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Posts Tagged ‘snorkeling’

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter La Paz Fleet for Week of March 16-23, 2014

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That’s a big sierra! Great eating and feisty on light tackle, Cindy holds up a trophy sierra she nailed trolling Cerralvo Island with the purple rapala you see in the photo. Cousins to the wahoo, these guys make super ceviche!  (Thanks for the photo, Hawk!)

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Dorado were the mainstay for our anglers this week as waters up to 80 degrees have moved into our fishing holes bringing the warm water species as well. This female was hooked just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos and released, but we’ve been getting some bulls up to 20-25 pounds.

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Inshore action has been good for light tackle and the flyrod like this cabrilla (Mexican seabass) that Dennis McGuffee caught fishing with Captain Archangel from Tailhunters. Dennis is from Colorado.

Here is why we're getting so many warm water fish...WARM WATER!  This is the latest ocean satellite reading from www.terrafin.com showing water temps.  The copper colors are in the 80's and the greens are the high 70's!

Here is why we’re getting so many warm water fish…WARM WATER! This is the latest ocean satellite reading from http://www.terrafin.com showing water temps. The copper colors are in the 80’s and the greens are the high 70’s!

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After 3 months on the road, we’re back in home grounds of S.California for the Fred Hall Fishing Show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in San Diego! Show is from Thursday to Sunday! Come visit us in the booth and set up your 2014 La Paz fishing trip!

WARM WATER SPECIES AGAIN TOP CATCHES

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 16-23, 2014

Unless something dramatic happens, which might not be good, I would venture to say that cold-water fishing is pretty much done for the year.  Given the patterns and catches all winter, our chilly-water season has come and gone…what there was of it!

Whether that’s good or bad depends on how you look at it.  For fishermen coming in the spring to chase yellowtail, I think they might be disappointed.  There’s still yellowtail around, but certainly not in the numbers we’re used to seeing this year.  Our divers say there’s a colder water thermocline down deep that seems to be where the fish are holding.  But, the warmer waters on the surface…up 78 degrees around Cerralvo and into the 80’s on the outer banks!   There are still some other species around that are great fun like the spawning pargo and reef-bound cabrilla, but frankly no one has really been chasing these challenging species, not when there’s top water species around that are easier to catch and less frustrating.

That would be the other way to look at things.

The warm water species have really not left.  They’ve slowed a bit, but folks…we’ve been catching dorado since Christmas.  We’ve had little jags of wahoo and even tuna throughout the winter and even the occasional marlin.  These are all “glamor “ species we don’t see until later in the season…at least late spring or so.  The warm waters have kept these fish in the area and that’s what folks have been catching.  They’re fun.  They’re impressive fighters.  They’re great eating.  What’s not to like?  Captains, as a pragmatic issue, will also follow the path of “least resistance.”

No sense in chasing bottom fish like pargo or amberjack that will bite, but will frustrate the anglers and possibly send them home with empty fish boxes when dorado are swimming around and make for fast action and great fun and Kodak moments on the beach.  Same with cabrilla which are tasty and small…3-5 pounds…then there’s 20 pound dorado swimming around.  Yes…20 pound dorado…and some larger!

This past week our some of our pangas got limits of dorado up to 25 pounds…plus cabrilla…plus a few small roosters…bonito and jack crevalle.  Good action.  There were some yellowtail caught by commercial guys around Cerralvo Island and north of La Paz, but early in the week there were some huge winds that kept everyone close or not even going out.

At the beginning, I said that a dramatic change might not be good.  Given the current warmth of our waters, if something dramatic happens, like a sudden decrease in open temperature and everything got cold, I don’t think that would be a good thing. In our past experience, that might just shock the waters and the fish.  The waters would turn green and murky and fish wouldn’t bite.  That’s just speculation on my part, but I’d rather have fish biting than possibly none at all!  Even if they are dorado and billfish!  Nothing wrong with that.  And nothing wrong with the ocean either!  It’s just another cycle that we go through and this year just happens to be warmer than normal!

END OF THE ROAD!  WE’LL BE IN SAN DIEGO THIS WEEK!

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Sr. Agustin Olachea, head of the La Paz Hotel Association, came all the way up from La Paz to visit us at the Long Beach Fred Hall show! He does alot to help bring tourism to La Paz and Baja, Sur.  Great to have him visit us to see what we do at the shows!

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We’re coming back to La Paz! The scene at our booth in Long Beach two weeks ago as Jill and Don Busse and his gang of amigos toast the upcoming fishing trip returning to fish with us in October!

Our Tailhunter 2014 Road Tour started at the end of December and it’s finally coming to an end..sadly!  Because we’ve had a blast driving all over the country and visiting so many of our amigos at the west’s largest fishing and hunting shows!  We’ve been doing it now for almost 20 years!  Our road show started with us driving from San Diego to the Sacramento ISE show….then across to the Denver ISE show…then to the Puyallup Fairgrounds in Washington.  Then it was just south to the Portland Expo Center.  From there to the fairgrounds in Yakima, Washington.

