunity are open and the waters are fishable, the bite is there to be had!  It’s far from wide-open, but fishing is alot better than might be expected with alot of variety possible.

LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY

 
It’s evident that the waters are changing.  We have quite a bit of transition going on with both warm and cold water fish occupying the same water space!  I’m surprised that this early in the year, we have some dorado, tuna and billfish around.  Normally, we don’t see those until maybe a month or more from now.  Not alot of these species, but any day holds its possibilities.
Likewise, there are still cold water species around as well.  Cabrilla, snapper and Sierra were caught this week as well as several species of pargo (dog-tooth/ cubera snapper and barred pargo).  Plus, add in the usual jack crevalle and lots of bonito on top of things and, you’re not quite sure what’s gonna bite.
Every day is not good.  Every boat is not catching fish.  I want to be honest about it.  But there’s fish there and the signs are encouraging.  It was one of the better weeks in awhile.  We’re using a combination of live bait, dead bait, jigs and Rapalas for the days.

LA PAZ

With the wind having backed down a bit this past week…with no guarantees of next week…we had some boats finally able to get out.  Again, just like at Muertos/ Las Arenas, there was a combination of cold and surprisingly warm water fish.  A few yellowtail and pargo around but maybe we’re not going to see much of a yellowtail season this year because the waters are getting warm quick as evidenced by a few tuna popping up plus there seems to be dorado right in La Paz Bay!  We don’t usually see mahi mahi in the bay until much later in the year.  The ones we’re seeing now are legit 10-20 pound fish! Plus, there’s sardines around too.  All good signs!

GASTRONIMICA LA PAZ 2018 – MAY 4

 The 2018 La Paz Gastronomica Food Festival will be held May 4 once again on the beach in La Paz.  If you’ve never been to it the massively fun food festival draws thousand of visitors and over 100 restaurants, hotels and culinary schools from La Paz as well as Todos Santos and Cabo San Lucas.
For one ticket price, you get to eat and sample all kinds of great regional Mexican foods…all you can eat…shrimps, clams, oysters, roasted pig, all types of tacos, moles, Italian food, Chinese, Thai,  desserts ,baked goods…everyone has a booth.  And so do the wine, tequila and beer distributors as well so it’s all the tequila, wine an cerveza you can handle as well.
Great music, bands and entertainment and it goes well past midnight and just an incredible event.  Each year, Tailhunter Restaurant also has a booth among the “seafood row” vendors!  Last year, we had our famous Hawaiian poke!
Tailhunters is putting together event packages with hotel, festival tickets, plus the usual great activities of fishing, diving, snorkeling and more!   If you’re already booked with us during these dates and want to attend the event, we’ll be selling tickets.  Contact me directly at:  Jonathan@tailhunter.com
That’s our story!
 Jonathan & Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:

“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of March 18-25, 2018

NOT MUCH TO TELL YOU THIS WEEK

La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 18-25, 2018

 

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for WEEK of  March 18-25, 2018

 

THE REST OF THE STORY…

Jorge Romero with one of the rare quality fish picked up the whole week and has a nice yellowtail in hand he caught with sardines. He also said there were quite a few bonito, but overall no one was getting too much of anything, Nice shirt!

There were few bright spots for fishing this past week as it was mostly a windy, cloudy rough time.  It’s fairly common during the winter months which is why we don’t have many folks fishing during these months.  We had one or two days at most that were somewhat fishable and even then, it was picky fishing at best.  Some snapper…some pargo…a few cabrilla…and a few yellowtail were about it.  Oh, and alot of bonito for some grateful action.  And that was the whole enchilada for the week.  Fortunately, not many anglers.  However, with spring break and Easter on it’s way, things are going to start getting crowded and we can only hope the weather and winds drop back a notch or two.  Early predictions so far look a bit iffy.  Just being honest.

TAILHUNTER 2018 ROAD TOUR COMES TO AN END!


 

After almost 4 months on the road and a journey that started back in December and took us through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, California, Washington and Oregon…we come to the end of the road.

Jilly wrapped things up a the Fred Hall Show in San Diego.  I was out in the Phoenix, Arizona area with the International Sportsmans Expo.  Both shows were super and good to see so many Tailhunter tribe members and new amigos!

