La Paz-Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Dec. 23-Jan. 1, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Comfortable day and night temps, but still some gusty seasonal winds up to 20 mph at times that are prohibitive to being on the water whether you’re fishing, snorkeling, kayaking or SCUBA. So, you need to find those dates when the wind is blowing less.
WATER: Simple. If it’s windy, the water will be rough and cloudy. If it’s not windy, the waters settle down nicely. Surprisingly warmer than normal.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, sailfish, roosterfish, tuna – you gotta be kidding me! Plus sierra, pargo, cabrilla, jack crevalle, yellowtail.
BAIT BEING USED: If it’s windy, it’s tough to get live bait. Plus, this is off-season so there’s not that many fishermen on the water. That means sometimes, the live bait guys won’t go catch bait to sell. Not practical. If you don’t have live bait, then dead bait; frozen bait and lures can still be effective.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
The right kind! Wow! Hard to believe wahoo in December, but John Davis did the trick on this ‘hoo off Cerralvo Island.
Awww…a “cute” juvenile sailfish boated by Norm Busch fishing with Captain Pancho. The fish was released.
Love the facial expression! Greg Earles battled this hog yellowfin tuna for 2.5 hours. WHOA! Well done!
Double roosters and lots of fun in Bahia Muertos for Norm and Greg. We don’t usually see roosterfish in the winter. The big 100 pounders show up in the spring. These were released to grow big.
Bull dorado for a serious-looking John. Seas look a bit rough!
Love this photo or Norm Busch with another fun winter roosterfish. Another release!
Another dorado for Greg headed for the fish box.
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OK…this is just weird.
Granted…winter is the WINDY season and yes, the winds have been blowing up to 20 mph. But even if you find the occasional window when the winds slack off and you can go fishing, the catch is usually inshore stuff like pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra and jacks.
Mostly shallow water species found over the rocks and reefs. Alot of that is because with the winds, it’s not a great idea to go too far out in the rough waters. However, also the waters are cold and the warm water species are still months away.
So, what’s happening in our waters?
As this is off-season, there’s not much of anyone fishing. Mostly locals, commercial fishermen and the occasional visitor. But, the catch has been rather…unusual to say the least.
Yes, the shallow water rock species are still there.
But, were hooking dorado! Fish up to 30 pounds are still swimming around and readily taking lures and live bait.
There are tuna around Cerralvo Island with football-sized fish like 10 pounders, but also sluggers over 50 pounds!
Want more?
How about wahoo also around Cerralvo. Sailfish in the channel up to 130 pounds. And what about the 10 pound roosterfish along the beaches and in the bays. Great for light tackle. Not the big hogs over 100 pounds we get later in the year but some fun feisty roosters to play with.
Totally unseasonable catches and highly unusual. Not sure how long they’ll be around. Probably as long as the waters stay on the warmer side, but alot of fun while they are here.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Dec. 12-22, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly mild. Some clouds, but the key, as far as fishing has been the wind. Earlier, it was really gusty, but then the last week (Christmas week) some of the calmest winter weather we’ve seen in…forever.
WATER: When the winds blew, the water was junk and uncomfortable. But, when the wind didn’t blow, the water was almost glassy blue and flat!
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Crazy dorado fishing…hard to believe this is “off-season.” School-sized dorado of about 10 pound size. But, larger 20-40 pound fish still running around as well. Then, late in the period…sailfish? Yup! Inshore, sierra, bonito, jacks and cabrilla and a few yellowtail also showed up in the boxes.
BAIT: Bait stocks have been good when the wind isn’t blowing. Nice sardines for live bait.
OUTLOOK: Winds will be coming back, but there’s a few windows here and there.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Francisco and Ramiro were out at Bahia Muertos to catch a few filets for the freezer! Wow…never expected a box full of dorado as well as the nice sailfish like this and surely not in December! They tried to release the sailfish but were unsuccessful.
Celebrating his birthday in La Paz, Greg Earles was deternined to get in a day of two of fishing! He had some banner fishing like this nice bull. Amigo, John Davis lends a hand!
Our La Paz amigo, Jimmy Williams with a trophy sail. It almost looks like a fiberglass mount with great colors. Check out the flat ocean. Looks like a lake! Jimmy released the fish, but also caught dorado.
Captain Pancho with Norm Busch. Take a look at the big bull that Pancho is holding up for the photo. It’s a beast! Nice rack of mahi meat!
Another local, amigo, Phil always gets into good fish. Bull dorado like this are NOT typical winter fish. Great catch!
Even the guys who fished north of La Paz where it’s usually windy got into a nice jag of dorado!
Happy Birthday to Greg! Starting the day off right!
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WOW! WOW! WOW!
Hard to believe some of the fishing right now…in December!
I know the fishing report is a little later than usual. I really do try to get them out on a weekly basis now going on almost 30 years. But, as you’ve often heard me say, November to April is off-season. Barely anyone fishing because it’s usually extremely windy and rough!
So, I was waiting a few extra days for something to happen so I could have something a bit meatier to write you about. Even I get bored talking about the same old thing!
I also knew I had some local friends going fishing plus a small group of guys who were going to brave it and go fishing for a day or two. Additionally, some of my friends who are local commercial fishermen were supposed to give me a better report.
Also, well, it’s the holidays. I’m still recovering my my knee replacement surgery even though it has now been about 6 weeks and on top of it…everyone (me included) has gotten the cold/flu bug! It’s that time of year.
So, apologies that it’s a little late, but it was worth it!
Check it out…
Earlier in the period it was typical windy, rough, choppy…blah blah blah. But then, Christmas week, I don’t know what happened.
The winds diminished. The waters calmed down. The waters turned blue! It was like someone threw a switch!
Dorado between 5 and 20 pound schoolies bit like it was summer! Both Las Arenas and La Paz fleets produced some good catches and there were even larger fish up to the 40-50 pound class bulls! Pretty much unheard of.
With plentiful supplies of bait including live sardines, the dorado were ready to chew. Still not much of anyone fishing, but everyone who was out got fish.
As well, inshore fish like cabrilla, pargo, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra and yellowtail more typical of this time of year were also hooked.
