MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for WEEK of JULY 31-Aug. 6, 2017
WEEK at A GLANCE
Weather – Hot sunny and humid. Daytime highs 104. Nites 89. Some afternoon quick tropical showers
Water – Blue and 83 degrees on the surface
Fishing – (Las Arenas) – Slow and sticky like the heat. Good variety but tough fishing . (La Paz) . Best fishing of the year…maybe in several years for dorado!
THE BIG PICTURE REPORT
Whoa!!! That’s an armful of big dog-tooth snapper for our good amigo, Wil Dolinar from Wyoming!
First timer friends from Utah with Taihunters, Curtiss and Jeri Frost, got into the big dorado bite and started their week with a pair of nice bull dorado.
Steve Holguin sporting his famous Dodger hat every year back with his favorite Captain Jorge and a paid of nice yellowfin tuna from Las Arenas for his first of 3 days fishing.
Darrell Manginelli lives on the Ventura CA area and has already made two trips to fish with us this year! He’s posing here with one of the larger bull dorado caught this week with our Las Arenas fleet.
He didn’t get many fish this year, but he got some of the biggest! Our light-line specialist amigo from Rock Springs, Wyoming, Sherm McDonnell and his favorite Captain Armando looks pretty worn from tangling with this big barred pargo. But, we tease Sherm every year for fishing with 17 pound test…but to his credit he always well!
Big smile for Jonathan Alegria and one of a number of his dorado to start his fishing week with us. Jon lives up in Santa Barbara CA.
I love this photo of Captain Pancho all smiles with Stacy Dolinar from Wyoming and her first of several roosterfish for the week she caught and released. Note how close to shore these fish are caught!
Visiting us for the first time, Ryan Vorisek from Upland CA had quite a week topped off by this massive dog-tooth snapper he caught while fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet and Captain Gerardo!
All the way from Jamaica, Nicholas Chen was able to get a rooster with us mid-week while fishing with his dad, James, who’s in the IGFA books!
Happy guy with another dorado, Matt Alegria from San Diego CA hangs another dorado with our La Paz fleet. He and his family donated all their catch to charity.
Wil Dolinar from Rock Springs, Wyoming finally got his big roosterfish on the last day and the last hour when he hooked and released this big guy fishing with Captain Pancho then suddenly the other rods went off and he got several dorado! Great way to wind up the week of fishing.
These two love to fish! Trevor Akiyoshi and Ryan Vorisek hold up a few of the dorado and big bonito they hung fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.
These two love to fish the light tackle and know what to do with it as they Sherman and Shelly McDonell show off a couple of their dorado after they limited on one of their days fishing with our La Paz fleet. Over the many years they have fished with us, they always manage some great catches!
Some new Tailhunter amigos from Colorado, Kent Williamson and son Brian found a few of the yellowfin tuna the day they fished with our Las Arenas Fleet and racked up some great dorado with our La Paz fleet over 3 days.
From San Diego area, Francis and Gina de Paolo had only time for one day of fishing and fortunately, we got them into some pretty nice dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Always good to make new fishing friends as this was their first time down.
Double pargo for Mike Akiyoshi and Ryan Vorisak on the beach at Muertos! Great eating fish!
Madi and her dad, Jim Denver, had only 1 day to fish and I just happened to have one of our pangas available at the last minute but hammered some great dorado. Especially good because it was Madi’s first time fishing in La Paz!
Such a fun lady! Sharon Alegria from Altadena CA could not have been more excited or thrilled with every fish she caught. It was her first time with us and we sure hope to have her and her smile back with us soon!
Captain Jorge and soon-to-be attorney Marco Holguin in his last year of law school in New York comes to visit us every year with his dad and poses for the camera with some of the larger Las Arenas dorado!
Always great to have first-timers with us! Captain Joel and Madi Denver show off a couple of their La Paz bull dorado after a full-day of great fishing.
Her 2nd roosterfish of the week! It’s Stacy Dolinar with Captain Pancho again right off the rocks south of Bahia de los Muertos! The fish was released too!
From Pasadena CA, Chris Alegria looks a bit serious after racking another dorado, but he and his brothers were great fun to have visit us this week and got into the wild dorado.
This “pirate” has been coming to visit us for years and can get a whole van load of guys laughing. It’s Vic Gildelmontes with his hands full of dorado!
DORADO…LIKE BACK IN THE DAY!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos / Suenos Fishing Report for Week of July 31-Aug. 6, 2017
We had some crazy fishing this last week. Actually, some of the best we’ve had in years if you were looking for dorado. I knew it had to happen eventually. All the signs were there. The water…the temps…the sargasso weeds…the bait…
AND BOOM! It went off this week. As one of our fishermen said…
“It was dorado fishing like back in the old days!”
But first…
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY FLEET
Let’s go with the bad news. Or slower news.
Our Las Arenas Fleet had some really picky fishing. It just flip flops from week-to-week. This past week must have been Las Arenas’ turn to go slack. The clients and our captains really worked hard to get the bites. Everything looked good. The fish just weren’t biting that well. There were a few dorado here and there. A few rooster fish, but not many…but that could have been because everyone was chasing other species. We had a few marlin on and got a few more of those huge big cubera (dog-tooth) snapper. Add in some stray jack crevalle, bonito, pargo and a tuna here-and-there and that was it.
At best it was OK. At worst, it was dismal. And there was surely some variety, but it was hit or miss with a lot of misses!
That’s why it’s good we have two fleets and lots of our clients decided to switch over to fish with our La Paz fleet…
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
I’ll let comments from our anglers tell the story…
“I’ve not seen dorado biting like this for years! It was wide open!”
“We started with one and before you know it there were dozens of dorado around us and we couldn’t get a rod out fast enough!”
“We had no less than 3 fish hooked at the same time!”
“For an hour, it was pandemonium and we were too tired after that and went back to have lunch!”
“Everywhere you looked there were dorado and all of them seemed to be hungry!”
“It was just like a fishing video! My wife kept screaming and we had to keep reminding her to turn the handle of the reel. She was laughing too much!”
“We released or lost more than half our fish the first day and still had enough to fill the cooler…and then I remembered we had two more days of fishing!”
Yes…it was that kind of a bite for many of our anglers and many days this week. There were a few bumps here-and-there, but for the most part it was the kind of wild dorado bite we’ve been waiting to happen. It really was like “back in the old days!” We probably have not seen this kind of bite in about 3 years and surely, it was our best week of the year in terms of quantity and quality.
These were all legit 10-20 pound fish too! The last few years, a 5-pound dorado was typical. This week, they were all healthy strong young mahi-mahi and tore up almost anything tossed in the water. We honestly did have boats back early on several occasions in time to eat lunch back at the hotels.
