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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 20-27, 2027

IMPROVED FISHING DURING FULL MOON…(Sort of…)

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 20-27, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  It’s all over the place.  It’s definitely hot in the afternoons…blazing actually, but not as hot as normal.  Mornings and nights can be cool or hot and humid.  It’s different every day.  It can also be very windy and breeze or sometimes not even a whisper of wind.

WATER:  It’s like the weather. And directly related.  We have warm surface water and blue clear conditions or a few yards away cold green dirty water.  Waters can be flat calm and an hour later bumpy as heck.  Never seen anything like this in 30 years.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado, marlin, sailfish, bonito, tiny tuna, jack crevalle, yellowtail, amberjack, pompano, trevally, pargo, cabrilla, triggerfish…sharks!

THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE AND THE REST OF THE STORY…

Marie McClelland from Park City UT, visits us every year and has a knack for big fish, especially dorado like this one. She was out with Captain Victor.

Tom Wilkens brought his daughter, Kaitlyn with him for her first visit. They were out with Captain Gerardo for this pair of dorado.

My old high school classmate Eddie Falcon who lives up in Carson City NV area has a colorful dorado on the gaff. Check out the flat ocean!

 

As I recall, Tanner was out at the 88 bank when they hit a school of better dorado like this one with Captain Pancho. This was Tanner’s 2nd trip this year with Tailhunters

 

 

Braedon and Steward Pierson had themselves a ball with the spinning rods and some fun-sized schoolie dorado.

Our good amigo, Kip Slaugh, on his 2nd trip to us this year from Salt Lake City had a double marlin hook up and released both!

Jim and Brenda Bovee from San Diego have fished with us already 2 times. They got a quick limit of dorado then found of a school of litte baby yellowfin tuna…not football size…Pop Warner size!

This is a NICE dorado. Connor is about 6’1″! He was out with Captain Luis north of La Paz Bay.

Daniel Bovee with his favorite Captain, Pancho and a jack crevalle they released. Always good to see Daniel down here.

Brian and Marie McClelland with another bull for the fish box!

Matt Slaugh looks pretty happy with this striped marlin! The fish was released.

Eddie and Debbie Falcon with first-day’s catch of dorado going home to Nevada with them.

Gabe Aguilar with Captain Alfredo fought this striper for a long time finallly getting it to the boat.

Daniel Bovee and his mom, Brenda, found a patch of schoolie-dorado near Bahia Muertos.

Seeing an abnormal lot of sharks this past month of many species. My captain say it’s because there’s so much baitfish in the waters for them and it’s actually a good sign.

Tanner with another big bull! Big head on this one!

Brenda and Jim had a good day with limits of dorado releasing many.

____________________________________________

Well…we had a full moon this past week or so to add to our fishing issues.

That makes most folks cringe when they hear about fishing on a full moon.

But, pump the brakes!  The fishing actually got a bit better during the full moon!  Given how erratic and difficult the fishing had been the past month, this was great to have.  Nothing great to be honest, but anything is better than what it had been!

The waters still remain weird.  Cold dirty water in many spots, but then right next to warm blue water.  And it changes all the time.

Got in the water on the beach and it should have been warm.  Instead if was COLD! I got goose bumps.  I walked down the beach about 100 yards and the water was like bathwater!  That’s the way it is out fishing!

Here’s the rub…yes, we got dorado which bit a bit better this week.  We actually got some limits here and there with guys releasing fish.  I haven’t used the word “limits” in a few weeks.

Nothing big.  Mostly school-sized 5-10 pound fish.  Way off for what we SHOULD be catching, but at least they are biting.  There are some larger 20-40 pounders around as well if you check the photos above.  But, whereas in the last several seasons post-Covid where we had lots of big bulls swimming around, there are fewer big fish.  And, if you hook one…and you lose it…well, that might be your only shot at a big boy.

That’s the warm water stuff.  The rub is that we are getting COLD water fish!  IN JULY!

This is unheard of in my 30 years here, but we’re getting yellowtail 10-25 pounds.  We’re getting amberjack.  We hooked pargo liso that we have spawning here in the springtime in April and May.  I thought we were well on our way towards summertime fishing, but to be honest, this is more like spring-time fishing!  It’s crazy.  It’s un-predicatable.

The cold water fish just suddenly showed up again.

As well, another strange occurance…more marlin and sailfish than I have ever seen!  Most are getting released, but some boats are getting multiple hook-ups on billfish…even when they are not trying and DO NOT WANT billfish.

Here’s another little funky fact…more sharks in the water than I have ever seen as well.  Folks are hooking makos, blues, hammerheads, lemon sharks, thresher sharks and others…all sizes.  There’s a ton of baby shark in the bay as well.  Don’t worry, the sharks aren’t bothering anyone, but they’re a pain in the backside to hook them and have them tear up your line and gear after long fights or short fights then trying to unhook and release them.

My captains say that the sharks are here because there’s so much bait and feed in the water for them and this includes large schools of TINY SMALL tuna!  Even smaller than bonito.  Perfect munchy-size food for sharks as well as the larger apex predators like the marlin and sailfish.

So…bottom line…fishing did get better.  But, nothing to blow whistles over…just yet!  We can only hope and keep fishing!  Our captains are working super hard and are super frustrated as well.  Even staying out extra time some days to keep pushing to find fish.

Likewise, the guests are being patient and hanging with us as well.  It’s strange because several boats could be on the same spot.  Several boats are hanging fish and the boats right next to them can’t get a nibble.  Or hot spots become cold spots and vice versa.  There’s just no logic.

We just have to keep at it!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of July 4-11, 2024

FISH GOT PICKY -WHAT CHANGED? 

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 4-11, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WATER:  Several weeks of southern winds and waves caused by those storms on the Eastern Coast of Mexico really turned our waters from blue to cold, cloudy and green in many areas. Directly affecting the fishing.

WEATHER:  Cool mornings.  HOT HOT HOT afternoons.  Strange for July weather.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, marlin, sailfish, tuna, yellowtail, bonito, jack crevalle, cubera snapper, yellowsnapper, triggerfish, roosterfish, cabrilla, pargo

FISHING ON  1-10 SCALE:  3 😳😳😳🥲

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Captain Luis gives first-timer Jessica Lister from Oregon a hand with a huge bull dorado that’s about as tall as she is!

Steve “Roosterfish King” Bryan from Seattle spends 2 weeks with us each year and only targets big roosterfish. He was in last week’s report and he’s got more fish for this week. All released!

David Jones from Oklahoma with a beast bull dorado!

Always too fun with Taylor Sering from Oregon and Captain Luis. Finally landed his sailfish! Fish could not be released.

Wonderful first-timer with us from Bakersfield CA, Dennis Slater had a good week on dorado and roosterfish.

Sal Lopez has been fishing with us for a couple of decades, but he finally landed (and released) his first roosterfish and it was a gem. He was pretty excited!

The Henke Brothers, David and Bo, our long time, amigos were with Captain Chito and landed a really colorful bull mahi!

Lots of great action on the jack crevalle that sure put up big fights. Austin Lister with a big smile and a jack!

All the way from Indianapolis, Brian Bauer with his wife, Rita, could not have been more excited with this big striper he battled on light tackle for a few hours! His first. Fish could not be released.

Great to have Kevin Lister come spend vacation time with us for his first-time La Paz trip. Got himself a nice jack on the gaff!

Fresh color on Austin’s dorado! Great shot!

Kim Sebastian from Louisiana scooted out and almost didn’t make it down because of Hurricane Beryl. He’s been fishing all over the continents for years trying to get ONE roosterfish and never even got a nibble. His wife said he could have one more trip and one more try. First day with us and Captain Pancho, he racked this 80-pound class rooster! His wife was more excited than he was! Fish was released!

Steve Bryan with yet another nice roosterfish…caught and released!

These two characters are funny as heck. Steve Dupuis and Vance Robichaux from Louisiana caught and released 3 big roosters on the day!

