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Posts Tagged ‘holidays’

tags tim zimmer 12-12 dorado

This looks like a poster! The colors are incredible on this bull dorado that Tim Zimmer caught with Captain Jorge out of Bahia de Los Muertos with us. It was another week of surprising big dorado up to 40 pounds…the kind we normally get during warmer weather! We also had quite a variety of other fish as well.

cristina ainsworth sierra 12-12 tags

Big fat sierra! We’ve had some of the biggest sierra I’ve seen in a long time these past few weeks. Just check out this big sierra that Christine Ainsworth caught fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. The fish are schooling in the shallows right now and can be great on light tackle!

verda tags pompano 12-12

Just to show off some of the variety these past few week, we’ve gotten pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners, jack crevalle, roosterfish, sierra and great eating fish like Verda Boyd’s Africa pompano she’s got on the gaff here with Captain Jorge.

mike ainsworth tags rooster 12-12

Posed like a professional! That’s exactly what Mike Ainsworth does! He’s a fishing guide up in Washington and knew exactly how to hold this roosterfish he got on the flyrod just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos that can be seen just behind him in the background only yards from the beach. We’re still getting roosters in varying sizes like school-sized fish all the way up to 70 and 80 pounders!

There's a reason the local name for jack crevalle is "Toro" which means "Bull" in Spanish.  These jack crevalle are among the gamest fighters in our waters.  Tim shows off one jack he got while fishing 3 days with us.

There’s a reason the local name for jack crevalle is “Toro” which means “Bull” in Spanish. These jack crevalle are among the gamest fighters in our waters. Tim shows off one jack he got while fishing 3 days with us.

SAILFISH – BIG DORADO – ROOSTERFISH SURPRISE WINTER ANGLERS!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 11-16, 201

We had some late week rains which are very unusual for this time of year when winds are usually what we have to worry about, but we had a bit of both.  As the week went on, the winds got stronger then the winds died and then the wind died and we got some crazy rains!  Nothing really strong, but enough to fall fairly steadily and get everything wet on and off for about 2 days!

However, earlier in the week, we really had some excellent fishing.  Once again the dorado were truly a surprise.  Hard to believe it’s winter when 20-40 pound dorado are ripping up the anglers and putting some big smiles on faces.  But, that’s the kind of fishing we were getting.  Limits or near limits of dorado with the larger fish and bigger schools east of Cerralvo Island.  On top of it, even-to-some-degree when the weather was a bit sour, we had sailfish and smaller striped marlin in the count! 

Closer to shore, smaller schoolie-sized dorado, but add in some solid sierra fishing plus pargo, cabrilla, a smattering of jack crevalle and pompano and bonito and it makes for some great unexpected action! Even bigger surprise, we got hammered by some really unexpected catches of roosterfish…and not just the smaller school-size fish either.  We got some 60-80 pound bruisers just off Punta Perico and the lighthouse as well as some of the roosters on the flyrod.

Hope your holidays are going well!

That’s our story!

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, 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 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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Duncans dorado tags

Double bonus! It’s great when our local friends go fishing. It’s even better when it’s their first time and they do well! But check out the quality dorado taken by Simon Loftus from Amistad Real Estate here in La Paz and Darrell Duncan and Leslie Duncan who just opened the beautiful Casa de La Paz Bed and Breakfast near our Tailhunter Restaurant http://www.casadelapazmexico.com On one of the calmest days of the week they were able to get East of Cerralvo Island in flat water and put these mahi in the boat and lost several others. It’s surprising to get this quality of fish so late in the season!

jumping dorado tags 12-12

Spectacular shot of a dorado slamming the bait and getting air taken by Leslie Duncan’s quick shutter finger on the camera!

verda tags dorado jorge 12-12

From the East Bay area of San Francisco, enjoying her recent retirement from the Sheriff’s Department, our amiga, Verda Boyd has already visited us twice this year and plans to do alot more fishing! Oh…and she can fish! Check out the colors on this dandy bull dorado she’s holding with Captain Jorge.

sierra shelly and michele tags 12-12

Two more of our La Paz amigos and fishing for the first time, Shelly and Michele hooked 14 sierra and lost 3 dorado fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet mid-week!

simon loftus dorado tags 12-12

Fresh colors aboard! Simon Loftos has Captain Gerardo looking over his shoulder as he pulls another dorado aboard with a big smile. It was a big week for our local La Paz friends to fish! Simon is a property manager and realtor here in town at Amistad Realty http://www.amistadrealtors.com It was his first time fishing with us as well.

Sailfish tags

Who would have thought we’d be catching marlin and sailfish in December! But, it was a good week for billfish. I’d have more photos, but happily most were released like this good looking sail here next to the panga. One on day alone we had 5 sailfish and 2 marlin and all but one marlin were released.

zimmer tags dorado sierra 12-12

Tim Zimmer, always does well when he comes down in December to enjoy some some sunshine and fishing! He’s got a nice rack of dorado here and check out the size of his fat sierra!

sierra 12-12

From Washington state here in La Paz to celebrate their anniversary, Christine Ainsworth, was fishing with us for the first time. She and her husband, Mike, who’s a professional guide in Washington got quite a variety of fish on conventional and fly-fishing tackle including, sierra, roosterfish, cabrilla, ladyfish, jack crevalle and others!

