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Tailhunter Fish Report | La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of April 11-18, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
Weather: Quite a temperature swing some days. High 50’s at night to high 80’s or low 90’s at night. Mostly sunny although some mornings are cloudy and can be chilly. Winds cut back this week nicely.
Water: Much calmer this week since the winds cut back and much bluer and warmer which reflected in a better fish bite. You can tell the waters are warming since there has been a sargasso bloom which could last a few weeks until the water gets even warm and it does off.
Bait: Sardines and mackerel in abundance!
Fish Hooked This Week: Yellowtail, pargo, roosterfish, tuna, banqueta, cabrilla, sierra, jack crevalle and bonito
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Jorge has a big grin on his face with his catch of a gorgeous barred pargo. These are great eating fish and highly prized. The heads are highly valued for delicious fish soup! Jorge was using a live mackerel fishing over the rocks.
The big schools of big pargo liso (mullet snapper) have moved into the shallows to spawn and can be extremely aggressive and put up an impressive fight. Mark Bonsack from Cle Elam, Washington always fishes well with us.
Wow! Paul Nagata, another of our regular amigos for many years and visits us several times a year, poses with a trophy cabrilla he caught off Punta Perrico.
Another of the solid anglers who fish our area often, you can tell that it can be a bit nippy in the morning as Kevin Shiotani holds up an early morning jack crevalle. Another slugger when hooked.
Mark hooked this yellowfin tuna just off the beach just south of Bahia Muertos. On a scale, it logged in a legit 56-pounds!
Jorge was out with Captain Boli and headed north to El Bajo north of La Paz and using live mackerel scored a limit of yellowtail and were done fishing after an hour! The yellowtail have been on the chew around Espirito Santo Island!
Mark has a knack for these baquetas which are deeper water grouper. We don’t see many of these in the counts during the season!
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It seems every week…even every day is different right now. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s erratic. I’d say it’s pretty typical of this time of year.
Last week we talked about how the strong north winds came back and how that might have affected the bite along with the eclipse perhaps being another variable that affected currents, tides and surely the fish!
The bite was off and the northern winds returning caused us to have to cancel a few trips…like like in the winter when it gets too rough oftentimes to get out and fish or simply makes it too uncomfortable or even dangerous.
Well, this past week, the winds cut back again. Waters settled. Waters warmed. And all kinds of schools of bait showed up…en masse!
Those are a great combination for fishing and for sure, it reflected in the bite.
The big schools of pargo liso showed up around Punta Arenas, Punta Perrico, Muertos Bay and Cerralvo Island. These fish school up this time of year to spawn and can range from 5-50 pound “horses” in the shallow waters where sharp teeth, sharp gillplates, sharp scales, a rocky environment and simply a beligerent and aggressive attitude make them difficult and tough sportfish. They can be extremely frustrating and most fish are lost after rugged battles.
Pargo like these mullet snapper are now on the spawn in the shallows!
Also in the shallow inshore areas, there was a good bite of jack crevalle, bonito, cabrilla and even a few smaller roosterfish.
Smaller roosters have moved in. Waiting for the big boys!
Around the islands and especially north of Espirito Santo Island and the El Bajo Seamount the yellowtail have been putting on a great chew with fish going 10-30 pounds. In some cases, the fish were literally foaming and limits were coming in fast. The fish were eating live mackerel which we were easily caught using sabiki rigs in La Paz Bay under the tankers anchored just offshore, then heading out to the fishing grounds.
Yellowtail can pull hard. We had a good week for them!
The forktails were also chasing the yo-yo jigs in blue/white and green/yellow patterns as well as slow trolled deep running Rapalas, Yo-Zuris and Nomad lures.
Almost to the gaff!
But, like I said, things change every week. No dorado to speak of just when I thought the dorado bite might be taking off as per last week’s report. Strange because the waters were warming, but most of our catch this week was of the colder water variety.
I think overall, things will improve although we’re still going to get little episodes of wind for a few more weeks. And I’m sure for a few more weeks, at least, we can expect the unexpected which just means if you have a bait in the water, we’re not sure what we’ll hook!
But that’s why this time of year is called the “transition” period when we have both cold water fish and warm water fish and so much variety. The cold water fish will gradually be moving out and warm water fish like the dorado, tuna, wahoo and billfish and hopefully larger roosters will start moving in!