After several years absence, it was great to have Craig Corda from Calexico back with us and he’s got a big smile and dorado fishing with Captain Pancho.

Young Owen Fujita is a very good angler and comes fishing with us every year with his dad, Corey. Don’t be fooled, Owen can fish and his dad always rocks as well. Nice rooster caught and released and great photo!

Steve and Kim with Captain Pancho…double D’s! Two big dorado on the day!

One of the best fishermen down here…Kevin Shiotani…big tuna off Cerralvo Island. Maybe 100 pounder. The photo doesn’t do justice to how thick this fish really is!

Cathy and Randy Corda only had 2 days to fish with us, but took home some good dorado fillets fishing with Captain Pancho.

Brian posing with one of his dorado before it hits the fillet table!

It’s legit! Taylor and Captain Luis with a bull that might not fit in the fish box!

Our own Tailhunter Jorge Romero slipped out for a day off driving everyone all over to go out with Captain Chito. Fishing was tough, but they got this big dorado just off the rocks in shallow water!

Gilberto is somewhere behind the mask, but I’m sure was pretty happy with this big gallo for the photo then release!

Always fun…jack crevalle on the end of a line! Craig with the photo and smile! Fish was released.

That big heavy powerful tail was about to smack Steve in the face when this photo was taken, but he got the feisty rooster back in the water!

__________________________________

I’ll cut right to the chase.

It wasn’t a very good week of fishing.  Despite everyone’s best efforts, we struggled.

In the fishing biz, even down here, you have the occasional off day.  Or maybe one or two boats just have bad luck.  It happens.  It’s called fishing. Other days make up for it or,  if the fishing is off, it recovers pretty quickly, especially down here.

But, about 2 weeks ago fishing got pretty erratic and un-predictable.

It’s gotten worse since then!

It was hard to put a finger on it, but I think it’s a combination of factors.

One is those huge storms on the eastern side of Mexico the last 2-3 weeks that pushed across into Mexico affected our weather patterns here on the Pacific side.  We have strong southern winds, big waves and stronger than usual currents.

Waters have gotten turned over.  We have warm blue 85 degree water in some places, but then you run into big patches of colder off-color waters that are cloudy and dirty.  That usually means cooler water from down deep has pushed to the surface.

On top of that, we cut open the stomachs of some of the caught fish and found their bellies full of little red shrimp!  So, they are also full.  No reason to eat more.  Plenty of food elsewhere.

It has all really affected the bite.  Normally we should be in full-turbo right now.

Instead, we’re struggling to find a handful or decent dorado or dorado bigger than 18″ or better action than bonito, jack crevalle and needlefish.  It’s fun at first, but after that, pretty frustrating.

The dorado we have been seeing are some nicer grade 20-30 pound class fish, but not like it should be.

Marlin and sailfish are crazier than I have ever seen them.  A good example was that the other day, I had 14 pangas out with about 30 anglers.  Ten boats hooked at least one marlin or sailfish even though they were not trying.  The billfish just happened to be feeding.  All the billfish either broke off or were released.  A few didn’t revive and most meat was donated.

Funny thing is that the few times where our guest specifically targeted billfish, they mostly caught zero!  The boats that had no intention of catching billfish hooked billfish accidentally!

Thankfully, the roosterfish have hung around.   Still some big hogs in the area including trophy-fish running 40-100 pounds!  Larger ones have been lost.  Still pretty thrilling to hook one of these on light tackle.

Our anglers have been great and patient and hung in there.  Captains have worked extra hard.  We can only keep pushing on.  Hopefully, things will turn.  If we don’t have lines in the water we definitely won’t catch anything.  We’re still having fun!

ADIOS y VAYA CON DIOS OLD FRIEND

Cheers and Godspeed to Pops Henke our dear long-time Tailhunter friend. We’ll see you again, amigo!

THANK YOU AND KEEP THEM COMING

For all of you sending prayers and good thoughts for Jilly, thank you beyond words.  She’s hanging in there and we appreciate you all!  One day-at-a-time.  Small victories.  We’ll take them and each day is a gift and blessing! 😁👍🙏🙏🙏🙏

That’s my story

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

 

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 26-July 3, 2024

DORADO ROOSTERFISH MARLN IN SPOTLIGHT BUT…WEIRD

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 26-July 3, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Strangely it’s rather chilly some mornings and windy and can be cloudy, but then by late morning, it’s blazing sunny then just plain hot.  At least it’s not very humid.  Day time temps in the high 90s.  Nights in the 70’s and pleasant.

WATER:  Some spots now into the mid-80’s on the surface and pretty blue, but the mornings can sometimes be a tad bumpy if the wind is breezy but then it flatttens out.  I think the waters have now gotten too warm for the yellowtail bite which is pretty much over, but now blue water species showing up. Storms moving from the East Coast have not doner us any favors.  See below…

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado, tuna, roosterfish, striped marlin, blue marlin, white marlin, bonito, jack crevalle, yellowtail, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, pompano, trevally, shark

FISHING SCALE 1-10: 5 to 6.5 (erratic/un-predicatable)

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Bigger model dorado starting to show up! Sam Aiello had some banner days on the water with us like this big bull!

Our rooster king from Seattle, Steve Bryan, comes down every year and fishes 10-14 days for nothing but roosters. I’ve lost count of how many big roosterfish he has caught and released!

From Tennessee, Stacy Amos fished with us over a dozen years ago, but brought first-time neighbor Sam Oliver who caught his first dorado.

Maybe the last yellowtail of the season? J.T. and Joe rocked these nice forkies up against the island.

Joe Hicks is a big fella, but even he had trouble hefting this big roosterfish after battling it so he could get a photo! He caught 4 this day and released them all. Joe is from Denver. Always fun to see him.

Captain Victor with Marty and Taylor Sering from Oregon. Wow…estimated 350 pounds and a 1 hour battle. Lots of marlin in the water this week. The guys generously donated the great meat to the grateful pueblo to share.

First tuna of the season! Nice footballs for Julie and Travis. They found the school under some fast-moving dolphin and the fish came up and boiled on lures and live baits. They also got the dorado. Julie also released a sailfish. Travis released a striped marlin and Julie lost a blue marlin estimated between 300-400 pounds!

Chris Stark looks on at his son, Noah, with a tough jack crevalle near Punta Perrico.  Noah released the fish.

What a day. Travis Millspaugh with Captain Pancho…caught and released this striper. Caught and released a sailfish (photo down below). Lost a big blue marlin. Lost a white marlin. Caught a bunch of tuna and a nice dorado!

Travis with one for the cooler!

This is a big sailfish! Over the years, Julie, kept missing a sailfish. Just couldn’t keep them on. This time, she got one and it’s a large one. She released the fish which swam off strong!

Kevin Evans from Idaho last fished with Tailhunter in 2000! That’s 24 years ago! He came back and got his biggest rooster and promised he’ll be back sooner than 20 years. This fish was released. Punta Arenas beach in the background.

Lotta bull…dorado! Joey Berzins on his first trip with future-father-in-law Sam Aiello.

Another trophy rooster for Joe. Four fish on the day. All released.

Kevin plugged the boat with limits of dorado fishing north out’ve La Paz Bay with us.

Great shot of the great Gary Wagner fishing just off from his Rancho Costa on Bahia Muertos. It’s easier to sit and take a photo than try to hold one of these big guys up. The rooster was released.

Yup! That’s a trophy bull dorado on the gaff for Joey! Flat ocean too!

So great to have these two visit. Only had time for one day on the water, but Joe and Christian Bridley from San Diego have been friends for years, but their first time in La Paz. Glad they got into the last of the yellowtail!

Branson Knowles on his first trip was with his dad, Lee, and had the big dorado slam them! Lots of meat!

Captain Arcangel with the Stark Family…Steph, Noah and dad, Chris! Dorado, pargo and palometa on the cleaning board!

