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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of March 4-11, 2013

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, cabrilla, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish, fish report, fishing, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, grouper, jonathan roldan, La Paz, la paz baja sur, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, panga, pargo, pompano, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, Baja sur, cabrilla, el sargento, fish, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Ventana, Las Arenas, light tackle, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, panga, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sportfishing packages, tailhunter international, yellowtail on March 12, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Big horse toad slugger yellowtail still running hard and strong around Cerralvo Island. Fabio shows a head shot on another big guy. If the winds are down the fish come to chew! (Thanks for the photo Hawk!)

Earlier in the week when the winds let us, this is the kind of world-class yellowtail fishing we were doing with 3-8 yellowtail per panga in the 20-40 pound class. As the winds increased over the week, the bite got a little pickier, but we still got into the fish! Mackerel, sardines, Rapala-type lures and yo-yo iron all worked!

Thanks to everyone for the fantastic week at the Long Beach Convention Center for the Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show! It was the best week we’d ever had in all these years and the best part was seeing so many of our amigos and amigas who stopped by to visit including Judy and Caroline from Western Outdoor News who work with us during the November Tuna Jackpot Tournament Cabo. Jill and I wanted to say thanks to everyone! Nothing like being home in S.Cal! “Fish Hard….Party Harder!” Now we head to another of our favorite places…the ISE Show in Salt Lake City at the Southtowne Expo Center in Sandy UT. Show is Thursday to Sunday!

WIND DOWN YELLOWTAIL UP!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 4-11, 2013

All-in-all, a pretty solid week of fishing with more yellowtail all week. It wasn’t completely wind-free, but enough so that we could get into the yellowtail whch were again, horses! Mostly the fishing centered around Cerralvo Island with some thick 20-40 pound fish coming up on the mackerel, sardines and especially the iron with blue/white…green/yellow…and scrambled egg patterns working the best! Some of these fish were horses and as many fish were lost as were caught!

When folks got into the mackerel schools, especially, things could get wild as we had several stories of anglers jigging on their light tackle and getting slammed by big yellowtail and having their hands full…much to the entertainment of their fishing partners! However, it wasn’t uncommon for the pangas to nail 4, 5, 6, or more of these big yellowtail each day!

Winds were great early in the week which corresponded with the best bite then increased as the week went on, especially in the afternoon and by the weekend they were back up to speed and the bite, consequently diminished. That’s the biggest problem is the winds. Winds up and the the fish are more difficult. This coming week the predictions show that the winds start diminishing about Thursday so hopefully, we’ll get back into the thick of it!

Also, as a side note…yes! There are pargo and cabrilla running. In fact, the pargo are up and thick in the shallows as this is spawning time. However, everyone is concentrated on the yellowtail which are easier to stop than the big pargo which are embedded in the rocks! But yea..the big red guys are there with the big seabass!

TAILHUNTER TOUR HEADS NORTH TO SALT LAKE CITY

Thanks, for the great visit, Long Beach! We’re headed to Salt Lake City now for the ISE show!

We just wrapped up the best and busiest show of the season. We spent 5 incredible days at the Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center where it was just packed every single day. Jill and I are hoarse from hours-and-hours of talking and seeing so many of our amigos and clients plus meeting new ones. Lots of bookings too and we’re jazzed so many of you are coming back to visit us this year in La Paz!

Also, thanks to everyone who stopped by with wishes and goodies for my birthday! Wow…it was like 5 days of Christmas and often it seemed like there was a bigger party in back of the counter than in front of the counter! We had a grand time and we surely appreciated all the visits, the gifts…THE FOOD!!! We ate non-stop from day 1 to 5!

We’re now on the road to Salt Lake City to the Southtowne Expo Center in Sandy UT for the International Sportsmens Expo. It runs Thursday to Sunday and is always a blast. That’s March 14-17th! We always enjoy being in Salt Lake City and seeing our friends. So, come by the booth and say hi and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year! Here’s info on the show if you need details or tickets: http://www.sportsexpos.com/

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine CA 91903-1149

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

http://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 May 6-13, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, cabrilla, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, grouper, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on May 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Our amigo, Chris Cribbs, who visits us twice a year is the man behind the fish…a big rooster…one of the largest of the week when the roosters seemed to be all over. That’s the sand of Las Arenas Beach behind Chris. The rooster was released.

Despite the fact that Fabio has mastered the ability to hold the fish closer to the camera to make it larger, this is still a MONSTER cabrilla! Late in the week we had trouble finding sardines for bait so Fabio dragged a big rapala over the rocks and locked into this gorgeous beast of a seabass. (Thanks for the Hawk shot!)

Maybe it was the lucky shirt! If it’s his lucky shirt, I want one! Althought it says “Colorado”…. Actually, Art lives and works above the Arctic Circle as a medic where it’s often 70 degrees below zero! Enjoying the sunshine for the 2nd time this year already, Art really got into the pargo near Espirtu Santo Island having a banner day on the rockfish…maybe the best of anyone so far this year!

We love father-son trips and when the kids outfish dad, it’s even better. Tim Stoklosa poses with his son, Sam, who blew up this huge dog-tooth snapper north of La Paz fishing with Captain Raul. It’s quite a feat to get one of these out’ve the rocks. Over two days, the guys also got some nice roosterfish as well.

On her first trip to La Paz and first time ocean-fishing, Debbie Devine got herself a nice roosterfish on the water with Captain Pancho near the Las Arenas lighthouse. The fish was released after the photo and Debbie lives in Colorado.

Mark Diehl had time for only one day of fishing on a visit from the Portland OR area and made the most of it with this trophy roosterfish that he photo’d and released. Punta Arenas in the background which was the scene of great rooster fishing all week.