Terry Robinson from Twin Falls, Idaho, is another first-timer checking out La Paz with us.  He nailed a nice roosterfish and great dorado fishing as well like this one just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos.

Terry Robinson from Twin Falls, Idaho, is another first-timer checking out La Paz with us. He nailed a nice roosterfish and great dorado fishing as well like this one just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos.

DECEMBER STARTS WITH FANTASTIC FALL FISHING!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 2-9, 2012

If you were to ask me, I’d say we’re probably on the very very tail-end of any kind of bluewater or warm water fishing.  But what do I know?

Check out this week’s photos!  I wish I had more, but so many fish were getting released and on one of our best days this week…no one brought a camera!

But what crazy fishing!

Just when I’m about to write things off, we have another great week of fishing…in fact…some of the best winter fishing I’ve seen ever!  Dorado…huge roosterfish…sailfish…marlin…pargo….cabrilla…jack crevalle…wahoo…pompano!    Nothing in big numbers, but the very fact that they’re still biting and we’re almost into Christmas is pretty surprising!

But, then, there’s some days when the bite just goes crazy!!!  We had one day this past week where our pangas were back on the beach before noon!  The anglers just simply had too much fish!

Of course, none of our anglers is complaining and I’m always sure to tell them that any kind of bluewater-type fish is a bonus!  They shrug.  They laugh.  Many of our anglers now are just grateful to be in the sunshine as they’re coming from colder places like Canada, Utah, Washington state and other places that are already in the grips of winter and right now, we’re blessed with  breezy 80-85 degree sunny weather.

And then they come back with 3 or 4 or 6 dorado in the 10-20 pound class and maybe a wahoo or a roosterfish and have big giant smiles! We had a few roosterfish this week that went 70-80 pound world-class size!  We had another day when we hooked and released 5 sailfish plus two marlin were hooked as well.

On top of it, they’ll probably pop anywhere from 5-10 sierra as well and maybe a pargo or cabrilla or two plus a additional action on bonito.  Makes for a nice day of rod-bending!

The dorado are very close to shore which is a good thing since winds are definitely kicked up and mostly from the north making it bumpy at times.  That’s also why we’re doing most of our fishing from Las Arenas where it’s closer and more protected.  However, for those a bit more adventurous, the larger dorado (up to 40 pounds) have been holding out at the 88 bank east of Cerralvo Island.  It’s a little more than an hour to the high spot, but in a wind it’s impossible or simple too bone-rattling to want to do it.  Those same areas is where the billfish were also holding.

Sierra and roosterfish are in the shallow areas usually just where the bottom starts to slide off the ledge to slightly deeper water and it turns color.  If there’s some structure in that area, nice pargo mulatto are also being hooked.

Most of our fishing is with live bait or also dead stripped slices of bonito are effective.  Sierra are getting taken on baited hooked with wires or by slow trolling Rapalas, Rebels, Yo-Zuris and Mega Baits.

That’s our story!

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, 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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Great photo! Dan Neale of La Verne CA holds up a beautiful late-season bull dorado caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos on a live sardine. Dan was on his first trip with Tailhunters in La Paz. The dorado are still biting!

With Captain Pancho all wrapped up (he has an allergy to dust!) he helps out my high school classmate Gary Howarth who poses with another dorado he caught south of La Paz. Don’t know how much longer the dorado will be around, but they’re a welcome catch right now with the seasons changing!

There are days when you can catch these all day or a quick limit within a short time! Sierra schools have moved into the shallow drop-off areas and live bait on a thin wire or else trolling small rapalas or yo-zuris or anything shiny will get a viscious strike! Great eating fish and a favorite for ceviche!

It’s that time of the year and one of the great draws in La Paz right now have been the whale sharks swimming in the bay in shallow water. Snorkeling with these 15-30 foot gentle giants is an incredible afternoon adventure and only several hundred yards from the city waterfront.

WARM WATER SPECIES STILL LINGER FOR ANGLERS WITH COOLER SPECIES MIXING IN

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 18-25, 2012

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend!  We’re grateful to all our Tailhunter friends and tribal members who read our fishing report each week!

Let’s get to it…

We’re still doing some pretty good fishing for so late in the season and the mix of fish is really surprising.  With northern winds getting stronger and air temperatures getting cooler, I’m really happy to see such a great variety of species that we’re catching…most importantly the “glamour” warm water species that so many anglers come to catch!

Almost all of our fishing now is out’ve Las Arenas where even if the winds are closer, we’re more protected for launching our fleet as well as just more comfortable fishing!  When fish are as close as just a few yards from shore, there’s no reason to run way outside and get bounced around and get your kidneys shaken loose outside the wind line!