I don’t know if this will keep up. I hope so. We’ve been waiting a long time for this to come back!
MIL GRACIAS!
Our three amigos from Oregon who visit us each year Dennis McLeod, Roger Hall and Wes Perkins brought several ice chest full of kids clothes, shoes, school supplies and other donations that will go so far down here!
Many thanks for all our Tailhunter amigos who brought donations down this week for our Tailhunter Outreach Program. I’m sorry I didn’t get photos of everyone, but big shout out to Wally and Jeff Lee from San Francisco, The Williamson guys from Colorado, the Alegria family from So. Cal and also to the Dolinar Family and Sherm and Shelley McDonnell from Wyoming who each donated $300 to our FANLAP scholarship that takes care of one child each for an entire school year . Taihunter Tribe members are the best!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT for JULY 23-30, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE
Weather – mid to high 90s / mid week showers/ high humidity
Water – low 80’s and mostly blue
Winds – Breezy at times
Fishing – Mostly slow for Las Arenas/ Hot and cold for La Paz changing all the time
Catching – Still loosing too many good fish after working hard to find them
Behind the bandana is a happy James Murphy from Salt Lake City who really wanted a big rooster and finally got one on his last day with Captain Jorge right off the sand near Punta Arenas
Our long-time amigo, Dick Winslow from Elk Grove CA , got this huge dog-tooth snapper with Captain Pancho while trolling for roosterfish in the shallow waters. It’s been a great week or two for these trophy fish!
Utah in the house with Dan Galli and Captain Jorge and a great colorful rooster mid-week when rain clouds threatened, but fortunately, the roosters bit! The fish was released strong!
One of the nicer bull dorado of the week with Phil Emard and Captain Joel taken from the far west side of La Paz Bay near San Juan de la Costa.
Dwayne Griffith only had one day to fish coming all the way from Texas but got his first dorado just outside of Bahia de los Muertos.
The Midwest was well-represented this week! From Iowa and visiting for the first time, Roger Damon with Captain Archangel started his week with a fistful of dorado and tuna at Las Arenas.
Oklahoma Cary Joy Hans is dwarfed by the size of Captain Gerardo and the size of her big roosterfish. This was her first time and she said “fishing is the most fun I’ve ever had outdoors!” The big fish was released.
James Murphy and Dan Galli jumped into a nice school of dorado and plugged the boat with some nice fish like these two!
Captain Rogelio with big smiles and another dorado for Cary Joy.
Everytime Greg Miller comes down he has a knack for the roosterfish! This trip was no exception. Fish was released.
If you just have one day to fish and you come all the way from Texas, catching a big roosterfish is a good way to go especially if it’s your first time! Doug is from Rose, TX and was able to release the big fish taken just off the Punta Perrico rocks.
Nancy Enright had two really good day on the dorado with Captain Rogelio. She’s from the San Diego area and poses with one of their bigger bull dorado.
It’s just a great photo! James Murphy and another big rooster!
Yes, some football tuna have shown up! Lynn Schumacher with one of hers on the beach at Muertos.
Check out the flat waters! Johnny Lucero got limits of dorado including this one north of El Sargento/ La Ventana areas.
On the gaff! Another dorado aboard for Dan Galli!
Great meat! A big barred pargo on the beach and headed for the coolers taken by Greg Miller from Oklahoma.
EVERY DAY DIFFERENT- EVERY SPOT DIFFERENT
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 23-30, 2017
Another week of surprises in the fishing and weather as every day seemed to bring new conditions; different fishing; and a changing bite that could be described as anything from terrible to good. It all depended on where you fish; what day you fish; what you were fishing for and which panga you were fishing in..and who you talked to. It ran the gamut and there was no way to pinpoint or determine how fishing was going to be.
LAS ARENAS/ MUERTOS BAY/ SUENOS BAY
Our Tailhunter Fleet had limited success at best, but mostly it was hard fishing and erratic catches when and if fish could be found. Water was still cooler than normal and there were two days of winds and even some rain from the south that didn’t help matters resulting in a mixed bag of fish leaving anglers trying just about anything to get the fish to bite.
Mostly, it was hit-or-miss. Wahoo were seen, but didn’t bite. A few yellowfin tuna and dorado popped up as well as some jack crevalle and some hard hits on those big dog-toothed snapper. And that was about as exciting as it got. Some boats got blanked. We did have a few marlin hooked up, but nothing stuck.
The most consistent biter as it has been all season, were the big rooster fish which created the most excitement. The smaller ones were respectable 25-30 pounders. The larger ones went up to 6o-70 pounds and were all found in those shallow waters between Punta Perrico and the Punta Arenas lighthouse. Some days, every boat we sent that wanted roosters got at least one of the big boys. All on live bait.
LA PAZ
Our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet had better results but even then, nothing that could be counted on. Here’s where luck really came to play.
Our boats ranged all over the bay and beyond looking for fish. Some days nothing seemed to be in the water. Other days, if you hit the right spot, it was game over. The fish were hitting everything in the water.
But here’s the rub. Sometimes, you’d find the spot and fish were everywhere. But they wouldn’t eat anything. Guys were throwing everything but their lunch burritos at the fish and they weren’t interested and were lockjaw. Other times, one boat would be bendo with every rod going off and the boat right next to it couldn’t get a bite. Or, they’d hit a spot and nothing but little firecracker dorado. All you could do was go fish and the day would bring it’s own surprises.
There were a lot of fish lost. There were a lot of smaller dorado thrown back. Those that were taken were nicer 5-25 pounders.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
The Alegria Family and Akiyoshi Family pose with Jilly and two cases full of school supplies!
From Arizona, Bob Swank poses with some much needed school supplies headed to the orphange and he and Brian Levan brought down to us. School starts in about a month.
Big shout out to all of our Tailhunter amigos who continue to bring school supplies, clothes, toys, shoes and medical goods for us to distribute to the orphanages, outlying neighborhoods and La Paz women’s shelter. Above are just a few photos of some of our friends. Many thanks to them and our other Tailhunter tribe that I was not able to photo and properly thank . You are all appreciated more than you know. So far this year, we’ve collected and distributed several hundred pounds of goods!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
That’s a BIG “goldfish!” Doug McInnis was slow trolling a big ladyfish for roosters when this huge dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro / cubera snapper) came up and chomped it. He only had 40-pound test on and says the line came up incredibly frayed from the rocks! These are difficult catches! Captain Armando is rightfully beaming! They also hooked a rooster and about a big black marlin that got away.
Then…look what Doug McInnis and John Eddy did the 2nd day! They followed up one day of big pargo with MORE big pargo plus a dorado as well again with Captain Armando!
