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LA PAZ – LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY FISHING REPORT FROM TAILHUNTER SPORTFISHING FOR WEEK OF OCTOBER 11-18, 2015

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First timers from Washington! Great to have Bill Bigelman and John Stendra with us and have them get into the tuna bite at Bahia de los Muertos.

Ken campbell sailfish tags 9-15

One of our favorite amigos! Firefighter Ken Campbell says La Paz is his “happy place” and he had a great week. He got his first sailfish off Cerralvo Island. They tried to revive the fish, but were unable and he donated all the meat to the pueblo. He fought the fish for 90 minutes on 20 pound test and tells us the fish was actually tangled and had lassoed itself into knots of line around it’s head. Also interesting because he was fishing deep down with weight to get away from the bonito on the surface!

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I just found out that our amigo, Chuck Fiola, from Yakima WA didn’t catch these fish! His buddy, Cal Lambert from Denver caught the fish, but Cal walked away up the beach when the camera came out! This photo with Captain Gerardo is especially interesting because Chuck is holding a yellowfin tuna while Gerardo is holding a rainbow runner…related to yellowtail (cooler water fish!)

wiley randolph tags sailfish 9-15 jorge

Captain Jorge protects his hands with the boat sponge and Wiley Randolph’s first sailfish! They got it on live bait and Wiley nicely released the fish after the photo.  He got the fish in 30 minutes on a small bullito (bonito mated with a tuna).

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John McVay comes every year to fish for a week and always does well. He’s posing with two handfuls of some of his yellowfin tuna.

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It was a good week for sailfish. Steve Manney with amigo, Dana Murray and Capitan Adolfo hold up the large sailfish. It was Steve’s first and much of the meat was donated.

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Brad Baker and Jim Adair with their first tuna. Jim, upheld the tradition, and ate the heart of his first tuna. “Tasted like copper!”

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From San Rafael CA, Kris Honkola got a personal best striper and an assist from amigo, Jeff Klassens for the photo shoot on the beach at Muertos.

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Yes! There are still wahoo in the water. Claudio put a shaft into this fat wahoo early in the week while freediving in the 90 degree water.

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It’s not that there aren’t dorado around. It’s just that we don’t have many photos because the dorado are so small. However, Captain Victor took a moment to pose with one of the larger bull dorado of the week.

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More of our good Washington guys with tuna…Jim Brower and Robert Larson fished 3 days with us in their yearly trip to La Paz.

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Our friends Jeff Sakuda and Marianne Sugawara have been fishing with us for many years. They had some tougher fishing earlier in the week when we had rain storms, but did manage a few tuna to put in the box!

TUNA DORADO SAILFISH KEY UNPREDICTABLE FISHING

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct 11-18, 2015

We’re about 3 or 4 weeks from the end of our primary season and I guess it’s about time I figure that I will never get a handle on what’s happening this season.  I should just give in and give up trying to predict anything other than every day is different and this is an El Nino Year.  It’s just fishing and just because something happened yesterday is no bellwether on what will happen today or tomorrow.

We had dark nights (really pretty sliver moon!) and great water conditions all week.  But the fish, well, they were as erratic and unpredictable as always.  There would be in one spot and go crazy one day.  Next day, same spot, fish all over…and they would refuse every bait or lure in the water.  Or, one boat would sit on a spot and all rods would be bent.  The boat next to it couldn’t buy a bite.  The next one over also bit.  The one next to that one, struggling.

Or, one boat catching dorado.  The next boat on a sailfish.  The next one over on a pargo or cabrilla or yellowtail.

It has been that kind of a season.  Erratic.  Unpredictable.  Great.  Crappy.  Unbelievable.  Crummy.  Pretty much anything you wanted to say.  You just go fish.  It’s surely not for lack of effort on the parts of the captains or the anglers.  They’ve been going at it hard.  It’s just been that kind of a crazy season.

LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA DE LOS MUERTOS

Again for the 2nd straight week, happy to say that the yellowfin tuna were the highlight.  Football season for the first time in 2 years kept 8-20 pound fish around the pangas and anglers having fun.

Just two problems…

First, everyone knows about it now, so the waters are getting alot more traffic.  Our boats.  East Cape boats.  La Ventana/ El Sargento boats.  Commercial boats.  Just like anywhere else in the world.  Everyone finds the honey hole sooner or later.  So, the numbers-per-rod are down.  Most boats getting 1-5 tuna per day.  Some better.  Some worse.

The 2nd issue is that there’s a ton of bonito all over the place.  It makes for great action, but after the first one or two, a big nuisance if you’re trying to get through the bonito to the tuna.  As soon as a bait hits the water, it gets slammed.  Lots of fun.  Great on light tackle, but if you’re trying to put some fillets in the box, it makes it difficult.

By the way, the sardines are really really small.  If you have #4 or #6 hooks…straight “J” style hooks to bring down (if you’re bringing your own tackle) that would be a bonus.  Flurocarbon leader is also a plus.

The other highlight was that a number of our anglers got their first billfish this week as well.  Some striped marlin hooked but also some unusually large sailfish were hooked in the same spots as the bonito/ tuna.

LA PAZ

This has been our go-to area just for action and filling the cooler because the small dorado have been everywhere all season.  The only issue is that they weren’t as cooperative this week and the schools seem to be moving further and further out as the waters start cooling.  Also, a few days there were dorado everywhere, but they just wouldn’t bite.  It was hit or miss and every day there were different results.  I’ve kinda given up thinking we’re gonna see larger fish this year.

Normally, our “small” dorado are 15-20 pounders.  This year, we rarely see anything over 10 pounds.

 MUCHAS GRACIAS!

We’ve been receiving fantastic donations for our schoolkids and the battered women’s shelter all year.  Our anglers have brought in over 1000 pounds of donations just this year.  Well, this past week we were completely overwhelmed and blown away by several hundred pounds more of much needed supplies of shoes…clothes…school supplies…hygiene items…toys…books…sporting goods.  Just unbelievable.  I regretfully, don’t have all the photos of everyone as some of the items were dropped off when we weren’t in the office.  However, please know that we appreciate all of you and all your thoughtfulness!

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Wiley Randolph and Ken Campbell with dozens of pairs of new kids and women’s shoes…school supplies…hygiene things for women…just bags and bags of things! Good shoppers!

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Year-after-year regular good guys…Don Busse, Jim Adair and Brad Baker flank Jilly behind a table full of school supplies…(and a beer?) LOL

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Mike and Dena Vonderahe with Heather and Mark Chism from Oregon had so much stuff packed into boxes we couldn’t unpack it all! It just tumbled out. Thanks folks!

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Al Jones and Victronda Sheasby are here to visit us again this year and we appreciate all their great donations of clothes and school supplies!

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Just having too much fun! Kevin Pereira and Kris Honkola from San Rafael CA got some warm clothes for the winter months (yes, it gets chilly here in Mexico) for the kids plus school supplies. I think pink is Kris’ color. Gracias, amigos!

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I think Jill wants one of the dolls that Cal Lambert and Chuck Fiola brought down with school supplies and books for the kids! Cal is from Denver and Chuck comes to us from Yakima Washington.

NEW ROAD-FINALLY?

highway

By the time you read this the new highway COULD be a reality.  Right now, in La Paz, we have no direct flights from the United States, even though, La Paz is the capital of the State of Baja Sur.  (Southern Baja).  So, pretty much everyone must fly to Cabo San Lucas followed by a 3-4 hour drive up north to La Paz.  It’s a pretty drive.  But it’s tiresome.  After an already long-day of travel, adding 3-4 hours of driving isn’t the most fun thing in the world.

