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Posts Tagged ‘sierra’

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

rooster scott Mcguire 5-14 tags

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

rooster al rodriguez 5-13 tags

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

Kevin Kennedy tags dorado 5-13

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

dan and andrew tags 5-13

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

yellowtail kevin chang tags 5-13

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

Bob Coon rooster tags 5-13

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

rooster JP tags 5-13 two

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

Laurie Reynolds rooster tags edit 5-13

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

kuhn cabrilla 5-13 tags

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

roosterfish adolfo and Laurie tags 5-13

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

mantas-tags 5-13

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

 

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Rooster Dover tags 4-13

We’ve finally had a good appearance of roosterfish, the kind that made Las Arenas the “roosterfish capital of the world.” The fish have been 10-50 pounders and right near the beach. Check out Leif Dover’s big pez gallo taken right off the sand near the Arenas lighthouse. Leif got several of these and released all of them. We encourage releasing the roosters…great exotic fighters, but don’t taste very good and most guys voluntarily are voluntarily releasing them although you’re allowed to keep them. It’s good to see them getting released.

pompano tags jp perkin 5-13

Super photo of another member of the jack family…related to yellowtail, amberjack, jack crevalle…this big pompano was hooked by our amigo of many years, JP Perkin, who used to own a famous tackle store on the Santa Barbar pier in California but now lives in Florida and came to spend a few weeks in La Paz with us. These make incredible eating…and especially sashime! Almost better than yellowtail!

Wayne yellowtail tags

Yellowtail still biting, especially north of La Paz around Espirito Santo Island. They’re diminishing as the waters are warming but some of the one’s we’re getting are still 20-40 pound fish like this nice one that Wayne and Captain Rogelio are showing off here.

Jerry Sylvia 5-13 pompano tags

Jerry Sylvia holds the tail gaff on another sweet-sized pompano. The fish have moved in the last few weeks but I can’t remember seeing so many larger ones caught as we have this year. Jerry came to visit us from Santa Barbara CA

Amberjack 2-Dover 5-13-tags

This is the time of year…late spring…when these big slugs show up. The Mexican name for them is “Pez Fuerte” (amberjack). They are horses and they are the bigger cousins of yellowtail and roosterfish and THEY TASTE GREAT!!! These fish get up over 100 pounds. Leif Dover had a pretty epic week on these all the way from Georgia. This big guy was probably over 50 pounds!

WARM AND COLD WATER SPECIES MIX IT UP FOR THE WEEK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 28- May 5, 2013

It wasn’t a bad week of fishing, but it was’t a great week of fishing either.  There was certainly a lot of action in terms of getting rods bent, but just not a lot of quality fish that came up.  But, also some of that had to do with the type of fish that were getting hooked as well.

Like I said, there was some fairly decent action as we had good numbers of pargo, cabrilla, sierra, pompano and bonito ripping around.  Great great fun on light tackle.  Some dorado were also showing up to 25 pounds.  And there’s rooster fish up to 40 pounds plus jack crevalle in the same area.  So, some great varieties!

But, in terms of quality, we just didn’t see much.  But then again, the “quality” fish were the type that have a lot going for them…like ROCKS!

We did get yellowtail again.  Fewer, but many of those busted guys off in the rocks, but we still showed some in the 20-30 pound class.  The best area has been the east side of Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz.  That’s an area where there’s still a big body of cooler water according to the satellite images of the water temperatures.  As well, their bruiser cousins, the amberjack also made a great showing with fish up to 60 pounds, but again, it’s a lot  harder to put a 60 pound fish in the boat than a 10 pound fish and although guys were hooking them, they mostly broke off.  Same for the larger pargo and cabrilla.  If you can’t get them out’ve the rocks, the overall fish counts don’t look very good.  Good fishing.  Bad catching.

