Ashlee Patterson from Massachusetts got out on the water one day and on the flyrod, got this feisty little dorado on light line off Punta Perrico. The fish was released.
MORE WHALES THAN FISHERMEN
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 8-15, 2017
Honestly, not much going on in terms of fishing. It’s still been windy and there’s just not many fishermen in town this time of year or folks wanting to go fishing either. It’s just that time of year…the lull after the holidays. There’s not even that many folks in town.
We did get out fishing a few days. Surprisingly, given it’s winter and chilly, there’s still some dink dorado around, which are usually warm water fish. Nothing big, but still fun. The rest of the catch focused on bonito, some snapper and cabrilla. Mostly inshore species. The nice days on the water are nice…85 degree sunshine. But, if you mis-time it, the north winds can make it blustery so we always check the weather before we go fishing. If you’re coming down, try to be flexible on your fishing days so we can move you around to the best days to give you a better shot and having a fun day.
On the other hand, whalesharks are back in the bay and starting the year with a great opportunity to swim in the shallow waters of La Paz Bay with these “baby” whalesharks that can reach 20′ in length. If you’re interested, contact us directly via e-mail at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
GRAY WHALE SEASON STARTS!
Speaking of whales, the grey whales have also returned to Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific side so we’ve officially kicked off our 2017 whale watching season at Lopez Mateos. We’re running daily trips to spend a day or two with the whales in the warm waters there. Again, contact us directly at Jonathan@tailhunter.com. It’s a great family trip! Check out the video above. Thanks to amigo, Jorge Romero for the video! “Touch the mama!”
THANK YOU DENVER! HERE WE COME SACRAMENTO!
Set up our new booth Tuesday night in Denver after a crazy drive through the snow and ice of the rockies the two avalanches that blocked the road.
Me, Jilly and Catlyn in the van. This is how we roll for 3 months like road gypsies!
It was a pretty incredible drive into Denver with ice, snow, road closures, several avalanches blocking the highway and generally nasty conditions…but still, through some of the most beautiful and majestic places you’d ever want to see. Nothing like the Colorado Rockies!
John Rader fished with us for the first time last year. Funny guy!
No matter your political views, it’s a funny shirt.
“Doctor” Art Flippin has fished with us a zillion times and is coming back this year to fish in the fall.
Art and Connie Petz are coming to see us for the first time in La Paz . Fun couple!
Matt Deischel brought us a framed and signed photo of his 38.5 pound barred pargo WORLD RECORD he shot and then weighed at our Tailhunter IGFA scale. Massive fish and Matt is an incredible bluewater hunter. Thanks, Matt. We’re honored!
Charter member of the Tailhunter Family, Jeff Sakuda, visits us at least twice a year. He’s a pilot for United and was on a layover in Denver and he came out to see us. Thanks for the Subway Sandwiches, Jeff!
There’s trouble a-foot! Louis Sanchez brings me the traditional “burrito bomb” burrito for me to eat in the van while we’re traveling!
Well, we just finished our first show of the “Tailhunter 2017 Road Tour” with a spectacular time at the Denver Convention Center and the International Sportsman’s Expo. In our 16 years there, I think this was the best show we’ve ever had visiting with lots of friends and making new ones and signing up an incredible number of reservations to book spend time with us in La Paz fishing this year! Thanks, Denver for once again taking such good care of us!
Now onto Sacramento and historically one of the biggest shows of the year for us. We’ll be at the SACRAMENTO STATE FAIRGROUNDS from this Thursday to Sunday in our booth! It’s Jan. 19-22nd. Come say hi and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz. Get one of our new t-shirts and 24-page brochures.
Almost 700 vendors will be there with lots to see for the whole family! Check out the video:
Here we go! We’re starting our 2017 Road Tour! Jill and I will be on the road for our 21st year travelling with our booth to all the best and biggest fishing and hunting shows and this week, we kick it off at the Denver Convention Center for the International Sportsmens Expo. It’s Jan. 12-15th. Come see us and let’s talk fishing!