Its been another epic road tour after 23 years and we are so grateful to everyone who took the time to come see us all of the hunting and fishing shows.  It was great and we appreciate all the smiles and hospitality.  God bless you all!

To those of you who signed up to come visit us this year fishing in La Paz, let’s get going!  We’re gonna have a great season and we’re looking forward to seeing you down with us.  We have to unpack the van and the cat and then saddle up and get home to La Paz right after Easter.  So, we’ll see you down there!  Thanks again.

That’s our story!

Jonathan & Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico


U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942
 

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:

“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.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz-Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of March 11-18, 2018

Mexican Minute Fishing Report for Week of March 11-18, 2018

WINDS CUT US SOME SLACK FINALLY

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of March 11-18, 2018

A mess of great eating for Carl Bock from Puyallup Washington with Captain Pancho and some nice cabrilla and pargo lisa (mullet snapper) taken off the reefs and rocks. Typical winter fishing!

Chunky winter yellowtail for Greg Garrison of San Diego that he took off the north end of Cerralvo Island this week. Thanks for the photo, Gary!

We’d like to see a few more of these as the waters get warmer. Steve Strummell from the bay area of San Francisco poses with his bull dorado.

A hog trophy cabrilla off the north end of Cerralvo Island caught by Gary Garrison of San Diego. Thanks Gary Wagner for the photo.

Second day on the water proved a nice mix of warm and cold water fish for Carl Bock who poses with his cabrilla and dorado

Well, the good news is that after 3 weeks, the winds settled down a bit and allowed us to get to do a bit of fishing.  The bad news is that well…there weren’t many fishermen.  Fairly typical for this time of year.  Further bad news is that the winds are supposed to jump back up this coming week!

Oh well, you just roll with it because that’s how it is during the winter months.  For all the lack of fishermen right now, with Easter coming up April 1, those are the busiest times for travel to Mexico and especially places like Baja and particularly La Paz where we are.  Not necessarily gringos looking to party and kick it up during spring break, but for Holy Week and the dates around Easter, these are the busiest travel times for Mexicans.  Moreso than Christmas or any other time of the year, Mexicans visit and travel outside the country, but also many Mexicans living in the U.S. and other places take the time to visit their friends and relatives back home.  Likewise, domestically many locals travel to visit during this time.  What that means is that many otherwise “empty” beaches are going to be packed with folks camping and picnicking all week.  Many will be fishing too so expect that in about 2-3 weeks, it’s going to be jammed.
Anyway, on the days we could fish, we got out and got an interesting mix.  Coldwater species like snapper, cabrilla, pargo, jack crevasse and yellowtail mixed it up with warm water species like dorado and even a few tuna and lots of bonito. The better action and most consistent bite was in shallow waters over structure for the colder water species using Rapalas, live bait and dead bait.  We found fish close and around Punta Perrico and also at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island.

TAILHUNTER DOWN THE HOME STRETCH

After almost 3 1/2 months on the road with our 23rd year kicking off, we have just two more shows to do before going home.  We just finished up the ISE Show in Sandy, UT, just south of Salt Lake City and a big “GRACIAS!” to everyone who came by to say hello and to those of you who booked with us, we’re sure looking forward to your visit!

So now…Jilly and I go in different directions again.

Jilly will be headed to the Fred Hall Fishing & Boating Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego CA. Click the link:

Fred Hall Show Del Mar

Jonathan will be driving down to Scottsdale AZ for the International Sportsmans Expo. Click the link:

ISE SHOW SCOTTSDALE AZ

These are our last two shows of the season then we’ll be headed home to La Paz.  We’ve got alot of you reserved this year, but still have some spots open! Get in touch with us ASAP so we make sure we have you covered and you get in on this 2018 season!   If you can make it to Del Mar or Scottsdale, Jilly and I will be in the booth every day and it would be great to see you!

That’s our story!

Have a great week!

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International


Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/Tailhunter YouTube Video Channel:

“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 1-7, 2014

Lucille Merkle tags 12-14 sailfish

Lucie and her husband, Tom, only had one day to fish and said they’d be “happy with a small fish to eat for dinner at our Tailhunter Restaurant.” No pressure. No stress! Well, so much for that ! She caught and released this nice sailfish. See the photos below, she also got a wahoo. Plus the 3rd photo down, her husband also got several nice dorado!