We then took that long drive from Washington all the way to the Phoenix ISE show at the football stadium.  Then back north we went to Boise, Idaho for another great show.  Then back south to the Long Beach Fred Hall Fishing and Boating show.  Last week we drove to Salt Lake City at the ISE show there in Sandy, Utha.  Now, we’re here in San Diego!  Finally!   What a long fun trip it has been!  We rocked!

So, come see us starting Thursday for the Fred Hall Fishing show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds near San Diego.  The show goes until Sunday and both Jill and I will be in the booth. Come say hi and let’s chat about having you come fishing this year in La Paz.  Here’s more information about the show and how to get discounted tickets!   Click the link:

FRED HALL SAN DIEGO FISHING & BOATING SHOW

Also, click on the video below!

That’s our story!

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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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet La Paz for Week of March 9-16, 2014

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Dorado in winter? Yup! Jeff Burnham from Larkspur CO came down to wet some lines with us and stuck this nice bull fishing off Las Arenas. The nice mahi was taken just outside Bahia de Los Muertos!

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Nothing wrong with this colorful bull dorado with big smiles and a great catch by our amigo, Larry Cornwall. Hard to believe getting this kind of fish in March!

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Yes! There’s wahoo around Cerralvo Island right now, like this pair of speedy skinnies shown off by our Tailhunter Captain Jorge on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

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With Tailhunter captain Archangel checking the water for any “followers” as dorado will often do, Dennis McGuffee poses with another sweet mahi while fishing out’ve Bahia de Los Muertos. After this they came inshore and using light tackle played with numerous inshore species.

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More like it! This is normally, what we’re catching this time of year…cabrilla (seabass) like this tasty one caught by Jeff Burnham.

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We had an incredible time in Salt Lake City! What a party at the International Sportsmens Expo with lots of sign ups for our 2014 La Paz fishing season and great photo ops for Jill and our amigas!

SPRING-LIKE CONDITIONS SET THE SCENE AND THE FISHING…UNTIL THE WEEKEND!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 9-16, 2014

As one of our anglers said, “It’s incredible.  It’s like fishing in May down here right now!”  And that about sums it up.  “I come down and expect winter fishing and instead encounter dorado right in the bay!”

He has it pegged about right.

Unseasonably warm water has turned the fishing somewhat on it’s head.  Normally, we’re getting yellowtail and sierra and other cool-water fish this time of year and instead we’ve run into a pretty steady jag of dorado up to about 20 pounds…flirted with shots of wahoo several times a week…caught the occasional tuna…and even hooked a few marlin!  All fish, we don’t normally see until late spring and even early summer!

As well, there have been some surprising catches of amberjack in the 20-80 pound class to go with cabrilla (sea bass), pargo (snapper), sierra and bonito and the occasional yellowtail as well.

This past week, the highlight were probably the dorado that were free-swimming literally within yards of the beach at times.   Some of these fish were respectable quality fish too with some decent bulls in the panga boxes.  The fish ranged from Bahia de Los Muertos out to the buoys and around the island.  They weren’t highly concentrated and it wasn’t a wide-open bite by any stretch, but the fact that the fish are even here this early and have been since January is remarkable.  When we did run into the fish, our anglers were getting 2-4 fish per panga mixed with some of the other species.

But, just like they say in the commercials…”But wait!”

We also took a few wahoo off the island early in the week and some smaller roosterfish are starting to show as well.  All good signs!  Throw in a few sierra some action on the bonito and there was some OK action this week.

At least until the weekend hit.  Mother Nature slammed us back with a reminder that March comes in like a lion and roared in with 30-40 mph winds more characteristic of this time of year!  The high winds pretty much shut things down for the weekend.  But, it’s going to be like that at times and we’ll just have to keep an eye out for this.

TAILHUNTER WRAPS UP SALT LAKE CITY ISE SHOW

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A big “muchas gracias” to Salt Lake City for treating us so well and all our friends who came by to say hi and our new amigos who booked fishing trips to La Paz for 2014 at the International Sportsmans Expo!  Our booth was jumping for all 4 days and it was great to see so many of our amigos and make new ones as well.   This was our 9th show of the season and now we wrap things up and head south once more to the Fred Hall Fishing show at the San Diego Co. Fairgrounds in Del Mar CA for our 10th and final show!

We’ll be there in our booth March 27-30th.  Click this link for all the info and how to get tickets:  Fred Hall Show San Diego Co. Fairgrounds March 27-30   We’ll see you there!

That’s our story!

Joanthan and Jilly

combo signature 2-proc

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International Fleet for Week of March 2-9, 2014

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This is more like it for March fishing! Joe Arata of Pacifica CA strikes the hot pose with a slugger yellowtail he took on the iron off Cerralvo Island. Yellowtail were a bit more predominant this week.

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What the heck! Roger Thompson is one of the best anglers we know. He was throwing the iron for yellowtail and said his jig barely hit the water when this big-time marlin smacked into it! On 40-pound test, he battled the big billfish for over an hour! Attempts to release the fish were not successful and the meat was donated. Marlin generally don’t show up for another 3 months or so! Just another indication that we’re going to see more warm water species showing up!