The sheer cliffs of northern Cerralvo Island are the backdrop for Gonzo Rodriguez showing off one of his big mullet snapper (pargo liso) fishing with Jim “Hawk” Davis.

Love it when the youngsters are all smiles like Olivia here with Captain Victor and her first roosterfish!

ROOSTERFISH AND PARGO GO OFF BIG TIME!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 6-13, 2012

Roosterfish and pargo really kicked it into a higher gear this past week. As air and water temperatures ratchet up bit by bit and everyone is anticipating the incoming warm-water species, some days it seems like the roosters and pargo just dog-piled onto each other!

With temps in the high 80’s and into the 90’s, the roosterfish were especially voracious. I guess there’s a reason that they call this area the “Roosterfish Capital of the World.” We didn’t get any monsters, but fish in the 5-40 pound class were pretty common. Live sardines slow trolled or drifted were good as were Rapalas and other crank baits.

The roosters were in their normal spots along the sandy areas literally terrorizing schools of bait right up to and onto the sand! However, we were also getting them around the rocky areas of the islands as well as over reefs and high spots where we were fishing for pargo and cabrilla! The faster and more mobile roosters often hit the baits before the pargo or cabrilla could get to them and some of the roosters would blow up in spectacular fashion of of the water. We were even hooking some roosters just offshore in deeper water!

It’s a great time for light tackle, spinning gear and the flyrods as well.

As for the pargo, they are mixing it up with the big cabrilla (seabass) and smaller grouper…that we can stop! Remember that these fish are often in extremely shallow waters and the rocks are almost right below the boats. As soon as you hook up, you have to turn these fish or you’re done…right into the rocks and there’s just no way to win. The cabrilla and pargo we are able to stop are in the 5-20 pound class, but much much bigger fish get away with a hook in their jaws and a length of shredded line trailing behind them!

Most of the anticipation comes from the other condtions we’re seeing. As I said last week, everything just looks primed to blow up any day. Signs of roosters are just one indication, but there’s a ton of sargasso out there floating around and flurries of dorado have been seen under them. As well, schools of fast moving tuna have eluded the pangas and marlin are just starting to wake up and we had several hook ups and break offs this week or, more often, the marlin are just sitting on the surface and not much interested in anything you throw at them, short of running over them with the panga.

Sometimes you are running the panga and hit a “bump bump” and the panga takes a little hop and then there’s a marlin greyhounding away as you realize you just ran over him!

WEEKLY VIDEO

Got some video clips this week. Sorry they’ve been scarce lately, but thought you’d like to see some of our La Paz pangas coming back into Balandra Bay with some nice pargo and cabrilla. Click the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pNnSpS0KcM&list=UUSN0xdz-El64xBXmMhl_yvg&index=1&feature=plcp

We have over 100 video clips on YOUTUBE so feel free to subscribe so you get all the video updates.

Also, we’re on Facebook as well under Tailhunter International Sportfishing if you’d like to see our daily updates!

Hope you all had a great Mother’s Day and have a great week!

That’s our story

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 April 29 to May 5, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, Shoot Straight TV, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on May 6, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Not much left of the massive yellowtail bite we had going on for 3 months, but we still found a few. First time angler with us from Florida Joe Hussin hefts up one of several they found fishing the west side of Espirito Santo Island.

In the past few weeks, roosterfish have really taken off. None of the big boys that La Paz has historically been known for but fun school-sized 20-40 pounders have not been uncommon. Captain Victor here helps our buddy Bob Solee of B & B Fishing Rods in Portland OR to hold up a nice pez gallo before releasing it. That’s the rocks of Punta Perico in the background about 50 yards back.

Although he’s not smiling, Belmond Mann and his wife Amy love fishing with Captain Archange at Las Arenas and on this particular day, Bel surprisingly outfished Amy putting this nice pargo liso in the boat. Over two days they got a variety of pargo, cabrilla and snapper. Typical of the weekly bite.

Charlie Gibson fished with us for a while week. Charlie just had his right hand (reeling hand) surgically repaired so when the yellowtail bit off Espiritu Santo Island, he struggled mightily to get the fish to the boat! But, he gritted it out and got 3 ‘tails.

Yes, marlin have started to show and, although they’re not quite in the feeding mode, it could happen any day. The three Rodriguez brothers hooked this one which was not able to be released. It was caught off Cerralvo Island. Reports say that the high spot at the 88 has stripers sitting all over it just waiting for the water temps to go up a tad!

Don and Deb White from Oregon come to see us several times a year and always do well. All week, Don was the “King of Cabrilla” taking big seabass after big seabass. Here, he and Debbie show off two huge cabrilla, a snapper and a barred pargo.

Every now and then they even let me out on the water! I wanted to stay out’ve the way our other pangas so I grabbed a flyrod and we went out to the bonito ground to experience the “pain” of pulling on 10-15 pound horse bonito on a whippy 10wt flyrod…just for fun! OUCH! I still have bruises on my knuckles and forearm. None of these fish took less than 15 minutes to put in the boat! You veteran flyfishers can attest to this! Tough tough fish! We released all of them!

Just had to share this amazing photo with you. Joe Hussin from FLA was fishing with us this week and were in Capt. Archangel’s panga and just about 200 yards of Punta Perico a huge humpback kept breaching around them to the point where they were getting sprayed and splashed. The last one was no more than 30 feet in front of the panga. At that point Capt. Archangel said, “We’re outta here!” Joe caught this amazing shot during on of the jumps…just right…with his iPad!!! It’s poster quality! The waters are full of life right now…porpoise, turtles, whales, birds…an amazing place to be this time of year!

