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Posts Tagged ‘pompano’

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Sept. 8-15, 2013

Panga sunrise braswell group 9-13 tags-proc

We could not have asked for better weather and fishing conditions this week with the end result being solid fishing action for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleets. Nothing quite like a beautiful sunrise on the Sea of Cortez and getting ready to head out for fishing at Las Arenas.

 

dorado ed small  tags 8-13

Photos just don’t do justice to the magnificence of our dorado. With incredible colors and acrobatic battles, they’re hard to beat as a sportfish! Ed Vander Veer, from Washington, has already made two trips to visit us this year and loves fishing ultra light tackle taking great fish like this one off Cerralvo Island.

 

dorado big kurt small tags 8-13

It’s always great to have first-timers and getting them into the fish. Kurt Dittig, from Sacramento, was on his first trip to visit us in La Paz and spent 3 days ripping on the dorado including this 30-pound class bull taken north of La Paz.

 

Dan Brown dorado 1 tags small

It’s a long way from Wisconsin, but Dan Brown, was another of our first-timers this past week and shows off a fresh bull dorado while standing in our panga. He’s just outside the mouth of Bahia de Los Muertos.

 

dorado mary small tags 9-13

She always does so well. Our amiga, Mary Heilman Vander Veer, never fails to put fish in the boat and she usually does it with light tackle. This big bull was no exception. Mary was with us for a whole week and poses with the fish on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

 

McArthur dorado 9-13 tags

Big smiles from Mike McArthur who came in from Los Angeles to squeeze in two quick days of fishing getting into the dorado fishing and added this bull to the rack from Las Arenas.

 

SQUID 2 tags small

I”m getting lots of questions about the giant squid. Yes, we’re still getting them. They’ve been around for about 4 weeks and we catch them early in the morning as we head out. They’re fighters! But, they do make great bait, but also, folks forget that giant squid is the same as calamari! So, often they bring it back to our Tailhunter Restaurant to have us fix it up. This one is headed for some marinated calamari salad and some fried calamari plates. I’ve photographed it next to a soda can and my kitchen knife. It’s important to treat the squid meat correctly or it will come out tasting bitter.

DORADO CHARGE THE PANGAS ALL WEEK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 8-15, 2013

Overall, we probably could not have asked for better conditions this past week.  We had a few showers like the previous weeks, but nothing to keep folks off the waters and generally, the winds were kind to us as well with just some early morning and late afternoon breezes.

The good conditions made for some really excellent dorado fishing for both our Tailhunter Las Arenas as well as our Tailhunter La Paz fleets.  Here and there an occasional boat might have had an off-day, but mostly speaking, most of our amigos fish several days and one slow day was usually compensated by 1 or 2 outstanding days where the fish attacked the pangas and guys more than made up for the off-day and in some cases were catching and releasing as fast as they could go.

No really big big fish this week, but our larger fish were in the 30-pound class with some occasional 40’s and, of course, large fish have a tendency to bust off too!  That’s part of fishing and that’s why they’re bigger fish!  But, lots of medium 10-25 pounders all week.   Let me put it this way.  Everyone who wanted a cooler of fish to take home or a day of bending rods got it!

The really cool thing the past few weeks is that we have had so many first timers…couples…wives…girlfriends…kids…and watching them get into these fish and then listening to the animated stories are just the best!  But, in addition, they’re also experiencing stuff like whales and dolphin and sea turtles and manta rays as well plus just the overall experience of being in Baja and La Paz for the first time!  Many of them bring their catches to our restaurant as well so they’re getting to enjoy their fish twice in the same day!

As for other species, there’s still marlin and sailfish around and we’re getting a hook-up or two a day.  Most fish are getting busted off or released.   I’d say we’re probably releasing about 90% of the billfish that make it to the boat.  There’s also still a few rooster fish around, plus big jack crevalle and huge arm-tiring bonito that are beating up on the anglers.  As well, we are still hooking a few wahoo but not many are making it to the boats before they get busted off!

Plus, there’s still giant squid to start the day also.  Many anglers are using part of them for bait and eating the rest!

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:  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 – La Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2013

dorado sax pancho 8-13

All Sax Endo could say after battling this big dorado was, “My arms are so sore!” he said with a big smile. Sax is from Pasadena CA and took this trophy dorado while fishing with Captain Pancho and the Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet off Punta Arenas.

Incredible colors on this beautiful dorado caught by Billy Chung from San Jose CA.  Billy said he fought the fish for about 20 minutes on his last day of fishing. Captain Armando helps out!

Incredible colors on this beautiful dorado caught by Billy Chung from San Jose CA. Billy said he fought the fish for about 20 minutes on his last day of fishing. Captain Armando helps out!

wahoo caryn aizawa tags 8-13

Yes! Wahoo are still around. Caryn Aizawa, was dragging a dark rapala off the south end of Cerralvo Island this past week when this speedy wahoo slammed the line. It was a pretty good week for wahoo!

Another amigo on his first time fishing with Tailhunter in La Paz, Mike Council  from Ventura CA put the hurt on this trophy dorado fishing his 2nd day north of La Paz.

Another amigo on his first time fishing with Tailhunter in La Paz, Mike Council from Ventura CA put the hurt on this trophy dorado fishing his 2nd day north of La Paz.

dorado gomer oleson tags 8-13

Darrell “Gomer” Oleson, our amigo from Utah, came down this past week and had a banner 3 days catching dorado with both our Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Here, he stands on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos with a big bull.

wahoo jeff tags 8-13

Jeff Sakuda from Montebello CA has now visited us twice this year and has another trip set for October in between being a commercial pilot. Our amigo took a break from hanging dorado and stuck this thick wahoo near Cerralvo Island.

Jim Oakes big dorado tags 8-13 small

Big smiles from another of our Oregon amigos! Captain Victor lends a hand to Jim Oakes who was on his first trip ever to fish in La Paz. This massive big-headed bull dorado was an early morning catch at sunrise to start the day.

dorado teila robnett 8-13 tags

The ladies had a great week fishing with us and Teila Robnett visiting us for the first time from Colorado spent 3 days pulling limits of dorado like this one while on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

dorado tags 8-13 John OReilly

John O’Reilly shows off one of his big fish from his first-day fishing at Las Arenas. Our amigo, John, from Ventura CA was on his first trip visiting us in La Paz and had 2 great days of fishing with both our fleets.

Gary Carpenter Jim Oaks dorado 1 8-13 small

Nothing wrong with this day! A good start for Gary Carpenter and Jim Oakes who went home with full ice chests after a week of fishing with us.

ANOTHER TROPICAL STORM PASSES THROUGH BUT DORADO NOT AFFECTED!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Aug. 25-Sept. 1, 2013

We had our 2nd tropical storm (“Juliette”) in as many weeks, and although some parts of southern Baja took it in the nose, La Paz  gratefully only got some strong winds, lots of clouds and some gentle rain and drizzle which muddied the roads and watered the plants.