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Brian ONeill an Leif Dover are clowning with a hefty pair of yellowtail on the Beach at Bahia de Los Muertos by holding the fish close to the camera. Still…even without them goofing, this pair of yellows are still trophy fish! Both our amigos are from Georgia!

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PHOTO 1 – While eating a sandwich…(see story below)

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What have we here? (See story below)

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If there’s any question about the waters being warmer than usual, check out this crazy story from John Duteil who was visiting us from Canada:
We went to the beach at Tecolote and wow the fish were literally jumping out of the water. Two dorado came speeding right up to the shore, then started flipping around one made it back out to sea but the other was stuck. Our friend Dennis still eating his lunch walked over and picked him up. (Pics attached) moral of the story if you can catch them this easy on the shore imagine what you can do in a boat!! it is so easy to catch fish in La Paz they are literally jumping out of the water for you to catch!”

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Best show of the season? Maybe so! Just finished up the mighty Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center that went from Wednesday to Sunday! We hear it broke attendance records and the place was packed and the Tailhunter Booth never had a dull moment! Don Busse (far right) brought over his merry group to toast us with Jill leading the saludos at our booth! We saw a zillion friends and booked lots of fishing trips for 2014 to La Paz! Thanks, Long Beach! Thanks to everyone! No onto Salt Lake City!

CAN IT GET STRANGER?  WATERS WARM AND BRING TOP WATER SPECIES!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 2-9, 2014

Amiga:

So sorry.  Impossible to write anything from the show and then I’m up to 3 or 4 a.m. just catching up.  It’s after midnight now Sunday.  If you can still use it, here’s some info:

The strange week early season continued this past week with more un-characteristic biters all week, but especially early in the week.  In what seems like we may have by-passed our cold-water season and got right into spring-like conditions, we continue to hook up with a crazy variety of fish indicative of waters that are unseasonably warm!

We did get a few more big yellowtail this week, but the numbers are way off from what they should be.  Normally, this time of the year, we are hammering big 25-40 pound ‘tails and getting 2-5 per panga not counting the ones we lose!

Instead, we are only getting about 3 – 10 per week!  That’s it.  They are a nice grade of fish, but the counts are not what they should be.

However, don’t panic!  The slack is being taken up by other fish including dorado, wahoo…even marlin and we got a tuna (reportedly a 24-pound class yellowfin was taken!)  this week as well.  All of these are normally warm water species that we don’t see for another 2 months or so!

Mixing that in with some cabrilla and pargo and it’s making for an interesting “chop suey” of fish in the fish box these days.  Will it continue?

I have no idea.  We seem to get new surprises every week!  Two things can happen.  The waters will continue to warm in which case, forget the cold water species like the yellowtail an sierra and such.  They’ll go deep or leave the area far too early!

Secondarily, they water will suddenly get cool and cold and we’ll lose the warm water species and by then it might also be too drastic of a change for the inshore species.

I tend to think the waters will continue to warm so look out…it’s going to be a season of early big fish!

We’ll keep you posted for sure.

LONG BEACH ROCKED!  NOW HEADED TO SALT LAKE ISE SHOW!

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Our booth in Long Beach was visited by so many super amigos but we never expected so many dignitaries from La Paz to come up as well including our amigo Agustin Olachea, head of the La Paz hotel association! It was great to see him at the show helping to promote tourism in our city!

We had an incredible run this past week at the Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center.  What a slamming good time seeing so many of our S. Cal friends and so many of our amigos in the fishing industry.  It was often shoulder-to-shoulder in the aisles and the din of the crowd was so raucous that we had to yell to be heard!  Couldn’t have been more fun and I also got to celebrate my birthday in the middle of about 10,000 of my best friends like I do every year!  Thanks to everyone who came by to chat about fishing in La Paz and also wish me another good “trip around the sun!”  It was a grand time!

But now…

Here we come Salt Lake City!  Two more shows to go and Salt Lake it ALWAYS fun!  We’ll be at the Expo Center in Sandy, Utah to be specific in that fine facility from Thursday to Sunday.  So, come say hi and let’s set up your 2014 La Paz fishing trip.  Here’s the details for the show which runs March 13-16.   ISE International Sportsman Expo (Sandy UT)

Click that link for information as well as show times and discount tickets!   There’s always a ton of fishing, hunting, camping, boating and other outdoor related gear, info and other stuff for the whole family.  See you this week!

That’s our story!

combo signature 2-proc

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter Fleet for Week of Feb. 23 to March 2, 2014

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In 20 years running our operations in La Paz, I’ve not had anyone pull up a big broomtail grouper like this. Leif (“Don’t  call me “Garrett”) Dover from Atlanta GA has been fishing at least 2 times a year for many years and always sticks fish with us. He said this fish slammed into his jig and almost pulled him out’ve the boat. This is not just a trophy fish, it’s also an unusual catch!