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 April 3-10, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mostly warmer days, but winds came back up this week getting the waters back up to choppy and some days limiting where we could get to fish. Had to even cancel one day of fishing and snorkeling. Don’t know how much the eclipse affected things. It affected animals!
WATER – Getting warmer, but a bit choppier this week and rough when the winds kicked back up.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK – Yellowtail, dorado, bonito, jack crevalle, sierra, snapper, pargo
FISHING ON A SCALE OF 1-10 SINCE LAST REPORT (10 is best) – 3.5
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
It’s been a few years since Gavin Chun has visited us, but he was out with Captain Boli and took this sizeable dorado off Espirito Santo Island north of La Paz. They hung a big yellowtail as well that they battled before it got unbuttoned.
First roosterfish for Kevin Lyons. They actually hooked 5 roosters all released. Kevin is from Long Island NY and grew up watching American Sportsman and dreamed of catching a roosterfish!
Captain Luis has a laugh with Jeff Pagliuca as they unhook a fresh yellowtail.
Dave Pollard and Hector Chacon started fishing with us about 25 years ago. Nice photo of their catch of dorado, snapper, a cabrilla and palometa.
Captain Armando helped put another dorado in the boat!
One of the larger dorado of the young season for Steve! His first time with us.
Kevin has a nice big sierra that’s going back to the freezers!
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Pump the brakes!
Despite my optimism over the last several fishing reports, the bite still isn’t quite ready to go full-speed. I kept warning that the winds would be coming back and this past week, it did get breezy again. Not enough to blow folks off the water like the previous months but enough to make it choppy and difficult to fish.
We had to cancel two fishing trips as well as a snorkel trip this past week because of the rough weather.
…and the fish weren’t exactly cooperative either.
Was it the weather? Was it the atmospheric changes caused by the eclipse? Maybe the combination of the two? I won’t discount that any of those could have had a major affect on things. I mean the moon has an affect on tides and currents normally. And news reports during the eclipse talked about how the zoo animals behaved…confused and agitated.
So, maybe the fish were affected too. Who knows? I don’t think it helped!
Not only were the counts down compared to previous weeks, but also the variety was reduced as well.
We did get some nice dorado…the largest of the season so far. And a few smaller roosterfish as well as pargo, cabrilla, snapper, jacks and bonito. And some large sierra. And not really many at that. And that was kinda it!
Things will change. Just being honest. We’re going to see more winds, but it’ll get better. It always does. In fact, the next few days after you’re reading this, the forecasts call for diminished winds.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Week of Mar. 25-April 2, 2023
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: Much improved the past 2 weeks. Getting warmer and sunnier although strong northern winds are still problematic but not as frequent.
WATER: With diminishing winds, waters are getting clearer and more blue.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK: Yellowtail, dorado, pompano, palometa, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, snapper, sierra, amberjack, yellowtail, barred pargo, pargo liso, dog-tooth snapper
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
From Minnesota, Steve Powers had just one day to squeeze in fishing and landed a number of species including this hefty yellowtail. He also landed dorado and a roosterfish (released). Photos below.
That’s a great rack of tasty fish for Leif Dover, out long-time amigo from Atlanta GA. Big pompano, sierra, doado and a barred pargo in the mix.
John Turner and Brian O’Neil fished 6 days and although they hit some wind, the still put lots of fish in the box. Check out this catch of dorado, a big pargo liso and sierra.
Normally, we don’t see them quite so early in the year, but Steve landed and released this nice roosterfish.
Two more of our long-time Tailhunter amigos, Kip Slaugh from Utah and Jim Molinari from California with some quality yellowtail, dorado and sierra on the fish table!
One day to fish all the way from N. Carolina, Melissa Evans and her son, Jack, pose with a big palometa. They also caught snapper, cabrilla and pompano!
Find the right spot and there’s some dorado to be found like this one with Steve ready for the filet box!
These huge pompano have been with us now over 2 weeks and are great fighters and tasty eating! Captain Gerardo poses with one of the big guys.
John Turner and Leif Dover ran into some winds, but were still able to fish inshore and loaded up on the cabrilla and snapper.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, owner of Rancho Costa at Bahia Muertos. He’s got a nice barred pargo.
More big pompano and dorado headed for the cooler!
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Hope ya’ll had a great Easter and Easter Week!
We’re not quite there yet…but things seem to be improving weekly with better conditions and a surprising number of different and unseasonable species.