Waters are in that transition mode and passing through a warming phase so we’re expecting to go from cooler water to warmer water species any week now.  There’s some good fingers of warm water and sargasso is starting to build up in the channels which bodes well for dorado season coming up!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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Bill Fong Yellowtail tags 4-13

Despite warming waters, there’s still some yellowtail around especially around Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz where Bill Fong from the Sacramento area go this hefty forktail.

wahoo tags beach 4-13

We have taken more wahoo in the last 2 months than we’ve taken in the last two years! First timer and fishing only ONE day, Randy got these two 20-30 pound class wahoo at the south end of Cerralvo Island.

DENNIS FUJII TAGS YELLOWTAIL ALFREDO 4-13

These are what we all “firecracker yellowtail.” There seems to be nice schools of this fun-sized ‘tails in various places available to both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets. Dennis Fujii and Captain Alfredo pose with a nice schoolie.

cabrilla faron tags 4-13

Another of our Canadian friends, Faron Kilber, poses with the nice-grade of cabrilla that are biting in the rocky areas right now. Our largest this week was about a 25-pound pig!

WATERS WARMING BRINGS FISHING VARIETY

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 21-28, 2013

It was an up-and-down week of fishing with more of those pesky winds some days and then flat calm waters in between plus maybe a tad of full-moon thrown in.  Most days, however, were gorgeous, but big swells generated from the south still made it a bit bumpy even with other conditions were super.

The result was a week of fishing as variable as the weather.  Again, it’s “transition” time between colder and warmer fishing seasons so we had changes in water plus about that many different types of fish as well.

One day all the fish seemed to be inshore fish.  The next day the off-shore fish were lock jawed and only the blue water species bit.  Other days it was a mad mix of a little of this…a little of that.  I counted 15 different species of fish caught last week between our Tailhunter Las Arenas and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

With the offshore stuff, we again got into a few wahoo that were in the 20-40 pound class and a few large tuna were hooked (and lost) that were estimated in the 60-80 pound category.  As well, we’re starting to see a few billfish again and several were hooked (and also lost on light tackle, but a nice thrill just the same for a while when they were hooked).

Inshore, there’s been a lot of activity.  Pargo continue to torment the anglers with only about 2 or 3 put in the boat for every 10 hooked.  That’s just the way it is!  These are tough exciting fish, but their first move is right to the rocks so they have the “edge” in more ways than one!  If you look our our daily scores, in fact, it seems like fishing has really been bad some days, but then talking to the captains or the clients, you find out they lost 2, 3, 4…6 fish to breakoffs or errors!

Same for the yellowtail.  There’s still some nice YT’s around, but not as much as last month as we are no transitioning to warmer water conditions.  The size has also varied.  We’re getting some as small as 5 pound firecracker yellowtail up to about 30-40 pound sluggers.  Best areas are around the islands especially northern Cerralvo and the west side of Espirito Santo Island.

In those same areas, we’ve been hooking some really nice fat cabrilla (Mexican sea bass) up to about 25 pounds and even some small grouper.

Along the beaches, we saw an increase in the number of hooked rooster fish and jack crevalle running up to about 30 pounds and the waters are still cool enough for the guys to be hooking a handful of sierra each day, not counting the bite-offs.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

There’s still some big slug yellowtail north of La Paz where the waters are cooler. The fish are varying in size from 5 pounders to larger 20, 30 and 40 pound models like this great fish taken by our amigo, Grant Darby from Washington with a live mackerel and the photo assist from Captain Alfredo.

Becky rogelio tags cabrilla 4-13

Even if live bait is available, one of the most effective methods of working the reefs and rocks with slow trolled crank baits like the one hanging out of the mouth of this nice cabrilla. Becky Solee from Tigard OR and her husband, Bob, are frequent visitors to us in La Paz and own B & B Custom Fishing Rods. Becky us using one of their popular custom-made “Chix Sticks” and she poses with Captain Rogelio.

sierra verda tags 4-13

Our amiga, Verda Boyd, usually visits us in December and she catches…sierra! She came to visit us in April and she caught…MORE sierra! She’s holding a nice pair here while standing on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Take a look at this monster African pompano! It’s the largest any of us have ever seen taken in all these years and it was caught by Faron Kilber from Canada on his first trip to check out the fishing with us in La Paz. This fish was so big, we actually ran to check the IGFA record books.