Still, I always worry how the fishing will be affected anytime there’s a big change in the weather. Prior to the storm, dorado fishing had been spectacular.  As good as can be!

Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet had been deep into dorado ranging from 10-40 pounds with some days showing fast and easy limits with the voracious fish hammering the anglers.

As well, there were also good hookups (and all released) of sailfish, striped marlin and even on blue marlin estimated at over 300 pounds hooked on 30 pound test that (understandably) broke off after searing a few runs!  Plus, for our Las Arenas fleet, wahoo showed up again for the early-morning folks who wanted to drag the big lures around after catching some of the giant squid.

So, once the storm passed, there was a bit of trepidation.

As it turned out, the dorado stayed hungry and came to chew!  Fishing picked up right where it left off with fish showing up in a wide variety of areas and ranging from just a few yards offshore near the bean to several miles in the channel.    One of the cool things about storms is that they often wash a bunch of stuff out into the water.   I’m talking about brush, trees, trash…all kinds of stuff.  After the waters settle the debris is out there floating either by itself or along current lines.

These become great fish attractors and working these current lines and floating debris can produce incredible results so, even if there are storms, there’s often a silver lining.  Last year, we had a very wet fall season with rain almost every day for 5 weeks.  We had more rain in 5 weeks than we had in the previous 10 years!  Mostly it was just a few minutes and no more than an hour a day, but not only did it turn the hills green, but produced all kinds of “fish habitat” out there on the water.

This year, we’ve had 3 little tropical storms blow through already so we’re always keeping an eye out for that.  Hopefully, no hurricanes!  But fishing is good and September and October are traditionally our busiest and best months for fishing.

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:  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 Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Aug. 11-18, 2014

Deb big tuna 8-13  small tags

Yes…some big tuna showed up but few taken! The fish were 50-100 pounders, but after long battles, there wasn’t much to show for it as the grumpy fish bent rods and backs. However, our good amiga, Debbie White from Oregon, who fishes with us every year and often puts the guys to shame stuck this plug yellowfin tuna estimated at 60 pounds. She did it in 30 minutes on 30 pound test with some good skippering by Captain Pancho with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. The fish are pretty far outside of Cerralvo Island.

G man dorado 1 tags 8-13 two

Another one who put the big boys to shame this week was 8-year-old Grayson (“G-man”) Richmond from Colorado. Over 4 days fishing he put a couple of dozen dorado and other species in the boat WITHOUT HELP and he did it on conventional tackle…light 15 pound spinning gear…and on the flyrod! With his big smile, he impressed everyone from our captains to our drivers and us as well. About the only help he needed all week was to hold up the fish for photos like this one with dad Bill Richmond.

big dorado russ and rogelio  small tags 8-13-proc

No, Captain Rogelio from our Tailhunter La Paz fleet is not trying to eat this hefty bull dorado! He and angler Russ Blount were wrestling with the big fish trying to keep it still for the photo as it had already smacked them several times! Russ had a great week with us and is from Oregon.

dorado shawn 8-13 small tags

She likes pickle juice with her tequila shots and fishing in warm waters! Shawn Kirk from Denver, Colorado was on her first visit to us in La Paz and shows off one of several nice dorado she caught north of La Paz.

dorado bill flyrod beach  tags small 8-13-proc

“Bonefish” Bill Richmond spent 4 days whacking dorado with us, but on this particular day after climbing off the panga, he was casting his flyrod from shore and caught and released this nice dorado JUST A FEW YARDS OFF THE BEACH! People can never believe when we tell them we don’t have to go far for our fish! This is a great catch….even moreso on the flyrod!

diane kunze dorado big 8-13 tags

The ladies really put on a show this week! Another of our first-timers…Diane Kunze came with husband Frank who fished with us last year who just retired. The two of the were with us for the week and Diane had fun with dorado like this one and Captain Adolfo from our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

marlin don 8-13 small tags

There’s good number of marlin and sailfish right now and the fact that we’re using big baits most days entices more bites than normal. Fortunately, most fish are getting released. Don White from Oregon visits us several times a year here at Tailhunters and always does well. He tangled with several blue marlin that broke lines and caught and released this hefty striper off Cerralvo Island on light tackle. Captain Pancho with all the smiles.

dorado joey 1 small tags 8-13

Coach Joey Fuschetti has been fishing with Tailhunter since the beginning…almost 18 years. Joey has a knack for lots of fish and big fish. He also has few “secrets” that he swears by like chumming with fresh papaya! (Yes…he does!) It seems to work. He had chunks of papaya out there when this big colorful bull hit!

g man dorado 1 small tags 8-13

Just had to post up another photo of our new favorite poster kid…Grayson “G-Man” Richmond smiling big time with Captain Rogelio after putting another big dorado in the boat on light tackle!

dorado ben kirk small 8-17 tags

First-time visitor to La Paz, Ben Kirk had some banner fishing with us all the way from Denver. Here, he stands on the beach at Balandra posing with 2 of several nice bull dorado he caught or La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.

DORADO HOLD CENTER STAGE FOR ANGLERS

La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 11-18, 2013

No doubt this is dorado season in full-color and full-turbo right now and we’re grateful because the mahi provide  all the things you want out’ve a sportfish…eager to bite…swarming schools…great colorful action…can be big and mean…and taste great on the table!

Although our Tailhunter La Paz fleet had the better and most solid catches all week of dorado, our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet also provided steady action.  Both sides had fish that were generally schoolie-sized in the 10-15 pound class, with some larger bulls in the 25-30 pound class and the largest fish of the week around 40-ish pounds.

The bigger issue has been the bait situation that seems to change from week-to-week.  Las Arenas is having another year with a scarcity of sardines so we’re doing well with caballitos, mackerel, zebra fish, ballyhoo and, chunks of giant squid that we started catching about 2 weeks ago (that also make great eating as well!).

One of the good things about the bite at Las Arenas is that the fish are closer now.  In previous weeks the schools have ranged pretty far (relatively speaking for us!)  for what we are used to.  The last week or so the fish are inshore or as close as the nearby commercial buoy lines.

Even for our La Paz fleet, there were schools of dorado as far out as the channel to San Francisquito as well as the Charo Bank, but as close as even finding some schools of dorado right in the bay…right outside Balandra which is a stone’s throw north of town better know for a place to go swimming than for fishing!  However, breaking schools of dorado were located under bait balls right there just outside Balandra.

As for the La Paz bait, the situation has been a bit better than with Las Arenas.  Most days we have sardines to purchase from the bait guys.  Plus going out as early as we do with our fleet, we’re often able to jig up some mackerel and caballitos before the sun comes up. Then, after getting some sardines some quick trolling for bonito enables us to hit the fishing spots with 2 or 3 or 4 different kinds of bait for the day!

