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La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of March 1-8, 2015

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Tal Nazani from San Clemente CA got one of the prized wahoo this week!

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Quite a buffet for John and Joe Vondrak and Vic Carlso with dorado, yellowtail and bonito.

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Our own Captain Gerardo shows up a yellowtail caught from Bahia de Los Muertos.

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Phil rocks the pose with a couple of really nice Mexican cabrilla (seabass).

 

VARIETY OF SPECIES TOPPED BY WAHOO

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of March 1-8, 2015

It wasn’t a great week of fishing.  It wasn’t bad either.  It had it’s moments.  It just kinda depended where you were fishing and what day you happened to pick to fish.

There weren’t alot of fishermen this past week, and there weren’t alot of fish.  But on the better days, there was some incredible variety.  Very surprising for this time of the year that we normally call off-season.   But, it’s kind of typical as well.  Perhaps it was a combination of variables.  I usually don’t put alot of stock in the full moon thing, but we did have a big moon.  Maybe not much in-and-of-itself, but there were also some windy days as well and checking water temperatures, there were some big patches of cooler water around.  So, maybe it was a combination.

However, as I said, this week had it’s moments!

There were some nice ones.  Probably the most exciting was the showing of wahoo off Cerrlavo Island.  Pretty early in the year to be sticking the speedy ‘hoo!  We got few but also lost a few.

Plus, we finally put some yellowtail in the boats as well as a few dorado.  Mix that in with some pargo, cabrilla and even some rooster fish and a bunch of bonito and there was some OK action to be had.

THANKS TO LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA and BOISE, IDAHO!  NOW to SALT LAKE CITY ISE SHOW!

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Our shows in Long Beach at the Convention Center for the Fred Hall Fishing Show and at the Idaho Sportsmans Show were off-the-hook, with lots of friends coming to visit us…share some laughs…and talk about coming to fish with us in La Paz!

For the past two weeks, Jill and I have been forced to split up our tour schedule because of the crazy show calendar.  I did the Phoenix Show and she went to Yakima WA.   This past week, Jilly held the fort in the booth at the great Boise, Idaho Sportsmans Show.  I covered us at the Long Beach Convention Center for the 69th Annual Fred Hall Fishing Show.

What a time we had!  We can’t thank everyone enough for all the great time and all the amigos who came to visit us.  Personally, I want to give a big shout-out to everyone who also came by to wish me a happy birthday and also for all the thoughtful gifts and food.  Wow!  Just incredible.  And for everyone who looked in on Jilly in Boise and helped her out we are especially grateful.  We booked lots of fishing trip reservations for the season and we’re looking forward to seeing so many of you again later in the season down in La Paz.   For all the rest of you, let us know what we can do to assist you with coming to see us!

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Here we come Salt Lake City at the Expo Center in Sandy! We always have a great time visiting with our amigos!

 We’ll after almost 3 months on the road, we’re finally coming near the end, but not quite yet!  Jill and I will be together again instead of doing shows separately.  Next stop, Salt Lake City at the ISE show at the Sandy Expo Center.  The show will be Thursday to Sunday and always promises a great time and we have so many of our amigos in the area.  Come see us and let’s talk about visiting us in La Paz this year.   Here’s details and how to get advance online tickets: http://www.sportsexpos.com/attend/2015/saltlakecity/

We’ll see you this week!

That’s our story!

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Jonathan and Jilly Roldan

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 Feb. 15-22, 2015

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There’s a variety of fish that came up this week. Red snapper…yellowtail…sierra…and yes triggerfish. All great eating fish.

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Our whaelwatching tours are in full swing and the whales are being incredibly cooperative! Kevin Kennedy and his group got the full experience in the calm waters of Mag Bay. Not sure how much longer these amazing animals will be here, but normally, they’re around until mid-March or so! Contact us and we’ll set you up!

 

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We say good-bye to a fantastic La Paz Carnaval . Many watched the parades from our Tailhunter Restaurant and had a great time.

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Great costumes and floats!

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Amy, Nicole and Kody Kasper enjoying one of Carnval parades in front of our Taihunter Restaurant on the malecon waterfront.

OK WEATHER GOES WITH OK FISHING!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 15-22, 2015 

Good week for weather and fishing this past week…relatively speaking!  I mean, it’s still winter so there were some breezy days, but compared to other weeks, the conditions were much more fishable and given that many of the folks in town are snow birds just wanting to get warm  (especially those trying to thaw out from the east coast of the U.S, not too many folks are complaining about 83 degree days.

The fishing was predictable.  With good weather, we’re able to get into more species and more variety to the fishing as well.

Among the larger species, some yellowtail popped up off Cerralvo Island including some nicer grades of fish in the 20-30 pound class.  Some nice horses.  Bait hasn’t been good as far as the mackerel are concerned which is what the yellows really charge, but using iron and heavier jigs (of course losing stuff in the rocks), scrambled egg and blue/white patterns produced fish.  Also slow trolling mackerel-patterned crank baits like the bigger Rapala xRap 20’s and Yo-Zuri’s in blue and grey got hits as well.

Also, given it’s only February, I was nicely surprised by the rooster fish we got this week.  Nothing big but fun-sized 5-10 pounders are great on light tackle, especially so close to shore.  Normally, we tend to see these fish about a month later.

Same with the dorado.  Again, nothing gigantic, but good-sating sized 6-12 pound “doraditos” again made for some good light tackle action.  Just like the roosters, I wouldn’t expect the mahi to be in so early in the year.

More typical were the other species we caught. Especially, the inshore types.  This included snapper and pargo, some decent 10-pound cabrilla and sierra along some of the beach drop offs.

The coming week’s weather is looking pretty good so hopefully better fishing reports next week.  Truthfully, this time of the year, there aren’t that many fishermen in town, but everyone is hooking up and getting good variety.

WHAT A WEEK ON THE ROAD!

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Jilly is all smiles in the Yakima booth!

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Once again…had a BLAST rocking the booth in the Phoenix University Football Stadium. Hard to believe the Super Bowl was played there two weeks ago!

Due to scheduling, Jill and I split up this week on our Tailhunter show tour.  Jill went up to Yakima, Washington for the Central Washington Sportsmans Show.  I was further south at the International Sportsman Show in Phoenix.  We both had a great week and it was great seeing so many new and old amigos!  Thanks to everyone for coming and visiting us and for those of you who booked trips to come see us this year in La Paz, we’re looking forward to seeing you again later this year!

We now move off to Southern California to set up for the massive Long Beach Fred Hall Fishing and Hunting Show at the Long Beach Convention Center  March 4-8.  Once again, we split up!  Jill goes north to the Idaho Sportman’s Show at the fairgrounds in Boise, Idaho!  If you’re going to be anywhere near these venues come out to see us and say hi!

