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Posts Tagged ‘inshore’

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

Alexa Kadota wahoo tags small 10-14

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

 

Steve Snead tuna small tags 10-14_006

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

 

Jim Adair Brad Baker dorado small tags 10-14_003

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

Cabrilla Don Busse small tags 10-14

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

Louie Sanchez dorado small tags 10-14_004

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

Jeremy Ken tuna small tags 10-14_001

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

Marlin Snead 10-14 small tags

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

Sierra Sanchez dorado small tags 10-14_005

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

Walker dorado small tags 10-14

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

Chris tuna small tags 10-14_002

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

GIFTS FOR LA PAZ

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

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

Gifts SANCHEZ 10-14

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LA PAZ FISHING

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

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

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

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

LAS ARENAS

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

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

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

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

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

HURRICANE UPDATES

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

 That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sportfishing for Week of Sept 28-Oct. 5, 2014

Sanchez tuna tags small 10-14

FINALLY! Look what popped up! After seeing “signs” of tuna ever since the hurricane, we finally got a few and hopefully, these are the vanguard for a building bite! Standing on the beach at Muertos, Louie Sanchez from Denver and Don Goss from Los Angeles, jumped numerous hurdles to get to La Paz even after the hurricane! First tuna of the season!

dorado mike jennigs 1 9:14 tags

Dorado like the one here with Mike Jennings have been rolling through in solid numbers, especially west of Cerralvo Island where easy limits have not been unusual!

Sailfish 2009

The billfish have been restless since the storm and we had several days this past week where almost every one of our pangas hooked at least one sailfish. Most were released.

Geri Cammack dorado tags small

Geri Cammack with the kind of dorado that have been producing north of La Paz this past week. Except for this past weekend, weather has been some of the best of the season!

GETTING BACK ON TRACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 28-Oct. 5, 2014

For the last three weeks since Hurricane Odile, we’ve honestly had some of the best weather and condtions of the year!  Blue skies…calm warm waters…very little wind.  Just enough breeze to keep it comfortable.

But, as I’m writing this, we’re looking at Tropical Storm Simon that promises to drop a little rain on us for the next 4 days (Saturday to Monday)  Doesn’t look like too much.  Just enough to get us wet and hit us with some afternoon thunder and lightning.  However, given how much we’ve already gotten hit in this El Nino year, I was kinda hoping that “enough-was-enough.”

Here in La Paz, and surely in many other places in southern Baja, especially the closer you get to Cabo, there’s alot of folks who lost their homes or they were heavily damaged.  So, even a “little rain” only adds more misery to a situation that was under recovery.

By any stretch of the imagination, the recovery has been remarkable.  The government and local authorities both public and private pulled out all the stops to get folks back on the grid as soon as possible. Much of the work has been done in record time although there are some folks only now getting back with power and water.  But this is far ahead of predictions.

Most notably, the Cabo Airport which had been forecast as taking months to re-open, is now open as of Oct. 3rd with flights slowly starting to trickle in.  Hotels and other tourist attractions are also making great strides.

As for the fishing, the great weather and conditions predicated some very good fishing these last few weeks. You could not have asked for better air and water!  The only problem was that there weren’t many fishermen in town as there had been scores of cancelations, especially since there were no flights.

However, for those who were able to get on the water, dorado were most cooperative.  These fish had not seen any traffic or pressure now for 3 weeks!  They are hungry!  Several days limits were easy and the anglers were catching and releasing fish as fast as they could go!   On two days, our guys came back happily by noon with full fish boxes and  “more than enough action for the day!”

Most of the fish were 10-15 pounds, but others in the 20-25 pound class were also found. Additionally, marlin and sailfish hooks-ups were also recorded.  There’s an abundance of bonito out there so no shortage of action on light tackle.  And, we also hooked a few wahoo around Cerralvo Island.

Maybe the most exciting ripple of news…Commercial guys got a few tuna that hit and moved off! Then, right at the end of the week, we hit a few football tuna ourselves.  The biggest problem was getting through the voracious schools of bonito, but there are tuna signs everywhere.  Several private boats as well as commercial guys report tuna in the 100 pound class coming through the areas and some of our diver friends reported diving and having schools of tuna flash through!  This could be good!  Standing by!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sept. 21-28, 2014

Dorado Debbie Winkleman (2) edit tags small 9-14

Debbie Winkleman from Arizona gets a lift from Captain Boli after putting this nice bull dorado in the boat near Espirito Santo Island.

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Ken Cavallon (left) from Washington got his first sailfish just before the hurricane hit. He gets a hand from amigos, Wade Webster and Scott Daniels. Unfortunately, their fishing got interrupted by the storm.

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Another dorado for Debbie on the beach in front of La Concha Hotel!

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Mike Bryant with one of his dorado that he got just off the point at Las Arenas.

Jilly and JR

Two weeks ago, we were ankle deep and surveying the damage the morning after Odile struck La Paz. Fallen trees…broekn windows…shattered glass everywhere. It had been a long and sleepless night.  The start of many to follow.  The hotel has made a remarkable recovery!



 

LA PAZ…AIRLINES…FISHING BACK ON TRACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 21-28, 2014

Two weeks ago, we were standing in the water surveying the rubble and destruction for the biggest hurricane ever to hit Baja.  Two weeks later…WE’RE ON THE COMEBACK!  We’re digging out with remarkable speed!

Frankly, there hasn’t been alot of fishing going on since the hurricane.  All the tourists have pretty much been evacuated or, there’s no way to fly in, or hotels have been damaged or without services so trips have been canceled.  Local residents or expats aren’t fishing either as everyone struggles to get back on keel with larger things to worry about like food, water, gas and their homes and jobs.

However, we’ve had a few boats out here and there.  Weather has still been erratic.  Nothing bad, but there have been some lingering intermittent rain cells that have moved through the area that has also kept us off the water or winds strong enough where it was better just not to put out any boats.

As might be expected, the further we get away from the hurricane, the better the water conditions.  Given that we just had the biggest hurricane in Baja history, it’s not surprising that the waters were very overturned dirty and green.  Lots of debris in the water too.