MIXED WEATHER AND MIXED FISHING ADDS VARIETY!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 29-May 5, 2012

It was a mixed week on all levels this week. We had hot muggy sunshine to wind to rain to flat seas and bouncy rolling chop. Sometimes the fish bit better when it was rough. Sometimes they bit better when it was flat as glass. No rhyme or reason. One day , they would all chase baits. The next day the fish would turn their noses up at the bait and only want slow trolled slices of dead fish. Or they wanted only dead sardinas. As one of our clients said ,who fished with us all week, “It was like the fish were picky kids never knowing what they wanted!” The game of the week was trying to figure out where they would be….what they would want…and what they would eat.

It would help that there are so many different conditions on top of the fact that there were so many different species of fish as we hit that “transitional period” when the waters are getting warmer, but there’s some areas of cold and some areas of warmer waters. These differences in water temperatures could be horizontal where you would be in green cooler water in one spot, but move 100 yards to the side and the waters would be warm clear blue. Or, the thermoclines could be vertical. On the surface it could be 75. A few feet down it could drop 10 degrees or, the temp change might not occur for 40 feet.

I was scuba diving last week and I ran into thermoclines on many levels and saw different fish depending on the water temperatures and feeding in different thermoclines. For instance, I found 69 degree water at 25 feet down, but at 40 feet down, I found 72 degree water…it was actually warmer the further I went down. I found pargo in the cooler water swimming but bonito and jacks swimming in the warmer water further down.

Anyway, the bite reflected all the change. I gotta tell ya…the ocean is really full of life, even if you’re not fishing. But the conditions are such that all of us are saying that it just looks like it’s gonna bust open.

There’s so much variety out there. Cooler water fish like yellowtail and big amberjack are sporadically still around. Pargo and big cabrilla are feeding in the rocks and shallows. Along the beaches, the roosterfish are getting livelier as well as the jack crevalle and occasional pompano. Where the water is cooler in the shallows, there are still sierra to be caught as well.

Offshore, sargasso weed is building up and literally strewn across the ocean. Schools of dorado are starting to show although not necessarily ready to eat just yet. Same with the marlin. The big guys are sitting on the surface just sunning. Give another few degrees in water temperature and they’ll start to chew. Just a matter of time. A few were hooked! Flurries of fast moving tuna have also been spotted as well.

We’ll just have to see!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 April 22-29, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, robalo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, snook, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on April 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

That's ALOT of fish! Oregonian Don White had a knack for big cabrilla and other rockies this week including this hefty pair shown here with our Captain Alfredo. Don was fishing north of La Paz around Espirito Santo Island.

Bob Solee, come down several times a year to see us here in La Paz and seems to always get a personal best or something unusual. Yellowtail were on his "bucket list" and as luck would have it, he took one of the few yellowtail of the week fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Bob is from the Portland Oregon area and is a custom fishing rod maker specializing in 3-pc. travel rods.

Yes, I do get out now and then and we had our 11th Annual Cabin Fever Classic here in La Paz and it was a blast. This dorado turns out to be the first of the season and quite a big boy for so early in the year! But it was swimming through a school of bonito when we spotted it and threw a live bait and it! A great catch. I'm standing on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

Easy to see why this is called a dog-tooth snapper. We call 'em pargo. John "JD" Drucker from Arizona is one of our La Paz regulars and comes several times a year. He had other fish that they never moved out've the rocks!

First timer from Oregon, Sheila Maloney, had a big smile for this cubera snapper and a bunch of others she picked up working the east side of Espiritu Santo Island using a combination of sardines and live mackerel.

It was another good week for roosterfish as the fish seem to be coming on stronger. Dave Swanson and Captain Joel pose with a nice pez gallo before setting it free. We would have more rooster photos, but most fish fortunately are let go so we don't get many photos! Dave got this near Espirito Santo Island.

Matt Gesler has to be one of the funniest and happiest guys we can remember. Always laughing. For a first-timer he slammed fish for 3 days including these nice cabrilla.

Rod Brown really wanted to catch a yellowtail and finally got one on the last day of the last hour of fishing. Rod hails from Alaska and makes 2 trips a year to visit us.

She's the pargo queen! Carol Darby put 7 of these barred pargo in the panga compared to just one for her husband who said "She was on fire!" These are tough fish and this is quite an accomplishment. She stands here on the beach at Muertos Bay.

We had a blast this week with our 12th Annual Cabin Fever Classic. It was a bit smaller than usual, but no less fun as we had 3 days of fishing...one day of snorkeling at the island...and lots of great dinners and good times. Thanks everyone! It was a blast! (Where's Mike?)

INSHORE SPECIES DRAW MOST ATTENTION WITH BIG CABRILLA AND PARGO ROCKING ANGLERS

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 22-29, 2012

An interesting week of fishing down here in La Paz. I think our yellowtail bite is officially over although we’re getting a few punky firecracker yellows that aren’t any bigger than 5-10 pounds. And…every now and then, especially north of La Paz, a nice little jag of the bigger fish jumps up and goes on a chew. But, for all intents and purposes, things are changing and it’s best not to lament what’s NOT biting and concentrate on what IS biting!

Basically, it’s turning into your typical spring smorgasborg of fish species. Frankly, it’s a lot of fun because from day-to-day, you’re never sure what’s going to hit. Sometimes it changes within the hour. I believe this past week alone we got over a dozen keepable species of fish!

This included our first dorado of the season, a nice 25 pound class mahi picked up on live bait right in the middle of swarming bonito schools. This also included some really nice action on roosterfish that are hitting in numerous spots around the La Paz fishing area. As well, cabrilla, grouper, sierra, amberjack, jack crevalle and all three members of the pargo family (barred pargo / pargo liso/ dog tooth-snapper) were all taken this week usualy in the areas around underwater structure.