Bob LeBrun is all smiles under that hat with his first and largest roosterfish that he fought on light line for about 45 minutes in a tough battle. The fish bit a ladyfish early in the morning just off the Las Arenas lighthouse with Captain Gerardo. Good release on the fish too!
You just never know! Our buddy, Gama Flores from Desert Hot Springs CA was trolling in deep water for wahoo with Captain Pancho and both times got slammed by these huge dog-tooth snapper in deep water!
Dennis O’Brien from the San Diego area, caught and released his first roosterfish of about 40 pounds and topped it with some dorado to take home also!
She always does great! Check out Alicias Clegg’s huge jack crevalle! These are tough fish and the Mexican name for them is “toro” (bull) for just that reason!
Accomplished fisherman Al “El Al” Schneider from Orange CA has fished our area for many years but got his personal best roosterfish this week right off the sand near Punta Arenas. The fish was released.
Shelly Donnell has been a friend of ours for almost 20 years and brought his sister down this time. Fishing with Captain Joel, they got a nice mess of dorado fishing north of La Paz. Shelly and Gaby are from Portland OR area.
Big smiles and another dorado for Steve Harvey from the San Diego area. If you found the right spot, the dorado could be thick at times!
Nothing wrong with this big roosterfish and Bennett Clegg who had a banner day with a number of big roosters caught and released.
Some folks turn their noses up at triggerfish forgetting how tough they fight and how tasty they can be plus can provide lots of action. Andrew Harvey is holding a really big one here!
GREAT WEATHER BUT ERRATIC FISHING WEEK
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 16-23, 2017
Great weather but a mixed bag of fishing this past week. The key was finding the warm water. Some patches of cold water moved in from the south so some of our more southern fishing spots like around Las Arenas were extremely picky but if you found the blue water areas more to the north, there were fish to be found.
LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS/ SUENOS
The bite was really stick. Some might call it stink. Waters came from south and down deep bringing colder off-color water into the area and while there were some interesting fish caught, it was truly picky fishing at best. There were some scattered dorado. A few marlin hooked…most lost; an occasional wahoo; and some nice roosters and big pargo (best dog-tooth fishing I have ever seen!), but even those required some real work and luck to find. Overall, just not real great fishing. Fortunately, having the two fleets we moved folks over to fish with our La Paz Fleet where most found some better action.
LA PAZ
Dorado fishing held most of the interest for the week. But, it varied from place-to-place and literally from boat-to-boat. Five boats could be in a single area and two of those boats could be going crazy on the dorado. A third boat would get maybe 2 fish. The other two boats wouldn’t even get a bite but be only yards away from the others.
The next day, the boats that caught nothing would be the new superstar boats. Just no way to figure.
Likewise, areas that looked so promising with lots of sargasso and good currents wouldn’t produce anything while areas that looked like the desert without a sign of fish would suddenly explode with fish!
One note of importance. Lots of opportunities being lost by folks using our live bait. The live bait is big. Folks get a little impatient and not letting these dorado get the baits down into their moths and pulling the baits too soon. A little patience goes a long way. Let these dorado eat!
Another note, we could be into some typical seasonal afternoon showers this week with some predictions of afternoon rains. Just that time of year! Feeling very tropical down here.
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather – 8 (Sunny hot and getting hotter. Great weather!)
Water – 7 (Still recovering from that mess 2 weeks ago, but getting bluer and warmer)
Fishing – 7 (Started slow but got better)
Fish Catching – 8 (Everyone catching)
SPECIES – 8 (I counted 15 different species caught this past week)
THE BIG PICTURE COMPLETE FISHING REPORT
Chris Layne came for “one big fish.” We all tried hard to get him a marlin, but he was pretty happy with this giant roosterfish he caught and released near the Las Arenas lighthouse in shallow water!
Whopper slug of a rooster fish for Bennett Clegg from Sacramento CA who has a knack for hitting big roosters when he fishes with Captain Victor of the Tailhunter Fleet. He released the fish. He and his wife hooked 7 large roosters that day.
Chuck Chandler from Alaska landed this big boy dog-tooth snapper off the rocks not far from Punta Arenas while staying at the Rancho Costa lodge in Bahia de los Muertos.
We hooked several wahoo this week, but couldn’t seem to get them to the boat, unlike our amigo, Gary Wagner who rocked this ‘hoo while visiting his place at Rancho Costa in Muertos Bay.
San Diego was well-represented this week with Andrew Harvey who had some nice days of dorado fishing toward the end of this week with his dad.
One of our friends from Canada, MacKay Spence, shows off one of his dorado.
Good start for Jason Amaro from New Mexico who spent the week fishing with us.
Yes, a couple of yellowfin popped into the mix like this one by our San Diego amigo, Scott Harvey.
She’s a regular roosterfish queen whenever she visits, Captain Victor with Alicia Clegg and ANOTHER roosterfish for the report! She and husband, Bennett, hooked and released 7 roosters that day.
Sydney Wagner with big smiles and another nice cabrilla for dinner at her dad’s place at Rancho Costa at Bahia de los Muertos.
Captain Joel with Murielle Chacron from Los Angeles and two of their several nice dorado they hooked fishing north out’ve La Paz.
Carlos didn’t catch this big tuna, but this was caught by Captain Rigo off the south end of Cerralvo Island fishing for the Tortugas. Big tuna keep popping up, but we can’t seem to get them stuck! This one was estimated over 100 pounds. If you look closely, you’ll see where a shark took a chunk off it’s back!
Miles Wagner from Colorado and Garrett Clark from Kansas have themselves a mess of mahi mahi steaks for dinner while staying at Rancho Costa Hotel. Dorado are getting bigger!
Tony and Alex with some of their catch at Muertos Bay. Tony caught and released his first rooster that day.
Alicia and Bennett Clegg got themselves a good day of dorado fishing after catching and releasing a number of dorado that day out’ve La Paz.
STARTS SLOW GATHERS SPEED
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 9-16, 2017
I hate to ever blame things on the full moon, but I need something to use as a scapegoat because early in the week fishing was horrendous. We had some pretty good fishing going then the week started like a flat tire on a old bicycle. It wasn’t going anywhere!
Then, as the week progressed, fishing got better! I don’t know why. I didn’t see many changes in the weather (hot) or water (warming and bluer) so the only thing I can point to is the full moon because as it waned the fish seemed to wake up.
Tailhunter La Paz Fleet
With our Tailhunter La Paz fleet, the numerous dorado we had been seeing that were all over the place, but not interested in feeding suddenly woke up and got hungry. Action improved as the week went on with mostly 5-20 pound mahi-mahi north of town. Add to that some great action on some huge jack crevalle and inshore species like snapper and cabrilla plus bonito and the week ended up on an up-note!
Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, pretty much the same thing. Early in the week, it was really slack. The conditions looked good but the fish just weren’t helping us out. Then, it got better and better each day.
Small football tuna (and some larger ones for commercial boats); big roosterfsh; a few wahoo; some larger pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and snapper and more dorado turned a nervous week into alot of variety!
Can only hope it gets better!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT FOR THE WEEK
WEEK AT A GLANCE (1-10 being best)
Fishing: 5 (respectably OK at best. Last week it was a 1 or 2!)
Catching: 3 (some of the biggest fish still getting away…wahoo/ marlin/ dorado/roosterfish/ pargo)
Variety: 8 ( incredible variety possible: dorado, tuna, wahoo, blue marlin, sailfish, striped marlin, roosterfish, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, bonito, cabrilla, palometa, pompano, red snapper, yellow snapper, triggerfish all hooked this week)
Weather: 7 (hot and sunny in the mid-90’s with evening and afternoon breezes)
Water: 4 (still messed up from last week’s red tide and cold upwellings, but improved over last week’s 2)
As a reward for finishing his first year at Texas A&M University with good grades, Quinn Mattson from Austin TX got to come down with his dad to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing, and over two days latched onto 10 huge rooster fish at Las Arenas getting 5 to the panga for photos including this monster. Notice the great squint as he holds the rooster for a photo in very tired arms! All fish were released. He was fishing with Captain Arcangel.
Jed Hinkle, state senator from Montana, on his first trip to Mexico and first time fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz hooked and released 5 of these big rooster fish in a day right off the rocks and beach at Las Arenas east of La Paz all on live ladyfish in shallow water.
I”m sorry we didn’t get Chris Layne his marlin, but his first day started out with a nice rack of dorado north of La Paz fishing with his wife Anna!
Lisa Hernandez from Orange Co. saved the day with this big rooster she cradles in her arms just off the rocks at Punta Perrico east of La Paz. The fish was released.
Cathy Corda, a regular visitor yearly to fish with Tailhunter Sportfishing in La Paz with her favorite captain Pancho, poses with her wahoo she caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos on a deep running Rapala.
Yes, some football tuna popped up . Nick Ferguson on the beach in front of the Rancho Costa Hotel in Bahia de los Muertos.
Big smiles from Captain Pancho and Kimiko Inoue and a trophy cabrilla that ended up partially prepared at Tailhunter Restaurant as delicious sashime! She and husband Keith also got some tuna as well.
These two had the best week of fishing! Duane and son, Quinn with a pair of the larger dorado they caught with Captain Rogelio and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet over near Las Cruces.
She’s the best! Michele Conklin, our amiga, from Washington fished hard when fishing was tough and pulled out this nice big snapper!
Last week, for some reason, this great roostefish photo of Randy Kuntz didn’t post and it’s a beauty of a fish. Big smiles and a strong release! Well done, Randy!
Good start for long-time friend, Steve Duran (left) and Zainul Abedin (right) both from the Los Angeles area with a dorado and two awesome-eating barred pargo.
Montana in the house with Captain Gerardo once again and a great photo and big rooster for Kyndall Hinkle on her first time visiting us! She got several of these and released them all!
Captain Arcangel with Duane Mattson from Texas with one of several nice roosters he battled and released!
Alot of dog-tooth snapper for Mike Feign from Colorado! Wow. Thanks to Gary Wagner owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia de los Muertos for the photo of Mike.
Lisee Ferguson from Colorado with Gary Wagner and a pretty barred pargo ready for dinner at Rancho Costa!
Yes! The roosters are big! Mark Buchanan and Lisa Hernandez pose with another big rooster before letting it go. The rocks of Punta Perico right behind them. These fish are in shallow water!
Tony from Montebello CA and Juan Licon from Carson CA with a nice pair of Muertos Bay dorado to pack home!
Check out the great variety of inshore fish from Kyndall and Jed Hinkle from Montana. Yellow snapper…cabrilla…palometa…triggerfish…pompano all in the mix and all great-eating! Jed and Kyndall came to visit from Montana.
First day on the water for Quinn Mattson turned out to be epic with one of several huge roosterfish he took just off the Punta Arenas lighthouse and released!
Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa there in Bahia Suenos got out with his daughter, Sydney, on a successful day for gallos!
A visit from Canada and a tough jack crevalle for MacKay Spence and Captain Armando.
Captain Arcangel was on fire this week with the roosterfish. Here with Duane Mattson and another rooster for him! All fish released.
Kris Kobach from Kansas with Gary Wagner and another big catch-and-release roosterfish this week!
Just an amazing week of roosterfish! Jed Hinkle with a monster and captain Gerardo running the boat right off the rocks. Fish was released.
Nice smattering of yellowfin tuna this week. Quinn and his dad, Duane, got this one in addition to roosterfish.
Strangest story of the week…one of our La Paz fishing boats was out north of La Paz and found this pig swimming out in the middle of the ocean. The little guy was shivering when pulled aboard and no idea what or why he was doing way out there. He was brought back to shore and reportedly doing well. No…he was not made into carnitas and eaten!
NOT GREAT BUT FISHING REBOUNDS!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of July 2-9, 2017
It wasn’t great fishing. It was good at best, but “spectacular” compared to the previous week when cold waters from Hurricane Dora to the south pushed in and turned waters green and cold. Then warmer waters from the north set off a huge red tide algae bloom that not only turned waters the color of rust and wine but chokes oxygen out’ve the waters and shut down what had been a very promising bite.
(I barely had any photos two weeks ago!!!)
Bottom line for this past week was that fishing was definitely on the re-bound as waters recovered daily from nature’s quirks! But still some “bumps” in the fishing. Not back to status quo yet.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
The week started slow. Very slow. To some degree waters remained chillier than normal and relatively off-color as it re-bounded from the previous week.
But, the fish definitely woke up about mid-week led by some outstanding rooster fish. It wasn’t consistent, but some days we had 2, 3, 4 or more hookups per panga with big fish close to shore in shallow water and taking it out on many first-time anglers. The “smaller fish” were 30 pounders. The larger fish were in the 70-80 pound class and willing to hit live ladyfish. It all depended on getting the lady fish which were like gold. All fish were released.
The amount of variety was more akin to May or April fishing. When the fish finally got with the program, we had not only rooster fish, but dorado, barred pargo, yellow and red pargo (snapper), dog-tooth snapper, big cabrilla (seabass), jack crevalle, sierra, triggerfish, pompano, palometa, some wahoo, a few football tuna and even some marlin hooked! You just never knew what would hit. Some boats did better than others but compared to last week at least the fish gave it some effort to the relief of all of us! Still scratchy fishing to where it SHOULD be, but things improving.