However, they have completed a new highway that could cut that time IN HALF!  Yes…down to about an hour-and-forty-minutes!  The problem is, the Governor hasn’t done the official ribbon cutting ceremony! That’s the only thing holding it up!  So, they powers-that-be are saying THIS is the WEEK when it could finally be open!  We’ll keep you posted.  It will surely be great to cut down all the travel time.

That’s our story!

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Oct. 4-11, 2015

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Stan Andre got 6 tuna at Las Arenas then was just inside Muertos Bay only about 70 yards from beaching the boat. He was dragging a Rapala in 10 feet of water when he got slammed by this toothy wahoo!

Leslie pilkington tuna tags 9-15

Just a great photo of Leslie Pilkington and one of her yellowfin tuna. Great colors! Leslie is from Orangevale CA

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Captain Victor is flanked by some of our regular amigos…Dave Wakabayashi and Lloyd Okimura from Sacramento CA and their yellowfin at the start of the week.

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From Cypress CA, brother Danny and Gary Okizaki hung some nice tuna as well as rainbow runners (yellowtail cousins) while fishing out’ve Bahia de los Muertos.

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Terry Hawk had to postpone his trip last year when we got smacked by Hurricane Odile. He more than made up for it with a great week of fishing. His first day with Captain Pancho he posted a nice rack of tuna.

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Captain Armando with some of our newest Tailhunter amigos. Dennis and Sue Matheson from Kennewick, Washington hold some of their tuna. Dennis used to be an Alaska guide.

Gary Pilkington tags 9-15 tuna

Hard to find nicer guys than Gary Pilkington. Gary started his week with some good yellowfin fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos.

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Sacramento brothers, Joe and Dave Kevin were on their first trip with us and had a good first day before weather set in and hold 6 of their tuna with Captain Armando lending a hand.

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A wahoo is a wahoo, right! Nicole Lawver was fishing for the first time with us and including tuna also posted this nice little great eating wahoo! Husband Ron got one later in the week.

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Captain Jorge poses with Lon Tsukamoto and Walt Menda both from Sacramento.

ERRATIC UNPREDICTABLE FISHING AND CONDITIONS!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 4-11, 2015

It’s pretty much a repeating record these days as far as fish reports are concerned.   Fishing and weather this season are simply unpredictable.  It rains when it should be sunny.  It’s blazing hot when the weather predicts thunderstorms.  Dorado bite like crazy in one spot then the next day it’s like looking for a missing sock in the dryer.  You go fishing for pargo and you catch a wahoo. A spot that hasn’t yielded fish all year starts raging with foaming fish out’ve nowhere.  The water is about 90 degrees and we catch fish that are supposed to be in cooler winter and spring waters.  Fish like tuna that we haven’t seen in two years suddenly pop up and go on the chew.  Extreme high tide. Extreme low tides.   Eclipses and giant full moons.  What next?

A sign of the apocalypse?  Nah.  Not quite that serious.  Alot of it has to do with the El Nino. You just go fish.  It is what it is.  It’s a cycle we have to push through until the next cycle. The world has been doing it since…well…a long time.  It still beats working.

Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing

If a spot had been worth fishing this past week, for once, it was with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet at Muertos Bay.  Historically, this time of year, the area is on fire.  But, the past two years because of El Nino, bait has been an issue.  Fish have been sporadic.  Until about 3 weeks ago.

Bait showed up.  And we started getting more dorado.  More billfish.  More pargo, cabrilla, sierra and yellowtail (wrong time of year, but who cares?), more jack crevalle and bonito too.  The baits are very very small, but it’s better than nothing.  They worked.  Still not wide open by any stretch and there are THOSE days when it truly is scratchy, but comparatively speaking, there was action to be had most days.

And then, the football yellowfin tuna appeared about a week-and-a-half ago.

And that changed the game.  We haven’t seen tuna in 2 years.

We started getting 4, 7, 9 or more tuna per boats.  Nothing huge, but still fun 8-20 pounders.  Perfect for most folks!  Mix that in with a few dorado, lots of bonito, some billfish and it made for a fun day.   I have no idea where the rooster fish have gone to.  But no one eats rooster fish.  And the tuna and other species filled ice chests nicely!  Plus lots of our anglers were bringing us tuna to the Tailhunter Restaurant to cook and make into sashime and poke!

La Paz Fishing 

All season, La Paz has been our go-to spot.  If nothing else, there was always bait and the dorado were always accommodating.  There was always action because even tho’ the dorado are small by our standards, they bit ravenously many times, or at least by the end of the day, you had a full box of them plus the huge bonito (larger than the dorado) were worth the battles.

This week, I could only describe the dorado bite as anemic.  One day every panga would be slammed and many back early with good numbers of dorado.  The next day the pangas would be back telling me they barely scratched out a handful of fish.  The day after that, half the boats would have solid numbers and the others fishing the exact same spots would struggle.  Again, that word…unpredictable.  Oh…and one panga got a huge wahoo.  Out’ve nowhere.  First one of the season.  Why?  Where?  Why now?

And, as I write this report, the sun is out.  But it’s raining.  And the stupid weather report said no rain at all and it would be sunny.   They were half right.

That’s our story!

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Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept .27-Oct. 4, 2015

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Looks what popped up! We haven’t seen anything like this in several years! Tuna! Ben and Shawn Kirk from Timnath, Colorado and ROGER ( “aka GEORGE”)  and Marilyn Young from Mountain View, Missouri with several handfuls of yellow”fun” tuna footballs taken just south of Bahia de los Muertos.

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From the Portland, Oregon area, first time visitors, 13 and 15-year-old Matt and Josh Mitchell had a pretty good day fishing with dad out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos taking tuna, rainbow runners, pargo and cabrilla.

Mark Smith wahoo 9-15 tags

Cross one off the bucket list for Mark Smith with Captain Adolfo as Mark hoists his first wahoo that he caught on a purple and black Rapala. Mark also got his first tuna as well.

Jorge Yellowtail Dan Corcoran tags 9-15

One guy who had one of the best times this week was Dan Corcoran. From Folsom, CA, Dan dialed up a nice trophy yellowtail which is very unusual to see these fish in such warm waters!

Striped marlin Jorge tags mike corcoran 9-15

MIke Corcoran had some kind of week with about 7 different species of fish including this striped marlin with Captain Jorge. He also got a sailfish later in the week. The marlin was not able to be released ,but meat was donated.

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Sacramento firefighters Greg Quick and Greg Lack with a couple of their mid-week dorado. More dorado showing up some days out’ve Las Arenas.

Nish and Eric Munson tags tuna dorado 9-15

First tuna of the week that started things. I thought it was no big. Just an isolated thing but then the tuna came strong a few days later. However, good amigos Tim Nishimura and Eric Manson show off a couple of footballs and a dorado.

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All the way from Montana, Curtis Wells and Captain Pancho with some of the nicer dorado of the week. Curtis ended his week with his first sailfish.

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Tom Cox from Colorado was visiting us for the first time with his family and poses with a couple of yellowfin tuna that are headed for the freezer.

 

ERRATIC UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER AND FISHING…AND TUNA?  

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 27-Oct. 4, 2015

I’m not sure where to start with the report this week.  There were so many changes…so much variation…so much variety…so much unpredictability and ups-and-downs that each day deserved it’s own report.  It was great fishing or bad fishing depending on who you talked to.  It was great weather or bad weather depending on who you talked to and where you fished.

There were so many variables that affected the fishing every day.

