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Posts Tagged ‘wahoo’

Hawk Yellowtai 1-proc

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

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

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

YELLOWTAIL HIGHLIGHT WEEK OF FISHING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

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

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

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

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

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Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report: 

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

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

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

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

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JUREL EN BOCA DEL ALAMO 2013 yellowtail tags copy

We finally got a nice jag of yellowtail! Our ‘mano, Jorge Romero, owner of Tecolote Transportation in La Paz only had enough time to go out for 2 hours and hit 3 nice fork tail on live mackeral just south of Bahia de Los Muertos in front of Boca de Alama. Jorge told us, that no one else was even around as this is off-season!

Leya Dang dorado tags 1

Not bad for winter fishing! But, yes, we’ve still got dorado running around our waters surprisingly like this nice dorado that first-timer Liya Deng put in the panga fishing with Captain Victor of our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. The fish was taken just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos.

Kamon pargo 12-12 tags

Chris Kamon of Los Angeles really wanted to get into pargo and we hadn’t gotten into too many…up to now, but Chris persisted and was rewarded with a couple of really nice pargo liso (mullet snapper) off the south end of Cerralvo Island. It appears that the much -sought snapper have moved into the shallow waters early to spawn which is a good sign!

Jason Gail Day2 Catch

One of the funnest light-tackle fish to catch right now are the numerous sierra that are in the shallow waters just off the beach. Gail and Jason Jacobs show off a double pair here on the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos. They also got yellowtail, dorado, roosterfish and wahoo!

SLOW START HEATS UP TO SURPRISE VARIETY FISHING!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 31 to Jan. 6, 2013

It was an interesting week of fishing.  At first we thought it would pretty tough.  Early weather predictions showed a week filled with strong winds as well as a chance of rain for several days.  However, as we hit into the week, the rains dissipated and the winds diminished sufficiently to get out on the waters.
As has been in the past, when the winds let us out, the fish bit!  And again, what a variety!
All of our fishing has been off the Muertos Bay Area SE of La Paz where we can at least fish closer to shore and have some protections from the northern winds.  So, we really have not had to go out far most of the times.  Certainly never out of sight of land!
Once again, we got into some decent quality-sized dorado in the 10-20 pounds class.  Roosterfish up to 25 pounds.  Decent numbers of sierra as well which were often taken to our Tailhunter Restaurant and showed up as ceviche for our clients!
But the most interesting news was the solid appearance of pargo liso off the south end of Cerralvo Island.  These are the carp-like looking mullet snapper much craved by our anglers for their fighting ability as well as great eating fare!  Fish up to about 20 pounds were caught, but several larger fish were lost.  This is the time of year when the fish come into the shallow rocky areas to spawn so this could be the start of an early spawn!
As well, we started hooking yellowtail as well.  We got a little smattering just before Christmas but this past week, it would appear the fish are here and ready to go.  We’re fishing just south of Bahia de Los Muertos off the shallow area in front of Boca de Alamo.  Using green mackerel for bait, the yellowtail were quality 15-25 pound fish.  The neat thing so far…at least until word gets out…is that barely anyone is fishing the area!

ANNUAL WHALE MIGRATION HAS STARTED!

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The yearly migration of the grey whales has started with the incredible animals just starting to show up in Bahia Magdalena after their trip all the way from the Bering Sea.  It’s the longest migration of any of earth’s creatures and the whales will be in the warm shallow waters of the bay from January to March with February being prime time.  We’re just starting to book our trips for this season so if you’d like to experience this once-in-a-lifetime-event, get in touch with us and find out the details.  Great experience for the whole family!

Tailhunter 2013 Tour

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We’re on the road again for our 17th year and headed your way.  This week, we’ll be at the Sacramento International Sportsman’s Expo taking place at the California State Fairgrounds from Thursday to Sunday.  We’ll be in our booth ready to see all our friends and clients and ready to get you set up for your La Paz fishing trip in 2013.  Come by to say hi and pick up a copy of our 24 page Tailhunter brochure and DVD!  We’re looking forward to seeing you!

That’s our story!

Jonathan & Jill

 

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.comMexico Office: Tailhunter International, 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htmTailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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It’s the dead of winter and dorado are still biting! In between the winter winds, we still have quality fishing including bull dorado and other blue water species! Check this gorgeous bull in full color lit up just next to the panga.