But that’s what makes it fun right now.  In addition to a decent dorado bite of 10-25 pound mahi both inshore and hear the closer buoys, the southern side of the island is still getting some late season wahoo bite with fish up toe 45 pounds.  Rapalas doing most of the damage, but several were hooked on bait while guys were fishing for other species.  The biggest hinderance is the wind which can really whip it up getting over to that side of the island from Muertos Bay ahd headed north.

But not far from shore from the Arenas lighthouse down to about Pescadero, we’re encountering dorado, roosterfish, nice batches of sierra, pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners, pompano, bonito and jack crevalle.  All of this can make for a lot of action in a fishing day!

Live bait is not a problem most day with live sardines available for purchase although they do tend to be on the smaller side so smaller live bait hooks are suggested.  Due to the time change, I know it sounds early, but we’re leaving the hotels at 4:45 a.m. to get out at first light.  Hopefully, the bite will continue a few more weeks!

That’s our story!

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, 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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As pretty a picture as you can have. This fresh bull dorado shows great colors after being caught by Mark Tefelski from Los Olivos CA near Santa Barbara. A good little run of dorado was a surprising highlight of the catch this week. Mark got this one just outside Bahia de Los Muertos.

It was another good week for late-season roosterfish like this one caught by Randy Bartholomay who visited us from Gaviotas CA. The roosterfish have been schooling near Cerralvo Island and then in the area between the Arenas lighthouse and Boca de Alamo. This guy was released.

There’s still some dorado north of La Paz although it’s getting windier and choppier as north winds increase and the season changes. But, Randy Choate and Captain Rogelio pose with a nice dorado they caught near Espirito Santo Island. Randy is from Idaho.

Our flyfishers have been having a surprisingly good time as long as the winds stay down. Tom Ames and Captain Adolfo with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet hold up another roosterfish that fell to a sardine pattern and was later released. That’s the beach at Muertos Bay in the background.

Another pretty fish held up by Larry Hildebrand from Chico CA who was on his first trip with us and picked up this and several other nice fish near Las Arenas.

It’s her first! Claire Ames from Idaho got into the nice roosterfish bite with this school-sized fighter she released after catching it in Bahia de Los Muertos.

We spent the week in Cabo San Lucas working for the 14th Annual Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament. It was a huge success with over $564 thousand dollars in prize money and with 121 teams making it the largest tournament in Baja this year. This was the largest fish of the tournament a 372 pound giant!

Last laugh! Don’t giggle at this tiny 30.4 pound wahoo. It is the most expensive wahoo you will ever see! It was worth almost $80 thousand dollars in prize money at the 14th Annual Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament when no other wahoo or dorado larger than this were brought to the scales! So…this guy was the winner…all the way to the bank!

LATE SEASON DORADO AND ROOSTERFISH KEEP RODS BENT!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 4-11, 2012

Surprisingly, given the cooler temperatures and breezier conditions, we had a nice run of top water fish including dorado.  Just when I thought the season had ended for dorado, our pangas got some nice numbers and good quality fish between 10 and 30 pounds each day.  Most of our fishing, however, is now with our Las Arenas fleet shoving off from Bahia de Los Muertos because the north winds are making it a bit too rough to fish out’ve La Paz.  No sense in getting beat up when you get can the same fish in calmer waters fishing from the Las Arenas area.

The dorado have been coming from a variety of areas.  As close as Punta Perico just a few minutes from the beach and around the lighthouse where the deeper water starts have been good areas, but to the south near Boca de Alamo and south end of Cerralvo Island have also produced schooling mahi.

In addition to the dorado, we’re getting inshore species like pargo, cabrilla and sierra and surprisingly the roosterfish are still hanging out as well near the lighthouse, in Bahia de Los Muertos and also near the island.  Sierra have been increasing in numbers as the waters cool as well.   We had a few knockdowns and hookups on sailfish this week also with all fish released.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

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, 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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It would be easy to get excited about this chunky yellowfin tuna that our amigo, Jeff Sakuda, caught, but it was a solo fish in a year when the tuna never really showed up. In fact, Jeff was trolling for wahoo when this fish hit south of Cerralvo Island.

Popular Captain Pancho bundled up against the winds, helps Aaron Foxworthy of San Francisco show off a really good looking bull dorado. That’s El Sargento and La Ventana in the background. Aaron was fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

Someone in the back poster bombs Capt. Victor who poses with Ken Mitchell from Medford OR and Ken Gragg from Bakersfield CA showing off some of their dorado taken just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos early in the week.

First-timers to fishing La Paz, Mike and Donna Madrid fished 3 days with Capt. Pancho and did some rod-bending on dorado like these fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

Light tackle pro bass fisherman from Washington, Mike Whitlow, hung tough during some rough days fishing and still ended up with some nice dorado like these especially fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Don Buss hoists a couple of dorado next to Captain Pancho on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

From Mt. Vernon, WA, on their first visit to us in La Paz, Dave and Melissa Burton did some nice fishing for dorado on their first day with our Las Arenas fleet.