  • Super full moon (fullest and biggest all year)
  • An eclipse of the moon
  • super high and low tides
  • super currents
  • water that was too calm (yes…that’s bad for fishing)
  • water that was too rough (bad for fishermen and pangas)
  • a mini-chubasco that blew in for 2 hours and drowned La Paz in 4 inches of rain (and dirtied all the waters with run-off)
  • totally clear blue sunny days
  • too much bait in the water (fish weren’t hungry for anything on a line)
  • not enough bait to be found (waters too rough to catch bait)

So, you add in all that stuff and it was impossible to tell what the fishing day would be like.   That’s not to say it was bad.  There was some really good fishing actually with some big surprises!  But, there were some really slow days as well.  Captains worked hard.  Clients worked at it hard.  But the fish just wouldn’t go.

LAS ARENAS

Holy mackerel??? …er TUNA!!!!

For the first time in two years…TUNA!!!  We got a little tickle early in the week and I didn’t get excited.  However on FRIDAY, the tuna schools blew up on our pangas just south of Bahia de los Muertos.  Fun footballs that we call “yellow’fun’” tuna!  These were 8-12 pound fish and it was WFO…all you wanted.  We have not seen a day like that in two years!  All live bait.   Now that was something to get excited about.

But then…the next day Saturday is the day the weather changed on us and we had the big rainstorm.  Guys told us the fish were “foaming” and biting everywhere.  They just weren’t biting the hooks!  We only got 2-5 tuna per boat.  As of the writing of this, I have no idea what will happen.  On Sunday, the day after the storm, we couldn’t send out any pangas from Muertos because the roads were all washed out and the beach was a mess plus the water was all turned over and dirty.  Stay tuned!

On the other news…there were numerous marlin and sailfish hooked up during the week and while the tuna were there.  Plus dorado and some inshore rock species. Oh and few unexpected wahoo as well.

The rub was that, it changed from day to day.  One day crazy good.  Next day you had trouble buying a fish!  Or, two pangas would have fish of a lifetime catches and the other pangas right next to them would be sitting there trying to scratch out a single fish.

LA PAZ

Like Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay, the fishing was unpredictable and erratic.

You could load up on all the dorado you wanted and be back on the beach by noon drinking beer in the hotel. Or…you could be the boat right next to it and get two dorado and a bonito all day.  Or be the panga that hooked 2 billfish, but couldn’t find a single dorado.  Or be the day that La Paz fish just weren’t biting and you find out you should have fished with our Las Arenas fleet instead!  Luck of the draw.  Luck of the weather.

I really felt badly for some of our folks who just happened to be fishing on the wrong side on a given day or were the boat that worked hard for fish, but it just never went off.   You could have a group of guys and some go home needing extra ice chests for all their fish.  Their buddies end up barely filling a single ice chest!  Felt bad for the anglers as well as the skippers who worked really hard to put fish in the boats.

BIG LITTLE STORM

This video was taken 10 minutes after the storm started from the front of Tailhunter Restaurant.  The bay in front has disappeared and the streets are already flooding

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The photos above, courtesy of Clima La Paz are from downtown and show what a few hours of torrential rain can do.

 

All the weather reports predicted was there was a “chance of a thunderstorm” Saturday afternoon.  Wow…what an understatement.

It crashed like a mac truck into the city.  It rained in sheets and buckets with huge rips of thunder the lightning.  Within 10 minutes, the storm drains were backed up.  The force of the water was blowing manhole covers up into the air.  Cars were stalling in the streets that turned into roiling rapids.  Motorists were stranded and people were swimming across parking lots.  There were landslides, falling holders and collapsed roofs.  The water was coming down so thick that visibility was cut to only a few feet.  Some vehicles were swept away.  There were crazy kids riding tubes, boogie boards and kayaks down the rushing streets that flowed into the ocean.  People became trapped in their homes, buildings or on blocks that became isolated by flowing rivers of water.

Then, it suddenly just stopped.

THANK YOU!

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Dan and Gary Okazaki from Cypress CA with a big load of school supplies for the kids.

Josh and Matt Mitchell

Josh and Matt Mitchell from Portland Oregon…thanks for the thoughtfulness, guys!

Many thanks to all of our amigos who brought down supplies, clothes and other great items for our “Pack for a Purpose” program to help disadvantaged school kids and also the local women’s shelter!  You have great hearts.  Not shown, but thanks also to Shawn and Ben Kirk from Colorado and George and Marilyn Young from Arkanasas and Ken Cavellon from Washington.

As well a big shout-out to Vic Patton who made a cash donation to our scholarship program as well!

You’re the best!

That’s our story!  Have a great week!

combo-signature-black letters

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept. 20-27, 2015

Angela marlin tags 9-15

Our own Tailhunter Poster Girl, Angela Farrell, from Oceanside CA  did it again this past week. The story is very special. She had just spread her dad’s ashes out at Muertos Bay when she got hit on 30 pound test and a mini Whopper Stopper rod. She battled the fish for 90 minutes…estimated 250-pound blue marlin. Her daddy was watching! It could not be released and the meat was donated to feed the pueblo. Husband Tim and Captain Moncho with the assist! (Tim drank beer while she battled!)

wahoo shane summerhays 9-15 tags

Shane Summerhays from Utah has the great face on for this picture almost like he’s saying “WAHOO!” which is exactly what he’s got in hand with a nice fish he took just off the rocks near Punta Perrico. He actually hooked two wahoo that day.

sharon john virgin dorado jorge 9-15 tags

Good way to start the trip for our Montana amigos, Sharon and John Virgin from Montana with Captain Jorge on the beach at Muertos with 4 of their 7 dorado. Some of the nicer-sized dorado for the week! Nice to see they’re getting a big bigger!

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We get some of our nicest folks from Utah and we were happy to welcome two of our newest Utah friends, Keith and Brenda Sargent. They had a double-hook up on sailfish with both of them pulling on fish at the same time! The majority of the meat was donated to the pueblo.

 

Carl Lange pargo mulato tags 9-15

Amigo Carl Lange from Bakersfield CA put the wood to this much-prized good eating barred pargo. The trophy-sized fish is tough to get out’ve the rocks!

Trudy Groves bonito tags raul 9-15

Check out the size of the bonito Captain Raul is holding for Trudy Grove, another of our fun Utah folk. While not especially good eating, the big members of the tuna family have been beating up on our anglers fishing out’ve La Paz Bay.

Aaron Hasson tags dorado 9-15

He’s been fishing with us since he was 9 and now he’s all graduated from college and living in Arizona. Aaron Hasson knows how to fish too! He’s with one of the bigger bull dorado of the week and poses with Captain Jorge.

Rick Connell tags dorado 9-15

I have an affinity for goofy fishing photos like Rick Connell standing in the warm clear waters of Balandra with a couple of his dorado mugging for the camera. Thanks, Rick!

flyrod bonito shane summerhays 9-15 tags

He took some time to pull out the flyrod and had some fun with dorado and bonito! Shane Summerhays got pulled around by this tough bonito while fishing near Punta Arenas with us.

carl lange jack crevalle tags 9-15

There’s a reason, the Mexican name for jack crevalle is “TORO.” It means “BULL” and when you get a jack crevalle on your line, it’s a tough fighter. Carl Lange shows off a sturdy guy. Great fighter but poor eating so they get released .

Josh Swanson dorado tags 9-15

First timer with us from Oregon, Josh Swanson, got the better of this nice bull dorado posing on the beach at Muertos. He took this guy on live bait.

Shawna Blackburn tags dorado 9-15

It’s not just the first fish she’s ever caught…it’s the first fish she’s ever held! Ewwwww! Good sport, Shawna Blackburn with her first one!