Jason Jacobs wahoo 12-12 tags

Surprisingly some of the best wahoo fishing of the year the last few weeks! Take a look at this awesome wahoo that Jason Jacobs from Phoenix AZ pulled out during two days of fishing. Hefty ‘hoo!

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I have already had several folks ask me if we took a fiberglass fish mount off the wall for this photo because of the incredible colors! This is as good a shot as it gets and Adam Smith and Captain Jorge pose it well. That’s Bahia de los Muertos in the background. Check out the calm waters. They didn’t have to go too far off the beach for this nice mahi mahi.  Adam was visiting us from Arizona.

Jason Jacobs with Yellowtail tags 12-12 1

First real yellowtail of the season! Wow…big fork tail and hamachi for the grill. Jason’s got big smiles for this slug fish caught off Las Arenas. Hope this is an indication of a good yellowtail season if fish this big are already moving in!

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It’s not snowing and he’s got a t-shirt on! All the way from Alaska, Tim Bowman, was fishing just off Bahia de los Muertos in great conditions when he hooked this nice bull dorado on live bait.

Gail Pancho with Wahoo tags 12-12 2

Hard to believe we’re getting this kind of quality fish so late in the season, but even Gail Jacobs pulled a wahoo out with help from Captain Pancho just off Isla Cerralvo. She also got dorado and sierra!

SURPRISE FISHING WHEN WINDS AREN’T BLOWING!  (…but the wind blows a lot!)

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-30, 2012

We had a much better week of fishing this past week mainly because we had much better luck with the winds.  This is, of course, that time of year when winds can get howling and it’s almost pointless to be out there and get bounced around in a panga.

Lots of snow-birds in town who decide they want to do a day of fishing and we often have to steer them to different days or postpone their trips when the winds come up.  Sometimes, we just tell them, it’s better not to fish at all unfortunately.

What they don’t understand often is that even if the Bay of La Paz is calm, outside, it can often be treacherously rough and getting to the fishing grounds is almost futile.  Even other times when it’s a little calmer, you still have to go find bait or the bait man has to have bait available to sell.  If the waters are too rough, bait will be hard to obtain because the rough waters prevent anyone from getting to the areas where the sardines are holding.

Even other times when it seems relatively calm, there can be big swells that make it uncomfortable and dangerous.  In fact, this coming week doesn’t look very promising!  Pretty much if there’s storms in the western U.S. then Baja and the Sea of Cortez is very often affected by windy conditions.

So, this past week, we actually got a few days where the winds layed down  enough for us to fish!  Sure enough, the fish bit.

Sierra are almost a sure thing with some really quality grade sierra up to 4-6 pounds evident along the shorelines where the bottom starts to drop off.  Even on the windier days, the fact that the sierra are so close to shore is a bonus as we don’t have to go out so far.

Inshore also, we’re surprisingly still getting rooster fish up to about 10 pounds which can be fun.  We even had some flyfishers able to throw at roosters this past week.  Pargo and cabrilla are also in the mix.

But, without having to go too much further out, we also got into some nice grade dorado in the 10-20 pound class which normally aren’t around in December.  No one complained.  The fish were school-sized, but I have a feeling some of the larger bulls are still around as we got into some 40 pounders less than 2 weeks ago.

In addition to the surprising dorado, we’re still finding the occasional wahoo and billfish too, but I can tell waters are finally cooling off as some husky stray yellowtail up to 25 pounds have found their way into the fish counts as well.  Hopefully, finding yellowtail of this grade is a good sign for the coming season and these are the vanguard of large fish moving into our waters.

As for the wahoo…who knows?  There’s a smattering of wahoo in several areas and it’s like hitting a lottery ticket when we hook them. Or at least like finding a 20 dollar bill in your pants pocket you didn’t expect!    No one is expecting them, but boy, what nice fish!  Hopefully, they’ll stick around awhile longer.  There’s not much traffic out there now that it’s off-season and we’re finding the fish off Cerralvo Island as well as Punta Perico.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL

Mexico office: 755 Obregon, La Paz, BCS, Mexico
Phone: 612-12-53311U.S. Office: P.O. Box 1149, Alpine CA  91903-1149
Phone: 626-278-1585 or 626-333-3355

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From Jill and I to all of you, we wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful Christmas!  Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo from La Paz!