Last minute note: As of writing this, an offshore storm on the Pacific side on Saturday shut down fishing at Las Arenas with big waves and winds and dropped fishing back down. Can’t win. Nature always comes out on top. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, it bounces back.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
The red tide that shut down fishing a week ago it taking it’s time leaving us. The water was so choked with algea that some places almost looked like someone had poured red wine into the sea. You could put your hand into the ocean and not see your hand! That’s how bad it was and all that algae depletes the oxygen from the fish. The fish were lock-jawed all last week and it took awhile for them to get with the program this week.
Things got better as the week went on. Not great, but better. Waters turned blue again although still not up to speed. Fish activity increased as both dorado and marlin can easily be seen. The problem is that they didn’t alway bite or show much interest. However, as the week progressed, the dorado started to wake up. There were some nice flurries of 5-25 pound mahi-mahi and some full-on dorado rodeos with multiple rods bending. But one boat could be going full tilt and just a handful or yards away, another boat could be staring at limp rods. Same with the marlin. They’re showing up more and more but just not quite ready to go yet!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK of JUNE 25-July 2, 2017
WEEK AT A GLANCE (Scale of 1-10 being best)
Weather – 7 (sunny and warm low 90’s / humid at times/ some breezes)
Water – 2 (some places dropped of cold / other places got warm and algae bloom started – see red tide below)
Fishing – 2 (at best)
Catching – 2 (when fishing is bad to begin with PLUS you lose fish…that hurts!!)
THE BIG PICTURE FISHING REPORT FOR THE WEEK
Victor Higerada from Texas with one of the larger dorado of the week and Captain Jorge.
Washington in the house and always smiles when Michele Conklin visits us. She can fish too! She took this hefty yellow snapper on a rough day out’ve Las Arenas.
The start of summer vacation for Micah Sybesma who came down with his dad and took this nicer dorado fishing north from La Paz.
Our good buddy, Rex Smith, who has been with us so many years looks a bit tired and that’s because he is! He battled this big roosterfish and couldn’t lift it for the photo! He did, however, get it back into the water and honestly, told me he was just trying to keep the fish still so it wouldn’t beat itself up so he could release it. Well done!
Sam Sybesma in the center with a nice group shot. Sam has fished with us many time but for John Slager, Geoff Wilkinson, Micah Sybesma and AJ Wilkinson, their first dorado! Nice shot!
The Basadre guys got themselves a nice handful of fish with some nice cabrilla and a jack crevalle! They’re from Long Beach. It’s Felix and his son, David!
Darrell Manginelli and Rob Bogartz started off their week with a couple of dorado.
A hat trick mix of fish for Captain Jorge in the center with an amberjack. Victor Higerada on the left has a football yellowfin tuna and Ed Martinez on the right has a dorado.
Double dorado! Micah on the right and AJ on the left with their first dorado ever!
A fish to match the outfit! It was great having Jeff Swift and his family fishing with us. He’s got a dorado on the gaff just off the island.
Jack crevalle might not be great eating, but they are tough fighers and here in Mexico they are called “Toros.” That’s Spanish for “bull” which is a good name. Darrell Manginelli had his hands full with this big jack!
FISHING FALLS APART
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 25-July 2, 2017
Just when I thought we had turned the corner and the season was “ON!” And being so high on the fishing a week ago, we got slapped back this week with some of the worst fishing I have ever seen. Fishing literally went into the tank. The waters turned into the Sahara desert in terms of life!
It was a combination of a number of things. And what a crazy mix and just a bad combination of weather conditions.
Hurricane Dora way way way to the south of us that skirted far down and quickly went out west to the Pacific. It didn’t bring rain. It didn’t bring clouds. The skies remained sunny and hot. In fact, humidity got up to 80% one morning when I was putting out the boats. But, what it did bring was upwelling and swells of cold water that dropped water temperatures 5-10 degrees! Not only did the waters turn from blue to green, but I think the fish were just in shock like when your hot water turns off in the shower or your neighbor flushes the head and you get a jolt of cold water. The fish went lockjaw.
Hurricane Dora this past week way to the south of us, but it pushed some colder upwellings towards us that affected the fishing.
On top of that we had several days of winds that gusted here…but not there…and there…but not here. One place flat as a pond but several miles away white-capping waves that again, didn’t do much for clearing up the water.
(We’re told pretty much all of Southern Baja from La Paz to the East Cape to Cabo were hurting this week for fishing…not just us!. We were getting calls and e-mails from folks in the other areas asking if our fishing was any better because they wanted to come up to fish.)
This is what red tide looks like and the algae bloom goes off and gets so thick it’s like a soup. Algae blooms deplete the water o oxygen.
Algae soup!
The biggest issue was a red tide that really put the slammer on everything. This result from…of all things…warm water that sets off a massive algae bloom that gets so out-of-hand and so thick that waters can looks “red” or “rusty” in places but surely cloudy and filmy and dirty. In fact, local restaurants are warned not to use local shellfish during a red-tide and for fishing, the algae bloom chokes the oxygen out’ve the water and in some cases like shallow bays kills off marine life.
So, fish just disappeared. We busted our butts and clients worked hard, but limits of dorado went down to looking for a single dorado bite. Fish we saw, weren’t interested in eating. Or, the waters were just empty.
We got a dorado here and there. We lost the occasional wahoo. Pargo and and cabrilla and triggerfish were still in the rocks if that’s what you wanted. A few jack crevalle and rooster fish. But that was it!
Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll have swung around again. Things change fast. The thing with the algae blooms is that the warm water that creates will suddenly kill it off as the temperatures continue to climb. Then, the waters turn blue. Fingers crossed.
TAILHUNTER OUTREACH
Thank for the big hearts guys! Donations last week went to the Care for Kids Program. This week, thanks to Geoff Wilkinson and Sam Sybesma for their donations and also, Felix Basadre and his sons Dave and Tony who hauled down two full ice chests of clothes that will go to the women’s shelter. (I’m sorry I didn’t get your photos!) Muchas gracias, guys!
Have a great week everyone!
That’s my story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Lots of reasons to love this great photo! First…nice roosterfish just off the beach! Second…Claire Swift’s big smile on her first roosterfish that she REALLY came down to catch! Third…in 20 years of working for us, Captain Arcangel rarely smiles for the camera although he’s a fun guy! He’s got it going on here in this photo! They had 3 other fish that got away also! This beauty was released as well! Claire is from Dana Point CA.
Great start of the week of fishing for our great Washington friends, Grant and Carol Darby with Captain Gerardo and a nice box of dorado!