That’s our story.  Have a great week!

combo-signature-black letters

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, 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 Sportfishing for Week of January 25-February, 1, 2015

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Captain Armando busts a smile over the shoulder of Scott Burnham who trolled up this nice sierra fishing with our Tailhunter Fleet at Las Arenas.

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We don’t see many of these, but take a look at the China Mero (Hawkfish) caught by Jeff  Burnham. These are tasty fish we occasionally catch around rocky areas.

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Jeff Burnham poses with another beautiful sierra. These fish are great eating and tough fighters but during the winter cooler months, they hang out around ridges and beach drop offs near shallow water.

 

 

ANOTHER CRAZY WINDY AND RAINY WEEK!  

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 25 – Feb. 1, 2015

Not a whole lot to report this past week.  We had some crazy days of rain and drizzle and when it wasn’t wet, it was windy either on the front or backside of the storm cells that came through.  It didn’t rain hard, but definitely, not great to be outside trying to get a tan.   We normally have windy days during this time of year and it’s unusual for us to get rain, but nothing is “for sure” when it comes to weather.

The good side is that we don’t have alot of anglers this time of year and those that do, usually are not hardcore and wanting to fish every day.  So, with flexible schedules we can ask them to wait until perhaps another day later in the week is better.  That being said, we got some OK inshore action on sierra, bonito and jack crevalle.  Not much in the way of bait but have been using baby bonito when we can get them.

We have been keeping an eye on what the commercial guys are doing since they are working any chance they can get out, unlike sports fishing.  These guys gotta make a living.  They tell me there’s yellowtail at the island and there’s also sardines and mackerel for bait.

The forecast for the coming week is looking pretty good.  Nothing but sunshine mostly.  Back to normal!  It’s gonna be 75 to 80 degrees in the daytime and mid-50’s at night!

Whales are in full “come see us” mode out at Bahia Magdalena and we’re running daily whale watching trips right now.

PORTLAND SPORTMAN’S EXPO COMING UP THIS WEEK!

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La Paz in the house. All the way up in Washington, Jeanne and Jeff Brown who own Big Left Turn Yacht Managment in La Paz and were up for the Seattle Boat Show. They stopped in at the Seattle Fairgrounds to say hi. Great to see them. Tom is La Paz’s biggest Seahawks fan at our Tailhunter Restaurant!

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Amigos from Bloody Decks! They are everywhere! Even at the Tailhunter Booth at the Washington Sportsmans Show!

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More amigos from Bloody Decks…the brought over a whole box of Crown Royal flannel sacks for Jill to use!

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Jilly working the crowd at our Tailhunter Booth at the Washington Sportsmans Show in Puyallup, Washington!

 We’re here in Portland, Oregon this week.  We had a bang up great show in Puyallup, Washington at the Seattle Fairgrounds and great to see so many amigos.  This week the “Tailhunter Tour” moves to the Portland Expo Center right on the banks of the Columbia River for one of the biggest shows on the West Coast.   We’ll be in our usual spot in the main complex in the southern building from Wednesday to Sunday.  Come by.  Say hi. Talk to us about your 2015 La Paz Fishing Adventures.    For more info and to get discount tickets for the show, check out this link: http://www.thesportshows.com/shows/pacific-northwest/

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Dec. 21-28, 2014

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Captain Pancho with a nice rack of sierra and a cabrilla.

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Pretty typical inshore winter catch of some great eating, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and triggerfish.

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Incredible day trips right now to swim in La Paz Bay with the whalesharks in the shallow waters! On any given day there are up to several dozen 10-15 foot “juveniles” in the bay.

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Above or under the water, these gentle animals are a fantastic experience. This is about a 20 footer, feeding on the surface in only about 10 feet of water!

 

 

SUNS OUT BUT SO IS THE WIND!  

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 21-28, 2014

The weather was tough on us this week.  Quite a few windy days as is often the case during the winter months when the north winds come down and hit us and just make it difficult to get out or, even if we do, it’s just rugged out there or, the big waves make it tough to get bait.  And that’s the way it was for the majority of the week.

I feel badly because most of the folks that fish this time of year are snow-birds just enjoying sunshine who want a day of fishing while in La Paz.  This is unlike during the regular season when folks fish every single day of their vacation and are specifically in town to fish.  For the folks now with only one day to fish, that means we either have to cancel; or they have to just gut-it-out and have a rough day; or we have to juggle their fishing days to find a day where the winds are diminished.

More often than not, we either have to tell folks who only have one specific day to fish that it’s best they not go out, or they go out and really just have a bad time and get beat up and wet and not catch much fish…and that’s not fun either.

On the other side, at least it’s sunny!  Day time temps are in the low to mid-70’s and really pleasant.  Although it was windy, winds should calm down by the time you’re reading this.

We did get out a few times this week.  All of our fishing during the winter months are out’ve Las Arenas/ Bahia de Los Muertos areas.   Because of the winds, waters are pretty turned over and green and dirty in some of our hot spots.  However, we did get into some decent sierra along the beach drop-offs.   Some were hefty 4-5 pound chunkers and ALWAYS great eating.  There were a few small pargo, snapper and cabrilla caught.  We had some school-sized rooster fish caught and released and the bonito helped provide some action as well.

As a side note, many folks don’t know that La Paz has become quite a mecca for whalesharks which have been increasing in numbers the last few season in La Paz Bay where they’re protected.  At times there are 1/2 dozen to several dozen “juveniles” up to 15 feet long or more all in shallow water and great for snorkeling!   We’re running 2-3 hour trips to swim with the whalesharks every day that the winds are favorable.  The juveniles are just a few minutes away and it’s an incredible family once-in-a-lifetime experience.   You are NOT allowed to touch or ride the animals but still…getting just a few feet away from these gentle animals (they are true sharks with no teeth that eat plankton, krill and other small critters) is something not to be missed.

OUR YEAR IN REVIEW!  BRING ON 2015!

Well, 2014 is almost one for the books and I thought it would good to wrap up the year with a full review…

It was as crazy a year as I have ever had in my almost 20 years working here in La Paz.

With El Nino hovering, we entered the year with some trepidation.  El Nino seems to have a zillion variables that change the whole complexion of fishing and sure enough, it started right from the get-go.

El Nino conditions are characterized by warmer than normal waters.  Good in some ways, but bad in so many others.  So, crazily, our waters never really did cool down.  We started the year catching dorado which was a great surprise in some aspects, but the downside was not so good.

For one our cooler water species never really did show up.  While the dorado were biting, we never got into the good yellowtail or the amberjack, sierra or pargo that are so popular in our cooler months. We got a few, but it had to be called a big disappointment.  One aspect of the overly-warm water was the lack of bait.

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Tim Butterworth with a fat yellowtail caught with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

From Idaho taking a break from teaching school, Mandy Pollock let's Tailhunter Capt. Boli struggle with this big yellowtail from the north side of La Paz.  Still a few yellowtail around and this was Mandy's first trip to La Paz.