Whalewatching season is finally on! The whales have started arriving at Bahia Magdalena and Tailhunter is running day trips or overnight trips to spend time with these unbelievable creatures! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience! Ask me about details: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
Whalesharks are now right in La Paz Bay in the shallow water just a few hundred yards from the malecon. We’re running trips to go swim with the whalesharks now. Ask us about this incredible adventure!
MOSTLY INSHORE FISH and WIND to START THE YEAR
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 2-9, 2017
Not much to tell this week. I think the town and visitors were still in “holiday hangover” from Christmas and New Years. Normally, this time of year, the folks who come fishing are walk-in clients off the street. Instead of being anglers who book months in advance who come for a “fishing trip,” these are visitors to town or snowbirds who’d just like a day of fishing.
However, it’s windy this time of year so either we’re up-front and tell them it can be rough and bumpy or the day they want will be so bad, we don’t recommend going out at all. Or, in some cases, they look out at the bay and see all the white-caps they decide to just soak up the 80 degree sun on the beach with a margarita instead. Nothing wrong with that scenario either!
So, just not many folks out fishing.
HERE WE COME DENVER!
We only had about 2 days this past week that were fishable. Inshore is where most of the action was found with cabrilla (sea bass), snapper, barred pargo and jack crevalle. All fun action especially on lighter tackle, but a few of the larger pargo broke off in the rocks even on the heavier gear. Offshore, a few wahoo bit and were lost, but a few of the commercial fishermen landed a couple and also some tuna were hooked. We’ll keep an eye on that. Pretty unusual to see blue-water species like that this time of year!
Tailhunter Sportfishing starts it’s 2017 “road tour” this week. We’ll be at the International Sportsman’s Expo in our booth at the Denver Convention Center from Thursday to Sunday, January 12-15th. Come visit us and let’s talk about fishing in La Paz this year!
It’s winter. Thankfully bonito are still providing action despite a difficult week to fish because of winds.
There’s a reason the wind and kite surfers enjoy our area so much during the winter. It’s the winds. Great for them. Not so good for fishing. Still bright and sunny, however. Temps in the 80’s .
FISH TAKE THE WEEK OFF – WINDS DON’T
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 25, 2016 – Jan. 1, 2017
In the gap between the holidays, I think the fish took the week off like most folks, but maybe they were smart. They hunkered down because it was a windy week. For one, not many folks fishing, but for the most part, many of the folks that come in right now are walk-in clients or snow birds enjoying the sunshine and otherwise great weather (minus the wind). So, they’re only looking for a day of fishing out on the water.
That’s the dicey part because I always want to be up-front. I warn them about this being the off-season and how windy it might be. If they are flexible on dates then we look at the wind forecasts to try to get them the least windy day. But, sometimes, they only have that ONE DAY to fish during their vacation and, if they still want to go out, we do our best to get them some fish or find areas where it’s less choppy or rough. All we can do is try. You definitely can’t catch fish if you have no line in the water.
However, generally speaking, especially during the winter, if there’s storm going on in the SE United States like California, Arizona and Nevada, that wind/ rain pattern will affect the weather in Baja. It was a stormy week in the lower U.S. Ergo, it was windy in La Paz!
So…
Well, we did our best. Four days this week, I recommended not even going out to prospective fishermen. They’d be wasting their money.
Two of the other days, despite our best, the winds still were stronger than we would have liked and the fishermen got bounced around and only caught some bonito and cabrilla and snapper. Still OK fishing, but we wish it could have been better. The last day, again only some bonito and cabrilla and some small dorado.
The weather forecast this coming week actually looks good. One of the least windy weeks in awhile is on tap so hopefully, better fishing. But, for the sunbirds, if you’re not out on the water getting blown around, it’s hard to beat 85 degree sunny weather in La Paz right now.