 

Lucille wahoo tags 12-14

One day fishing…not bad! Guys come for years trying to get a wahoo. Lucie Merkle gets a sailfish (released) plus a wahoo and some dorado!

dorado Tom Merkle 12-14

Professor Tom Merkle from San Jose CA shows off another nice dorado fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos on one of the days that the winds were down. He and his wife also got a wahoo and released a sailfish!

Donna Thompson tags rooster small 12-14

She is soooo good at this ! Donna Thompson got into the fishing report again with this hefty hefty roosterish in the channel between La Ventana and Cerralvo Island. This fish was released! Surprising to have such quality roosters still around this late in the season, but no complaints!

wahoo roger thompson small 12-14 tags

Roger Thompson is a regular poster child for fishing our area and he always sticks big fish like this trophy wahoo he tries to “curl” for the camera! Nicely done (AGAIN!), Roger!

 

MID-WEEK WINDS SLOW FISHING BUT FISH STILL AROUND

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 1-7, 2014

It was a tad on the breezy side this week as north winds seem to be gradually taking hold here as winter approaches. Still, some great sunny days to be in La Paz as the city takes on it’s Christmas face for the holidays.

We’ve been doing almost all our fishing out’ve Las Arenas as the waters outside of La Paz Bay continue to be on the rougher side and often turned over and murky with fishing sketchy at best the last two weeks since the winds kicked it up a notch.

However, with out Las Arenas fleet pushing off at Bahia de Los Muertos, even when it’s windy, we’re better protected and the fishing grounds are much much closer plus there’s more variety of fish.

This week, there weren’t many anglers out, but there’s still some school-sized dorado meandering around.  Most are about 10 pounds, but there’s an occasional 20-30 pounder still out there.  Wahoo and billfish are not out’ve the question with most holding near the south end of Cerralvo Island, but there’s also been some bites just minutes outside of Bahia de Los Muertos just north of the big houses but before you reach Punta Perico.

Inshore, there’s still some nice rooster fish to 30 pounds hanging around plus cabrilla and small pargo (snapper) in the rocks and we’re seeing more jack crevalle and sierra near the beaches as well.

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of November 23-30, 2014

dorado dave vincent tags 11-14

Dave Vincent hits the good pose with a nice colorful dorado just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos the day before the winds descended on us! (See below)

 

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Mid-week, we got slammed by some incredible winds. Guts up to 50-70 mph ripped into the area and our normally placid seas turned into a cauldron we rarely see. Check out the waves hitting the breakwater at Las Cruces north of La Paz. That’s Cerralvo Island in the background.

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Another view of the roiling ocean at Las Cruces near the old hotel caused by the winds that stayed with us almost 3 days and caused the port captain to close the port.

dorado small tags Doug Duval Judie Pierce Bill Harvey dorado 11-14

New York in the house. The day after the winds finally left us, we were able to find some dorado with some big boys mixed with school-sized fish. Captain Jorge poses with Doug Duval, Judie Pierce and Bill Harvey all from New York on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Carson vincent tags dorado small 11-14

Carson Vincent, 13-years-old, with dad, Dave found time for a day of fishing that produced 5 dorado including this nice mahi.

 

VIDEO 

Some video of what it looked like in La Paz Bay during the big winds with waves and spray sweeping the malecon in front of our Tailhunter Restaurant getting cars and pedestrians a bit wet!  If you’re not familiar with our bay, it usually looks like a lake!

DORADO BITE SANDWICHES  BIG WINDS ROARING IN MID-WEEK

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 23-30, 2014

What a freakish week we had here in La Paz.  This is the time of year when things transition from warmer conditions to cooler conditions.  With it, we start to get more and more windy days with winds whipping from the north.

Well, lately, we’ve had more “breezy days.”  That’s normal. It’s expected.  I never expected what we had this week!

They talk about winter roaring in like a lion.  Well, it didn’t just roar.  It tore in like a freight train!  Tuesday to Thursday, wind of 30-50 mph generated huge waves and gust up to 70 mph had the port captain closing down the port and keep folks off the water  It was pretty incredible to watch…from the shore!  Definitely NOT a good time to try to be on the water!