From Idaho taking a break from teaching school, Mandy Pollock let’s Tailhunter Capt. Boli struggle with this big yellowtail from the north side of La Paz. Still a few yellowtail around and this was Mandy’s first trip to La Paz.

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Jorge Ramiro, everyone’s amigo, with two nice spring-time dorado which showed up early this year with the warm waters!

 

Baitfish require cooler waters so that nutrients come from the deep.  The baitfish feed on the nutrients and without those necessities, bait either died off or moved away to find food.  Insofar as we’re a live bait fishery and bait is an important aspect of our sportfishing, it makes it hard to fish, let alone catch fish without bait!  This was to plague us throughout the year.

It didn’t help either that in the Bay of La Paz, bait catchers from the fish farms were scooping up what little bait was available, sometimes at night leaving virtually nothing for the sportfishing fleets and commercial local fishermen who rely on the bait to make their livings.  It wasn’t until almost mid-year that the bait catching stopped.  Surprisingly, our bait stocks suddenly increased!

But, bait was to be an issue all year long.  We made do with what we could get.  That often consisted of a mix of sardines, mackerel, caballitos, baby bonito, ballyhoo and dead bait like cut squid, cut bonito and the like.

It will produced some great catches throughout the year like the dorado, marlin, sailfish and some others.  The most remarkable catches of the year were the rooster fish and wahoo.  We had an above average year for rooster fish underscoring La Paz’s reputation as the “Roosterfish Capital of the World” with fish in the 30-80 pound class not uncommon.

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Kacie and Captain Armando put this nice big rooster in the boat for a photo then quickly released it!

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Captain Jorge and our buddy, Rick Kasper, always has the knack for big fish like this world-class huge roosterfish caught just off the shallow beach near the Las Arenas lighthouse then released.

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From Louisiana, Brian Davis stuck his giant roosterfish with Captain Pancho that might have tipped the scales into the triple digits, but was gratefully released.

As for wahoo, the cycle came around this year.  After a few years of negligible wahoo to show, we had a fairly outstanding year for wahoo with fish in the 30-50 pound class and larger often taken and the best spots around Espirito Santo Island.  For folks who had never caught a wahoo or rooster, this was the kind of year where many anglers finally got their first of each species, sometimes on the same day.

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Lots of amigos got their first wahoos this year like Rich Pomeroy from Northern California who was on his first trip to La Paz.

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Big wahoo like this one caught by Kris Honkola were a great catch this year in 2014

The biggest issue of our year was the weather.  It played havoc all year.

As is characteristic of El Nino years, storms are more common and we gritted our teeth and watched hurricanes and rainstorms threaten us and sometimes drop some rain on us and stormy conditions.  We have over a dozen come our way, but dodged almost all of them until the big one finally turned on us in a surprise of historic proportions.

Hurricane Odile slammed into Baja with winds up to 150 miles per hour.  It turned out to be the biggest hurricane in Baja history causing widespread devastation.  La Paz was in it’s path and, although the fury of the storm was spent in about 6 hours, the destruction and aftermath were felt for weeks and La Paz and Baja are still in the rebuilding process.

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Hotel La Concha in La Paz just hours after hurricane Odile ripped through.

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The Cabo San Lucas Airport was brand new but left in shambles.

Power lines and debris are knocked over on a street after Hurricane Odile hit La Paz

Hurricane Odile devastated neighborhoods. Baja is still re-building but financially, recovery will be long-coming .

 

As far as fishing, we were back to fishing within a week of the storm.  However, since airports were shut down or destroyed, there was no way for clients to come into Baja and hence suffered many weeks of cancelations and lost bookings during the part of the season which is traditionally the busiest time of the year.  The ripple effect on much of the economy will take a long time to recover.

But interestingly, right after the hurricane, fishing took off!  Some of the best fishing took place in the weeks and months post-Odile with dorado, wahoo, sailfish, marlin, and other species biting better than they had at any time of the year and with continued warm waters through Christmas, continued to bite!

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Bucket list marlin for Steve Snead from Idaho who battled this guy for a long fight despite his bad back and released the fish to fight another day!

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Craig and Cathy Corda had a gigantic nice day on the water with dorado and wahoo!

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First timers, Mike and Robbi Caray with one of several big dorado caught with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Here’s hoping for a mo’ bettah 2014, but as long as all of us are safe, happy and have each other, all  is good.  Here’s to wishing you the best with a big MUCHAS GRACIAS for being part of this great adventure!  God bless you all!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Fleet for Week of Oct. 5-12, 2014

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Late breaking news! SUNDAY…Wow! Lookit this! WAHOO DAY! Anyone in the S. California fishing industry knows pro Danny Kadota. He and his daughter Alexa were with Captain Victor today and got THREE wahoo and had another one bite through 250 pound mono! Check out Alexa’s massive ‘hoo!

 

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FOOTBALL SEASON FINALLY? The football-sized yellowfin tuna finally made an appearance for the year. There weren’t many of them, but the sprinkling of fish were a nice surprise the last two weeks like this one by Steve Snead from Boise Idaho, who had a great week. He’s here with Captain Pancho.

 

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Captain Archangel with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet poses with Jim Adair and Brad Baker and one of the larger models of dorado we got this past week. They’re on the beach at Bahia de los Muertos.

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Don Busse found a hot spot for rock fish this past week showing off a nice rack of cabrilla and big triggers. Our amigo was fishing with Captain Pancho.

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Louie Sanchez, was not going to be denied his Baja trip to celebrate his 50th birthday and anniversary with his wife and family. After the hurricane, they jumped through all kinds of hoops to get down from home and Denver and got in some OK dorado fishing.

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First-time tuna for Ken Campbell from Lakewood CA with amigo, Jeremy Friez (helping out holding up the tail). Next time we’ll get Ken to eat the heart…as is the custom with first-time tuna takers!

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Steve Snead had a great story. He finally got his marlin off the bucket list. He was already hurting from a bad back, then tied into this gorgeous 150-pound class striped marlin. On light tackle, Steve and his back battled the first for 45 tough minutes. He got the fish out just long enough to take a picture then released it swimming strong. He came back to shore and went bed with a big smile but completely whupped.

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She’s a champ! Young Sierra Sanchez is only 8-years-old, but was quite a trooper coming down to La Paz and fishing for the first time. The youngster is from the Denver, Colorado area and shows off her first dorado proudly with Captain Joel.

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Determined to make it down, Steve Walker from idaho and his amigo, flew into Loreto then took our 5-hour shuttle to La Paz to make sure not to miss their fishing trip! Steve’s got a nice big bull on the gaff here that he caught north of La Paz.

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I don’t know how he stays so clean fishing in all white clothes all day! But, Chris Malley had a pretty good week including these two yellowfun tuna he caught off Bahia de Los Muertos!