Still seeing some really windy days, but we’re having more good days than better day as waters clear up and warm and it’s bringing in the fish. Not so many pelagic blue water species yet although there are a surprising number of dorado in the water if you hit those warmer spots or current breaks where there’s a temperature split.
However, the inshore species are sure bending rods.
In addition to some nice quality yellowtail up to about 25 pounds, the big pompano are still around and it’s unusual to be getting pompano like this so early in the season and for sure, I’ve never seen so many pompano of this size! The fish are close to the beaches at the drop offs.
In those same areas, the variety has been incredible…snapper, 3 species of pargo (pargo liso, barred pargo, dog-tooth snapper) cabrilla, sierra, jack crevalle, bonito, skipjack…and yes…even the occasional early roosterfish too! Just really fun live bait and jig fishing when you really don’t know what’s gonna bite!
And even cooler, most of the fishing is closer to shore without having to go very far even if the winds are kicking in.
EASTER WEEK IN LA PAZ
It was pretty packed in town the last 2 weeks! Spring Break and Easter are the busiests travel periods of the year and our tranquil little city of La Paz was a jammed with folks from all over. More Mexicans travel during this time than any other time added to all the Americans who descend on beach destinations like La Paz!
The line of cars waiting to be allowed into Balandra Beach which has a quota on the number of folks allowed in at one time. The rest of to wait.
Famous Tecolote Beach jammed with vacationers having a good time.
Tecolote Beach 17 miles north of La Paz had a 5 hour car ride back into town…to go 17 miles. A “conga line” of evening headlights.
Pichilingue Beach which usually has only a handful of cars stacked up with campers and picnic folks enjoying the sand and water.
ECLIPSE APRIL 8 – BEWARE!
If you’re going to be in La Paz for the eclipse like some of our anglers, don’t forget to bring eclipse glasses! Regular sunglasses are NOT good enough to protect your eyes! And there are alot of fake eclipse glasses out there too. Make sure the glasses you use are certified!
It will be interesting to see if the fishing and tides/ currents will be affected by this event too!
REMINDER IF YOU’RE COMING TO VISIT US SOON
Your balances are due 30 days from arrival so don’t forget. Write me directly:
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Bahia Suenos Fishing Report for Mar. 14-24, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
Weather: Mostly sunny. Some clouds, but temps ranging from the mid-50’s to mid-70’s
Water: Still cold water around, but more patches of clear blue showing up. Fewer rough days as there are still some very windy days, but somewhat diminishing.
Fish Species Hooked This Week: Yellowtail, sierra, pompano, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle, snapper, barred pargo, cabrilla. A few dorado also hooked.
Better Spots: North and south ends of Cerralvo Island. Inshore rocky areas or over submerged reefs. Northern and eastern Espirito Santo Island.
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Some of the biggest pompano I’ve seen in a long time came up like this big fella caught by our amigo from Atlanta, Leif Dover.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Our popular Captain Gerardo took some of our clients to North Cerralvo to find the big yellowtail and poses for a quick shot while in his new panga.
John Turner has another nice forkie for the fish box and ready to pack up for the ice chest.
No photos of the clients, but Captain Rogelio poses with one of their yellowtail unloading back at the La Paz docks on the Malecon.
Hugo puts a fresh yellowtail on the gaff. Knowing Hugo, I know he loves the heads and collars of these tasty jacks.
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Happy Easter and Easter Week everyone!
I won’t go so far as to say we’re out’ve the winter winds yet, but there’s certainly reason for some optimism. There are more calm days than windy rough days and waters are getting warmer and clearer.
There were still some days when it was better to just stay off the water and there were days when anglers went charging out anyway as town starts to fill up with Spring Breakers and Easter visitors.
Consequently, there were good days on the water and not-so good days on the water. There were some days that were just “Meh.” But, the better days were marginally productive and generated some nice and interesting catches.
Most noteable were the yellowtail biters. Fish ranging from about 10-25 pounds hit live bait, dead bait as well as yo-yo jigs and trolled jigs. The trick was being in the right spot and some of those spots sometimes required hitting some rough patches of wind and water. However, anglers working the high spots off Cerralvo Island and Espirito Santo Island found fish willing to chew. Other areas including the rock spots off Las Arenas/ Bahia Muertos.