Kathy Van de Venter armando tags 9-15 pargo

Whoa! Big barred pargo and an assist from Captain Armando for Kathy Vande Vender who caught this not far outside of Bahia de los Muertos. Great eating!

Clarence Cooper : John Sanchez dorado tags 9-15

Our two new amigos from Washington, Clarence Cooper and John Sanchez with some of their dorado caught just inside of La Paz Bay. The bay can be pretty thick with dorado some days!

Dave Enge Josh Swanson sailfish tags 9-15

Dave Enge from Oregon brought his grandson, Joshua, down for a week of fishing and was rewarded with a nice sailfish their 2nd day out. They donated much of the meat when the fish could not be released. They also had a good week on dorado and other species as well.

TRUDY GROVES TOES

You gotta love it! Trudy Grove got her toes all dolled-up in style for her La Paz trip with a roosterfish and a dorado!

NUTTY  WEEK OF FISHING – SUPER MOON – ECLIPSE – GREAT WEATHER – WHAT A MIX!

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 20-27, 2015

It was a mixed week of fishing and difficult to pinpoint why some fisher folks did well one day and poorly the next or why Las Arenas would be better than La Paz then the next day La Paz would be better than Las Arenas.  It was really the luck of the draw.  Same with the weather.  Early in the week, the weather was quite tropical with lots of humidity and always the chance or rain and wind interrupting the day or putting a damper on the fishing.  As the week went on, the weather got to be incredible with some of the prettiest days in weeks, but the fishing seemed to diminish somewhat.  One day good.  Next day so-so.  One boat goes crazy and next boat struggles to get one fish.

I’m not a big believer in the full moon thing and how it adversely affects fishing unless a number of other factors are involved.  However, as the week went on, it got closer to the “super full moon”  (larger and closer than normal) combined with an eclipse.  Water levels were much higher and lower than normal plus currents and tides were higher and lower than normal.  Could have been the reason for the hot/cold fishing.

LAS ARENAS/  BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS

Fishing out of Bahia de los Muertos was “anemic.”  Just like I said above, it differed from panga to panga.  It differed from day-to-day.   The early part of the week the weather was difficult with sunshine then abrupt rain showers and wind.  As the week went on, the weather looked like it was off a “postcard.”

But, it was really a matter of luck with the fishing.  One day, we’d get marlin and sailfish, dorado, pargo, cabrilla and roosters as well as other species.  All our clients would want to fish there the next day.  That next day…it was like someone turned off the spigot.  Guys would work hard to get 2 or 3 fish.  Some skunked.  No real change in conditions.  Just the fish changed their attitudes.  The following day, the fish would blow up great again.

One note…more billfish and larger dorado on this side (still not saying much since a “big dorado this year is 12 pounds), but a few weeks ago, all the dorado were less than 5 pounds!

LA PAZ

There were a few off-days or off-boats.  However, overall, if you wanted to put fish in the cooler and get bent,  this was the side to fish.  The fish are not big.  They are tiny by our standards.  The “small fish” this time of year should be 15-20 pounds.  This year, most of the fish are under 10 pounds.  But, there’s alot of them.  And they are close…literally you can find fish right in La Paz Bay.

In front of the Pemex station north of the city, only minutes from the city, there’s been a big tanker sitting out there that’s holding all kinds of dorado.  About a mile out of Balandra again, there’s another big spot of dorado.  Some days, all the small dorado you can catch-and-release.  We had some boats this week get 20-30 fish releasing most of them.  The folks fishing light tackle are having a blast.

FISHING LICENSES

As of this past week, the Mexican government will not print out any more fishing licenses for authorized dealers like Tailhunters to sell.  Therefore, everyone MUST purchase their fishing licenses online.  Here’s the link:  www.bajasursportfishing.com

I know, it’s crazy, we don’t have any other options.

LATE SEASON SPECIAL

As we wind down our season, we’ve got a few limited openings left between Oct. 10 and 31st and we’re offering some quick get-away prices:

We customize all trips so if you want to change something or add in snorkeling, SCUBA, extra nights or fishing, we can do it as long as we have availabilities.  Check these out:

5 days/ 4 nights ocean front hotel/ 3 days panga fishing – $899 per person double occupancy

8 days/ 7 nights ocean-front hotel / 5 days fishing- $1589  per person double occupancy

4 days/ 3 nights ocean-front hotel/ 2 days fishing – $725 per person double occupancy

These prices are all based on availabilities and are cash/ check prices.  Credit cards subject to 3% processing fee

By the way, the new road from Cabo should be opening up any day now which would mean the travel from Cabo to La Paz will now only be about 1 hour 40 minutes intead of 3 1/2 hours!

BIG THANK YOU to “PACK FOR A PURPOSE” AMIGOS AND AMIGAS

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These two have been Tailhunter family members for years. Aaron Hasson started fishing with us when he was about 9 -years-old and his dad, Al was bringing him down. The two hauled down a full load of school supplies, sports equipment and bags of clothes for our charities!

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Best amigas, Trudy Grove and Kathy Terbu and their respective families packed up a bunch of great supplies for our kids! Thanks, ladies! Muchas gracias for the big hearts!

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Sharon Virgin and her team at Keller Williams Realty in Great Falls MT put together all kinds of good stuff that’s going to the underprivileged kids as well as some great stuff for the ladies at the battered womens’ shelter here in La Paz. Muchas gracias more than you know!

Thanks to all our friends this week who found a little extra space in their luggage to bring down much needed school supplies in our “PACK FOR A PURPOSE” program to help underprivileged school kids, orphanages and the battered women’s shelter in La Paz!  You all rock.  Thanks for the big generous hearts!

 That’s our story

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept. 13-20, 2015

carl lange tags pargo 9-15

Carl Lange visits us at least once a year and he had a pretty remarkable week of fishing with us and hooked a number of species, but perhaps none as spectacular as this big dog-tooth with Captain Pancho just outside the corner at Muertos Bay.

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They’re finally getting bigger at Bahia de Los Muertos and Las Arenas. First time fishing with at Tailhunter, Rick Murray from Idaho, shows off a nice bull.

ken amberjack tags 9-15

Another one of those fish we normally don’t catch when the waters are so warm is the amberjack and Ken Gragg, our Bakersfield  CA amigo put the stop on this good-eating member of the jack family.

Jeff Herringer and Craig Yoder tags 9-15 marlin

It was a pretty decent week for billfish! Jeff Herringer and Craig Yoder were fishing with Captain Moncho and the Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. They actually had two on. Released one , but not able to let this one go.

Lee Hance tags 9-15

Larry Hance was alot of fun to have visiting us from Denver. His very first day out, he hit a home run with a fish he had always wanted with this big roosterfish that has Captain Victor grunting for the photo. The fish was released.

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Danny Kadota from San Pedro CA is an excellent fisherman and good amigo of Tailhunters. He’s got the knack for good fishing and shows off another of those crazy species we’re getting…a pargo liso..mullet snapper. We normally get these in the springtime!

Wiley rooster tags 9-15

Wiley Smith from Mill Valley mugs for the camera while holding his big roosterfish on the backside of Cerralvo Island. The fish was released.

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Captain Armando with Frank and Anthony Micknak who boated this marlin just outside of Bahia de los Muertos along with some dorado. The fish was not able to be released.

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These guys were alot of fun and good to have them down to fish with us for the first time. They took a mess of dorado over several days of fishing…Don Kaiser, Chris Evans and Dave Gilette on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

Tammy platt tags rooster 9-15

All the way from Minnesota! Tammy Platt with Captain Victor and her first rooster…in fact…her first fish! The rooster was released.

