PHOTO 1 – Michael “Flipper” Thompson and Joey “Joey 805″Horvath were on fire for few days this week nailing yellowfin and this nice sailfish off Las Arenas where we had the best tuna bite of the year. No doubt, 2007, the tuna are back on the chew after taking a few years off.
TUNA EXPLODE OFF LAS ARENAS IN BEST BITE OF THE YEAR AS FISH CHEW ONLY 100 YARDS FROM THE BEACH!
La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Sept. 16, 2007
PHOTO 2 – Just had to post this. It’s our friends from the Get Bent group that comes down every year. Lots of fun and always ready to accomodate with a “candid photo” if you look closely. Thanks guys! The group spanked the fish their first two days loading up on tuna. As I’m writing this, the guys are currently out on the water and have two more days hopefully to top off the ice chests with a few loads of dorado and wahoo.
PHOTO 3: This was the first time down for Shawn Dixon and Kai Lu. This is the grade of yellowfin tuna we were taking all week. Almost within minutes of hitting the spot, fish foamed and would bite almost as long as you kept the chum coming. Some guy were pulling off after an hour to go look for other things to catch having plugged the fish boxes with too many tuna!
PHOTO 4: Drew Baumgartner got his first tuna ever this week despite lots of fishing experience. Lots of guys got their first tuna this week. However, true to tradition, Drew unhesitatingly ate the heart of his first tuna…and liked it so much…he did it again so we could photograph it then licked his bloody fingers! Nothing like tradition!
PHOTO 5: Mike and Julio Vega were also on their first trip with us. Holding a bunch of yellowfin tuna, the guys were literally fishing within casting distance of the beaches. Early in the morning the fish bit like mad dogs with some guys limiting in the first 60 minutes. As the boat traffic increased, the bite would diminish and the boats would depart. However, one by one, the boats would snake back into the zone. Guys using small 1 or 2 oz sinkers to get their sardines below the rampant needlefish found the bite just as hot.
PHOTO 6: Las Arenas used to be known as an incredibly fertile fishery for yellowfin tuna and made it’s name on the yellowfin as well as other species that could be caught close to shore. The bite this week has been reminiscent of the old days. In fact, there’s been an nice on again-off again tuna bite through the summer, but the last two weeks, the tuna have been biting like the old days!
PHOTO 7: Kelly Ashmore holds up on of the nicer grade tuna after his first day. The yellowfin don’t need much. Basically pin a bait in the hook Put the bait in the water. Hold on!
PHOTO 8: Since the hurricane two weeks ago it took a few days for the fish to get back to speed. This week there was no doubt, but we never expected it would be the yellowfin. Glenn and Frank Dellari from the N.Cal Area plugged an ice chest or two with fillets. 
PHOTO 9: Three generations of the Van Steenkiste family. Roger on the left has already been here twice this year, but this time, brought his son Greg and his grandson Matt for their first times and did a banner number on tuna and dorado this past week.
PHOTO 10: Yes…there are still dorado around…quite a few actually, although the focus has shifted to the tuna bite this week. Las Arenas still had it’s share of dorado and for our La Paz boats, almost 90 percent of the catch has been dorado with fish ranging from 5-30 pounds, although there’s some larger bulls like this one held by Ivan Lau of El Monte CA. The larger dorado this week were willing to eat the baits, but also showed an affinity for slow trolled strips of bonito as well as trolled feathers that had dorado colors of yellow, green and red or orange.
PHOTO 11: Not all the tuna were footballs. There were some larger fish that came piling through and most of them did a number on the surprised anglers who just weren’t ready. However, this is one 45 pounder that didn’t get away.
Well, if there were any doubts that the hurricane two weeks ago had done a number on the fishing season, those doubts went right out the window.
We’re back on track! Dorado continued to rip lips for our La Paz guys and we’re seeing more and more marlin again. Wahoo bit of the south side of Cerralvo Island and we just had one of the best weeks for roosterfish that we’ve had in about a month with everything from 70 pounders down to feisty 5 pounders.
However, the biggest news was the arrival…en masse…of the yellowfin tuna schools off Las Arenas. It was like the old days. Fish foaming and on the chew as soon as you pulled up the boat and stopped the motors. In a line of fish from the Las Arenas lighthouse all the way down to Boca de Alamo, all it would take is a few sardines tossed in the water to get the fish up and boiling. A few days, I could even see the fish foaming standing on the shore! The fish were literally withing casting distance of the beach on some occasions! Guys were getting plugged with all the fish they wanted in an hour or so then had to put the rods down to rest or else grabbed heavier gear and went looking for roosters or pargo or wahoo. Other guys came back with lighter and even ultra light gear and would hook fish after fish and bust them off or take longer times to battle the tuna having a blast!
If you’re coming down this week a few tips…
1. Flurocarbon leader seems to make a difference. You don’t need much. Just a few yards or 20, 25 or 30.
2. Small hooks for small baits
3. The larger dorado like dorado colored lures
That’s my story! Have a great week!
Jonathan
Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: 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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
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