Those same areas kicked out some nice pargo and cabrilla as well as the occasional amberjack.
Inshore fishing held the same species, but also sierra, jack crevalle, bonito and some really huge pompano. These were some hog-sized pompano too. We usually don’t see the pompano until about May or June so catching them was a treat, but also surprising in size as well.
The upcoming week, there will be some gusts and windy days, but overall, not too bad to take a shot out on the water. Just have to pick and choose the correct days.
MAG BAY REPORT
We had some good friends, Kip Slaugh and Jim Molinari from Utah out with Captain Rigo for a few days fishing the mangroves at Bahia Magdalena this past week.
Miles and miles of tangled mangrove roots and shoals holding numerous species!
Easy to get lost in the days before GPS!
Captain Rigo takes the guys out to start the day.
Over two days the guys hooked and released numerous species, keeping about a half-dozen including some good-sized grouper, spotted bay bass, snapper, cabrilla and others.
Captain Rigo with Kip and Jim. Good first day. Captain Rigo has more than a bit of fish cleaning to do! Lots of grouper and cabrilla!
Another day and more light tackle grouper for the fish box!
Jim Molinari poses with one of his grouper in the bay.
They also realeased many more fish as well.
That’s my story! Happy Easter and Easter Week everyone!
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 Mar. 2-12, 2024
MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Phil and Captain Beto rocked some nice yellowtail at the north end of Cerralvo Island before winds chased them off.
Our amigo, Gary Wagner, was at his place at Rancho Costa and sent us some great photos this week. Check out the nice bull dorado…in MARCH!
Hard not to have a big smile like Mauricio here. He knows how good these barred pargo taste and the heads make some great soup too!
Gary again with a huge sierra! I have no doubt Gary had this turned into several delicious plates of ceviche.
Our amigo, Jimmy Williams with his friend, Phil took a load of yellowtail off Cerralvo Island.
A great shot of the kind of inshore variety right now…snapper, cabrilla, bonito and pargo!
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Sorry for not posting more often! I honestly try to get these reports out weekly as I have for almost 30 years. But, we’ve been constantly on the road with the Tailhunter 2024 Road Tour and just finished shows in Salt Lake City and Southern California (see below).
However, frankly, there just hasn’t been alot of exciting stuff to impart! Even I get bored writing about the winter winds and especially no one is really fishing or I’m actively discouraging folks from going out…especially if they are first-timers or have kids. No fun being seasick and wet!
Anyway…that being said…can things really be improving? Stand by!
It seems we’re finally getting some spring-time conditions! We’re not out’ve the windy zone yet, but little-by-little, there are more calm days than blustery days. More clear blue water than cloudy cold water. More flat water than choppy whitecaps!
Not good for all the windsurfers and kite boarders, but better for sportfishing! I still expect there will be some crazy windy times, but there’s reason to be optimistic.
There are some nice grade yellowtail busting around areas of Cerralvo Island and Espirito Santo Island. Fish are running 15-30 pounds mostly and willing to take jigs, live sardines and mackerel as well as deep trolled Rapalas and Y0-zuri lures near structure. The same areas are also kicking out some of yellowtail’s cousins the amberjack. Most of them are in the 10-20 pound class, but some of these fish can easily go well over 50 pounds…if you can land them and keep them out’ve the rocks.
As well, there have been some jags of fast moving 20-40 pound yellowfin tuna and the warmer waters are have some spots of dorado as well which we usually don’t see either species unti much later in the season like May or so.
Inshore, the usual variety of fish are actively feeding on seemingly plentiful bait schools of sardines. So we’re getting reports of sierra, pargo liso (mullet snapper), barred pargo, yellow snapper, cabrilla, jack crevalle, bonito and even a few roosterfish…another fish that we usually don’t see until a little later.
So, lots of reasons to keep an eye on things and we’ll keep you posted. We’re “offically” calling April 15th the start of the season, but it looks like maybe the fish won’t wait!
END OF THE ROAD (TOUR!)
Well…3 months on the road criss-crossing the country. More than 30 years of doing these fantastic outdoor shows during the winter months. Just finished up our last show in S.California at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Festival.
Just an incredible time and what a way to wrap up the tour for the year. Thank you to all our friends and Tailhunter Tribe Nation who came to see us and say hi…and booked their fishing trips for 2024 and especially a big shout out to everyone who came to party for my birthday and sent wishes and goodies. You always make Jilly and I feel pretty darned special! God bless you all!