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Carl Lange has fished with us many times over the years, but it wasn’t until he got this rooster and let it swim, that I found out it was his first and he had never gotten a rooster before in all those years!

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Oregon in the house! It’s always good to see Ken Mitchell fishing with us from Portland. Fishing with Captain Gerardo, here’s one of his dorado for the day.

CRAZY WEATHER AND VARIETY MARK THE WEEK

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 13-20, 2015

It’s been a strange kind of week for fishing in La Paz waters.  It’s like everything is mixed up and it’s impossible to put your finger on it.  Everyone caught fish, but it was crazy knowing what was going to bite.  The weather was un-predictable as well.  We make jokes about the weatherman being always wrong, but from one day-to-the-next the weather varied or even from one spot to another.  Blazing sun…clouds…humidity…wind…flat seas…rough seas…rain…lightning…thundershowers…thunder and lightning (with no rain!)…could all be experienced IN THE SAME DAY!   It has been THAT kind of year and this past week just epitomized everything because as variable as the weather, the fishing was a perfect reflection of it as well.  Variety every day as the weather dictated where, when and how we fished!

LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS

There were several days when we just couldn’t fish the area because of impending storms that sometimes happened.  Sometimes never did materialize.  However, insofar as we watch the weather every day…several times a day…sometimes there would be nothing on the radar and the weather would chase our fishermen back to shore early. Other times, we would err on the side of caution and not sent out any boats and make our guys fish with our La Paz fleet.  And then we would find out no storm ever happened!   It’s just the way it is right now.  I’m glad we have our two fleets to be flexible enough to move our fishermen around and put them where the best bite could be found and usually the better weather!

Surely, if you were looking for variety, Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay had it.  Our anglers this week got some yellowtail and amberjack (to 60 pounds)…normally cold water fish. We got dog-tooth snapper (pargo perros), cabrilla, pargo liso (mullet snapper) and pargo mulatto (barred pargo) up to 40 pounds!  Again, normally cooler water fish.  Really crazy because the water is about 90 degrees right now.   We even got some sierra which we don’t see until about December!

On top of those species, we had some marlin and sailfish, bonito, jack crevalle, skipjack, rooster fish and even a big tuna hooked!  Nothing in abundance, but kind of a “sampler plate” if you will… of about a dozen species that are common to the area, but normally at different times of the year  About the only thing we didn’t hook was a wahoo!

Also, the last two or three weeks, with more bait in the area and the buoys offshore attracting more fish, more dorado have been showing.  Nothing big, but with maybe normally sized fish about 10 pounds, it’s encouraging that after a year of a dearth of dorado, the fish are showing in better numbers every week. It’s about time.

LA PAZ

Again, with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, this is where we put folks that want to put fish in the ice chest.  All year, it’s been the hot spot for dorado.  Again, nothing big.  Our “small fish” this time of year, should be 20 pounders.  However, this El Nino has really racked us.  This year, a “big fish” is 15 pounds.  Tons of smaller fish.  It’s like a nursery out there in some spots.  All the 5-8 pounders you can get!  Great for kids, families, first-timers and everyone is having a blast. Our light tackle and flyfishermen are really enjoying it.

The hot spot, as the week went on was right in front of Balandra Bay about a mile.  That’s a 5 minute boat ride off the beach, at most.  There were  few days when the anglers caught-and-released as many as 20-50 dorado per panga! “We’d each have a dorado on.  There would be two other rods hooked up and the captain would be handing us another rod with a dorado on it!  And while we were fighting fish, there would be schools of dorado flashing around the boat and jumping all around!”  said one of our anglers.   “Craziest dorado fishing I have ever seen, “ said another.  “They are almost fighting each other to get at a bare hook tossed in the water!”

Out at the island and around some of the other areas, north of town, we hooked (and lost) a few striped marlin and released two sailfish this week on light tackle.  Huge big bonito are really busting up some of the clients too!  Same areas are holding big schools of jack crevalle and there’s some smaller rooster fish on the long beaches.

 That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Sept. 6-13, 2015

Leif amberjack tags 9-15

Leif Dover from Atlanta GA is our frequent amigo and frequently on our fishing reports as he fishes hardcore for a whole week every time. It paid off again with this big boy amberjack off Punta Perrico. Crazy fish because most of our ambers are caught in cooler water in the springtime. Great eating!

roger yellowtail tags 9-15

Another fish that we usually only find in the cooler waters of the winter and spring are the yellowtail, but if someone is gonna get one, Roger Thompson is probably the guy. Using blue and white jigs and bait, they hooked 5 and got 2 to the boat. He tells me if they had more bait, they would have gotten more. The area off the Las Arenas lighthouse is still the hotspot where the water drops off deep.

STAUFFER rooster 9-15 tags

Carol Hathaway Stauffer from Washington was visiting us for the first time and had herself quite a week. First dorado. First bonito. First time swimming with whalesharks and then, this fat roosterfish caught with Captain Victor and then released!

Donna tags amberjack 9-15

Don’t ever bet against Donna Thompson. She’ll probably always outfish you! She was working that deep water off Cerralvo Island and put the hurt on this great eating amberjack.

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One day there were these guys on the beach selling mustaches! So, Kevin Todd, our Texas amigo did some goofing for us and posed with his amberjack on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos! Or maybe he as hoping his boss wouldn’t see the photos and recognize he wasn’t at work!

Leif rooster tags 9-15

Pretty good week for roosterfish! Not as many around these days, as it’s late in the season for the exotic fish, but the ones that are around are good quality. Just like Leif Dover’s nice fish here (released). With all the rain lately, check out how green the hills are!

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More dorado this past week. Decent steady dorado catches like Bob Pattersons fish here.

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From Delta, Utah, Rick Wagstaff shows off one of his nice dorado.

STEADY FISHING WITH VARIETY OF SPECIES

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 6-13, 2015

Except for one day when it was “too calm”, we had pretty steady fishing all around.  Pretty typical of this time of year.  In addition to “too calm” (having a little current and breeze is important to get the fish to feed.  Too calm and they get lethargic. )  We did have some afternoon showers and frankly much of the week was overcast too, but hot and muggy.

Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay

On the days we fished there, everyone caught fish.  There was one day when everyone caught limits or near limits of dorado, but had to rush back to the beach a tad early when one of our tropical rainstorms came rushing in.  But it didn’t affect the fishing.  And the next day, we didn’t send any pangas out there because the waters were turned over and the road to the beach was a mud track. (So we sent everyone to fish La Paz and they all caught dorado anyway!).  But other than that, the dorado were fairly cooperative and a steady bite as the area gets more active than it has been this past summer.

Commercial guys got the occasional tuna, but none of the sport boats seemed to find them.  However, we did find the rooster fish willing to go.  Some nice ones again i the 20-50 pound class and we had anglers this week with light tackle and bass rods and throwing top-water lures so they had a hoot plus there were jack crevalle and bonito close to shore as well.

Update:  Just as I was writing this (Sunday) our Las Arenas boats had to come back early and get off the water when weather came up on them unexpectedly.  One of those quick tropical storms.  La Paz weather stayed good although some rain and breeze also hit and they kep fishing.

La Paz

Still our go-to spot.  If you want action and you want to catch a fish, you can spend almost all day on some of the areas holding dink 5-10 pound dorado.  The larger ones are more scarce, but they’re out there.  We lost a number of larger fish this week.  Hopefully, we’ll see more of them.

