That's My Story

PHOTO 1: A sure sign of summer when we have dorado like this showing up! The big bulls were out in force this week. This fish tickled the 50 pound scale! Captain Chito Martinez and Jarrett Pfost of San Diego help Illiana Stevens formerly of Alpine CA with this big meaty bull caught east of Espiritu Santo where sargasso weeds congregated all week holding nice schools of varied-sized dorado.

WHOA!!! MUST BE SUMMER…DORADO SCHOOLS COME ON BIG TIME FOR LAS ARENAS AND LA PAZ BOATS…SAILFISH BITE HARD AT ISLAND…SOME TUNA BREAK OUT…WAHOO TOO!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for week ending July 6, 2008

PHOTO 2: Norm Fulco was on his first trip with us and in 3 days of fishing racked up quite an impressive record of hookups. By his own account he had close to 70 hookups…including billfish, pargo, dorado, and snapper. And…yes…out of nowhere at the end of the day he drags a Rapala and nails this nice-sized wahoo off Cerralvo Island. Captain Victor does the gaff work!

PHOTO 3: I was out one day at Las Arenas, the day the tropical storms to the south drove huge swells, waves and wind up towards us. It was rougher than a washing machine, but I was fishing with Jarrett Pfost from San Diego who knows how to fish as he also deckhands out of San Diego. We got 6 medium dorado and then got a double hookup on sailfish as both fish crashed the sardines off the stern of the panga simultaneously. Both of us were on light tackle! Jarrett had 25 pound test spooled on a little Accurate with only about 100 yards of line on it. I happened to grab a little Avet SX with 30 pound test. Both fish went in opposite directions! We did quite the firedrill for awhile but got both to the boat. We were able to release one, but not the other unfortunately, but the meat was distributed to alot of people who needed it. (see the video below)

PHOTO 4: This was the week for some big bull dorado! Jorge Romero is a famous fisherman here in La Paz and is a big guy. He put this bull on a hand scale that read 67 pounds! He was fishing off Las Arenas beach when the mahi struck.

PHOTO 5: Some people swear that pound-for-pound, nothing fights harder than a jack crevalle. These fish are schooling up in several spots for both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets and are dogged fighters. We release most because they just don’t taste that well, but check out the size of this jack held up by Jarrett Pfost of San Diego.

PHOTO 6: Nothing wrong with this photo. Trophy fish held up by Jarrett Pfost, Illiana Stevens, Charlie Wilmer and Pete Makhaus all standing on Balandra Beach after a day of pulling fish east of Espiritu Santo Island where the sargasso weeds have drawn dorado into the area. The smallest fish here is about 35 pounds. The largest close to 50.

PHOTO 7 : Check out the colors of this great looking dorado hung by Shane Evans. Captain Jorge “Chavelon” helps with the fin. First timer Shane with his clan had some banner fishing over the week that may have spoiled them for future trips. I think they had more than a cooler full of fish to bring home!!

PHOTO 8: The Evans boys…brother Gary and Bill (now living here in La Paz) hold up just a few of their fish from the day. Gary (wearing his lucky black hat) holds the dorado. Bill (missing the entire crown of his hat) holds up a great eating barred pargo.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

Wide open dorado plus a double sailfish hook up on light tackle. All sails this week except one were able to be released. All big roosterfish this week were released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYQk-xWeKbA

THE FISHING REPORT

Well…it’s about time! Dorado in the chumlines! Both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets jumping into the summer bite with dorado in many areas and ranging in size from little punks up to 40, 50 and 60 pound slugger bulls!

If you fished with our La Paz fleet, the hot spots were in the sargasso weeds to the east of Espirito Santo Island about mid-way up adjacent to Partida then out 3-5 miles off the beach. Weeds gathering there hold batches of breezing fish willing to jump a sardine, slow trolled caballito, feather (get hung up on the weeds), or slow trolled slab of bonito. You can go all day and not hit a thing then all of a sudden, you’re surrounded by fish on the chew slamming every rod on the boat. The hardest things become keeping the punk fish off the line so the big boys can feed! Other spots include an area in front of Punta Coyote as well as Las Cruces in the channel and then up by La Reyna lighthouse. Moving in and out and eating the smaller dorado, striped marlin are also being hooked.

If you’re coming down, we’ve been getting some larger caballitos and mackerel in the bay. You just need a few to top off the sardines in the tank. Bring some lucky joe or sabiki rigs to catch the bait as well as a torpedo sinker.

If you fished with out Las Arenas fleet, the dorado could be just about anywhere! Offshore, the buoys have been productive, but south Cerralvo Island on the high spots; the drop off near the Arenas lighthouse; the buoys in Bahia Ventana and the slope beach in front of Boca de Alamo all produced dorado of varying sizes.

As well, the variety for our Las Arenas boats continues to blow me away! This week we nailed a few more wahoo; more big roosters (and small ones too!); a few stray yellowtail; cabrilla, pargo, bigger amberjack and….get this…even some yellowfin tuna popped up at the buoys and under some schooling porpoise!