Great shot of a nice dorado on light tackle landed by Ed  Vander Veer  (Sorry Mike and Ed)  fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Note the “tiger markings” on the bull dorado.

SEASONS CHANGING AND GETTING COOLER SLOWS FISHING!

La Paz  / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 21-28, 2012

The week started off strongly with some of the best dorado fishing in weeks for both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets.  In fact, we had quantity as well as quality good fishing.  Good numbers of fish mixed with great size and fish between 15 and 35 pounds made for some great action and happy anglers.

However, as the week went on, it seems to be clear that our seasons are changing.  Within just a few days, it seemed like summer just disappeared.  Normally, we don’t see these changes until a few weeks later in November but this seems characteristic of the strange season we have experienced this year.  At least, sometimes the change is more gradual.  This past week, it was like someone threw a switch.

Late in the week the dorado bite diminished by half.  The water temps dropped by 5 degrees.  The winds increased to kick up whitecaps and changed to being northern winds.  We started seeing more pargo, cabrilla and sierra in the counts which are normally all cold water fish.  It seems like the shadows are longer and it’s definitely cooler.  Suddenly, there’s no humidity in the air.  If you’re on shore, the conditions are incredible for hanging out at the pool or on the beach.  If you’re from somewhere that’s cold where it’s already raining or snowing these conditions seem like paradise under the swaying palm trees.

If you’re here to catch fish, it’s maddening.  Conditions vary from day to day  The bait changes from day to day.  The bite is as variable and enemic as the weather.  One day good.  Two days slow.  One day calm.  Three days windy.

I don’t know how much longer the dorado will be around as they are warm-water fish.  But they’re still biting. We also had a decent week of sailfish and striped marlin as well as some roosterfish and some inshore rock fish.  Plenty of bonito.

That’s our story!

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, 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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Mike Whitlow and dad, Bobby, (Kennewick WA) stand amidst a “pretty good day of fishing.” They didn’t catch ALL these fish, but did pretty well. Actually, the fish are the lineup of 6 of our La Paz pangas that afternoon. The fishing started out slow because of Hurricane Paul, but as the week went on the dorado came charging back!

Great colors on this fresh bull taken north of La Paz by Ed Vander Veer on light tackle. This nice quality fish that Ed’s holding was pretty typical of the better sizes this past week plus many larger!

First timer from San Francisco, Steve Pinedo, got caught the first day and stalled by the hurricane and almost didn’t make it! But he got back in a good way with some outstanding dorado fishing including this hefty bull with Captain Marcos his first day of fishing.

From Clackamas, Oregon…fishing partners Todd Carver and Don Hines stacked some good fish later in the week after a slow start, but made up for it with some nice quality fish like these dorado while posed at Balandra Beach.

Trophy sailfish for Mary Heilman Vander Veer, our amiga from Washington. Mary will fish anytime…any place even in the rough weather we had before and just after the hurricane. She got her first sailfish here with our La Paz fleet after battling it on light tackle. Attempts to release the fish were unsuccessful and the fish was donated. Nicely done.

We had amigos from all over this week! From Arizona, Darrell LaMoure gets a hand from John Osborne on their first trip with us in La Paz. That has to be the shortest fattest bull dorado I’ve seen all season! It’s a trophy fish!

Al Yetter has already made two trips to see us this year and is working on dates for 2013. From Colorado, Al never seemed to stop laughing. Great colors on this hot bull dorado taken out of Las Arenas. Captain Pancho looks on!

Birthday fish for first timer, Craig Brown and Bob Layco, who came to see us from Washington. They also had to wait a day or two for the storms to pass, but got into the fish their last day and pulled on some good dorado like these two north of La Paz!

Charger fan in the house! Mike Shaw holds up one of his big dorado he caught while visiting us from San Diego on his first outting with Tailhunter. This fish was taken on live bait with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Kenny Cambell hold up one of his Las Arenas dorado. Both our Tailhunter fleets had good showing this week after the storm passed. Las ARenas seemed to have more fish and La Paz had the larger fish!

This beautiful pargo mulatto (barred pargo) caught by Don Hines from Oregon ended up serving 13 people at our Tailhunter Restaurant that night! He was fishing with Captain Rogelio striking a pose in the background.

Lots of great amigos from Washington and Oregon these past few weeks including Erick Johnson fishing with Captain Alfredo putting this hefty bull dorado in the box near Espirito Santo Island.

Great time for light tackle! Bill Leech, all the way from Florida kept his spinning gear handy and took a nice dorado in the shallows!