We also hit a few sailfish (released) , jack crevalle, big bonito and some smaller rooster fish.  Interestingly, also hooked a few sierra as well which is strange since they are cooler water fish that we normally catch in the winter.  Maybe it means the waters are cooling.  Again, it seem everyday there’s a possibility of afternoon rainstorms that come and go.

HIGH FIVE’S

Bud and Lisa wagner 9-15

Bud and Lisa Wagner with an ice chest full of school supplies!

Jeff Stauffer

Quite a stash. Thanks for Jeff and Carol Stauffer for the thoughtfulness! Not only school supplies but much needed hygiene things like toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, deodorant and other things that will probably go to the battered women’s shelter.

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My good friend since 1st grade, Jim Weitkamp and his fiance Valerie Reyna brought us some great stuff for the kids.

Thanks to all our amigos who brought stuff down for our “Pack for a Purpose” program benefitting needy schoolkids as well as our battered women’s shelter.  Muchas gracias also to amigos who didn’t get their photos taken, but also brought much needed supplies including Ken Gragg and Carl Lange.

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug 31-Sept. 6, 2015

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Yes! There’s some tuna out there. Rick Wagstaff from Delta UT, on his first day out fishing with us wrestled this tuna on light tackle for almost an hour at the south end of Cerralvo Island. Rich was fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet from Muertos Bay. He also got a limit of dorado as well.

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Bob Patterson from Los Angeles and his son, Travis from Sacramento had a good week of fishing, but on their last day the bite was off. Not much happening. But then they were headed back in and decided to put all 4 trolling feathers out and ended up getting a big 40-pound class wahoo! Captain Pancho here with them. They also got a few dorado, but the rest of the week limited on dorado.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

You gotta check out this great video from Larry Barnard of Los Angeles CA who was recently with us.  He did a great editing job of some big roosterfish hookups with some super underwater clips as well.  Good job, Larry!

EVERYONE CATCHING!

La Paz / Las Arenas (Muertos Bay) Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2015

A good solid week of fishing as the kids here in La Paz head back to school and the town quiets down.  A little cooler this past week, not quite so muggy with some brief afternoon thundershowers but otherwise sunny and warm skies and water.  Everyone who wanted fish got fish…a good thing!

Las Arenas/ Bahia de los Muertos

It’s been awhile since I’ve lead our reports with Las Arenas/ Bahia de los Muertos.  Regretfully, our traditional hot spot has had an off-year with lack of bait leading to spotty fishing or southern storms making for rough waters for our pangas and clients.

However, things are really turning around…happy to say.

Two things.  We’re finally getting some bait showing up. Sardines…our lifeblood for fishing are being found.  Plus, we also getting some mackerel, caballitos and ladyfish (for the roosters).

Secondly, about 2 weeks ago, the sportfishing captains put several dozen buoys just offshore to act as fish attractants.  Just to try to get things going.

It appears to be working.  Every one of our boats this week took limits or near limits of dorado.  School-sized, but nonetheless great action with the largest fish running about 15 pounds and others breaking off.  The fish are being found at the buoy and lighthouse.  There was really only one “off-day”  when the fish didn’t bite well and that was because it was “too calm.”  Yes, there is such a thing.

Folks, especially first timers, tell me all the time they are worried about the big waves and rough seas and I tell them that the Sea of Cortez is often like a big lake.  Plus to get fish, we don’t have to go out very far and we’re also not trolling for fish a zillion miles offshore.  Well, one day this week the water was like glass.  Literally.  Wonderful day on the water.  Just flat flat flat.

And the fish were really stubborn!

You see, you want just a little current.  You want just a little breeze.  It stirs up the water.  It moves bait and nutrients.  It gets the gamefish going.  It’s like a hot muggy day on the porch.  The last thing you want to do is move. Too hot to eat.  Too humid to think or want to do anything.  Same with the fish.  That day the fish just weren’t real active.  But, fortunately, that was only one day.

But in other days…

The lighthouse has also been the site of some deepwater yellowtail and trophy cabrilla and some amberjack as well.  Surely a hotspot this past week.  We’ve also been getting rooster fish and billfish hookups in the same area.

The bigger news was that tuna have moved into the area.  The East Cape just to the south of us encountered the tuna schools a few weeks ago and we were hoping the fish would be moving up.  This past week, we did get into a few that ran about 40-50 pounds.  A great grade of fish and about the size that most anglers can handle!  The commercial guys got into a few more so we’re keeping an eye on that and got our fingers crossed.

La Paz

Again, just like in previous weeks, this is our go-to spot!  If you only have one day to fish, or you want a sure thing, you can’t miss with the dorado just straight on in the bay and just outside. Limits are pretty typical and some days the pangas are back by 1 p.m. (which means they stopped fishing before noon!).  This has especially been great for first-timers, families and couples and kids.  Everyone has fun.  With the dorado, there’s also tough larger bonito, jack crevalle, smaller rooster fish plus shots at billfish.

THANK YOU!

Thank you this week to Bud and Lisa Wagner who are fishing with us for the first time, but still brought down for our “Pack for a Purpose” kids with a whole bunch of great school supplies.  Thanks for the big hearts, amigos!

 

Bud and Lisa wagner 9-15

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 23-30, 2015

rooster Dave Schneider 8-15 tags

Dave Schneider from San Jose CA was fishing with us for the first time here in La Paz and put the hurt on this big boy roosterfish while fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Great shot and he was able to release the big fish.

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Mommy-to-be, Tara O’Malley, only had one day to fish but went out with Captain Boli into La Paz Bay and got herself a limit of dorado of varying sizes.

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The man behind the mask is Jorge Santana with a real surprising catch for August…yellowtail and two trophy cabrilla. All those fish are normally caught when the waters are much cooler in the winter and spring. He was fishing deep off the Las Arenas lighthouse where there must be a current of cold water holding the fish.

 

Meng Foo tags rogelio 8-15

Captain Rogelio poses with Meng Foo and one of his several dorado he caught fishing north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.

Kit Luu with rooster tags 8-15

It’s so big I gotta sit down for the photo! Kit Luu had a great day fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet with fish like this trophy roosterfish he caught and released fishing with Captain Victor.

Thai Foo dorado tags 8-15

Thai Foo holds up a nice bull dorado that ended up being brought back to Tailhunter Restaurant to share with his amigos!

 

GOOD FISHING FOR DORADO AND ROOSTERS!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 22-29 2015

The dog days of summer are here.  It seems like almost every day is cooke-cutter.  All the same!  Sunny with temperatures in the high 90’s.  Occasional tropical thundershowers in the afternoons or evenings that come and go.  Sun pops back out leaving us with some spectacular sunsets.  Kids are back in school so the waters and beaches are emptying out.  Town is getting quiet again after the hubbub of summer vacation.  Tourist families are generally gone as well for the same reason…school starts!  So, mostly fishermen around.  And the fishing is pretty good.

LA PAZ

Solid dorado fishing.  Nothing wrong with that.  Most days, all the action you could want.  Good days to be on the water.

The dorado are ranging in size from 5-25 pounds.  Sometimes, it’s just hard to get away from the “doraditos!” (babies).  If you hit a spot, they are everywhere, they can be voracious.  The larger ones are around, but the kids are so thick and hungry, they don’t give the bigger ones a chance to get to your baits.  As one of our guys told us, “We released 10 before we got a larger one we wanted to keep and it’s sometimes hard to release the small ones because they don’t hesitate to swallow the baits and then the hooks are hard to get out.”

There are some larger fish getting lost.  But, it’s good to see larger fish around after a summer of so many little guys.  They do grow fast!

