That's My Story

July 22, 2007 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: Now THIS is a BEAST!!! Dan Ferialdi from Pasadena pulled this bad boy off one of the many buoys off Las Arenas. He hit the honey hole as the buoy produced several huge dorado including this one that bottomed out a 50 pound scale! Take a look at the head of this bull dorado and the fact that Dan is about 5’9″ and the tail of this thing is still on the deck!

DORADO AND MARLIN SET THE PACE STILL TRYING TO GET IN GEAR WITH MORE TUNA STARTING TO POP UP!

LA PAZ- LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR JULY 22, 2007

PHOTO 2: This is a great shot for many many reasons. Bill Albright was an avid fisherman until 21 years ago when he ended up in a wheelchair. He had not been fishing since then. With the help of his family…We got him into a panga and on the water at Las Arenas with Captain Jorge and he got himself this nice bull dorado as well as some others and a pompano. The smile says it all. We were all pulling and glad he got to pull again too on some fish! Bill is a great guy being very patient with all of us. He’s out on the water again as I type this!

PHOTO 3: Jessie Pfost is 19 and just finished her first year of college and stands here with Captain Joel, one of our favorite guys. She was out for a few hours in rough conditions and got a handful of dorado although we had to work up to getting her to touch the bait! We’re working on it and she’s a great sport.

PHOTO 4: Now here’s a nice handfull of mahi mahi! Randy Darnell has 5 bull dorado he and his partner caught fishing this week on the La Paz side. The bite was anemic at times as we got more winds, but you could go all day and not find a thing then hit one spot in the last 15 minutes and all heck breaks loose! The thing to do is keep at it and keep a line in the water. As I tell guys, you are only 1 bait away from turning a good day into an awesome day and if you don’t have a rod in the water you’re DEFINITELY not going to catch a fish unless one jumps in the boat!

PHOTO 5: Pete Mason holds up a regulation keeper dorado. This is the kind of schoolie we’re getting right now…or should be! Conditions are still a few weeks behind schedule of where they should be as far as weather and water. Hence, the fish are also a little late as well, but we’re seeing a more consistent bite weekly on the nicer grade of dorado like this one held by Pete.

PHOTO 6: Roger Smith and Ralph Crayton from Los Angeles were fun to have around. They’re holding a few of their Las Arenas dorado here. The dorado are eating the sardines as well as feathers very well. The key is NOT to lose any fish! If you bust off that first fish, it will often take the rest of the school with it and you’re gonna be bummed as that might be your ONLYchance to get into the school so having your “A” game together doesn’t hurt!

PHOTO 7: Now here’s an interesting shot! Look closely. That’s my amigo, Bob Horton, maker of Toad Tamer Rods in Palm Springs CA holding the 80 pound rooster. Up front is my other good amigo, Rabbi Shelly Donnel who makes his residence in Israel these days! If you look closely at the mouth of the roosterfish and in front of the skipper’s face, you will see a huge fin and back end of a snapper. That’s about a 5 pound snapper! The darned fish inhaled the huge snapper and basically kinda choked on it while Bob fished it mightily. Talk about jamming the whole meal in your mouth!!!

THE FISHING REPORT

I guess you’d have to be blind if you can’t figure out that we got a number of dorado this week! Just look at the photos. I guess I could just end the fishing report!

However, since I don’t want a bunch of e-mails from you for more details, let me fill you in…

Yes, dorado were center stage this week. Whether you fished Las Arenas or La Paz, that was the mainstay quarry. I wish I could say it was a sure thing but it’s not. You could run over the right spot or not. Simple as that. If you missed the spot or you lost your big boy at gaff, that could be it.

On the other hand, get into the swarming school and your whole day could be made…indeed your whole trip…in the next half hour as rods bend, fish jump, and all heck breaks loose! Just all about fishing!

There’s still too many little ones out there for my liking and, if you let them go, believe me…by the fall, these little punks will be regulation prize fighters in the 20 pound class. Dorado are pretty unique. They have internal grown hormones that any pro athlete would envy that allow them to grow fast fast fast! However, as you can see from the photos, there’s some good sized ones already out there.

What amazes me is how many guys I bump into from my own fleet as well as other fleets who have an off day and you hear them grumbling that their captain sucks. This is the same captain who limited the previous 10 days-in-a-row. Then, the anglers switch captains who just happens to hit the honey hole and now this captain “is the hottest captain on the planet!” Sometimes that second captain had gone a week doing so poorly that he was slumping worse than an old mattress. Oh well….

Here’s the bottom line…fish a few days. If you fish one day, you could have a bad day. Fish a few days and go with the flow. I’ve not seen anyone go home without fish. That’s the bottom line!

Besides the dorado…well, MARLIN!!!! Striped marlin, and to a lesser degrees blue marlin are still here and willing to bite. I’ve had so many first timers hook their first marlin these last few weeks. Stripers can be balled up thick and not want to bite then the next spot, they’ll all charge the boat and you’ll get into multiple hookups! The only problem is that with multi-hookups, the fish go in opposite directions and there’s not much the captains can do to help you out! It’s hard to fire up the panga to chase fish headed for different points of the compass. If this happens to you…cut your buddy off!

The nicest surprise…and I do man surprise…is that tuna were biting this week. Nothing WFO, but hard to deny that we’re in to an early (or late) football season with 7-12 pound fish coming up on jig strikes or eating the live baits. Best spots have been around Cerralvo Island.

Other species we’re seeing: cabrilla (big ones); pargo; roosterfish; some wahoo; sailfish; jack crevalle, amberjack.

Gear tips…

1. If you troll…light colored feathers and jigs, especially ones that are dorado colored. Even dorado are eating your dorado and the marlin are having a buffet on all the small dorado out there.

2. First time I’ve seen cedar plugs working, but the natural wood ones have taken some of the tuna and larger dorado.

3. Flurocarbon leader.

RED ROOSTER ALERT

Those of you who fished with me for many years long range on the Red Rooster out of San Diego or who have fished on their own, well remember Jorge the chef for more than 30 years on the boat. One helluva guy not to mention one of the best fishermen, especially for wahoo, that you’d ever meet. Jorge is currently in an Ensenada Hospital with a brain tumor. Lots of the fish brothers are sending funds to help him out. Even if you can’t send money, I’m sure any notes would be welcome. Jorge put up with alot from us over the years.

If you’re interested, send money or notes to :

Linda Palm-Halpain
Red Rooster III
2801 Emerson St.
San Diego, CA 92106

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

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

Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (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.”