Three of Jason Ryan’s guys. Way fun group and got into dorado, cabrilla, palometa, snapper and pompano! Great variety!

Colorado Springs CO in the house! Miles Wagner staying at his dad’s place at Rancho Costa got himself a toad roosterfish as well this week. Quick photo then back into the water!

On the beach for photos! Tyler and Ryan had just one day to squeeze in for fishing!

Joey with another bull dorado. It’s about time the quality dorado showed up!

David Jones visiting us from Arkansas got this marlin fishing with Captain Javier. The fish could not be released. Light tackle!

Another first for Joey. First roosterfish! Also a sweet release!

 

Great shot! Bobby Feliciano is pretty happy!

Incredible colors on Sam’s fish! Fresh one!

The Wagner family has dinner set up!

Steve Bryan with yet another roosterfish to his credit. He releases them all so he can catch them next year!

____________________________________

First things first…Happy 4th of July everyone!  Hope it’s a safe and happy holiday for ya”ll. It sas always one of my favorite holidays.  It’s summertime Happy Birthday USA!  Unfortunately, being down here, and it being the height of the fishing season, I’ve dearly missed it for 30 years now.  So watch some fireworks and have a hot dog, fried chicken and some potato salad for me!

As for the fishing…

Well…I’m gonna be brutally honest.  We caught alot of great fish since the last report.  In fact, some spectacular fish were hooked.  But, I can’t say it was great fishing.  Straight up.

Waters are warmer.  Yes, there were some big fish hooked, but fishing was erratic.

The weather patterns are just plain weird.  It’s warm, but cooler than normal.  The waters have stayed colder than normal although finally hitting the mid-80’s on the surface which is why we’re getting more blue water species.

But, morning have often been chilly and windy.  We had that big storm Alberto that crushed into the southern coast of Texas barrell across mainland Mexico then drift into the Pacific south of us that pushed strong southern winds, bigger swells and waves and some colder upwellings up to us.  It made for some mixed fishing.   Even the fish are confused.

At the time I’m writing this. Hurricane Beryl is chugging across the Caribbean and into the southern parts of Mexico and Central America and it’s so powerful that once again, just as fishing was starting to get better, big crashing waves have hit the southern facing beaches and waters have gotten cooler and dirtier.

That has changed the normal currents.  It has made it difficult to get to some of the fishing spots.  It has made it harder to get bait.

The result is the fishing has changed from day-to-day.  It has changed from boat-to-boat.  One day good.  Next day so-so.  Next day good.  Next day really slow.  Very un-predictable fishing!

And, as I’m writing this at 4:30 a.m. in the morning, the winds were blowing as I sent folks out onto the boats and the predictions this week show more strong winds from the south.

Weird…weird…weird.

But the fishing, here’s the scoop…

I think the great yellowtail season we had is finally over.  There’s still a few fish holding down deep, but the waters have consistently warmed that the forkies have moved off.  The cold water held the yellowtail here probably 2 months longer than normal but I think we’ve seen the last of them.

On the other hand, the warmer waters have finally brought in more dorado. It’s not full-speed yet, but school-sized fish in the 5-10 pound class are more abundant and we hooked some really nice bulls…the largest of the season…that are easily in the 30-40 pound class.

We also got our first yellowfin tuna of the season with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.  The fish were found pretty far out…past Cerralvo Island at the 88 spot and beyond, but the football fish running about 15-20 pounds were running with the dolphin and came up on lures and live bait.  It’s a run and it’s hit or miss, but give the captain extra gas money and let us know and we’ll give it a shot!

Also, I’ve not seen the marlin so active like this in several seasons.  We had several blue marlin between 300-400 pounds hooked this past week.  Also a white marlin was lost and several striped marlin were hooked, lost or released.  Actually, most of the billfish are getting released.  Also got into some sailfish this week as well.  All released.  It’s pretty exciting to hook and fight a billfish from a panga!

Roosterfish from 10-100 pounds are still hanging out as well although I’m not sure how much longer they will be here.  Smaller ones should still linger, but the bigger ones are about time to move off.  I can only hope they’ll stick around awhile longer.

Jack crevalle, big bonito, cabrilla, pargo, snapper, pompano and trevally  are providing action as well.

That’s my story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 18-25, 2024

DORADO FINALLY START SHOWING UP

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 18-25, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WATER and WEATHER:  No question, it gets hot during the day, but things are mixed.  Some mornings can still be cool and blustery. Waters are generally blue and clear and getting wamer, but that big storm that his the southern U.S. last week moved over to Mexico then to our area bringing strong winds and some big waves.  It clouded up the water and 1 day we were not able to fish.  We even had a little rain one morning as well.  Oh…and there has been real honest-to-goodness fog along the coast and up the mountains!

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado, yellowtail, roosterfish, marlin, sailfish, jack crevalle, rainbow runners, triggerfish, bonito, barred pargo, yellow snapper, cabrilla, sierra, pompano, trevally and amberjack

FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10:  6.5

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Jim Stahlman has been fishing with us for many years, but said he had one of his best days ever landing a number of large dorado and yellowtail north of La Paz Bay.

 

Gerry Eichhorn from Edmonton Canada had a banner week with almost a dozen large roosters caught and released with Captain Victor.

Kyle Hoogervorst on his first visit to us got into the yellowtail very nicely while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Love the cigar look! Steve Hoogervorst is funny as heck and poses here with a tough jack crevalle right off the sand at Punta Arenas. The fish was released.

Lou Salatich has a legit bull dorado here with Captain Armando. They also caught and released 2 marlin.

Vern Eichhorn with another rooster to add to the scorebox of fish released over the week! Vern is from Canada on his first trip with us.

Tino DiLeon and Bryan Hyland with big smiles and a full table of dorado and rainblow runners! I also see a cabrilla as well.

Our long-time amigo, Bob Sayre from Chicago has his hands (and mouth) full of bull dorado!

Jeremy Hart and Chase with a nice marlin in the boat. Marlin have gotten more active the last 2 weeks.

Art Torrez and Rich Sevaly with first-day dorado for the cooler and eating at Tailhunter for dinner!

Still some chunky yellowtail to be had. Jim Stahlman with another forkie for the ice chest!

Paul and Phil with a pair of tasty mahi on the beach at Muertos!

Gary Wagner at his place the Rancho Costa at Bahia Muertos with son Miles and an amigo with dinner…snapper, cabrilla and yellowtail!

Captain Armando give Lou Salatich a hand with his striper. The fish was released!

Margo Salatich and Captain Armando with another bull for day!

Tanner Pierson and son Braedon with Jim Bovee, our friends from San Diego with yellowtail and dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Gerry and Vern with yet another big roosterfish for a quick photo and release!

Ryan’s first dorado fishing with grandma Margo and Captain Gerardo!

_____________________________________

Well…it was a good fishing week, but a weird weather week.

Yes, it’s summer, but that big storm that hit the southern coast of the U.S like Texas slammed there.  Then, it was big enough to move across mainland Mexico where it made its presence felt then was strong enough to come all the way over to the Pacific side and affect things in Baja.

It produced some windy blustery days and some big swells and waves coming from the south.  It even brought a bit of rain.  The southern blow and swell made fishing a big difficult for our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet since we launch at Bahia Muertos which faces south.  One day it even shut down the fishing.

Get this…we’ve even had FOG!  Yup…fog.  Real FOG!  Go figure.  Up on the hills and along the coast.  Crazy crazy weather.

But overall, still a pretty OK fishing week.

No bones about it, this is a cooler time of year than normal.  Although it can get blazing hot in the day, this isn’t our typical weather.  Mornings can be cool.  The surface temperature of the ocean is warm, but down deep the waters are still on the chilly side.

The result is that on top, the warming waters are finally bringin in the blue water species like dorado, marlin, sailfish and even a few tuna.  However, we’re still seeing colder water fish like yellowtail, amberjack, rainbow runners and sierra.