In terms of other species, we got a steady number of sailfish and striped marlin hookups with both our fleets with all fish either being busted off or released (bravo!).  There’s still a few big roosterfish around but it’s late in the season for them, but the largest was in the 50-pound class.  No wahoo this week, but didn’t really have too many of our anglers devoting time to the wahoo and the few that did, came up with nothing.

However, we did hook some nice tuna.  Everyone wants a big tuna!  But you have to be careful for what you ask for.  Out’ve Las Arenas, there’s been a rise of the giant squid that I had mentioned before.  When the squid come up from the deep trenches, often the tuna come up as well.  Sure enough, we had some of the bigger tuna with some muscle show up.

Like I said, everyone wants a tuna, but a 40 or 60 pound tuna isn’t 2 or 3 times stronger than a 20 pound tuna!  Guys battled some big models between 40 and 100 pounds this week for an hour or more and came back saying, “Never ever ever again do I want a big tuna!”  There were stories of handing the rods back and forth between anglers and guys having their backs seize up on them as well as shaky-arm syndrome in the heat!  And then BLINK!….losing the fish!!!  It’s a long way and a long fight to lose a fish.  Great experience, but we warn ’em that it’s a home run hit and you better pull your socks up tight and high.  Tuna show no quarter.  The few fish we did get in were 50’s and 60 pounders…but very few compared to the number of hookups.

Weather wise…geeze…the air is heavy!!!  I can’t believe some guys are fishing in long pants!  Bring a big hat.  The sun beats down and this week it was also humid with some quick summer showers that were refreshingly welcome.  But sunscreen…t-shirt…shorts…flip-flops is the uniform of the day!

STILL NO FISHING LICENSES TO SELL so you have to purchase them online until the Mexican Government can print more up for the whole country.  Ask us if you need assistance!  But here is the link:  https://www2.ebajacalifornia.gob.mx/Pesca/

Just remember to click the American flag to get English and also that the amounts are in PESOS!  So don’t have a panic attack when you see the amounts.  Just divide by 11 or 12 and you’ll see the prices in reasonable dollars.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

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 Fishing Report for Tailhunter International for Week of Aug. 4-11, 2013

dorado joey kent 4 small tags 8-13

Joey Fuschetti and Kent Hawkins from Orange Co. California had a great 2 days fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. They got big racks of dorado, plus sailfish and pargo as well. They’re on the sand here in Balandra Bay. Joey has been fishing with Tailhunters now for 18 years!  Joey has been in the fishing report for many years but says he has NEVER been the first picture!  So…here you go, Joey!  Thanks , guys!

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From Ogden UT, Marcus Yoo, only had time to come down and squeeze in two quick days of fishing but made the most of it with 2 big days of dorado fishing and big bulls like this one…his personal best…that he caught off Las Arenas.

squid russ small xl tags 8-13

Finally had the big squid show up this week and there’s nothing like starting the day out pulling these bad boys up from the deep to use for bait (or saving for eating!). The dorado and tuna both love them. Big grin from Russ Blount visiting us from Oregon holding up another big beast. The squid are just off Las Arenas.

dorado maricris bugatan 8-13 tags

First time in Mexico. First time fishing. First fish ever…a trophy bull dorado! The smile says it all. Maricris Bugutan gets a hand from Captain Adolfo from our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet in posing with her trophy bull dorado.

craig corda dorado 8-13 tags

Our good amigo, Craig Corda, has visited us many times from his farm in the Imperial Valley CA and always seems to do well. He shows off one of his dorado with the classic pose and grin on the panga fishing off Las Arenas.

russ bloung tags dorado 8-13

This is a big fish and you can tell because Russ Blount is also a big guy! This bull dorado was one of several he caught along with a marlin his first day fishing with us this week.

squid maricris small tags 8-13

Not sure she wants to touch it! Maricris laughs at another big squid hauled aboard! This one ended up cooked up with garlic at our Tailhunter Restaurant that night for dinner!

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Captain Chito poses with my long-time friend and fishing buddy, Bob “Tio” Horton from Palm Springs CA The fish were caught around Espirito Santo Island and Las Cruces on a late-day bite.

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Yes…I still get out! (Thanks, Jilly) I’m showing off this bull mahi on the beach at Balandra Bay after a great day of dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet We got limits that day.

WEINER SHIRT SMALL tags

One of the best highlights of the week! Paul and Mike Zech from Sacramento CA like the street-cart hot dogs we serve at our Tailhunter Restaurant and showed up with these funny shirts! Just had to take a photo!

DORADO HELP WEEK FINISH FAST!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of August 4-11, 2013

The fishing week started out OK, then got kinda picky but everyone still got fish.  It was just one of those weeks where a boat would get 1 or 2 fish and the next boat got 4 or 5 fish for no rhyme or reason or you would go fishing and put 1 in the boat…then an hour later another fish…two hours later 2 fish….2 hours later 1 fish…and the day would go on like that.   And you would think, “Geeze…fishing is slow!”  Then you would look in the fish box or get back on the beach and realize you had nearly a limit of fish!

It might have had something to do with some strange cooler and greener water that just shows up mid-week. We didn’t have any storms.  There was no strong winds.  There was nothing that would tip-the-hand to show why patches of great blue water suddenly went dry on us!  Conditions were otherwise great…flat glassy seas…brilliant Baja sunshine…decent bait…patches of sargasso…but strangely very reluctant or absent fish.  You really had to work it hard to find them.

I made it out one day and we got a limit of nice dorado, but we must’ve put 50 miles on the panga going up, back out, in, around…we covered a lot of water.  By 1 p.m. we had only 3 fish in the box.  But, as our captains often do, our fleet hung out there and at 3 p.m.-4 p.m. the fish started feeding!  And we put another 5 nice-sized dorado in the box that topped out the day.

That is one big difference for us…especially for our La Paz fleet.  We’re out on the water at 6 a.m. and getting live bait.  We see some of the other fleets…some of them…not even getting out on the water until 7 or 8 a.m. when the sun is already up blazing and you can’t get bait that late.  Then, they’re back on the beach at 1 or 2 a.m. when our guys are still out there pushing to keep finding fish.  It really makes a difference when the fishing is picky.  And it often means the difference between 1 or 2 fish and a limit of fish…having live bait and staying out the extra time!

But, the nice thing too is that as the week went on, we got a great charge of fish at the end of the week.

Our La Paz fleet started finding better spots of dorado in the 10-20 pound class with some larger bulls to 30 pounds.  Using the bait we catch…caballitos, mackerel…then some sardines as well as fresh-caught bonito, we have several options most days for offering different baits to the fish.  The larger baits, I think, also are the reason we get more sailfish and marlin hook ups as we did this week with all fish being released.