The biggest surprise probably were the sailfish that showed up. And these were some nice-sized legit sails running 90 to maybe 140 pounds. Much larger than normal. Most of the fish were released, but especially because many were hooked on lighter tackle, there were some epic battles.
Not sure if this will continue, but the key is the wind and finding the windows when the winds aren’t blasting folks off the water! A great Christmas week of fishing!
LATE BREAK REPORT – Just as I was about to publish…tuna and wahoo biting now!
BLESSINGS TO YOU!
Hard to believe that Christmas has come again so soon, but always a special time. Wherever you are or whatever you’re doing, please…from Jill and I and our Tailhunter family and team in La Paz…we wish you a special peace and happy holidays and Christmas and many blessings for the new year. We hope to have you visit us in 2024!
Cheers and best fishes always!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 29- Dec. 9, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: A pleasant time to be in town. Daytime in the high 70’s to low 80’s and nightime down to the mid-60’s. Most days pretty nice, but the winds (up to 20 mph) from the north blow for a days then cut back. It’s nice right now, but winds coming back later in the week.
WATER: Definitely cooling and when the winds are blowing, it’s pretty rough, but other days, nice and fishable. However, water visibility is decreasing when the waters are rough. Must be some warm patches as we’re still hooking some dorado.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Cabrilla, sierra, snapper, pargo, bonito, jack crevalle, dorado, tuna.
BAIT SITUATION: Live bait availability is sporadic. Not really many fishermen this time of year so the bait guys might not even go out. Or, if it’s too windy and rough, they can’t find any bait. So, often having to troll or use dead or frozen bait.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Freezer meat for the winter for Miguel Campos from Puerta Vallarta who put a couple of yellowfin tuna and some nice dorado in the fish box.
Jorge Romero was out from La Paz and hit flat water and empty seas to go along with a nice limit of dorado.
The fishing report is a tad later than normal this week because I was hoping something would happen so that I would have some decent information to impart!
No such luck. Same old…same old! It is what it is!
Not much of anyone really fishing right now. Not only is it that lull between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this is pretty much off-season from November to April when the north winds whip things up.
The windsurfers and kiteboarders love the world-class winds, but not so good for being on the water fishing. Additionally, most of the folks coming down this time of year, aren’t here to fish. They’re shopping, dining and hanging out on the beaches.
It’s actually a really nice time to be in La Paz. Air temps in the day are in the high 70’s to low 80’s with little humidity. Nights are in the mid-60’s. Additionally, Christmas decorations are up and at night everyone is downtown for the Christmas faires every evening with booths, food and music.
Mostly, the only folks who are out fishing…and where I’m getting my reports are from our captains who use this down time to go out with family and friends; commercial fishermen; and other locals who can pick and choose which days would be best to go out when the winds aren’t blowing so strong.
That’s the key. Being flexible to go out on the days when the winds have abated. Most of this week there were some 20 mph gusts, but then towards the end of the week, things settled down again.
Apparently, there’s still some legit dorado around which means there’s still some warm blue water here and there. The fish are reportedly running about 10-20 pounds and being taken on live bait (when available); dead bait; frozen bait and chunked bait.
Some of the commercial guys have reported yellowfin tuna popping up at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island. Most of the fish are 10-30 pounders, but I heard there were some bigger models up to 100 pound or more running with the porpoise schools.
Inshore, the usual…snapper…pargo (several types)…jack crevalle…sierra…bonito (make great chunked bait).
FROM MY MEMO PAD
They finally opened the season for swimming with the whalesharks. Not sure how long it will stay open. Just depends how many animals show up and also on the water and weather. If it’s too windy, it’s hard to be out there and hard to find the animals in the shallow water!
Reservations are coming in daily and dates are filling up for fishing with us in 2024. Don’t wait. Get in touch with us, especially if you have a favorite captain or hotel! You can write me directly: Jonathan@tailhunter.com
Ice chests full of fish headed to the airport!
Whale watching season over in Bahia Magdalena is coming up. Some whales are already starting to show up in the shallow bay there. Best time is usually February to March. Reach out if that’s something you’d like to do. It’s pretty incredible.
It’s show season again. We hit the road in 2024 and our first show will be:
DALLAS SAFARI CLUB CONVENTION
DALLAS CONVENTION CENTER
JANUARY 11-14
It’s a massive show. One of the largest and it’s got so much to see and check out. We
will be in booth #339. Come see us!
Just one of the massive halls in the convention center in Dallas!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 21-28, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Daytime in the low 80’s and nights in the mid-60’s. For about the first time in weeks, the winds did not blow and we had almost perfect weather which was reflected in the fishing.
WATER: Without the winds kicking everyone and everything, waters settled down and were relatively flat. Given the fish that were caught, there are obviously still warm and cooler spots of water.
LIVE BAIT: Still and issue and tough to come across so dead and frozen bait or trolling is what we’re doing, but still working well.
NOTES: About 2 months late, but enough whalesharks finally arrived in La Paz Bay (8 of them) to open the season to swimming with them with licensed guides. Not sure how long the season will stay open depends on how many animals stick around. They’re not on anyone’s schedule!
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Gary and Miles Wagner at Gary’s Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos. Wow, hard to believe bulls like this massive dorados are biting in November, but great catch!
Tailhunter’s own Jorge Romero, got a “kitchen pass” for a few days fishing from his lovely wife, Sandra, so he got out on the water. He was told to get some meat into the freezer. Nice load of dorado!
Wow! Roosterfish in November. Sydney Wagner hooked this pretty gallo in Bahia Muertos and released it. Rooster season is normally, April to July or so! Check the flat waters!
Yup! Even yellowfin tuna this week. Jim Nichols is all smiles. Jim is from Colorado.
Jorge getting his Santa Claus beard in gear for the holidays with another bull dorado for the box.
Our buddy, Jimmy Williams, got out and fished the north end of Cerralvo Island for Thanksgiving and pulled several big dorado up like this beauty. Jimmy is about 6’2″ so you can gauge the size of this bull!
Jorge got out another day. Went south out’ve Muertos and struck out so he headed to the south end of Cerralvo Island looking for wahoo. No wahoo, but two nice tuna and a bunch of dorado plus white bonito on the troll and using dead bait.