The only hinderance all week to an otherwise outstanding time were the big swells, wind and chop that came in mid-week from the big tropical storms about 300 miles south of Cabo. The storms pushed out to the west without doing anything, but they did push up some rough waters that made it difficult to fish on Thursday and Friday. Before and after…nice and smooth!

Hope this keep up! Hope you had a good 4th of July weekend!

That’s our story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

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PHOTO 1: This man gets to smile alot. Dr. Gomez is not only a physician, but also owns the largest toy store in Guadalajara! You gotta love it. Here he’s all smiles again holding a huge 39 pound bull dorado. Fishing with Captain Archangel, the fish is indicative of our great dorado week with fish spreading from Las Arenas to La Paz waters. I think dorado season has finally arrived!

DORADO FINALLY JOIN THE PARTY AND LA PAZ AND LAS ARENAS FISHING PRODUCE WIDE ARRAY OF SPECIES!

La Paz / Las Arenas Report for the week of June 29, 2008

PHOTO 2: Dorado finally decided to join the show and came up strong after holding out for weeks with only little teases. This one held by our amigo, Lance Cole, hung the scale at 38 pounds. It was Lance’s first dorado and turned out to be a trophy. Dorado schools under the buoys and around the sargasso weeds and in the channel around Las Cruces and Punta Coyote kept most anglers pretty happy!

PHOTO 3: Roger Lees from Windsor CA getting an assist from Captain Adolfo (“Yofo) on a big roosterfish. The big roosters are still around the Las Arenas lighthouse area on the sandy patches and near the dropoffs. We’re having a banner year on the roosters with fish ranging from 5 to 60 pounds. This fish was released…they taste pretty bad…lucky for them!

PHOTO 4: Unbelieveably, after our outstanding yellowtail bite of spring shut off, we rarely see any more of these big jacks. However, just about everyday someone gets one of these stray mossback giant yellowtail. Pater Gregoris holds up a beauty here. No rhyme or reason why yellowtail suddenly stuck their heads into the picture because waters should be too warm right now, but no is complaining, especially with trophy fish like this.

PHOTO 5: Our friend, Mark Martis from Redondo Beach CA has come down here so many times over the last decade he’s pretty much a local resident. He alway does well. Standing here with Captain Adolfo, he shows off a barred pargo (pargo mulatto). Lately, we’ve been catching quite a few of these battlers with fish showing up around the rocks, reefs and even in the sandy areas if there’s structure around.

PHOTO 6: Captain Ramiro poses with Dianne and Bill Alexander. She’s holding a pargo) snapper while the gents hold some nice-sized pompano. The pompano bite over the last 2 months has been exceptional for inshore light tackle anglers for this great eating fish.

PHOTO 7: It doesn’t get much better than this for variety or good eating. Just to show you some of the diversity of species we’ve been getting out of Las Arenas. Jeff Gans and Dave Wehner from Ione CA had quite a day here. This was Jeff’s first time here and he’s holding a pargo and a yellowtail. Dave his hanging onto two nice amberjack…big cousins to the yellowtail. The amberjack are just coming into season right now and seem to be getting bigger. Last year we landed several fish between 70 and over 100 pounds. Great eating!

PHOTO 8 : We promised Illiana Stevens of La Paz that she would finally catch a roostefish and the photo is proof. At a little honey hole just west of the Las Arenas lighthouse, Illiana got 5 fish in quick succession and released them all. There are several spots where you can hook a dozen or more or even sit on the spot all day as long as your bait lasts and catch these school-sized roosterfish. Light tackle is hoot. They literally boil around the boat and it’s only yards off the beach. It’s good that most are getting released.

PHOTO 9: John Enright from the San Diego area along with Captain Manny Archangel hoist a big sailfish. They chased and chased this fish for 45 minutes trying to get it to bite then said, “forget it” when the fish showed no interest in the baits. They then went to fish for pargo inshore. Coming back outside, the fish was still there. This time it attacked a sardine. Fish on! The sailfish could not be released, but the meat was donated to the San Pedro pueblo. This was John’s first trip down here.

PHOTO 10: Again showing the diversity of the bite right now, Troy Coffey from the Los Angeles area is a professional Hawaiian ukelele player and took time from serenading us with great Hawaiian tunes to nail some fish. He’s a pretty good angler too! He’s got a nice barred pargo and an pompano in hand.

PHOTO 11: Captain Adolfo peeks out from behind Kris and Victoria Weiers from Windso CA. Victoria is 6 years old and as game as they come! Mom holds up the amberjack above her head.

PHOTO 12: Parting shot…there are few words that fishermen like hearing more than, “FREE BEER!” About mid-week, the Honda motors people sent down a bunch of reps to the beach to inspect some of the many Honda outboard motors now being used by the fishing fleets at Las Arenas. They did their inspection then drove away. Well, as they drove away, a pickup truck loaded with cold Pacifico on ice pulled in and announced “all you can drink free beer for anyone on the beach!” I’ve never seen some of these anglers run so fast down to the truck!