For our Las Arenas fleet, it was also scratchy early-on with just a few dorado per boat, but pretty much all of them decent to monster bulls.  So, what we lacked in quality, we made up for in quantity.  However, later in the week the fish turned it up a notch and we not only got into dorado, but also had some wahoo hookups, some billfish hook ups and even a big 60 pound tuna found way outside.

The difference at Las Arenas, I believe, were the giant squid that finally came up out’ve the deep trenches.  We started catching these beasts, which not only make for great eating, but cut up in chunks are good for chumming up dorado around the buoys and chunking for tuna.  Hopefully, they’ll stick around.  Historically, when the big squid come up from the deep, the tuna often follow them up as 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:  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 Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of July 1-7, 2013

dorado becky and jimmy csutoras tags 7-13

She called it her “best fishing day ever!” Rebecca Csutoras is an avid hunter and angler and was on her 2nd trip with us and dad, Jimmy Csutoras, both from the Sacramento Area. She spent the week fishing with us, but on this particular day landed a box load of big bull dorado and also released two striped marlin. It’s been a much better week of fishing this week than last.

George Higi III wahoo dorado tags 7-13

Oh the joy! George Higi III, from the San Diego CA area, man’s-up with a double lift of a big bull dorado and his first-ever wahoo taken near Cerralvo Island. George “grand slammed” in that he got 3 trophy game fish…the wahoo…the dorado…and also a striped marlin. This was his first time fishing with Tailhunters.

rooster bill lewis tags 7-13

He came to get a roosterfish so he came to the “roosterfish capital of the world.” Bill Lewis from San Diego CA shows off a gorgeous pez gallo with Captain Pancho taken near Las Arenas. This fish was released.

Hosmer dorado tuna 7-13 tags

Rick Hosmer and Randy Calvert had a week full of giant dorado averaging 40-50 pounds like the ones here with a chunky yellowfin tuna tossed in for variety. Rick said, “there’s some spots of 100-pound tuna out there at the 88 bank.” He’s with Captain Mundo here on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

Kris Jo Biddle dorado tags 7-13

They only had 1 day to fish having traveled from South Africa with just a brief stop in La Paz. So, Kris and Jo Biddle made the best of it with two trophy bull dorado which they brought to our Tailhunter Restaurant for a big cook-out. This was their first time fishing…ever!

Esteban wahoo 7-13 tags

It seem the wahoo are back! We had several nice hook-ups this week south of Cerralvo Island like this one held up by our amigo, Esteban Ramiro, who took this on a dark Rapala slow trolled off the bank.

Becky Marlin 7-13 tags

Doing it right! Not only was this her first marlin, but Becky Csutoras got it back in the water and released this fish as well with the help of Captain Joel. They got this striper north of La Paz. She also got some nice bull dorado (see photo above). Dad released his first marlin as well. See the photo below!

Jimmy csustoras tags marlin 7-13

Jimmy Csutoras from the Sacramento area was fishing with his daughter, Rebecca, and Captain Joel and both of them got striped marlin this day (see photo above). Jimmy and Rebecca both released their marlin, and during the week also released their 3rd marlin to swim and fight another day. This as Jimmy’s first marlin.

Sierra Exif JPEG

Family shot of the Whittlesey boys! Norm Whittlesey with grandsons, Daniel and David, all from Washington areas. They didn’t get alot of fish, but made up for it with all nice quality bull mahi.

rooster chuck banning 7-13

Chuck Banning, like so many others, wanted his first roosterfish and got it done with Captain Adolfo and this great-looking rooster he caught near the Las Arenas light house and released. Chuck is from the San Diego area.

HOsmer dorado broken rod 7-13

Not all battles end so well! Parting shot with Rick Hosmer who battled big dorado all week, but this one got him back by busting the tip off his new Shimano stick.

BIG FISH MORE VARIETY AS WEEK FISHING GETS BACK ON TRACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of July 1-7, 2013

The week started somewhat shaky and with a lot of trepidation given how erratic fishing was last week with wind, cold water, an offshore storm and a historic full moon.  But this, week ended up on a very optimistic note.

It seemed that with each day, conditions got better.  Water got bluer.  Waters got warmer.  More bait areas started to show up.  More sargasso weeds started to gather in the channels.  Waters calmed down and the chop and swell mellowed out.

And sure enough…the fish decided to play.  Not full chargers but we’ve had a very good week of fishing.

The dorado bite that has been so lacking hopefully turned a corner.  Again, not many small or medium fish.  Almost 90 percent of the fish were trophy 30-50 pound bulls.  I’m not exaggerating.  Several times we put all the fish on the beach on scales and NOTHING that came back was UNDER 40 pounds!  These were all huge world-class mahi with those big heads and attitudes when hooked.  I would say probably early in the week, most anglers weren’t used to the big boys and we lost 50% of the fish!

However as the week went on, we got better at it. Maybe 75% of the fish were making it to the boat.  Again, not a lot of fish, but when you put 2-4 huge bulls in the boat and maybe lose another 2 or 3…that’s a helluva day of exhausting fishing.

Add to that the appearance of more marlin and sailfish to spice things up as well as flurries of 20-50 pound tuna and then roosters along the beach and for most folks that meant some tired arms and full ice chests!  The marlin were almost all released and averaged about 100 pounds but we also hooked a few blues that were lost on light tackle.  Roosters were very repectable 40-50 pounders on the high side and we also hooked a few 30-50 pound wahoo as well.

Hopefully, thing will only improve!

That’s our story.  Hope you had a great 4th of July weekend!

P.S. At the time I’m writing this, we’re watching to see if Hurricane Erick will do anything. Probably nothing to us, but it might push up some big swells and chop from down south

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:  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 Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of June 23-30, 2013

Sherman McDonell tags dorado 6-13

He looks a little tired for good reason! Sherman McDonell from Rock Springs, Wyoming had an epic week of fishing even tho’ fishing was way off. It’s hard to argue with big fish like this dorado and with Captain Armando and armed with a spinning rod and reel and 17-30 pound test, he went hand-to-hand with big dorado and roosters fighting fish for long battles of 30 minutes to over an hour and coming back a happy bloody mess each day and a big grin! I don’t think he got a single fish under 45 pounds all week. He calls La Paz his “happy place.” Big grins from Captain Armando.

Sierra Exif JPEG

Young Dan Whittlesey from Washington just graduated from high school and came down with dad and grandpa. He toughed-out a really rough week of scattered fishing but did get this incredible bull dorado with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and Captain Victor holding up the tail.

