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From Jill and I to all of you, we wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful Christmas!  Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo from La Paz!

From Jill and I to all of you, we wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful Christmas! Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo from La Paz!

WINDY CONDITIONS HAMPER FISHING MOST OF WEEK BUT FISHING PICKS UP LATE WEEK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 17-23, 2012

A very windy week in La Paz making it a bit rough to fish.  (In fact, that is also why for the first time in about 16 years of doing these weekly fishing reports…I have no photos!)  But… in all honesty, perhaps this was our windiest week in a bit.  Fortunately, for us, not many anglers either as we had a bit of a lull before the holidays and I think everyone was gearing up for Christmas and the influx we’ll be getting this week. 

 Still, because of the winds, we had to shuffle folks around to get the least windy days.  For most of our visitors right now, it’s different than during the high-season when folks are here to fish literally every day of their vacation.  Right now, it’s mostly folks here for the holidays to escapting colder climes to get a little sunshine and they’ll squeeze in a day of fishing or fishing is a quick after-thoughts.  This means that if there’s a day when it’s too windy, we can shuffle them around a bit to a different day.

 But, even then, most of our fishing was confined closer to shore than normal.  Still, on the up-side, we normally don’t have to go that far anyway!  We did get some dorado pretty close in.  None of the larger bulls like we’ve been getting lately ,but any kind of dorado right now is a bonus and the ones we got were decent, good-eating 10-15 pound fish.  Sierra also made up a nice part of the catch with pangas averaging 4-6 fish up to about 4 pounds with our best hits not too far from the Las Arenas lighthouse.

 Roosterfish up to about 25 pounds were also around with our better spots right in Bahia de los Muertos (Bahia de los Suenos) and further south off Boca de Alamo.  Several larger fish perhaps in the 40-60 pound range broke off before they could get near the boat, but were seen and fought for a bit. 

Keep in mind this was pretty sporadic fishing compared to what we’ve been doing lately and most of the better fishing was at the end of the week.  In fact, we had a little strange jag of fish on the weekend with some yellowtail…yes yellowtail (cold water fish) caught the same day as dorado (warm water fish)! But here’s the kicker, the same panga got two wahoo!  Not big, but hey…18 pound ‘hoos?  In December?    Just another example of the wacky fishing this past week.  We’ll keep an eye out.

Winds are diminishing this week so we’re looking forward to some better fishing!

 

Have a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas to you and yours! God bless.

 Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

 

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

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

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tags tim zimmer 12-12 dorado

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

cristina ainsworth sierra 12-12 tags

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

verda tags pompano 12-12

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

mike ainsworth tags rooster 12-12

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

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

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

SAILFISH – BIG DORADO – ROOSTERFISH SURPRISE WINTER ANGLERS!

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

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

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

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

Hope your holidays are going well!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com Mexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

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

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

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm Tailhunter YouTube Videoshttp://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

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

 

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Duncans dorado tags

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

jumping dorado tags 12-12

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

verda tags dorado jorge 12-12

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

sierra shelly and michele tags 12-12

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

simon loftus dorado tags 12-12

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

Sailfish tags

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

zimmer tags dorado sierra 12-12

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

sierra 12-12

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

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

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

DECEMBER STARTS WITH FANTASTIC FALL FISHING!

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

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

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

But what crazy fishing!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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wahoo mark tags 11-12

They have been so few and far between the last two years that their appearance so late in the fishing season has been a great surprise. Our amigo, Mark Martis, from Redondo Beach CA, hefts of a fat wahoo he caught south of Cerralvo Island.

Terrys Rooster Fish tags 11-12

We’ve had so many great folks from Idaho this year! Terry Robinson from Twin Falls put some nice dorado into the panga but also put the hurt on this trophy roosterfish while fishing with our Las Arenas Fleet. The fish was released. Roosterfish have hung around longer than I would have thought.

Donna dorado tags 11-12

Our amiga, Donna Thompson, lives with her husband Roger out at La Ventana and has front row seats to keep an eye on conditions in the channel when it can be really windy on the way to Cerralvo Island. She and Roger ran out to the far side of the island and hit the 88 bank and hung some of the better dorado we’ve seen in a few weeks! It helps that Donna knows how to fish very well also!

sierra adolfo tags 11-12

Fishing with Capt. Adolfo of our Tailhunter Fleet, Karina Vescio from Orange Co. CA, got into a nice day of sierra fishing in her first time fishing with us!

AJ's dorado tags 1

Love this photo although I wish it were clearer. A.J. Rose drove all the way down to La Paz from Denver to fish with us and had a banner day with sierra, dorado and pargo!