Miguel Campos from Puerta Vallarta comes over for quick winter trips to La Paz. Nice YFT!
MIguel with another dorado to get into the ice chest!
Cold water fish, but delicious especially for ceviche. Gary has himself a nice sierra.
Jim Nichols with another surprise roosterfish. Caught and released!
Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving and the holidays are off to a good start!
Well…what a difference a few days make!
For about the first time in about 5 weeks, Mother Nature cut us some slack and those fierce northern winds gave us a break for about 7 days. They’re scheduled to be coming back but in the meantime, it was a great time to be on the water!
Not many folks fishing this time of year, but many of our friends or even our captains got out with their friends and families to take advantage of the great conditions. Hopefully, to put some fish in the freezers for the holidays.
Normally, this time of year because of the weather, the catch is mostly inshore species like pargo, cabrilla and snapper. However, this past week, it was about as good as we’ve had since mid-October!
Schools of dorado came up hungry for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets with decent-sized school-fish running about 10-15 pounds, but also larger fish up to 40 pounds. Additionally, tuna up to maybe 30 pounds were hitting at the north and south ends of Cerralvo Island and there were some rumors of a wahoo or two breaking off as well as billfish!
Inshore, yes, cabrilla, snapper, jack crevalle, sierra, white bonito, pacific bonito and two kinds of pargo were biting, but the big surprise were the roosterfish in the 10-40 pound size being caught and released. Normally, our roosterfish season runs about April to early July!
And, the pargo that we hooked were the pargo liso (mullet snapper) that get up to 20-40 pounds and usually don’t show up until the spring that made it into the fish boxes!
Some amberjack were also hooked and the commercial pangeros reported some yellowtail were hooked as well.
Still not much in the way of live bait because of the turbulent waters and also, if there’s not many fishermen, it’s economically a waste of time for the commercial bait guys to go out. So, most fishermen either trolled or made good use of dead or frozen bait like ballyhoo, frozen sardines or chunked bonito.
Enjoy it while we can! Winds predicted to start up again!
WHALE SHARK SEASON FINALLY OPENS
After waiting many weeks, authorities finally opened the popular swimming with the whaleshark season. Normally, the season runs October to April in the Bay of La Paz.
However, that’s dependent on water conditions…if it’s too rough and windy ,it’s hard to find the animals in the shallow waters. And it’s also dependent on how many animals are around.
At last count, there were 8-10 whalesharks in the bay.
The problem is that so many folks want to get in the water and so many operators from all over Baja sell and oversell tickets and trips. Many are unlicensed.
Only 6 persons are allowed in the water for each individual animal and only for a limited amount of time. For the safety and wellbeing of the animal. Plus, having too many boats in the water scares the animals away.
If dozens of people are booked to get in the water on a given day and there are only 3 or 4 animals, most folks will never get in the water or their trips will get cancelled. Even if you get in a boat, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get in the water because there is a rotation of people. And it’s not like the animals are on a schedule or in a cage like at the zoo so there’s no guarantees. You take your chances.
So before you book, check with us or another licensed operator.
RESERVATIONS FOR 2024
Our spots are booking fast for the coming year as we come off an incredible season this past year . Reservations are coming in daily so get in touch with me personally:
We’ll get you set up! Let me know so you don’t miss out on your favorite captains or hotel rooms. Or, if you’re brand new, write me and we can tell you all about our services that we’ve offered here in La Paz almost 30 years now! We’re great for experienced as well as first-timers; families; friends; kids…something for everyone!
We’ll customize a complete fishing/ hotel/ activity package for you!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Nov. 11-20, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Mostly sunny in the low to mid-80’s in the day time. Evenings comfortable mid-60’s. Great time for the holidays and all the snow-birds visiting. The problem has been the winds blowing 15-25 knots from the north. Some gusts stronger. Important to choose your activities accordingly. If you’re going to do something, do it in the mornings before winds get stronger
WATER: Cooler and rougher. If the wind is blowing, very choppy. Heading north out’ve La Paz Bay can be wet and bouncy at best. Impossible at worst.
FISH HOOKED: Dorado, bonito, sailfish, jack crevalle, pargo, cabrilla, snapper.
BAIT AVAILABILTY: Erratic. If winds are blowing and it’s rough, the bait guys have a hard time getting live bait and you should plan on a day of trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
First stop of the morning for Michael Novotny who had just pulled out for the day and had this pretty dorado hit a trolled feather!
Miles Wagner staying with his dad in Bahia Muertos at Costa Rancho got this nice pargo liso (mullet snapper) to come out’ve the rocks, but not without a tough battle to be sure. Punta Perico in the background. Seas looking a little choppy too! Miles is from Colorado Spring CO.
If there’s fish around, Kevin Shiotano is a fish magnet! He had some rough windy days, but did get a day where the dorado blew up on him. Check out the cleaning table!
Sailfish in November? Almost unheard of, but Michael Novotny hooked this big sail while fishing with Captain Arcangel and they were able to also release the fish.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner fishing with Captain Hugo got one of the nice spawning pargo liso just offshore. Great eating! Gary owns the famous Giggling Marlin Bar and Restaurant in Cabo.
Not many folks fishing right now. Most of the folks arriving in town were here either for the big Baja 1000 race that filled town for a week of race teams and fans or they’re snow birds looking for some sunshine and not necessarily in town to be fishing, or participating in other water sports.
But, we did have some folks on boats. However, most were folks who were flexible on their days or were locals who could pick and choose specific dates when the winds weren’t blowing as hard.
That’s the key. The seasons have changed for the rougher and this weather with strong northern winds is pretty typical during the winter months when it can often make it worthless to even try being on the water.
However, there are some windows and if you can take advantage of those or get your fishing done early before the winds kick in.
We actually got some late-season dorado. Nothing huge, but fun-sized 10-20 pound class fish. Even if the winds might be a little more blustery than wanted, fishing inshore over the rocks is producing some jacks, mullet snapper (pargo liso), cabrilla, sierra and bonito (great to cutting and using for bait).
Surprisingly, we also got a few hookups on sailfish which is very unusual for this time of year.