The first few days, there were a few small dorado around.  Some sierra and bonito as well.

Within a few days, we were seeing more dorado, but they seemed interested, but wary.  Very hesitant to take a bait or lure.

By the end of this week, the fish were back on the chew.  We had limits or near limits of dorado including some nice bulls in the 20-30 pound class as well as bonito, cabrilla, jack crevalle and a few small rooster fish.

For everyone who sent well wishes and support phone calls and e-mails, we much appreciated it.  We’re digging out and like everyone else, trying to manage and pull back together.  The storm has been pretty devastating. On many levels.

The La Paz Airport is back in operation.  Tourists are gone, but the hotels are jammed full with more than 20,000 escapees from Cabo San Lucas.

___________

And we just got this  HOT FLASH:

As of Oct 8th…ALASKA AIRLINES WILL HAVE ONE FLIGHT A DAY FROM LA PAZ TO CABO SAN LUCAS!!!

ALASKA AIR

Here is the official announcement:

Alaska Airlines will resume flying one daily roundtrip flight from Los Angeles

to Los Cabos starting Oct. 8 following the recent announcement that Los Cabos

International Airport will reopen. Tickets are now available for purchase at [

http://www.alaskaair.com/ ]www.alaskaair.com.

The airport sustained significant damage by Hurricane Odile and has since been

closed for repairs. 

Starting Oct. 8, Flight 236 will depart Los Angeles at 10:10 a.m. arriving in

Los Cabos at 1:26 p.m. The return Flight 251 will depart Los Cabos at 2:25 p.m.

and arrive in Los Angeles at 3:45 p.m. 

Customers who are currently holding a reservation on flight 236 or 251 for Oct.8 or later do not need to rebook their flight.  

__________

All our pangas and captains are well.  We pulled the pangas out’ve the water before the storm hit.  The La Paz captains did better than our Las Arenas captains.  At Las Arenas, many in the area are will without water, power, electricity or phones.  Compound that with the tremendous loss of work with all the cancelations.  The loss of work is a big hit for everyone.

Generally, here in La Paz, most areas have water and power and phones again.  But many of the outlying areas are still lacking services two weeks after the storm.  Of course, many of those who had the least, lost the most and have the hardest time making the comeback.  In Cabo, they have approximately only 15% back on the grid, but the improvement is remarkable given initial estimates.  As mentioned above, the airport will start getting flights this week.  Many hotels are opening albeit on a limited basis.  But again, the most underprivileged areas were hit the hardest and will take the longest to recover.

Many have asked for ways to help.  Thanks for the generous hearts.  If you’re coming down, ANYTHING is welcome.  Many people lost everything.  All ages.  All areas.  Clothes…school supplies…medical supplies…anything is appreciated and needed.  If you’re not coming down, there are still ways to help:

La Paz Rises

https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Paz-Rises/636793356437674

Links for donations and other info will be up and hopefully it can be of use as a clearing house for info.  My wife Jill started this page.

 FANLAP (Judy’s kids)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/index.php?webkey=losninosdelapaz

Cruceros (search, rescue etc)

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Waves for Water

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Baja disaster relief fund (Mexican Red Cross/International Community Foundation)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/?webkey=bajadisasterrelief

 

That’s our story.   

combo-signature-black letters

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sept. 14-21, 2014

CNN weather

BIG AND ANGRY! ODILE sat right on us.

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Odile’s tracking path up the Baja

 

HISTORIC STORM  RIPS INTO BAJA

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept 14-21

What a week!

I could be writing for many many pages over what has happened since our last fishing report a week ago, but let me try to summarize everything.  You can surely look up alot of this (especially photos and video online by googling it!) but since I’m writing this and we do not have much electricity and only sporadic and very slow internet,  I have to be brief before I lose the signal again.  Most of the La Paz photos are mine.  Others from friends and clients.  Others taken from the internet with appreciation and apologies in order to tell the story.

WHAT HAPPENED:

  • A bit more than a week ago ODILE appeared on our weather radars with some trepidation.  It gathered speed and power, but like more than a dozen storms before it, the weather models showed it coming our way then glancing out to see giving us maybe some a bit of rain and wind.  We were all relieved.  The week before, Hurricane Norbert had come at us and didn’t do much other than keep our boats off the water for two days.  No harm to anyone or to property.
  • Last Saturday night, ODILE did something even the experts didn’t expect.  It turned rapidly back right into Baja.  Predictions had it anywhere from a Category 2 to Category 5 Hurricane (5 being the strongest).  Hurricane Sandy that hit the East Coast last year was a 3.
  • Being that this was a 4 day holiday weekend, everyone was ready to party.  No one paying much attention to the weather and gearing up for the huge Independence Day Festivities.
  • We watch the weather daily and warned as many as we could and geared up for it. Most in La Paz thought it would be “just another strong storm.”  We knew differently.  We hunkered down and advised our clients to do the same.
  • Around midnight it slammed into La Paz.  Hurricane ODILE ripped in with 110-140 mph winds.  Turned into the strongest hurricane in Baja history.
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Even after it has passed, 30-40 mph winds continued to hit La Paz the morning after.

WHAT IT WAS LIKE

  • It was like being inside a vacuum cleaner full blast with giant trains blasting through.  Tree branches shattered.  Entire trees pulled up by the roots came crashing down.  Furniture blew.  Glass breaking everywhere.  Our ceiling collapses.  Roofs lifted off.  Cement walls knocked over.
  • Power lines falling.  Paint peeled off walls.  Bark completely stripped off trees.   Telephone pole and power poles snapped in half or at ground level.  Rain and wind both coming in sheets.  Sound so loud you can’t talk or hear a yell.  Vehicles tipped over.  Beach palapas tossed topsy turvy in the air like the little umbrellas in tropical drinks.
  • Statues knocked off pedestals.  Signs ripped off buildings.  Metal sreet light poles, not just broken, but twisted like licorice until they snapped. Rocks and boulders tumbling from hillsides.  Boats blown off their anchor and moorings.  Many sunk.  Many blown aground across the bay.  Boats in yards knocked over like tenpins. Entire sides of high buildings stripped off a cat had clawed them.

