That's My Story

PHOTO 1: They started slow, but finished fast. Yusuke Suzuki and his dad Katsu from Portland had to cancel their first trip to La Paz 2 times last year, but finally made it down. Their first day fishing the winds blew strong and they barely scratched out a bite and had tough fishing. However, the fish gods finally smiled on their second day and they had quite a variety including sierra, pargo, snapper, cabrilla and bonito. This is pretty typical of winter fishing for inshore species.

PHOTO 2: Yusuke holds up a pargo happily pulled out near Punta Perrico. Popular captain Archangel helps with the gaff.

PHOTO 3: Whale watching in Lopez Mateos is in full swing right now. The whales aren’t quite as plentiful as normal…maybe it’s El Nino…but everyone is having fun in the shallow bays watching the whales come up to the pangas!

PHOTO 4: On the weekends, EVERYONE comes out to see the whales! Hopefully, they’ll be around until about mid-March and we’re running folks out every week.

ANOTHER WEEK OF MIXED INSHORE FISHING WITH NUMEROUS VARIETIES

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 14-20, 2010

It was a mixed bag of fish, so to speak, this past week which is pretty characteristic of this time of year. What we catch and how we fish and where we fish are often dictated by wind, weather and the bait conditions rather than by what clients want to specifically target. At least moreso than other times of the year.

Most of our fishing is confined to the Muertos Bay area as it is more protected and fishing is closer. Whether we go much further than that depends on the winds but generally we focus on the Punta Perrico areas, Punta Arenas, Boca de Alamo and the surrounding areas. If winds permit, we can head over to Cerralvo Island.

The other aspect is bait. Can’t fish without it so sometimes getting bait is hunt and peck a little bit. Since waters are a bit rougher this time of year, often the sardines get scattered by the wave action or the waters get too cloudy from the splash and it’s hard to throw the net. Alternatively, sometimes it’s hard to get in tight in the rocks to throw the bait nets when the waves are pushing you into the rocks.

Anyway, I guess that’s the so-so news and the realities of fishing some days. Others, it’s flat, calm, warm and the bait is readily taken. All that taken into account, we’re still having a great time with sierra which are easy since they can be taken close to shore anyway and will eat lures when bait is a little sketchy…basically, anything shiny will attract strikes. As well, pargo are frustrating anglers also. The big red fish are biting, but anglers will lose half their fish or more to the rocks when the fish immediately burrow down. But, in the same areas, cabrilla (seabass) and snapper are being taken and we’re also getting jack crevalle and some roosters along the beaches. Attribute it to El Nino, but every now and then, just a hair offshore, someone hooks a tuna or dorado.

PHOENIX INTERNATIONAL SPORTSMENS EXPO THIS WEEK

That’s where we’ll be from Friday to Sunday this week for the next stop on our road tour. We’ll be right on the floor of the football stadium where the Cardinals play. It’s a great facility and great place to come out and spend the day; see some great exhibits and, of course, come say hi to us and check out some dates for your La Paz fishing trip this year! See you then!

That’s our story
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

BAJA PLANNING

Originally published the week of Feb. 24, 2010 in Western Outdoor News

So, you’re finally going to make that trip to Baja that you’ve been putting off. Maybe it’s your first time. Maybe you’ve been south before, but it will be a new destination. Now that you know where you want to go, you have to start somewhere. Airlines? Hotel? An outfitter or charter company? Reading Western Outdoor News? (good start!)

There are alot of ways to go. But there are things to be careful about as well.

To begin with, do a little research. Forewarned is forearmed and an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of pain!

Assuming you know the dates of your vacation and that you’re going to be flying instead of driving to your destination, make sure there are flights. It does no good to make all these plans then find out there’s no airplane to ride!

Once you’re sure there’s flights, don’t book them just yet! What if there’s no hotel rooms available or all the boats are sold out? There’s a little juggling to do here so hold on if you can before buying those tickets!

Assuming you plan to fish, dive, kayak, etc. or one of the numerous activities afforded in Baja, I would go to the company that offers that activity. Choosing a company takes a bit of doing but it’s worth it.

Ask friends. Go to online message boards on the internet and ask for suggestions. Check out the ads in places like Western Outdoor News. You’ll notice that many of the same outfits advertise year-after-year and in the same places year-after-year.

That doesn’t mean they’re good. Anyone can be a bozo operation and place an ad or ads can be deceiving, but at least it’s one indication of an operation that isn’t fly-by-night. It’s a tough business and idiots don’t usually last long out there. By the same token, there are those that are popular enough and have enough of a track record that they don’t need to advertise. And that’s where asking friends or searching online comes in.