GIFTS FOR LA PAZ

Don Busse and his gang…Ken Campbell…Jeremy Frieze…John Gibbs…Jim Adair…Brad Baker…Angelo Oliverio…and Chris Malley…brought in several hundred pounds of supplies and clothes for Jill’s hurricane relief efforts! it filled several duffle bags and ice chests! Since the hurricane, Jill has collected over 400 pounds of things for needy folks post-Odile.

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Wiley Randolph from Fullerton CA…another big heart ….and a great shopper…brought down brand new kids’ shoes, schools supplies and medical first aid things for Jill’s hurricane relief efforts.

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Jill, Cortez, Sierra and Louie Flores…all the way from Denver for the week and stuffed their bags with clothes, schools supplies and other great stuff for the hurricane relief. Big smiles and big hearts. Thanks to a wonderful family.

 

AIRPORTS OPEN – FISHERMEN COMING BACK – SO ARE THE FISH!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 5-12, 2014

Since hurricane Odile, three weeks ago, we’ve played cat-and-mouse with some erratic weather that seems to keep popping up and dropping some thundershowers on us now and then.  Mostly, it’s been great weather, but like the rest of the season, we do have to keep watching the weather reports and the horizon to check for building thunderheads.

However, for the first time since as long as I can remember, I’m looking at the weather forecasts the last few days and into the next few weeks and there’s zero precipitation forecast.  There are no little “weather icons” on the internet with little clouds and thunderbolts or rain icons on top of the daily advisories!  We’ve got gorgeous 95 degree sunny weather for days and fishing conditions could not be better.

As for the fishing, it’s making a comeback.

The fish got hit pretty hard too with the crazy weather and green dirty water really mixed it up from the storms and the run-off and it takes times to settle in.  Each week, the water seems to get a little better.

Fishing isn’t great, but it’s good most days and there’s even some jags of “very good” thrown in.

LA PAZ FISHING

Dorado have been the most consistent players, especially for our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.  There are spots of dorado just inside La Paz Bay and in various places around Espirito Santo Island, but the best concentration and larger fish are around the Rosario / Las Cruces area in the channel between La Paz peninsula and Cerralvo Island.  Fish aren’t bit, but they’re fun decent fish of 10-20 pounds with an occasional 30 pounder.  Some days are better than others.  Some boats will get limits some days while others right next to them will hit only a handful of fish or less.  But, the fish are there!

Likewise, there seems to be a nice bit of marlin and sailfish around right now.  Most have been caught incidentally while fishing for other species, but we’ve been hooking them all last week.  Not alot, but every day is different.  We had one day where almost every one of our pangas hooked at least one billfish.  The next day there were only 2 hooked.  Next day nothing.  Day after that there were 4.  All fish either broke off or were released except one which was kept and donated.

As a little sidebar, we had 2 wahoo hooked and cut off as well this week.

Late update:  Got some wahoo late Saturday off Espirito Santo Island!

LAS ARENAS

This area has been a bit of a puzzle this past week.  The biggest news is that we got our first football yellowfin tuna in a long long time.  There’s some spots of tuna that keep popping up around Cerralvo Island with some fish up to 100-pound reported by commercial fishermen.

The bad news is that we only got about a dozen footballs all week that went 12-20 pounds.  That’s it.  There are so many bonito around that you catch about 20 bonito to get one tuna…if at all.  I mean, it’s alot of fun and alot of action.  But, if you’re looking for some good ahi meat to take home, it’s alot of energy.   Still, it’s nice to have the tuna around!

The other downside is that if you spend the better part of your day chasing tuna, you won’t get much else.  So, the counts have not been real good for our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.   When they DO chase other species, there’s dorado around and the pangas will get 2-8 fish hooked up per day and the counts differ.  It all depends if the guys went after the tuna or not.

So, what alot of our guys are doing is getting their dorado and ice chests filled by fishing La Paz, then specifically going for tuna with our other Tailhunter Fleet at Las Arenas.  Seems to work out OK.

Last minute update:  Five wahoo taken on two pangas late Sunday up to 50 pounds!

HURRICANE UPDATES

We’re up an running.  Airports are open.  Flights are in.  The Los Cabos Airport officially opened months earlier than anticipated on Oct. 3rd and welcomed their first flights on United and Alaska on Oct. 8th with mariachi bands and water cannon salutes!  Other airlines are coming online.  La Paz and Loreto Airports have been open for several weeks.   Still doing some cleanup in the streets and to some businesses and homes, but the heavy work is mostly done and most things are running like normal.  Most visitors would never even know anything happened!  Come fishing!

 That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Sept. 14-21, 2014

CNN weather

BIG AND ANGRY! ODILE sat right on us.

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Odile’s tracking path up the Baja

 

HISTORIC STORM  RIPS INTO BAJA

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept 14-21

What a week!

I could be writing for many many pages over what has happened since our last fishing report a week ago, but let me try to summarize everything.  You can surely look up alot of this (especially photos and video online by googling it!) but since I’m writing this and we do not have much electricity and only sporadic and very slow internet,  I have to be brief before I lose the signal again.  Most of the La Paz photos are mine.  Others from friends and clients.  Others taken from the internet with appreciation and apologies in order to tell the story.

WHAT HAPPENED:

  • A bit more than a week ago ODILE appeared on our weather radars with some trepidation.  It gathered speed and power, but like more than a dozen storms before it, the weather models showed it coming our way then glancing out to see giving us maybe some a bit of rain and wind.  We were all relieved.  The week before, Hurricane Norbert had come at us and didn’t do much other than keep our boats off the water for two days.  No harm to anyone or to property.
  • Last Saturday night, ODILE did something even the experts didn’t expect.  It turned rapidly back right into Baja.  Predictions had it anywhere from a Category 2 to Category 5 Hurricane (5 being the strongest).  Hurricane Sandy that hit the East Coast last year was a 3.
  • Being that this was a 4 day holiday weekend, everyone was ready to party.  No one paying much attention to the weather and gearing up for the huge Independence Day Festivities.
  • We watch the weather daily and warned as many as we could and geared up for it. Most in La Paz thought it would be “just another strong storm.”  We knew differently.  We hunkered down and advised our clients to do the same.
  • Around midnight it slammed into La Paz.  Hurricane ODILE ripped in with 110-140 mph winds.  Turned into the strongest hurricane in Baja history.
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Even after it has passed, 30-40 mph winds continued to hit La Paz the morning after.

WHAT IT WAS LIKE

  • It was like being inside a vacuum cleaner full blast with giant trains blasting through.  Tree branches shattered.  Entire trees pulled up by the roots came crashing down.  Furniture blew.  Glass breaking everywhere.  Our ceiling collapses.  Roofs lifted off.  Cement walls knocked over.
  • Power lines falling.  Paint peeled off walls.  Bark completely stripped off trees.   Telephone pole and power poles snapped in half or at ground level.  Rain and wind both coming in sheets.  Sound so loud you can’t talk or hear a yell.  Vehicles tipped over.  Beach palapas tossed topsy turvy in the air like the little umbrellas in tropical drinks.
  • Statues knocked off pedestals.  Signs ripped off buildings.  Metal sreet light poles, not just broken, but twisted like licorice until they snapped. Rocks and boulders tumbling from hillsides.  Boats blown off their anchor and moorings.  Many sunk.  Many blown aground across the bay.  Boats in yards knocked over like tenpins. Entire sides of high buildings stripped off a cat had clawed them.