From Jill and I to all of you, we wish you a safe, happy, and peaceful Christmas! Feliz Navidad y Prospero Ano Nuevo from La Paz!

WINDY CONDITIONS HAMPER FISHING MOST OF WEEK BUT FISHING PICKS UP LATE WEEK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 17-23, 2012

A very windy week in La Paz making it a bit rough to fish.  (In fact, that is also why for the first time in about 16 years of doing these weekly fishing reports…I have no photos!)  But… in all honesty, perhaps this was our windiest week in a bit.  Fortunately, for us, not many anglers either as we had a bit of a lull before the holidays and I think everyone was gearing up for Christmas and the influx we’ll be getting this week. 

 Still, because of the winds, we had to shuffle folks around to get the least windy days.  For most of our visitors right now, it’s different than during the high-season when folks are here to fish literally every day of their vacation.  Right now, it’s mostly folks here for the holidays to escapting colder climes to get a little sunshine and they’ll squeeze in a day of fishing or fishing is a quick after-thoughts.  This means that if there’s a day when it’s too windy, we can shuffle them around a bit to a different day.

 But, even then, most of our fishing was confined closer to shore than normal.  Still, on the up-side, we normally don’t have to go that far anyway!  We did get some dorado pretty close in.  None of the larger bulls like we’ve been getting lately ,but any kind of dorado right now is a bonus and the ones we got were decent, good-eating 10-15 pound fish.  Sierra also made up a nice part of the catch with pangas averaging 4-6 fish up to about 4 pounds with our best hits not too far from the Las Arenas lighthouse.

 Roosterfish up to about 25 pounds were also around with our better spots right in Bahia de los Muertos (Bahia de los Suenos) and further south off Boca de Alamo.  Several larger fish perhaps in the 40-60 pound range broke off before they could get near the boat, but were seen and fought for a bit. 

Keep in mind this was pretty sporadic fishing compared to what we’ve been doing lately and most of the better fishing was at the end of the week.  In fact, we had a little strange jag of fish on the weekend with some yellowtail…yes yellowtail (cold water fish) caught the same day as dorado (warm water fish)! But here’s the kicker, the same panga got two wahoo!  Not big, but hey…18 pound ‘hoos?  In December?    Just another example of the wacky fishing this past week.  We’ll keep an eye out.

Winds are diminishing this week so we’re looking forward to some better fishing!

 

Have a safe, happy and peaceful Christmas to you and yours! God bless.

 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:  http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm 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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wahoo mark tags 11-12

They have been so few and far between the last two years that their appearance so late in the fishing season has been a great surprise. Our amigo, Mark Martis, from Redondo Beach CA, hefts of a fat wahoo he caught south of Cerralvo Island.

Terrys Rooster Fish tags 11-12

We’ve had so many great folks from Idaho this year! Terry Robinson from Twin Falls put some nice dorado into the panga but also put the hurt on this trophy roosterfish while fishing with our Las Arenas Fleet. The fish was released. Roosterfish have hung around longer than I would have thought.

Donna dorado tags 11-12

Our amiga, Donna Thompson, lives with her husband Roger out at La Ventana and has front row seats to keep an eye on conditions in the channel when it can be really windy on the way to Cerralvo Island. She and Roger ran out to the far side of the island and hit the 88 bank and hung some of the better dorado we’ve seen in a few weeks! It helps that Donna knows how to fish very well also!

sierra adolfo tags 11-12

Fishing with Capt. Adolfo of our Tailhunter Fleet, Karina Vescio from Orange Co. CA, got into a nice day of sierra fishing in her first time fishing with us!

AJ's dorado tags 1

Love this photo although I wish it were clearer. A.J. Rose drove all the way down to La Paz from Denver to fish with us and had a banner day with sierra, dorado and pargo!