SAMSUNG CAMERA PICTURES

You can tell it’s a bit chilly by the way even Captain Afredo is dressed along with Carol Darby…and she’s from Washington and used to chillier temps! But when it’s windy it’s good to have a jacket! Carol stuck it to this fat yellowtail off Espirito Santo Island.

alex tags yellowtail 4-13 two

When it’s one of your first fish ever and your first time visiting La Paz and first time fishing on the ocean, it’s a good day to smile! Alex Babadzhanov is originally from Russia but living in Seattle a the moment for work and got into some nice yellowtail as well! He says he’s now hooked on Mexico and fishing.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Another illustration of the variety of fish right now…take a look at Pete Benneke’s pair of dorado. Normally warm water fish! Pete’s from Canada and the dorado usually start to move in this time of year but we don’t see numbers until the waters warm up. However we did get a big 40 pounder late in the week!

 

WIND DICTATES FISHING (and there was alot of wind this week!)

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 14-21, 2013

A scattered week of fishing dictated pretty much by what the wind does and this week it was pretty windy.  When the winds aren’t blowing, we’ve got dorado, a smattering of tuna, yellowtail, jack crevalle, rooster fish, pargo and cabrilla all in the mix.

But, when then the winds blow, as they do this time of year when we transition between cooler and warmer weather plus we’re affected by all the cold weather in the U.S., all we can do is either move days of fishing or find spots where the winds aren’t blowing as much.  Often that involves hugging the reefs and shorelines or ducking into coves to find fish.  It’s not all bad, as there are still bunches of yellowtail, pargo, cabrilla, jacks, and sierra in the spots.

This week was probably a perfect example of this “transition time.”

There’s a whole bunch of variables at play.  At the end of last week, the winds started to diminish and fishing reflected that with an upswing in yellowtail, sierra and other species.  But, even as the winds died, the warming of the waters brought with it an algae bloom turning waters green mixed with the cooler waters brought up from the deep channels by the winds and there wasn’t a lot swimming around in the dark green.  But, if you found the clearer waters that were blue, there were all kinds of things swimming and willing to bite a line!  Finding the area was the key.

Then, mid-week the winds kicked up again and it was just as well to put your feet in the sand and watch the world go by from the beach.  Not worth fishing.  Too many waves.  Too much rough water.  No bait.

By the weekend, the winds came down again, but we had to wait a few days for the green water to clear and sure enough, the pargo, cabrilla, dorado, yellowtail and other species started biting.  By the time you’re reading this, we’ll be into another “cycle” again.  That’s the way it is this time of year.  On the good side…there’s sure a lot of different species biting.  I counted 15 different species last week!  But with each passing week, the waters get a little warmer…the the winds drop down an little more…And fishing gets better!

That’s our story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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Steve's Yellowtail tags 4-13

Good amigo, Steve Hartsook, from N. California has been visiting us for years and came down earlier this year than normal finally getting into some nice yellowtail fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet despite some pesky winds.

yellowtail verda tags 4-13

Retired Sherriff’s officer, Verda Boyd, usually comes with her husband, Tim, in December and the way the winds blew this week, it might’ve been about that cold! But Verda came without Tim for some yellowtail fishing and produced this hefty forkie fishing off Espirito Santo Island with Captain Joel.

pargo kwame tags 4-13

Big red pargo lisos (mullet snapper) for Kwame Satterfield who was visiting us from Antioch, CA. The double catch was taken while Kwame was fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. He’s posing here at Bahia de Los Muertos. The big snapper/pargo are schooling in the shallows right now.

rooster tags joel jeff brown 4-13

We just started getting some good roosterfishing the last week or two and most of them have been quality pez gallos. Jeff Brown from Minnesota caught and released this beauty off Espirito Santo Island. There have been some good schools showing up with some nice quality fish to start the season.