HURRICANE PAUL BRUSHES BY BUT FISHING RECOVERS FAST WITH DORADO CHARGING BACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 14-21, 2012

What a crazy week!  It started off well, but then a surprise hit as we were winged by the edge of Tropical Storm Paul that turned into “HURRICANE PAUL!”  Fortunately, we dodged the big bullet unlike our fellow cities to the north like Loreto ,but in La Paz we were still hit with winds and 2 days of rain that were enough to cancel our pangas and keep our clients hotel-bound for a day-or-two!

Believe me, that’s as tough on us as it is on our clients to have to stay indoors during their vacation!

But we started out again by Wednesday and with each passing day, conditions improved.  In fact, they got better fast!  I was amazed at how fast the muddy cloudy waters cleaned up. Faster than normal, which I’m sure had something to do with the improved bite.

Also the hurricane like winds did take a few days to diminish and we did have a few queasy souls out there the first few days after the storm (but some admitted it was abetted by too much tequila consumption the night before!).  But, again ,with each passing day the weather, water and winds improved.  In fact, since the storm, we’ve had some of the prettiest days in a long time.  Just brilliant blue.  The surrounding hills and mountains also could not be greener or more vibrant with flowers, grass and trees going full turbo…and the wild cows eating like it’s a free buffet line!  But, we’ve had more rain in the last month than we’ve had in 5 years combined!

As for the fishing, as I mentioned, we started the week well.  It’s been a pattern all year. We get going well then a storm comes along and changes the fishing landscape.

However, the dorado fishing by the end of the week was going solidly . This is for our La Paz as well as our Las Arenas fleet!  Not only did we have good number with limits being common, but also, the quality of the fish has been much improved. We’ve probably gotten a better ratio of bulls and fish in the 20-40 pound class than we’ve had all year.

The fish have moved around quite a bit, but with a little patience, we’re finding the fish.  You just have to be patient.  Some of the clients have admitted that they were getting discouraged when they had not had a bite by 11 or 12 noon, but then all of a sudden the rods went off and it was crazy nuts until the fish box was full!   The late bite has been a common pattern.  So, just hang in there!

In addition to the dorado, every day we’re getting marlin and sailfish hook ups with most fish being released plus nice roosterfish are still working as well up to about 40 pounds.  A few giant trophy pargo and cabrilla also being caught!  Unfortunately, no tuna but giant squid seem to keep popping up every few days.

That’s our story!

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, 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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It was a good week for dorado fishing and this nice bull with the great colors was put in the boat by Nash Johnson from Washington with Captain Adolfo. Dorado were hot for both of our Tailhunter fleets this week.

Our La Paz fleet and our Las Arenas fleet were into dorado all week, with excellent weather most of the time. Our amiga, Donna Drucker, who visits us every year was with husband, John, and Captain Joel when she took this nice bull north of the city.

He’s usually running road construction operations in Boise, ID, but Steve Walker got down to see us on his first La Paz trip and had a tussle with this feisty jack crevalle (“toro”).

Long time Tailhunter amigos, Byron Shovlain and George Bonner, spent 3 days fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and Capt. Archangel and filled the box with some nice dorado like these!

Alaska amigo, Rod Brown, extended 3 extra days and it paid off in extra days of fishing and this fat wahoo he got on a purple Yo-Zuri.

Two of the nicest folks…Stephanie and Kelly Mizuno…always spend time with us each year from Sacramento CA. They also got into some great dorado fishing with both of our fleets. “She outfished me 5 – to -1, ” said Kelly!

From S. Dakota, Deneen and Mark Clausen, were on their first trip and grand-slammed some great variety one day with dorado, roosterfish, cabrilla, pargo,  giant squid and bonito. Captain Jorge helps with the photo.

Captain Jorge again…poses with a nice roosterfish off Bahia de Los Muertos. The fish was released. This is typical of the rooster sizes we were hitting this week.

Steve Snead from Boise, ID, started slow but finished in full turbo mode with the dorado fishing after spending the whole week with us. Great shot of a bull dorado taken north of La Paz.

Seems like we get more and more great folks from the state of Idaho! Paul Wakagawa and Mark Echeverria (sorry  ’bout that, Mark!)  were a hoot on their first visit and show off a pair of their dorado on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Nate and dad, Erick Johnson, show off a great day fishing. Check out the dorado, but also the cool “mini-wahoo!”

Utah in the house! From Salt Lake City, Lee and Jeanette Gillman pose with one of their roosterfish caught off Punta Perico. They released the fish.

Captain Rogelio tries to photo bomb Bobby Sherling holding her dorado she caught with our La Paz fleet north of town and shown here on the beach at Balandra.

Although it’s not going to hit us directly, we’re keeping an eye on Tropical Storm Paul which is going to still bring some thunder showers and strong winds Monday/ Tuesday/ Wednesday. Just when I thought all the rain was done for the year…

DORADO CRASH THE BITE AS FISH PILE UP IN THE BOXES!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 7-14, 2012

With almost perfect weather and a perfect moon, the week still started so-so, but gradually got better and better as the week went along with both our Las Arenas and our La Paz fleets pretty much firing on all cylinders and the dorado bending rods on both sides.