AFTERMATH

The storm came through quickly that literally, it was over fast.  By the next morning, everyone was out and surveying the damage.  Most were relieved.  But that’s when it really got worse.

LA PAZ

  • Lots or property damage.  No water, power, cell, electricity, gasoline.  Many many trees torn up by the roots.  Debris everywhere.  30-40 boats in the marina sunk.  Power lines criss-crossed across road.  Power poles and trees snapped off and fallen across homes and crushing walls.  Road blocked.
  • Airport shut down.
  • Several persons missing with their boats (later found deceased)
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Many old trees were pulled up by their roots and were knocked or blown over.

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Debris everywhere. Many trees and plants were completely denuded.

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Beach palapa flipped upside down after it snapped and tossed 30 yards up the beach.

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Phone lines and power poles askew

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La Concha pool turned into a green murky pond of debris.

CABO SAN LUCAS

  • Entire neighborhoods flatted and destroyed
  • New Airport destroyed
  • Widespread destruction in hotels and homes
  • Estimated 30,000 tourists stranded with no flights
  • Estimated 25,000 people in shelters
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Entire neighborhoods in Cabo were destroyed.

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Many lost everything. Many of those didn’t have much to begin with.

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The remains of Cabo Airport.

IN THE PAST WEEK SINCE HURRICANE

LA PAZ

  • Many areas still without water or power, but slowly coming back.  Most of the hotels have power and water by day 4.
  • Cell phone reception in many areas returned by day 3
  • Gasoline shortages critical for a few days with rationing or running out, especially as folks from Cabo San Lucas migrated up and started to purchase gas.  Same with food shortages.  Many of the larger markets and stores are empty, but getting better after 1 week as supplies come in.
  • Some looting reported, but has been controlled
  • Boats in the marina or those that have been abandoned and grounded have been looted.
  • Airport semi-open after being closed for a few days.  There are some commercial flights starting next week.  Volaris Airlines sent down several empty planes to help with evacuations.
  • It took us 5 days to evacuate all of our clients through the La Paz Airport and through the La Paz Ferryboat taking.  Many took another 2-4 days to finally get home to the U.S. Some were stuck in airports for several days sleeping on floors waiting to get flights.
  • It looked like Hurricane Polo was going to kick us again this weekend, but it tempered down to a tropical storm and now threatens only some rain this weekend and during the week.  GRACIAS A DIOS!  But, it’s like dog-piling on a guy with two broken legs.
  • Town is packed with refugees and escapees from Cabo San Lucas trying to get away or just looking for a roof and water or here trying to purchase gas and food or supplies. There are ZERO hotel rooms available at night.  Even the littlest hole-in-the-wall place is booked with people waiting to get in.  Even if the hotel does not have full water and power, people are happy to be away from Cabo.
  • As La Paz is the capital of the State of Baja Sur and the seat of government, crews have been working around the clock and hundreds of techs from mainland Mexico along with equipment have been brought over to get electricity and communications back on the grid.
Power lines and debris are knocked over on a street after Hurricane Odile hit La Paz

Destruction in downtown La Paz

PEMEX gas station

The roof of one downtown Pemex gas station in La Paz came crashing down.

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The La Paz waterfront malecon soaked and sloshed

CABO SAN LUCAS

  • By everyone’s account, this is going to take a long time to re-build.
  • Thousands of troops and police have been brought in to get control.
  • It has been described as a war zone.  Destruction is everywhere.
  • Looting has been widespread.  All the big stores have been emptied.
  • Gangs roaming the streets with weapons and machetes have been reported
  • Citizen groups have banded together to protect their neighborhoods and homes and using rocks, re-bar and bricks to defend themselves against attacking gangs.
  • Much gunfire heard at night
  • False roadblocks have been reported in order to hi-jack cars
  • The airport has two runways open for military, government and humanitarian flights to help with lack of food, water and medicine.  80% of the city still has no power or phones.
  • Estimates that half of the 30,000 stranded tourists have now been evacuated a week after the hurricane.
  • The U.S. State Department has recommended that folks get to their nearest Cabo or La Paz Airport and special flights are being used to evacuate, but expect long waits.
  • Many many people driving to La Paz to escape.  Roads are damaged, but passable.  Roads north of La Paz up to the U.S. are down in some places due to flooding and damage, and expect waits, but it’s usable most of the time.  Work going on  constantly.  All of those communities…El Rosario, Constitucion, Loreto, Mulege, etc. all sustained their own damage from ODILE.
  • They say that by this week some airlines like Alaska will be running flights in and out’ve Cabo San Lucas.

 

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Looting in Cabo San Lucas. Diapers and cereal for the kids.  Cup o Noodle for Mom and Dad.  But Captain Morgan too?

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It got ugly during the looting

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What’s left of Cabo Walmart

TAILHUNTER

We had some REALLY GREAT FISHING going on before the hurricane! Dangit, the storm spoiled it all.  When the storm hit, we had several dozen folks here and the aftermath was the most difficult.  Many of our folks never got to fish at all.  However, thankfully, no one was hurt and our biggest situation was (1)  Getting the home and evacuated safely and (2)  While they were stuck here making them as comfortable as possible given no water…electricity…cell phones…and dwindling food.

Almost all of our folks were at La Concha Beach Resort thankfully so it made it easier than other times when we might have dozens of folks scattered among, 3, 4 or 5 locations.  The folks and staff at La Concha were and continue to be magnificent.  Much of the hotel was damaged.  Of the more than 100 rooms only 20 did not sustain damage.  Even 1 week after the storm, there is still no water or power fully established.

However, the hotel folks worked round the clock.  Many of them sleeping at the hotel and working by candlelight or digging out rooms and grounds from debris, fallen trees, broken glass and shredded walls.  A limited menu was served during special hours in the lobby since the restaurant glass was blown out but they really did a good job on the food.

Our drivers, Jorge and Esteban were freakin’ heroes.  Despite their own problems at their own homes, they ferried our people to and from markets…to and from airports and the ferrys…at all hours at their OWN expense…just to help out and always doing it with a smile and good sense of humor even in the most stressful times even when their own families needed their presence.  There was nothing they wouldn’t do.

Kudos also to our guests…who hung in there during a trying time with patience and good will and all the laughs possible under the circumstances.  They were all stars.  No one losing their cool.  No one going “Ugly American.”  No one blaming anyone, but rather helping each other and bonding and hanging tough.  Thankfully, everyone got home or is on their way home.  No one injured.  No one hurt.  I’m just sorry that their vacations took such a turn.