Overall,  still a crazy mix of fish that seems unpredictable from one day to the next.

Our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet are still finding some nice grade yellowtail up into the 30 pound class mixed in with some nicer 20-pound class dorado or larger.  Plus the occasional billfish.

Our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet is where we’re getting the big mix of dorado, billfish, pargo, cabrilla, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish and more.  However, getting live bait has been an issue as we’re having to run all the way over to the backside of Cerralvo Island to get live bait befoe we can even begin to start fishing.

Roosterfish are still around from 5 to about 60 pounds along the sandy and rocky areas for those of you coming in the next few weeks looking for that rooster on your bucket list.

Also, strangely, there’s a ton of sharks in the water!  Never seen so many reports of sharks on the fishing grounds biting lines and chasing hooked fish!  Crazy.  But, there’s a whole bunch of little tiny tuna swimming around.  They are smaller than bonito and the captains think that’s what’s bringing in the sharks!

Will keep you posted!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of June 10-17, 2024

WARM WATER FISH WAKING UP!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 10-17, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

Weather: No doubt summer is here!  It’s WARM and HOT in the daytimes.  High 90’s to low 100’s, but not as much humidity as I might expect.  Mornings surprisingly can be cool. I had to wear a sweatshirt some morning when putting folks on boats.  Evenings are in the mid-70’s.  Bring a light windbreaker or sweatshirt!

Water:  Mostly blue and warming.  Got some surface temps in the low 80’s now, but about 20-30′ down there’s a cooler thermocline and that’s why I think we’re getting fish like yellowtail and amberjack and other cold water species still hanging around.

Fish Hooked This Week:  Roosterfish (up to 90+ pounds), jack crevalle, yellowtail (20-25 pounds), marlin, sailfish, amberjack, bonito, dorado, pargo, trevally, pompano, sierra, cabrilla,  needlefish, triggerfish,  rainbow runners.

Scale of 1-10: 6.5 to 7

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Somewhere back there is Gerry Eichhorn! He and his brother Vern came down all the way from Edmonton Canada and fished 6 straight days for big roosters! They caught and released 11 with Captain Victor!

Kelly Jimenez from Aurora Co, can fish! She and her husband have been fishing with us over 20 years. She always rocks it. Check outh the big yellowtail. They caught 10 of these hog ‘tails and others were lost in a crazy bite.

First-time visitor, Eric Granados with his first roosterfish not far off the sand at Punta Arenas. Fish was released.

From Ontario CA, Bruce Sakamoto was also visiting us for the first time and got quite a variety of fish like this slugger yellowtail.

Baltazar Sakamoto battled this striped marlin on light tackle for THREE hours! Jorge Soto helps out. They were not able to release the fish and hooked many other species as well.

 

One more for the camera! Vern Eichhorn and his brother, Gerry, from Canada hooked and released 11 of these brute roosterfish over 6 days with Captain Victor.

Behind that rooster dorsal fin is a happy fella named Keith Mitchell who really wanted to catch a big rooster this trip! He caught and released TWO! Keith is from Texas.

These guys worked like crazy over 3 days with their flyrods! Roy Yoshida and Norm Fujimoto with a couple of tough jack crevalle on the flyrods near Punta Arenas.

Nice pair! Jorge from Texas and Bruce from California got these fishing near Espirito Santo Island.

What a pretty photo and fish! Chris Sommer with Captain Jorge and a fresh bull dorado.

Travis Moore had just one day to fish and really wanted a rooster! BINGO! An armful of roosterfish. The fish was released!

Can’t find nicer or funner folks than John and Arla Washington from Reno who fish with us numerous times. Nice rack of fish including dorado, cabrilla and snapper!

From Miami after meeting us at the Nashville Safari Club Show, Roberto and Cathy Padron were a joy to have visit us for the first time. Nice table of dorado headed to the freezers!

First time fishing and first time fish! Tino Dileon got himself a nice bull fishing with Captain Chito!

DiChiarro boys from Texas all came down and got into dorado and roosterfish with us!

More happy Texas boys with the DiChiarro family and more nice dorado to take home!

Chris and Jan Sommer with Captain Jorge and a colorful bull mahi.

Diego Jimenez was a bit tired after he and his wife Kellly got into a wild bite of yellowtail near Punta Coyote. Check out the lineup!

Captain Luis and Captain Chito give Kelly a hand with another hefty yellowtail!

Al Hed from Oregon gets a laugh from Mike Jennings. These guys always crack me up. Al has TWO striped marlin on two rods. Mike has another! They hooked FIVE marlin on the day and were able to release 4 of them. One didn’t make it, but they donated the meat. The photos below are two of the marlin.  They were with Captain Pancho.

ANOTHER ONE? Yes, that’s Captain Victor with Vern Eichhorn and yet another big rooster for a quick catch…photo…and release!

From Wyoming to visit us for the first time, Stacey Sanger and Chad Beers had a nice day on the water!

After you battle a fish and your arms are shaking, it’s hard to hold it up for a photo. Enter Captain Victor to give Gerry an assist with this beast roosterfish before they released it.

Keith got TWO of these the same day and was ecstatically happy. All fish were released.

Vern Eichhorn with another roosterfish. 11 of them on the week caught and released with Captain Victor.

A good day on the dorado for Diego and Kelly, our long-time amigos from Colorado.

Baltazar and his dad, Bruce, with quite a variety at Bahia Muertos including snapper, cabrilla, trevally and dorado.

 

______________________________________

It was another good solid week of fishing down here.

I won’t say it was good all the time for everyone.  There were some ups-and-downs, but overall pretty good.  Maybe some boats did better than others or there was an off -day or so.  However, since most of our guests fish multiple days, at the end everyone had fish.  It might not be the exact species they were hunting, but the bite was definitely there.

Plus, once again, we had so much variety, you really never knew what was going to end up in the fish box.  It was a buffet of species again:

Marlin, sailfish, yellowtail, dorado, roosterfish, amberjack, sierra, wahoo, pargo liso, barred pargo, cubera snapper, bonito, jack crevalle, cabrilla, pompano, trevally, rainbow runners and triggerfish.

Boats right next to each other could have completely different days!

Also, although the waters are getting warmer…up to about 80 degrees…there’s a thermocline about 20-30 feet down where the waters are a good 5 -10 degrees colder.   That’s why we’re still catching yellowtail, amberjack and some of the other cold water species.

Each week, I think the yellowtail bite is over, they come back!  So, we’re still getting 20-40 pound forkies!  Not sure how much longer they will be around, but they are real horses!  I can’t believe they are still here this late in the season!

But, it’s evident that the summer bite is getting stronger.

More marlin and sailfish are getting hooked, but the best indicator is the increased presence of dorado.  More dorado are showing up in the counts.

Roosterfish still here too!  Some big 50-100 pounders are still bending rods!

BAHIA MAGDALENA

Our long-time friend, Jim Stahlman, has fished with us for years.  He just retired and decided to drive his new RV down from Idaho down the Baja and fish along the way.  He wet lines at Bahia de Los Angeles as well as Loreto.

He finally spent 4 days fishing with our good friends Judith and Rigo in Bahia Magdalena.  Check out the photos from fishing 3 days inside the mangroves in the bay and 1 day outside on the high spots.  Jim said he probably caught 10 different species.  Lost count of how many fish they released where it was non-stop action and broke off on some huge beasts that took him deep!

Snapper, grouper and halibut!

big smiles. Tasty grouper!

Double corvina in hand!

Jim’s wife is gonna love what he brings home. These grouper are great and she loves the head and collars…the whole fish if possible!

Captain Rigo with Jim. Yea, these guys have toothy choppers!

Day 1 – 14 grouper and numerous releases.

Hook up!

That’s my story.  Again, this fishing report is dedicated to Jilly.