If you’re planning to go out just be aware that winds could blow you out or force you back to shore sooner than you want. It can also affect whether live bait will be available. If not, you’ll either be trolling or using dead or frozen bait.
BAHIA MADGALENA FISHING
We had some of our good clients out at Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific Coast out fishing with us. Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) is about 4 hours drive from La Paz and our guides fish inshore in the zillion miles of mangroves. They also fish offshore on the seamounts.
Mike Jennings and his amigos fished 2 days offshore sticking great fun with tuna and dorado then a day inshore in the shallows in the mangroves for numerous species including, pargo, snapper, spotted bay bass, corvina and others.
BAJA 1000 OFF ROAD RACE
This year the annual BAJA 1000 Race started in La Paz and for the better part of a week, town was filled with thousands of fans; off-road race teams from all over the world and all the festivities that go along with it.
It was pretty much a full-party on the Malecon waterfront 24 hours-a-day with revving motors, crowds, music and more. The drivers and teams are like rock-stars and it was quite an event with the Malecon closed for miles.
FISHING in 2024 BOOKINGS COMING IN FAST!
We’ve been in La Paz now almost 30 years and are coming off one of the best fishing seasons in 2023. Just a heads-up that our bookings for 2024 are really filling things up quickly with reservations coming in daily.
If you want to come visit this year or have a favorite captains or hotel, don’t wait. Get in touch with me directly: jonathan@tailhunter.com
I can check our availabilties before we get filled up. We don’t want to miss you. We’ll customize a special fishing vacation package for you, your friends, family or group!
Right now, we have great openings and boats available:
April 16-30
May 1-8
May 22-31
June 1-12
June 25-30
July 1-31
Aug. 1-11
September 1-30
October 1-24
Hope to hear from you and let’s get you fishing in 2024.
That’s our story! Have a safe, happy and peaceful Thanksgiving and holidays!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
THAT TIME of YEAR…HERE COME THE WINTER WINDS and WAVES
La Paz- Las Arenas/Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 31-Nov.10, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mostly sunny, but the season has changed for sure. Temps have gotten cooler and the winds from the north have started and blown consistently now. So less fishermen and more windsurfers and kiteboarders.
WATER – Still taking time to recover after getting messed up and dirty from Hurricane Norma, but it’s better for sure. It’s just not going to be what it was since the northern winds have kicked in now and waters are colder and greener now not to mention rougher and choppier. Expect there will be some port closures at times because it’s too rough. No boat traffic allowed at all in or out.
SPECIES CAUGHT – More inshore stuff now because we simply can’t get to some areas now because of the sea conditions. So more pargo, jacks, snapper, cabrilla bonito. A few dorado still holding as well as some late season billfish. Finding live bait is an issue with the rough seas now.
THE MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Tony Morales was out on one of the calmer days and found a legit dorado in some blue water.
Despite cooling and rougher waters, there are still some patches of warmer blue water holding school-sized dorado although finding live bait has been an issue. The dorado seem willing to bite dead bait; frozen bait or chunks of bonito.
It’s been a little hard to launch our boats since Hurricane Norma 2 weeks ago. This is what’s left of the small boat docks where we keep our pangas. That’s Captain Raul with the baseball hat “supervising” some of the clean-up. The launch ramp was also destroyed. What you can’t see are the boats sunk beneath the surface. Fortunately, our captains pulled their boats out’ve the water before the big storm hit.
More tough times. This is Marina Palmira about a week ago. All of the marinas in La Paz took substantial damage from Hurricane Norma and 6 vessels burned in this inferno caused by an electrical fire. Probably it did not help that with so many sunken and damaged boats, there was alot of flammable debris, gas, solvents, etc. floating in the waters.
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Not really alot to tell you about.
To be honest, there hasn’t been that much activity on the water for several reasons.
First is that we were still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Norma which did extensive damage to the marinas making it hard to launch any boats plus the storm really tore up the waters after 3 days of pounding . Waters were not just cold, but extremely dirty and filled with debris.
As well, the seasons have turned. The northern winds have started blasting making it not only rougher to be out, but also more difficult just to get out’ve the bay or to find baits. It also keeps the waters cooler so we’re not seeing the warm water species now like the dorado, tuna, wahoo, etc.
Instead, we’re looking at more inshore species like the cabrilla, sierra, pompano, jack crevalle and bonito. There are still a few dorado holding here and there, but these are the exception. But, they are still legit 10-15 pound fish.
I expect with the winds blowing consistently, waters will only get colder and rougher which they do during out winters making it not only difficult to fish, but also snorkel, scuba and other water activities except kiteboarding and windsurfing which becomes world-class during the winter months.
Live bait is also an issue. With the rougher seas, the bait areas are getting pounded by the seas making it difficult to get to or find the bait. Also, since there are fewer fishermen on the water, the bait guys just don’t go out as often if there’s no one to buy their bait.
If you do plan to fish, get in touch with us about a week ahead of time. Be flexible on your dates and I can check the forecast to see which dates might be better to go out.
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
Just wanted to give a shout-out to everyone in our Tailhunter Nation for all the e-mails, texts, phone calls and cards wishing me well from my surgery.
The fishing report is a bit (alot ) later than normal this time because I had full knee replacement surgery more almost 2 weeks ago. My left knee finally wore out after years of sports (football, wrestling, running) then 30 years down here carrying ice chests, luggage, scuba tanks and running up and down 3 sets of stairs at our Tailhunter Restaurant.
I needed an equipment “upgrade.”
The docs say the surgery went well and I’m grinding through the post-surgical physical therapy (ouch!) and following all the doctors orders. As I type this Jill has me propped up with ice wrapped around my swollen left knee. She’s been taking stellar care of me. Couldn’t do this without her. Thankful also for the half-dozen “happy drugs” the give me for the pain! But, I’ve been groggy or just out’ve it much of the time so that’s why the report is tardy!
I’m supposed to be down 4-6 weeks, but I’m pushing to be up well before then! I just wanted to tell ya’ll thank you for much for all the good thoughts, prayers and wishes! I’ll be better and faster on the other side of this!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 24-30, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – After taking it out on us by sending us Hurricane Norma the blast away at Baja, the subsequent weather was mild by comparison. Windy at times, but mostly sunny. Definitely cooler.