Graham overton alberta canada tags wahoo

Now here’s a story…Graham Overton from Alberta Canada was paddling his kayak just offshore from El Sargento and dragging an old javelin lure that used to be made by the folks who make Rapalas when this big old wahoo bit ! Took him awhile in the kayak, but, as you can see…he got the big skinny to shore! Wow!

pargo mulatto tyler martis 11-12 tags

Tyler Martis poses with one of the toughest fighting and best eating fish in our waters. It’s a barred pargo also known as a pargo mulatto. Tyler is from Redondo Beach CA and was fishing near Las Arenas. Pargo are feeding in the rocks right now.

sean dorado tags

Nothing better than watching kids with their fish! On the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos, Sean Rose from Colorado holds up one of his dorado he caught fishing with dad.

SURPRISING VARIETY OF FISH STILL BITING LATE IN SEASON

La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, 2012

Another really nice week of fishing with nice sunny weather in the high 80’s and although it was breezy, we’re fishing out of Las Arenas/ Bahia de Los Muertos where waters are calmer and fish are closer to shore…and cooperative!  (Why go out far when you don’t have to and get wet and beat up?)

Mostly fishing live bait, we’re still getting dorado around the buoys and closer with random fish and smaller schools of 10-15 pounders freelancing around as close as a few yards from shore.  As well, using live bait but with wired hooks or with smaller rapala / yo-zuri / mega bait –styled lipped lures, we’re getting some great action on sierra.  If you get into a school it can be quick fast furious action.

Additionally, we’re still picking up an occasional wahoo near the island on the larger rapalas and yo-zuris with darker colors getting the most attention.  We had a number of fish lost when they either bit through the lines or simply crushed the lures or twisted off the hooks!  But, the fish we got in were all decent 30-50 pounders!  But, clearly there are ‘hoo around Cerralvo Island.  I’m sure if we had more fishermen out on a regular basis looking for them, we’d be hooking more of the elusive wahoo.

By the way…wind permitting…there’s some bigger dorado outside on the 88 spot east of Cerralvo Island.  Reports of some 30-50 pound dorado out there also came in this week.

Inshore fishing on for roosters has also been good this week with some pargo and cabrilla also making it into the counts!  Roosters have ranged anywhere from 5-40 pounds.  Pargo and cabrilla have been up to about 15 pounds.  Bonito, jack crevalle and some pompano have also added to the action.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Let’s get to it…

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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Jilly Roldan of Tailihunters! We finally were able to get her out and she still has game! She and Captain Pancho hooked up for this sweet-colored bull dorado she took on 30-pound test and her new “Chix Stix” custom-wrapped gift from B&B Custom fishing rods in Portland. Dorado were surprisingly biting great for this time of year!

Gary Howarth and Dan Neale from La Verne CA were on their first fishing trip to La Paz and enjoyed some great fishing. “We started with sierra and caught and released so many we had to stop!” said Gary. “Then we went just a little bit further out and we hit one buoy and got into double and triple hookups. Again we released so many fish. Great day!” They were fishing just outside of Muertos Bay.

Raul Chollet has the “bug” after trying fishing for the first time with us. He got 5 dorado, 2 sierra and this great-eating African pompano (palometa) fishing in the Las Arenas area not far from shore.

He’s posing with a funny face just for the camera! But our amigo, Raul Ramirez, shows off one of the sierra he caught which are biting great right now. He also got dorado as well and brought his mom and son to the Tailhunter Restaurant to have us cook it up! Raul owns the popular “Sinatra” karaoke bar in La Paz as well as the “Casa de Villa” bar on the malecon.

I almost hate to post Roger Thompson’s photo here! Great wahoo shot. Roger found the high spot at the south end of Cerralvo Island and got a rack of these nice ‘hoo while trolling deep divers. Roger lives right there across from the island  at La Ventana, so he’s not only an outstanding fisherman, but can see when it’s good to go out.   If its  too windy, he grabs his windsurfer.  If it’s calm, he goes fishing!  He’s living the dream!  The problem with going to the island is that with north winds, it’s often tough to get out there this time of year. Roger can pick and choose the best times plus has his own boat or can grab a local pangero. But nonetheless, a great catch and good to know the elusive wahoo are there!

Dos amigos! Raul Ramirez y Raul Chollet were pretty excited about their dorado catch. It’s always good when first timers get into fish!

DORADO SIERRA AND A VARIETY OF SPECIES PUT ON A NICE SHOW FOR LATE SEASON!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 11-18, 2012

Really a surprisingly excellent week of fishing.  Now that the winds have started coming mostly from the north, it’s a little rough to fish out’ve La Paz so all our fishing has been with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet pushing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos.