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK

Check out some of the action…pargo…roosters…amberjack…yellowtail. The saiflish you see in the video could not be released and meat was donated. Other billfish were all released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUSfV38noZo

THE FISH REPORT

Well…this is one of those weeks when the photos can do all the talking! A pretty nice week of rod-bending when all was said and done. I think most folks had some fun. The best part is that the dorado bite finally looks like it’s turned on a the mahi mahi finally joined the party!

It finally felt like summer. It’s just not right when the dorado aren’t here, but after a week of very little winds, it gave the waters a chance to warm up again and clear out the ugly green stuff that’s been haunting us for a few weeks. Sure enough the dorado came to chew!

Most of the better bite was for my La Paz fleet. In an area that encompassed the Las Cruces/ Punta Coyote area, the dorado put limits or near limits on many of our boats. True, there’s some dinky fish out there and happy to hear many were released. However, no doubt, we had some legit bad boys as well with some fish in the 20-50 pound class size. Many large ones were also lost. Sometimes the boats took a few here and there and at the end of the day, there were a stack of fish. Other times, there would be almost nothing then wham! Dorado all around and pandemonium as fish ripped everything in the water for a few moments of madness. Great fun!

It’s just nice to have La Paz back in the game because previously almost 90 percent of our fishing had been out of Las Arenas.

Not that Las Arenas was anything to sneeze at either.

If you’ve never fished here, you’d be surprised at the variety. No single species dominated but there was a great smattering of big pargo, sailfish, marlin, wahoo, big and small roosterfish, pompano, jack crevalle, bonito and skipjack, big eye jacks, dorado, cabrilla and even a few tuna. Great action.

We’re looking for even better things now that the dorado are back and the winds are down!

Have a great week!

That’s my story.

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

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ORDER IN THE COURT! I SWEAR I DIDN’T DO IT!

Originally published in Western Outdoor News the week of June 25, 2008

I have a friend down here in Baja who’s family is in a rough patch right now. Actually, it’s not a good place at all.

Put yourself in the place of being the single parent of an 8-year-old. You work 3 jobs trying to make ends meet. But for part of the afternoon for 2 hours, no one is there to watch your kid. It’s been like this for years. It’s reality. No one likes it, but for those two hours there’s no supervision. No other nearby family members or neighbors to help out.

You live in a little studio above a garage. Not in the best neighborhood. A lot of trash and debris around. A fire starts in a wood pile where the landlord keeps flammable lubricants. Much of the building is burned. The child has to be rescued from the upstairs by neighbors. Everyone is thankful.

Until the next day. The police arrive and the child is charged with arson. The child claims to have been taking a nap as always. There are no other witnesses. But the child is now being prosecuted and could face full criminal penalties including removal from the family.

A nightmare of almost insurmountable proportions. There are no witnesses and only the child’s words of denial. What do you do as a parent? You can’t afford lawyers.

And this is Mexico. This is not the U.S.

You see, Mexico adheres to the archaic Napoleonic code of law, residue from when the French controlled Mexico. Unlike the U.S. where you are “innocent until proven guilty”, in Mexico, you are “guilty until you prove you are innocent.”

Let that sink in a bit.

Ever tried to prove a negative? Remember being a kid and trying to prove you did not kick the dog? Prove you did not make your baby sister cry? Prove it was your classmate in line who was giggling? If the authority figure said you were the culprit there wasn’t much diddly-squat you could do or say.

Fast forward to adulthood in Mexico. It can be pretty ominous. Prove you did NOT run the stoplight. Prove you were NOT drunk in public. Prove your kid did NOT start a fire that resulted in thousands of dollars of damage. Talk to the hand, Senor!
The Mexican legal system, with all its resources, doesn’t have to do a thing. It doesn’t have to prove you’re guilty. It’s incumbent upon you, even if you’re the poorest of the poor, to prove your innocence. You are already guilty because the legal system says you’re the most likely bad guy. Wrong place. Wrong time. Too bad. So sad.

Americans accidentally caught up on the wrong side of the Mexican legal system are rudely awakened…a traffic accident…a bit of “someone else’s” pot found in your car…a stupid macho bar fight…and it’s YOUR word against “the system.” Right or wrong, you’re a guest in a foreign country and are subject to the perception that you’re guilty right out of the box. To Americans that’s a scary concept that makes you wish you were in the land of Judge Judy with all it’s flaws.

Well, Mexico is about to change.

In perhaps the most sweeping legal reforms ever, Mexico is coming over from the dark side. Within the next few years, new legislative measures will be implemented that will turn the Mexican legal system on it’s cabeza (head).

Not only will the Mexican courts now start the ball rolling with a PRESUMPTION of innocence, but there will actually be open courtrooms and public trials.

As a former trial attorney myself, this is huge. I was once involved in litigation more than a dozen years ago where I was hired to work with Mexican attorneys to recover some foreclosed property worth several million dollars.

There was no trial. There was no hearing. There were no witnesses. There were no oral arguments. We never saw a judge. We never got to see the “evidence” presented by the opposing side. Everyone simply submitted papers to the judge. There was no way to know if the other side’s written evidence was true or not. There was no opportunity to challenge it. It could have been a pack of lies written on paper plates for all we knew. As I found out later, our Mexican attorneys also fabricated much of the paperwork. I was told, “The object is to win!” But that was how the system worked. I could only shake my head.