Cole tags rooster 6-13

From San Diego, Cole Chavira has been fishing our waters several times a year every single year since he was about 6 years old. He usually outfishes everyone around him and has been on these pages a zillion times! No exception here with this big rooster he caught and released off Las Arenas lighthouse.

dorado armando shelly tags 6-13

It’s tough when you only have two hands and two big floppy heavy bull dorado, but Captain Armando helps Shelly McDonell with her catch after an epic big fish day at Las Arenas where she battled each of these fish on light tackle and spinning gear almost 2 hours each. Shelly rocks. She hunts and she fishes like crazy.

dorado luke brownlee tags 6-13

It’s always good when first-timers do well and even moreso when fishing is not that good like it was this past week. But Luke Brownlee from Green River, Wyoming put the wood to several big-time bull dorado like this one and the help of Captain Jorge from our Tailhunter fleet at Las Arenas.

dorado Jo Biddle tags 7-13

When you come all the way from S. Africa and you have never ever been fishing, you make a great funny face when you land the biggest and first fish of your life like Jo Biddle holding a trophy dorado on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos! Great shot!

Herrera rooster 6-13 tags

Vegas in the house! Sandie Herrera really wanted a rooster and got hers here fishing off Las Arenas with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.

mitch chavira tags 6-13 dorado

Great pose from Mitch Chavira, our San Diego amigo who was fishing north of La Paz when he stuck this dorado and got the great shot. There weren’t alot of fish this week and you really had to work it, but the fish that were hooked were generally all quality slugs!

burgess dog tooth pargo tagsd 6-13

Ron Burgess is our amigo who released that potential world record roosterfish last week. He fished with us the whole week and just was on fire! He also got his big dog-tooth snapper as well!

Sierra Exif JPEG

Norm Whittlesey has been fishing with us for many years. He hung in all week when fishing was really erratic but did manage this super dorado fishing with Captain Victor and our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Check out the colors! I think I want to frame this photo!

Jason Takayoshi tags dorado 6-13

Jason Takayoshi was down on his first trip with us. His experience was typical of how our fishing has been this past week. His first day fishing out’ve Las Arenas, they got goosed-egged. Totally skunked. Not even a bite! And Jason is an experienced angler! But, he kept up the smiles. Next day..his last chance…he fished with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet and ended up high-boat for the fleet with some big dorado as well and amberjack and multiple hook ups including fish on the iron. He’s posing with two of the big dorado here on the beach at Balandra north of La Paz.

Kris jack crevalle tags 6-13

Talk about a “gamer.” Kris Brownlee gets the award this week. Wow…rough water and seasick and she still hung in there and was not going to be deterred from fishing and kept smiling the whole time during the whole week! It was her first time to visit us in La Paz and she got some nice fish pulling on her like this hefty jack crevalle she caught and released with Captain Jorge.

McCLELLAND marie tags dorado 6-13

Marie McClelland from Park City UT was another of our visitors on her first trip fishing with us and outfished lots of the regulars! She took this bull dorado north of La Paz fishing with Captain Alfredo.

Darryl Herrera rooster 6-13 tags

Here’s a big boy rooster! Darryl Herrera and Captain Pancho hold up the kind of rooster that made our area famous! They caught this guy just off the beach at Las Arenas (you can see the sand in the background) and released it to fight another day. Darryl is from Las Vegas.

Charlie dorado tags 6-13

Charlie Detrick came down to see us from Washington and although he didn’t fare well his first day, he smoked the rods on some nice dorado the 2nd day like this sweet slug of a dorado he’s holding on the beach at Balandra!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Almost world-record rooster…Here’s a really well-produced video clip of Ron Burgess’ roosterfish he caught last week that might have been a new IGFA record.  We will never know because he sportingly released it to fight another day!  It’s not a long clip and well worth watching!  Dave Lester, his amigo did a great job on it!

ERRATIC WEEK OF FISHING IS TOUGHEST OF SEASON

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 23-30, 2013

This past week might have been the toughest fishing week of the season.  It was a difficult week on so many levels with erratic fishing and conditions that just seemed to make no sense.

We can only attribute it to a collision of the “perfect storm” of variables that all came crashing in on us…

1.  Colder than normal waters brought on by late season winds turning waters murky and green.  Sometimes the winds almost like “winter winds” and the waters are so green you can’t see through it.  On the surface the water can be 80 degrees, but a few feet down it’s 65!  We can often see fish all over, but they are just not interested in eating!

2.  The “super moon.”  Normally, the full moon is not a big concern for us.  But, this past week, they billed it as the “SUPER MOON.”  It was the largest, biggest, fullest full moon of several years.  Resultingly we had incredibly low tides and strong currents.  Combined with everything else, it hit us hard.

3.  Hurricane COSME…it didn’t hit us and fortunately veered hundreds of miles off-shore.  However, it did bring some big swell and waves from the south as well as some evening showers.  This contributed to rough water conditions for a few days as well as adding more muck to the over-turned ocean that was already in bad shape.

So…that was it in a nutshell.

On a more pragmatic level, it meant lots of our amigos had some disappointing days fishing.  Rough waters and no fish.  Flat seas and green water.  Seeing fish that didn’t want to bite.  Unusual long runs to find blue water.  YIKES!!!

This is the time of year when we should be and normally are slamming fish.  Instead we were scrambling to find good water and fish that were interested in coming to the party.

On the upside, the fish were were hooking were BIG!  Take a look at the photos!  We didn’t catch many fish, but the fish were beasts!  Big roosters and even bigger dorado were the rule rather than the exception.  Roosters were routinely 30-50 pounds.  Dorado…wow…few of them were SMALLER than 40 pounds.  There were a few days where there wasn’t a dorado smaller than 45 pounds on the beach.

That created some problems of it’s own.  There’s a reason fish get BIG!  That’s because they are smart and tough.   If we had CAUGHT as many fish as we hooked it would have surely been a better week. I mean, hey…when you come down and the biggest fish you might have caught in your life is a bass or a steelhead or a rainbow trout and suddenly you’re hooked up to the biggest fish of your life and you’re sweating and you’re now on a fish for 30 minutes…then 45 minutes…then an hour or more…in the hot sun…and you pull a little too hard…or your button down the drag…or you backlash the reel…

A 40  or 50-pound fish is not twice as strong as a 20 pound fish.  It’s EXPONENTIALLY stronger!  It’s a beast that EATS 20-pound fish for breakfast and takes it personally against you that you stuck a hook in his mouth!  They are mean and they are pissed off and they growl.  It’s not like they’re gonna let you you just pull them into the boat!

The fish is just asking to get lost!!!

Even many of our most veteran anglers were losing these big fish.  And after you fight a fish that long, it’s often too late and you’ve drifted too far to find another hook-up.  You get one chance at a huge fish and if that opportunity is lost…whether by angler error or simple bad luck…that’s it!  You come back with nothing!  We had folks fishing 1, 2, 3 days in a row with that kind of luck.  Hooking several fish a day and losing the fish.   Not much can be said.  That’s just the way fishing was this  past week.

The majority of the fish were big dorado and roosterfish, but we did have some amberjack, good numbers of jack crevalle, some marlin and sailfish (lost) and surprisingly a number of sharks pop up (and off!).  Some of our catch might also have been a function of the bait we were using.  Because of the conditions, bait did become  a problem…especially finding sardines along the shallows.  So, we used mackerel, ladyfish, small bonito, ballyhoo, small tuna, mullet and zebra fish as bait which were all effective.