Graham overton alberta canada tags wahoo

Now here’s a story…Graham Overton from Alberta Canada was paddling his kayak just offshore from El Sargento and dragging an old javelin lure that used to be made by the folks who make Rapalas when this big old wahoo bit ! Took him awhile in the kayak, but, as you can see…he got the big skinny to shore! Wow!

pargo mulatto tyler martis 11-12 tags

Tyler Martis poses with one of the toughest fighting and best eating fish in our waters. It’s a barred pargo also known as a pargo mulatto. Tyler is from Redondo Beach CA and was fishing near Las Arenas. Pargo are feeding in the rocks right now.

sean dorado tags

Nothing better than watching kids with their fish! On the beach at Bahia de Los Muertos, Sean Rose from Colorado holds up one of his dorado he caught fishing with dad.

SURPRISING VARIETY OF FISH STILL BITING LATE IN SEASON

La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 25 to Dec. 2, 2012

Another really nice week of fishing with nice sunny weather in the high 80’s and although it was breezy, we’re fishing out of Las Arenas/ Bahia de Los Muertos where waters are calmer and fish are closer to shore…and cooperative!  (Why go out far when you don’t have to and get wet and beat up?)

Mostly fishing live bait, we’re still getting dorado around the buoys and closer with random fish and smaller schools of 10-15 pounders freelancing around as close as a few yards from shore.  As well, using live bait but with wired hooks or with smaller rapala / yo-zuri / mega bait –styled lipped lures, we’re getting some great action on sierra.  If you get into a school it can be quick fast furious action.

Additionally, we’re still picking up an occasional wahoo near the island on the larger rapalas and yo-zuris with darker colors getting the most attention.  We had a number of fish lost when they either bit through the lines or simply crushed the lures or twisted off the hooks!  But, the fish we got in were all decent 30-50 pounders!  But, clearly there are ‘hoo around Cerralvo Island.  I’m sure if we had more fishermen out on a regular basis looking for them, we’d be hooking more of the elusive wahoo.

By the way…wind permitting…there’s some bigger dorado outside on the 88 spot east of Cerralvo Island.  Reports of some 30-50 pound dorado out there also came in this week.

Inshore fishing on for roosters has also been good this week with some pargo and cabrilla also making it into the counts!  Roosters have ranged anywhere from 5-40 pounds.  Pargo and cabrilla have been up to about 15 pounds.  Bonito, jack crevalle and some pompano have also added to the action.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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Great photo! Dan Neale of La Verne CA holds up a beautiful late-season bull dorado caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos on a live sardine. Dan was on his first trip with Tailhunters in La Paz. The dorado are still biting!

With Captain Pancho all wrapped up (he has an allergy to dust!) he helps out my high school classmate Gary Howarth who poses with another dorado he caught south of La Paz. Don’t know how much longer the dorado will be around, but they’re a welcome catch right now with the seasons changing!

There are days when you can catch these all day or a quick limit within a short time! Sierra schools have moved into the shallow drop-off areas and live bait on a thin wire or else trolling small rapalas or yo-zuris or anything shiny will get a viscious strike! Great eating fish and a favorite for ceviche!

It’s that time of the year and one of the great draws in La Paz right now have been the whale sharks swimming in the bay in shallow water. Snorkeling with these 15-30 foot gentle giants is an incredible afternoon adventure and only several hundred yards from the city waterfront.

WARM WATER SPECIES STILL LINGER FOR ANGLERS WITH COOLER SPECIES MIXING IN

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 18-25, 2012

We hope everyone had a safe and happy Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend!  We’re grateful to all our Tailhunter friends and tribal members who read our fishing report each week!

Let’s get to it…

We’re still doing some pretty good fishing for so late in the season and the mix of fish is really surprising.  With northern winds getting stronger and air temperatures getting cooler, I’m really happy to see such a great variety of species that we’re catching…most importantly the “glamour” warm water species that so many anglers come to catch!

Almost all of our fishing now is out’ve Las Arenas where even if the winds are closer, we’re more protected for launching our fleet as well as just more comfortable fishing!  When fish are as close as just a few yards from shore, there’s no reason to run way outside and get bounced around and get your kidneys shaken loose outside the wind line!

But that’s what makes it fun right now.  In addition to a decent dorado bite of 10-25 pound mahi both inshore and hear the closer buoys, the southern side of the island is still getting some late season wahoo bite with fish up toe 45 pounds.  Rapalas doing most of the damage, but several were hooked on bait while guys were fishing for other species.  The biggest hinderance is the wind which can really whip it up getting over to that side of the island from Muertos Bay ahd headed north.