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Fishermen come for years trying to stick a trophy wahoo. Don Asp came down on his first trip from Minnesota and rips this sweet ‘hoo! He’s just trying to catch some sunshine and get in a little fishing. Instead he gets on of the most prized fish in Baja. He’s on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos. Lots of wahoo this week. Unbelievable.

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Ken Gragg (left) is one of our best amigos who fishes with us at Tailhunter several times a year and came down this past week with his son, Steve. They found the schools of big pargo liso off the rocks near Las Arenas. Tough fish to put in the boat!

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Brian O’Neil gets a funny look from our Tailhunter Moncho as Brian struggles with a wiggling big amberjack and not get stuck by the jig. First big amberjack of the season for Brian!

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OK…this one turned out to be the biggest amberjack of the week…maybe the year! Look at this beast that Capt. Hugo hung!   The amberjack is the delicious big cousin of the yellowtail. These are generally not caught in our waters until later in the spring!  Amigo, Roger Thompson,  was on the boat and took the photo.  Thanks, Rog!

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Shellee Mittan from northern California and her husband, Bill, only had time to squeeze in one day of fishing and got some cabrilla (released) and these two nice sierra.

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We have missed our amigo, Daryl Valdez from Bakersfield CA who usually visits us every year, but hasn’t been down in a bit. Great to see him and he got the largest pargo of the week…this fish estimated at 20-25 pounds.

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Nice forktail! Joe Arata from Pacifca CA dropped a blue and white iron overboard and stuck it to this fat yellowtail off Cerralvo Island. The yellowtail haven’t been as prevailant as normal as water temps and bait conditions have been variable.

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Dave Lue and Chad Gagnier were visiting us for the first time and fishing with Tailhunter and show off their first day of fishing with 2 wahoo plus dorado. The anglers are from Georgia.

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First day hot stick, Leif Dover and Captain Moncho pose with another wahoo taken off Cerralvo Island.

THE MOST AMAZING CRAZY WINTER WEEK OF FISHING!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 23 to March , 2014

This might have been the craziest week of winter fishing we’ve seen in our many years here.  Mainly, it’s because it wasn’t winter fishing! I’m not sure what to call it or what to say about it!

In all honesty, the fishing action was really only so-so.  We had a good number of anglers out there and it wasn’t crazy wide-open by any stretch.  And it was better earlier in the week than later when it seemed to taper off.

However, what it lacked in numbers was made up for in quality.  Great quality. Unbelievable quality.  Just look at the photos!

Now, normally this time of year, we’re chasing cold water inshore fish.  Species like sea bass (cabrilla), pargo (snapper), jack crevalle, pompano, sierra and the like.  If conditions are right, we’re also getting the big pig yellowtail as well.

Well, the last few weeks we started getting some really strange biters and I think it culminated this week.  In fact, it was a great indescribable week relatively speaking.

We did find the pargo.  Some big ones right off Punta Perrico.  But, we also got…get this..(drumroll)….wahoo!  Dorado!  A 180-pound striped marlin!  Amberjack!  And even a huge broom tail grouper!

What’s going on?

Maybe it’s the water temps being a little warmer than normal.  Maybe it’s the lack of mackerel that usually draw the yellowtail up from the trenches.  But, I have never seen a winter like this where we’re getting these species.  Sure, every now and then someone gets one, but to have all of these species biting at the same time?  Literally unheard of!

But, the anglers sure stuck some fish.  Bait was still an issue, but using ballyhoo and slow trolling Rapalas and also those guys who dropped yo yo iron did well.   Hot spots were all around Cerralvo Island, around the north and south ends were especially good.  But also around Punta Perico fish were found.  We’ll just have to keep an eye on things!

BRING ON THE BIG SHOW – TAILHUNTER HEADS TO LONG BEACH FRED HALL SHOW

Jilly n JR Long Beach booth

Thanks to all of our new and old amigos in Boise who came to see us at the Idaho Sportsmans Show! We were slammed and had the best show of our 2014 sports tour! Lots of reservations for fishing with us this year and we’re looking forward to all the visit!
But now…we head to the big boy show of shows…the FRED HALL FISHING and HUNTING SHOW at the Long Beach Convention Center starting this Wednesday to Sunday!

We can’t say enough about this past week show at the Idaho Sportsmans’ Show in Boise Idaho.  Thanks to everyone!  The show was packed and our Tailhunter booth was slammed.  We had some of our best day of the 2014 tour this past week and booked lots of new reservations for fishing this year!  Just spectacular!

And now….

We head to the grand-daddy of shows!  The Fred Hall Fishing and Hunting Show starts Wednesday and goes through Sunday at the Long Beach Convention Center.  This show is huge so bring your walking shoes!  There’s tons to see for the whole family.  It takes some folks several days to walk through all the displays; check out all the gear for sale; check out the seminars and make their way through the whole show.  This is a huge party.  If you’ve never attended it’s the Woodstock of fishing shows on the West Coast.  Come see us.  We’ll be in our booth in our usual place in the middle of tackle row, next to Izorline fishing line and Whopper Stopper fishing rods.   This is gonna be fun!