WATER – Mostly a mess. So much runoff from the heavy rains that waters looked like chocolate milk. It got a little better reluctantly each day, but water temps remained on the cooler side. One encouraging thing is the tons of debris in the water. Good habitat for dorado.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK – Not real great, and it took awhile to even have fishable conditions, but we did hook some dorado, sailfish, tuna, bonito. Not alot and not super, but not better than expected after such a tremendous storm.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET – The whole bay and outlying waters were a mess of debris and dirty silty water that took awhile to clear up and is still slowly improving. The big problem is that the marinas sustained serious damages and there are many boats sunk. Fortunately, we had pulled all our boats out’ve the water. However, the ramps were destroyed so we couldn’t put our boats back in the water, even if we wanted to. Oh, and no live bait to be found was no help either. And it looks like those pesky north winds are starting up.
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET – Like everywhere else, waters were dirty and turned over. No bait to speak of. But, we had a few exploratory trips and at first nothing more than bonito, but then thing improved. And using dead bait and chunked bonito, some of the dorado started biting again.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT –
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Ryan Brockway is a guide and owner of several lodges up in Vancouver, but still came down to fish after the hurricane and we’re happy he got into some dorado action his last day!
Check out the huge sailfish that Sara Jenkins hooked with Captain Pancho. Son, Ryder lends a hand. Sara fought this on light tackle the whole time and then made a great release as well!
Still a few tuna hanging out. Brandon Cowhey with a great photo of a chunky YFT!
Ryder…9 years old…Love to see this. Great form! This young man loves to fish. His 2nd trip to see us!
Ryan Jenkins was able to get out a few days just before Hurricane Norma dropped in on us and was able to get into some nice dorado biters!
More than a few ended up on the beach.
Many of the owners aren’t in La Paz which complicates the clean-up. Lots of boats piled right onto the Malecon by the fierce winds and waves of Hurrican Norma.
Lots of things in La Paz got turned upside down like these beach palapas after almost 3 days of battering. Fortunately, no reports of injuries.
All the marinas are a mess of sunken and damaged watercraft and trash.
Clean-up is going to take awhile. Especially hard to clean with no running water or power.
Many volunteer groups came down to the beaches to help clear off the muck.
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This is going to be somewhat convoluted for a fishing report because well…it was a convoluted week.
Basically, if you hadn’t heard, Hurricane Norma slammed directly into La Paz . It was alot harder then the experts predicted. It stayed around alot longer than predicted. It hit us with alot more rain and wind than anyone expected.
By the time it hit us it was a Category 2 hurricane with winds well over 100 mph. It dropped 8-15 inches of rain on us. Worse, is that it just sat and sat and pummeled the area for about 30 hours. It’s like getting hit by a boxer over and over. At some point, things start to break.
I’ve heard that over 100 boats were sunk or damaged including some huge yachts. All the marinas sustained extensive damage. Fortunately, all our captains pulled their boats out’ve the water ahead of time, but all the ramps were damaged and there was no way to launch the boats again.
Even moreso, hotels, businesses, restaurants, and homes took it hard. The popular restaurants at Tecolote Beach that had been around for decades, were completely destroyed. The front of our own Tailhunter Restaurant blew away and received extensive other damage.
The bigger issue might have been the loss of water and power with a good portion of the city in the dark (that included cell phone and wifi of course). Many folks were without it for days. Our restaurant had no power for 5 days.
It’s pretty hard to clean up when you have no water or electricity. As of writing this, there are still lots of homes and businesses waiting for the lights to come on.
As for fishing…
We had just started to re-bound after what Hurricane Hilary and the full-moon did to us. Dorado had started to bite again . Waters had cleaned up. Tuna were showing again as were billfish and even some nice-sized roosterfish.
Then up comes Norma.
Waters have been a mess. It’s a big chocolate-colored soup of silt, mud and floating debris. It has taken and continues to take days to clear up.
We have not been able to fish out’ve La Paz. The marinas were wrecked and the ramps were all torn up. There’s no way to launch our boats, even if the conditions looked more promising. I’m just glad we pulled our boats out’ve the water before the storm. Some marinas look like a boat graveyard.
For our Las Arenas fleet, waters cleared a little bit but bait remained difficult or non-existent. Bonito bit somewhat in the begining. As waters cleared, however, the dorado started to come back. Still not bait but we were using dead bait, frozen bait and chunks of fresh bonito.
Honestly, as the season is changing and it’s getting colder and windier, we don’t have that many folks on the water so not that many folks lost any days on the water.
A SPECIAL NOTE FROM US!
To everyone who offered their good thoughts, prayer and wishes and even offered to come down to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Norma, we appreciate you all! We’re all fine. That’s the most important. No one was hurt and this is not our first rodeo. We’ll be bigger and better on the other side.
NEXT REPORT MIGHT BE A BIT LATE…
The other thing…As you’re reading this, I’m headed for knee replacement surgery. I’m told I’m going to be out’ve it for awhile. I’ve done the weekly fishing reports basically every week for over 28 years. Please excuse me if the next report is a tad later than normal! I might be on “performing enhancing medications” according to my surgeon to alleviate the OUCH!!!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 14-21, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Things stabilized and we were back to some normal weather and sunshine, but seasons had definitely changed for the cooler. Daytime temps down to the mid-80’s and nightime to the 70’s. Pretty comfortable.
Then, Norma Hit. Much more potent and destructive than predicted. Almost 3 days of 8-15″ of rain. Huge surf and surge. 100+mph winds!
WATER – It had finally started getting blue again after the craziness two weeks ago when waters got hot and dirty (sounds like a rock song!). But, Norma has turned the ocean into a frothy looking morass that looks like whipped chocolate milk.
FISH HOOKED – Tuna, dorado, bonito, roosterfish, sailfish, sierra, pompano, trevally, and a random wahoo as well!
LAS ARENAS – Started to kick out a few tuna and the dorado came back pretty nicely. But live bait was non-existent. However, dead and frozen bait still produced.
LA PAZ – Definitely dorado-land! The fish were way way outside, but each day got closer. Until the storm messed it all up.