AFTERMATH

The storm came through quickly that literally, it was over fast.  By the next morning, everyone was out and surveying the damage.  Most were relieved.  But that’s when it really got worse.

LA PAZ

  • Lots or property damage.  No water, power, cell, electricity, gasoline.  Many many trees torn up by the roots.  Debris everywhere.  30-40 boats in the marina sunk.  Power lines criss-crossed across road.  Power poles and trees snapped off and fallen across homes and crushing walls.  Road blocked.
  • Airport shut down.
  • Several persons missing with their boats (later found deceased)
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Many old trees were pulled up by their roots and were knocked or blown over.

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Debris everywhere. Many trees and plants were completely denuded.

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Beach palapa flipped upside down after it snapped and tossed 30 yards up the beach.

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Phone lines and power poles askew

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La Concha pool turned into a green murky pond of debris.

CABO SAN LUCAS

  • Entire neighborhoods flatted and destroyed
  • New Airport destroyed
  • Widespread destruction in hotels and homes
  • Estimated 30,000 tourists stranded with no flights
  • Estimated 25,000 people in shelters
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Entire neighborhoods in Cabo were destroyed.

Cabo home

Many lost everything. Many of those didn’t have much to begin with.

AIRPORT 1

The remains of Cabo Airport.

IN THE PAST WEEK SINCE HURRICANE

LA PAZ

  • Many areas still without water or power, but slowly coming back.  Most of the hotels have power and water by day 4.
  • Cell phone reception in many areas returned by day 3
  • Gasoline shortages critical for a few days with rationing or running out, especially as folks from Cabo San Lucas migrated up and started to purchase gas.  Same with food shortages.  Many of the larger markets and stores are empty, but getting better after 1 week as supplies come in.
  • Some looting reported, but has been controlled
  • Boats in the marina or those that have been abandoned and grounded have been looted.
  • Airport semi-open after being closed for a few days.  There are some commercial flights starting next week.  Volaris Airlines sent down several empty planes to help with evacuations.
  • It took us 5 days to evacuate all of our clients through the La Paz Airport and through the La Paz Ferryboat taking.  Many took another 2-4 days to finally get home to the U.S. Some were stuck in airports for several days sleeping on floors waiting to get flights.
  • It looked like Hurricane Polo was going to kick us again this weekend, but it tempered down to a tropical storm and now threatens only some rain this weekend and during the week.  GRACIAS A DIOS!  But, it’s like dog-piling on a guy with two broken legs.
  • Town is packed with refugees and escapees from Cabo San Lucas trying to get away or just looking for a roof and water or here trying to purchase gas and food or supplies. There are ZERO hotel rooms available at night.  Even the littlest hole-in-the-wall place is booked with people waiting to get in.  Even if the hotel does not have full water and power, people are happy to be away from Cabo.
  • As La Paz is the capital of the State of Baja Sur and the seat of government, crews have been working around the clock and hundreds of techs from mainland Mexico along with equipment have been brought over to get electricity and communications back on the grid.
Power lines and debris are knocked over on a street after Hurricane Odile hit La Paz

Destruction in downtown La Paz

PEMEX gas station

The roof of one downtown Pemex gas station in La Paz came crashing down.

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The La Paz waterfront malecon soaked and sloshed

CABO SAN LUCAS

  • By everyone’s account, this is going to take a long time to re-build.
  • Thousands of troops and police have been brought in to get control.
  • It has been described as a war zone.  Destruction is everywhere.
  • Looting has been widespread.  All the big stores have been emptied.
  • Gangs roaming the streets with weapons and machetes have been reported
  • Citizen groups have banded together to protect their neighborhoods and homes and using rocks, re-bar and bricks to defend themselves against attacking gangs.
  • Much gunfire heard at night
  • False roadblocks have been reported in order to hi-jack cars
  • The airport has two runways open for military, government and humanitarian flights to help with lack of food, water and medicine.  80% of the city still has no power or phones.
  • Estimates that half of the 30,000 stranded tourists have now been evacuated a week after the hurricane.
  • The U.S. State Department has recommended that folks get to their nearest Cabo or La Paz Airport and special flights are being used to evacuate, but expect long waits.
  • Many many people driving to La Paz to escape.  Roads are damaged, but passable.  Roads north of La Paz up to the U.S. are down in some places due to flooding and damage, and expect waits, but it’s usable most of the time.  Work going on  constantly.  All of those communities…El Rosario, Constitucion, Loreto, Mulege, etc. all sustained their own damage from ODILE.
  • They say that by this week some airlines like Alaska will be running flights in and out’ve Cabo San Lucas.

 

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Looting in Cabo San Lucas. Diapers and cereal for the kids.  Cup o Noodle for Mom and Dad.  But Captain Morgan too?

looting 1

It got ugly during the looting

walmart

What’s left of Cabo Walmart

TAILHUNTER

We had some REALLY GREAT FISHING going on before the hurricane! Dangit, the storm spoiled it all.  When the storm hit, we had several dozen folks here and the aftermath was the most difficult.  Many of our folks never got to fish at all.  However, thankfully, no one was hurt and our biggest situation was (1)  Getting the home and evacuated safely and (2)  While they were stuck here making them as comfortable as possible given no water…electricity…cell phones…and dwindling food.

Almost all of our folks were at La Concha Beach Resort thankfully so it made it easier than other times when we might have dozens of folks scattered among, 3, 4 or 5 locations.  The folks and staff at La Concha were and continue to be magnificent.  Much of the hotel was damaged.  Of the more than 100 rooms only 20 did not sustain damage.  Even 1 week after the storm, there is still no water or power fully established.

However, the hotel folks worked round the clock.  Many of them sleeping at the hotel and working by candlelight or digging out rooms and grounds from debris, fallen trees, broken glass and shredded walls.  A limited menu was served during special hours in the lobby since the restaurant glass was blown out but they really did a good job on the food.