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 31-June 9, 2024

WARMING WATERS YIELD MIXED FISH BAGS!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for May 31-June 9, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Mostly 79-99 degrees, but we had some cool breezy mornings surprisingly.  To me they were COLD!  But it warmed quickly.  Wouldn’t hurt to have a light sweatshirt or light windbreaker you can take off later.  Day times are pretty warm.

WATER:  Getting bluer, but still some cold spots down deeper holding the yellowtail and other cool water species.  The days it was really windy was alot rougher than normal for this time of year.

SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Yellowtail/ pargo mulato/ dog tooth snapper (cubera snapper)/ pargo liso/ cabrilla/ amberjack/ sierra/ bonito/ jack crevalle/ sailfish/ marlin/ dorado/ wahoo/ sierra/ grouper/ pompano/ trevally/ roosterdfish

NOTES:

Lots of variety.  Some days better than others. Some boats doing better than others.  But most folks fish several days and other days make up for it usually.  Big issue with having to run pretty far for bait for our Las Arenas boats.  All the way to the east side of Cerralvo.  Takes a bit.  PITA!  The flyfishers take about 3-4 times the amount of bait as the conventional fishers.

FISHING SCALE 1-10:  6.5

THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…(biggest fishing gallery ever!)

Whoa!!! Just sheer joy and a boat tipping to one side with the weight of this huge roosterfish caught by Eric Stowe and a thumb’s up from Captain Jorge. The fish was released and was one of 2 caught by Eric that day!

Captain Boli helps my old classmate and business buddy John Benson from Virginia with 2 of his 4 yellowtail on the day. Pretty shot!

The man behind the mask is our amigo, Dwight Ortmann, with his first rooster for a quick photo and release.

Captain Pancho is all smiles with Mike Jennings from Washington who took 5 chunky roosterfish caught and released on the day!

Ahhh…always a pleasure to have Ms. Sue Cross visits us. No matter what, she’s always smiling and having run. Here’s a dorado for the fish box!

First timer and new amigo, Kelly Moore added one more day of fishing because everyone else in his group had caught a rooster except him! It paid off! He caught and released several!

Two of our newest Tailhunter amigos! Emma Hart and Casey Petersen from San Diego took several nice yellowtail with our La Paz fleet like these. Casey admits that Emma outfished him!

Diego Jimenez has been visiting us for about 20 years now! Always fun and making sure everyone has fun. Captain Jorge always enjoys fishing with Diego…especially when they catch fish!

Barred pargo ready for the chiller and a tasty dinner for Sue!

San Diego Eric Riggs had to cancel his trip last October when a hurricane hit us but came back this past week with his family and took home some yellowtail fillets back to S.Cal.

Gene Simon from Fallbrook CA has been hanging with us for about 2 weeks now and has taken a variety of species like this barred pargo of Cerralvo Island.

Captain Julio put Bill Stuart on a day of dorado like this nice mahi. Bill came to visit us all the way from Georgia!

Another happy Utah amigo, Blaine Larsen hoists a chunky yellowtail for the camera!

Big mossback yellowtail! North of La Paz, the bite has been strong. Just ask Damon Harvey from Alaska. Always great to have him down to visit. He had quite a week!

Another of our Alaska Tailhunter Tribe members! Jeff Pralle is one of the best hunting guides and bush pilots up there (he’ll take you hunting big giant bears) but he’s also a super flyfisher. He had a spectacular week on numerous species including lots of roosterfish and jacks like this right off the beach.  All released.

Scott and son, Jack Stuart from Georgia with an ice fish table of trevally and snapper headed for the freezer!

Tough tough fish, but Emma Hart put the wood to it and got this yellowtail aboard with Captain Boli. One of 4 on the day.

Happy gal, Laurie Moore from Utah with a fat yellowtail posed for the camera!

One of our better dorado for the early season in the hands of Mark Stuart from San Diego who found a nice jag of mahi north of the city near Espirito Santo Island.

Jack has his first roosterfish off Bahia Muertos! The fish was released!

Eric Stowe with another first this week. Captain Jorge put him on a nice bull dorado.

Kevin and Michelle Stratton from Utah got quite a variety for the fish box. I see yello snapper, cabrilla, rainbow runner, barred pargo, trevally and triggerfish. All great tasty eating!

Laurie Moore has herself a quick photo with her rooster and Captain Jorge before releasing the fish!

From Pennsylvania, Jeff Norman on his first trip to La Paz with a legit yellowtail north of La Paz.

I believe, Jeff got about 8 of these on the flyrod. Another pretty fish and all released!

First yellowtail for Sue! She admitted that yellowtail did NOT pull like northern California rockfish. Yellowtail pull ALOT harder. She had fun!

Big smile, blue water and a tough jack crevalle right off the beach in the hands of April Leviere visiting us from Pittsburgh PA. The fish was released.

Another hog rooster catch-and-release for Eric Stowe! Not bad for a first day and first trip! Captain Jorge ducks!

April and Jeff…a pretty good first day on the dorado off Bahia Muertos!

Al “chicken ” Hed…with Mike Jennings. These guys swear it’s a rooster head that they wear for luck when fishing for roosterfish! But, I think it’s a chicken head and they caught and released 5 big roosters!

We had a good week on trevally (palometa) which are great eating members of the jack family. Michelle Stratton with one in the shallows off Punta Arenas.

Maybe the biggest dorado of the week and a big smile from Al Hed.

This is is ALOT bigger than it looks and Damon battled this stud roosterfish on a fly rod! The fish was released.

Casey Petersen used to play pro baseball for the Mexican national team. He should frame this photo of him and the roosterfish. The fish was released.

Jeff got himself a rooster too! Quick photo then back in the water!

Just off the cliffs of Punta Perico, Bill Stuart got himself a rooster too! it smacked a live sardine and was released.

Another flyrod roosterfish and a great photo with Jeff Pralle! Quickly back in the water too!

Gene Simon and Captain Hugo with Gene’s first rooster also released off Punta Arenas.

Love this lady…Edie Ortmann is always fun to have visit us and she enjoys fishing with Captain Alfredo. Nice tough jack crevalle. Espirito Santo Island in the background.

The marlin bite is a little late, but starting to heat up. John Benson and Captain Gerardo with a fat striper that John battled for almost an hour. He donated the meat and was not able to release it.

Captain Armando got the Smith boys off to a great first day with jacks, dorado, a barred pargo and snapper.

Newest Idaho friends…Robbyn and Greg Browne with an Espirito Santo yellowtail.

Back in town! Jan Sommer fishing with Captain Armando. CPR on a pretty rooster! Fast photo. and release off Cerralvo Island.

Good fish, photo and smile from Chris Sommer. The rooster was released.

Michelle’s first rooster too! Strong release after the photo.

Jed Atherley visiting us for the first time with a tasty trevally.

______________________________________

FORWARD:

Just a little note to ya’ll.  Am dedicating this fish report to my wife, Jilly.  Most of you know her or have known her for many many years.  You all see me, but she’s the motor that keeps things running and allows me to be out front all the time with everyone A little favor if you could keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Will fill you in later.  Thanks so much!

So…here we go now…

THE FISHING REPORT

Just by looking at the biggest fishing gallery I have ever done, you’d think it’s been pretty spectacular since the last report!  To be honest, I have MORE photos this week, but just could not fit them all in!!!  I think there’s almost 50 photos this week!

A good problem to have!

By all stretches, it looks like a super week.  There were some indeed some increcredible catches, but there were also some surprising down days too.  There were some boats each day that didn’t do as well as others.

It’s fishing, right?

Fortunately, most of our folks fish numerous days, and if there was a slow day here or there, other days made up for it.  But, to be honest, it’s like sports.  Not every play was a touchdown or homerun!

Once again, there were so many species hooked and every day seemed different and each boat could have completely different catches.

For our La Paz Tailhunter Fleet, the spotlight was mostly on the big yellowtail with some occasional jags of dorado.  It seemed that for every fish caught, there were two or three fish lost to break-offs…either to bigger yellowtail, big amberjack or even grouper!