WHALEWATCHING SEASON STARTING
We are starting out Tailhunter whale watching tours in about 2-3 weeks. From mid-January to March is when the grey whale migration takes place and thousands of whales migrate from the Bering Sea to places like Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific Coast about 3 hours drive from La Paz. We’ll be running day and overnight trips to the bay where the whales spend the winter in the shallow, warm, calm waters. It’s a great once-in-a-life time opportunity to get up close with the whale without having to go out into open waters.
The whales will often come right up to the boats and seem to enjoy the interaction and it’s really a treat to have a baby calf come right up and want to have it’s head scratched! Check with us and we can set you up!
That’s our story! Happy New Year everyone!
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
Sue and Barry Schneider were able to squeeze in one day of fishing on Christmas Eve and got onto one of these great days when the wind layed down and the fish were biting. They got a great surprise with a couple of dorado, a nice wahoo and even a handful of bonito to round out the action. Some of the fish ended up at Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner to have us cook it up! They were fishing with Captain Victor.
WINDY CHRISTMAS WEEK BUT SOME WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 18-25, 2016
We had one of those windy wakes that made it tough for fishing with north winds blowing a number of days. That was the bad news. The good news was there weren’t many fishermen this week as most folks either had their minds on the holidays or were one of the visiting snowbirds enjoying some of the sunshine. However, for the small windows that we did have fishing, we were again surprised by the catches.
Again, we’re only fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet from Muertos Bay where the fishing is more protected and closer to shore. In addition to the usual “winter fare” like snapper, pargo and cabrilla as well as bonito…
Well, things are still mixed up I guess because we still hooked wahoo and even some dorado which are generally fish we see when the weather and waters are warm. Dorado were not big but still…10 pounders are fun on light tackle and good eating and surely a surprise. And, no one ever argues with catching a wahoo either. Several were hooked and lost and a few brought to the boot were in the 20-25 pound class. Again, a total bonus on a fishing day when you’re not expecting it.
Que Dios Te Bendiga! (May God bless you!)
From our Tailhunter Family and Crew to Yours! God bless for a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas and excellent 2017!
Just taking a little time to reflect on a special time and how blessed we are during this time of year and always. It’s because of you! Wishing you Feliz Navidad from La Paz. Enjoy your families and the holidays and we’ll see you in the new year!
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
Rick and Amy Kasper from Wyoming run a hunting operation and Rick is also an outfitter and TV host on the outdoor channel. He and Amy hit a nice day of action boating 3 nice tuna on squid and losing another plus having their hands full on 8 or 9 bonito. .
That’s a HUGE needlefish. Rick Kasper and Captain Jorge with a monster marciel…gotta be 5′ long!
FULL MOON AND WINDS NO ISSUE AS BLUE WATER SPECIES BITE!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 12-18, 2016
Full moon? Winter? No problem. As if to underscore just what a crazy season it has been, once again some of our best fishing in the last few weeks was this past week. The fact that the winds dropped back a few notches had alot to do with it, but honestly, some surprisingly good fishing for species we don’t normally see during this time of year!
Again, not many fishermen out on the water, but that’s pretty normal as this is off-season. But, those that were out, ran into some minimal winds, flat seas and quality fish.
In addition to the usual inshore species like barred pargo, snapper, and cabrilla, there were also bonito and jacks plus some HUGE needlefish working the waters for the anglers.
However, the biggest surprise were the yellowfin tuna we hit off Punta Perrico and the south side of Cerralvo Island on the high spot. These fish were nice quality 15-30 pound fish. Plus the wahoo are still hanging out and willing to chase deep diver, Rapalas, Magnum Yo-Zuri and Mega Bait lures. Some of the fish ran 30 pounds or so. These blue-water pelagic fish are a nice bonus this time of year.
Winds coming back up again a bit this week. We’ll keep you posted.
WHALEWATCHING SEASON COMING UP!
THEY’RE ON THEIR WAY…WHALEWATCHING SEASON IN A FEW WEEKS!