Hopefully, better things this coming week even as you are reading this!  As I write , conditions seem to be improving!

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:  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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Don White dorado tags 6-13

With one of the larger dorado of the week, our frequent La Paz amigo, Don White of Oregon, was out at the 88 spot east of Cerralvo Island when he nailed this beautiful mahi. Dorado action seemed like it was trying hard to get up to speed, but frequent winds kept the bluewater fish a bit reluctant.

rooster ty mitchell tags 6-13

Ty Mitchell from Washington was on his first visit to La Paz with Tailhunters and, over the better part or the week boated jack crevalle, dorado, snapper, sierra, bonito and several other species as well as his first roosterfish of his angling career like this one that he hooked and released near Cerralvo Island off Las Arenas.

Richard amber 6-13 tags

Or amigo, Rich Sawaski from Clovis CA put the wood to this great eating amberjack just off the rocks near Punta Perico in shallow water. These tough fish get over 100 pounds and are related to yellowtail, jack crevalle, pompano and roosterfish.

dorado nina duc le tags 6-13

New Mexico aboard with dorado! Nina Duc Le from Albuquerque NM, with Captain Jorge of the Tailhunter Fleet was fishing with us for her first time. Big smiles and some great color off this fresh bull dorado!

rooster randy yofo 6-13 tags

Big smiles from Captain Adolfo and Randy Forestiere posing with another roosterfish just off the beach at Las Arenas. The roosters have been right off the sand now for about 4 weeks.  The fish was released.

grouper Deryck Matallah 6-13 tags

A good day of fishing for Deryck Matallah from Los Angeles who released all their fish except this big-time grouper taken out’ve La Paz. Largest grouper we’ve seen so far this year!

Jack Sawaske barred pargo 6-13 tags

A colorful tasty barred pargo (pargo mulatto) is a feisty tough rock fish that we’ve been seeing alot of lately. It’s tough to pull these guys off the reefs, but Jack Sawaske, celebrating his birthday poses with a nice fish.

dorado juan santana tags 6-13

Juan Santana from Washington trying to find the handle of good-looking dorado that is still struggling after coming out’ve the water. Juan was on his first trip with us and got this mahi with a live sardine. We saw more dorado again this week, but the full run hasn’t quite taken off.

Fred sawaske tags rooster 6-13

On his first trip with us, Fred Sawaske fished 3 days with us and got a variety of fish including another rooster which was released.

juan santana tags jack crevalle tags 6-13

Juan Santana is a character. We’ve got alot of rampaging schools of jack crevalle right now in the shallows near shore. Related to amberjack, pompano and yellowtail as well as roosterfish, Juan strikes a pose with his fish off Punta Perico.

rooster duc le tags 6-13

Jonathan Duc Le shows off his first-ever roosterfish that he caught just inside of Muertos Bay near where we launch our pangas off the beach. Jonathan is from New Mexico.  This fish was released. 

BILL HUBER flyfising rooster 5-13

Flyfishers have been having a great time on the roosterfish bite. Col. Bill Huber from Alaska says he got “schooled” trying to battle the roosters, but got the better of this trophy fish several hundred yards from the Las Arenas lighthouse.  All roosters for the week were released. 

Ty Juan beach 6-13 tags

Great sample of a good day of fishing variety right now…dorado…yellowtail…snapper…pargo…plus they released roosterfish…Juan Santana and Ty Mitchell show off a bit on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

FLURRIES OF DORADO SPICE DECENT INSHORE FISHING WITH ROOSTERS JACKS AND REEFFISH

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of June 2-9, 2013

We had a variable week of fishing this past week with seemingly a little of everything including fishing reports that ran the gamut from “just OK” to “very good.”  There was no way to say how fishing was going to be from one day to the next as changing water conditions and wind conditions seemed to have a major affect on the bite.

One day, we’d have great rooster fishing and the next day, the roosters were “no-show” but the pargo and snapper and cabrilla were willing to bite.  Likewise, we got all fired-up about the dorado that we were sure had finally arrived and would have a regular bite.  But, again…one day we’d have good dorado then the next day no dorado to speak of!

One boat could have a banner day of fishing with several species of fish and a boat next to it would struggle to get a bite.  It was crazy.  We did have a lot of species, however…roosters…jack crevalle…bonito…dorado…snapper…pompano…sierra…yellowtail…amberjack…several species of pargo…

This is all pretty typical of the type of fishing this time of year and something we just have fun with during the time.  As waters continue to warm, more blue water fishing usually become more evident.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

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, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149

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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Tyler ehlers 5-13 rooster tags

Big roosterfish again this week with this gorgeous pez gallo for first-timer Tyler Ehlers from Denver, Colorado. Great colors on this fish and I can tell it’s a big fish because Tyler is 6’7″ tall and plays college baseball! Note how close to the beach they are. Many of these roosters are only in a few feet of water.  Tyler and his grandfather caught a number of nice roosters over several days and released all of them.

dorado Al Dodson TX tags 5-13

Texas in the house with one of our first large dorado of the season! Al Dodson from Austin, poses with a nice bull caught out on the east side of Cerralvo Island by the 88 bank. Thanks to Roger Thompson for the photo. We started seeing a few more dorado this week…finally!

ziggy dorado 5-13 tags

Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz also started to kick out a few dorado as well as waters nicked up a few degrees in warmth. Our amigo, Ziggy Haspod, from Santa Barbara hooked this one on live bait.

pompano tags 5-13 randy choate

It’s hard to suppress a grin when you’ve got a trophy pompano in your hands like this slug of a fish caught by Randy Choate from Idaho on light tackle near Cerralvo Island just off Las Arenas. It’s been a good season for big pompano, but I can’t remember seeing this many this large! Great eating!