Huge waves crashed against beaches and against the concrete sidewalks of the waterfront Malecon throwing giant plumes of spray and water as far as parked cars across the street.  Strolling pedestrians were sent scampering each time a wave crashed in much the same way that kids run through sprinklers in the summer except one could get seriously soaked by the giant swell.  Even within the bay, it was uncharacterically white-capped and foaming.  Many folks just parked themselves on the shore or in a nearby restaurant or bar to watch the display!

Then, on Friday, it pretty much disappeared!

And out we went fishing again.  Just like before the storm, the dorado bit pretty readily with fish in the 20-30 pound class not uncommon but decent numbers of 10-15 pound fish as well.  Some rooster fish and pargo were also hooked.  The biggest issue was that those ripping winds really tore up the water and turned things over.  For our guys who went out’ve La Paz, all the found was green and brown dirty water.  The better fishing was from Las Arenas where the area was a bit more protected from the winds although waters were still not optimal.  But at least we found fish!

Really hard to get a read on things.  Not many folks in town or many fishermen as Thanksgiving week isn’t a big week here in La Paz for tourism.  But, still a nice time to spend onshore as the sun was still comfortably warm.  We’ll get a run of folks in between now and Christmas, but this week, was just nice to spend onshore and watching Mother Nature do her thing!

That’s our story!  Hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Jonathan and Jilly

 Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International Fleet for Week of Oct. 5-12, 2014

Alexa Kadota wahoo tags small 10-14

Late breaking news! SUNDAY…Wow! Lookit this! WAHOO DAY! Anyone in the S. California fishing industry knows pro Danny Kadota. He and his daughter Alexa were with Captain Victor today and got THREE wahoo and had another one bite through 250 pound mono! Check out Alexa’s massive ‘hoo!

 

Steve Snead tuna small tags 10-14_006

FOOTBALL SEASON FINALLY? The football-sized yellowfin tuna finally made an appearance for the year. There weren’t many of them, but the sprinkling of fish were a nice surprise the last two weeks like this one by Steve Snead from Boise Idaho, who had a great week. He’s here with Captain Pancho.

 

Jim Adair Brad Baker dorado small tags 10-14_003

Captain Archangel with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet poses with Jim Adair and Brad Baker and one of the larger models of dorado we got this past week. They’re on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Cabrilla Don Busse small tags 10-14

Don Busse found a hot spot for rock fish this past week showing off a nice rack of cabrilla and big triggers. Our amigo was fishing with Captain Pancho.

Louie Sanchez dorado small tags 10-14_004

Louie Sanchez, was not going to be denied his Baja trip to celebrate his 50th birthday and anniversary with his wife and family. After the hurricane, they jumped through all kinds of hoops to get down from home and Denver and got in some OK dorado fishing.

Jeremy Ken tuna small tags 10-14_001

First-time tuna for Ken Campbell from Lakewood CA with amigo, Jeremy Friez (helping out holding up the tail). Next time we’ll get Ken to eat the heart…as is the custom with first-time tuna takers!

Marlin Snead 10-14 small tags

Steve Snead had a great story. He finally got his marlin off the bucket list. He was already hurting from a bad back, then tied into this gorgeous 150-pound class striped marlin. On light tackle, Steve and his back battled the first for 45 tough minutes. He got the fish out just long enough to take a picture then released it swimming strong. He came back to shore and went bed with a big smile but completely whupped.

Sierra Sanchez dorado small tags 10-14_005

She’s a champ! Young Sierra Sanchez is only 8-years-old, but was quite a trooper coming down to La Paz and fishing for the first time. The youngster is from the Denver, Colorado area and shows off her first dorado proudly with Captain Joel.

Walker dorado small tags 10-14

Determined to make it down, Steve Walker from idaho and his amigo, flew into Loreto then took our 5-hour shuttle to La Paz to make sure not to miss their fishing trip! Steve’s got a nice big bull on the gaff here that he caught north of La Paz.

Chris tuna small tags 10-14_002

I don’t know how he stays so clean fishing in all white clothes all day! But, Chris Malley had a pretty good week including these two yellowfun tuna he caught off Bahia de Los Muertos!