If you’ve chosen an outfitter (check out several), make sure they can accommodate what you want to do on the days you want to do it and the way in which you want to do it.

For example, if you’re set on fishing for marlin and the company doesn’t fish for marlin or there simply are no marlin there, then you need to re-adjust. If the company only uses cruisers and you want to fish in a panga, again, you’ll have to re-think. Same for any activity. For diving, if you’re an experienced diver and want to wreck dive or dive with sharks, but the area only has shallow reefs, then oops…better re-think the plans!

One good idea is to ask how long folks have been in business. Ask if the person answering your question is just a booking agent or really knows their stuff. There are alot of folks out there just answering the phones sitting in offices who have never even been to the location they are selling and are really just ticket agents!

Ask hard questions. Be specific. It’s YOUR vacation. It’s too important to put in the hands of people who don’t know a tuna from a roosterfish or whether you can eat the street tacos or not. How fast do they get back to you with your answers? How often has that specific person been where you want to go? Do they live there? Or are they just visitors themselves? Maybe they have NEVER been there! Your gut will give you a good feel.

Assuming the company can handle you, ask them about lodging. Many can put the whole package together and work closely with hotels. If not, at least they can recommend some places or offer suggestions. Even after they make suggestions or tell you which hotel they work with, check out the place online. If the place has no online website, then I’d probably pass on it. All good places have websites these days.

Once you have your activities and lodging locked in, now go get your airline ticket.

If you let the airlines or the hotels book everything for you, there are some real hazards that can happen. Not always, but why take chances? If you go through the airlines, the person answering the phones probably cannot answer questions about the fishing, diving, etc. or the hard questions about the hotel you really want to know. Is the room near the beach? How much are dinners at the restaurant? Are there child services? How far to town? They book airline tickets and that’s what they want to do and are best at.

At the hotel level, it’s the same thing. They want to put head-on-beds. That’s their top priority. Sure, they can book your fishing, diving, kayak trip, etc. , but 9-out-of-10 times, I bet that person booking the hotel room for you can’t tell you the name of your captain; what gear you will need; what the water temperature will be; if you will be able to catch a tuna, roosterfish, etc. It’s not their fault. But, they sell hotel rooms.

Also, beware of the internet. It’s your worst friend and enemy. It is indeed the information super highway, but it runs in two directions. You can find lots of helpful and useful information, but like online dating (ha-ha), what you see on the internet is not always what you get!

Of course, the online website won’t tell you that their hotel is right next to the busiest highway or that it was built on a beach next to the garbage dump or that “secluded” really means it’s a 25 dollar cab ride from town or that “rustic Mexican” really means they are on a generator that shuts down at 9 p.m. The website will never show you that nor will the booking agent for the hotel.

Unless you’re really adventuresome, the worst thing you can do is “wing it.” That might work going to Disneyland or Vegas. Granted, chances are you’ll have a great time on-the-fly, but so many things can also go wrong. Your boat might break down (or not even show up!). Your luggage might get lost. You end up with a 100 dollar cab ride. Your room has no running water or faces an alley. And then what? There’s no accountability. No one to bitch at. Your vacation is worth more than that.

A little planning will help insure the very best time!

_____________

Jonathan is Baja Editor for Western Outdoor News and his column appears twice monthly in the paper. You can contact him directly at riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com

PHOTO 1: Larry Barnes all the way from Alberta Canada was down for his first time and got a variety of fish including this nice pargo just off Punto Perrico. Conditions were less than stellar this week as you might notice from the grey skies and Captain Victor needing to wear his slickers.

PHOTO 2: Our amigo from La Paz by way of Mazatalan, Leonard Bishop, at first thought this was a funny looking yellowtail and found out later it’s a rainbow runner… a close cousin to the yellowtail caught near Muertos Bay. For Leonard’s full account see below. He got this fish on his flyrod.

STRONG WINDS AND EVEN SOME WET DAYS PUT A DAMPER ON THE WEEK’S FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 7-14, 2010

A bit of a mixed week down here with some surprising varieties of fish. Quite a mix considering it’s only February and everyone is talking about “El Nino.” Everyone wants to know. Heck, I’m no scientist. We just go fishing and catch what’s biting and right now, you just never know what’s out there! This week, it was a bit on the windy side. The winds have the obvious effect of making it a bit rougher than we would like, but it also affects our ability to get bait. Sardines are usually in the shallow areas near the rockys or beaches and when waves are spanking the shore, it not only scatters the little guys, but if you’re a panga captain trying to throw a net and get close into the shallows, it’s hell trying to keep the waves from smashing your panga into the rocks. It gets dicey!