So…by the time you’re reading this, we’re on our way driving back to Texas to re-group and re-load then back home finally to La Paz to get the season rolling! We’ll see you there.
We still have spots open too if you want to come down and put your toes in the sand and a line in the waters!
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Feb. 16-Mar. 1, 2024
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Commercial mix of fish…jackk crevalle, an amberjack even two smaller dorado.
Typical inshore catch. Again from one of our commercial fishing amigos. Two barred pargo and a yellow snapper. Great eating!
I know this week’s report is REALLY late, but I was kinda holding out.
I was hoping that there would be a break in the winds or that there would be something exciting to write about other than the usual boring winter reports about strong winds; rough seas and non one fishing.
But, that’s just the way it is and I couldn’t hold out any longer. We actually did have a booking or two the past two weeks, but had to cancel all of them because of the weather. As one of the prospective anglers wrote to me, “I’m glad you warned us about the weather. We had planned to take the family out for an easy day of fishing, but I’m writing this looking at the ocean and it’s all white caps and rough! Thanks for the FYI!”
There’s some fish to be caught but if you can’t get out because of the weather, it’s pretty typical this time of year. That’s why we say that November to April is off-season. The winsurfers and kiteboarder love it, but for fishing, not so much!
The few reports I’m getting are from friends that are commercial fishermen who tell me that they are hooking some yellowtail, amberjack, sierra, plus the usual rock fish like cabrilla, snapper and pargo. There have been a few dorado still being caught and a few tuna hookups near Cerralvo Island, but that’s about it. Quiet times mostly.
Reservations for our regular season from late April to October, however, are rolling in every day. After the last two years since Covid, fishing has been pretty spectacular and I think everyone is excited to get in on it again for 2024. Get in touch with me directly if you want to come visit us this year. My personal e-mail is jonathan@tailhunter.com Don’t wait, dates are filling up pretty fast.
As a matter of fact, we’ll be making our own S.California appearance this coming week from Mar. 7-10 at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing Show at the Orange Co. Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa.
We’ve been on the road now some 3 months and have had some crazy great shows in Dallas, Reno, Nashville and Salt Lake City. We really miss not being able to attend some other shows in S.Cal and some of our other favorite areas but we’re really looking forward to this week at the PCS show. It’s gonna be huge and all your favorites will be there. I hear is now takes up 7 of the massive exhibition halls. Check out the video:
This will be our final show of the 2024 season before heading home to La Paz to kick things off. Hope you can join us. Jilly and I will be in the booth every day and it would be great to see you!
That’s our 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 Feb. 8-15, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT:
Weather: Daytime mid-70’s nights in the high 50’s. Have had some cloud and rain to go along with strong winds. Port Captain even had to shut down all boat traffic in La Paz Bay because it was so rough.
Water: If the winds are blowing, the water is going to be rough and off-color. But, there’s some strange warm blue water here and there in the 70’s holding pelagic species! Go figure1
Fish Hooked This Week: Tuna, dorado, amberjack, yellowtail, billfish, pargo, sierra, bonito, jack crevalle, roosterfish, cabrilla.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
A late afternoon fish haul for Gary and friends including yellowtail, cabrilla, dog-tooth snapper and mullet snapper (pargo liso)
Roosterfish in February? Wow! Unusual catch this time of year. The fish was released.
Crazy variety here in the photo…dorado, sierra, snapper, dog-tooth…all great eating fish!
First off…big gracias to our amigo, Gary Wagner who has his place at Rancho Costa in Bahia Muertos. Gary kindly provided the photos and some great info for us this week.
As I have often mentioned, this is off-season from November to April because of the winds and rough seas and barely anyone is out on the water. During this time of year, we get our reports many times from our friends who are commercial fishermen who have to make a living on the water no matter the weather. But, we also get info from friends who live in the area, like Gary, who can pick days to fish when the winds aren’t blowing. We’re grateful!
Three things have not changed since the last report:
ONE: The winds have still been blowing. No surprise. In fact, it got so rough the La Paz port captain had to shut down all boat traffic in and out’ve La Paz Bay.
TWO: In between the gusty blasts there are some days when it’s well worth it to check out the fishing. This is especially true of our friends who live in La Paz who can find a good window to go out when the winds are somewhat slack. Usually only 1 or 2 days a week on the average.