DCIM100GOPRO

Happy smiles from Yolanda Wheeler. Her first time ever on the ocean…first time ever fishing on the ocean…and her first fish on the ocean…a nice dorado! She was so excited she was jumping up and down in the panga!  One of our first dorado of the season also!

Rod brown yellowtail joel tags 4-13

Far from home, but always welcome, Rod Brown visits us several times a year from distant Wrangell, Alaska! He always does well. Maybe two of the last yellowtail of the changing season, Rod’s posing with Captain Joel from our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

wahoo tags russell 4-13

Jackson, Mississippi in the house! Randall Carrier came a long way to visit us on his first trip and it paid off (just before the winds kicked up) with this nice wahoo on his first day and first day ever! The wahoo was stuck at the south end of Cerralvo Island.

Chuck Fiola Cal Lambert tags pargo sierra 4-13

Two of our newest amigos, Chuck Fiola from Washington and Cal Lambert from Colorado have an nice rack of pargo and sierra they caught while fishing off Las Arenas with us last week.

Bob Patterson dog tooth pargo tags 4-13-proc

Nice dog-tooth snapper aka “cubera snapper” or “pargo perro”, in the hands of Bob Patterson.

DSC00418

PARTING SHOT! When fishing is already tough, don’t complicate it! Our resident amigo and fishing champ had a tough day…then found out later that “someone” had put bananas aboard! This was the only fish caught on the panga all day! For those who don’t know…bananas are bad luck!

STRONG WINDS BLOW APART THE BITE !

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of April 7-14, 2013

After such a spectacular week two weeks ago, Mother Nature kicked up again to remind us that there are some things we still can’t control and we really had a difficult week of fishing.  The bugaboo winds that really determine all things down here howled and blew demonically and either damped the fishing or outright, kept our anglers off the water.

It’s too bad because we were really charging  into (what I thought!) was high gear.The previous week we had our first big tunas…the best wahoo bite in severe seasons…big rooster fish show up…first dorado of the season…big pargo and cabrilla finally kick in…some solid yellowtail still biting…we were kicking up our heels and ready to charge!

And then this week came on.  As they say…”in like a lion.”  The winds roared.

Actually, our weather seemed to reflect what much of the west to middle of the U.S. and Canada got…cold temperatures, high winds…  One day we just brought all the boats back to shore.  Another day we just “suggested” it might not be so good to go out and told everyone to just stay back on the beach rather than get beat up (they had other extra days to make up  the missed day).  Two of the rare occasions when we maybe could have gone out, but why?  Go out and get beat and wet?  It’s supposed to be fun.

On a few other days, it was just too rough to even get bait or get to the fishing areas.  So, this resulted in really slow fishing.  So, that was pretty much the story of the week.

When we did get out, we did get a few yellowtail, some dorado.  Some sierra.  Some nice rooster fish were also caught.  We did get two marlin hooked and dropped.  As well, some pargo were taken.  But, I need to be honest…it was a stinky week.  We’ve had better.

The good thing about fishing the Baja…it doesn’t stay bad for long.  We should turn the corner again…probably by the time you’re reading this.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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yellowtail tags cavelini 3-13

Big yellowtail in the 30-pound class again provided super action all week for our anglers including John Cavellini who fished with Captain Victor near Cerralvo Island and shows off his first-ever forkie yellowtail!

yellowtail rack tags 3-13

Rack of fat yellowtail headed for the fillet knife and the freezer. Racks like this were not uncommon catches this week.

WARM WEATHER LOW WINDS MAKE FOR SOLID YELLOWTAIL BITE AGAIN!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 17-24, 2013

It was another very good week for weather with temperatures surprisingly warm for spring in the mid to high 80’s and winds giving us a break which meant good conditions for more yellowtail which did not disappoint.

Again, fishing around Cerralvo Island, especially the north and east sides of the island, as one angler put it, “There’s so much mackerel in the water, the waters are thick with them!”  This is like candy in the water for yellowtail and sure enough we averaged 2-6 big yellowtail up to about 35 pounds this week…a real healthy grade of fish.  Quite a few others were lost.