Our drivers, Jorge and Esteban were freakin’ heroes.  Despite their own problems at their own homes, they ferried our people to and from markets…to and from airports and the ferrys…at all hours at their OWN expense…just to help out and always doing it with a smile and good sense of humor even in the most stressful times even when their own families needed their presence.  There was nothing they wouldn’t do.

Kudos also to our guests…who hung in there during a trying time with patience and good will and all the laughs possible under the circumstances.  They were all stars.  No one losing their cool.  No one going “Ugly American.”  No one blaming anyone, but rather helping each other and bonding and hanging tough.  Thankfully, everyone got home or is on their way home.  No one injured.  No one hurt.  I’m just sorry that their vacations took such a turn.

Tailhunter Restaurant is open.  Our own staff kicked butt and cleaned up most of the damage and allowed us to open 3 days after the storm with a limited menu, but open when many others still were closed.  Many of our “new friends” are from Cabo San Lucas and just relieved to be here and we’ve been sharing our phones and internet signals with them so they can reach out.  For many, this is their first time in La Paz.   We are still having trouble with ice and some food items, but each day it’s been a bit better.

As for the fishing…well…regretfully, we’ve had a load of cancellations understandably.  We’re telling everyone who postpones that they will get 100% credit towards their new dates.  We have had no banks open or available all week. Banks aren’t even answering their phones.  Not even an ATM,  so doing business has been problematic.  But we’re still here and we’ll pull out’ve this.  Losses have been huge, but could have been worse and there are so many others who have it much worse than us.

But, as for yesterday, we have been putting a few stranded folks on boats and there’s still dorado out there!  We can actually see rooster fish breaking just off the beach outside the restaurant.  So the fish are waiting! They haven’t been biting really well because the waters are really messed up, but if we don’t get any more turbulence, waters should clear up and fish will be back…we hope!

Will keep you as posted as we can signal and phone reception allowing.  Thank you for all your good wishes.  We’ve literally gotten hundreds of e-mails, phone messages and facebook messages and simply cannot answer them all.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

Jill put together these links if you’d like to help and make donations:

La Paz Rises

https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Paz-Rises/636793356437674

Links for donations and other info will be up and hopefully it can be of use as a clearing house for info.

FANLAP (Judy’s kids)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/index.php?webkey=losninosdelapaz

Cruceros (search, rescue etc)

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Waves for Water

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Baja disaster relief fund (Mexican Red Cross/International Community Foundation)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/?webkey=bajadisasterrelief

God bless.  That’s our story

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sept. 7-14, 2014

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Bruce Dodge (in the shirt with the scales) and his amigos from S.California had a great 3 days of fishing with good numbers or dorado between 10 and 35 pounds plus other species. Here they were with some of their fish from Las Arenas on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos!

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The skies darken in a matter of minutes at Bahia de Los Muertos as we wait for our fishing pangas to hurredly get back in!

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The track of Hurricane ODILE as of Sunday morning.

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Chris Kerley and Bob Patterson with some big grins and big dorado including this huge bull on the sand at Muertos Bay.

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Captain Jorge does a group shot with Jeff Bobo and Rod Emi from the Los Angeles area and their first day of fishing.

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Tasty catch and an unusual one for Chris Kerley and his pompano. Normally, we don’t see these fish until springtime. Great eating and related to yellowtail, jack crevalle, roosterfish and amberjack.

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It’s great to see folks catch a “FIRST!” For Mike and Karina jennings from Black Diamond, Washington, these are their first roosterfish. In fact, for Karina, it was her first-ever saltwater fish. All fish were released.

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New Mexico in the house! Captain “Arkie” Archangel helps photo op another nice bull dorado with our amigos, Scott Burmeister and Bo Herrera from New Mexico.

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Great colors on Mike Jennings nice dorado with Punta Perrico in the background.

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Mike Delaney is all smiled with Captain Pancho and this nice barred pargo headed for the barbecue.

 

POWERFUL HURRICANE ODILE BEARS DOWN ON LA PAZ PUTS SOGGY END TO GOOD WEEK

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug 7-14, 2014

Another in a long string of crazy weeks!

Last week Tropical Storm Norbert hit us and interrupted a really nice jag of fishing for a few days.  No real damage, just some wind and rain and enough to have to cancel fishing for two days.

But, then, with each passing day away from Norbert, fishing got better and better and better!

For the better part of this week, we were well into some really nice dorado.  Good school-sized fish from 8-15 pounds mixed with some larger 20-40 pound models.  Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and Tailhunter La Paz fleets were bent on fish every day!

In addition to the dorado, we were also getting into some sailfish, striped marlin, rooster fish to 50 pounds, a couple of wahoo hookups (none landed) and even some pargo and cabrilla along with the bonito!

A real nice mix.  Lots of action.  Great conditions. Good numbers of fish.

And all during this time, we saw another storm…”ODILE” forming up south of us.  Initially, it looked like it was coming straight for us.  It as cause for concern.

But, as with about a dozen storms before it, it started up our way, then with each day it veered further and further west out into the Pacific.  At most, we expected a bit of rain and wind.  We could handle that.

But, then Saturday night about midnight, ODILE, pulled a fast one and unexpectedly veered right back at Baja.  And, as I’m writing this Sunday evening,  it’s gonna be a big one.  It’s possibly going to be a CATEGORY 4 or 5!  That’s “Katrina”-sized storm.  That means winds and rains up to about 120-150 mph.

As I’m writing this, rains are just starting to fall and winds are escalating.  We were able to fish today, but we’re canceling fishing tomorrow (MONDAY) and probably Tuesday as well as I’m sure the port captain won’t allow anyone out.  We expect that by this evening, we’ll start getting the heavy rains and we’ll get slammed SUNDAY NIGHT.

We had the football games going full turbo at our Tailhunter Restaurant, but had to send everyone home after the Chargers/ Seahawks game in order to start dismantling the restaurant to securing everything agains the storm and also to let our employees get home to their families.  We’re sandbagging and locking everything down.  Basically under siege for a few days.  Hopefully, we’ll all be fine.

AND FISHING AGAIN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS!