THREE: Holy Cow, there’s some nice an unusual fishing going on! There are the usual cold-water species like cabrilla, snapper, sierra, yellowtail and amberjack. But, there are some spots where the waters are unusually warm…around 70 degrees…holding dorado, billfish, tuna and even some crazy roosterfish! Normally NONE of these warm water species are around this time of year.
Gary did inform me that this past week, Muertos Bay, where his hotel is located, suddenly filled with krill turning the waters pink! The krill is very nutritious and brought lots of baitfish into the bay to feed.
Well, not surprisingly the bigger predatory sportfish followed the baitfish in and the feed was on which provided some wild crazy fishing for a number of species!
Check out this pelican standing in the middle of the krill-filled water! (again, thanks for the video Gary!)
Every week, it seems there are some crazy surprises. We’ll keep you posted.
WHERE ARE WE NOW!
We just wrapped up our biggest show of the season in Nashville at the Safari Club International Convention. Thanks to everyone who visited and we’re looking forward to everyone who signed and made reservations to come see us! We sure had a great time as almost 1000 vendors and exhibitors from over 30 countries were present (including us!) and I head reports that attendance broke records as visitor to the show from every state in the U.S. and some 14 countries also attended.
So…this week we are here in Salt Lake City at the Western Hunting and Conservation Expo. It’s the largest show in the west and they’re expecting something like 60,000 + folks to attend. It’s at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
We’ll be in the booth from Thursday to Sunday so c’mon down and say hi and let’s set you up for fishing with us in La Paz this year!
WHALE WATCHING SEASON IN FULL SPEED!
It’s that time of year and we’re running our whale-watching trips out to Bahia Magdalena on the Pacific side right now. The whales have migrated all the way down from the Bering Sea and usually hang out in our waters through March before heading back up north.
If you’d like to have a great life-time experience, get in touch with us and we’ll get you set up!
That’s my 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 Jan. 28-Feb. 5, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mostly sunny. Daytimes low to mid-70’s. Nights low 60’s. Winds from the north 15-20 mph most days. Stronger gusting as the day goes on.
WATER – Some strange patches of unseasonably warm water in the 70’s holding some surprising species of fish (el Nino?). Colder water is darker and cloudier. Warmer water is blue.
SPECIES HOOKED – tuna/ dorado/ wahoo/ yellowtail/ amberjack/ yellowtail/ sierra/ snapper/ pargo/ bonito/ jack crevalle
BAIT AVAILABILITY – Depends on the winds and waves. The rougher it is the harder to get live bait this time of year
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE AND THE REST OF THE STORY…
Yellowtail starting to show up at the islands now with some cooler waters moving in. Cabrilla also along the shoreline and rocky reefs. Jigs and live bait working best.
Our own Captain Victor with a yellowfin tuna. Surprisingly, the YFT’s are still getting caught this late/ early in the year. Normally, we don’t see these guys until later. It’s been a weird season!
Strange mix of winter-time fish for sure! Dorado and tuna in the winter? In my 30 years down here, I can’t remember too many times this happened.
It’s been a strange winter.
They say it’s El Nino. I dunno. But, I can tell you that the weather is about right. Still lots of windy gusty days and bouncy seas. That’s pretty typical. Not much of anyone on the waters most of the time except windsurfers who revel in the world-class winds.
However, the rub is the fishing.
Normally, we’re catching inshore species if we’re even out. That means inshore cold-water species like pargo, snapper, cabrilla, sierra, amberjack mixed with bonito and jack crevalle. So, yes, those are still around to be caught.
But, the real craziness is the warm water species that are around.
These include dorado, sailfish, marlin, tuna, wahoo…WHAAAT??? We normally don’t see these species until at least the springtime when the waters warm. And that could be the key. There are patches of warm water as much as 68-73 degrees. That’s quite a bit higher than normal.
As mentioned, not many folks are even out on the water, let alone fishing because of the winds, but most of the reports are coming from friends in La Paz who can pick the least windy days to go out or go out before the winds kick in or else they are the commercial captains who have to work for a living no matter the weather.
We’ll just have to keep an eye out. I have my fingers crossed that these species will still be around when the season kicks into full gear around April when the winds are usually diminished.
NASHVILLE OFF THE CHARTS – SALT LAKE CITY NEXT!