Here’s more details:  Fred Hall Fishing Show

That’s our story!

combo signature 2-proc

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Jan. 19-26, 2014

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The view from Bahia de Los Muertos where we launch every day for the fishing grounds. Despite the great sunshine and seemingly tranquil waters, just beyond the point, many of the days were pretty choppy. Fortunately, fishing is close!

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Sierra…the speedy toothy gamefish that makes great sport and tasty ceviche was our mainstay for the week like this guy that Tim’s holding in front of the camera. Light tackle is great for these guys that can get 3 times this size.

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Commercial fishermen started getting into some of our seasonal yellowtail this week as shown by some of the catch laying on the beach. Unfortunately, we were doing more fishing than catching as the powerful jacks we hooked all broke off.

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Yes! Whale watching season is back at Bahia Magdalena and we’re running daily trips out to see these great creatures in th calm bay waters! The whales are usually here until mid-March so let us know if you’d like us to set up a tour for you!

 

ANOTHER WINDY WEEK DOESN’T

HELP COMFORT LEVEL

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of January 19-26, 2014

This past week was more typical of winter fishing in La Paz.  In a word…WINDY!  Northern winds kept things blustery, cool and bumpy on the water, but fortunately, being the off-season, there weren’t that many fishermen on the water and those that did fish this week have fished during this time in the past and knew what they were going to encounter or, in the alternative, were happy just to get out into some sunshine!  It was sunny, no doubt and temperatures were in the 70’s, but windy by our standards and cool as well.  But for folks from Canada and the mid-west, they were just looking for a day out on the water in the sunshine!

As for fishing, again, typical of this time of year when the winds blow.  Sierra provided the most action inshore along the reefs and beach drop-offs.  In the rock areas and reefs, smaller pargo, snapper and cabrilla (sea bass) were willing to bite chunks of dead bait like squid.  We know there have been dorado the past few weeks, but nothing came up this week in the usual areas made more difficult by the bumpy waters.    However, we did have some yellowtail and larger pargo hooked and lost.  It’s sort of a double whammy.  These fish are the season trophy fish and mean as heck and powerfully built with attitude.  Rookies or folks not ready to put some bend on these fish are quickly schooled when the fish power back into the rocks and the line breaks.  Still, it’s very encouraging to know these bad boys are in our waters!

THANKS WASHINGTON!  TAILHUNTER NOW GOES TO PORTLAND!

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So many friends visit us in our Tailhunter booth like John and Dolores Ehlers, our amigos who have fished with us for many years, but represent Eagle Point Lodge in Alaska. We just had a great week of shows in Washington and now head for Portland, Oregon!

We just wrapped up our third show of the tour season with an incredible show at the Washington Sportsman’s Show at the Puyallup Fairgrounds between Seattle and Tacoma.  It was five incredible days and great to see so many of our amigos and tons of reservations for fishing with us in La Paz in 2014!  We’re excited to welcome so many new folks and old tribal members who are coming to fish with us this year!  Thanks to all who visited!

We move on now to the Northwest Sportsmens Expo at the Portland Expo Center right next to the Columbia River in northern Portland.  This show is huge and always one of our biggest plus I think we have a huge number of amigos in the area who come to visit us.  The show runs Feb. 5-9.  Come see us to say hi…check out our new brochure plus new hat and t-shirt designs and set up your 2014 La Paz fishing trip.  Click the link for more information and how to get discount tickets:  Pacific Northwest Sportmans Show

Have a great week!

 

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Dec. 1-8, 2013

Wahoo Fernando Sucre 12-13 tags small

Quite a surprise, but wahoo are still on the chew! Happy amigo, Fernando Sucre, from the San Francisco Bay area, was able to get in one day of fishing and scored this tasty wahoo near Cerralvo Island. The presence of wahoo has been a great treat so late in the season.

Tim Zimmer marlin tags small 12-13

Recently retired amigo, Tim Zimmer, has been making the most of his free time fishing his brains out all over the country. He and his wife always make a point of visiting us in December and always do well. We had a great week of marlin fishing with most of them getting released. Check out Captain Jorge and Tim’s nice billfish.

wahoo ken gragg tags 12-13

Ken Gragg is another of our frequent amigos. This is his 3rd trip this year, and in 2 days fishing this week with Captain Gerardo scored 4 wahoo! This one seems to be missing it’s nose, but it’s a big fish. Captain Gerardo is NFL lineman-sized guy!

Rooster Steve Medley 12-13 tags

Check out the roosterfish! In December!!! What’s up with that? Steve Medley got in two days of fishing and scored this trophy roosterfish just off the beach to take a great photo and release the fish to fight again! It’s been the best roosterfish season in years!

rooster mark marcus tags small 12-13

Another bucket list fish! Prof. Mark Marcus came to visit us from Washington also popped a big rooster this week. He’s kinda struggling with the hot fish to take the photo, but it’s a sweet fish and was released after the photo! He also got a wahoo as well! See the photo below! Some great fishing!

wahoo 1 Llew and Mark tags 12-13

DOUBLE ‘HOO! Professor Llew Williams from Florida and Professor Mark Marcus from Washington tag teamed for this double billing of wahoo off Cerralvo Island this past week. They took chunks back to our Tailhunter Restaurant for some great eats! Nicely done!

dorado tags small 12-13 sucre

Chris and Damon Lewis are brothers who met up in La Paz for some fishing. Chris is from Mexico City and Damon lives in Redwood City near San Francisco. Yes! There’s still dorado in our waters. Normally, warm water fish, they’re still lingering in surprising numbers!