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sportfishing for Week of July 6-13, 2014

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That’s the way to do it! Our Captain Eddy Carballo helps 13-year-old Luke Fregoso from Agoura Hills with his biggest dorado. The 40-pound class bull was hooked north of La Paz and Luke fought it solo all the way to the boat. He also had a fish estimated at 50 pounds on for awhile.

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Yes! There was some crazy weather this past week. Here’s a shot taken from the beach of the giant waterspout that popped up in the channel between Cerralvo Island, La Ventana and Las Arenas. No one has ever seen one this big out there.

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Fortunately, this didn’t affect the fishing! But, it was pretty fascinating to watch!

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Sam Sybesma (right) and Landon Tilema (left) have a handful of bull dorado here on the beach at Balandra after another good day of fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

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Debbie White , our amiga from Tualatin OR, spends several weeks a year with husband, Don, with us in La Paz getting in some great fishing and always taking big fish like Debbie’s massively huge bull dorado here just outside of Bahia de los Muertos!

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Wayne Moss has been my friend for many years and an exellent fisherman. He is a commercial pilot in the Maldives but took a few days to visit us and got a nice catch-and-release roosterfish just outside of Las Arenas.

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Dick Carroll and his wife, Jeanette come to us from New Mexico and pose with a really nice Las Arenas bull dorado on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

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Norm and Dorothy Fulco have known me since I ran JNJ Fishing Tackle in Rosemead CA some 20 years ago! The usually come to visit in July for Dorothy’s birthday and like fishing with Captain Pancho.

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“Big Fish” Don White and an incredibly-colored blue bull dorado! Don is from Tualatin, Oregon near Portland.

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Rob is looking pretty serious here but had to be one of the funniest guys this week. He took a day to give pargo fishing a shot and, while they lost several large models to the rocks, did manage this smaller one to bring back and add to the box of dorado!

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Syd De Vries from Ripon CA and Captain Rogelio put another dorado in the boat. Yes, Rogelio is shorter than Syd! They were fishing north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.

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Not as many whalesharks around these days, but there’s a few around. This “baby” 12 footer came up in the middle of the fishing boats to check out the action.

 

FULL MOON – TROPICAL RAINS – WATERSPOUTS AND DORADO!

La Paz  – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 6-13, 2014

 

It was another one of crazy weeks.   The fish were here but the weather was crazy funky.  We had afternoon tropical storms that brought some heavy thunderstorms at times and flooding.  The nutty thing was that it would rain for 10 minutes here…but not there…30 minutes in one area and 2 blocks away, it would be totally dry.  This is normally the kind of weather we get in the fall, but El Nino conditions seem to have changed the game a bit.  Thankfully, no hurricanes and no serious damage from the flooding, but out-of-the-blue mid-week, we actually had some pretty intense water-spouts show up between El Sargento, Las Arenas and Cerralvo Island.   They looked like water tornados like the kind that would pick up your house and send you off to the Land of Oz!  Incredible to watch.

Here’s what we saw this week:

LAS ARENAS

Our Tailhunter fleet at Las Arenas again found lots of action on the smaller school-sized dorado in the 5-8 pound range.  They are like little squirrels all over the place.  The larger models were harder to find, but the few we got were trophy 30-40 pound slugs.     Dorado made up 80% of our Las Arenas catch.

Other species included some marlin and sailfish and roosters along the beach.  Live bait continues to be problematic, but we’re still getting fish.  No wahoo this week, but that’s because no one was really fishing for them.  However, divers say the skinnies are still out by the island.

LA PAZ

La Paz fishing has been our “cooler-filler” action.  The dorado have been 10-40 pounds regularly with a number of fish in the great 15-20 pound category.  Lots of fun.  Plenty strong without destroying anyone!   I think the fact that we have move live bait in our La Paz area has made a difference.  In addition to the dorado we are getting hookups with striped marlin and sails as well.  We did some schools of roosters along the beaches and some of our guys that went after pargo and cabrilla got schooled on some big fish that took them to the rocks!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Fleet for June 30-July 6, 2014

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This is the “OH NO” moment when your reel is screeching…your arms are aching…your rod is bent when you see the big monster 45-pound dorado and you realize you only have 30-pound equipment! Becky Csutoras took this great shot of her dad’s fish as it made that big jump. Yes, he did get the fish. See the tired angler below…he fought it for 45 minutes!

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Don White always does well. He was just off Punta Perico with Captain Pancho when he tied into this baby blue marlin. Happily released! Check out the video below of the unceremonious, but successful release. The marlin was not complaining. Congrats to our amigo, Don, who visits from Oregeon each year!

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Becky Csutoras, is normally travellng all over the country as an accountant, but she takes some time each year to get in some fishing with us at Tailhunters. She has to be one of the happiest fisher people we ever see. Every day is a “GREAT DAY!” Check our this fine dorado she caught off Las Arenas! She did well all week!

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Start ’em young! Six-year-old Roman, gets a hand from his grandma, Kelly Jimenez, with a nice bull dorado standing on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos. “Romo” had himself a great time all week helping grandma and grandpa to fish!

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John Russell told me, “They fight harder than salmon!” He used to be a salmon fishing guide. Visiting us from Milpitas CA, he put the hurt on this colorful big bull dorado fishing near Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz. Great colors…big fish!

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My old classmate from law school, Skip Coomber in the center with friends and family got out for a day even during the ugly cloudy weather and got a few dorado. Skips daughter, Amelia, in the gray t-shirt is with her girlfriends Haleigh and Isabella…all 3 girls on a last hurrah before staring their respective college careers in several weeks!

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She never fails to get big fish! Oregon in the house, Debbie White in flat water with another big dorado on her scoreboard! Punta Arenas in the background. Each year, Debbie makes us the best homemade moonshine “Apple Pie” for our Oregon show.