Just wrapped up maybe our best show of the season at the Safari Club International Convention in Nashville. After 4 days in the booth, Jill and I were plain whupped! We talked to so many great folks. We met so many old friends and made so many new ones. We booked lots of folks to come fishing with us in La Paz. The show featured almost 1000 exhibitors from over 30 countries and attendees over the 4 day event pulled in folks from pretty much every state in the U.S. plus Europe, Asia, S. America, Canada and Australia among others. It’s really the Super Bowl of hunting…and for us we learned long ago that “hunters like to fish!”
We wanted to thank everyone for all the hospitality and everyone who came by our booth to say hi. We will take a bit to re-group and recover from the great time!
So now…we’re all packed up and wheeling our way west towards Salt Lake City and the Western Hunt and Conservations Show at the downtown Salt Palace. It has always been a great show and we see so many friends. It’s more like a huge social event!
Check out this video:
The show runs from Feb. 15-18 in Salt Lake City at the Salt Palace. Jill and I will be in the booth every day and we’re looking forward to seeing you! Reservations are coming in daily and our fishing year is filling up. Get in touch with me directly: jonathan@tailhunter.com. We don’t want to miss you!
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 Jan. 17-27, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT
WEATHER: Highs in the 70’s. Nightime in the low 60’s. Mostly sunny, but also can have gusting winds.
WATER: Mostly off-colored water as the winds create turbidity and stir things up. Key is to find blue warmer water. Best when the wind isn’t blowing.
FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK: Snapper, cabrilla, tuna, yellowtail, amberjack, jack crevalle, pargo, roosterfish, sierra.
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Typical inshore catch right now. All very tasty which is why the commercial fishermen love these sierra mackerel and cabrilla.
More variety of rockfish caught this time of year including pargo liso (look like mullet), yellow snapper, pargo mulatto and cabrilla.
A really good surprising day of variety with a hefty yellowfin tuna and a yellowtail in the middle of the rack!
Apologies that the “weekly” fishing report took longer than a week to send out!
We’ve been travelling the last 3 weeks doing shows in Dallas, Reno and now Nashville but even more importantly, I kept putting it off. One more day. Then one more day. So on and so on. I was just hoping there would be something interesting to report other than telling you the wind was blowing again.
Even I get bored writing about it and I wanted something interesting to post on the report.
Unfortunately, that’s just the way things are this time of year between November and April. It’s off-season. Not many folks on the water at all, let alone fishing. It’s just mostly too windy and rough most days.
The real downside is that there are definitely fish to be caught including some real surprise species. The problem is finding that rare day when the winds dial-back a few notches so that you can get out fishing.
Most of the reports I’m getting as well as the photos come from friends that are commercial fishermen that have no choice. They have to go out and fish to support their families. The other info comes from other local friends who live in La Paz. They have the luxury of finding just the right day when the winds aren’t blowing so hard and they can get out to fish.
Accordingly…yes, there’s still the usual inshore species like pargo, sierra, jack crevalle, snapper and cabrilla. However, yellowtail have started showing up around some of the high spots near the drop offs. They are healthy legit 20-30 pound models. Some smaller amberjack have also been mixed in.
But the surprise are the 30-50 pound tuna showing up around the island and mounts. We don’t usually see tuna this time of year. As well, there are still some free-swimming dorado as well as marlin, sailfish and…even roosterfish!!! I guess they don’t know it’s winter time! You just never know what’s going to bite right now if you can get out!
WHALE WATCHING SEASON HAS STARTED!
This is the time of year when the gray whales have migrated all the way south from the Bering Sea to the warm lagoon waters of Baja on the Pacific side. They spend the time mating and giving birth and it’s a great time to get close for a life-time experience in the warm shallow waters of Baja.
The whales usually start moving about mid-March so let us know and we can set up an incredible trip for you to go out there and spend time with these magnificent animals!
HERE WE GO TO NASHVILLE!
We just finished up two incredible international shows these last 3 weeks. First the Dallas Safari Club in Dallas Texas. We followed that up with the Wild Sheep Show and Expo in Reno, Nevada. We had a great time and thanks to everyone who stopped by our booth to chat and for those who signed up to visit us in La Paz, we’re looking forward to a fun time in 2024.
Jill and I are now on our way to Nashville! This is the big Safari Club International. One of the largest outdoor shows in the world. Vendor and outfitters from all over the world have their booths there and it’s a geography lesson just walking the aisles and seeing all the exhibits.