CRAZY MARLIN AND WAHOO LIGHT IT UP!

La Paz -Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 1-8, 2014

It has truly been a surprising end of the season here in La Paz.  Mainly because the season hasn’t ended!

Here it is almost Christmas.  Yes, it’s getting cooler.  Yes, it’s getting windier and choppier.  We’re supposed to be fishing inshore right now for cabrilla, pargo, bonito, and sierra.

Instead, we’ve still got blue water pelagic species still biting.  And it’s not just one or two.  I mean, crazily, the fish or on a serious chew!

We had several days this week when almost every single one of our pangas hooked at least one or two striped marlin between 90 and 120 pounds.   We’ve had several days where every panga hooked 1-3 wahoo each between 15 and 40 pounds.  We’ve still got trophy rooster fish up on the beach up to 50 pounds.  Plus, there’s schools of 10-20 pound dorado out there as well!

This is more like the kind of fishing report I’d be giving in the summer or fall.  Not in December.  Not just a few weeks before Christmas!  It’s been a wacky year, but I would never have expected this.  Some days, it’s been like a buffet line.  Pick and choose what kind of fish you want to fish for!  I have no idea what the inshore rock fishing is like because no one is fishing for the inshore species!  Maybe there are pargo and cabrilla and sierra to be caught, but those species have to be feeling ignored because just a few further yards offshore, there’s dorado and marlin and wahoo ready to bite!

It’s been a great late season treat.  No complaints!

Hope you and yours are having a good holiday season.  Best fishes.  Stay safe and well!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

combo signature 2-proc

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Nov. 24-Dec. 1, 2014

Muertos sunrise

It was one of those nice tranquil holiday weeks. Not a whole lot of fishermen on the water, but a nice time to be in the area with some great weather and, not bad fishing. Here’s the morning view of Bahia de Los Muertos as we launch to go fishing for our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet.

dorado tags armando 11-13

They were a little tough to find early in the week, but the dorado bite got better as the week went on with most fish about 10-15 pounds like this decent bull held by our Captain Armando on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

marlin jumping tags

Yes! It’s hard to believe, but there are still good number of striped marlin and sailfish in the area to punctuate what has been a very good year for billfish. Most of the billfish have been running about 100-130 pounds and thankfully are getting released. Most of the catches have also been unintentionally caught when guys are fishing for other species and the line gets picked up by a billfish! A nice treat and very unexpected this late in the season!

Arkie rooster tags

Captain Archangel hoists up another roosterfish for the camera before letting it go. Another species we don’t often see this late in the season. But, we’re finding them in the shallow waters inshore near the lighthouse. All of them are getting released.

WEEK STARTS SLOW ENDS ON UPSWING

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, 2013

Winds and waters got a little cooler this past week and we even had little flurries of rain that threatened.  We still got some fish, but overall, being a holiday weekend there just weren’t that many anglers in town.  The week started rather slowly and I figured that the season changes finally caught up with us.  Fishing was slow.  Just a few fish here and there.

But that’s what I had been expecting for about this time of year as the season changes to cooler conditions.  Basically, that means fewer blue water fish like dorado and billfish and more inshore species like cabrilla, pargo, jack crevalle and sierra.  So, after a few so-so fishing days early in the week, I was about ready to call it and say the warm-water species are gone.

But, then as the week went on, fishing got better.  We started hitting more dorado schools. We had a few biters from billfish (sailfish and marlin) and even got a few nice-sized rooster fish! The dorado do seem a bit more scattered, but it’s great that they are still around.  Likewise, the roosters are where you’d expect them…around the Las Arenas lighthouse and off Punta Perrico, but the fact that they are even here this late in the season is kinda cool!  The marlin?  Who knows!  It seems that every day at least one of our pangas is getting hooked up and more often-than-not, several hookups a day.  I think the waters are still warm enough to hold them in the area, plus there are still some big schools or bonito in the area which is perfect food for the billfish.

So, as of my writing, there’s still some pelagic species running around.  Again, I’m not sure how long this will last, but we’ll enjoy it as long as we get it.  The forecast for the coming week calls for some increasing winds and even a slight chance of rain so we’ll have to keep an eye out.

That’s our story!  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!

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, 8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178, La Mesa CA  91942

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

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La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Sept 22-29, 2013

Kathys Sailfish in boat tags 9-13 small

Kathy Terbu has made several trips to fish with Tailhunter over the years but she timed it right to get into the big dorado bite and was fishing with light tackle when this huge sailfish estimated at 140-160 pounds slammed into her line. She fought the fish for about 90 minutes. Most sailfish in our area are half this size. Attempts to release the fish were not successful and the meat was donated to several families.