Tailhunter Restaurant is open.  Our own staff kicked butt and cleaned up most of the damage and allowed us to open 3 days after the storm with a limited menu, but open when many others still were closed.  Many of our “new friends” are from Cabo San Lucas and just relieved to be here and we’ve been sharing our phones and internet signals with them so they can reach out.  For many, this is their first time in La Paz.   We are still having trouble with ice and some food items, but each day it’s been a bit better.

As for the fishing…well…regretfully, we’ve had a load of cancellations understandably.  We’re telling everyone who postpones that they will get 100% credit towards their new dates.  We have had no banks open or available all week. Banks aren’t even answering their phones.  Not even an ATM,  so doing business has been problematic.  But we’re still here and we’ll pull out’ve this.  Losses have been huge, but could have been worse and there are so many others who have it much worse than us.

But, as for yesterday, we have been putting a few stranded folks on boats and there’s still dorado out there!  We can actually see rooster fish breaking just off the beach outside the restaurant.  So the fish are waiting! They haven’t been biting really well because the waters are really messed up, but if we don’t get any more turbulence, waters should clear up and fish will be back…we hope!

Will keep you as posted as we can signal and phone reception allowing.  Thank you for all your good wishes.  We’ve literally gotten hundreds of e-mails, phone messages and facebook messages and simply cannot answer them all.

IF YOU WANT TO HELP

Jill put together these links if you’d like to help and make donations:

La Paz Rises

https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Paz-Rises/636793356437674

Links for donations and other info will be up and hopefully it can be of use as a clearing house for info.

FANLAP (Judy’s kids)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/index.php?webkey=losninosdelapaz

Cruceros (search, rescue etc)

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Waves for Water

http://www.gofundme.com/en7dtw

Baja disaster relief fund (Mexican Red Cross/International Community Foundation)

http://icf-xchange.org/donateonline/?webkey=bajadisasterrelief

God bless.  That’s our story

combo-signature-black letters

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 Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 24-31, 2014

shawn parker dorado 8-14 tags

Fish were hard to come by this past week, let alone BIG fish! But Shawn Parker knocked in this big bull dorado fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. Great colors!

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Big-headed bull dorado for Tony Perkins who gets a photo op hand from Captain Boli with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Check out the flat waters. Cerralvo Island in the distance.

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Geri Cammack loves to fish and she always does well and I have so many photos of her laughing. But not on this one for some reason even tho’ she has a big dorado on the gaff! Geri is from Idaho and was visiting us with amigo, Al Sandstrom.   (And they love eating their fish at Tailhunters Restaurant)

dorado leif rogelio muscle

I love goof-ball candid shots. One of the best of the season is Captain Rogelio “Jolly Roger” Camacho who had the best week of any of our captains with stellar fishing 5 straight days with Leif Dover, our Atlanta GA amigo who visits us twice a year and shows off another big bull dorado.

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One of the funnest guys, but always takes serious fishing photos, Walt Topping from the Santa Ynez Valley got into the report with a nice bull while fishing with Captain Boli and our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

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Johnny Gilbertson hung tough all week even during difficult fishing and kept at it hard! He did get this bull dorado just off Punta Arenas one of his days fishing with our Las Arenas fleet.

 

CONDITIONS GOOD BUT FISH PLAY HARD-TO-GET! TOUGH WEEK OF FISHING…

La  Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 24-31, 2014

 

It was a strange and not very good week on alot of levels here.  It was hard to put a finger on it.  Dare I say, it might have been the toughest week of fishing of the year…and maybe in many years of being down here!  It was just STINKY for lack of a better word.

Early in the week, it seemed we had threats of rainstorms just about every day.  Some days it would actually rain pretty hard for awhile.  Other days, we got nothing but clouds.  But, it surely kept us on alert and trying to figure if it would be better for our fishing clients to fish out’ve La Paz or Las Arenas.

Mostly, just to be on the safe side, we kept folks fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.  Dorado were more-or-less ready, willing and able and everyone was hooking fish.  Not alot of big ones, but fun sized 10-20 pounders with occasional 25-30 pounders plus some billfish.

When we did fish Las Arenas, there were rooster fish and enough 10 pound dorado to at least keep it interesting.

Later in the week, it seemed that the weather pretty much cleared up.  We were pretty excited after watching clouds for so many days!

The conditions looked awesome.  Sunny skies…dark moon…blue water…decent bait (at least more than we had before)…good currents…warm water…but WAIT!

NO FISH!

I don’t know what happened, but the latter part of the week it was almost like a dead ocean.  Not only did the dorado go lock-jaw on us, but so did the bonito and even needlefish got scarce!

Many of our ace captains who NEVER get shut out were coming back with nothing or only 1 or 2 fish.  Maybe one day that can happen, but 2, 3, 4 days in a row?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many days go dead on us.  At least not that many consecutive days.

Hopefully, but the time you’re reading this, things will have turned on again!  Any day now!  But we have to keep an eye out…MORE RAIN IS PREDICTED THIS WEEK!  NO HURRICANES BUT THUNDERSHOWERS PREDICTED!

Thanks to all the amigos who fished this week and kept the smiles.  You’re all champs!  Even when the fish weren’t biting, you kept at it and were all great sports!

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Aug. 10-17, 2014

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Another pretty solid week of dorado fishing with some really nice bulls taken including this sweet one that jumped a bait and bent Steve Dorsey’s rod fishing north of La Paz.

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Captain Adolfo poses with our Colorado amigo, Frank Kunze who fished with us all week and had a good shot of dorado including this nice bull he got on the flyrod after just missing a rooster on the fly. He’s on the beach here at Bahia de los Muertos.

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Ed Sakuda was on his first visit to fish Las Arenas and we think he’s “sold” on coming back with 3 days of dorado fishing. His sister Caryn and her husband Mark Aizawa from Pasadena CA get in the photo too!

Dan Llerena tags 8-14 small dorado

Daniel Llerena from Buena Park had never fished salt water before and his dad hadn’t fished in salt water in more than a decade! The two of them came down and got in two quick days of fishing with some great results! Dan was fishing with Captain Joel when he put the hurt on this mahi.

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Lee Carlson from the Denver Colorado area, spent 6 days on the water with us fishing with both our Tailhunter fleets and shows off one of his better bull dorado he got near Cerralvo Island.

Dan Hayler and his family all got together on one of our mega pangas for a day of fishing on the bay and had a nice day of action.  The family is from Upland CA.

Dan Hayler and his family all got together on one of our mega pangas for a day of fishing on the bay and had a nice day of action. The family is from Upland CA.

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Gino and his son Daniel Llerena got in two quick days of fishing and made the most of it with some nice dorado as well as this striped marlin on light tackle. Cerralvo Island in the background.