So now the Mexican legal system faces the daunting task of building courtrooms for public hearings. It now has to actually educate judges, lawyers and paralegals about trials and evidentiary matters. These are alien concepts. Remember, this is not a culture that grew up watching “Perry Mason,” “L.A. Law” or “People’s Court.”

It comes too late to help my friend and his family, but it’s a good step in the right direction for once.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

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POSTCARD 1: Hi Mom! This is what a 46 pound dorado looks like. I know. I put it in a scale. It dwarfs the angler, Ray Holguin from Los Angeles who fought it for 25 minutes (without and shirt resulting in a horrendous sunburn that made it hard to slap him on the back to congratulate him!) Ray took the fish outside off Las Arenas. Not many dorado this week, but there were a few quality fish like this one!

NOT AS WINDY AS LAST WEEK BUT WATERS STILL STIRRED UP AND GREEN OUTSIDE FORCED MOST ANGLERS TO FISH INSHORE WITH GOOD RESULTS!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of June 22, 2008

POSTCARD 2: Take a look at this photo and the next. Talk about a banner day! Guys come from all over the world to get even one of these babys and they come year after year only to be eluded, frustrated and disillusioned! Well, Makani Fisher from Utah not only gets two big pargo…this one being a pargo liso (mullet snapper), but one of the largest you’ll ever see! It was scaled at 46 pounds! They get bigger, but rarely do you see them landed! Even Captain Victor is straining to lift it off the deck.

POSTCARD 3: Here’s Captain Victor giving Makani Fisher a hand again. Hey…if the kid can horse in TWO of these toads, he can hold up his own fish! Again, a spectacular catch of a pargo. This one is a dog-tooth or cubera snapper. Like a giant goldfish on steroids! A real prize!

POSTCARD 4: Tom Romanello is our forest firefighter amigo from Idaho. We didn’t do too well fishing directly out’ve La Paz this week, but Tom sure had an excellent day with his dad getting several nice dorado including this nice bull. However ,they had to run waaaaaay north going almost 70 miles north of La Paz just to find the cleaner warm water. That’s normally a ridiculous distance to have to run for our fish, but Tom and his dad made the most of it!

POSTCARD 5: Another good week on big roosterfish! This has to be the best year for the big boys we’ve seen in ages. It’s been on now since March. These fish are in relatively shallow waters. Kamika Fisher from Utah (that’s his son in the photos above) holds a big pez gallo. Kamika is a big guy himself! Note the gaff held by Captain Victor. Our captains have been gaffing the roosters in the lip so that they can be released. On this particular day, their smallest rooster was 35 pounds. Their largest was close to 60 pounds.

POSTCARD 6: Montebello, California in the house! June Akike and Julio Cornejo from Montebello CA came down specifically to try for pargo. When I first saw their gear, their artillery was way too light so I beefed them up some 60 pound test and my personal “meat sticks.” They lost their first 4 fish to the rocks, but finally hung these two beauties!

POSTCARD 7: It must have been a good week for pargo judging from all the photos. It wasn’t! There weren’t that many caught. Most kicked the hell out of anglers who simply could not stop the powerful fish. However, it seems that many of the ones that were caught this week were all heavyweight champs…like this pargo liso held by Kamika Fisher from Utah.

POSTCARD 8: PHIL COO from Duarte CA grins with his nice amberjack. We’re seeing more and more of these big cousins to the yellowtail. We got several last year that were over 100 pounds. Great eating and a nasty fighter too! These guys use rocks to their advantage.

POSTCARD 9: This is George Romanello from Duarte CA. George had a great trip nailing this roosterfish held by Captain Archangel (released) but also getting numerous other species as well. I really wanted him to have a good trip. Last year, George was all set , but had to cancel when his passport did not arrive on time! It got there one day late! He made up for it this year.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

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PHOTO 1: Dan Flatt from Atwater CA is a school teacher who was on his first trip to visit us. Despite some tough winds, Dan and his wife, Susan (photos below) got into some of the nice dorado that showed up north of La Paz between the islands around the sargasso patches near Las Cruces.

ANOTHER TOUGH WEEK OF OFFSHORE FISHING AGAINST THE WINDS (GO AWAY ALREADY!) BUT DORADO ARE HERE FOR SURE AND INSHORE FISHING FOR ROOSTERS, JACKS AND POMPANO STILL HOT!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of Sunday June 15, 2008

PHOTO 2: Susan Flatt, like her husband, Dan, (above) is also an educator from Northern, California. She’s holding one of the nicer dorado taken north of La Paz this week where a spot of mahi was found around Las Cruces.

PHOTO 3: One of the funnest guys of the week and light tackle enthusiasts, Jonathan Speir from Sonoma CA holds up the kind of roosterfish that made Las Arenas famous as the “roosterfish capital of the world.” If the rooster doesn’t look that big, consider that Jonathan is about 6’4″ tall and the tail of the rooster is barely touching the deck of the panga! The rooster was released as were most of the big roosters all week.