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John Gothie had just a few days to spend with us, but made the most of it with a nice wahoo plus some fun dorado while fishing with Captain Adolfo and our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

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Another youngster headed to college for the first time…Brian Russell will be headed to Arizona State in just a few weeks, but got his first striped marlin here with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

 

TROPICAL STORM DROPS SOME RAIN AND DAMPENS FISHING

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 30-July 6, 2014

 

Rain cells moving through the area and bringing a mix of some thundershowers, drizzle, wave surge and winds marred some of the fishing.  Fortunately, it wasn’t a hurricane, but just some tropical storms.  In most cases, the rain didn’t get anyone wet until the afternoons when the fishermen were already back and it really cooled things off, but it did rob sunshine from vacationers looking for more sunshine than we got this week.

It was very tropical.  It could rain for 5 minutes or two hours.  It could rain on one spot but then 200 yards away, it would be bone dry.  An hour later, it would change again.  Or not rain at all until the next day.

Again, the most cooperative species were the dorado.  Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet had some good results that differed from day-to-day and boat-to-boat.

LAS ARENAS

At Las Arenas, there was again, no shortage of little firecracker 3-10 pound dorado.  Some days, all you wanted.  There were some billfish hooked and we did get a few wahoo and pargo.  The big roosterfish are still around, but most of the focus has been on the bluewater species.

The week started OK, but then the skies would darken and each day, the winds and waters got a little rougher as we got the tail end of the storm and the periphery of the rain.  At least, there wasn’t alot of wind, but it still wasn’t real comfortable towards the end of the week.  We actually, had most of our fishermen move over to fish with our La Paz fleet where the fish were at least a big larger.

LA PAZ

For our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the dorado were a bit bigger and went normally 10-30 pounds and were in areas scattered around Espirito Santo Island and the western side of Cerralvo Island.  After the storm clouds moved off, waters went back to calm and flat pretty quickly.  We did get some dorado up to the 40-pound class and other large ones lost.  Billfish were also in the area with most fish getting released.  Decent live caballitos for bait.

Keep an eye out.  There’s alot of sealife out.  Turtles…manta rays…whale sharks…blue whales were all seen this week!  Water’s 85 degrees.  Jump in!

According to the forecast, we’re gonna get a little more rain at times at least through next week.  But, every day the forecast changes.  As of writing this, there’s not a cloud in the sky and it’s brilliant sunshine and now they are saying no rain!  Just come fish!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jill Roldan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sportfishing for Week of June 22-29, 2014

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Long time amigo, Rick Kasper, went fishing with his son, Kasey and friend Mario from Texas and had a pretty good day with some nice dorado and a striped marlin they were unable to release after it swallowed the lure. Both marlin, sailfish and dorado were good bets this past week.

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From Arizona, Jolly Jaeger and husband Dwight came down this week and took some of the nice bull dorado that have been showing up recently.

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Johnny Enright brought grandson Dawson down for 3 days of fishing and show off a trophy dorado and some others on the rack. However, check out the big pompano also on the rack. It’s our first of the season!

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Every year, Don and Debbie White from Oregon come spend a few weeks with us and always catch fish! This particular day, they not only got dorado you see here, but also caught and released a blue marlin estimated at about 120 pounds.

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Three years ago when he was 9 years-old, Garrett Santana came down to fish with us and got into some nice dorado. He came to visit us again this past week and not only caught a mess of dorado, but also put the wood to this huge sailfish all by himself and refused any help! Captain Raul helps out. Nicely done, youngster!

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Rex Smith from Phoenix, Arizona has been visiting us for years. As usual, he caught lots of dorado, but over the years had never caught a pargo…until this past week! He took this tasty pargo mulato (barred pargo) fishing withour Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.

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Our wine-making friends from Yakima, Washington, Chuck and Claudia Fiola had fun with the dorado and fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet last week.

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Big smile from our Captain Victor as he hoists up Jolly Jaeger’s bull dorado. Check out the video below of her pulling in the fish. Well done!

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Our Captain Boli has a funny face for the camera, but it’s all smiles for Carson Vincent who had never gotten a dorado before and was brought down by dad to give it a go! Dad got some video of Carson pulling in the nice fish below. Check it out. Well done, Carson!

DORADO KEEP RODS BENT FOR THE WEEK RAIN ON THE WAY?

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 22-29, 2014

 

It wasn’t a bad week of fishing.  It was a “mixed” week of fishing.   Dorado surely did their part and kept everyone smiling, but things seemed to change from Las Arenas to La Paz and from day-to-day and indeed from one pangs-to-the-next!

TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET

We sort of re-bounded from last week when fishing was sluggish and all we had were some more of those pesky mosquito-size dorado everywhere.  It might have been a combination of lack of bait coupled with the fact that last week there were SOOOO many boats out there on the fishing grounds the fish just got lock jawed!

This week was much better.  The biggest news was a splash of tuna…yes 15-40 pound yellowfin tuna that made their first appearance off Cerralvo Island and several boats got into them.  Usually, these fish are moving too fast and no one can get into them, but we also had a school of 50 pounders that went crashing by some shocked fishermen at the north end of the island as well.  So, the fish are around and hopefully, we’ll see more of them because in subsequent days, our recon trips to look for the school went for nothing.

However, the dorado were surely more cooperative.  Some larger fish in the 20-40 pound class were taken, plus more billfish including some blue marlin we hooked and either lost or released.

Other species:  cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito, pargo, pompano…we had several wahoo bite off, but no fish boated

TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET

Much better for quality and quantity this week for dorado.  Fish ran 10-40 pounds and limits were common with many fish lost and many released.  We do have live bait in the form of caballitos and mackerel, but a big error with the fishermen is not letting the dorado really chomp down on the baits and giving the dorado enough time to get the hooks in their mouths.  These dorado are so voracious that even small dorado will charge baits that areas big as them making you wonder how they even get an 8 inch bait into their little mouths.  But, they will hit it so you just have to be patient before pulling the trigger and setting the hooks.

The fish are around Espirito Santo Island and as close as right in La Paz Bay, but the larger fish are all the way around the corner around Las Cruces, El Rosario and Punta Gorda.  It takes while to get there, but it’s worth it and the fish can be as close as just a few yards off the beach in the calm protected waters near those areas.

We are also getting some good bites on sailfish and marlin as well in the same areas.