But not far from shore from the Arenas lighthouse down to about Pescadero, we’re encountering dorado, roosterfish, nice batches of sierra, pargo, cabrilla, rainbow runners, pompano, bonito and jack crevalle.  All of this can make for a lot of action in a fishing day!

Live bait is not a problem most day with live sardines available for purchase although they do tend to be on the smaller side so smaller live bait hooks are suggested.  Due to the time change, I know it sounds early, but we’re leaving the hotels at 4:45 a.m. to get out at first light.  Hopefully, the bite will continue a few more weeks!

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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As pretty a picture as you can have. This fresh bull dorado shows great colors after being caught by Mark Tefelski from Los Olivos CA near Santa Barbara. A good little run of dorado was a surprising highlight of the catch this week. Mark got this one just outside Bahia de Los Muertos.

It was another good week for late-season roosterfish like this one caught by Randy Bartholomay who visited us from Gaviotas CA. The roosterfish have been schooling near Cerralvo Island and then in the area between the Arenas lighthouse and Boca de Alamo. This guy was released.

There’s still some dorado north of La Paz although it’s getting windier and choppier as north winds increase and the season changes. But, Randy Choate and Captain Rogelio pose with a nice dorado they caught near Espirito Santo Island. Randy is from Idaho.

Our flyfishers have been having a surprisingly good time as long as the winds stay down. Tom Ames and Captain Adolfo with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet hold up another roosterfish that fell to a sardine pattern and was later released. That’s the beach at Muertos Bay in the background.

Another pretty fish held up by Larry Hildebrand from Chico CA who was on his first trip with us and picked up this and several other nice fish near Las Arenas.

It’s her first! Claire Ames from Idaho got into the nice roosterfish bite with this school-sized fighter she released after catching it in Bahia de Los Muertos.

We spent the week in Cabo San Lucas working for the 14th Annual Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament. It was a huge success with over $564 thousand dollars in prize money and with 121 teams making it the largest tournament in Baja this year. This was the largest fish of the tournament a 372 pound giant!

Last laugh! Don’t giggle at this tiny 30.4 pound wahoo. It is the most expensive wahoo you will ever see! It was worth almost $80 thousand dollars in prize money at the 14th Annual Western Outdoor News Tuna Jackpot Tournament when no other wahoo or dorado larger than this were brought to the scales! So…this guy was the winner…all the way to the bank!

LATE SEASON DORADO AND ROOSTERFISH KEEP RODS BENT!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 4-11, 2012

Surprisingly, given the cooler temperatures and breezier conditions, we had a nice run of top water fish including dorado.  Just when I thought the season had ended for dorado, our pangas got some nice numbers and good quality fish between 10 and 30 pounds each day.  Most of our fishing, however, is now with our Las Arenas fleet shoving off from Bahia de Los Muertos because the north winds are making it a bit too rough to fish out’ve La Paz.  No sense in getting beat up when you get can the same fish in calmer waters fishing from the Las Arenas area.

The dorado have been coming from a variety of areas.  As close as Punta Perico just a few minutes from the beach and around the lighthouse where the deeper water starts have been good areas, but to the south near Boca de Alamo and south end of Cerralvo Island have also produced schooling mahi.

In addition to the dorado, we’re getting inshore species like pargo, cabrilla and sierra and surprisingly the roosterfish are still hanging out as well near the lighthouse, in Bahia de Los Muertos and also near the island.  Sierra have been increasing in numbers as the waters cool as well.   We had a few knockdowns and hookups on sailfish this week also with all fish released.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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Dorado were a little harder to find this week, but there were some moments as conditions cool and the season changes. But, John Kennedy from northern California shows off a nice pair of mahi he caught north of La Paz.

We have had so many great folks from Idaho this year. Many first timers like our new amiga, Barbara Choate who fished with our Captain Jorge and got his photo-perfect bull dorado just south of Bahia de Los Muertos.

Now THIS is how to do it and have some fun! On light tackle and throwing a surface popper, Tim Hildebrand from Chico CA nailed this sweet bull dorado that fought him big time on the smaller rod!

Two of our best amigos, Joe Barrera and Vic Patton, always come to see us at the end of the year. They pose with a striped marlin they pulled off the south end of Cerralvo Island. Given the cooler waters, it wasn’t a bad week for billfish with most getting released. They weren’t able to let this one go.