Every year, Diego Jimenez from Loveland, Colorado comes to visit us and does well. Check out the big roosterfish with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.
We call him the “Mayor.” Butch Tropez from Los Angeles brought the family to see us this year and usually makes at least one or two trips a year to come fish. He got into the dorado right off the Punta Perrico rocks just outside of Muertos Bay. Don’t have to go far for these fish!
Grant Darby from Washington has fished with us a zillion years, but got into three sizeable roosters with Captain Gerardo and said, “No mas!” These fish are a handful. All released. Grant had fun on the light tackle.
This lady can fish! Verda Boyd visits us every year and our amiga loves to fish…so much so that she left husband Tim back in the San Francisco area and came alone! He wishes he had come now after she had a full 3 days of pretty good fishing with Captain Victor!
From Colorado, Craig Weitzer was fishing with Captain Armando when he got two huge roosters . The largest got released but this one was not able to be let go, but the meat was donated. His first two roosters were beasty-fish!
Another of our regular great amigos who visits us sometimes twice a year and loves fishing with Captain Jorge, John McVey got into this week’s dorado bite.
This lady always gets her fish! Big roosterfish for Kelly Jimenez (Happy Anniversary, amiga!) with Captain Pancho. The fish was released .
Limits for our friend and first time, visitor Jeff Swift from Dana Point, who got a limit of dorado fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. (Those wily pargo and cabrilla are waiting for your next trip, Jeff!)
Carol Darby had quite a week with the dorado and also this roosterfish that’s almost as big as she is and a smiling big Captain Gerardo! They caught the fish not far off the Arenas lighthouse on light tackle. They also released the fish.
Verda Boyd has a nice variety of fish for the day with Captain Victor and Carlos including dorado, a big pompano, triggerfish, a barred pargo and a palometa! All great eating!
Captain Jorge and Diego Jimenez started his week off with some pretty dorado to fill the ice chest.
Wow! We’ve had some big needlefish this season but this one is prehistoric! Captain Rogelio helps Carol Darby (longer than she is tall!) pose with this creature!
DORADO SEASON OFFICIALLY ON…FOR AT LEAST THIS WEEK!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 17-25, 2017
It’s been a long time…several seasons actually…since I’ve been able to blow the “dorado trumpet!” After about 2 1/2 seasons where el Nino conditions kept the dorado eenie-meenie small or almost non-existent, it’s nice to have the mahi-mahi back in our waters and, while not beasts, they’re nice good-sized fun fish that kept rods bent and folks (especially first-timers) happy. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to say these two words…”DORADO LIMITS!”
While there’s still a bit of chill and wind in the mornings, it’s warm and sunny during the day and some of the best conditions we’ve seen in awhile. I’m sure that has had a lot to do with the improved fishing. Still some bump out there, but surely better than it has been and, although I hear there’s been a crazy heat wave in much of the lower U.S. and Pacific States, it’s been a balmy 95 here most of the week.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
There’s still some big rooster fish around. There’s still wahoo around. But, our counts surely didn’t show it this week although we did get a few of each. For once, there was something else to chase and for alot of folks, the opted for fun and action chasing the dorado schools that moved in rather than spend long hours chasing the bigger home run fish like the roosters and wahoo.
The roosters we did get were in the 25-60 pound class. The wahoo…well…we lost most of them but were about 30 pounders.
The excitement focused on some of the best dorado fishing we’ve seen in ages. Not huge fish, but good respectable 8-20 pounders and we were getting limits or near limits on some days with fish being released, especially smaller or female fish! There were also some larger bulls in the 25-30 pound class as well.
Another good sign is that these dorado will wake up the billfish and sure enough there was a huge black marlin and a blue marlin hooked as well!
Still some white bonito, pompano, huge jack crevalle and pargo mixed in as well.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Another nice mix of fish with dorado leading the way. Again, it’s been awhile since dorado have been center-stage and even a longer time since I’ve been able to say that both our La Paz and our Las Arenas fleets are into the fish!
Like Las Arenas, the dorado have been that nice-grade medium-sized with occasionally larger bulls and not unusual to get early limits. The issue, mostly is finding the fish. There’s still some thick cold green water muddling around the island so the idea is to find the warmer water and blue currents. It’s so markedly different you can stand in the panga and see the two waters next to each other like night-and-day.
In the inshore waters, you can have fun all day if you’re tired of chasing dorado. In the rocks we had some great…but frustrating acition…on tough pargo, cabrilla and amberjack that rocked alot our efforts!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Wind – 6 (Still pesky but better than before. Messes up the fishing water)
Fishing – 5 (Decent, not great. Should be way way better for this time of year. Changes daily.)
Catching – 4 (Still losing alot of bigger fish that would change alot of things)
Bait – 4 (At best. Better in La Paz than Las Arenas)
THE BIG PICTURE!
Laura Weinholtz from Denver, Colorado was with Captain Pancho of the Tailhunter Fleet near La Paz when she hooked this huge bull dorado not far from Bahia de los Muertos on a live bait. It’s the largest dorado so far of the season. She had a pretty good trip! She also got a wahoo. See photos below!
Damon Chin from Massachusetts was on his first fishing trip to La Paz and fishing with Tailhunter Sportfishing and got a wahoo pretty much bigger than him on his first at-bat! He needed a hand from his buddy, Tim Mistler and Captain Gerardo who is about 6’5” tall. Fish is estimated at about 65 pounds.
Good start for the Pacific NW! Captain Arcangel with Kelly Steck from Washinton and dad, Ed, from Oregon and a nice pair of dorado to start the week!
Megan Garrison tied into this beautiful wahoo just outside of Bahia de los Muertos and got it to the panga to pose. Megan is from San Diego. Thanks to Gary Wagner for the photo. Megan was staying at his place a Rancho Costa.
Doctors in the house! Jim Good and his son, Marshall Bell, are both heart doctors from Colorado. They got a nice little adrenaline buzz off these two dorado south of Bahia de los Muertos.
What a week for Arizona cattleman, Rick Skaaler, and Captain Gerardo with another big fish. This time, a hefty roosterfish. Released.
From Park City, Utah, it was great to finally get Jim Pankow down to visit us. He scored one of the larger dorado with our La Paz fleet so far this season fishing with Captain Boli.
Captain Armando shares a smile and photo with our Denver amigos, Diane and GaryKaiser and their dorado.
Big smiles from Dr. Marshall Bell and his dad, Dr. Jim Good, who baited our first striped marlin of the season then had himself quite a stand-up battle just off the east side of Espirto Santo Island. The fish could not be released. Father and son are from Colorado.
Hard to have more fun than Katie Skaaler from Arizona who got her first wahoo with us and Captain Gerardo!