Again, there’s some huge bonito ripping things up as well. These fish fight like 30 pounders to most people although 12 pounds is about the true size.  Same with the big jack crevalle schools near the beaches along with some smaller roosters.

Hooked and lost several striped marlin this week again that bit light lines with live baits while fishing for dorado.

LAS ARENAS

The story continues to be rooster fish…big rooster fish in the area if you’ve ever wanted to nail one of these big exotic fish.  They are close and still willing to hit a bait.  They are almost all trophy-sized fish.  Rarely are we getting any that are under 30 pounds and most are 40-60 pounders.  All are getting released.

Good to also see a few more dorado and other species popping up as well. The captains put out about 30 semi-permanent buoys just offshore to act as FADS (Fish Attraction Devices).  And they’re working!  Normally, there’s commerical buoys out there most of the season, but for whatever reason, there weren’t quite so many out there so the sportfishing captains put them out themselves.  So, we’re seeing more dorado now…FINALLY and that might also have somethig to do with there being more bait available too.    Bonito, jack crevalle and snapper rounded out the fishing.

Again, just like last week, the surprise has been the yellowtail.  These are COLD WATER fish.  We get them in February to May…never in AUGUST!  Right now, the air temps are 100.  The water temps are 90.  The only thing I can think is that off the Las Arenas lighthouse (where the fish are located), there’s a cold current down deep.  No one is complaining.  It’s a nice bonus.  The ticket is finding mackerel either live or dead.  And that’s not so easy either because the mackies are usually around in the cooler water as well.  But, if you want a yellowtail and are willing to put in the time to catch a mackerel…a hour or two to catch a few…it’s spot-on for hooking a forkie right now.

SHOUT OUT

Big shout out to our “Pack for a Purpose”  good guys.  Brian and Marie McClanahan and Kip and Sue Slaugh all from the Salt Lake City area in Utah, hauled down several duffle bags filled with school supplies, health products (toothbrushes), notebooks, backpacks and other much-needed things for our kids.  Vong Mekdara also carried down a load of stuff.  As well, Steve Hartsook and Mike Jordan who have been visiting us for years filled up with great kid’s stuff. (Photographer’s error…the photo didn’t come out…but they deserve a big shout out too!)   Just in time since the school year is just starting down here and many kids don’t even have pencils.   We’re grateful for all the many many amigos and clients who have brought stuff over the months for the orphanage, schools and women’s shelters.  You’re the best!

SLAUGH MCCLANAHANS 8-15

The McClanahans and the Sloughs! Thank you!

VONG MEKDARA

Vong Mekdara from Monterey Park CA brought everything from pencil boxes to batteries and staplers to white glue!

CHANGE YOUR MONEY?

It’s not good for the Mexican economy, but great for tourists.  The Mexican pesos is dropping dramatically this year and seems to keep falling.  The current peso-to-dollar exchange rate was at 14…15…16..17 and might go as low as 18:1 (pesos to dollars).   That means that the purchasing power for tourist holding pesos is pretty good and makes Mexico a great vacation value.

For example, two years ago when things were at 10:1 (ten pesos per dollar), a cab ride costs, for example 100 pesos (10 dollars).  That same cab ride now at 100 pesos means it’s now only costing about 6 or 7 dollars!  A restaurant meal that cost $200 pesos or a t-shirt for $200 that was easy…it was $20 dollars U.S.  Those same items now would be only $12 or $14 dollars.

The downside is for something like say…tips for captains.  If you are used to giving your regular guy $400 pesos ($40 U.S. dollars) if you hand him 400 pesos now, you might get a little look of disappointment since now you are only tipping about $25 or 26 U.S. dollars.

So, give some consideration to changing your dollars to pesos when you’re at the airport or go to a money exchange place when you get to town.

 

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 16-23, 2015

Esteban jurel tags 8-15

Well…YES! As a matter of fact we DO have yellowtail. Only problem is that they’re NOT supposed to be here. Our waters are about 90 degrees right now! We get our yellowtail in the winter and spring when the waters are COLD! Never in August! Our amigo Esteban Romero hooked 3. Two got unbuttoned, but he put this 30-pound class slug into the panga using a live mackerel fished down deep! Also, something we never have to do is fish deep!

Kit Luu tags wahoo 8-15

His first trip to La Paz turned out to be banner for Kit Luu of Monterey Park CA. He got his first roosterfish. He caught dorado. And, while he was jigging a Mega Bait, he hooked onto this nice wahoo…his first! Captain Victor looks on!

Rooster Jason Christofferson 8-15 tags

Another of our anglers on his first trip to visit us, Jason Christofferson from Las Vegas was with Captain Pancho when he latched into this trophy roosterfish off Las Arenas. Great photo and the fish was released.

Ken Chau dorado 8-15

Happy Birthday to Ken Chau! Ken is from Rosemead CA and on his birthday, he shows off a few of his fish…a nice dorado and one of the fat bonito we’ve got north of La Paz.

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San Francisco in the house. Paul Nagata is our good amigo who has been visiting us for years put the hurt on a nice rooster fishing with our popular Captain Jorge. The fish was released.

vong mekdara tags rooster 8-15

Big fat rooster! Vong Mekdara from Monterey Park CA went out with rain clouds threatening from Bahia de los Muertos with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and hauled in this huge rooster! The big guy was released.

Kit Luu and Kerry Lam tags 8-15

The dorado are finally getting a bit bigger! Three weeks ago, this would’ve been the biggest dorado of the week! Kit Luu and Kerry Lam put a number of dorado into the boat fishing out’ve La Paz.

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Scott Harvey from Del Mar CA brought his son, Andrew, down for the week to do some fishing and got into the fish himself including this roosterfish he was able to photo and let swim away strong!

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It has been a good year for billfish this year, especially with so many bonito and small dorado in the areas serving as food. This is a photo of Paul Nagata’s sailfish as it was being released after a good battle. Paul was fishing north of La Paz Bay.

STEADY FISHING MIXED WITH AFTERNOON THUNDERSHOWERS!

La Paz – Las Arenas/Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 16-23, 2015

The week was a typical August kind of fishing week for us!  Everyone caught fish and most of it was dorado which is about right for this time of year.  Also, it was a week of tropical thunderstorms.  No hurricanes, but afternoon showers that would bring torrential rains (usually after everyone was done fishing…but sometimes not) that flooded streets in a flash but then quickly ran off and the sun came blazing out again.  Those of our fishermen that occasionally got caught out there told us they got drenched, but it was warm “like a shower.”  Or, they could see the columns of rain falling straight down from the sky and simply drove around it.  It would rain hard in one spot, but a mile away barely a drizzle!   There were some pretty spectacular thunder and lightning shows, however, and the thunder was like “being inside of a trash can and kids whacking it with baseball bats,” said another of our anglers.    This coming week, however, shows no rain in sight.

LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS

This has been our “grab bag” area all season.  Just crazy fishing.  Never know what you’re gonna catch!  About the ONLY consistent biter all season has been big rooster fish.  And these are all 30-50 pound fish!  Many of our anglers are getting their “first-ever” rooster fish and all of them have been trophy-sized fish.  There have even been larger fish, but they’ve busted off with estimates of fish going up to 90 pounds breaking off.

The bad thing is that roosters are bad eating.  They don’t help bring any fillets home in the ice chests!  The good thing is that all the roosters are getting released.

Pretty much, if you didn’t get a rooster, there wasn’t much else and that’s too bad because traditionally the Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay area has been a big old fish trap for all kinds of species and action.  So, beyond catching roosters, that was it.  We’d have our clients fishing in La Paz where there was alot more action.