First timer and using a flyrod, big grins for Randy Choate who got over a dozen roosterfish on the flyroad just inside Bahia de Los Muertos. All the fish were released. Randy is from Idaho.

Tim Hildebrand from Chico CA and Ryan Chipley from Spokane WA tag-teamed for a good day of dorado fishing. They also got the big triggerfish plus a bonito that they bled out and brought to our Tailhunter Restaurant for a big plate of sashime and Hawaiian poke.. The triggerfish ended up as fresh ceviche!

Tom Ames with Captain Adolfo couldn’t stop smiling behind the great mustache. He got rooterfish, jack crevalle and several other species all on the flyrod fishing with us this past week on his first visit from Idaho.

EARLY CHANGE OF SEASONS BRINGS VARIETY OF SPECIES

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 27 to Nov. 3, 2012

Seasons have definitely changed down here!   Perhaps sooner than we had expected as air temperatures are dropping and water temperatures are also diminishing with more breezy and windy conditions.  It’s a really nice time to be in La Paz!  But, it has surely affected our fishing.  Not a bad thing.  It’s just different.

It seems that in the span of 2 weeks we went from having 90 percent of our catch being dorado which are warm-water species to a nice mix of a number of species.  We’re still getting dorado every day, but I counted as many as 10 different species taken as well on any given day.

For example one day among a half-dozen of our pangas they reported:  dorado, sailfish, marlin, pompano, jack crevalle, wahoo, roosterfish, bonito, pargo, cabrilla and rainbow runners!  It made for some great fun fishing.  Quite a smorgasbord of species and lots of action.  One day, one panga got 4 wahoo.  Another with 2 of our flyfishers got over 20 roosterfish caught and released!  Another had fun throwing surface poppers on light tackle at dorado.  Another with first timers were thrilled to catch and release their first sailfish!

Most of our fishing now is with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.  The waters north of La Paz are getting pretty choppy and the fish are a bit of a run around the corner to Las Cruces area.  If folks want to go, we warn them it could get bumpy. Also, as mentioned above, there’s just not that many dorado around which is the main catch of our La Paz fleet this past season.  So, right now, unless someone says something, most of our fishing is with our Las Arenas fleet.  Fishing is closer.  There’s more species and it’s just a bit more protected from the winds that will surely get stronger as we head towards the end of the year.  For now, fishing is pretty good.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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Mike Whitlow and dad, Bobby, (Kennewick WA) stand amidst a “pretty good day of fishing.” They didn’t catch ALL these fish, but did pretty well. Actually, the fish are the lineup of 6 of our La Paz pangas that afternoon. The fishing started out slow because of Hurricane Paul, but as the week went on the dorado came charging back!

Great colors on this fresh bull taken north of La Paz by Ed Vander Veer on light tackle. This nice quality fish that Ed’s holding was pretty typical of the better sizes this past week plus many larger!

First timer from San Francisco, Steve Pinedo, got caught the first day and stalled by the hurricane and almost didn’t make it! But he got back in a good way with some outstanding dorado fishing including this hefty bull with Captain Marcos his first day of fishing.

From Clackamas, Oregon…fishing partners Todd Carver and Don Hines stacked some good fish later in the week after a slow start, but made up for it with some nice quality fish like these dorado while posed at Balandra Beach.

Trophy sailfish for Mary Heilman Vander Veer, our amiga from Washington. Mary will fish anytime…any place even in the rough weather we had before and just after the hurricane. She got her first sailfish here with our La Paz fleet after battling it on light tackle. Attempts to release the fish were unsuccessful and the fish was donated. Nicely done.

We had amigos from all over this week! From Arizona, Darrell LaMoure gets a hand from John Osborne on their first trip with us in La Paz. That has to be the shortest fattest bull dorado I’ve seen all season! It’s a trophy fish!

Al Yetter has already made two trips to see us this year and is working on dates for 2013. From Colorado, Al never seemed to stop laughing. Great colors on this hot bull dorado taken out of Las Arenas. Captain Pancho looks on!

Birthday fish for first timer, Craig Brown and Bob Layco, who came to see us from Washington. They also had to wait a day or two for the storms to pass, but got into the fish their last day and pulled on some good dorado like these two north of La Paz!