Walt Pargo 1 tags 5-13

No Santa Clause isn’t visiting La Paz in the off-season! But, our buddy, Walt Topping had a super 3 days of fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet taking big cabrilla and pargo like this one every day…all of them trophy fish…maybe the best 3 days of any rockfishing I’ve seen this season!

rooster raul tags 5-13

Even our Tailhunter Restaurant manager, Raul Chollett just had to get in on the roosterfish action desperately wanting to get his first pez gallo. He just recently started fishing and has the “bug” pretty badly so he took a day and got several nice roosters off Las Arenas including this fish estimated at 20-25 pounds.  Al the roosters were released.

rooster tom ames flyrod tags 5-13

Tom Ames visited us with his flyrod last fall and got some nice 10 pound roosters that really impressed him. After 4 days of fishing and catching roosters like this on the flyrod and light spining gear, he had the biggest grin and says he’ll try to come back again before the year is over. His largest was a 40 pounder.

pargo 1 ziggy 5-13-tags

Ziggy Haspod told me he NEVER gets in the fishing reports after all the years he has fished with us. I told him “catch big fish and take good photos!” This week he gets in twice. Once for his dorado in the photos above and now for this HUGE barred pargo (pargo mulato) he caught off Espirito Santo Island. Ziggy…you made it! He’s coming back in July.

amber chino 3 5-13 tags

Here’s a story…ALMOST a world record! Kevin (“Chino Verde”) Shiotani of Thousand Oaks was just about done for the day fishing off Espirito Santo Island with our other good amigo, Rick Hosmer, when Kevin’s rod with a live caballito went bendo! After a 25 minute fight on 50 pound test, he ended up with this massive amberjack estimated at 130-140 pounds which would have made it just under the IGFA records! Unfortunately, the fish was cleaned and cut up before anyone realized!

tag Amberjack Kevin Shiotan & Rick Hosmer Las Arenas.-proc-proc

Here’s another photo of Kevin’s huge fish this time the amberjack is being held up by Captain Mundo Lucero. Just to get an idea of the massive bulk of the amber. It’s the big cousin of the yellowtail and is great eating!

STELLAR INSHORE ACTION BOOSTED BY SHOWINGS OF DORADO! PLUS NEAR RECORD AMBERJACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 19-26, 2013

Another great week of inshore fishing with some stellar rooster fish action.  It’s still a little windy and downright chilly in the mornings, but if you were looking for action this week, it probably couldn’t have been better, especially for lots of variety inshore for light tackle and flyfishers plus the bonus of warming waters with some dorado and billfish moving in!

For the past 3 weeks or so we’ve had some of the most solid rooster fish action I’ve ever seen in almost 20 years.  The fish are stacked up along the beaches near Las Arenas right up close to the beach within 100 yards of the break and often in just a few feet of water visible from the pangas.  They are also rolling around the islands near the south end of Cerralvo Island as well as Espirito Santo Islands.

Clients have been hooking and releasing 4, 5, 8, 10 or more roosters per panga with fish ranging from 10 up to 60 pounds and some dynamic battles especially on the lighter tackle and on the flyrods. We’ve had a number of first-timers as well as youngsters, wives, girlfriends and families out lately as well so this is just exciting action for them to hook these exotic fish close to shore in calm waters  plus hook into other species as well in the same areas.

Along the beaches and islands and shallow reefs, we’re also seeing some monster 30-40 pound pompano (related to the rooster fish…except good eating), as well as sierra (which means there’s still some cooler water around plus some truly huge pargo (snapper)  and cabrilla (sea bass).  We have also had some surprising jags of amberjack up to 50 pounds near Espirito Santo Island that seem to come and everyone gets excited then the next day the fish are gone.  But when they’re on, it’s non-stop action on big fish.

But the bonus this week has been the warmer waters have finally brought in a smattering of dorado between 10 and 35 pounds as well as some marlin biters which is very encouraging as it seems the warmer water fish are a bit tardy moving in!  Oh and we had a few wahoo bite off this week as well.

Also, in case you hadn’t heard, a near-world-record was also caught this week in our waters by Kevin Shiotani of Thousand Oaks, CA.  Kevin was fishing with Captain Mundo Lucero on a panga near Cerralvo Island at the end of the day and had a live caballito in the water when he got hammered by and amberjack estimated at 130-140 pounds.  He fought the fish for 25 minutes on 50 pound test!  Spectacular catch but unfortunately, the fish was cut-up not realizing the potential as the world record is only about 150 pounds!

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:  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 »

roosterfish tags 1 5-13

From Chicago to the Roosterfish Capital…Captain Pancho gives Tim Sayre a hand posing with this colorful exotic roosterfish just off the beach near the Las Arenas lighthouse where the roosters again put on a show this past week.  This fish and all their roosters were released.

yellowtail tags jorge 5-13

Happy Hombre! Our amigo, Jorge Romero hoists a nice late season yellowtail he pulled up on a yo-yo yellow and brown iron near Cerralvo Island. He also lost a huge cabrilla shortly after on the iron as well. The presence of yellowtail tells us that there’s still cooler waters around!

SAYRE pompano tags 5-13

Bob Sayre looks like he’s not quite sure what he’s holding, but our amigo is holding a HUGE pompano that ended up on the dinner plate at our Tailhunter Restaurant. Bob’s standing on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos and caught this on a live bait near Punta Perico.

pompano tags tom ames 5-13

A battle-scarred pompano that our buddy, Tom Ames from Idaho, took on a flyrod that wore out both man and fish! We’ve had a run of nice big pompano. Note the flat waters and how close it was caught to the beach!

rooster randy choate tags 5-13

Randy Choate was here last year with us and wanted to get into some nice roosters. Looks like he’s trying to suppress a smile over this nice roosterfish taken in flat waters out of Bahia de Los Muertos.  They caught a number of these and released all the roosters.

dorado Laurie Kennedy 5-13

I’m really surprised we’re not catching more dorado right now given that our air temperatures are in the 90’s and it’s almost June. But cooler waters have hung on so there’s only sporadic dorado fishing…so far! But Laurie Kennedy from Washington got one in Bahia de Los Muertos fishing close to the rocks in flat waters with Captain Adolfo.

rooster ken fritz tags 5-13

Ken Fritz from Sacramento called this “the best fishing day ever!” He got into the great roosterfish bite right off the lighthouse beach at Las Arenas and caught and released a number of these roosters!

PEZ GALLO ESTEBAN Rooster tags LAS ARENAS 002

First rooster ever for amigo, Esteban Romero, who is very familiar to many of our fishing clients! Captain Fernando helps with the honors. This fish was released and was caught on a live sardine.

Andrew McCormick pulled up this fat barred pargo near Espirito Santo Island working a live bait near the rocks.  Great eating fish!  Andrew is from the Portland OR area.

Andrew McCormick pulled up this fat barred pargo near Espirito Santo Island working a live bait near the rocks. Great eating fish! Andrew is from the Portland OR area.  Andrew was on his first trip with Tailhunter to La Paz.

Jesus sierra 5-13-tags

Hard to believe this late in the season that we’re still getting sierra, but the tasty toothy fish are still hanging off the beaches which means we still have cool water hanging out as well. Young Jesus was out fishing for the very first time and give’s a thumbs up to Captain Fernando and this nice sierra that ended up as a big plate of fresh ceviche!

Kenton McGuire roosterfish tags 5-13

Holding it high! Kenton McGuire from Santa Barbara was on his first trip to La Paz with his dad for a quick vacation before heading off to the Air Force Academy and pulled in this trophy roosterfish as well as several others. All were released.

ROOSTERFISH STILL CENTERSTAGE OF SOLID INSHORE ACTION

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 12-19, 2013

Another solid week of some of the best rooster fishing of the season.  The hot spot extends from the famous Punta Arenas lighthouse and that area of white beaches south through Bahia de los Muertos and down to Boca de Alamo to the south.  This is the area that has the reputation as the “Roosterfish Capital of the World” and extends to the East Cape area as well.