The annual migration of grey whales is underway and within a few weeks, they’ll start showing up in the calm, warm Baja water of Bahia Magdalena. We’re already taking reservations for this incredible experience with a great opportunity to get up close and personal to these amazing gentle animals. A trip makes a great present too! Whale watching season generally runs from mid-January to late March. Write to us at: Jonathan@tailhunter.com and we can set up up your whole package.
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
There’s a little of this..a little of that right now. Alot of bonito…the occasional dorado plus inshore species like triggerfish and cabrilla.
THAT LULL BETWEEN THE HOLIDAYS – Full Moon Coming up Too!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 4-12, 2016
It was one of the better weeks for weather with minimal winds most days but just not many fishermen around. I think everyone is geared or pre-disposed with the holidays at the moment or most of the visitors to La Paz are snowbirds making their way down to catch some sunshine or the luckier ones who get to spend all winter down here. Even the locals are pretty tied up with Christmas at the moment with numerous Christmas Fairs, pageants, decorating and shopping. For sure, there’s alot of tamale making going on!
Fishing wise, nothing spectacular, but really hard to know when mostly it’s the commercial guys fishing. Inshore fishing for snapper, barred cargo, cabrilla and jacks has been the predominant catch from what we’re seeing, but there’s still some dorado around. Most are the 5-10 pound size. For a little more fun, the bonito schools are ranging in the usual places with some fish up to 10 pound horses. No tuna or wahoo caught, but that’s because no one was really fishing for them but I did hear of some schools of tuna breaking water just off Punta Perrico. Two of our commerical fishermen friends did get hook-ups on wahoo, but fish came off. Again, it’s hard to give a complete report when there’s not much sportfishing traffic out there. Next week will be a little more complete.
NOW BOOKING WHALE WATCHING TRIPS FOR JAN-MARCH!
If you’d like a really unique trip, Baja isn’t just for fishing! The whales are already making their way south and thousands of them will take up winter habitat in Bahia Magdalenda from January to March. It’s the largest migration of animals on the planet and a great opportunity to spend time in the pristine shallow waters of the bay.
Tailhunters can set up your trips and put together full packages with lodging, transportation, day trips and more. It makes a great Christmas present too!
That’s our story! Hope you and yours are enjoying a fantastic holiday season!
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
It’s so hard to get him to smile sometimes, but Captain Archangel goofs with his “big” yellow snapper and some of the tuna his guys caught.
Captain Adolfo with a nice tuna and a big barred pargo for his anglers.
For almost winter, not a bad grade of tuna this week. And close to shore too!
Captain Archangel again with some of Bob Pettit’s guys from Utah and found some decent dorado plus a big dog-tooth snapper and a yellow snapper. Great eating! They brought fish from their first night to Tailhunter Restaurant to have us cook it up.
Utah guys in the house! Captain Armando got Robert Pettit and his aigo a dorado and huge triggerfish.
Early in the week just as I had published our last report, Terry Robinson, had a small window to fish. His first day, was pretty slow, but on day two, he had quite the buffet of fish including a wahoo, big tuna, some cabrilla, snapper and triggerfish. Other wahoo and tuna were lost. Terry is from Idaho.
WINDY WINTER CATCHES ARE UNUSUAL
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 27-Dec. 4, 2016
Apparently, there’s still some warm-water pelagic species running around this late in the season. There’s not many anglers around as this is the “gap” between the holidays and north winds made some days unfishable and provided scratchy fishing at best. However, the few days we got folks out on the water, there were some surprising catches.
Normally, this time of year, the bite is pretty focused on inshore species and colder-water types of fish like cabrilla, pargo, jacks and snapper. Part of the reason, obviously, is that the waters are colder. But, another aspect is that rougher winter conditions, keep us closer to shore fishing the reefs, rocks and sheltered areas.