However, this past week, we got some welcome surprises.  The biggest was that we caught some yellowtail in the deep water right of the Las Arenas lighthouse.  One of those rare occasions when you put on some weight and dropped a live or dead mackerel down 80-200 feet!  (Like fishing in Loreto where the yellowtail hunker down deep!) . But the mackerel were the key.  Guys were scouring the stores in La Paz looking for mackies!  Frozen worked just fine.   The real surprise is that yellowtail are cold water fish!  We get them in the cold water months of February to May.  In 20 years here, I’ve not ever seen any yellowtail caught in the summer!  No one is complaining, however.  These fish have been legit 20-30 pounders!

The other surprise is finding out there’s still  wahoo in the area.  We hooked and dropped a few this week and put a few in the tank as well.  After the phenomenal May and June wahoo bonanza we had this year, it just shut off after that.  So, good to know the speedy fish are still around.  Good-sized 20-30 pounders all on jigs or slow-trolled Rapalas!

LA PAZ

Dorado dorado dorado!  We’ve had them since springtime, but they’ve been so dinky, it’s ridiculous. But, they’ve bee a blessing because they’ve provided so much action.  But, just way smaller than what we should have been getting.  I mean, seriously…if you want to catch 12-inch dorado, there are some spots where you can park the panga all day and have a blast on light tackle catching-and-releasing as fast as you can go.

Slowly, however, the fish have gotten bigger.  Just not very fast.  This past week, better quality 15-30 pounders started showing up to the point where  the fishermen were tossing back smaller fish.  With the afternoon rains popping up, on some days, it was nice to get a limit of fish and be back to town by noon or 1 with a good load of fillets for the cooler.

For other species, still big bonito around…some smaller rooster fish…and we did get a few marlin and sailfish hooked and released this week.

A LITTLE WET

As I said at the beginning, we have some occasional thundershowers lately.  I rains…it floods…then it dries up!  Fairly typical sometimes.  We call them “toritos”  (little bulls) that roll in and quickly roll out.  But the flash flooding can be dramatic.  Thanks to Clima La Paz for the photos.  Take a look.  If you’ve been to La Paz, you might recognize some of the photos.  (Like the malecon!)

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DOWNTOWN LA PAZ

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THE MALECON…WHERE THE RUNOFF MEETS THE BAY!

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JUST HAD TO TRY IT!

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NOT RECOMMENDED BY THE MANUAL. DOWNTOWN LA PAZ.

 That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report from Tailhunter International Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 9-16, 2015

yellowtail jorge tags 8-15

WHAT??? No, I didn’t poach this photo! We actually got yellowtail this week at the Las Arenas lighthouse and Jorge Romero, our good amigo, rocked 3 of them fishing deep using dead mackerel with fish up to 30 pounds. In 20 years here, I have NEVER seen yellowtail here. These fish are cold water fish we find in March to May! Crazy El Nino!

Paul dorado tags 8-15

They’re finally getting a bit bigger! La Paz Bay and north towards Espirto Santo Island has been our “go-to” spot for dorado this season, but the fish have been smaller than normal. Finally getting some in the 15-25 pound category. San Francisco amigo, Paul Nagata with another bull for the box.

Taylor Marino 8-15 tags

Before she heads back to college in Colorado, Taylor Marino and Captain Victor teamed up for some nice big roosters caught and released just off the beach near Muertos. All on bait.

rooster andrew harvey tags 8-15

The kids are alright! The youngsters had some great stories to tell when they get back to school this week. Andrew Harvey has to be back in school next week for 8th grade, but he had a great time fishing all week getting in some great fishing including catching and releasing this big roosterfish.  Andrew lives in Del Mar, CA.

Mike Jordan Steve Hartsook dorado tags 8-15

Long-time amigos of Tailhunter Michael Jordan from Santa Barbara and Steve Hartsook from Brentwood CA, hold a couple of their good fishing day for dorado as the rain approaches behind! It got a little wet for awhile!

dorado scott harvey tags 8-15

San Diego angler Scott Harvey brought the family down for the week and wanted to “hit the dorado hard.” He did pretty good with some of the larger dorado we’ve seen in awhile this season! Pretty colors here! Matches his shirt.

rooster Haley Marino 8-15 tags

She’s 15-years-old from Colorado and has a big smile to go along with the big rooster! Haley Marino got into the fish her dad and sister catching and releasing several big roosters.

dorado andrew harvey tags 8-15

It’s hard to pose when a big dorado won’t cooperate and keep still! Andrew Harvey wanted to catch his first dorado and did that and more this week fishing with both of our Tailhunter La Paz and Tailhunter Las Arenas fleets.

 

YELLOWTAIL IN AUGUST?  ROOSTERS AND DORADO STILL CENTER STAGE!

La Paz – Las Arenas/Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 9-16, 2015

Summer dog days.  Hot and humid with fishing action pretty consistent. Some quick summer showers.   Just like in previous weeks, the rooster fish are the main attraction for the Las Arenas/ Bahia de los Muertos fishermen and dorado are keeping folks busy with our La Paz fleet.  It’s sunny and hot with humid clouds and tropical conditions.  Might be some thundershowers coming this week with a little storm out over the Pacific causing some momentary downpours, but not much wind showing.  Good thing.  Everyone going home with fish who wants fish!

Las Arenas/  Muertos Bay

It’s still living up to it’s nickname as the “Roosterfish Capital of the World.”   Our “smallest” roosters this week were 25-30 pound fish.  The largest were in the 40-50 pound class.  They’re not good to eat so everyone is releasing them, but sure are having fun with these big guys close to shore almost in the surf.  The ticket is getting the big sabalo (lady fish) or liso (mullet)for bait.

For other species, we had a surprise of yellowtail…yes yellowtail pop up!  Yellowtail are cold water fish. We see them in the later winter and early spring.  We haven’t had a yellowtail since May!  The commercial guys and a few pangas hit the 25-pounders off the lighthouse late in the week.  Crazy stuff.  The trick was having mackerel and the fish are off the ledge holding in deeper colder water. And the mackerel were not easy to come by.  But that’s been the trouble all season with the Las Arenas area.  If bait were easy and around,  we’d be catching all kinds of stuff in the area.  As it is, all the bait has been around the La Paz area.

A few dorado and cabrilla rounded things out.  Oh…and we also hooked our first wahoo in awhile too!

La Paz

If you’re not catching a limit or near limit or double limit of dorado these past few weeks, something’s wrong.  Many days our pangas are coming back early with tired anglers.  In all honesty, the fish are much smaller than they have been in previous years, but there’s still good action.  Even after limits guys are sometimes catching another 5-10 or more fish and releasing just for fun or going after other species like billfish or inshore pargo, cabrilla or rooster fish.

The dorado have been dinky…admittedly…but this is the first week we’re seeing more 10-20 pounders or larger which is encouraging.  So, the quality of the fish seems to be improving.  It seems most of the summer we were stuck in the “nursery” of 5 pound fish!

Anyway, there’s marlin and sailfish for those who want to give it a try  and the majority of bites are right around the areas where the small dorado are hanging out since the billfish will eat the small dorado.  There’s also some big schools of huge 20 pound jack crevalle that are tearing up the anglers plus big bonito.

GOOD GUY SHOUTS

NAGATA

Our good friend, Paul Nagata, from San Francisco brought down two full coolers of stuff for our “Pack for a Purpose” program. Filled with sporting goods, balls, air pumps, crayons, flash cards, bags of pencils and other school supplies for the kids. Thanks, Paul!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

Read Full Post »

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