I gotta tell you…take a look at some of the photos from this week. Don’t blow off fishing for cabrilla or pargo. Some of these fish are HUGE! Try stopping some of these bad boys before they get to the rocks. I was on the water a number of times this past week and I would guess that about 2 nice pargo or cabrilla were caught for ever 10 hook ups. Imagine a fish that can swallow a whole mackerel or a whole small needlefish that we’re using for bait. That is a BIG fish with a BIG mouth! One day, I personally lost at least 8 and only putting 3 aboard…and then again ONLY after amping up my gear from 40 pound test to 60…then to 80 pound test and basically my trolling sticks!

It sounds silly, but if you can’t turn their big heads of these guys, you might as well just throw bait in the water and watch them blow up on the surface and tear it up and forget fishing. You’re just feeding the fish! But, it’s incredibly exciting when you’re slow trolling a bait through blue clear waters and you can see the bottom just a few feet below. You start chumming baits and out of nowhere, 20, 30 and 40 pound fish start going ballistic behind the boat…and then your line screams!

The biggest factor this week was the darned wind! I tell you…one day we had barely wind and had a great day. Next day, the winds ripped us apart and we could not even get bait. The best we could do all day was troll Rapalas all day for less-than-happy results. When we went after yellowtail north of La Paz, it took us two hours in heavy winds and seas trying to catch a dozen mackerel for bait. After getting enough bait, we hit the yellowtail spot and it was like fishing in a washing machine. The current was so strong we couldn’t even get the mackerel down deep enough to the fish because the pangas were getting blown off the spots.

Hopefully, usually the winds keep diminishing but it’s not over until it’s over. I’m really excited about seeing so much sargasso weed floating around out there! Given that we got that first nice dorado, if we get a little more water temperature, schools of dorado can’t be far behind. Some commercial guys are seeing them as well as marlin sitting on the surface just sunning and not quite ready to go on the chew. Give it just a tad more temperature and the big boys should come flying!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones: from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos: http://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 April 15-22, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, robalo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on April 22, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Verda Boyd with her favorite, Captain Jorge, has a knack for putting fish in the panga. The retired sheriff's officer from the S.F. bay area holds up one of her pargo she hooked off Punta Perico near Las Arenas. Pargo became a main focus over the last week or so as yellowtail tapered off.

Take a look at what might be one of the last yellowtail of the season. Our amigo, Jack Perris, from Garden Grove CA fished with us a few days and put a variety of fish in the boat including this yellowtail.

Craig Norton from Oregon poses with his wife, Debby, and a fat pargo mulato (barred pargo). Craig was on his first trip with us and was fishing with our Las Arenas fleet. The big fish hit just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos.

For a first time visitor, Desiree Weisser, from Orange Co. CA had a banner day on the water showing off a nice catch of sierra and bonito. Some of that went for ceviche that night at the Tailhunter Restaurant. She's posing on the sand at Bahia de Los Muertos.

We were wondering when the roosters would begin to show up and I think it was really that we were just concentrating so much on the yellowtail. Each week it's gotten a little better, but this past week, the roosters were schooling up. NOthing huge, but most fish were fun 5-20 pounders!

YELLOWTAIL SAY ADIOS BUT PARGO AND ROOSTERFISH TAKE HEADLINE STATUS

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 15-22, 2012

It would appear that the incredible yellowtail bite of 2012 has left us. With the exception of a few fish here and there, not many yellowtail to speak of the last two weeks and even the commercial pangeros are off to fish other species.

In it’s place, the focus has been on other species that are normally caught at this time, but haven’t gotten much attention at al the last 3 months.

This past week, the pargo have really been on a tear, or at least, we’re seeing so many more in the counts mainly because everyone is fishing for them so there’s a direct correlation! The big red guys are in their springtime spawn and schooling up in the shallows so the action has been visually and physically exciting with big moving schools of voracious 10-40 pound fish up close to the rocks and foaming when boat is thrown in their directions. But that’s also the bain of these fish as well…rocks! There’s plenty of action on the pargo but “action” doesn’t necessarily mean “catching.” Probably only 1 of every 6 or 7 fish hooked makes it to the panga. Many of our anglers who are fishing these pargo for the first time come back with comments like:

“Craziest strongest fish I’ve ever seen in Baja.”

“I hooked at least 5 of these fish and I couldn’t even lift the rod. They immediately rocked me before I could turn the handle. So much power!”

“I didn’t have a chance. Two days fishing, I got 3 of the smaller pargo, but lost so many huge fish! Frustrating but fun!”

“I was blown away by how powerful these fish are. If you don’t turn their heads, they take you right into the reef!”

And so it goes! We have clients down these days who look forward to nothing else but the challenges of these pargo year-after-year.

In addition to the pargo, we’re getting our first real action on the roosterfish as well. Again, it might be a function of the fact that with the yellowtail moving on, the roosterfish are getting more attention. However, reports of 2, 3, 5, 10 roosterfish caught and released have not been uncommon this week with our largest being about 40 pounds as the school-sized fish appear to have moved in to feed.

In addition to the pargo and roosters, some of the other classes of fish that helped keep the action rolling include snapper, sierra, cabrilla (seabass), bonito, ladyfish and some fat jack crevalle.

One of the more exciting things that happened this week was a report from one of our amigos who lives in La Ventana and fishes all the time. When he’s not fishing, he’s kite boarding…his new love.

Check out what he wrote to me…

“Tuesday, I was kiting 1/2 a mile off shore between Punta Gorda and La Ventana when I came upon 100 or more birds crashing the water. There was sargaso everywhere and yes…..Dorado! I was literally kiting among Dorado slashing thru the water crushing bait. I saw at least 6 or 7 fish going ballistic at once with birds diving at jumping bait everywhere. And no fishing rod………. I was so caught up in the moment and amazed with all the action, I crashed my kite and ripped it in half. I talked with several kiters later in the day that had similar experiences with the exception of the kite crashing. Anyway, it was another day on the water to remember.”