OTHER SPECIES:  Since everyone is concentrating on the blue water species like dorado, we’ve found some spots holding some BIG cabrilla and pargo that are willing to bite, but getting these beasts out’ve the rocks once you hook them is the trick and the fish usually wins!

WEATHER

Usually not much to say.  It’s sunny today.  It was sunny yesterday.  It will be sunny tomorrow. Water about 84 degrees. Nights about 72.  Yawn…

Seriously, it’s been a tad humid and in the mid 90’s, but this week the forecast is showing some afternoon thundershowers coming our way.  Very tropical.  I don’t think it will affect our fishermen very much and, as of the time of this writing, these are not hurricanes, but merely some rain cells moving our way.  We’ll keep an eye out!  Might actually be very refreshing!

 That’s our story!

combo signature 2-proc

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Fishing Fleet for Week of June 1-8, 2014

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All hail the “Wahoo King!” Mike Guest from Phoenix Arizona has been coming to fish with Tailhunters in La Paz for years and never got a wahoo despite great efforts. This past week after only two days he got three wahoo and lost two other, but did get this one huge beast estimated at 60-70 pounds near Cerralvo Island. Amigo, Esteban Romero, gives a hand!

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Cole Chavira from Solana Beach CA always smokes the fish here in La Paz since he was little kid. He’s now in high school and nothing changes. He put the wood to this big cabrilla on a deep jigged yo-yo iron!

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He came all the way from Lisbon, North Dakota, but Joe Nelson told us, “It’s been as cold as 30 degrees below zero back home” and he wanted some sunshine and his first rooster fish! He got both including this fat rooster off the rocks at Punta Perico with Captain Archangel of the Tailhunter fleet.

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Al Rodriguez has fished in La Paz and Baja but NEVER got a dorado so he really focused on one this past week. He did that…and MORE! Well done, Al. He nailed this nice bull just outside of La Paz Bay.

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Malibu in the house! Luke Appel dropped the hammer on this sweet amberjack off Isla Espirito Santo on a heavy jig north of La Paz.

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Captain Adolfo from the Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet helps Megan Kennedy from Washington with the smiles and a big roosterfish just off the rocks outside of Bahia de Los Muertos! The fish was released!

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Gabe Rodriguez was in town with his dad and to celebrate his 40th birthday doing some fishing. He and dad both got into the dorado with Captain Rogelio of our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Feliz cumpleanos!

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Happy Honeymoon! Pat Snyder from Orangevale CA said this fish “beat him up” for 30 minutes while fishing with Captain Armando. He was here on his first trip to La Paz and to celebrate his first week of marriage! Congrats to him and Kathy!

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A well-deserved “thumbs-up” from Captain Jorge to pose with Kevin Kennedy and his big roosterfish that he caught and released not too far off the little cliffs at Punta Perrico. Our amigo, Kevin, is from Washington.

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Colin Reed from San Diego with a speedy wahoo he caught off Cerralvo Island where the wahoo bite has been pretty steady for several weeks!

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Pretty good for a first day fishing and first time to La Paz for brothers Andew and Ian Vale Cruz from San Diego. They got a variety of fish including these two trophys. Andrew holds up a big dog-tooth snapper and Ian has his first wahoo. Captain Pancho fails the photo bomb!

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Everyone was in on the dorado bite including amiga, Nina Duc Le and son, Will, from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Over 3 days fishing they got marlin, dorado, bonito, and others!

 

THAT’S MORE LIKE IT!  FISH BITE!  RODS BEND!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 1-8, 2014

 

 

Good solid fishing this week for both of our Tailhunter Fleets for once.  Usually, either the La Paz fleet is doing better than our Las Arenas fleet or vice versa!

However, this week, I would have to say that for once, we had alot more consistency which made for some good catches and action for our anglers although here and there, some anemia still persisted.  Basically, some boats did better than others on a given day.  But, overall, everyone got fish.

For our Las Arenas anglers, the big news continues to be the wahoo bite around Cerralvo Island with some bruiser wahoo literally hammering the Yo-Zuri and especially the Rapala X-Rap lures which seem to be the season’s new-found “hot lure”.  Run ‘em deep and they get bit!

I gotta say, there’s gotta be some big time wahoo underwater because even with wire, some of the lures are still getting bit off.  And…get this…we’ve had some lures literally getting CRUSHED!  I mean, how often do you ever hear of a hard-bodied lure like a Rapala getting broken or even smashed by the teeth!  Or the treble hooks getting straightened out!  That’s a big mean fish that can do that!  We had several fish this week tickle the 50-pound mark and even one estimated at 70 pounds!

The other benefit of these deep running X-raps that can run 30’ down is that we’re actually getting some huge pargo on them!  (By the way, I am NOT a rep for Rapala!  Prior to this, I actually liked the Yo-Zuris better because the older metal-lipped Rapalas got “out of tune” too easily after a bonito slammed them.  But the new ones have acrylic lips that dive deep and don’t get all screwy!).

The other big star at Las Arenas has been the rooster fish.  Not as many “big fish” this week compared to other weeks when we had 50-90 pound roosters, but 30-45 pounders this week are nothing to sneeze at if you’ve ever gotten bent on one!  For many, this is an opportunity to finally get a rooster checked-off the bucket list and, also for many, they’ve never had a fish this big to contend with.  As one of our anglers told me later, “I don’t know what I was thinking asking for a 100-pound fish!  Prior to this, I had only caught a 40-pound salmon.  After 15 minutes on a 30 pound rooster, I was ready to pass off the rod to my friend and sit down with a beer!  These fish don’t give up!”

For dorado at Las Arenas there were polar opposites.  There’s a spot we’re starting to call the “nursery.”  There are so many 3 to 8 pound dorado there that you can hook a dozen quite easily and the flyfishers and light tackle anglers are having a blast.

Beyond that, there’s very little in between.  The dorado then jump up into the 25-30 pound class!  There’s a few out there and bigger ones as well.