 

I thought things would have turned since things are cooler but we had some really fun fishing.  In fact, some of the best dorado fishing in weeks has been going on with fish between the shore and inner buys just outside of Muertos, our anglers have been taking limits of dorado up to 30 pounds with most a fun 10-15 pound side, especially fun on light tackle!   Some of the fish have literally been in shallow water just yards from the shore or rocks in areas where the anglers were really fishing for other species!

 

The best thing about the fishing right now, in fact, has been the plethora of other types fo fish we’re hooking.  It almost reminds me of spring-time fishing with breezy conditions and cooler temperatures and as many as 10 different species a day this past week! 

 

In addition to the dorado, the sierra have been going great.  Some pangas hit early limits of all the sierra they need then go run for dorado or other species such as pompano, jack crevalle (nice school just ouside the bay), roosterfish, bonito, pargo, and cabrilla.  We’re even still hooking some billfish with striped marlin and smaller sailfish close to shore as well.  Plus, yes…there’s even a wahoo or too if you can get over to the island in the wind.  All-in-all, a good week!  Not sure how much longer it will last, but we had a great time this past few days!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

 

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

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:  http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm Tailhunter YouTube 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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As pretty a picture as you can have. This fresh bull dorado shows great colors after being caught by Mark Tefelski from Los Olivos CA near Santa Barbara. A good little run of dorado was a surprising highlight of the catch this week. Mark got this one just outside Bahia de Los Muertos.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

LATE SEASON DORADO AND ROOSTERFISH KEEP RODS BENT!

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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Dorado were a little harder to find this week, but there were some moments as conditions cool and the season changes. But, John Kennedy from northern California shows off a nice pair of mahi he caught north of La Paz.

We have had so many great folks from Idaho this year. Many first timers like our new amiga, Barbara Choate who fished with our Captain Jorge and got his photo-perfect bull dorado just south of Bahia de Los Muertos.

Now THIS is how to do it and have some fun! On light tackle and throwing a surface popper, Tim Hildebrand from Chico CA nailed this sweet bull dorado that fought him big time on the smaller rod!

Two of our best amigos, Joe Barrera and Vic Patton, always come to see us at the end of the year. They pose with a striped marlin they pulled off the south end of Cerralvo Island. Given the cooler waters, it wasn’t a bad week for billfish with most getting released. They weren’t able to let this one go.

First timer and using a flyrod, big grins for Randy Choate who got over a dozen roosterfish on the flyroad just inside Bahia de Los Muertos. All the fish were released. Randy is from Idaho.

Tim Hildebrand from Chico CA and Ryan Chipley from Spokane WA tag-teamed for a good day of dorado fishing. They also got the big triggerfish plus a bonito that they bled out and brought to our Tailhunter Restaurant for a big plate of sashime and Hawaiian poke.. The triggerfish ended up as fresh ceviche!

Tom Ames with Captain Adolfo couldn’t stop smiling behind the great mustache. He got rooterfish, jack crevalle and several other species all on the flyrod fishing with us this past week on his first visit from Idaho.

EARLY CHANGE OF SEASONS BRINGS VARIETY OF SPECIES

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 27 to Nov. 3, 2012

Seasons have definitely changed down here!   Perhaps sooner than we had expected as air temperatures are dropping and water temperatures are also diminishing with more breezy and windy conditions.  It’s a really nice time to be in La Paz!  But, it has surely affected our fishing.  Not a bad thing.  It’s just different.

It seems that in the span of 2 weeks we went from having 90 percent of our catch being dorado which are warm-water species to a nice mix of a number of species.  We’re still getting dorado every day, but I counted as many as 10 different species taken as well on any given day.

For example one day among a half-dozen of our pangas they reported:  dorado, sailfish, marlin, pompano, jack crevalle, wahoo, roosterfish, bonito, pargo, cabrilla and rainbow runners!  It made for some great fun fishing.  Quite a smorgasbord of species and lots of action.  One day, one panga got 4 wahoo.  Another with 2 of our flyfishers got over 20 roosterfish caught and released!  Another had fun throwing surface poppers on light tackle at dorado.  Another with first timers were thrilled to catch and release their first sailfish!

Most of our fishing now is with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.  The waters north of La Paz are getting pretty choppy and the fish are a bit of a run around the corner to Las Cruces area.  If folks want to go, we warn them it could get bumpy. Also, as mentioned above, there’s just not that many dorado around which is the main catch of our La Paz fleet this past season.  So, right now, unless someone says something, most of our fishing is with our Las Arenas fleet.  Fishing is closer.  There’s more species and it’s just a bit more protected from the winds that will surely get stronger as we head towards the end of the year.  For now, fishing is pretty good.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SEASONS CHANGING AND GETTING COOLER SLOWS FISHING!

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly 

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

Read Full Post »

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