We’ll keep you posted. That’s our story…

Jonathan and Jilly

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 April 8-15, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international on April 16, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Young Caroline Coomber from San Diego hadn’t done much fishing before, but got her biggest fish ever fishing with Captain Victor although she’s reluctant to touch the big yellowtail on the gaff. She was fishing off Cerralvo Island.

Skip Coomber usually comes to La Paz several times a year, but had not visited in a few years, but made the most of it heading out to fish Cerralvo Island and using mackerel took 2 nice yellowtail like this one. Skip is from the San Diego area.

YELLOWTAIL HARDER TO COME BY BUT OTHER SPECIES FILL THE GAPS

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 8-15, 2012

It was not our best week of fishing here for the most part. Given the great bite we’ve had for the last 3 months, this past week was disappointing mainly because we’ve been spoiled. So many big yellowail! So given the bar has been so high and the expectations so great, this past week was actually a “normal” early spring week of fishing, but compared to the previous weeks/months, it was a bummer.

For one, we had some hangover weather from Easter week. During that time, full moon and high winds, especially to the south pushed a lot of water around. This pulled up colder greener off-color water from down deep. In the long-run, this is good. The cooler water with all the nutrients are a naturally occurring thing and brings up a lot of nutrients that makes the fishies grow, but short term, it really shuts off the bite. Sort of like throwing the fish into a cold shower of off-color water. It sometimes takes awhile for them to shake it off and come around again.

And I think that’s what happened. Plus, the winds continued to blow. In fact, several days were darn-right bumpy out there and on one day we had to just bring everyone back to town. It’s the first day we’ve had to cancel boats in about 2 years. The sun was out and the weather was nice, but the chop and wind were just crazy. So, the clients were cool about it and it was just better to bring everyone in. It would have been nearly impossible to get bait anyway.

And that was another problem. With the winds battering some of our bait holes around the islands, it scattered the bait. Like looking for a needle in a haystack and the pangas would have a hard time just getting into the spots close to the rocks without some bit of risk.

So….well, like I said, it was more like a “normal” early spring bite. We did get some yellowtail but not as many as we had been getting. We also got some really nice cabrilla (Mexican seabass) and pargo (lost quite a few to the rocks) and some of the biggest sierra I have ever seen! Oh, and also lots of bonito. We had a number of families out so the bonito provided great action for many of the kids most of whom had never fished before. We also did get a few roosterfish as well in the 20-pound class which looks like they’re finally showing up!

We did have some flyfishers who were fishing Baja for the first time and they had a blast. In fact, as one of them told me “It’s not like steelhead or trout fishing. I’m sore! These fish beat you up!” he said with a grin. That day he got several jack crevalle, several bonito, a few sierra, needlefish and roosters. Great variety!

As I’m writing this, waters seem to be getting better daily so, as long as the winds keep diminishing, the waters will clear up. Even in Baja every now and then, there’s an off-week!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 April 1-8, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on April 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Close...but no cigar! Bill Mitchell of Carmel CA had no idea when he threw his 9wt flyrod what might happen. For 90 minutes he fought this 40 pound yellowtail which finally snapped the little rod just at the boat. To find out later, the IGFA record on 20 pound tippet was only 31 pounds set in Loreto in 2006. Bill's fish would have broken the world record by 9 whopping pounds! Unfortunately, when checking with the IGFA, the fact that the rod broke disqualifies the fish! Darn! It was pretty exciting as we ran around trying to check the certification. Bill still said it was a great battle and great fish and he knows what he did! Captain Adolfo looks on. Bill also got a nice pargo as well (See below)

Nice way to start a trip! Slamming 7 huge yellowtail at the north end of Cerralvo Island on mackeral and lures. Jeff Sakuda and Marianne Sugawara said the fish were "all over" and they "fished until their arms fell off!" Jeff said, they easily could have put 10 in the boat.

Our first "official" rooster of the season and Marianne's first rooster as well even tho' she fishes several times a year in La Paz. The fish hit a trolled rapala near north Cerralvo while they were fishing for yellowtail. Captain Jorge smiles on!

Not only did he hook a world-record fish, but Bill Mitchell also fly rodded one of the most difficult fish in our waters even for anglers fishing with heavy conventional gear He took this nice pargo liso (mullet snapper) off Punta Perico which you can see in the background. In all my years here in La Paz, I've only seen less than a handful of these fish on the flyrod.

Everyone has been asking where are the pargo? Well, the yellowtail bite has been so good the last 3 months that few want to tangle with the doggedly difficult pargo! But the fish are definitely here! Jeff had a pretty decent day on the big-toothed fish! Also, on the rack...sierra, cabrilla and snapper! Pot luck great eating!

MORE PARGO THIS WEEK AS YELLOWTAIL MOVE TO OTHER AREAS AND…ALMOST A WORLD RECORD!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 1-8 , 2012

We here at Tailhunter wanted to wish all our amigos and tribal members a safe and happy Easter. Hope you had/ have a good one. We had a crazy good week here. It seemed like everyone was on vacation. Sunshine and weather were perfect and it seems most folks took the whole week off as the beaches were packed and town was really in a festive mood all week. Hope wherever you were you got a chance to enjoy things with your family!

On to the fishing report!!!

A pretty decent week of fishing although it seems the big fish scattered a bit. Winds seemed to increase during the week and that probably had a lot to do with the bait moving and hence the fish. Most of our better fishing was done at the north end of Cerralvo Island although our regular spots around Ventana, South Island, Bahia de Los Muertos, Punta Perico and Boca de Alamo all had their moments.