This past week, it was cloudy and some days were really uncomfortably windy. There was even a bit of rain as well. However, the few days we had anglers out, it surely wasn’t off-the-wall fishing, but they tagged into some surprising catches. These included some nice-grades of yellowfin tuna in the 20-pound-class. Additionally, our captains found some spots of 8-15 pound dorado and even a few wahoo earlier in the week. Throw those into the box with some nice barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper, a cabrilla or two, red snapper and triggerfish and it made for a surprising variety of fish.
Weather this coming week is supposed to clear up with more sunshine, but winds will be increasing also.
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
A little of this. A little of that. This is pretty typical of what our catch is like now that the seasons are changing. Some bonito, sierra, pargo.
SNOWBIRDS IN TOWN – THE GAP BETWEEN HOLIDAYS
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 20-27, 2016
Hope you and yours had a great Thanksgiving week!
Not much going on this past week. Very few folks in town and most of the visitors are from colder climates and these snowbirds are just trying to find some sunshine. They’re not necessarily in town to fish, or snorkel or participate in other water sports…except for the windsurfers who are starting to head towards La Ventana/ El Sargento near Las Arenas. As our winds get strong and stronger, that area in the channel by Cerralvo Island is world-class for wind sports.
As far as our fishing, well, it is indeed getting windier and not the most ideal for fishing. So, you it is what it is if you plan to fish in the off-season. It’s definitely usually sunny, but winds can make it bumpy and/ or limit the areas we can fish and the types of species we can fish for.
Indeed, that’s what happened this week. No big pelagic to report for the first time all season. No dorado. No tuna. No rooster fish. No billfish. So, maybe the warm-water season has finally ended.
Or, maybe it’s just an aberration. When there’s not many boats on the water, a few boats can’t be everywhere at once checking out all spots. So, there could well be spots of big game fish still out there. Or not. As the season goes along and rolls into December, things will get clearer. It’s definitely a transition time right now.
So, what we got were some cargo, cabrilla, sierra and bonito. Pretty much inshore species. For now. We should get a few more folks on the water now that Thanksgiving weekend is over.
BUT WAIT!!!
Don’t close the curtains just yet…
From Twin Falls, Idaho, Terry Robinson had a great day nailing this huge wahoo…losing a few others…tangling with a big dorado for a bit and also getting the wahoo below.
And here’s the nice tuna. Chunky fish for November!
Just as I was putting out this report to make my deadline, we had some of our anglers hit wahoo and tuna! And lost others! So, hold everything. Maybe it’s not over yet!
That’s our story
Jonathan
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 – Pleasantly sunny, but cooling off. Days high 80’s. Nights high 60’s (We’re using blankets at night!)
Water – Relatively still warm in the 80’s, but losing visibility as winds starting to churn up the water a bit
Wind – Becoming more of an issue and now getting more northerns. Had to suggest some folks wait a few days to fish because it was too rough outside and gusts blowing double digits.
Fishing Quantity – Lots of dorado if you fished with our La Paz Fleet. Only 1-2 fish per panga at Las Arenas, but they could be 20-50 pounders.
Fishing Quality – The La Paz dorado continue to be dinks…5-10 pounds. The larger wahoo this week were 40-pound class.
Jonathan’s Forecast – Gonna get windier and cooler as we head towards winter. Not hardly anyone on the water anymore.
Jonathan’s Attitude – Grateful and blessed to have reached pretty much the end of our 21st season here. Another year of great memories and so many smiles with all our Tailhunter Tribe.
THE FULL EDITION FISHING REPORT
That’s alot of wahoo meat! Linda Canizzo and Jack Stewart just had one day to fish but put this phat ‘hoo in the boat at Muertos Bay.
First day on the water for L.P. Hieb and his dad, Paul, produced this nice wahoo and a yellowfin tuna. Several other fish were also lost. It was a week where we got wahoo, but there were alot of bite-offs and lost lures. The wahoo were getting smarter!