Check out some video of  Greg Hunley battling a big yellowtail.  Check out how close to shore we are with Cerralvo Island in the distance and how calm the waters are!  https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=d8a4dfbefd40a051&id=D8A4DFBEFD40A051%21238&Bsrc=SkyMail&Bpub=SDX.SkyDrive&authkey=!ALT32fTppT8gO_c

The fish were eating live mackerel as well as casted iron in blue and white as well as scrambled-egg patterns on the fast retrieve.  Slow trolled yo-zuri magnums were also effective and similarly produced some pargo and cabrilla in the same areas.

We also had (sorry I don’t have a photo), but a wahoo exceeding 100 pound was also taken in the middle of the yellowtail bites when the big fish was seen free-swimming next to one of the pangas and the quickly tied on some wire with a hooked mackerel and pitched it at the lazy wahoo.  The big wahoo took the bait and fish on!  Hopefully, I’ll get a photo of it for next time!

Conditions seemed to be clearing all over which is a great sign.  My captains scouting north of La Paz tell me the green cooler waters are getting better and yellowtail started to rise around El Bajo Seamount!

In addition, we also got some pargo, cabrilla and sierra close to shore!

COMING HOME…THANKS TO ALL!

C61_R64_fred-hall-iz-slide-46

After 3 months on the road and about 15,000 miles of driving, we’re finally coming home!  We’ve had a grand grand time!  We kicked it off in early January and drove from San Diego to the ISE show in Sacramento…then cross the plains and Rockies to Denver…Seattle (Puyallup)…Portland…Yakima…Phoenix…Boise…Long Beach…Salt Lake City…San Diego!   Wow!  Ten shows in 11 weeks!

We’ve criss-crossed the western U.S. up and down and back and forth at the biggest and best fishing and hunting shows around and talked to so many great folks and seen so much of this great country.  The best part was all the laughs, smiles and hospitality of so many of our old amigos and new amigos to be and talking about all the great fishing in La Paz.  It’s also great to see and share the road and shows with all our friends in the industry…many of whom we only get to see once a year.  We’ve had a blast and we want to say a big MUCHAS GRACIAS to everyone and GRACIAS A DIOS for keeping us safe on the roads and to God bless you all for a great year and season.  TAILHUNTER folks are the best!

Now..back to La Paz and let’s go fishing!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

 

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jorge dorado tags

In a surprise bite considering it’s winter, we’re still pulling in dorado! Captain Jorge holds up the kind of “warm” water fish we’re getting out of Las Arenas with fish between 10 and 20 pounds! Either we’ve still got warm water left over from last season or perhaps…water is warming faster than we think and the warm water fish are already moving in? Hard to know, but no on is too upset with these great fish!



yellowtail burns tags

More our style for this time of year…cooler water fish like Rob’s nice fat yellowtail taken out of Bahia de Los Muertos…in between strong winter winds! When the wind lies down, we’re getting fish!

whaleswdennis 407

February is still prime time for our grey whale tours at Bahia Magdalena. The whales will start moving out generally in March. Don’t miss the opportunity for this great experience to get close to these incredible animals in the shallow calm waters of Baja. Ask us about trips!

Miss Ellie

Tailhunter is now leaving Yakima WA and headed to Glendale (Phoenix) Arizona for the next hunting and fishing show. We had a great time in Yakima and will be at the International Sportsmens Expo at the Phoenix University Football Stadium where the NFL Cardinals play from Thursday to Sunday. Come say hi and talk about your next La Paz fishing adventure and check out our new t-shirts like the one being modeled by our young amiga, Ellie and Jilly! Hope to see you this week!

DORADO SURPRISE ANGLERS IN WINTER BITE

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 10-17, 2013

Early week seasonal winds continued to plague the fishing, but just as well that we really didn’t have anyone wanting to go fishing, but it wouldn’t have been good anyway.  But, later in the week, we did get out and the winds cooperated.  It’s the northern winds that really give us the most problem making it difficult to fish as well as get bait.