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Kelly Soo Hoo has fished with us before and did really well. This time she brought her son, Nick, for his first experience. Nice had a great time and got a variety of fish including these very tough jack crevalle!

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From Bankor, Pennsylvania, Rich Normyl had a full hand of mahi. Check out the storm clouds coming up behind him at Bahia de los Muertos!

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The whale sharks have returned to La Paz bay. Dan Hayler took this great photo of a “baby” whaleshark of only about 20 feet in the shallow bay water. They can grow to over 50 feet long and are true sharks, but are gentle and have no teeth and eat plankton.

This is what 15 minutes of rain produces on the La Paz waterfront right in front of our Tailhunter Restaurant Bar.

 

CRAZY WEATHER PACES FISH BITE

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug 10-17, 2014

 

Even with the week of “super moon” we still had a pretty decent week of fishing going on.  Even with the tropical thundershowers late in the week that were almost like baby hurricanes, the fish still bit.  But it was a bit of a challenge.  But, like I said, the fish still bit.

The super moon was beautiful over Baja waters, especially here in La Paz over the bay making it much like a postcard with the huge bright moon shimmering over the bay and the palm trees.

The big problem was more of these afternoon thunderstorms that crashed into us late in the day.  Fortunately, mostly after the fishing was done.  But something to watch.  Blue skies would darken quickly.  Incredible lightning storms would follow then almost simultaneously thunderclaps that would sound like they were right overhead.  During one 2 hour period during one storm, over 70 light night strikes were counted.  During another storm, a bolt hit a palm tree on the malecon waterfront area igniting it which then caused it to fall on the palapa roof of a popular bar.  The bar caught on fire then burned to the ground with huge flames 30 feet in the air.

Within minutes of the thunder and lightning the rains would cascade.  Huge rolling waves of sheer water flooded streets and turned many into rivers and lower areas and arroyos into raging category 2 or 3 cauldrons that would’ve been the envy of whitewater kayakers…except they were all brown mud!

Cars suddenly found themselves up to the doors in water and many stalled.  Neighborhoods found themselves turned into islands with people trapped in long rainy lines unable to leave the area and others in the opposite directions unable to return home.  Off the La Paz cliffs, mini-Yosemite-like waterfalls tumbled 20, 30 40 feet to the roads along with rocks and boulders.  In a one hour period during one storm, more than 3 inches of water descended on La Paz.

But, like I said as far as fishing, at least most of this was all taking place later in the day or evenings when the fishing was done.

LAS ARENAS

There was only one day during the week when we decided it wasn’t worth it to fish Las Arenas because of the stormy conditions.  The rest of the time, for the most part, Las Arenas was pretty much as good as it has been all year.  Relatively speaking.

We actually even had small sardines to use for bait and we had flyfishers hooking rooster fish, dorado, jack crevalle and bonito.

The dorado were 5-15 pounders with a few 20-30 pounders as well.  If a boat found the right spot, limits were pretty easy.  Roosterfish, while not as plentiful as earlier in the season were still around with most in the 10-30 pound class.  Bonito, jack crevalle and even some barred pargo gave us some variety.

LA PAZ

Our La Paz fishery has been the most consistent all year.  Some days are better than others, like anywhere else, but 9 out’ve 10 days, the fish are around and biting.  Even on that 10th day, I’m not sure what the issue is, but anglers and my captains will tell me…”The fish were all around.  We could see them or they would sniff the baits, but just wouldn’t take the baits!”

That was usually made up for on the other days of fishing when the dorado would be found in many areas from just inside the bait to the island and then around the point to El Rosario and Las Cruces.

Generally, the fish were 10-15 pounders although there were still persistent squirts in the 5 pound class around.  But, larger 20-30 pounders were not uncommon.  We also hooked some marlin and sailfish with most being released as well as some stray rooster fish that ran about 30 pounds near Espirito Santo Island.

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Sportfishing for Week of Aug. 3-10, 2014

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First-time visitor to La Paz with Tailhunters, Jack Calafato from San Diego got one of the larger dorado of the week scoring with this nice bull on his first day of fishing while on the water near Bahia de los Muertos.

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Our good friend for many years, Bob Lederer, from Massachusetts with Captain Ramiro and a trophy bull dorado taken at Las Arenas.

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Somewhere behind this fat round roosterfish is Rich Normyle from Bangor, Pennsylvania. His first bait hit the water and got spanked by the big fish and took 20 minutes to get to the boat. It was photo’d and released. Captain Raul with the Tailhunter La Paz fleet looks on and “helps” with the tail!

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Captain Pancho is all smiles with our Oregon amiga, Mitch Bohna, and her dorado she hooked very close to the beach off Boca de Alamo.

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Not a bad start to several days of fishing. Dennis Adair from N. California and Doug Oclassen from Colorado pose with a nice bunch of mahi on the sand.

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Big smiles from Kris Brownlee who gets a hand from husband, Luke, with this fine roosterfish that chased a live ladyfish between Boca de Alamo and Bahia de Los Muertos justt off the rocks. They caught and released several nice fish.  They’re from Rock Springs, Wyoming.

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Captain Armando poses with our amiga, Shelley McDonell on the sand with a nice bull dorado that still has its colors. Shelley and Captain Armando always make a good team every year.

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The ladies had a good week! Captain Jorge and Patty Lovato from the Denver, Colorado area on her first trip to fish with us in La Paz.

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OC in the house! From S. California, Brendan Rowland, Dr. Mark Mulkerin and Ed Begany spent a few days fishing with us at Tailhunter and got into some good action with 2 days fishing at Las Arenas.

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Dennie Dyer and Matt Lederer were just fishing with us and insist they got a yellowtail! Take a look. It’s hard to tell from the photo, but Dennie does seem to be holding a yellowtail…a fish we only catch in the colder waters! It might be a rainbow runner (yellowtail cousin), but hard to tell. Still a nice catch and tasty too…with the dorado!

DORADO KICK IT IN AT LAS ARENAS FINALLY !

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 3-10, 2014

Once again, dorado really kept up the for both our Tailhunter fleets this past week.  Weather and water were fairly cooperative and threats of rain, while bringing some clouds, never materialized and, instead helped keep the heat away, although the humidity was still pretty thick.  All-in-all, a pretty good week of action!

LAS ARENAS

Over the past few weeks, this has been our tougher spot.  There have been fish there all year, but lots of small fish and not a whole lot else.  It if weren’t for the rooster fish there or the fortuitous marlin or sailfish plus jack crevalle and bonito, it would be a real yawner.  Don’t get me wrong.  Still good fishing!  But, historically, this time of year, Las Arenas should be on fire instead of a steady smolder.  But, we’ve been spoiled all these years.  The lack of bait hasn’t helped.

Many of or clients have switched to our other fleet at La Paz to get not only more fish, but bigger fish!

Not so, this past week.  We actually had the migration of clients doing just the opposite!  We had clients wanting to spend more time fishing Las Arenas than La Paz.