You can tell the seasons are changing. From Rock Springs, Wyoming, Brandon and Tanya McGarr show off the type of catch we’ll be seeing more of…a mix of offshore/inshore species with the inshore species becoming more prevailant. But a sweet mix of fish including a tuna snapper, pargo, triggerfish and bonito.
Day 2 on the water for L.P and Paul produced a double handful of more wahoo for them out’ve Muertos Bay.
Happy Fella…Jack Steele spends a good part of the year in La Ventana and fishing with Captain Hugo put the wood to another speedy wahoo.
FULL MOON WAHOO PACE CHANGING BITE & CONDITIONS
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 6-13, 2016
Fishing conditions and seasons are definitely changing.
With each passing week, it’s a little cooler…a little breezier…the sun is going down earlier…the shadows are getting longer. But, it’s still a great time to be here with lots of sunshine mixed with an occasional passing localized pleasant afternoon shower. Temperatures have been in the high 80’s and evenings have been great an in the high 60’s. Fewer fishermen are here. Fewer families are here as well now that we’re approaching the holiday season. However, there’s snowbirds coming for vacations or seasonal residents escaping their colder homes to spend the winter here in La Paz.
As for fishing, once again, it seems that the closer we get to the full moon…and during the full moon…the better the fishing. As I mentioned, there’s not many anglers out on the water so you almost have the whole ocean to yourself and, although we’re seeing more and more cooler water fish like sierras, cabrilla, jack crevalle, pargo and rainbow runner, there’s still some great blue water pelagic fishing to be done. And, as I said, without many folks here, you’ve got the fishing grounds pretty much to yourself and not much pressure on the fish!
For our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet, as it has been been pretty much all season, the schoolie-sized dorado are still the main catch. They’re smallish, but fun and provide lots of action. Catch-and-release has been very common because you can hook way over your limit in short order. Anglers get enough for their limits and coolers or for dinner and then keep fishing just for fun and letting the extra fish go.
Most of the dorado continue to be 5-10 pounds, but occasionally, there’s a 15 or 20 pounder makes it in. Often, there’s so many “squirts” they don’t give the bigger fish a chance to grab the bait! In those same areas, there’s still some marlin and sailfish feeding as well providing the occasional hookups.
For our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet out’ve Muertos Bay, I was really surprised that we are still getting so many wahoo! In fact, almost every day, our pangas were hooking 1-5 wahoo each. Of course, that’s a generalization. It changed from day-to-day. Howver… Maybe getting 1 or 2 to the panga, but these are quality 20-40 pound fish! Great fun and great eating. Experienced anglers are getting even better scores.
One thing…we’ve been seeing wahoo almost all year. Now that we’re at the end of the year, I think the wahoo have gotten a little more clever. We’re sure losing alot more fish than before…even for our veteran anglers. I think the wahoo have learned to hit the trolled Rapalas from the side thereby cutting the lines. Rods go bendo then ZIP!!! Just like that, the lure is gone in a snap.
As well, there’s still flurries of 20-30 pound yellowfin tuna hanging out as well and willing to eat the chunked squid drifted down on a bare hook in the current.
No real roosterfish to speak of this week, but not really anyone chasing roosterfish this time of year. But it doesn’t mean they aren’t still out there. It’s just the wahoo and tuna have gotten (understandably) most of the focus.
But, with the cooling conditions, we’re seeing alot more variety. A little more of this and that and more inshore species. For sure, winds have become more and more of an issue and there were several days this week that we recommended that the clients stay in and wait a day or two before going out on the water.
It’s going to be coming more common as the north winds increase.
TAILHUNTER DONATION NATION
All the way from Alaska, Lonn and Emma Goldbeck brought down school supplies and toothbrushes along with some great smiles. Lonn is a guide for Hellbent Sportfishing in Alaska. Emma is a school teacher.
End of the season big shout out to EVERYONE all year who brought down so many good and great things for our families and kids in the barrio and the orphanage as well as the women’s shelter. Grateful beyond words at what a difference you made in other’s lives and the smiles you all created. I’m sorry that I also didn’t get Brandon and Tanya McGarr’s photo for this week’s donations!