THE MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Now, it’s Pacifico time! Carlos Sanabria, Dave Shaw and Juan Araya had a good opening day!
For many years, Judy Reber’s dad fished with us and his favorite Captain Victor before he passed. She came back with husband Mike and the three of them got a great run of dorado!
Just a great photo! First thing in the morning, Juan has a yellowfin on the gaff.
Mike Shaw with Captain Luis found the blue water and a good bite on the dorado like this one.
Dennis Gayman catches a wahoo right off the bat. We’ve only caught about 5 or 6 the whole season! Plus he caught this on live bait with no wire. A perfect hookset!
Rusty and Donny! Rusty has already been down to visit us earlier in the year and brought Donny down who had not fished with us for quite awhile.
A good first day for Mitch Gaymen and Ron Sierzaga.
A great way to spend a 14th birthday for Jackson Toeniskoetter with his Uncle Al fishing north of La Paz towards Espirito Santo Island.
Robert Hoffman and his son, Craig, with two legit yellowfin tuna, a trio of dorado and a trevally for the ice chest!
You love them until you don’t, but these big bonito like the one Mike has can be a handful and after hooking several, they can really beat you up. Lots of fun and their meat makes great bait for dorado although most get released.
Our first-time Arizona amigos Barrett and Dana Weinberger had some fun with Captain Jorge.
Mike Kloepfer and Steve Adams rocked a couple of hefty slug tuna their first day out fishing with our Las Arenas fleet.
Craig Hoffman with one of the larger bull dorado of the week!
Rob Hoffman with Captain Pancho. Rob battled this tuna for almost an hour on light tackle!
Big smile from Carlos and a great shot of his colorful dorado with Captain Luis!
Our long time friends, Bob Layko and Craig Brown, come to see us almost every year and they’re great fun. They love fishing with Captain Armando.
Love John Cain’s fishing shorts! Oh…and a nice tuna to go with them!
Good start to the day. Craig Hoffman with a tuna on the gaff!
Judy and Mike took back a nice load of dorado meat after fishing with Captain Victor for 2 days!
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This was like two completely different weeks.
We started out well. Coming off that horrible 10 days around the last full moon when we had some of the worst fishing of the year, things had started to really get back up to speed.
Waters started to clear and get bluer. The weather mellowed out.
Most importantly, the fish started to bite again. Our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet started to find those great schools of dorado again. Additionally, instead of running way far to get the blue water, the schools started getting closer to town again and they were fine 10-20 pound fun fish. Even caught a random wahoo one day (on bait with no wire!)
Our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet still had trouble finding any live bait, however, using dead and frozen bait as well as tiny tiny live sardines, the fish came to bite! Every day a few tuna were hooked. Most boat got limits or near limits of schoolie dorado. We even hooked a few sailfish (all released) as well as pompano, sierra, bonito, trevally and a few surprising roosterfish.
Things were really looking up as we headed into the last part of the season.
Until…
HURRICANE NORMA
Initially, “Norma” was just going to be another tropical storm. We figured maybe a few hour of rain. No biggie.
But, offshore and to the south, it gained considerable power growing to a Cat 4 Hurricane that barrelled into Baja. It lost a little steam, but still hit us with Category 1 forces. In fact, it pretty much rammed into Cabo then barrelled directly over La Paz.
Norma rolled over us and it turned into one of the worst storms I’ve seen in almost 30 years down here. I’ve been through 16 hurricanes now. Some back home in Hawaii, but most while living here in Baja.
Most storms hit and move on after a few hours. Norma sat on us for almost 3 non-stop days and it was the constant hammer blows by 100 + mph winds plus 8-15″ of constant rain that just took it’s toll. She was violent, ferocious and nasty.
Turn up the sound!
Roofs flew. Walls tumbled. Trees were ripped by the roots. Extensive flooding. Airports closed. Sinkholes developed. I’ve never seen waves hit the Malecon that were splashing as high as the palm trees and throwing water and debris completely across the street.
Many of us lost all power and water. For us about 12 hours but some areas of the city for 24-36 hours.
We lost the front palapa of our Tailhunter Restaurant. Just ripped completely out of the concrete. It probalby weighed close to 1000 pounds.
There were landslides and from the cliffs. Trees fell on cars. Many of the boats in the marina were sunk or washed aground with extensive damage.
And of course, lots and lots of flooding. Jill and I spent two full night doing bucket, towel and mop brigade work as the massive force of the winds literally forced water through every window crack, cranny and door space and our floors (and others ) were covered in inches of water.
As you read this, we’re digging out. The winds are still blowing, but it looks like the sun is gonna be out all week. Not sure when we’ll be able to fish just yet. The port captain still has the port closed to boat traffic and the ocean looks like muddy chocolate froth and waves.
Thank you everyone who wished Jill and I well. Everyone is fine. Just alot of clean-up to do. Things to fix. Electricity to figure out. We got this. Still blessed!
That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jilly
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Oct. 6-13, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: It has been erratic to say the least. Definitely cooling down a bit. Mostly now in the high 80’s during the day but feels hotter because of the humidity. Hurricane Lidia didn’t hit us, but it did send some torrential rain one afternoon with big floods. Winds and even waterspouts showed up this week. Cooler? Yes…I’m wearing a sweatshirt as I write this!
WATER: Overall, definitely rougher. More wind. Waters are hotter than normal and very very off-color requiring we find blue water to be able to fish. As the week went on however, each day got a little bit better as the waters cleared up.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado, bonito, sailfish, jack crevalle, roosterfish, pompano, snapper
LAS ARENAS FLEET: It’s been the toughest two weeks I have ever seen. Waters are cloudy and hot. I think there’s very little oxygen in the upper layers and the fish have gone deep. Plus hurricane Lidia to the south of us pushed up waves and winds and more crazy water. Very little bait. Hope this changes soon. I’ve never had days where there were literally no fish. Just before this report, however, we started getting clearer water and the bite improved.
LA PAZ FLEET: Once we found the blue water way way up past Espirito Santo Island, we also hit the dorado again.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Even Captain Boli gets a smile over Kenny Nishimura’s dorado caught near Espirito Santo Island. After the slow-down two weeks ago, fishing started to rebound for the dorado.