Tracy burns dorado 9-13 tags

Tracy Burns came down to fish a few days with her dad. She lives in Topanga Canyon CA and while fishing north of La Paz she put this big bull dorado in the boat along with a full limit of other mahi.

Vince small dorado 9-13 tags

Fresh one! Vince Langgle from the San Diego Area, gaffs another big bull to put in the box. Dorado fishing this past week was as fast and furious as I have ever seen it. Maybe ever.

DORADO DAVE 1 gaff tags 9-13 small

Dave “Mahi” Hill has been our amigo for many years and came all the way out from Texas to spend the with with us. He got 4 banner days of dorado fishing in with numerous fish caught and released.

dorado leslie pilkington 9-13 tags

The ladies had such a big week with us. Leslie Pilkington from Orangevale CA was on her first trip to fish with us in La Paz and had a successful outing with Captain Pancho and our Tailhunter Las Arenas fishing fleet.

Johns Dorado Horizontal small tags 8-13

It was a week full of school-sized dorado….all you could want. But there were still some big bulls mixed in like this beauty bull that might have been one of the largest of the week and caught by John Terbu from Utah. He’s on the beach at Balandra north of La Paz.

Chris tags dorado 8-13 small

Another San Diego amigo, Chris Wellons, made the best of only two days of fishing with easy limits both day with this young bull dorado among many while on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

roosterfish kuhn small 9-13 tags

Yes! There’s still roosterfish around. I haven’t posted up many photos the last few weeks because no one has been fishing for them. Everyone has been chasing all the pelagic species and ignoring the roosters. But there’s still some fish up on the beaches like Ted Kuhn’s 30 pounder. Ted’s from Arizona and he tried to release the fish but was unsuccessful. He also hooked a 40 pound class rooster as well.

Gary Pilkington tags squid 9-13

If you fish with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, this is how your morning starts…with fishing for giant squid like our amigo, Gary Pelkington . The squid make great bait but also setting some aside is a good idea for dinner!

MAYBE THE BEST DORADO BITE…EVER!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 22-29, 2013

The last two weeks may well have been the best dorado fishing we have seen in years around here in La Paz.  Basically, ever since the last storm it was as if someone turned on a switch and the school-sized dorado either woke up or someone stirred up the nest and released a ha-zillion 10-20 pound dorado!

“We caught our first limit in less than an hour and then after that, we lost count of how many we released!”

“We only stopped the panga once and never moved for the next 3 hours.  It was like being in a private trout pond except these were schools of dorado everywhere under the panga!  It was crazy!”

“I’ve heard people joke about fish ‘jumping into the boat’ but the dorado were so thick they would actually bump in to the panga when they were charging the chum and I hooked one and it actually DID land in the panga.  We had 3-5 dorado hooked up at any one time!”

“In the middle of the frenzy I felt this big slam in my back and thought it was my buddy slapping me, it was a small dorado that hit me in the back and fell back in the water!”

“It was like someone rang a dinner bell and these fish had never been fed but they heard there was a free meal! There were so many swarming in, around and under the panga!” 

These are no exaggeration. For about the last 8 or 9 days, imagine 20…30…40 or more dorado per day!  Anglers losing count of how many fish they caught and released.  Fish, not even hooked, jumping all around the boats.  Just jumping!  Fish fighting each other to grab baits.  Fish bumping the pangas and slamming into the gunwales.  Fish hooked on hand lines.  Fish eating bits of tortilla and grabbing bear hooks tossed into the water.  Hooked fish getting knocked off the hooks by other fish chasing the hooked fish and the left-over bait getting picked up by another fish!

Just incredible dorado fishing unlike anything many of us have ever experienced.

My biggest worry is that we’ve had so many first-timers here and the think it is ALWAYS like this!  The bar has been set awfully high!

On the light tackle and flyrod, these dorado have been spectacular!

Between our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets, the bite has been epic.  If there was a distinction this week, it was that there were MORE fish at Las Arenas and a bit fewer fish out’ve La Paz, but bigger fish.  Most of the Las Arenas fish were 8-17 pounds.  The La Paz fish tended to be 10-35 pounders, just not quite as many!

As for other action, there’s been a far number of billfish hookups as sailfish and marlin cruise through the schools of dorado also eating the chum or baits or simply eating the many dorado.  In the same areas, we also found wahoo again, although those hookups don’t usually last long. Finally ,contrary to the belief of many, there’s still roosterfish in the areas as we hooked several 30-40 pound fish along the beaches.  No tuna to speak of except way way outside of Cerralvo Island.  Waters might be getting cooler as we’re seeing a few sierra in the fishing mix.  But, really hard to tell about other species since everyone has been chasing this mad dorado bite.

Hope this keeps up!

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.