…and one more big thank you from us
Well…eleven months later, it looks like we’ve come to the end of another season here in La Paz. If anyone is counting, I believe that wraps up 21-years! Jill has already left for the states and I’ll be following in a few days to start getting ready to hit the road on our annual tour of the fishing and hunting shows from late December to the end of March.
We have alot to do now to get the booth together…print out a zillion t-shirts…and brand new 24-page brochure…re-build a new website and find all our winter clothes in storage! I’ll post up all the cities we’ll be visiting in a report in a few weeks. I believe we hit 14 cities in 2017 so I hope we see you there!
But before we pull the curtain down, a few parting words…
You can still come to fish. Our awesome staff will take good care of you in our absence.
The Tailhunter Restaurant is ALWAY open and the margaritas and tacos will still be waiting for you along with our great Tailhunter Team so don’t be shy!
Finally, NOTHING happens without you and because of YOU! We are blessed to do what we do and honored that you share your special vacations and Kodak moments with us. We are beyond grateful. How many jobs can claim that “most of our clients also become our friends?” Thank you all. God bless and best fishes!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL
La Paz, Baja, Mexico
Mexico office: 755 Obregon, La Paz, BCS, Mexico
Phone: 612-12-53311
U.S. Office Mailing Address: 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA 91942
Weather – Nice Sunny high 80’s to low 90’s. Getting a little more breezy and cooling down. More north winds.
Water– Still nice, but cooling. Mid-80’s. Seeing more cooler water fish moving in. Colder thermoclines.
Quality of Fish – Billfish, tuna and wahoo are good sized when you can get them.
Quantity of Fish – If you fish La Paz, you can get lots of dorado. If you fish Las Arenas, fewer fish, but bigger fish.
Forecast– For coming week weather looks good. Nothing special forecast except sun! But winds getting stronger.
Jonathan’s Attitude – Great! It’s been a long season and we’re coming to end of our 21st season. And fish are still biting!
THE BIG PICTURE FULL EDITION FISHING REPORT
Bruce McFadden is the sales director at the famous Peregine Lodge in Canada and had just one day to fish on a quick visit to us in La Paz. With his wife Leticia and Captain Pancho, they tied into Bruce’s first marlin that he fought for 40 minutes before it got off. (they were going to release it) Then, they got this sailfish but were unable to let it go and generously donated the meat to the pueblo.
Our good amigo, Paul Nagata from San Francisco, with a chunky tuna he caught earlier in the week off Las Arenas on dead squid.
Really great first-timer with us, Scott Evans, tied into this yellowfin tuna and is all smiles and thumbs with Captain Jorge.
LATE SEASON STILL HOLDING BLUE WATER FISH
La Paz- Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 30-Nov. 6, 2016
Conditions couldn’t have been nicer this past week for weather and water although it’s obvious that everything is changing as we move through the late fall and towards winter. The sun is out and you really couldn’t ask for nicer days in the high 80’s with cooler nights in the low 70’s and high 60’s. (Us locals are wearing sweatshirts and even some jackets now!). Water is getting a little cooler too. All part of the cycle.
Moreso, you can tell we’ve pretty much come to the end of our regular season.
We’ve been rolling full steam since the end of March with as many as 20-50 anglers per day for 7 days-per-week. Now, we’re down to about less than 10 per week and that will continue to taper. From November to March, we might see only a handful as winds get stronger from the north; the waters get a bit rougher; and the “glamour” fish go elsewhere. There will still be fish to catch, but the majority will be inshore species and cooler water species like pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners and sierra. That doesn’t mean fishing is bad. Just different and surely not to discount some of our cooler water “beasts” like amberjack and yellowtail that can still yank you right outta your socks!