As well, attendees come from all over the United States as well to book hunting and fishing trip. Last year at the show, I believe I spoke to visitors from 32 different states and 9 different countries including England, France, Italy, Canada, New Zealand, Spain, Namibia, Japan and Hungary.
Jilly and I will be in the booth and we’d love to chat with you about coming to see us in La Paz this year! We’ll be in the booth every day from Wednesday to Saturday.
La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Week of Jan. 10-16, 2024
SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT
WEATHER – Mostly in the 70’s and sunny. Northern winds came back up and we had to cancel a few trips for fishing; snorkeling and swimming with the whalesharks.
WATER – If the winds are blowing, you really don’t wanna be out. Just not worth it.
WIND – Up to 25 mph gusts from the north. We had only 2 days of the week that could have been available.
SPECIES HOOKED THIS WEEK – Tuna, yellowtail, marlin, dorado, sierra, cabrilla, bonito
MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT
THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…
Definitely NOT fishing in Canada! Josh puts the gaff to a yellowfin tuna. Josh is from Vancouver.
They had just one day to fish, but Captain Victor pout Josh, Chris and Lyanna onto a good day of fishing including this unusual striped marlin that we rarely ever see in the winter months! The fish could not be released.
A great photo with big smiles and a pretty fish! Lyanna and Captain Victor with a nice bull dorado!
Yup! Let’s get these fish packed up and on ice! Great day on the water and an unusual catch!
_______________________
Pretty typical winter stuff this past week.
We had a few folks ask to go out and after showing them the weather forcast wisely decided to sit it out or we had a few that decided to give it a try and we ended up having to cancel because of the winds. This was for some folks that wanted to fish, but also some folks that wanted to snorkel and some that wanted to swim with the whalesharks. On several occasions, we canceled and re-booked only to have the winds cut us down and disappoint.
But, that’s the way it is during the winter. And with all the frigid arctic winter weather taking place in the U.S. this week, it’s gonna have an effect on Baja with cooler temperatures and overall higher winds.
That doesn’t mean there’s no fish.
What it means is that you need to carefully pick and choose the dates you go out on the water. Check with several days in advance or up to a week in advance to I can check the extended forecast and you can make an informed decision.
We did have some folks actually get out one day. It was the only day they had to squeeze it in during their vacation. They picked well.
They got dorado, tuna, and even a marlin! That’s crazy fishing because none of these fish are typical winter-time fish. The catch was even more remarkable because they had very little fishing experience and came down all the way from Canada!
We also know there are fish around because we have friends that are commercial fishermen. They don’t have a choice. They need to make a living no matter the weather. They inform us that there are yellowtail up to about 25 pounds around the high spots of the island.
There are also a few wahoo, tuna and regular inshore fish like pargo, cabrilla and snapper mixed in with sierra.
But, really just not that many folks on the water during the winter.
DID SOMEONE SAY WILD SHEEP?
Jill and I just finished our first show of the season at the Dallas Safari Club Convention held at the Dallas Convention Center and it was 4 incredible days in the booth. Maybe one of the best shows we have had in the more than 30 years of shows we have done.
Thank you everyone who came by to chat with us about coming down to see us in La Paz and especially to everyone who made reservations for 2024. We’re gonna have a great time and we’re looking forward to your visit!
One special event we were invited to by our good friends Kip and Sue Slaugh was the Weatherby Firearms Awards Banquet and Auction. A fantastic black-tie event and I don’t get dressed up for nothing! We had a great time and it was fun getting dressed up and sharing time with our friends and hob-nobbing with celebrities in the hunting industry!
But now, as I write this, we’re on our way to Reno, Nevada. We’ll that’s where we’re trying to go. We’ve been stuck in the airport in Dallas because all the flights around the country seem to have been cancelled because of the winter storms. But, we hope to be on our way by the time you’re reading this!
We’ll be at the:
WILD SHEEP CONVENTION AND SPORTS EXPO
RENO-SPARKS CONVENTION CENTER
Jan. 18th-20th (Thursday to Sunday)
Jilly and I will be in the booth every day and would love to talk to you about coming down fishing with us this year. C’mon by and say hi. There’s so much to see at this show if you like fishing, hunting, camping or anything outdoors!
Tailhunter Fish Report 