It’s surely living up to it as many folks who have never caught roosters are getting multiple hookups.  The roosters are right up close to the sandy beaches in several feet of water.

As some of our anglers put it, “We’ve been surrounded by roosters every day!”  

These fish are running 10-50 pounds with some larger ones breaking off especially as anglers drop down their gear to have some fun on lighter tackle!  

“Every cast was a bite, but these fish are tough on the light tackle!”

“I had no idea how much they fight.  I’m outgunned.  I brought a light spinning rod and got broke off on the first fish and got spooled on the 2nd fish before we could chase it with the panga!”

“What fun…hooked, released and lost over 25 fish and I’m whupped!  I couldn’t stop a few that simply broke off!” 

In these same areas, there’s been a nice run of pompano up to 15-20 pounds plus schools of jack crevalle also marauding the bait schools along the beaches.

Our flyfishers have been having a blast casting to these fish as they boil along the beaches as well.

The rocks have been producing good action on pargo and cabrilla as well as the occasional yellowtail as the waters have not been warming as expected so we’re in a lingering transition with cooler and warmer waters all in the same areas.

That’s our story!

Jonathan

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:  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 Fishing Report from Tailhunter International of La Paz for Week of May 5-12, 2013

rooster scott Mcguire 5-14 tags

Roosterfishing has been on fire this past week! Big fish and tremendous action! Check out Scott McGuire’s big rooster that he caught with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet while fishing with his son. They caught and released several big fish.

rooster al rodriguez 5-13 tags

One of my favorites photos of the week…Al Rodriguez with one of his roosters. Great colors and the big smile is priceless! Nothing beats fishing for roosters on light tackle and check out how close to the beach he’s fishing! This fish was released as were all his roosters.

Kevin Kennedy tags dorado 5-13

Definitely NOT a salmon! Kevin Kennedy came to visit us from Washington for the first time and got this gorgeous early season dorado just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos. With waters warming, we should be seeing more dorado.

dan and andrew tags 5-13

Our frequent amigo, Dan McCormick from the Portland area, brought his son, Andrew down with him for the first time and they did especially well fishing north of La Paz with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet knocking out a number of solid yellowtail, pargo, and this fat amberjack over several days!

yellowtail kevin chang tags 5-13

Kevin Kennedy and I have been fishing amigos for many years, but I haven’t seen him visiting us in La Paz for a long time. He finally made it down and shows off one of the yellowtail he caught of Espirito Santo Island. The yellowtail are getting more scarce as the waters get warmer.

Bob Coon rooster tags 5-13

For everyone who asks all the time about our popular Capt. Pancho, he wraps himself up all the time with his hoodie, hat and bandana because he’s alergic to excessive sun which is hard for a panga captain in Baja! But he’s one of our best and probably more of us should follow his lead when it comes to sunburn! But check out this trophy rooster he got for Bob Coon just off the sand at Las Arenas near the lighthouse! The fish and others were released.

rooster JP tags 5-13 two

Big boy slugger roosterfish for my old amigo from Florida, JP Perkin, who I first met more than 20 years ago when he was running a famous tackle store on the pier in Santa Barbara CA before moving to Florida! Great fisherman! Nice rooster that got released.

Laurie Reynolds rooster tags edit 5-13

What a great photo! Laurie Reynolds of Long Beach was out with our amigos, Roger and Donna Thompson, and they got into a fast and furious roosterfish bite at Boca de Alamo south of Bahia de los Muertos! I love the colors in this photo. Thanks, Roger! The ladies really did well this week!

kuhn cabrilla 5-13 tags

When my amigo, Bill Kuhn, pulled this one up off Espirito Santo Island while fishing with our Captain Joel, we figured it was the biggest cabrilla we had ever seen, but on closer exam…it’s a grouper! Made for some great fat fillets! Bill lives in Laguna Beach CA.

roosterfish adolfo and Laurie tags 5-13

All smiles…must be the cool sunglasses! Captain Adolfo with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet poses with Laurie Kennedy from Washington on her first visit to La Paz and her first rooster!

mantas-tags 5-13

Couldn’t pass up this great photo of a school of manta rays passing by one of our fishing pangas in the blue water of the Sea of Cortez. Thanks for the photo, Kevin!

ROOSTERFISH PUT ON A SHOW AT LAS ARENAS!  MAYBE BEST EVER…

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 5-12, 2013

We’ve have an incredible week of variety and one of the best weeks of rooster fishing that I can remember!  I guess there’s a reason they call our area the “Roosterfish Capital of the World. ”

I was getting a bit worried about the roosterfish because normally by March or so we’ve got pretty decent biters and it’s fairly consistent by May.  But up to about 3 weeks ago, it had only been hit-or-miss in that famous area near the Las Arenas lighthouse where the world record 114-pounder had been caught a number of years ago.

Roosterfish are one of the most prized and sought-after species in our area.  Extremely exotic, anglers come from all over the world to get a shot at them with their fiery black racing stripes and iconic dorsal fins.  These fish inhabit the pristine white sandy beaches and blue waters of the southern Baja and perhaps no more prolifically than in the 10 or so miles of beaches around Las Arenas and down towards the East Cape…but especially the lighthouse.

These fish can be found in waters that are only a few feet deep and are known to tear up the bait schools of sardines and mullet that come into these areas at this time of year.  The fish can be school-sized 5-10 pounders but 10-40 pounders are not uncommon and an incredible sport for flyfishers and light tackle anglers.

The fish this week have stormed the beaches with our pangas getting 2, 4, 8 or more roosterfish per day with fish in the 20-60 pound class and some larger getting away!  Many anglers are getting their first ever plus more.  Others are getting their personal best largest roosters!  These are hard-charging members of the jack family and often the pangas have to chase the fish up and down the beach to keep up with them!

As a bonus in the same areas, there’s some monster jack crevalle, also known for their tenacity and known as “toros” in Spanish which appropriately means “bull.”  As well, there is another member of the jack family in these same areas which are the African pompano.  The great thing about the pompano is that they make for incredible eating whereas the jack crevalle and roosterfish taste terribly with their black/ red stringy meat and almost all those fish get released.

In other action, the reefs and rocks are producing good action on cabrilla (sea bass), pargo (several varieties up to 20 pounds) plus some big amberjack up to 40 pounds and sierra.  Yellowtail continue to hit, but sporadically.  The best spot is now north of La Paz around Espirito Santo Island.  Waters are warming and we expect the yellowtail will continue to diminish and more blue-water species like dorado moving in.  I’m seeing more sargasso around the channels and the influx of the floating seaweed is a good sign that dorado will also be arriving soon.  So far, we’ve had some dorado already in but we’re waiting for the main body to show up!

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:  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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