So…to be more specific…we didn’t really fish too much with our La Paz fleet. Winds are already coming from the north and making it bumpy and most of our anglers might do one or two days, and catch a cooler of small dorado between 5-10 pounds, but then want to chase the larger species.
So most of our fishing has been with our Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay Fleet.
There’s some larger dorado there. The wahoo are still hanging around and surprisingly some marlin and sailfish pretty late in the season. There were two blue marlin hooked this week and several stripers and at least one-sailfish.
No tuna for once, but there are several factors that might play into that:
1. The tuna might have started moving out after about 2 months of them being around.
2. We did see some tuna, but moving fast on the surface and headed elsewhere and too fast to get on them
3. Not as many anglers out there from our fleet or any fleet to really pinpoint where the fish might be. (It’s alot easier when a number of pangas are on the water)
4. The few anglers we had this week wanted to spend most of their time chasing other species.
I guess we’ll see how it goes this week!
Some of the other species we got were rainbow runners, pargo, cabrilla and small bonito.
18th ANNUAL LOS CABOS TUNA JACKPOT TOURNAMENT
Team “Tu Corazon” from Los Barriles had the biggest tuna of the tournament with a fish that pulled at 298 pounds. It was worth over $100 thousand dollars, but was not the biggest money winner of the tournament. It did win for biggest fish of the tournament and biggest fish of the first day.
There were lots of fish in the 80-150 pound class that were caught by the 169 teams, but were never weighed because they would not have qualified since we had alot of 180-200 pounders and 8 fish over 200 pounds. These were beasts that were taking 3-4 hours to pull aboard.
Lots of big wahoo were caught both days. The two winning wahoo were 53 and 52 pounds respectively and were worth more than $60 thousand dollars each.
There were a record breaking 169 teams involved from all over the world and all over the U.S. and Mexico. Lots of teams from California, Arizona, Texas, Wisconsin, Ohio and Florida. We had one team from Luxembourg and we’ve had teams from Japan and Russia competing. Good to see so many local teams and also teams from Mexico City as well. There was a record payout for the tournament of almost $800 thousand dollars.
Mark Rayor’s boat the “Vaquera” briefly held the money lead with this 251-pound yellowfin. This was the largest tournament in Mexico history and the largest tuna tournament in the world.
The teams from Texas are always colorful! “It’s not fuschia…that’s too big a word in Texas…It’s PINK!” they told us!
On the last day with only minutes to go before the scales closed, Team Reel Quest literally destroyed the field when they backed into the docks with 5 huge yellowfin tuna parked up against their transom weighing between 150 and 274 pounds. No one had seen anything like it and the huge crowd was cheering! Their 274 and another fish of 251 were the 2nd and 3rd largest fish of the tournament. Largest was a 298 caught the first day.
Team Reel Quest’s fish of 274 pounds wasn’t the largest fish of the tournament, but it was the largest of the 2nd day and it swept all the jackpot categories and resulted in the highest payout ever in the history of the tournament of almost $400 thousand dollars.
Jill and spent this last week working at the Western Outdoor News 18th Annual Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot Tournament in Cabo San Lucas. It’s always fun and great to see so many good friends every year.
This year had the largest field ever with 168 teams and 621 anglers from around the world. Lots of teams from the Western U.S including California, Alaska, Oregon, Arizona, Washington and Idaho. Plus so many teams from Texas, Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and Florida. I met anglers from Russia, Japan and even one team from Luxembourg in Europe…a first! (And their first time ever in Cabo or Mexico!).
Mexico also had a great representation with a huge number of teams from Cabo San Lucas, Los Barriles and La Paz plus teams from Mexico City and Puerta Vallarta as well. As you can imagine, these local “experts” all did well!
The field made this the largest tuna tournament in the world…and the largest tournament in Mexico. We had a record purse of almost $800 thousand dollars plus raised almost $40 thousand in charity funds for dental work for kids in Los Cabos.
Thanks to everyone who made it the best tournament ever. What a great time with great friends!
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
Tailhunter Fish Report 