Two of our long-time Tailhunter Fish Brothers…Brad Baker and newly retired Jim Adair.
Two of our besties! John and Arla Washington from Reno come to visit us each year for their anniversary.
Alan Paonessa and his sister, Dru Toeniskoetter take a nice pose with a pair of dorado on Bahia Muertos Beach.
Kenny Campbell and Angelo Oliverio have visited us for years. The retired firefighters got a nice bull on the gaff among others! Ken’s in Arizona now and Angelo is in S.Cal.
Jim Bovee our San Diego, amigo, loves dorado fishing and this is his 4th trip this year to see us. Despite the rough weather, he still managed a nice rack of fish.
First-timing with us, Matt Malone, had a banner 3 days of fishing and went home with a nice batch of dorado fillets like this one with Captain Pancho.
Julie and Travis Millspaugh from Washington bring their extended families to visit us almost every year. Even with the tough fishing, they never lost the smiles.
Captain Hugo with David Wakabayashi and Gary Okamoto from the Sacramento CA area have visited us many times over the years and found a couple of dorado and a slug tuna even with the fishing being a bit sticky.
Crazy for it to be October, but we’re catching quite a few pompano which are usually caught in the spring like this one that Kenny Nishimura caught. The waters are cooling off.
The big bonito we have right now are either a super prize or a big PITA! They are vicious fighters that can beat the heck out’ve any angler. Brad Baker has a sample.
You’ve heard of “air guitar?” Colby Harris with his mom, Brenda takes a pose with “air dorado.” He just applied for college. They’re from Arizona.
Our amigo, Dana Milano, was out with Captai Raul and found a good jag of dorado north of La Paz near Espirito Santo Island.
Angelo and Kenny again. Kenny has one of those pretty all-blue dorado that we’ve caught a few times this season.
The Harris family had just one day to squeeze in some fishing. Sienna, Colby, Brenda and Neil did a line up with some of their dorado. Each boat got a nice limit.
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I’m not even sure where to start this week.
This fishing report will be all over the board and possibly as difficult to understand as the weather and fishing the past week or two…
I will say this. We’re hopefully emerging from some of the worst/ strangest fishing and conditions that I have ever encountered in some 30 years down here.
The genesis of this was about 2 weeks ago. We had a tremendous full moon which, in and of itself, is usually not a big deal. But this one created huge current and tide swings. Coupled with increasing winds as the seasons changed had a big effect.
Moreover, we had several big tropical storms…short but powerful coupled with big waves and a huge up-welling of tremendously warm water. Surface temps were unbelievably in the high 80’s!
What happened was that the waters turned murky and dirty. A huge plankton bloom went off. Apparently this chased to fish to other areas and also depleted the oxygen supply in the upper layers of the water columns. Fish went deep or just refused to eat. Live bait disappeared.
It was like the ocean had turned into a barren aqua desert!
I’ve never had so many boats coming back with zero fish! ZERO FISH! Think about that.
Sure, every now and then a boat has an off day. It happens. It’s fishing. But, they’ll tell me they caught some bonito or jacks or had a day of needlefish.
But we actually had boats coming back without even a single bite! Plus we had to resort to using dead bait, frozen bait or chopped bonito or squid to even make it through the day.
We went from having one of the best fishing seasons ever to a non-existent fishing season almost over night. On top of that, it was evident that the seasons started to turn. Normally, things start to cool down about the end of October or the beginning of November. But, it’s hard to deny that the northern winds are already starting to blow hard. It’s hard not to notice that the air temperatures and humidity are dropping. It’s hard to ignore that we have started to catch cooler water fish species now like sierra and pompano.
So, everything was pretty much dead in the water…no pun intended.
Oh, I almost forgot. We had Hurricane Lidia. It started to head out to the Pacific. It then made a crazy right turn right towards Mexico. It ramped up to a Cat 3 tempest and fortunately did not hit Baja directly. Instead it went to and crashed into Nayarit.
Still…some of those hurricane arms came over us and dropped some heavy rains and crazy weather on us. We got some big-time flooding.
Amazing how many people try to drive through the floodwaters.
Uh yea…30 minutes of torrential rain and wind do a number on our waterfront. Then the sun pops out again!
We had sunshine that would suddenly turn bleak and ominous.
The view from Bahia Muertos where we launch is looking kinda foreboding.
We even got some dangerous-looking waterspouts that had boats running in the opposite directions understandably. Then, it would disappear the and sun would pop out again.
Yeow! 6 waterspouts were seen this day.
However, little-by-little we started getting some breaks. The captains worked hard. The fishermen hung in there and kept their smiles and patience. And little patches of blue water started to emerge.
With the blue water, there were some decent biters or dorado again. Even a few tuna popped up as well. Still not up-to-speed, but at least boats started to find fish and some fish were making it into the fish boxes.
So, as of this writing, it looks like every day there’s a little improvement. We can only hope. There’s still a few weeks left of the formal fishing season before the big winds and big seas crash into us so I can only hope that it holds off for a little while longer. It all showed up several weeks too soon!
But, bottom line…I’ve never seen so many variables collide at one time affect the fishing so adversely.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 29-Oct. 5, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER: Noticeably cooler. Less humidity. Lower temps. MORE WIND. I’m afraid that the season changed on us about a month earlier than normal. The northern winds of winter have started too soon. Not to mention, a HUGE FULL MOON that wouldn’t go away. Hope it was just the full moon.
WATER: It was like someone switched things off. Waters went from blue to incredibly green and murky overnight. Usually, it’s because the waters got colder. but this is weird because the waters got WARMER! It’s almost like we had a secondary plankton bloom. The fish decided not to bite. Waters are HOT…86 degrees!
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Dorado (fewer). Sailfish (fewer). Tuna (fewer). Pompano. Bonito. Cabrilla. Snapper. Some roosters. Tough pickings!
TAILHUNTER LAS ARENAS FLEET: Like night and day. It virtually shut off. Bait disappeared. Green dirty water that was so warm that it seemed like the fish all went deep and stayed there or decided not to bite. Caught a few pompano, a few dorado, bonito. A tuna or two and pargo.