However, crazily when we got out fishing we got some nice variety.  I say “crazily” because it’s winter and we’re catching dorado…normally warmer water fish that we don’t see until maybe April or May.  Not only did we get dorado, but some of them were really respectable-sized fish in the 10-20 pound class.  Surprisingly, these fish were in the same spots as the cooler water fish, specifically, pargo and yellowtail…fish that we normally catch this time of year…colder water fish.  This leads me to believe that there’s some crazy thermoclines right now with surface water temperatures much warmer than below the surface.  But…hey…no one is complaining!  A winter fishing day that ends up with dorado, pargo, sierra and yellowtail is a banner day no matter where and when you’re fishing!

Winds should be better this week and we’ve got folks fishing all week so we’ll hopefully have a better handle on what’s out there!

TAILHUNTER TOUR 2013

By the time you’re reading this, we’ll be on our way from Yakima WA to Phoenix AZ.  Long drive!  But we’re just wrapping up our 5th show of the season at the Central Washington Sportsmens Show in Yakima where we had a great time meeting all kinds of new amigos and now headed to the International Sportsmen’s Show in Phoenix at the University of Phoenix Stadium…the football stadium where the NFL Cardinals play.  It’s a great venue and we always have a blast.  The show starts Thursday and we’ll be in the booth through Sunday. (Feb. 21-24)  Here’s more information:  http://www.sportsexpos.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewlocation&locationnumber=6

Come see us and let’s set up your 2013 La Paz fishing trip!  See you this week!

That’s our story

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

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Hawk Yellowtai 1-proc

Our good friend, “Hawk” Davis, was able to sqeeze out some days on the fishing grounds in between wind to get in on the yellowtail bite we got this week!

whaleswdennis 410-proc

Whale watching in Bahia Magdalena is going on full-swing right now in the bay’s shallow warm waters where the grey whales spend the winter. It’s a great experience and we’ll be running trips through March! Ask us!

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

We just finished our 4th Tailhunter Show of the season at the Portland Expo Center for a great show where thouands of folks showed up for one of the largest fishing and hunting shows on the west coast! We talked to hundreds of folks each day and got great visits from so many local friends like Amy and Belmond Mann who brought the family to say hi to us! This week we head to the Yakima Sun Dome in Yakima WA for the 24th Annual Central Washington Sportsmans Show from Feb. 15-17th. Come say hi and talk to us about your 2013 La Paz fishing trip!

YELLOWTAIL HIGHLIGHT WEEK OF FISHING

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 3-10, 2013

Late week, winds finally settled down enough to make it comfortable to fish.  Earlier during the week, seasonal winds made it just too crazy for us to really put folks out on the water.  Many folks this time of year, aren’t hardcore anglers and are often folks just in town looking for a day on the water so it’s often best just to just keep an eye on the weather so that we can put them out when it’s calmest and they can enjoy themselves and get some action.  Honest, though, it it weren’t for the winds, it’s really pretty nice in La Paz with daytime temps in the mid-70’s and being in town is really enjoyable right now.  Oh, and carnaval started this week too so town is hopping and it goes on through next week!

Anyway, time on the water was productive with a nice variety of fish and some solid action.

The appearance of yellowtail again was the most welcome part of the bite.  These were some nice fish that ran 15-35 pounds!  Real slugger toads with maybe even some larger fish breaking off as they often head right back to structure and the rocks.  As I mentioned, many folks aren’t big time anglers, and when some of these freight trains hit, you don’t get a second chance to figure out what to do or make mistakes.

This is the same for the larger cabrilla as well as the pargo.  First thing they want to do is head for home in the rocks and that’s often not very deep.  So, there’s not much margin for error.  When a huge pargo, hits if you’re still fiddling with which way on the fishing rod is up, you’re toast!  I mean, that’s part of the fun.  But, it’s not like a tuna or dorado which might have a hundred feet or so of water beneath it to run or wants to rip off 300 yards of line on the uptake.  Yellowtail, pargo, cabrilla and other “rock fish” can often be in water that’s only 10 feet deep and dotted with reef and rocks!  So any hesitation and the fish simply busts you off!