For variety, our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet was the run to the buffet table…

Just look at the photos from this week above!

Yellowtail…pargo liso…barred pargo…cubera snapper…rainbow runner…dorado…yellowtail…amberjack…pompano…trevally…jack crevalle…bonito…roosterfish (5-100 pounders!)…some wahoo…and increasing biters on sailfish and marlin!

The big issues this week were the winds that came up from the south a few days.  Made it not only cold and chilly, but also made for a bumpy ocean.

For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, live sardines are available, but it’s a long run to the east side of Cerralvo Island to find the bait to use for fishing, but you gotta do what you gotta do.  But, to be up-front, it can be an hour or more to get the live sardines from the bait guys.

PARTING SHOT

Fishing is about having fun.  Mike Jennings called Al “chicken” Hed is a “180-pound catch-and-release! ” Can’t take this stuff too seriously!  If you can’t goof off; talk smack; laugh at yourself, you’re not doing it right!

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old.  We grow old because we stop playing!”

 

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 23-30, 2024

FULL MOON FEVER?

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of May 23-30, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WEATHER:  Getting hotter finally. Humidity hasn’t really hit yet so that’s a good thing.  Daytime temps now in the high 90’s or low 100’s.

WATER:  Getting bluer and warmer, but there is an apparent thermocline about 20-30′ down.  So surface temps are 75-79 degrees, but 5-10 degrees cooler below the thermocline which is why we’re still getting the cooler water species like the yellowtail.

FISH HOOKED:  yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, yellow snapper, marlin, sailfish, wahoo, bonito, cabrilla, jack crevalle pompano, trevally, dorado

FISHING SCALE of 1-10: 7

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Toad-sized hog yellowtail for Matt Correia from San Diego with the mackerel bait still hanging from it’s mouth. I recall they hooked 7 that day north of La Paz!

First time in La Paz, Emma Hart, with her first roosterfish too! She’s visiting us from San Diego.

So much variety this week. Casey Petersen off Cerralvo Island with a palometa (trevally). Good eating!

Finally seeing some of the big boy roosters! Paul Cowdell from Utah has been talking to us for years and finally came down. His first day he got the better of this big rooster estimated of about 100 pounds. Paul also released the fish and caught several others he released as well.

Mark Bonsack from Cle Elum WA fishes with us several times a year for almost 20 years now . He always get into the fish like this rare banqueta grouper caught down deep.

The ladies were rocking it this week! Another first timer, Myra Schmonsky all the way from Green Bay WI with one of several roosters on the day. All released.

Visting us from Austin TX, JD Durst said this jack crevalle battled him long and hard off Punta Perrico.

Always great to have Johnny Stone visit us from San Diego. He never disappoints getting onto the fish like this big mossback yellowtail. They hooked 7 that day.

Blaine Larsen and Capt. Julio with our first boated marlin of the year not able to release. It was Blaine’s first and they had another one hooked the next day that threw the hook! Much of the meat was donated.

Great colors on Jim Schmonsky’s dorado. Look how close to shore he is…those are the rocks of Punta Perrico about 20 yards away. Don’t have to go far to find blue water fish!

Our long-time amigo, Brad Sleder from S. Carolina with another unusual banqueta grouper. These are great eating!

Always great to get big smiles from first-timers like Casey and Emma with their first day fishing when they hooked and released 5 roosters!

Whoa! Victor strains to help Myra with her hefty first roosterfish estimated at 60+ pounds. Myra released the fish.

Nice rack of fish! All tasty amberjack at Bahia Muertos for Jason Correia and son, Matt, from San Diego.

My poster-shot of the week! This could be a magazine cover of Paul Cowdell and one of his big roosterfish right off the Punta Arenas lighthouse beach. Fish was realeased!

Jason with another big yellowtail headed to the fish box and more fillets for San Diego!

Jim Schmonsky and Captain Boli posing with another mossback ‘tail and some dinner fillets at Tailhunter Restaurant!

She was so much fun to have visit. Martha Cowdell from Utah in the calm waters off Punta Arenas with a jack crevalle (released). Tough fish when hooked!

Double armfulls of yellowtail to heft up…John Stone and Jeff Correia coming back from Punta Coyote!

From Alaska on the flyrod. This ain’t no salmon. The Mexican name is “toro” (jack crevalle) which means “bull.” Damon Harvey had some fun with these sluggers on the flyrod .

Myra sure had fun in their one-week fishing trip with us. Dorado…just one more species to add to the different species she caught all week!

Lots of fun jack crevalle all week. Not real good eating so they all get released mostly, but difficult to battle and a tough fish on rod and reel. Captain Alfredo and Jason Correia.

_________________________________

I won’t say it was the greatest fishing ever, but it sure was a solid week for sure and the best week of fishing so far this season with lots of variety; big fish and some species we’ve been waiting for!

And all on a full moon too!  ( I usually don’t put much stock into the full moon/ bad fishing theory down here.  Maybe other places I have fished, but not so much down here!)

We got our first marlin.

First sailfish.

The first big boy 50-100 pound roosterfish.

We got wahoo.

Big big yellowtail (and lots of them!),

We got some dorado finally too!

But, then add in barred pargo, pargo liso, cubera snapper, yellow snapper, sierra, amberjack, jack crevalle, bonito, pompano, trevally, amberjack, triggerfish…and more!

Let me tell you, we were busy every afternoon in our Tailhunter fish packing room!

Huge slabs of yellowtail fillet…FROM JUST ONE BOAT! We were commercial vacuum packing several hundred bags a day of fish!

Plus, we were whipping up lots of cooked fish every night at our Tailhunter Restaurant to cook up the fish that our fishermen brought in!

But, like I said, a good solid week.

The yellowtail north of town were as good as I have ever seen it.  The fish are a healthy 15-40 pound mossback forkies.  Some biting live mackerel deep and others up on the surface. Boats were coming back usually with 2-8 yellowtail and telling me stories of losing just as many of the fish to broken lines or pulled hooks or some fish they just could not stop!

Fishing with our La Paz fleet that’s pretty much the highlight.

If you wanted the variety of all the other dozen or so species, fishing with our Las Arenas Fleet was were we had you go out.  Honestly, if you had a bait in the water, you never knew what you were going to hook.

Fishing for roosterfish, you might also hook jack crevalle, dorado, trevally or pompano or one of the larger 50-100 pound roosterfish that finally showed up.

If you fished over the rocks, we were hooking big mullet snapper (pargo lis0), barred pargo (pargo mulato) and dog-tooth snapper (pargo rojo/ pargo perro/ cubera snapper) as well as cabrilla, yellow snapper, palometas and others.

Not sure how much longer we’ll be getting this kind of variety.

As things warm up, we’ll usually start seeing more dorado, billfish, wahoo and hopefully some tuna and fewer of the cooler water species.

The air temps are definitely on the upswing as many parts of Mexico have been in a heatwave.  We’re getting sunny hot temps now in the high 90’s and low 100’s.  Nice thing, however,  is that the humidity still hasn’t escalated.

The water temps are 75-78 on the surface which is typical, but it appears there’s a thermocline 20-30 feet down where waters are 5-8 degrees cooler and that’s why we’re still getting so many cold water species.

No doubt, it’s hot.  Bring the sunscreen and wide-brimmed hats and cover up!  And do not forget to stay hydrated or you’ll get sick down here real fast.

OH…and ONE MORE THING DANGIT…

Because of the national, regional, state and local elections on SUNDAY, all alcohol sales in La Paz are prohibited from 6 p.m. Saturday night until Monday morning!   Some special areas in Cabo and some other cities got exemptions and in the past, we’ve gotten an exemption as well as some hotels.