TAILHUNTER LA PAZ FLEET: Went from super great to having boats coming back with almost nothing a few days. Not even a bonito or needlefish. Started to pick up again as the full moon waned and our captains found some rare patches of blue water. But now northern winds are increasing making it tough to fish.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
This lady can fish! Lisa Hicks from Washington has been visiting us for years and despite tough fishing managed several nice dorado like this one fishing with Captain Victor, her favorite.
Wow! Another good-sized rooster caught when they SHOULD NOT BE HERE! Roosters are spring-time fish our long-time amigo, Jeff Sakuda with his favorite Captain Jorge got this beauty right off Punta Perrico. Jeff released the fish as well!
Our Denver amigo, Joe Hicks always bring his two boys, Hudson and Marco down as well as family friends. On the beach at Bahia Muertos with some of their catch. Joe is the one without the shirt!
There could not be a happier character than 88-year-old Raymond Ahner who lives in Yosemite. Love this gent and he said he wants to keep coming back until he has the record of being our oldest fisherman ever!
Tuna were few and far between this week, but Bob Pair got one. He’s been with us for many years!
Tammy Cousins from Oregon just wanted to catch “One dorado please!” She did better than that with Captain Luis, but this is a photo of her FIRST dorado!
Brothers-in-law, Adam Florence (Topeka KS) and Jim Bailey (San Diego CA) got some nice variety on the table including a barred pargo and dorado and a slug 68-pound yellowfin tuna that Jim battled dogggedly for over 90 minutes before getting it to the gaff!
When Al Jones comes down each year from his ranch in Idaho he’s always way fun. He wanted at least one tuna and got it fishing with Captain Gerardo.
Crazy to be catching pompano this time of year, but Hudson Hicks got this one. He’s headed off to college next year and has been visting us with his dad for several years.
Robert Peterson and a doardo on the gaff. Just a great photo . Suitable for framing! Great smile!
Whoa! When I first saw Robby Peterson’s fish it was so big, I thought it was a giant trevally (GT!). But it turns out to be a massive pompano! Great eating!
Andy Hall…our firefighter amigo who gets called to emergencies around the country visits us each year got himself one of the rare yellowfin tuna this week!
Pretty bull dorado for Marlene! She always fishes with Captain Pancho and had to work hard this week to even get this dorado. But, she never stopped smiling and fishing!
Marianne Sugawara has been fishing with Captain Jorge since…well…since before I had hair! LOL. Nice dorado, Ms. M! She filled the empty space in the chest this time with tamales to take home!
This is a super photo! Brian Guetz caught this good-looking roosterfish not far off Punta Arenas. Catch and release!
It’s our own photogenic Lisa Hicks showing off her barred pargo!
Neil Gansebom was with us this year and had a good day finding some blue water and dorado like this one north of La Paz outside the bay.
Jeff and Captain Jorge! Great shot and nice fat barred pargo for the ice chest!
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It was one of the strangest periods of weather and fishing that I can remember in almost 30 years down here. It was also one of the ugliest.
In the span of a day, things changed from one of the best fishing seasons ever…to suddenly fish zombie-land…ZERO FISH!
I’ve never seen this happen. My captains tell me they’ve never seen this happen. The ocean turned into a liquid desert. No birds. No fish. No bait.
Every now and then sure, a boat comes back and had a slow day. Maybe they missed the bite. Maybe they were just that one unlucky boat. It happens. But, usually, they tell me they still caught bonito or needlefish or a pelican or SOMETHING!
I actually had boats and anglers coming back telling me they didn’t catch or hook a thing!
It wasn’t like things just tapered off a bit or diminished. It was like someone threw a switch!
What happened?
Well, almost overnight, waters went from blue to green and cloudy. Usually that happens because the waters get cold. This time the waters got HOT! Waters were up to 86 degrees on the surface!
It was almost like there was a secondary plankton bloom. Or maybe the waters were so hot there was a lack of oxygen. There might be some creedence that. When there was no fish on the surface, some of the captains tied on sinkers and hit dorado 200-300 feet .
Let me say that again…DORADO at 200-300′ down! None of us have ever heard of that. Dorado are surface fish and we don’t do deep water fishing like that anyway.
The other issue…a big one…the live bait disappeared! If you got a handful of live bait, you were lucky. We resorted to dead bait, frozen bait and even squid.
OH…by the way, we also have the biggest crazy full moon…ever! And it stuck around the WHOLE week. Did the full moon cause all this or is all of this because of the full moon?
All we can do is wait and see how fishing is once the full moon disappears. I will say that things seemed to pick up a bit as the full moon dissipated. I hope it continues because we still have a few more weeks to go of the regular season.
And that’s the other thing. Usually, we can count on the weather to hold until at least the end of October or the beginning of November. That’s when the northern winds start to blow.
And they usually keep blowing until April or May. We stay off the water. Only the windsurfers and kite boarders love it. But that doesn’t usually start for a few more weeks.
Well…I gotta tell you…the northern winds seem like they already started. Waters are getting rougher already.
Again, a big effect on the fishing. Just a huge combination of alot of things:
Big full moon
Dirty water
Hot water
No bait
Northern winds
Rougher water
That was just too many punches in the nose for our fishing.
So, we got a few dorado. Some roosters. Pompano and jacks and some bonito and pargo and not a whole lot more. We can only hope that by the time you’re reading this we get back on track to some degree.
A big shout out to all our clients and friends and our captains who were on the water and visited us this week. It was really tough fishing. Our captains worked hard to find whatever they could find. Our anglers all hung in there and also worked hard and stayed patient. Not a single person complained or lost their smiles. We were awfully grateful for that. Cheers to all of you and hung tough!
Sorry this isn’t the usual glowing report, but gotta be honest.
Captain Luis turned a slow day into an outstanding day. He had his son, Dylan, with him and took the guys out to one of our deserted beach. He took some of their dorado and made sashime and ceviche then dove for some fresh clams to have with the guys as well! No bad days!
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing www.tailhunter.comMexico Office:
Tailhunter Sportfishing
755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
U.S. Mailing Address: Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA 91942
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
Tailhunter Fish Report 