Not much to say!  The photos tell it all.  It was a pretty solid good week for fishing!

Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet really hit it’s stride with some of the most consistent fishing we’ve had all season there after the first few months of the season were really slow.  Sure, there were the occasional times when this panga or that panga had some off-fishing but for the most part, it was all-around great fishing for a variety of species all well that just got better as the week went on.

Sorry, no tuna, but the dorado sure came to play with consistent 10-25 pound fish and on a few days, there were easy and early limits with dorado pandemonium hitting the fleet with double and triple hook ups ripping the anglers.  But, on top of the dorado, by the end of the week we were also getting bent by giant squid, jack crevalle, roosterfish, some wahoo, a few marlin and sailfish, pargo, cabrilla, sierra and lots of bonito.  This made for a lot of tired arms and backs by the end of the day and mostly some big grins and smiles!

For our La Paz fleet, not as many dorado as Las Arenas, but what it lacked in quantity made up for in quality.  The La Paz dorado were generally larger with some fish in the 30 pound class hitting the fish boxes.

You can tell it’s getting cooler and the seasons are starting to change a bit.  Breezes are starting to blow and the shadows are longer. Waters are getting cooler as well.  A bit early this year.  It will be interesting to see what happens to the fishing in the next few weeks.  This week is supposed to be pretty windy with a good chance of rain showers here and there.  As I write this Sunday night, we’re watching Tropical Storm Paul that’s going to give us a little brush so we’ll have to see how that plays out. Click the link for more info:

http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/findweather/getForecast?query=zmw:00000.1.76405

Hopefully, it’ll just be a nuisance.  What a crazy year it has been.

That’s our story!

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, 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


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One of the better tuna of the week hoisted by Eddie Carvajal from Baldwin Park CA. First bite of the day. There weren’t many tuna, this week, but the was a nice slug yellowfin. Eddie also did great on dorado after 3 days of fishing with us for his first time.

Former firefighter Mac Treasure retired to Nevada to be a farmer, but brings his great group to see us every year to fish for a few days. On their first day of fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, Mac stuck the biggest fish of the day with this big hefty bull dorado. Las Arenas had the better fishing this week.

Nice sailfish for Wayne Jarrett from S. Dakota catch-and-release after the photo. Sailfish have been fairly active the last few weeks with most getting released. Capt. Fabio holds the fish.  (Thanks for the shot, Hawk!)

Jon Luker had a banner week of fishing with us. Our long-time amigo, fished 3 days and had big dorado as well as yellowfin tuan. He got this big female north of La Paz.

I’ve known Mike Harkins since he was a little kid coming down to fish with us in La Paz. He was always a talented fisherman and is now a sportboat captain on the “Western Pride” out of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing in Newport Beach. He holds a couple of yellowfin tuna taken off Cerralvo Island on the one day when the fish blew up…then disappeared the next day!

Musician Larry Cornwall has a house down here near La Paz but lives in near Los Angeles. Larry shows off a big time trophy bull dorado he caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos!

John Nagy and Rick Hosmer make several trips a year normally to La Paz from S. California. They took this photo with a pair of big dorado taken off the south end of Cerralvo Island near Las Arenas which had the much better fishing this week.

For a first timer fishing, Mayra Carvajal, had a stellar week of fishing with some big-time dorado fishing like this nice bull. She enjoyed bringing it back to our Tailhunter Restaurant to have us make them into tacos for dinner! The beach at Muertos Bay is behind her.

His personal best dorado for Tim Larsen from Dana Point, CA with some great colors fresh out of the water. Tim caught this near Espirito Santo Island. Buddy Dave Marino from Little Rock CA looks on.

Best hat-of-the-week award to Scott Luker with Captain Rogelio trying to photo-bomb from behind! Great shot of Scott and this quality bull dorado caught north of La Paz.

Barbette Davidson poses with her nice dorado she caught fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Barbette was a first-timer with us from Washington and had some great fishing with both of our fleets.

Rob Brooks checks out his catch a hot bull dorado he got just south of Muertos Bay fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. He got limits of dorado that day!

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK

Pastor Mike Ray from California does battle with a nice trophy roosterfish in Bahia de Los Muertos.  Check it out!

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

DORADO SOME TUNA GREAT WEATHER MAKE FOR STEADY FALL FISHING…SOME DAYS!

La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 16-23, 2012

Overall, a better week for fishing  and weather since the previous week.  At least on some levels.  Not only did we have literally picture-perfect sunny weather (with no afternoon thunderstorms after 3 weeks of storms!)  but dorado continued to be the solid biters, but the big change seems to be that Las Arenas is finally catching up and is turning out the better fishing.

In fact, not only did Las Arenas have the better fishing, it also had the larger fish as well. Plus there were scattered bites of yellowfin tuna as well. This is exciting given that the usually stellar fishing with our Las Arenas fleet has been scratchy all season.  It’s about time we see it catch fire a bit!