But, not THIS YEAR!  In La Paz, restaurants (like ours), hotels, cantinas, grocery stores…cannot sell alcohol.  Just poke me with a fork…

We’ll keep you posted.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: 

Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

“Keep the circus going inside you, keep it going, don’t take anything too seriously, it’ll all work out in the end.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of May 15-22, 2024

NO WAY TO KNOW WHAT YOU MIGHT HOOK RIGHT NOW!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of May 15-22, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Sunny and getting warmer.  Nights are in the 70’s and day time in the high 90’s but still very comfortable because the humidity isn’t here yet.  Plus, if you get hot, jump in the ocean!

WATER:  Getting bluer, but not as warm as I would expect as shown by all the yellowtail and other cold water species we’re getting. But you can tell it’s getting warmer by more warm-water species showing up.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Quite a lineup!

Dorado, yellowtail, amberjack, rainbow runners, marlin, tuna, wahoo, roosterfish, yellow snapper, pargo liso, pargo mulato, cabrilla, white bonito, skipjack, sierra, triggerfish

Note:  More variety fishing with our Las Arenas fleet.  Mostly nice yellowtail and a few dorado with our La Paz fleet.

FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10 – 6 1/2. (pretty good!)

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Sanford Slack from Washington State had just one day to fish with us and knocked it out’ve the ballpark with two wahoo (see photos below), big cabrilla and two big yellowtail!

Julia Mitchell on her first trip to visit us is all smiles with her first roosterfish. She had quite a week down here. The rooster was released.

Captain Rogelio estimated this thick yellowtail caught by John Pechous to be about 40 pounds! John was a first-time visitor and came to us from Arizona.

Gary Wagner at his place at Rancho Costa has one of the best eating fish, a hefty cabrilla (seabass).

Ray Millman from Rancho Palos Verdes with a nice dorado and Captain Victor doing a photobomb. Ray rocked the week and went home and booked another trip with us in September!

Yes…bigger roosters have moved in! Mauricio Levy from Monterey CA has an armful of rooster! The fish was released.

We had a nice little jag of wahoo at the south end of Cerralvo Island this week. Sanford popped two of the speedy ‘hoos with Captain Hugo.

Julia’s yellowtail is bigger than her dad’s yellowtail, she claims! Captain Alfredo looks on. They were fishing around Punta Coyote.

Gary Wagner at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos with quite a rack of fishi. I can see yellowtail, dorado, barred pargo, yellow snapper and cabrlla. I’m sure they had a great dinner there that night.

Willy Moers is always fun when he comes down from Colorado! Quite a day here…cabrilla, yellow snapper, dorado and rainbow runner.

Bill Mitchell was one of my first Tailhunter clients almost 30 years ago. Good to have him back and here’s another yellowtail for the box. He and his daughter put 7 on the deck this particular day.

Tough-fighting pargo liso are still schooling in the shallows. Julia has another one!

That’a alot of sweet fillet meat for Sanford with a trophy cabrilla in the pose.

Julia and Captain Alfredo with another yellowtail.

_________________________________________

Just another good solid week of fishing down here.

Everyone got fish.  Everyone ate fish.  Everyone took fish home!  That kinda says it all.

The “problem” is that I couldn’t pinpoint what kinds of fish were biting.  Every day and every boat things changed.  We caught so many different species of fish once again as the waters change from cooler to warmer and both cooler water species and warm water species mix things up.

Boats came back with different catches every day.  Even if they fished the same spots.  Boats next to each other caught different fish.  One day fish were small.  Next day all the fish were trophy.

It really made it fun.  If you went out…if you had a bait in the water…you just never knew what you were going to catch.

It was quite a list:

Dorado…yellowtail…jack crevalle…bonito…skipjack…tuna…wahoo…cabrilla…sierra…amberjack…rainbow runners…pargo liso (mullet snapper)…barred pargo (pargo mulato)…dog tooth snapper (cubera)…yellow snapper…marlin…roosterfish…milkfish…triggerfish

I probably missed one or two!  There were that many species!

I think as things get warmer, we’ll be narrowing down to dorado, tuna, billfish, wahoo and roosterfish among a few others.  I don’t know how long the waters will stay cool enough to hold this kind of variety, but for now, it’s alot of fun.

Things are definitely getting warmer.  Night temps are in the mid-70’s.  Day time temp are in the mid-to-high 90’s.  However, the humidity really hasn’t hit yet so it’s still very pleasant sunshine days with mostly flat warm 75 degree waters on the surface, but a cooler thermocline 20-30 feet below.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: 

Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 28-May 5, 2024

MUCH IMPROVED!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 28-May 5, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Getting warmer and mostly all sunny days.  Can be breezy and cool at night and in the mornings with temps in the high 50’s to low 60’s.  Daytime temps in the high 80’s to low 90’s.  Shorts and flip-flop weather!

WATER: Bluer and warmer.  There are warm spots and cold spots holding corresponding fish.  Closer to shore, it’s warmer. Waters average 70-70 degrees.  Visibility about 30′ down deeper

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Yellowtail, pargo, grouper, amberjack sierra, rainbow runners, bonito, jack crevalle, tuna, wahoo, roosterfish, snapper, cabrilla, milkfish, dorado, triggerfish

BAIT:  La Paz side – mackerel and sardines.  Las Arenas side – mostly sardines, but having to go to the island to get them and also cocineros.

FISHING ON A SCALE of 1-10:  6

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

It was his camouflaged shirt! Mac Christofferson with Captain Armando and the matching colorful bull dorado!

First time with us, Keely Lauber from Louisiana got her first roosterfish also. (released too!)

Our long-time amigo from Boise Idaho on his way to retirement was out with Captain Victor and took a nice cabrilla.

The Thompson Family…always into the good fish with a rack of wahoo and big cabrilla! Fishing with Captain Hugo!

Allison and Johnny Hogan had themselves quite a week. Check out Allison’s big dog-tooth snapper to go along with Johnny’s dorado. They had a bunch of other fish as well.

 

We’ve known Tom Ames for a long time and he’s letting his Santa Beard fill out nicely! Good yellowtail caught north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.

I think Darrell Manginelli from Ventura CA must have caught about 10 species on his recent visit with some firsts for him like this palometa!

Captain Alfredo with Randy Choate and a nice dorado for the fish box!

WHOA! A trophy grouper? A giant cabrilla? Allison visiting us from Oklahoma tied into this big boy and landed it with big smiles!

First-time Houston visitor, Howard Bonhomme also got his first roosterfish (released).

Just a great photo of Keely Lauber and her bull dorado she fought on 20 pound test and refused to give up the rod! Well-deserved smile!

Somewhere behind that rooster dorsal fin is Barbara Choate posing with Captain Victor with a smile. Fish was released.

First time and first fish is a bull dorado for Captian Jorge with Mike from Bakersfield CA

No question, but Donna Thompson knows how to fish. She always has a knack for big cabrilla also. Fishing with Captain Hugo.

Our newest amigo from New Jersey, Eugene Wowk spent the week with us and caught a variety of fish like this dorado.

Tough tough fish to pull out’ve the rocks, but Darrell managed this one just off Punta Perrico where the pargo are spawning right now.

Pretty photo of Mac with his yellowtail on Captain Rogelio’s boat.

Johnny Hogan and that big cabrilla!

Another species for Darrell. Roosterfish was released.

Another catch and release rooster for Randy near the island!

Tom Ames and Captain Armando with another dorado for the box headed to dinner at Tailhunter Restaurant.

The “Mad Hatter” Konrad Knoeferl has visited us several times and always great to see him here. Day one…roosterfish on the line! (released). He also got some rainbow runners.

These are fighters…jack crevalle. Kinda like roosterfish without the headgear! Keely with Captain Pancho. Caught and released.

I think this is a good day? Captain Gerardo was out with Allison and Johnny with yellowtail, amberjack, dorado and a big cubera snapper!

_________________________________________________________

It was a much more consistent week and more typical of this time of year.  Basically spring-time fishing.  Honestly, it’s a beautiful time to be down here.

