That's My Story

WINDS WHIP ANGLERS AND MAKE FISHING TOUGH

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for December 10, 2006

Photo 1: Steve Clarence from Menlo Park was hadn’t done much fishing and this was also his first trip to La Paz, but here he holds bragging rights for a slugger of a nice bull dorado north of La Paz. Mahi like this are still biting in between some really strong northern winds all week

THE FISHING REPORT

This is kind of tough to write…mainly because this was perhaps our roughest week of fishing in a long long time. We knew it had to happen sometime and well…the northern winds didn’t just blow a day or two! They blew most of the week and most anglers opted to try to wait it out. It even rained one day also.

The problem is that these winds come from the north. For our boats heading out of La Paz, that means heading directly north and getting either wet or getting their kidneys and teeth rattled. If you wanted to fish the Las Arenas area, yes, it was possible to fish Muertos Bay. However, the problem was that the sardines we use for bait were all NORTH at Cerralvo Island. There’s that word again…”North!” So, again you’d have to go crashing north to get bait and that’s no fun either.

That being said, we did get some boats out and they didn’t do too badly. In fact, sierra were on fire. Some of these were chunky speedsters and it was almost impossible not to get a limit or two of these fish. Using either bait or wired smaller Rapalas or hoochies were dynamite on these fish that are known for their slashing attacks and sharp teeth. Think of a baby wahoo and that’s what a sierra looks like (see the photo below). On top of that, these are just incredible for the table either as ceviche or cooked up in any number of ways.

Aside from the sierra, there’s still dorado around the island. Hard to realy judge when not that many boats are there, but the mahi are still biting. Again, however, you’d have to head north and waiting for a break in the wind or weather was really the key. Once you got to the grounds, you were in good shape.

Overall, definitely cooler this week with most of the time being cool, cloudy and/or windy too. Air temps were in the 70’s but water temps were still rather warm although you can sure tell things are cooling down! Folks were saying this was the first time all year they had seen me in long pants!

Photo 2: Steve Marabella or Wilmington holds up a sierra (kind of like a “mini wahoo”) which is what we caught alot of this week. These fish can arrive in schools and it’s not uncommon to hook several dozen which can be great fun on light tackle. Some of the larger fish will go 10 pounds. Don’t let the official name “sierra mackerel” throw you off. Unlike their cousins, these sierra make great eating!

GOT SOME DISPOSABLE INCOME?

If you have some extra green stuff in your pocket during the holidays or a fat checkbook, Cerralvo Island is officially for sale. Yes, you can be the emperor of all you see..as well as several herds of wild goats and a bunch of pelicans!

AIRLINE FARES

Amigos, I don’t know if you’ve started looking at airfares for 2007, but if you follow my fish reports you know that Alaska is now flying into La Paz and, beginning this week, so does Delta. Aero Mexico is already flying in as of this year. There’s also some rumors that Frontier, Jet Blu, Avolar and Interjet will also have flights this year. I was hoping that the increased competition would help lower the ticket rates from the rip-off prices they were charging in 2006.

Well, we started to scan a few things and wow…Delta (which will be going under the name of Atlantic Eastern or something like that) has some super low prices. In some cases they were over 100 bucks cheaper than Alaska and more in the 300-400 dollar range than the robbery prices Aero Mexico and some of the other carriers were charging. Keep an eye out. This is good news!

WHALE WATCHING!

If you’ve ever wanted an experience of a lifetime, don’t forget that we start whale watching out of Magdalena Bay about the end of January until March. Get up close and personal with the whales in shallow calm water! Ask us about it. We’re now taking reservations!

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 Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Cal 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.”