PHOTO 4: Another great example of a real pretty rooster taken near the lighthouse off Las Arenas where fish between 10 and 80 pounds have been hanging for the past 2 months. Dan Flatt from Atwater CA does the honors.

PHOTO 5: This is Charlie and Greg Gibson holding up a sample of some of their catch after fishing a day out of Las Arenas. Left to right: barred pargo, amberjack, snapper and pompano. This particular day they also hooked two sailfish. Charlie’s broke off, but Greg hooked, fought and released his. Both had a blast using lightweight spinning rods for all their fish. Greg also spent the week completing his PADI scuba course certification.

PHOTO 6: Smile says it all. Nick Fantozzi holds up a nice snapper here. Great eating and highly prized in the markets and restaurants and much sought after by the commercial panga fishermen, these fish are a tough fight out of the rocks.

PHOTO 7: Wendy and Cara Fantozzi got out on the water a few days with us this week. High winds made it difficult and tough to get out some days to the outter buoys where the larger dorado lurked, but some breezing school-sized dorado like these held by the ladies have moved closer to the beaches and island.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

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PHOTO: The appearance of wahoo are usually a pretty good indication of warmer waters.

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PHOTO 1: Jerry Reiter and John Torascio from the Ventura CA area hold up some of the nice class bull dorado we hit this week. Both anglers were on their first trip down here and tangled with some nice fish. Dorado fishing wasn’t great, but the fish that were caught were usually trophies like this!

A TOUGH WEEK OF FISHING MARKED BY INCONSISTENT WINDS AND DROP IN WATER TEMPERATURE – BUT STILL SOME NICE DORADO AND INSHORE SPECIES!

La Paz – Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of Jun3 1-8, 2008

PHOTO 2: On his first fishing trip ever, Andy Ewing from Seattle WA rips this 50 pound class roosterfish off the beach near Las Arenas. Trophy roosters like this moved in a few weeks ago in shallow waters. Andy released this fish after taking this great shot. Note the flat waters!

PHOTO 3 : One of the biggest problems this week was the falling water temperature. Inshore waters went cold lockjawing the fish. The warmer water was outside around the buoys where toad-sized dorado like this one held by Joel Ofrancia of Seattle WA were hanging out. Joel hit three good day of this kind of fishing. The problem with getting outside to the warmer water was the fact that sometimes the winds were blowing so hard, it was impossible to get across in all the chop and wet. I put this fish on a scale myself and it went 42 pounds!

PHOTO 4: Just too pretty of a photo to pass up. This is a hooked dorado next to the boat. It was unhooked and released.

PHOTO 5: Now here’s a great shot. Our amigo, Doug Oclassen from Boulder CO is hooked on a striped marlin. Captain Victor looks on. Cerralvo Island in the background. They tried to release this fish but were unable to and the meat was donated. However, during the week they released other billfish and numerous dorado, roosters and jacks.

PHOTO 6: Butch Lawson always seems to do pretty well everytime he comes to see us. He’s here with Captain Jorge and a dorado they picked up. Butch is from the Monterey CA area.

PHOTO 7: Dave Newman doesn’t get to take his shirt off very often. He’s from Chicago, Ill. and is constantly sending photos of his frozen yard. However, he’s dynamite on light tackle whether from a panga or the beach. He’s standing here on Las Arenas beach just around from the lighthouse where schools of jacks and roosters congregate. He’s holding up a nice jack he nailed on 15 pound test and a Shimano Calcutta 400 reel!

PHOTO 8 – Not sure if this needs explanation, but I promised someone I’d post it. Kids, don’t try this at home. Seen often in Baja Mexico, it’s a pink-eyed Pacific Pargo Belly.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

Check out some of the dorado action this week. You will see a marlin here that got taken, but almost all marlin this week were released as were most of the roosterfish. The one you see in the video swallowed the hook and the meat went to folks who needed food.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYsBqoaB4qM

THE FISHING REPORT

Right up front…IT WAS A WEIRD WEEK! It had all the makings to be an outstanding week, but for a few glitches mother nature threw at us.

Here’s what happened. Those pesky winds hit us again. One day from one side. Next day from the other. Sometimes it seemed like they sucker punched us from different angles at the same time. What occured is that water temperatures dropped. That resulted (I think) in alot of the fish going “lockjaw” on us. I mean…they were there, but just wouldn’t open their mouths to take a bait!

The warmer waters were outside by the buoys or around the islands. BUT…to get out there, you had to be willing to get your teeth kicked in going out there and getting battered around. Most guys opted to stay close to shore where the aforementioned cold water took it’s toll and even needlefish didn’t bite on some days.

This was mostly at the middle of the week with the funky weather. At the beginning and the end of the week, there was some good to great action on BIG dorado outside as well as marlin and sailfish with most billfish getting released. Inshore, especially along those shallow beaches, jacks and roosters and pompano (basically, almost all the jack family) were there varying in sizes from small 2 pounders up to 60 pounders. This made for some great inshore action.