From San Diego, Karl Ferreira, only had one day to fish with us and did himself well with several dorado in the box and brought to dinner at our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner!
For someone who hasn’t done alot of fishing, Laura Weinholtz had herself a dandy week of fishing including this nice wahoo with Captain Pancho.
Funny pose with Captain Jorge and amigo, Craig Weitzel, from Denver and a couple of schoolie dorado.
Good bonito action for both our fleets with several species of bonito. Anyone who doubts the feistyness of these members of the tuna family has never had one on a hook! They pull perhaps harder pound-for-pound than anything in the water. If they were only 50 pounds larger ,they’d probably yank fishermen right into the water. Captain Pancho and John Ehlers, our amigo from Colorado, with a big fat bonito!
DORADO FINALLY JOIN THE ACTION
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 11-17, 2017
Not a terribly bad week. Even with the big moon!
Good sunny weather and diminishing winds helped conditions improve although there are still some big patches of cold green water and erratic fishing patterns as the season still tries to get in gear. Some high spots. Some low spots. Every day seemed different. Hot fishing spots changed daily. Bait availability changed daily. What we caught changed daily.
It’s just traces of winter still lingering as we’re about 5-8 degrees cooler than normal as are the waters. Even my scuba divers are telling me that there’s warm “green water” up on top but then 30’ below the surface the water is clear, but icy cold! Usually, it’s just the reverse. Warmer waters are clear and colder waters are greener. There are also current lines where one side of the current is green and the other side is clear.
Apparently, fishing is erratic all over as we’re getting calls from other locations and folks staying in other areas asking how our fishing is doing!
However, overall, the best thing about the week is that the dorado look like they’re finally joining the show about 1-2 months late! The conditions we’re seeing right now are basically what we should have seen at the end of April or through May, not mid-June.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS/ BAHIA de LOS MUERTOS FLEET
We saw more and bigger dorado than we’ve seen in a long time. Not a lot of mahi-mahi, but anything is an improvement over what we’ve had, especially over the last two years when fish averaged about 12” long! The dorado we saw this week were nicer 8-20 pounders with a few in the 25-35 pound range and it was great to see some actual schools of dorado instead of one or two free-swimmers!
Wahoo are also still around with us getting some fish in the 20-30 pound class, but also one estimated over 60 pounds. Not sure how much longer they will be around as the waters get warmer which is bringing some of the billfish into the waters as we’re seeing more sails, striped and blue marlin hanging out the the surface just waiting for the waters to kick it up a notch or two in temperature and they’ll start biting.
Not much in the way of rooster fish this week but that’s also a function of the fact that folks weren’t really chasing the in-edible rooster fish although they are a spectacular fish to catch and a real trophy. They’re not good eating so most of our clients were out chasing dorado and wahoo. But the fish we did catch were all chunky 30 pound class fish or larger.
Live bait is still an issue. Flyfishers are pretty much giving up although two of our flyfishers did see some action on sabalo and dorado. The flyfishers down here have all pretty much been fishing conventionally if they want to catch fish.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
Very very encouraging to see more dorado finally with 10-20 pound fish in the mix. Better than it has been in a long time. But, a lot of the fish are just not quite ready to go yet.
My captains are telling me the area is set to blow up. Waters are getting bluer away from the islands (still green) and there are dorado everywhere, just not yet feeding on much or not willing to take a bait or lure. But, it’s bubbling and promising to hear that there’s dorado activity that could go off soon!
Same for billfish. More and more billfish showing up and look like they could go on the chew if waters warm and clear up just a tad more .
Inshore, there’s still amberjack, pargo, snapper and cabrilla as well as triggerfish biting nicely.
PACK FOR A PURPOSE
Thanks to our folks who brought us donations this week for our on-going community out-reach programs. So many great things. We just sent several hundred pounds to one of the outlying La Paz communities where they have no water or electricity. This batch might be headed to the women’s shelter. But big gracias to Grant and Carol Darby, John Ehlers and his family with Laura Weinholtz his daughter; Jim and Jeff Pankow from Utah and more Colorado amigos, Diego and Kelly Jimenez plus the Ferreira Family from San Diego.
From Washington, Carol and Grant Darby with toothbrushes, toothpaste, school supplies and toys!
John Ehlers and his daughter Laura Weinholtz with school items, hygiene things and more.
Every year, they bring the big hearts. Diego and Kelly Jimenez from Colorado!
HAPPY FATHER’s DAY!
My dad is giggling as I shave him. Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I miss you!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Weather– 7 (still some wind, but not as bad as before)
Heat – 9 (cooler than normal . Sunny and near perfect beach weather)
Fishing – 6 (lots to be caught)
Catching – 3 (losing alot of fish)
Fish Quality – 6 (some big fish around but losing too many)
Outlook for the coming Week – 7 (conditions improving)
Live bait – 3 (at best)
That’s a beast of a wahoo for good amigo, Doug Oclassen, fishing with Captain Jorge. Doug got two in a row. Photo further down.
I love this photo of Katie Skaarer and Captain Gerardo and one of the largest roosters of the season! She’s a bit tired, but what a gamer! Check out how close they are to Punta Perrico. Katie is from Arizona.
First timer to visit us, Kurt Gallow from Washington and Captain Armando pulled out this big-time dog-tooth snapper.
Big smiles for Mark Jacklin and Dana Wolff from Grants Pass, Oregon who spent the week with us and got a variety of fish including Mark’s first wahoo.
The whole week, I don’t think Brad Cooper from Arizona ever stopped smiling. It was great! Just like when he caught his first roosterfish. The big fish was released.
Another big wahoo for Captain Gerardo and Rick Skaarer, who runs a cattle business in Arizona and got some nice fish this week. It was his first time visiting us at Tailhunter.
Another of our good Arizona amigos, Mike Guest, has a habit of putting wahoo into the boat and he didn’t miss on this one either!
With his first rooster, Shawn Westberg from Copperopolis, California, makes the report in this nice photo!
Captain Armando rocked it again with Bruce Eads and his first roosterfish. It’s a nice one!
Talk about a variety of great eating fish, John Shields has about a half-dozen different types of fish after a great day of action including snapper, dorado, triggerfish, cabrilla and white bonito.
One of the nicer bull dorado of the week get to pose with Charlie Rodriguez who gets an assist from Brad Cooper.
It’s Captain Armando again who got Kurt Gallow a fat wahoo on Kurt’s last day fishing with us.
The 2nd of two wahoo in a row for Doug Oclassen in this great photo! Spectacular shot!
Charlie Rodriguez and Brad Cooper had a good trip fishing together shown here with the first wahoo of their trip!