Charger fan in the house! Mike Shaw holds up one of his big dorado he caught while visiting us from San Diego on his first outting with Tailhunter. This fish was taken on live bait with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet.

Kenny Cambell hold up one of his Las Arenas dorado. Both our Tailhunter fleets had good showing this week after the storm passed. Las ARenas seemed to have more fish and La Paz had the larger fish!

This beautiful pargo mulatto (barred pargo) caught by Don Hines from Oregon ended up serving 13 people at our Tailhunter Restaurant that night! He was fishing with Captain Rogelio striking a pose in the background.

Lots of great amigos from Washington and Oregon these past few weeks including Erick Johnson fishing with Captain Alfredo putting this hefty bull dorado in the box near Espirito Santo Island.

Great time for light tackle! Bill Leech, all the way from Florida kept his spinning gear handy and took a nice dorado in the shallows!

HURRICANE PAUL BRUSHES BY BUT FISHING RECOVERS FAST WITH DORADO CHARGING BACK!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 14-21, 2012

What a crazy week!  It started off well, but then a surprise hit as we were winged by the edge of Tropical Storm Paul that turned into “HURRICANE PAUL!”  Fortunately, we dodged the big bullet unlike our fellow cities to the north like Loreto ,but in La Paz we were still hit with winds and 2 days of rain that were enough to cancel our pangas and keep our clients hotel-bound for a day-or-two!

Believe me, that’s as tough on us as it is on our clients to have to stay indoors during their vacation!

But we started out again by Wednesday and with each passing day, conditions improved.  In fact, they got better fast!  I was amazed at how fast the muddy cloudy waters cleaned up. Faster than normal, which I’m sure had something to do with the improved bite.

Also the hurricane like winds did take a few days to diminish and we did have a few queasy souls out there the first few days after the storm (but some admitted it was abetted by too much tequila consumption the night before!).  But, again ,with each passing day the weather, water and winds improved.  In fact, since the storm, we’ve had some of the prettiest days in a long time.  Just brilliant blue.  The surrounding hills and mountains also could not be greener or more vibrant with flowers, grass and trees going full turbo…and the wild cows eating like it’s a free buffet line!  But, we’ve had more rain in the last month than we’ve had in 5 years combined!

As for the fishing, as I mentioned, we started the week well.  It’s been a pattern all year. We get going well then a storm comes along and changes the fishing landscape.

However, the dorado fishing by the end of the week was going solidly . This is for our La Paz as well as our Las Arenas fleet!  Not only did we have good number with limits being common, but also, the quality of the fish has been much improved. We’ve probably gotten a better ratio of bulls and fish in the 20-40 pound class than we’ve had all year.

The fish have moved around quite a bit, but with a little patience, we’re finding the fish.  You just have to be patient.  Some of the clients have admitted that they were getting discouraged when they had not had a bite by 11 or 12 noon, but then all of a sudden the rods went off and it was crazy nuts until the fish box was full!   The late bite has been a common pattern.  So, just hang in there!

In addition to the dorado, every day we’re getting marlin and sailfish hook ups with most fish being released plus nice roosterfish are still working as well up to about 40 pounds.  A few giant trophy pargo and cabrilla also being caught!  Unfortunately, no tuna but giant squid seem to keep popping up every few days.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

 

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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One of the better tuna of the week hoisted by Eddie Carvajal from Baldwin Park CA. First bite of the day. There weren’t many tuna, this week, but the was a nice slug yellowfin. Eddie also did great on dorado after 3 days of fishing with us for his first time.

Former firefighter Mac Treasure retired to Nevada to be a farmer, but brings his great group to see us every year to fish for a few days. On their first day of fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet, Mac stuck the biggest fish of the day with this big hefty bull dorado. Las Arenas had the better fishing this week.

Nice sailfish for Wayne Jarrett from S. Dakota catch-and-release after the photo. Sailfish have been fairly active the last few weeks with most getting released. Capt. Fabio holds the fish.  (Thanks for the shot, Hawk!)

Jon Luker had a banner week of fishing with us. Our long-time amigo, fished 3 days and had big dorado as well as yellowfin tuan. He got this big female north of La Paz.