So, often counts would be better except that fish are getting lost.

That being said, we did get some nice yellowtail mixed with smaller cabrilla, pargo, sierra along the beaches and good numbers of bonito which provide great action.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

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Rack sierra dorado cabrilla

Typical catch this week mixing some great-eating / good action species including, sierra, cabrilla (seabass) and small to mid-sized dorado while fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos.

cabrilla matt lewis tag 12-11

Matt shows off a good-sized cabrilla of the type we were catching this week. Great close inshore fishing for these right now plus one of the tastiest eating fish in our area!

NO TROPHY FISH BUT MIXED ACTION KEPT RODS BENT BETWEEN WINDS

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of  Jan. 27 to Feb. 3, 2013

It was a mixed week of fishing both for the weather and the catch.  Early in the week, we were into dorado and yellowtail fishing as we launched our pangas from Bahia de Los Muertos.  Nothing spectacular, but decent catches with lots of action if you add in the bonito, smaller pargo and cabrilla that were released.   Almost all live-bait fishing.

Then, the winds came up mid-week.  Fortunately, we didn’t have fisher-folks mid-week.

Winds started to diminish about Thursday so we had pangas out every day through the weekend with decent success.  I was surprised by the number of dorado we’re still catching even tho’ it’s winter.  Nothing big, but tasty fun-sized school fish between 10- and 15 pounds are lots of fun and great for many of our winter anglers who aren’t hard-core fisher folks and really are in town just to get some sunshine and have some fun on the water.  As well, we did get into yellowtail, but they were the smaller models no more than 10 pounders plus cabrilla (many ended up at our Tailhunter Restaurant for dinner!) and smaller pargo.  Plus some decent numbers of sierra.  Add that to the bonito and other assorted species and it made for some OK action and fun days on the water although nothing spectacular in terms of size.

A couple of forays were made to the island to see if we could raise wahoo, but no biters.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

“NEEDLEFISH MADNESS”

I filmed this back in November, but only now had time to edit it together.  Any of you that have fished with us or in Baja know that needlefish are voracious pests.  They rip our lines and tear up our baits!  I’ve always wanted to see what it looked like when a school of them descend on a panga!  I thought you might like to see it as well.  Check out the size of this school!  This is what you can’t see underwater when you’re fishing!  These are 3′-4′ long needlefish.  Check out how they hit the sardines when the sardines get tossed in the water!

TAILHUNTER IS IN PORTLAND THIS WEEK!

We continue our swing through the great Pacific Northwest with one of our favorite stops!  Jill and I will  bring the Tailhunter Booth to the  Pacific NW Sportsmens Show at the Portland Expo Center (in Portland…of course!).  Show starts Wednesday and goes through Sunday.  Come by. Say hi.  Check out the new Tailhunter T-shirt designs and come talk to us about your 2013 La Paz Fishing trips!  For more info click this link:  http://www.thesportshows.com/pnwss/

Jilly is set up and ready to go.  See you in Portland, Oregon this week!

Jilly is set up and ready to go. See you in Portland, Oregon this week!

There will be hundreds of outdoor exhibitors from around the world for fishing, hunting, camping and other outdoor activities.  Tons of gear to try, check out and purchase.  Seminars. Boats, RV’s and outdoor vehicles plus great food.  A super event for the entire family!   See you here!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

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AMY ASHLEY DORADO POLE tags-proc

Pretty good day of fishing for Amy Sheridan from Wyoming and Ashley Jerrigan from Ohio who spent the day fishing with us later in the week when the winds died down. It make all the difference! Big cabrilla and dorado get hoisted on the gaff pole while the ladies pose on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

yellowtail Joel Zarmati tags

Slugger-sized mossback yellowtail like this one caught by Joel Zarmati have taken up the bite around Cerralvo Island and a few other areas. Finally, the wind settled down and anglers were able to get out and rack some of these nice fish (Thanks for the photo, Roger!)

