YELLOWFIN TUNA FINALLY JOIN THE PARTY at LAS ARENAS. DORADO MAKE STRONG COMEBACK at LA PAZ!
PHOTO: Jeff Sakuda from Montebello CA and Ron Imada from Whittier CA were there the first day the tuna bite went off taking these just north of Punta Pescadero
PHOTO 2: Fresh sashime and sushi. Jeff Sakuda (middle) is joined by Capt. Jorge
“Moscorone” on the right and Carlos “El Chofer” from La Paz
PHOTO 3 : Roger Van Steenkiste from Phoenix AZ might be 80-years-old but he can still pull on fish. This was his first return to La Paz in 20 years and we put him with the same captain (Victor) he had in 1986! Jerell Mulhollan (right) got his first tunas ever and was all set to eat the hearts. He would later get a 45 pound rooster and his largest dorado, also his first.
PHOTO: Fred Henkle (New York) and Mike Bradley (North Carolina) got in on the tuna bite south of Las Arenas landing fish up to 30 pounds on light tackle. They also racked up the dorado on the La Paz side later in the week. Mike worked all week for his first marlin and finally got one on the last day in the last half hour to top his trip.
PHOTO 5: Smiles say it all. Nothing like yellowfin tuna and a good day on the water with buddies! Jerrell and Roger strike a pose on Las Arenas beach near the lighthouse.
PHOTO 6: Joey Fuschetti is a high school coach from Irvine CA and is a frequent Las Paz visitor. He’s fished with us for alot of years and insists that using papaya rinds in the chum line got the dorado boiling as he worked Espiritu Santo Island.
PHOTO 7: Ken Melendres of Laguna Hills CA got this beefy sailfish off Espiritu Santo Island. Even though this was his first billfish, they gamely had planned to release the fish, but were unable to after it had swallowed the bait. The meat was distributed to hungry families in La Paz.
BIG FISH ROLL WITH TUNA, DORADO, SAILFISH and MARLN!
Wow, what a week of ups and downs! Happily, there were a lot more “ups” than “downs” and most of them involved pumping fishing rods up and down and being tied onto fish! There were a few low spots..like wondering all week if we were going to get hammered by a storm or hurricane, but (knock on wood), we dodged it and the fish came to chew! Great week overall! Two fins up!
La Paz
Started slow. We dinked and plinked here and there. We had big baits and small baits, but the fish just wouldn’t rally. Most of the catch was dorado and darn…the ones that were caught were mostly LARGE! But it could be a long day until something came along and busted your chops!
However, as the week went on…oh wow…gangbusters on the dorado! These fish were not only quantity…they were freakin’ QUALITY fish too! Quite a few fish in the 30-50 pound class just revved and rolling and barking and flipping and beating the hell out’ve the anglers. Several days there, the boats were done by noon and then spent hours cleaning fish at Balandra Beach. Guys were coming back shell-shocked! One afternoon, every one of my anglers laid down to take a “15-minute” nap after fishing. Not a single one woke up for the dinner bell. Everyone of them passed out dead tired!
It tapered just a tad at week’s end, but overall just outstanding dorado fishing with a bit of marlin tossed in. No one complained and a lot of happy tired grins
Las Arenas
It started early in the week with a bang as yellowfin tuna finally showed up to the party. We wait for these fish all year and using the report from one of the commercial pangeros our fleet motored about an hour south of Muertos Bay. About 1/4 mile off the beach, tossing handfuls of bait and the YFT’s came to play! Wham! Wham! Fish grabbing air! Fish inhaling bait! Smaller fish under the boat running through the chum lines and larger fish just outside teasing and blowing bait out’ve the water!
There were a few days there when we pulled away to head home and fish were still boiling! Now THAT’s solid fishing! Sometimes when too many pangas would show up ,the fish went to ground but I had our people put on small rubber core sinkers or start chunking with dead bait and BENDO! We’d be on again.
One other thing, using flurocarbon line sure seemed to make a difference on the tuna. Light fluro in the 20-25 range was the difference between having 2 or 3 more fish than the next boat.
The cool thing was as the week went on the fish moved up closer to our beaching areas such that right in front of the Las Arenas lighthouse at the drop off the tuna decided to hang out. But…on top it, dorado rolled in as well as some amberjack, pompano and several huge roosterfish were also caught! Just great variety. Even a big sierra was caught as well as some cabrilla and pargo.
Waters are 86 degrees. Air temps are 98-102 and the sun is blazing!
AIRLINE
Heads up! Delta Airlines officially starts flying Dec. 15th from Los Angeles to La Paz. Yay.
Aero Cal, while still dragging their feet (?) about flying out of Los Angeles has specials out of Tijuana as low as $133 one way.
That’s my story!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115
E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico office: Carr. a Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”
That's My Story 
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