No wahoo to speak of this week and that flurry of tuna seems to have gone back down to the trenches. The thing we’re watching is that if these winds stay down, it looks like the La Paz side fishing is actually starting to heat up with some dorado located in warm water betweeen Espiritu Santo and the north end of Cerralvo Island.

Fishing tips….

Flurocarbon leaders

CD 18 sized big Rapalas in dark colors for wahoo

Hook sizes #1 to 2/0 for most baits

Don’t forget zip lock bags for your fish

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

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PHOTO 1: Ever seen 60 and 70 pound roosterfish? Those are the estimated weights of these two bruisers being held by Joe Dubler from Palmer AK, and Jeff Regnart from Anchorage AK. There’s a reason they call this area the “roosterfish capital of theworld. ” The world record 114 pounder came out of these waters and fish like these are not uncommon. In fact, considering it’s early in the season we’re getting banner numbers of the big fish. Here’s the best part of this. On this particular day, Joe and Jeff got FIVE of these fish including this double hook up. THEY RELEASED EACH FISH! They rock!

DORADO BIG ROOSTERS AND OUR FIRST WAHOO OF THE SEASON HIGHLIGHT A WEEK OF HARD FISHING – FEWER FISH BUT BIGGER FISH!

LA PAZ / LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR JUNE 1, 2008 for the week of May 25 to 31, 2008

PHOTO 2: Mike Booth from Riverside CA holds up the kind of dorado that showed up this week. Nice BIG FAT BULLS! Several spots outside of Cerralvo Island, especially the elusive 88 spot and the inshore buoys some days held fields of fish and other days not a ripple. However, it seemed to be a week of all big fish in the 25 to 40 pound class!

PHOTO 3: What happend to all the small fish and females? As the boats unloaded each day, it seems like it was bull after bull after bull in the boxes! No one was complaining. Joe Dubler from Alaska hung this beauty on a live bait outside the island. Most all the fishing has been from the Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay side. Late in the week, schools of these big mahi ravaged through the bait schools. Marlin and sailfish were also in the same areas, ignoring baits one day then romping on anything thrown in the water the next day!

PHOTO 4: Not so many big pargo this week, but no doubt they were still there! This has been an incredible pargo season with lots of big fish early including fish like this pargo liso, but also big dog-tooth and paro mulatto have also been getting into the boxes. There were lots of fish hooked but so many lost in the rocks…as usual. This nice one is being helf up by one of our best pargo captains…the very popular Captain Manny Archangel.

PHOTO 5: As waters have gotten warmer, we’re seeing the appearance of more amberjack…the bigger and tastier cousins to yellowtail, pompano, jack crevalle and roosterfish with the same bad attitudes when hooked. This one is being held by Jim Nass who also got roosterfish. Some of these fish will get over 100 pounds and hang out along the rocks and pinnacles near high spots. Great eating.

PHOTO 6: OK…can you say, “Happy Birthday?” Mark Bonami from the San Francisco Bay area celebrated his 43rd birthday with us. He goes out and nails one of our first wahoo of the season as well as this 50-60 pound roosterfish (released). YEOW! We knew the wahoo were in the area, but none had been hooked yet only some short biters that fell off. Mark got our first of the season (see the video) on a black and purple trolled Rapala!

PHOTO 7: Dennie Dyer and Matt Lederer hold up some of the best inshore eating fish we have. The silver ones are African Pompano and the reddish fish is a barred pargo. Dennie came down with the specific intent to somehow get in the fishing report. You made it Dennie! (Also check out the video this week too!). This was an incredible week for the pompano that moved into the waters right off the beach areas where the sand sloped to deeper waters. A small sinker and live bait got anglers through the needlefish schools to the fish zone!

PHOTO 8: No small fish! Chris Silva, “Texas” Bill Sharp, and Mike “I only drink Corona” Booth all from Riverside CA hold up a trio of dorado bulls typical of the kind of quality dorado that showed up this week off the buoys outside of Las Arenas and Cerrlavo Island

PHOTO 9: Jeff Regnart spent a whole week fishing with us and went home with a load of fillet and lots of variety. He got the best of this big bull dorado. As one angler said, “We pulled up on one area and there were flying fish everywhere. Bull dorado in an area half the size of a football

PHOTO 10: Dave Rose trekked with his family all the way from the Denver area. These little roosters are as hearty and feisty as their big brothers. If you want some light tackle fun, there are schools of these youngsters off some of the beaches that can be hours of incredible fun until your arms fall of!

PHOTO 11: Wahoo!!! Yup…they’re here. (check the video). Dave Newman is a frequent amigo of ours and lives in Chicago. He often sends me photos of the incredible winters they have up here so it’s always good to see him down here in the sunshine. His first day out he spanks this nice wahoo. The south end of Cerralvo Island in that high spot that kicks out so many of the skinnies each year again looks like it’s holding fish!

THE WEEK IN VIDEO!