 

cabrilla ashley tags-proc

Here’s some of the best eating fish in our area! We call ’em cabrilla…Mexican seabass and this is a hefty trophy that Ashley’s holding up while famous Capt. Victor looks on.

Dorado fernando Wayne Jarrett tags

Captain Fernando poses with anger Wayne Jarrett who stuck this big boy bull dorado out at the 88-spot. The big fish are still around, wind permitting!

Whalewatch tags

From now until about mid-March, we’re running our whale watching trips from Bahia Magdalena where the whales have migrated to mate and give birth. It’s an incredible experience to get this close to these magnificent creatures and a great lifetime experience for the whole family to get right up to the whales in the shallow calm waters of the bay! Ask us for details!

Jill n J tags 2 come see us

Jill and I had a blast at the Washington State Fairgrounds this past week meeting lots of our amigos and Tailhunter Tribal members. We’ve been on the road now for a month and have Sacramento, Denver and now Washington under our belt. Next stop is Portland, Oregon for the Northwest Sportsmans Show at the Portland Expo Center. Come see us and let’s talk about getting you down to fish with us in La Paz!

WIND DROPS AND FISH CRANK UP ACTION!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 20-27, 2013

The beginning of the week was a continuation of last week’s strong winter winds that kept everyone off the waters and hunkered down onshore.  But once the winds let up we got back on the water again and late week bites confirmed that the fish are still there and going strong!

There’s a great and rather unusual mix of fish with both warm and cooler water species mixing it up and helping fill up the boxes.

For warm water species, it’s pretty unusual for us to be finding dorado this late/early in the season.  It’s hard to know if this is a continuation late season bite or just an extremely early vanguard of a new dorado season.  I guess it doesn’t really matter!  Dorado are dorado and everyone’s happy with them!  Not many complaints when breezing dorado come running through the chum line and tear into the lines!   The fish are rangy with sizes going from 5 to 30 pounds or so…a nice grade.  The fish are eating sardines, mackerel, dead baits and chasing lures…willing and eating!

In addition, the other inshore biters are ripping as well.  Again…this seems a mite early in the season, but no one is complaining.  This includes largo lisp (mullet snapper), cabrilla (sea bass) and some nice slugger yellowtail as well with fish up to 30 pounds.

As expected, the inshore fish are being found in the shallow waters around structure like reefs and rocks which help them stack odds against the angler show not only have to battle the fish, but the rocky jagged environment waiting to shred lines!  North and south Cerralvo are especially good for the yellowtail as well as  in Bahia de Los Muertos near the point and a tad further south near the Boca de Alamo Arroyo.

Other species have included some nice jack crevalle and bonito.

For some other great activities, the whales have shown up and are going full force out at Bahia Magdalena and we’re running our annual whale watching tours out to the bay to see the whales.  The best time to see these magnificent creatures in the bay after their migration from the Bering Sea is from now to about mid-March.

Fuscia women's tank logo shirt

TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR

Thanks to all the friend and amigos who came to see us this past week at the Washington State Fairgrounds in Puyallup, Washington.  It was great to see everyone at the Washington Sportsman’s Show especially all the new Tailhunter tribal members-to-be that came to talk to us about coming to see us in La Paz.  We had a blast!

Our next stop in the 2013 Road Tour takes us to Portland, Oregon for the Northwest Sportsman’s Expo at the Portland Expo Center.  We’ll be there from Feb. 6-10th (Wed. to Sunday).  Come by to see us…get your 24 page Tailhunter brochure…our new DVD or pick up our new logo t-shirts that we’ve brought along in both mens and womens styles!  Of course, also to talk to us about your next fishing adventure in La Paz!  Come see us!

NEW TAILHUNTER U.S. MAILING ADDRESS

If you’re sending us anything, even though, we live in La Paz, we’ve changed our U.S. MAILING address!  The new address is:

P.O. Box 1149

Alpine CA 91903-1149

carnivale 2 (2)

STAY TUNED

We’re getting alot of questions about CARNIVAL week in La Paz.  La Paz goes into full-party mode Feb. 6-12th.  The city will be rockin’!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

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