GIFTS FOR LA PAZ

Don Busse and his gang…Ken Campbell…Jeremy Frieze…John Gibbs…Jim Adair…Brad Baker…Angelo Oliverio…and Chris Malley…brought in several hundred pounds of supplies and clothes for Jill’s hurricane relief efforts! it filled several duffle bags and ice chests! Since the hurricane, Jill has collected over 400 pounds of things for needy folks post-Odile.

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Wiley Randolph from Fullerton CA…another big heart ….and a great shopper…brought down brand new kids’ shoes, schools supplies and medical first aid things for Jill’s hurricane relief efforts.

Gifts SANCHEZ 10-14

Jill, Cortez, Sierra and Louie Flores…all the way from Denver for the week and stuffed their bags with clothes, schools supplies and other great stuff for the hurricane relief. Big smiles and big hearts. Thanks to a wonderful family.

 

AIRPORTS OPEN – FISHERMEN COMING BACK – SO ARE THE FISH!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 5-12, 2014

Since hurricane Odile, three weeks ago, we’ve played cat-and-mouse with some erratic weather that seems to keep popping up and dropping some thundershowers on us now and then.  Mostly, it’s been great weather, but like the rest of the season, we do have to keep watching the weather reports and the horizon to check for building thunderheads.

However, for the first time since as long as I can remember, I’m looking at the weather forecasts the last few days and into the next few weeks and there’s zero precipitation forecast.  There are no little “weather icons” on the internet with little clouds and thunderbolts or rain icons on top of the daily advisories!  We’ve got gorgeous 95 degree sunny weather for days and fishing conditions could not be better.

As for the fishing, it’s making a comeback.

The fish got hit pretty hard too with the crazy weather and green dirty water really mixed it up from the storms and the run-off and it takes times to settle in.  Each week, the water seems to get a little better.

Fishing isn’t great, but it’s good most days and there’s even some jags of “very good” thrown in.

LA PAZ FISHING

Dorado have been the most consistent players, especially for our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.  There are spots of dorado just inside La Paz Bay and in various places around Espirito Santo Island, but the best concentration and larger fish are around the Rosario / Las Cruces area in the channel between La Paz peninsula and Cerralvo Island.  Fish aren’t bit, but they’re fun decent fish of 10-20 pounds with an occasional 30 pounder.  Some days are better than others.  Some boats will get limits some days while others right next to them will hit only a handful of fish or less.  But, the fish are there!

Likewise, there seems to be a nice bit of marlin and sailfish around right now.  Most have been caught incidentally while fishing for other species, but we’ve been hooking them all last week.  Not alot, but every day is different.  We had one day where almost every one of our pangas hooked at least one billfish.  The next day there were only 2 hooked.  Next day nothing.  Day after that there were 4.  All fish either broke off or were released except one which was kept and donated.

As a little sidebar, we had 2 wahoo hooked and cut off as well this week.

Late update:  Got some wahoo late Saturday off Espirito Santo Island!

LAS ARENAS

This area has been a bit of a puzzle this past week.  The biggest news is that we got our first football yellowfin tuna in a long long time.  There’s some spots of tuna that keep popping up around Cerralvo Island with some fish up to 100-pound reported by commercial fishermen.

The bad news is that we only got about a dozen footballs all week that went 12-20 pounds.  That’s it.  There are so many bonito around that you catch about 20 bonito to get one tuna…if at all.  I mean, it’s alot of fun and alot of action.  But, if you’re looking for some good ahi meat to take home, it’s alot of energy.   Still, it’s nice to have the tuna around!

The other downside is that if you spend the better part of your day chasing tuna, you won’t get much else.  So, the counts have not been real good for our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.   When they DO chase other species, there’s dorado around and the pangas will get 2-8 fish hooked up per day and the counts differ.  It all depends if the guys went after the tuna or not.

So, what alot of our guys are doing is getting their dorado and ice chests filled by fishing La Paz, then specifically going for tuna with our other Tailhunter Fleet at Las Arenas.  Seems to work out OK.

Last minute update:  Five wahoo taken on two pangas late Sunday up to 50 pounds!