Video 1: The week in review. Check it out. A collection of clips from the week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoHaCxAhWQo&feature=user

Video 2: Pete Savarese on light tackle goes head to head against a big jack crevalle on light tackle. Note the gaff technique in the lip by Captain Adolfo so that the fish could be released.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGhdTW7QcFQ

THE FISHING REPORT

Well, amigos…if you read the captions to this week’s photos, you get the gist. I won’t blow smoke…

It wasn’t a great week of fishing. It was a GOOD week of fishing with some GREAT fish! Some guys did better than others. The fish really did play games.

One day all the good fish were on one spot and a few boats would get them. Then, the next day EVERYONE would shoot there and the fish would POP UP SOMEWHERE ELSE. The guys who just happened to be at the new spot would get slammed. The next day everyone would shoot to the new spot an the hot bite would turn up somewhere else!!! It was like “musical fishing chairs!”

But no one could argue about the quality.

Lots of guys got their biggest…roosterfish…dorado…marlin…sailfish. Happy to say that almost all the marlin/ sailfish were released…even by the rookies (good for you!)…as well as the bigger roosters and some game guys were even releasing their big dorado too. You rock!

Some guys who knew they already had too much fish were also letting fish go. One day it seemed each of our pangas had at least one marlin/sailfish hooked, released or lost and the only ones killed were the ones that were deep hooked or were already going to die. The rest are hopefully still swimming to fight another day. A good portion of the billfish that were brought in were given to folks who needed the food.

Most of the fishing spots centered on the area around the Arenas lighthouse for the roosters, pompano and jacks. Punta Perrico and the SE end of Cerrlavo Island held the pargo and rockfish. The outter buoys were the spot to go search for the big dorado and billfish.

Almost 99 percent of our fishing was out of Muertos Bay to fish these areas. We haven’t fished the La Paz side very much because of the winds or inconsistent fishing. However…FLASH…this week we did fish a bit more on the La Paz side and got some nice dorado…a few tuna…and even some larger yellowtail so we’ll keep an eye on that for you!

That’s my story! Have a great week!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: http://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: , 755 Paseo Obregon, 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.”

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LIGHTEN UP

Originally published in Western Outdoor News the week of May 28, 2008

With each passing week, it seems like we’re seeing one more thing after another fall prey to the effects of higher gas prices and a slowed economy “up there” in the U.S. Icon after icon falls. Things we never thought would change, are changing.

Believe me, fish brothers and sisters, next to soccer or boxing, the U.S. economy is the most talked about coffee and beer discussion down here south of the border . It’s right up there with Follwed by whether “OBooomuh” will beat “Kleen-tune” to go against “Muh-keeen” for the White House in November.

Certain things were never supposed to change. There was a sense of entitlement to certain things. We were entitled to always seeing Superman win; re-runs of M.A.S.H. were always somewhere on the dial; and there was always SOMEPLACE that still sold 1 dollar Mexican beers.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that another era is drawing to a close. It’s no longer an aberration by errant airlines intent on making YOUR travel plans more difficult. It’s a trend now to make YOUR travel more difficult.

With each passing week it seems another airline (those that are still flying!) is eliminating the 2 free bags on international flights. Those halcyon days of carefree luggage are going the way of stingray bicycles; safe drinking water out of the garden hose; and riding in the back of open pick-up trucks.

First they limited luggage weight from 70 to 50 pound per check-in bag. But you COULD bring two pieces.

Now, it seems most airlines are cutting back. You get 1 free bag and then then pay from $25 or more for the second bag and up to $100 or more for the third bag. Think rod tubes and ice chests…yup…that’s right.

Hey, I’m not talking smack against the airlines. At least not for this. Fuel is fuel. There’s not a single part of our lives that isn’t touched by the increase in fuel costs. A plane can only handle a finite amount of weight. It takes more fuel to get that weight up into the air; keeping it there; and moving forward it from point A to point B. I get that.

The surcharge, if you will, “taxes” those of us who take up the extra weight with our toys and that third set of swim trunks; the Grateful Dead t-shirt we can’t leave home without; the 50 iron lures we need for just two days of fishing; and the boom box and CD’s we MUST have. And yes, ladies (you know who you are) those 12 pairs of shoes for the weekend trip.

If you’re like my dad who seems to get by on a week-long trip with one pair of socks, two boxers (one severely lightened by the lack of elastic), and his toothbrush, then you don’t have to worry. But that’s Old School. We of the modern world like our stuff. Gotta have our stuff.

But the new fiscal reality dicates differently. Lighten up.

If you’re traveling with buds, consider putting as many rods into a tube as you can. The big giant tubes won’t pass anymore. The standard-size tubes or home-made PVC tubes can hold a surprising number of sticks. For the average 2 or 3 days fishing trip, you don’t need 10 sticks each. And keep them short. Oversize gets charged too.

The days of the 100 qt. cooler are long gone. Go with the 30-40 quart chests. Do you REALLY need wheels on them? That adds a lot of weight. A 40 quart chest when filled properly with filets weighs just about 50 pounds.

Do NOT bring empty luggage like an empty ice chest either. What I like to do is put my clothes in a soft duffle. It goes into the ice chest on your way down. On your way back home to the states, hopefully, your cooler is now filled with fish. Your duffle bag now becomes your carry-on to go in the overhead.