I don’t went to get too excited then have it all fall flat as it has several times this year, but the overall trend for about a week-and-a-half seems to be that the Las Arenas fishing is finally getting some legs.  La Paz fishing was a bit tougher.  In fact, perhaps some of the slowest fishing we’ve seen all season as colder and greener water pushed the La Paz bite down and our anglers had to scratch for fishing north of the city.

As mentioned, dorado were biting on both the La Paz and the Las Arenas side.  Fish were normally about 10-15 pounds for the schoolie-fish, but 20-25 pounders were not uncommon, especially around Las Arenas, Bahia de Los Muertos and Cerralvo Island.  Still, both sides produced some 30 -40 pound class fish and larger fish were also lost.  But there were some boats and some anglers that worked hard and even then…sometimes their efforts and the efforts of the captains just didn’t produce!  Alot of the success this week was just a matter of luck or being right on the right school at the right time with the right bait when they dorado wanted to bite.

And then there was the tuna…

Yes, we did get some tuna as well.  Little splashes here and there of yellowfin tuna between 10 and 40 pound kept popping up around Cerralvo Island, but nothing spectacular.  Still, it’s always encouraging and we remain hopeful that the tuna will show up solidly at any time.  But, it’s only a guess.  I’m a bit worried about the water temperatures which are already starting to drop a bit closer to shore.  The way I know that is we also hooked some sierra this week which we normally don’t see until the waters get chillier in November or December.  It’s only September!

For billfish, not so great.  They just had the big La Paz Gold Cup tournament this past week and not many qualifying fish were taken.  We did get some sailfish hookups this week and some smaller striped marlin, but all either broke off or were released.

That’s our story!

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, 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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Our Amigo, Paul Nagata, from San Francisco always comes down this time of year. He toughed out a rough week. Not only did he have to fish in rough weather but the airlines also lost his fishing reels (he got them back!) but he kept a smile and got good dorado fishing all week like this solid bull north of La Paz. Note the grey skies and rougher waters behind him. That’s Tropical Storm Hector that blew through and left us with a bit of rain.

Such a beautiful fish…a big bull dorado still “lit up” straight out’ve the water posed by our Captain Joel who had been fishing with Paul Nagata that day with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.

Thankfully, we did not get flooded like other Baja cities, but we did get some very gentle rain and wind which were a nice break from the heat for a few days. It didn’t make for the best fishing conditions, although we still got some nice dorado. But this was thet wet view of the malecon in front of our Tailhunter Restaurant in the afternoon.

TV actor and TV show host, Rick Kasper fishes with us just about every-other-week during the season and never fails to do well. Check out this trophy bull dorado he caught while the sun was still shining earlier in the week fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

Old-time friends of Tailhunter, Jim Booth and Bill Sharp, wrestle with a fresh big bull dorado they just put in the boat near Cerralvo Island.

Professional chef, Vartan Bagdasaryan, put the wood to this nice roosterfish off Bahia de Los Muertos. He had a good week with roosters and dorado. This fish was released.

Daniel Compton from Arizona with Bill and grandfather, Dan Compton from Kansas wanted to get at least 1 dorado during the week. They ended up with 3 solid days of dorado fishing with both our Tailhunter La Paz and Las Arenas fleets. They are posed her at Bahia de Los Muertos near Las Arenas.

Big smiles for Greg Drezil just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos where the roosterfish continue to provide some great action on trophy fish. Greg released this one after the photo. Greg also got into some nice dorado fishing during the week as well.

I’m not sure what kind of setting he had on his camera when he took this photo, but it’s kinda cool! Burke Roble fished 4 days with us and did some damage to the dorado schools including this healthy slugger bull dorado! Check out Burke’s video clip below.

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK:

Burke Roble of Riverside had a nice bit of fishing this past week.  In addition to the nice dorado above, he got several others including the one shown in the video clip below taken near Cerralvo Island near Las Arenas.  I have it in 3 different formats for you since some players play one format, but not the other.  Click the link or any of the TV icons!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sr3YB-Pz5dI&feature=plcp

TROPICAL STORM HECTOR CLOUDS SKIES BUT DORADO STILL BITE

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 12-19, 2012

We have certainly had better weeks of weather down here.  As a tropical storm pushed up the west side of the Baja Peninsula several hundred miles out it dropped some considerable rain on southern Baja.  Cabo and Todos Santos and some of those areas were flooded.  In La Paz, we got some nice gentle drizzles although some areas did get some sporadic short thundershowers that came and went.  We were still spared the brunt of what hit areas to the south of us.

Still, it made for a lot of cloudy, windy and blustery days on the water. We were pretty much not able to fish Las Arenas at all from about Tuesday on.  Too bad because the dorado and tuna bite had just kicked in.  But with the storms, it was just too windy to get off the beach or even get to Cerralvo Island for bait.  As the week went on, the road and arroyos became too slogged to get through also.