For our La Paz fleet, dorado are the name of the game.  Limits or near limits of 15-40 pound fish are just inside La Paz Bay and some of our boats actually quit early and came back with anglers saying “no mas!”  Full fish boxes and ice chests after a few hours fishing were not uncommon.  Other anglers not doing as well, still had opportunities with quite a few fish lost to either inexperience or simply tough luck…but still plenty of action!

On a final note…alot more marlin and sailfish hooks ups this week with more billfish entering th area.  By my count, our two fleets hooked perhaps a dozen billfish of varying sizes including one blue marlin and the rest being 100 pound stripers and sailfish.  One fish brought in and the others either got un-bottoned or released.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

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Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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 Sportfishing for Week of May 24-31, 2014

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Not only first time fishing in Mexico…BUT FIRST TIME FISHING IN SALT WATER! Rich Pomeroy from the Sacramento CA area had a spectacular week with a variety of fish including his first marlin, dorado, pargo and this cherry wahoo!

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Nice way to kick it on your bachelor party! Rich Drehsen from Camarillo CA was on his bachelor party here in La Paz and spent a few day on the water with us and shows off a trophy bull dorado just off the beach near Boca de Alamo near Bahia de Los Muertos.

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No doubt a trophy! But, this is one of the larger cabrilla we’ve seen so far this year and Rick Pope dropped the hammer on this bad boy near Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz! We cooked up a bunch of it at our Tailhunter Restaurant! Rick was on a roll this week. He was even catching sizeable pargo on the docks behind La Concha Beach Resort at night!

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Stan Yung and Captain Archangel had a productive day! Take a look at the nice wahoo and dorado while on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos!

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The quality of the dorado definitely improved this week with some nice bulls in the box like this brightly colored bull caught by our amigo from Diamond Bar CA Bill Hsu!

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He’s shy! But Randy from Canada is hiding somewhere behind the comb of this 40 pound roosterfish taken off the rocks near Punta Perrico with Captain Pancho! The fish was released and Randy is smiling back there…somewhere!

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A colorful lineup rogues gallery! Rich, Chris, Ron and Ed did a nice number on dorado and pose on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos! All are from Camarillo CA on Rich’s bachelor party!

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Big smiles as Captain Rogelio with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet helps Ken Errair from Oxnard CA who came down with his son, Cody, to spend a few days fishing and scuba diving with us.

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Arroyo Grande CA in the house! Mike Davis has been with us many times, but this is the first time he’s joined by his wife, Colleen who turned into quite a trooper and holds up some of their dorado catch with Captain Archangel.

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Roy Stenzel from the mountain area near Auburn CA caught and released this nice roosterfish with Captain Pancho during the week! Roosters are still here, although the emergence of dorado took some of the pressure off the roosterfish!

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Rick Pope and Rich Pomeroy with two of the many fish and species they caught while fishing 4 days with us!

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No arguing over the quality of these mahi mahi! Captain Jorge and Ed Drehsen hold a nice pair on the beach.

 

DORADO FINALLY FIRE IT UP AS WATERS WARM UP TOO!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 24-31, 2014

 

Maybe one of our best week’s of the young season!  Here we go…

Well, we seem to have dodged a major bullet this week.  Hurricane Amanda that formed up way south of us was watched intently all week.  Not only would it have been the first “named” storm f of the year, but more importantly, it would have been a doozy.

The weather folks say it would have been the strongest recorded hurricane ever for form up this early in the year.  The Category 5 blaster registered winds of up to 170 miles per hour and regular winds over 150 mph!  If it had made landfall, it would have torn up some real estate!

Fortunately, Amanda spun out and went off west into the Pacific Ocean and left us only with some cloudy skies…a few big rain drops…and actually very flat calm seas that didn’t even have a ripple on them!

Not sure how much it had to do with the fishing, but we sure had a pretty nice week of fishing!

Early in the week, we again had some sweet big rooster fish around our Las Arenas areas.  Las Arenas also produced some regular wahoo up to 45 pounds, pargo, cabrilla, sierra as well as jack crevalle and some huge big bonito.

But, the more remarkable thing was that the dorado roared to life for our La Paz anglers and pangas.  Towards the end of the week we were getting limits or near limits of fish up to 35 or 40 pounds and I would have to admit that the numbers were deceiving because our captains were coming back telling us that the clients lost more fish than they caught!  For example a panga might come back with 3 fish, but I would find out from the clients or our captain that they “farmed” 4, 5, 7, even 10 fish”   Every day was different.  Some better than others, but overall, it was a marked difference from previous weeks.

But, that’s all fun!  Lots of action is a good thing!

Even the flyfishers are having a better time of it.  They’ve had a tough time because of a lack of bait during the early season, but they even got into the dorado this week as well although roosters on the fly have proved to be a bit more difficult.  We had one amigo who got  25 dorado caught-and-released on the flyrod on a single day.

Also remarkable was the fact that we’ve been lamenting the lack of bait all season.  However, this week there stacks upon stacks of bait around La Paz beaches…mackerel…caballitos…huge sardines…ballyhoo!   The bait was thick!

In fact, there was so much bait in the bay for several days that we had dorado swimming in the shallows inside the marina and harbor areas within casting distance of the hotels.  We also have clients who were beach fishing in the late afternoons hooking some big pargo and cabrilla and several marlin were seen inside the bay as well!

Not sure if this will last or we’re finally kicking into summer, but I will tell you that the water temps edged up a few degrees this week and alot of the green plankton water burned of leaving us with some gorgeous blue water like the kind you see in postcards!

We even got out to the islands to sneak away for a few hours of scuba diving, paddle-boarding and kayaking!  Jill got to put a few more dives under her belt with her new certification!

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Jill kicking along about 40 feet down in 82 degree water at Isolotes north of La Concha!

CHECK OUT THE VIDEOS FROM THE ISLAND…JILL DIVING…PLAYFUL SEALIONS…BAJA TORQUOISE BAY!

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The Beach at Ensenada Grande on Espirito Santo Island run by our amigos at Fun Baja and a great place to kick it for the afternoon after diving and snorkeling. With kayaks, paddle boards, palapas, lounges and a great little lunch kitchen, it’s hard to beat!

 That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

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Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

Tailhunter YouTube 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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