If you’re fishing with friends, figure out that you each do not need a long-range sized tackle box. Each of you does not need 20 feathers and iron each. I know. I’m a tackle junkie too and I’m talking blasphemy. How dare I tell you to leave fishing gear home! Well, bring it but be ready to pay for it. Consider sharing tackle. You do NOT need 8 blue and white feathers each.

Unless you really MUST have some super dooper shampoo or something, consider either bringing travel sizes of cosmetics or buying stuff like a toothbrush, razors, shampoo and toothpaste here in Baja. Unless you’re staying out with the cactus and coyotes, you can pretty much buy anything here in Mexico now and all the name brands. And it’s probably cheaper. Most hotels have a convenience store.

They’re being real sticky about weights too. In my last trip, they were charging people who were even 1 or 2 pounds over. No lenience. The new world order has arrived.

By the way, I just saw yesterday. Some airlines are now charging $15 for the FIRST bag too.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

Read Full Post »

With each passing week, it seems like we’re seeing one more thing after another fall prey to the effects of higher gas prices and a slowed economy “up there” in the U.S. Icon after icon falls. Things we never thought would change, are changing.

Believe me, fish brothers and sisters, next to soccer or boxing, the U.S. economy is the most talked about coffee and beer discussion down here south of the border . It’s right up there with Follwed by whether “OBooomuh” will beat “Kleen-tune” to go against “Muh-keeen” for the White House in November.

Certain things were never supposed to change. There was a sense of entitlement to certain things. We were entitled to always seeing Superman win; re-runs of M.A.S.H. were always somewhere on the dial; and there was always SOMEPLACE that still sold 1 dollar Mexican beers.

Well, I think it’s safe to say that another era is drawing to a close. It’s no longer an aberration by errant airlines intent on making YOUR travel plans more difficult. It’s a trend now to make YOUR travel more difficult.

With each passing week it seems another airline (those that are still flying!) is eliminating the 2 free bags on international flights. Those halcyon days of carefree luggage are going the way of stingray bicycles; safe drinking water out of the garden hose; and riding in the back of open pick-up trucks.

First they limited luggage weight from 70 to 50 pound per check-in bag. But you COULD bring two pieces.

Now, it seems most airlines are cutting back. You get 1 free bag and then then pay from $25 or more for the second bag and up to $100 or more for the third bag. Think rod tubes and ice chests…yup…that’s right.

Hey, I’m not talking smack against the airlines. At least not for this. Fuel is fuel. There’s not a single part of our lives that isn’t touched by the increase in fuel costs. A plane can only handle a finite amount of weight. It takes more fuel to get that weight up into the air; keeping it there; and moving forward it from point A to point B. I get that.

The surcharge, if you will, “taxes” those of us who take up the extra weight with our toys and that third set of swim trunks; the Grateful Dead t-shirt we can’t leave home without; the 50 iron lures we need for just two days of fishing; and the boom box and CD’s we MUST have. And yes, ladies (you know who you are) those 12 pairs of shoes for the weekend trip.

If you’re like my dad who seems to get by on a week-long trip with one pair of socks, two boxers (one severely lightened by the lack of elastic), and his toothbrush, then you don’t have to worry. But that’s Old School. We of the modern world like our stuff. Gotta have our stuff.

But the new fiscal reality dicates differently. Lighten up.

If you’re traveling with buds, consider putting as many rods into a tube as you can. The big giant tubes won’t pass anymore. The standard-size tubes or home-made PVC tubes can hold a surprising number of sticks. For the average 2 or 3 days fishing trip, you don’t need 10 sticks each. And keep them short. Oversize gets charged too.

The days of the 100 qt. cooler are long gone. Go with the 30-40 quart chests. Do you REALLY need wheels on them? That adds a lot of weight. A 40 quart chest when filled properly with filets weighs just about 50 pounds.

Do NOT bring empty luggage like an empty ice chest either. What I like to do is put my clothes in a soft duffle. It goes into the ice chest on your way down. On your way back home to the states, hopefully, your cooler is now filled with fish. Your duffle bag now becomes your carry-on to go in the overhead.

If you’re fishing with friends, figure out that you each do not need a long-range sized tackle box. Each of you does not need 20 feathers and iron each. I know. I’m a tackle junkie too and I’m talking blasphemy. How dare I tell you to leave fishing gear home! Well, bring it but be ready to pay for it. Consider sharing tackle. You do NOT need 8 blue and white feathers each.

Unless you really MUST have some super dooper shampoo or something, consider either bringing travel sizes of cosmetics or buying stuff like a toothbrush, razors, shampoo and toothpaste here in Baja. Unless you’re staying out with the cactus and coyotes, you can pretty much buy anything here in Mexico now and all the name brands. And it’s probably cheaper. Most hotels have a convenience store.

They’re being real sticky about weights too. In my last trip, they were charging people who were even 1 or 2 pounds over. No lenience. The new world order has arrived.

By the way, I just yesterday. Some airlines are now charging $15 for the FIRST bag too.

That’s my story. If you ever want to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com.

Read Full Post »