The daytime temps are a sunny high 80’s to low 90’s, but the humidity has not shown up yet.  The evenings are cool and comfortable down to the high 50’s or lower 60’s.  A windbreaker or lights sweatshirt is a good thing to pack along especially in the cool mornings.

Waters are getting warmer and bluer as well.

The number of species we caught this past week was pretty incredible.  But, it’s not uncommon for this time of year where we get such a mix of cooler water and warmer water fish.  Cooler water fish like the pargo, yellowtail, sierra and amberjack are still hanging out, but giving way to warmer water fish like the dorado, tuna and wahoo.

Plus you have the fish that are specific usually to the spring-time bite like pompano, trevally, roosterfish and jacks.

I think overall, we hooked close to 2 dozen different species this week.  Not much of any one species to load up on, but just a great variety…one of these…two of those…3 of these…1 of those,  etc.  And every day was different.  Every fishing hole could change.

Honestly, you really never knew what you might hook if you had a bait in the water.  And that makes it kinda fun!  I never knew what the fish report would be from one day to the next.

But, everyone caught fish:  yellowtail, tuna, wahoo, dorado, roosterfish, cabrilla, grouper, dog-tooth snapper, barred pargo,  pargo liso, snapper, pompano, jack crevalle, bonito, skipjack, rainbow runners, trigger fish, milkfish, palometa…about the only thing I didn’t see this week were billfish.

More specifically, the more prominent fish were yellowtail running 10-30 pounds with the larger ones being caught fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. The fish are biting jigs and live bait.

Yes, there are tuna…50-100 pounders!  We hooked one and lost it, but some of the commercial guys have been able to land some of these larger fish.

Wahoo have shown up around Cerralvo Island if you get out early and fish the jigs and the dorado have been 10-18 pound school-sized fish with a few larger ones.  They key is finding the warmer areas and temperature breaks.

Also, yes, roosterfish have shown up.  Mostly fishing in the usual spots with my Las Arenas fleet.  Seemingly lots of fish in the 5-10 pound class.  There are a few in the 40-50 pound size showing up and hopefully more as the waters get warmer.

Live bait is moving around so sometimes you gotta chase to where the bait guys are catching the sardines so some days that takes a little longer than usual.

Overall, everyone is catching fish and everyone wanting to bring fish home or have some cooked up at our Tailhunter Restaurant have not had an issue.

By, the way, after 4 years (since Covid) we are in the process of re-opening those upper 2nd and 3rd floors of our Tailhunter Restaurant whic are going through a full-remodel including the upstairs bar and kitchen!

We’re really excited and it this is the 15th year anniversary of the restaurant.  We’re pretty excited and hope to have things ready by next month!  Jilly has the workers hopping all over!   Plus we’re finally expanding our menu and bringing back some of our old favorites now that the upstairs kitchen will be open again!  Stay tuned!

Don’t forget, if you’re coming down that your balances are due 30 days out.  No stress.  Just a reminder!  We’ll see you down here!

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 
Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of April 19-26, 2024

LITTLE OF THIS…LITTLE OF THAT

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Apri 19-27, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Chilly breezy mornings in the high-50’s or low 60’s (bring a sweatshirt or windbreaker) then hitting the low 90’s by daytime.  A few clouds giving way to bright sunshine.

WATER:  Getting warmer and more blue as it clears up . Temps ranging fromthe high 60’s to mid-70’s some spots.  Warmer water is bringing in a sargasso bloom that will grow until warmer water burns it off.

WIND:  Can be a bit gusty in the mornings and even kicking up some whitecaps in the bay, then it settles down.  Still a bit choppy outside, but most of the winds are now from the south and not preventing us from getting to most fishing spots…this week!

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Yellowtail, dorado, tuna, cabrilla, pargo liso, barred pargo, snapper, sierra, jack crevalle, bonito, roosterfish, skipjack, pompano, palometa(yellow trevally)

BAIT:  Lots of sardines but the schools are moving around a lot.  Some mornings, it takes a little longer to find the spots.   La Paz has mackerel under the anchored tankers in the bay.

SCALE of 1-10:  Four. (I think the full moon had a bit of an effect as fishing got better as the full moon faded.)

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

Carlos Sanabria, Jr. just had two days to fish with his dad before heading off on his honeymoon then getting deployed to Kuwait. Big smiles…a flat sea…and a nice yellowtail he snagged with a jig! Doesn’t matter if it ends up in the fish box!

Darrell Manginelli, from Ventura CA, visits us several times a year and always does well. He got a nice variety here on his spinning rod with a pargo liso, some cabrilla and a dorado on the table.

Our two newest amigos, Peter Tobias and Eugene Wowk from New Jersey, spent the week with us and show off a few of the roosterfish they hooked. Nice double here! All roosters were released.

You don’t realize how tough pargo liso fight…even the smaller ones…until you have one hooked! Carlos Sanabria pulled this one from the rocks. Great eating and the fish are in the shallows spawning now!

Great first day for Johnny and Allison Hogan who visited us from Oklahoma. Nice variety! Cabriila, rainbow runner, yellowtail, snapper and dorado at Bahia Muertos!

He’s visited us several times, but Andy Lauber from Louisiana, had never hooked a rooster on the flyrod. He and his wife found a nice school of small and medium roosters right up along the beach and said, “We could have stayed there all day with the light tackle. It was way fun!” All roosters were released.

A few dorado creeping into the counts as the waters warm! Carlos got this just south of Bahia Muertos along the cliffs.

Peter Tobias all the way from New Jersey with Captain Hugo and a bull dorado. To me, more impressive are the big pargo lying on the fish cleaning table!

Cabrilla are the favorite fish for locals here in La Paz and the meat is tender and white! These are two legit fish for Darrell. He said he missed a few others in the rocks!

Captain Hugo posing with Peter and Eugene.  Some legit-sized cabrilla and pompano on the cutting table and a nice bull dorado that they had a laugh over as the mahi ate both their hooks and a friendly argument ensued as to who’s fish it was!

_____________________________________________

It was an interesting week.

Good action and lots of variety the entire time and everyone had fun, but earlier in the week, it was a bit picky…the fishing was somewhat scratchy.  Everyone was catching fish, but it wasn’t as good as the previous week.

I couldn’t figure out why.

Then one dark morning as I was putting out the boats, I looked up…DANGIT…full moon!  That had to be it.  I’m not a big “full moon theory” person, but that was the only variable that I could point to.  (And of course throw blame like any good fisherman!).

What else could it be?  Because as the full moon diminished, the fish got better.  I mean, it improved tremendously!  Everyone was catching and taking home fish, but as the week went on and the full moon got darker, the fish got more active.  We started getting more variety.  The fish also got bigger.

The list of fish hooked this week was pretty amazing and not completely unusual for this time of the year:

Yellowtail

Amberjack

Jack Crevalle

Pompano

Trevally

Dorado

Sierra

White Bonito

Skipjack

Roosterfish

Barred Pargo

Dog Tooth Snapper

Mullet Snapper (Pargo Liso)

Yellow Snapper

Cabrilla

Grouper

Commercial guys also hooked some big tuna

It’s probably going to be like that for a few weeks as waters get warmer.  The patches of colder water are producing the colder water species and the patches of warmer water are kicking out the blue-water pelagic species like the tuna and dorado.

Gotta tell you, it’s reflected in the daytime temps.  The nights and mornings can be chilly sweatshirt weather with temps down to the mid-50’s and breezy.  Then, within a few hours, the thermometer zooms up to the high 80’s or low 90’s.  Frankly, it’s been mostly gorgeous sunny weather with minimal humidity.  A really nice time to be here in town.

As the waters get warmer, we’ll be seeing fewer species, but  more dorado (we hope) as well as tuna, billfish, wahoo and larger roosterfish.

The fun thing right now is that if you have a bait in the water, there’s just no telling what’s gonna bite.  It could be any number of species!  And each day can be completely different than the other days.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing

www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: 

Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

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