First day of fishing for Kurt and Brenda Gallow with Captain Armando produced a couple of nice dorado and a hard-charging Jack Crevalle.
Somewhere behind that dorsal fin is Mark Jacklin with his 2nd rooster of the trip. The fish was released.
FULL MOON ROOSTERS AND WAHOO LEAD OFF!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of June 4-11, 2017
The full moon week still had more breeze than we would like, but overall pretty fishable weather and water with a good variety of fish. We’re still a little cooler than normal and seemingly still in that “transition” phase between the cooler waters of spring and the warmer conditions of summer. The fishing reflects that with both cooler and warmer water species hitting you just never know what’s going to be biting. Live bait continues to be an issue. There’s no small sardines per se, but we’ve had big sardines, caballitos and mackerel. Still losing more fish than we’re catching which is just part of the sport! Big fish are big fish for a reason and we’re still losing fish to the rocks, teeth, inexperience or just bad luck. But, if you look at the photos there’s some awfully big fish being caught as well!
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET
This is where most of the wind was all week which had our pangas mostly fishing on the lee side of Espirito Santo Island to get away from the winds. But that was fine because inshore and up tight against the rocks, we got a great variety from dorado to amberjack and pargo to big triggerfish.
Some of the cabrilla and pargo were especially nice grade horses that the anglers were able to get out’ve the rocks, but so many others were simply unstoppable. If the winds would just give us a break, water conditions are really looking better and better and sargasso weeds are building up which should be a good sign for better dorado fishing. Also, we’ve got some nice live bait every day.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET
This is where our big boy fishing has been. There’s no small fish for our anglers that fished with our Las Arenas Fleet. Just like the last several weeks, it’s big or go home. Hit a home run or strike out. There’s no small toy fish.
You get one or two shots at bigger fish and that’s pretty much it, but if you do get to hang one, it’s a good fish. Larger 20-35 pound dorado; rooster fish running 20-80 pounds and wahoo in the 20-50 pound class are what we were seeing this week with a smattering of jack crevalle, bonito, some big pargo, smaller cabrilla and snapper. But those were just filler. The bigger “cooler filler” fish were the norm. Good to see better dorado too!
That’s our story!
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor
TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR Top 5 – Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor
Nice “skinny” for Matt Garrett from Washington who pulled up this nice wahoo that ran about 30 pounds just off Cerralvo Island. This was Matt’s first trip to La Paz. The wahoo have been pretty consistent now the last few weeks. We’re taking a few every day.
This is the kind of dorado we like to see! Big bull dorado on the beach caught by Vince Bussio from Utah! There’s a few other dorado tails down by his feet as well.
Great photo, smile and colors as Sandy Davis poses with a fresh wahoo off the south end of Cerralvo Island. Sandy is the sister of our good amiga, Donna Thompson who rocks the fishing grounds and lives in La Ventana. (Thanks for the photo!)
Kansas City in the house! Marion Lawver pulled this nice dog-tooth snapper (pargo perro / dog-tooth snapper) out’ve the rocks. Tough tough fish that is all teeth, sharp gills and scales and lots of power. But they taste great! Nicely done!
Some nice mahi on the beach as Don Henderson and Bill Cook from Idaho hold up a couple of dorado they caught with our Tailhunter Fleet and Captain Victor.
Rick Rieken from Las Vegas has his hands full with a nice dorado and a nice wahoo! Some fish packing is in order. Muertos Bay in the background.
It’s late in the season, but whalesharks are still in our La Paz Bay. Early this week, Jill and I took a few hours to snorkel with the hoping to find maybe 1 whale. Instead we ended up in the water with 8 of the gentle creatures! This one glides by the panga and is about 20 feet long! A baby…they grow over 50 feet long!
With water only between 10 and 15 feet deep and incredibly warm, the big “babies” are feeding on plankton near the surface and often gulp their meals by opening their mouths and letting the food flow in! One of them seems to be giving Jill a big smile as it came next to our panga. We were snorkeling with our good friends at Fun Baja.
It’s a great experience to get in the water with huge creatures and we had EIGHT of the “baby” whalesharks around us while we snorkeled for a few hours in water that was only 10-15 feet deep. Schools of foraging bait fish accompany the big whalesharks and feed off the leftovers! This big guy waited very patiently while I took his photo.
FISHING STILL ERRATIC BUT SOME QUALITY FILLS THE GAPS
La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of May 4-11, 2014
Winds continue to be a problems…some days. Others it’s barely breezy. But this type of weather is consistent to this transitional time of year when it’s not quite spring and still not quite summer although air and water temps are relatively warm. So, some days, it can be pretty bouncy out there limiting our range and style of fishing while other days, it’s like a pond!
Fishing is reflective of those conditions as well. If it’s windy, we’re somewhat confined to inshore fishing, although that can be quite good for cabrilla, snapper, pargo, jack crevalle, small to large rooster fish and even some late-season sierra. On the days that we’re able to range a bit further (fortunately, we never have to THAT far for our fishing!), we add to that list the larger dorado and wahoo which bit pretty well this week, especially off the north and south end of Cerralvo Island. The wahoo were most aggressive in the early morning hours around sunrise and mid-morning and ranged from 20-40 pound fish. Trolling with dark-colored Rapalas and Yo Zuri’s worked best.
The rooster fish saved us quite often with fish right up near the beaches and rocks going 25-50 pounds.
Summarily, it was spotty action. Straight on…
It’s hard to explain. You can do OK one day and, even tho’ conditions had not changed much, you can really struggle the next day. Different boats do differently each day. There can be long stretches of little action suddenly punctuated by the zing of a line going off or jetting jerked outta your socks by a fish slamming the bait or lure.
Bait continues to be a problem. From what I’m hearing, the el nino has been plaguing the entire Baja. I’m getting communications from the East Cape as well as Cabo asking if we have bait to sell or send. I heard from friends in Loreto that they are also having trouble with live bait as well. We’re making do with what nature gives us these days. We’re using larger baits like stripped bonito as well as mackerel and caballitos…that all make excellent bait, but it’s not like you can throw handfuls of larger baits into the ocean for chum like we’re used to doing with sardines. We are also using live ballyhoo as well.
One note of optimism is that I’m getting reports that out at the 88 bank outside of Cerralvo Island there’s lots of small mackerel and caballitos and small bonito balling up. These are palm-sized fish that are super on the hook and we’re looking hopefully that in the week or two that area could blow up on us. Last year, in the summer, the 88 turned into dorado and marlin candy land with dorado all going 40-50 pounds and marlin cruising the area in great numbers as well.
We’ll keep you updated!
Happy Mother’s Day to you and yours! Hope it’s a good one!
Tailhunter Fish Report 