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

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

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

Read Full Post »

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of Sept. 1-8, 2013

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Compared to other years, this has been a banner wahoo season! Kelly SooHoo, from Pasadena CA was on her first fishing trip…on her first trip to Mexico…and first time on the ocean…and she bags a prized wahoo! She was fishing with Captain Armando off Cerralvo Island.

pargo dorado bovee jim dan tags 9-13

Good as it gets! Double trophys fish for Jim and Dan Bovee from San Diego who came back to the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos with a big dog-tooth snapper and hefty bull dorado!

wahoo ed vander veer chito tags 9-13

Our Washington amigo, Ed Vander Veer, has fished with us many times and this was his 2nd trip of 2013. But, he had never caught a wahoo. This week he was in the thick of a dorado bite fishing with Captain Chito out’ve our Tailhunter La Paz fleet when the rod goes off. He thought it might be a dorado at first, but then a tuna. As the fish got close to the boat…SURPRISE…a wahoo…on bait and with no wire! Meant to happen! Great catch!

dorado small mike 9-13 tags

With the rains just about to hit in the background, Mike McArthur, from Los Angeles, still put a limit of dorado in the panga in short order and made it back in time! Check out the colors on this fresh one!

Mary dorado pancho 1 small tags 9-13

Big smiles for Mary Heilman Vander Veer who always does well with her favorite La Paz Captain Pancho and show off a nice bull dorado she battled on light tackle!

McKenzie dorado tags 9-13

Our kinda family! Scott McKenzie and sisters Jana and Loren visit us yearly and the gals fish hardcore and are as competitive as Scott when it comes to fishing. They fished 5 straight days and pose here with some of their dorado from one day with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

dorado jim and mike mcarthur tags 9-13 small-proc

Fun and games for Mike McArthur and his dad Jim with a boatload of dorado after fishing a day with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

Dorado Nathalie tags small 8-13

Nathalie Espejo is always fun to have down to visit us and she loves to fish! Captain Armando helps her out with a big dorado on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

Dorado Ray Pellegrin tags 8-13 small

Ray Pellegrin is probably happier than the dorado he’s holding, but Captain Jorge gives a thumbs-up to the pose!

dorado Lily Chung 8-13 tags

From San Jose CA, Lily Chung had never fished La Paz before but had a great several day fishing with us and she smiles with another dorado in the boat!

ANOTHER STORM PASSES THRU BUT FISH DON’T MIND GETTING WET!  BITE ON!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of  Sept. 1-8, 2013

We got another surprise storm this week with Tropical Storm Lorena suddenly rearing up and dropping some wind and rain on us.   This is the 3rd week that we’ve gotten a surprise shower or two.

However, like the other weeks, it didn’t bother the fishing!  The fish don’t mind getting wet and here in La Paz, it wasn’t that bad.  The rains mostly showed up at night and, although it rained hard here and there, the rain was mostly gone by daytime.  The biggest factor is wind when these storms hit and as long as the winds aren’t  tossing the waves around and it’s safe to get out, we’re still out there fishing, although we know of several operations that canceled their boats.

That being said, the fish continued to check quite nicely!

Both our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet did mostly limits of dorado each day.  If I had to tell you what the difference was, in La Paz, there were much more fish.  They were eager and the fish were almost right in La Paz Bay.  We didn’t have to go very far.  This was great, especially on those days when cloudbursts threatened.  So, everyone got fish!

At Las Arenas, the fish weren’t as plentiful, although fishing was good.  But the fish were generally larger than the fish at La Paz.

So, if you wanted fast and furious action with double and triple hookups, our La Paz fleet was better  If you were out to maybe get larger dorado, then our Las Arenas fleet was the better choice.  Since most of our clients fish a few days on each side, everyone was able to pack their ice chests with filets!

In addtion to dorado there were again some nice wahoo hooked although many were lost.  Often, the wahoo showed up right where the dorado were feeding and made short work of light live bait lines!  However, a few were hooked “just right” on the light tackle and made it to the pangas with much high-fiving and knuckle-bumping!

As well, we stuck a few marlin and sailfish with most of them getting released plus rooster fish, jack crevalle and some huge bonito!

The surprise fish were the pargo that we were hooking including some big dog-tooth snapper and mullet snapper that we usually only see in the spring, plus also some sierra which are really rare this time of year since we only get those during the cooler months.  That leads me to believe waters might be cooling already for the season.  We’ll keep you posted!

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.”

Read Full Post »

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

Sherman McDonell tags dorado 6-13

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

Sierra Exif JPEG

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

Cole tags rooster 6-13

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

dorado armando shelly tags 6-13

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

dorado luke brownlee tags 6-13

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

dorado Jo Biddle tags 7-13

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

Herrera rooster 6-13 tags

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

mitch chavira tags 6-13 dorado

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

burgess dog tooth pargo tagsd 6-13

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

Sierra Exif JPEG

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

Jason Takayoshi tags dorado 6-13

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

Kris jack crevalle tags 6-13

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

McCLELLAND marie tags dorado 6-13

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

Darryl Herrera rooster 6-13 tags

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

Charlie dorado tags 6-13

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

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

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

ERRATIC WEEK OF FISHING IS TOUGHEST OF SEASON

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

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

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

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

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

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

So…that was it in a nutshell.

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

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

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

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

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

The fish is just asking to get lost!!!

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: 

www.tailhunter-international.com

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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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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