Probably our most exciting moment came with Bill Mitchell of Carmel CA pretty much un-officially blowing the IGFA yellowtail record out of the water on the flyrod! We are pretty pumped up. The current record had been in 2006 with a 31 pound yellowtail caught on 20 pound tippet in Loreto. Bill hooked his on the flyrod and it turned into a 90 minute fight and resulted in a huge 40 pound ‘tail besting the IGFA record by 9 pounds! He fought the fish to the boat where his 9 wt flyrod snapped. Unfortunately, when we approached the IGFA, Bill’s potential record would be disqualified because the rod snapped! Oh well. Still a great fish and Bill was thrilled. We know they are out there!

He also nailed a nice pargo on the flyrod as well. A pretty nice trip!

As for the rest, as I said, the best spot was at north island of Cerralvo. That’s where the best spot was for the big yellowtail. Mackerel worked best, but dropping down blue/white iron on the yo-yo produced some whoppers!

As the week moved along, the winds came up and the yellowtail bite tapered. However, it did give our anglers to finally chase some other species and as I suspected, the pargo, cabrilla and sierra were right there! “Huge schools of swarming big pargo!” as one of our anglers explained to me! They were also on the feed so we got some nice hookups. However, so many fish were lost to the rocks. More than half the hookups ripped the lines! But that’s pargo fishing!

We also got our first official roosterfish of the season as well. The are another species that has been around for a month or two. But no one has been fishing for them as they chased the yellowtail.

DON’T FORGET FACEBOOK!

We have been doing our weekly fishing report now for about 16 years updating it weekly. It’s become quite popular appearing in magazines, newspapers, internet message sites, websites and numerous other places and we figure about 10,000 weekly readers. But, for some of you, that’s not enough!

If you’d like to see daily updates, check out Facebook. We update almost daily but also bring you things about La Paz and Mexico that you won’t usually find in our regular reports. All you have to do is “like” TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL SPORTFISHING

http://www.facebook.com/Tailhunter.Sportfishing

and also “like” TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL (the restaurant/bar) and you’ll get even more of what’s happening with us down here in La Paz!

http://www.facebook.com/Tailhunter.Restaurant

Best fishes everyone!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 March 26 to April 1, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, bahia de Los Suenso, Baja, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on April 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Fishing tailed off just a tad this past week, but yellowtail were still up to bat with some nice fish like the two-fisted catch by Carl Lange from Bakersfield. Both fish fell to live mackerel. Muertos Bay is in the background.

Our local "ace" from La Ventana James "Hawk" Davis has been sticking fish every week since this yellowtail bite started back in January. Note the flat waters behind him and the towns of La Ventana and El Sargento. Hawk holds up a thick yellowtail.

Standing on the beach at Muertos, Travis Simmons fished with us for several days and holds up his biggest yellowtail of the trip. He was fishing with Captain Jorge and dropped a big mackeral in this guys' mouth!

I know this cabrilla caught just off the rocks at Punta Perico (in the background) ended up as dinner ,because the fisherman, Art Flippin, took it to our Tailhunter Restaurant specifically and had us cook it up for him! Great time for Mexican cabrilla...seabass!

TOUGHER WEEK ON THE FISH AND FISHERMEN AS YELLOWTAIL CONTINUE TO POP UP!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 26 to April 1, 2012

It was hard to put a finger on the fishing this week. As usual we had a little wind some days which didn’t help, but on the days the winds laid down, the fish were certainly there! Some nice yellowtail too! Friends on the beach and commercial pangeros I spoke to during the week said sometimes the yellowtail were so thick it was like “the old days!” Fish were foaming and crashing the surface and scattering bait in such big log jams of fish that it could be seen from shore…which sometimes isn’t too far off. Imagine 25-45 pound fish blowing up en masse!

Our problem was that we didn’t have a whole lot of anglers out there although everyone did catch a few of the big boys. Also, we had some rookies and God bless ‘em they had fun! But sometimes these fish can be pretty mean and we were losing more fish than we were putting in the boat. Still…they had fun but if you think back, most of us were there at one point where you’re new and you’re not sure which end of the reel is up and which way the handle turns. Then, the biggest meanest fish of your life suddenly yanks a 50 pound rod in half and your adrenaline goes zero-to-sixty in nano-seconds and it’s chaos as everyone is talking to you and yelling at you! And then before you know what’s up…ZING POWIE! No more fish! You thought you were ready but the biggest fish you ever caught before was a rainbow trout or steelhead. You weren’t ready yet for one of our Baja big boys! And so…maybe you lose a few as you get into the learning curve and get your chops down.

The problem is…for many folks this time of year…they are one-day anglers. They’re in town and decide to do a day of fishing. They’re our snow birds who are just getting out of the cold back home. They go out and catch a few fish….or lose a few fish…and just when they’re getting the hang of it…the day is over! And they were only fishing that one day! They go home with some nice bags of cabrilla or sierra and some chunks of yellowtail, but if they had fished just one more day, it would have made a huge difference and they’d be better prepared.

Anyway…

The fish were up around Ventana Bay, South and North Cerralvo Island and our usual stomping ground at Boca de Alamo just south of Bahia de Los Muertos. Often pretty close to shore and in shallow water. Getting mackerel can sometimes be a chore as those are the preferred “candy bait” for these big sluggers.

It’s hard to really get a read on the other species we usually catch this time of year, but we did show some smaller pargo, cabrilla, sierra and jack crevalle as well as a decent bite on bonito!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 March 19-25, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, la ventana fishing, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on March 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Art Flippin is a fireman and medic who usually doesn't get 80 degree weather since he works ABOVE the a Arctic Circle all year where it's regularly 60 and 70 below zero. But he wears Hawaiian shirts whenever he's not working. Our amigo, came to share a few days with us and got into the nice yellowtail bite out of Bahia de Los Muertos. Yellowtail were again center stage but some cabrilla, sierra and pargo finally jumped aboard too!

Our amigos, Ken Gragg and Carl Lange fish with us several times a year and spent the whole week on the water. They got some good variety but targeted the big yellowtail most days with fish into the 40 pound class. That's Punta Perico in the background.