HURRICANE UPDATES

We’re up an running.  Airports are open.  Flights are in.  The Los Cabos Airport officially opened months earlier than anticipated on Oct. 3rd and welcomed their first flights on United and Alaska on Oct. 8th with mariachi bands and water cannon salutes!  Other airlines are coming online.  La Paz and Loreto Airports have been open for several weeks.   Still doing some cleanup in the streets and to some businesses and homes, but the heavy work is mostly done and most things are running like normal.  Most visitors would never even know anything happened!  Come fishing!

 That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International Sportfishing for Week of July 27 to Aug. 3, 2014

 

Randy Payne tags small dorado 8-14

With a big heave…Randy Payne hefts up a solid beast of a bull dorado in front of the Las Cruces area fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet in an area that produce some of the better quality dorado this past week!

dorado brennan lowery 8-14 tags small

Brennan Lowery from Los Angeles shows off one of his big bulls he got while posing on the beach at Balandra Bay. He and his dad had an epic day with multiple hookups!

roosterfish Kris tags small 8-14

She’s a trooper! Kris Brownlee from Rock Springs, Wyoming gets seasick, but that never stops here from always bringing the smiles and getting into the fish no matter how she feels. Captain Jorge from our Las Arenas fleet gives her a big thumbs-up for this trophy roosterfish caught just south of Bahia de Los Muertos on a day when all our pangas got into the roosters and ALL OF THEM WERE RELEASED! Congrats to Kris!

Jessica Reeve 8-14 sailfish small tags

Captain Rogelio “Jolly Roger” gives a hand to first-timer Jessica Reeve visiting us from Wyoming who got this sailfish pretty much right in La Paz Bay! Attempts to release the fish were not successful. The sailfish have been feeding on the small dorado in the bay.

dorado luke tags brownlee small 8-14

He’s got the cool hat and the nice fish! Luke Brownlee from Wyoming fished with us the whole week and our amigo got some nice fish like this as well as roosters and had some shots at billfish as well.

dorado tags small mike menasco 8-14

Check out the colors on Mike Menasco’s fish! Every now and then we get these gorgeous blue-colored bull dorado. He was fishing just off El Rosario when he nailed this bull.

 

DORADO SHARE STAGE WITH BILLFISH AND ROOSTERS!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 27-Aug. 3, 2014

 

For once, we had a fairly consistent week of fishing.  No big storms.  No surprise rainfall.  No big winds.  It all made a difference even tho’ we did keep an eye on Hurricane Hernan which stayed far away and fortunately didn’t affect us in La Paz.  So, we had a good week of fishing overall.

Our best performers continued to be the dorado.  But, we had good showings of roosters, sailfish, marlin and even a few pargo.

Las Arenas

Our anglers who fished Las Arenas ran into more of those school-sized dorado.  They sometimes pesky fish are 5-15 pounds with the average being about 8 pounds.  Lots of fun on light tackle and surface jigs.  Have had several groups of anglers out there with bass rigs and spinning rods having way too much fun.  Some larger fish in the 20-25 pound class but not that many.  I will say that toward the end of the week, the bite surely improved with not only more fish per panga, but more quality fish as well which was a great surprise as well as some billfish showing.   Sorry…no wahoo for awhile and live bait is still an issue, but we’re using a mixture of live bait and dead baits that are all working well.

One of the nice surprises this week were the rooster fish.   We hadn’t had that many roosters lately either because they’ve moved on or simply we haven’t had that many folks chasing them.  They’re exotic and a much sought-after gamefish, but they don’t taste good so if you’re looking for something to put on the plate, it doesn’t make too much sense for many anglers.

However, we had a number of folks take a shot at them this week coming back with 20-50 pound fish caught-and-released after nice photos.

La Paz

Our most solid fishing again. Fish can be surprisingly close to shore and literally in the bay.   If you’re looking for school-sized fish, one of our anglers said, “We could still see the hotel and Tailhunter Restaurant from where we were fishing all day.  Every cast was a biter!”    Again, great fun on light tackle and line.

Larger fish were found closer to Espirito Santo Island and around the corner in front of Las Cruces and El Rosario where the fish would be in the 30-40 pound class.  As well, schools of jack crevalle would be found that really busted up some happy fishermen and put the hurt on some rods.

There are also some good numbers of billfish.   A majority of our hook ups on marlin and sails this week occurred right where the small dorado schools were located probably because the billfish are feeding on the smaller dorado.

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

Read Full Post »

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