For one, it was a little easier to get bait.  In fact, we even had some small sardines by the end of the week.  Whether the fishing was a function of the bait, or there were simply more fish in the water, the quantity as well as the quality o fish improved.

There still weren’t alot of “beast fish” with most of the larger fish being 20 pounders or so with a few 40 pound dorado.  But, the “smaller fish” were much better.  Instead of the 5 pound punks we were getting all season, the upgraded models were 10-12 pounders and limits of fish were fairly common.  As one of our anglers said, “We could honestly have caught 10, 20 or more dorado each day,  if it wasn’t for the fact that we wanted to get more variety and went chasing other species 1/2 way through the day.  We got all the dorado we wanted!”

Sorry, no tuna have shown up…yet!  And wahoo fishing hasn’t been so great either the last few weeks.  However, there’s quite a few marlin and sailfish around if you want to chase them.

Even our flyfishermen got into the fish this week as well!

LA PAZ

For the past few weeks, if you wanted to fill your ice chest, we had you fishing with our La Paz fleet.  More and bigger fish had been the rule rather than the exception.

This past week, Las Arenas actually stepped out a little better.

It was still good for our La Paz anglers, but it seemed like there were more small fish than normal and not as many.  However, if you wanted a shot at a 30-40 pounder, La Paz still gave you the best opportunity at a trophy.

The fish are in a wide area.  You can seriously find fish right in the bay.  In fact, we can see dorado, roosters and jack crevalle breaking just a few hundred yards in front of our Tailhunter Restaurant every day from our 2nd and 3rd floor terraces and birds working the schools like crazy.  So, if you honestly didn’t want to go out too far, the bay is definitely holding fish.

Other areas are just south of Espirito Santo Island and along the current breaks west and east of the island.  Another hot spot that’s actually being shared by both our Las Arenas and our La Paz fleet is just offshore from El Rosario/ Las Cruces/ Punta Gorda north of El Sargento.  Some of our largest fish every week come from that drop off area where the shallow water falls off into the trench.

If you’re looking for billfish, sails and marlin are being caught right in the middle of schools of small dorado.  Presumably, the billfish are in the schools feeding on the smaller fry dorado.

Roosters are getting round along the beaches too!  Still some hog 40-60 pounders around.

That’s our story!

combo-signature-black letters

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 Sportfishing for Week of May 18-25, 2014

rooster brian davis 5-14 small tags

Another week of big big big roosters! Leading the way is Brian Davis with a fish estimated by Captain Pancho as 85-95 pounds and caught on live bait off Las Arenas. This beauty was released…as were all roosters this week. Brian brought a great gang of amigos with most of them from Louisiana.

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This i s just a pretty photo! I might just frame it. First-timer, amigo, Boyd Loveless from Utah brings aboard a nice dorado with a hand from Captain Raul. Check out that flat water! Water temps are almost 85 degrees now!

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Captain Armando and Kacie Ellis from Portland are all smiles as they get ready to put this big roosterfish back in the water. Kacie is from the Portland area and she was at our Tailhunter Restaurant almost every night to watch her Portland Trailblazers on our TV!

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Biggest wahoo of the week and winner of $100 best from his amigos, Eddie Flanigen posted up this nice fish he hooked off the south end of Cerralvo Island on his first day of fishing. Ed is from Louisiana and is holding his fish on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos.

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From Utah, Shirl Loveless just seemed to be the “hot stick” no matter where he fished or who he fished with all week! Check out the bad boy rooster he caught and released with Captain Pancho just a few yards off the sand at Punta Arenas.

SCOTT BEHNKEN pulls in a nice bull dorado!  PLAY THE VIDEO ABOVE!

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All the way from Indiana, Scott Behnken, pulled this nice bull dorado up north of La Paz. Check out the video in the photo above.

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He really wanted to get one and he stuck this trophy roosterfish near Punta Arenas. Mike Ellis from Oregon did a nice job catching-and-releasing this fish!

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The three amigos…they are funny as heck when they get together… Joey Stolarczyk, Walt Topping and Ziggy Haspod, found some nice spots of dorado just inside of La Paz Bay and put some nice fish in the box and lost other larger fish!

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Great big bull dorado for Shawn Silk from San Mateo CA. Shawn was on his first trip with us and nailed this nice fish north of La Paz just outside of La Paz Bay north of town.

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Jeff Jiles looks a bit surprised, but no doubt he’s got a trophy roosterfish with Captain Jorge just south of Bahia de Los Muetos. Jeff came to visit from Utah.

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Maybe one of the happiest guys of the week. Great fun to have Felipe Yanez with us fishing all week. He holds up a paid of dorado caught with our Las Arenas fleet.

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Ziggy and Walt…in danger of a bit of sunburn, but happy with another dorado on the gaff! Always good to have them visit!

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Not a bad day of fishing for the Loveless family. Russ Loveless…Jeff and Shirleen Jiles…Tony Loveless and dad (Shirl) in the hat with a batch of nice dorado on the beach in front of La Concha Beach Resort. Great fun family.

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Tony Loveless in on the roosterfish bite with another nice fish! Punta Perico in the background!

 

ROOSTERFISH BEASTS and SUMMERTIME DORADO!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report from Tailhunter International for Week of May 18-25, 2014

 

It’s actually been one of the hotter and more humid weeks of the year with temps every day just over 100.  It’s only May, but if felt like July. Waters were also noticeably warmer as well.  But, the good-side of that is much of the green plankton-colored water burned off and we’ve got some pretty blue stuff finally here!

Overall, another up-and-down week.  One day our Las Arenas fleet would be top-dog for fish and action.  Next day, Las Arenas would be tough and our La Paz fleet would be rocking the fishing.   Similarly, two pangas next to each other would be fishing and doing the exact same thing or working the same beach or patch of water.  One would hook up left-and-right.  The other would have guys scratching their heads wondering if they had unlucky bananas aboard.  There was just no predicting from day-to-day or from location to location.

The two biggest stars that came through were our dorado, especially for our La Paz anglers, with fish up to 40 pounds, but so so so many fish lost!  It made the counts very deceiving!  Our fishermen would come in with some sad stories and only 2 or 3 fish.  Then, I would check with our captain and he would say, “But they had lots of opportunities!  They LOST 7 fish!”  Well…that’s a big difference!

But, then on at least two days this week, our captains and anglers said, “We saw fish everywhere…dorado…roosters…jack crevalle…And they wouldn’t bite!  They would swim right by the baits uninterested!”

The best news as again, the rooster fish.  The roosters around Las Arenas have been doing really well. Again, we got some real horse-sized pez gallos.  Fish were generally 20-50 pounds which are nothing to sneeze at, but we also got some fish in the 60-70 pound class and even one estimated at 80-90 pounds!  All fish were released.

We also saw more marlin this week and are hearing stories of tuna moving into our area from the south.

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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