This incredible yellowtail bite we've had for the last 3 months has been scattered all over from north to south. Best we've seen in my 16 years in the area. James "Hawk" Davis our amigo who lives in La Ventana went out to the beach and took some photos out front of his place of the catching coming in off his beach.

Everyone has been so focused on the fantastic yellowtail bite that we often forget this is a time for some great other species! Well, we finally put some variety in the boat with some big pargo, cabrilla and sierra this week!

Big chunks of fillet headed to the freezer after their first day fishing this week for Gary Bray and Ken Gragg from California who got 13 fish the first day between 5 guys. It seems the bite is only limited to two things...how much wind comes up and how much mackerel is available for bait.

Need more hands? Carlos helps Art with an armload of fish he took on his 2nd day fishing with us. He said his knees took a beating fishing the big yellowtail "stand up style." But he had a blast and more fish for the cooler than he knew what to do with.

Daryl Valdez with the help of our Captain Victor hold up a nice pargo liso (mullet snapper). Daryl got the tough fish out of the rocks fishing just out of Bahia de Los Muertos!

After 3 months, our 2012 Tailhunter Road Tour comes to a close. Thanks to all of you who came by our booths in the various cities and all the hospitality you showed us along the 14,000 mile drive. It was a grand grand time! Now back to La Paz and let's get the season really rolling! FISH ON!

BEST YELLOWTAIL SEASON EVER? COUNTS DOWN FROM LAST WEEK BUT FORKIES STILL CAUSING FEVER!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 19-25

It was a bit of a so-so week this week as far as the spectacular yellowtail bite we’ve been having. The fish were there, but early in the week, the winds came roaring back. I’m glad we didn’t have many fishermen out and most of them, at least had other days to fish when the winds were more hospitable so eventually, they all got fish. However, the wind were so ripping that last Sunday, they even had to cancel the popular La Paz Yellowtail Tournament they hold annually.

We didn’t have anyone participating, but we have friends that fish it every year and they were disappointed, but what are you gonna do when they port captain has the red danger flag flying and there’s 20 knot winds pushing beach furniture across the sand? It’s just the way it is this time of year. Winds are the norm, not the exception this time of year! So, we’re grateful when it’s NOT blowing and can’t be too disappointed when it does blow.

But…heheheheh…that’s why we have TWO fleets going all the time. Most of the time during this part of the year, we fish everyone with our Las Arenas fleet! That way, we’re generally out of the wind…fish are closer…we’re on the lee side of Cerralvo Island. It’s just more logical. We almost don’t use our La Paz fleet during the winter and early spring…there’s just no need to…when we can shuttle everyone very comfortably to fish out of Las Arenas/ Muertos and they can climb into our pangas and be fishing closer to shore and literally within minutes with the winds minimized as much as possible. It just makes more sense.

All that being said, the winds calmed down as the week went on and we got into some nicer ‘tails. However, during the stronger winds earlier in the week, no one was able to go out. So as soon as the wind eased up…EVERYONE went out! That included private boaters, our sportfishing panga fleets…AND THE COMMERCIAL GUYS! God bless ‘em…they’re good friends and just trying to make a living too. But one of our guys counted 40 pangas out on the water one day. That put a lot of pressure on getting mackerel for bait which are the prime candy for these big ‘tails. So, counts were down a bit and our sporties weren’t able to get as many mackerel for bait as we would have liked.

Anyway…bottom line…one day, it was like 2-4 yellowtail per boat. The days when the whole world was on the water it dropped to 1-2 yellowtail per boat.

Most of our action this week was just south along the shore towards that hot spot at Boca de Alamo in the relatively shallow waters. The mackerel have schooled up there and the big yellows have followed them in there. I don’t know how long this bite will last, but it’s been the best I’ve seen in 16 years! The fish are regularly 25-45 pounders with some larger mixed in. When the fish are on the CHEW, it’s not unusual to get up to 4-10 fish per panga and that doesn’t include the ones lost!

The bite has been so good, that most anglers are ignoring some of the other species like pargo, amberjack, jack crevalle, cabrilla and sierra that are usually mainstays of the bite this time of year. “Yellow Fever” is what they call it when these yellowtail go off and I’m feeling that these other species are gonna feel slighted because there has been virtually no attention paid to getting these other types of fish! Oh well…strike when the iron is hot! But, it was nice to see that we did get into some of the nicer “alternative fish” this week!

THANK YOU EVERYONE! TAILHUNTER ROAD SHOW 2012 COMES TO AN END!

Well…after almost 90 days on the road…countless motels…late night diners…more than 14,000 miles of driving, Jill and I are at the end of our 2012 promo tour. In our van, it took us to a new fishing and hunting show every week…from Denver to Sacramento. Then to Puyallup, Washington (near Seattle). Then to Las Vegas and then to Portland. In Portland, I stayed to do that show while we flew Jill to the first of our Salt Lake City shows. Jill re-joined me after the Portland show and we then drove to the show in Phoenix. After that to Boise, Idaho. And onto Long Beach then back to Salt Lake City for our 2nd SLC show. Finally, we wrapped it up at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego.

What a trip it’s been! Met so many good friends along the way who visited us in our booths and met many more new ones that plan to see us this year to fish in La Paz. We just want to thank everyone who said hello…threw us a smile…shook our hands…and kept us going. You’re awesome.