I’ve known Mike Harkins since he was a little kid coming down to fish with us in La Paz. He was always a talented fisherman and is now a sportboat captain on the “Western Pride” out of Davey’s Locker Sportfishing in Newport Beach. He holds a couple of yellowfin tuna taken off Cerralvo Island on the one day when the fish blew up…then disappeared the next day!

Musician Larry Cornwall has a house down here near La Paz but lives in near Los Angeles. Larry shows off a big time trophy bull dorado he caught just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos!

John Nagy and Rick Hosmer make several trips a year normally to La Paz from S. California. They took this photo with a pair of big dorado taken off the south end of Cerralvo Island near Las Arenas which had the much better fishing this week.

For a first timer fishing, Mayra Carvajal, had a stellar week of fishing with some big-time dorado fishing like this nice bull. She enjoyed bringing it back to our Tailhunter Restaurant to have us make them into tacos for dinner! The beach at Muertos Bay is behind her.

His personal best dorado for Tim Larsen from Dana Point, CA with some great colors fresh out of the water. Tim caught this near Espirito Santo Island. Buddy Dave Marino from Little Rock CA looks on.

Best hat-of-the-week award to Scott Luker with Captain Rogelio trying to photo-bomb from behind! Great shot of Scott and this quality bull dorado caught north of La Paz.

Barbette Davidson poses with her nice dorado she caught fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz fleet. Barbette was a first-timer with us from Washington and had some great fishing with both of our fleets.

Rob Brooks checks out his catch a hot bull dorado he got just south of Muertos Bay fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet. He got limits of dorado that day!

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK

Pastor Mike Ray from California does battle with a nice trophy roosterfish in Bahia de Los Muertos.  Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNUInBioBPs&list=UUSN0xdz-El64xBXmMhl_yvg&index=1&feature=plcp

DORADO SOME TUNA GREAT WEATHER MAKE FOR STEADY FALL FISHING…SOME DAYS!

La Paz- Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 16-23, 2012

Overall, a better week for fishing  and weather since the previous week.  At least on some levels.  Not only did we have literally picture-perfect sunny weather (with no afternoon thunderstorms after 3 weeks of storms!)  but dorado continued to be the solid biters, but the big change seems to be that Las Arenas is finally catching up and is turning out the better fishing.

In fact, not only did Las Arenas have the better fishing, it also had the larger fish as well. Plus there were scattered bites of yellowfin tuna as well. This is exciting given that the usually stellar fishing with our Las Arenas fleet has been scratchy all season.  It’s about time we see it catch fire a bit!

I don’t went to get too excited then have it all fall flat as it has several times this year, but the overall trend for about a week-and-a-half seems to be that the Las Arenas fishing is finally getting some legs.  La Paz fishing was a bit tougher.  In fact, perhaps some of the slowest fishing we’ve seen all season as colder and greener water pushed the La Paz bite down and our anglers had to scratch for fishing north of the city.

As mentioned, dorado were biting on both the La Paz and the Las Arenas side.  Fish were normally about 10-15 pounds for the schoolie-fish, but 20-25 pounders were not uncommon, especially around Las Arenas, Bahia de Los Muertos and Cerralvo Island.  Still, both sides produced some 30 -40 pound class fish and larger fish were also lost.  But there were some boats and some anglers that worked hard and even then…sometimes their efforts and the efforts of the captains just didn’t produce!  Alot of the success this week was just a matter of luck or being right on the right school at the right time with the right bait when they dorado wanted to bite.

And then there was the tuna…

Yes, we did get some tuna as well.  Little splashes here and there of yellowfin tuna between 10 and 40 pound kept popping up around Cerralvo Island, but nothing spectacular.  Still, it’s always encouraging and we remain hopeful that the tuna will show up solidly at any time.  But, it’s only a guess.  I’m a bit worried about the water temperatures which are already starting to drop a bit closer to shore.  The way I know that is we also hooked some sierra this week which we normally don’t see until the waters get chillier in November or December.  It’s only September!

For billfish, not so great.  They just had the big La Paz Gold Cup tournament this past week and not many qualifying fish were taken.  We did get some sailfish hookups this week and some smaller striped marlin, but all either broke off or were released.

That’s our story!

Jonathan and Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter International, P.O. Box 1149, Alpine  CA  91903-1149
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

.
Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate


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

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