So, we had all our anglers fishing with our La Paz fleet.  They didn’t do too badly.  Most days there were limits or near limits of dorado.  Most fish were about 10-20 pounds.  Nice grade fighters ,but we also had some 30’s taken and several stories of “pilot error” on behalf of cursing fishermen who battled larger dorado only to lose the battles to fish that were easily over 40 pounds…and some larger to hear them tell!

As well, we still hooked some marlin and sailfish, but not many roosters once the storm front moved through.  By the time you’re reading this, the sunshine has returned according to the predictions, along with some great sunshine and blue skies.   However, as with any storm’s aftermath,  I’m a bit worried about high winds that follow that are tougher and have a greater effect on fish and fishermen than the rain.  As I’m writing this report, and looking out the window at the water…so far…so good!  Just a little bit of a breeze!  Fingers crossed for a good week of fishing.  You have a good week too!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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


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Retired fire captain, Jesse Franco, shows off one of the type of yellowfin tuna typical of what we were catching this week off Las Arenas. The bite seemed to have suffered this past week during the full moon. Fish averaged about 20-35 pounds most days. Jess got this one on live bait just off from Punta Arenas.

It would seem to be too warm for amberjack, but several large ones were hooked this week. Amberjack are the good eating big boy cousins to yellowtail and we normally see them around late spring and early summer when conditions are cooler. However, Fabio Caldron was fishing with our amigo, Hawk Davis off Cerralvo Island when he roped this big beast estimated at 50-60 pounds or larger!

Lisa Ogle...first timer on the ocean...from Oregon probably caught the largest tuna of the week...estimated at 70 pounds by our Captain Victor. She just didn't have a camera to take a photo of it! So, you get her 2nd best tuna! We enjoy showing- off the ladies and especially when they're first timers! She and her husband Brian, a hunting guide, also got into a big day of dorado.

Dean Francoeur and Jeff Lipp hold up a couple of their yellowfin at Las Arenas. Some of the problem with the tuna may have been the difficulty in catching bait. Some days the fish bit early and other days, the tuna waiting until the last minute to bite. Dean's fish went 27 pounds on the scale.

More like it. Greg Marsalla took one of our super pangas north outta La Paz as he only had one day to fish and probably had one of the better days this week with three of them on the boat taking some quality dorado.

John "JD" Drucker makes it down every year to visit us...sometimes twice a year...when he can get away from work and always does pretty well on the fishing. He's holding one of his Las Arenas yellowfin tuna here on the beach.

Jeff Sweet fished with first-timer Greg Landerer and got 4 nice yellowfin tuna for their efforts their first day. Largest fish was 24 pounds.

Our buddy from Washington, Mike Whitlow, celebrating his birthday for an entire week in Mexico, posted up with this quality yellowfin tuna he caught fishing with Captain Adolfo.

VIDEO CLIPS OF THE WEEK!!

Sorry…no video clips this week.  FUMBLE FINGERS ME…I dropped my video cam in the water!  What a doofus. I was taking some shots and had removed the waterproof housing so that I could get better audio.   It slipped out’ve my hands.   It’s fried.    First time in all these years here that I’ve ever dropped a camera in the water.  Of course, it happens to be the ONLY camera I have that is NOT waterproof.

FULL MOON MAKES FOR A STICKY BITE BUT TUNA AND DORADO STILL ACTIVE…SORT OF…!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 11-18, 2011

Some great photos this week and if you just looked at the photos, you might be inclined to say that we had a pretty nifty week of fishing.  But….hold on…in all honesty….There was a noticeable drop off in the good tuna bite that went off last week off Punta Arenas and South Cerralvo Island. 

Not sure if it was the full moon or the scarcity of bait, but things were definitely off.  Our pangas averaged only 1-4 tuna in the 20-30 pound class although we did hit a fewer in the 40-60 pound class.  They were few and far between.  Compared to last week when 5-10 tuna in the 40-50 pound class was more the norm. 

 

But everywhere this week the bite seemed to have dropped off…even for our La Paz fleet.  Everyone got fish but it was more of a picky bite.  Excluding what you may or may not believe about a full-moon affecting things, conditions seemed good except for one thing…the bait!  It was harder to get.

 

For our Las Arenas fleet, our normally good sardine areas held few or only tiny sardines which meant some days we had to jig for caballitos.  Or, we had to go way up the east side of Cerralvo Island to find sufficient sardine supplies.  For our La Paz fleet it was also a struggle to get bait. We got the bait, but some days it took alot longer to get enough to head out.

 

Still, we did get some good dorado this week with our La Paz fleet doing better than our Las Arenas fleet. But it could be like pulling teeth at times.  Imagine some of your favorite captains…all stars like Chito, Raul, Boli, Pancho, Jorge, Victor… and others getting only 1 or 2 fish!  That’s unheard of!  Wow!  But then the boat right next to a hot boat could get 10 fish!  Crazy.

Some good roosterfishing, sailfish and marlin bites too.  Will see what happens as we move away from this full moon. 

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

 

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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:
https://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

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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