Now, let’s get the season REALLY underway! Back home to La Paz!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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 March 12-19, 2012

Posted in amberjack, Bahia de Los Muertos, Bahia de los Suenos, Bahia de los Suenos fishing, baja fishing, Baja fishing reports, Baja sportfishing packages, Baja Vacations, Cerralvo Island Fishing, dorado, fish report, fishing charters, fishing tackle, fishing videos, flyfishing, jonathan roldan, la paz baja sur, la paz fishing, La Paz Vacations, La Ventana Fishing, Las Arenas fishing, marlin, Mexican sportfishing outfitters, Mexican sportfishing packages, mexico fishing, Mexico vacations, Muertos Bay Fishing, pargo, robalo, roosterfish, sea of cortez, sierra mackeral, sportfishing packages, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo, yellowfin tuna, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los suenos, bahia suenos, baja, baja fishing, baja mexico, Cerralvo, cerralvo island fishing, dorado, fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, fishing vacation, international, jonathan, jonathan roldan, la paz, La Paz fishing, La Ventana, Las Arenas, las arenas fishing, light tackle, light tackle fishing, marlin, Mexican, Mexico, mexico fishing, mexico fishing report, muertos bay, muertos bay fishing, panga, panga fishing, roldan, roosterfish, sailfish, sea of cortez, sea of cortez fishing, southern baja fishing, sportfishing packages, suenos, tailhunter, tailhunter international, tuna, wahoo on March 19, 2012| Leave a Comment »

The week started slowly, but finished with a nice roar with yellowtail pretty much hitting any bait or jig that hit the water. Our buddy, Jim "Hawk" Davis was in the thick of it and hung this beauty yellowtail off Cerralvo Island.

Ron Clark and his amigo, Mike Phillips, started the day with 10 mackerel and came back with 5 fat yellowtail out by Boca de Alamo south of Bahia de Los Muertos. Largest fish were just under 40 pounders.

The yellowtail bite since January has been so incredible that I think some of our regular season fish like pargo and cabrilla are feeling a big ignored since all the focus has been on the big 'tails. However, no doubt...the fish are there. Capt. Fabio holds up a hugs trophy cabrilla. Cerralvo Island in the background.

Famous Russian pianist Alexander Tutunov http://www.tutunov.com/ is a professor of music at S.Oregon St. University in Ashland, Oregon and took time off from teaching and a busy concert schedule to sneak down to fish with us. He shows off some of his catch taken early in the week.

It'a turning into one of the best yellowtail seasons ever. They fish showed up in January, months ahead of schedule and have been biting pretty much ever since as far down as the East Cape. Mackerel have worked exceptionally well but blue and white and also blue and chrome jigs have been deadly like the one hanging out've this big guy's maw! (Thanks JD!)

This yellowtail bite runs as far north of La Paz as Espiritu Santo Island and at times between the sport pangas and the commercial pangas, there can be several dozen boats on the spot but it hasn't usually mattered as the fish keep biting.

Jack Steele who lives in Ventana got out to work the northern end of Cerralvo Island which seems to be the magnet for these yellowtail and poses with the results!

Jill signs autographs on one of our Tailhunter T-shirts for Denny and Cheri Gallegos at the International Sportsmans Expo in Salt Lake City this past week. We had a great show and time. But this week, we're back after 8 years for our 11th show of the season and will be at the Fred Hall Fishing & Outdoor Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego. Thursday to Sunday! Come out to see us!

UP ONE DAY DOWN THE OTHER BUT YELLOWTAIL CONTINUE RIPPING RODS BIG TIME!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 12-19, 2012

It’s been a fairly steady week of yellowtail fishing in our area. Not as good as last week when we had perhaps one of the best yellowtail bites in recent memory, but our pangas fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos still found good grades of fish. Maybe the fish were just resting up and re-charging from last week when during the full moon, they bit like mad dogs and there were several days last week when pangas were averaging 4-10 yellowtail per day in the 25-35 pound class.

This week, a little slower. Sort of…

On the slower days… Mostly 1-2 yellowtail per boat with some pangas getting up to 5 on the better days. A few boats did better than others. Skill and luck has a lot to do with it when tangling with these big fish. On the slower days, some of it was the wind. Some of it had nothing to do with the wind. Maybe it was because there were too many boats on the honey hole hot spot. Or maybe the fish were just tired and had lock jaw. I dunno.

But, on the better days this week, the guys said that once they found the spot or found what the fish wanted…whether live bait or jigged lures, the bite was one and every drop was a biter and, if not a yellowtail, then it was a pesky skipjack or bonito. Our largest of the week was a hefty 45 pounder on the scale. The fish were in several of the usual places. Boca de Alamo just south of Bahia de los Muertos was again the hot spot, but the south end of Cerralvo Island, the north end of Cerralvo Island and La Reina all produced fish. There seemed to be so many areas. Better bait fishing using mackerel were the predominant methods, but lacking that the old –standard blue and white jigs on a rapid retrieve were good as well.

One note…normally, we’re fishing pargo, snapper and sierra. But, they’re rarely appearing in our reports. I think those other species are starting to feel ignored. It’s not that they’re not there. It’s just that everyone has been concentrating on the big slug yellowtail! We did have one pair of our anglers decide they had enough with the yellowtail…”No mas!” and asked Captain Victor to fish for something else. They got a boat load of sierra and cabrilla as well as some pargo!

A footnote to this wacky season that’s been so good is that we did have a little flurry of yellowfin tuna in the 30-40 pound class come breezing through at the south end of Cerralvo. We’re trying to follow up on that but we also had two marlin hooked and lost this week as well. This is March!

TAILHUNTER TOUR HEADS TO SAN DIEGO

We had an incredible time at the International Sportsmen’s Expo in Salt Lake City this past week. Show number 10 in the books! Great to see so many of our amigos! Thanks to everyone who visited and booked their 2012 La Paz fishing trip! But now…after 8 years…we’re returning to San Diego for our 11^th and final show of the 2012 promo tour season. Starting this Thursday through Sunday, come see us at the Fred Hall Fishing and Outdoor Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego! We are really looking forward to it and seeing all our San Diego amigos!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://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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