Anyway, as mentioned, there’s good fish to be caught. Pargo are up in numbers inside now. We’re seeing ’em for sure. But catching them is another issue. I had guys lose 8, 12, 16 fish to the rocks as the big red boys racked the lines and tore them up. They had fun trying to stop the beasts, but still managed a few “smaller” fish in the 10-20 pound class around Cerralvo Island and Muertos Bay. As well, in the same areas, they met with better success on snapper and some nice cabrilla (seabass). No shortage of sierra and you can play with those all day long and have a blast. Surprising species, however, included rainbow runners (baby cousins to yellowtail and great eating!) as well as some dorado and even a few yellowfin tuna!

The bad news is that mid-week, the winds really picked up for really the first time all year. It just made it really tough to fish. We actually canceled the fishing for a few days. We could’ve gone out and gotten a few fish, but no sense in being miserable out there and the clients decided to simply postpone fishing until later in the week. After the winds abated a bit, fishing was still off a bit, but, as mentioned above there were some decent varieties of fish to be caught although in all honesty, it surely could have been better.

Carnivale started this week so the whole city is in party mode!

FIRST PERSON

Thanks to Leonard Bishop on his report for his fishing day:

“We trolled rapalas at the south end of Cerralvo (Island), while we waited for Captain Victor to get bait. Caught 4-5 nice size cabrilla some 4-6 lbs!
Got bait then went out from Punta Arena in open water. We got bonito, sierra (1 big one), skipjack, and a rainbow runner, We went back to rocks near Muertos Bay, more cabrilla, dog snapper, triggerfish, golden trevally, couple other “toss em` backs”
missed a bunch of pargo liso (mullet snapper), just got rocked again and again! The bite was really fussy. Yes I got the rainbow runner on a pink bucktail fly. The cabrilla were dee-licious!!!”

PORTLAND SPORT SHOW

Thanks to everyone who came to say hi to us at the Portland Expo Center this past week for the Northwest Sportsman’s Hunting and Fishing Show. What a kick! Five great days in the booth and thanks to all our friends who brought us goodies as well. We ate and drank well! You’re the best!

Now…onto Phoenix! Our next Tailhunter appearance will be at Cardinal football Stadium right there on the football field. We’ll be there Friday to Sunday Feb. 26-28. Come check it out and say hi.

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

HOT ROD TWEAKING YOUR GEAR

Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the Week of Feb. 17, 2010

So, I’m digging through my tackle storage unit here in La Paz. Either, it’s the end of season inventory for 2009 or my beginning of the 2010 inventory to see what I’ve got; what I need; what’s busted; what needs to be fixed or replaced. I hate this.

As I pull line off reels; repack hooks; and untangle lures that should have been untangled before I put them in the box, I wanted to pass on a few “tweaking tips” to “hotrod” some of your gear for the coming season.

For many of my lures, especially crank-type lures like Rapalas and even many of my throwing irons, I replace the hooks. I take off the treble hooks and replace them with single forged hooks. I believe, I get deeper and better hooksets in the hard jaws of Baja gamefish on a single hook than on a treble.

Single hooks penetrate better. Less chance the fish will spin off. Further, if I plan to release a fish, it’s alot easier to take out one hook than three. If there are two hooks, I replace both of them so that the lure swims true and remains balanced.

For my swivels that are on leaders, especially trolling leaders on my bigger feathers, jigs and wahoo lures, I make sure that all of them are changed to black. Silver swivels when trolled through the water cavitate. They make a teardrop shape going through the water. With a shiny silver swivel, it looks just like a baitfish.

Your big lure now looks like it’s chasing a baitfish. That’s great for realism, but not so good if the REAL fish you’re trying to catch decided to bite your swivel instead of your lure. That “short bite” might cost you a very expensive lure, even if you’re using wire!

All hooks, no matter who makes them, but for sure on non-“designer hooks” in my box, I take a file to them. I give every single hook the “fingernail” test. That is, I drag the point across my fingernail. If it scratches my nail, it’s sharp. If it doesn’t measure up, I give it a couple of runs with a good hook file.

On the subject of hooks, there’s nothing quite so frustrating as getting a little moisture in a fresh pack of hooks then finding they all rusted on me. To prevent that, I put some grains of rice in each pack. The rice absorbs any stray moisture that gets in much like rice in a saltshaker helps prevent condensation.

On my rods, I spray WD-40 on a rag and wipe them all down. Not only does it put a nice sheen on them, but it really helps take off blood, scales and other goo that might’ve gotten stuck on them during the season.

I then take some clear fingernail polish and dab it on the stress fracture where the foot of the guides starts to break through the wrapping that holds the guide to the rod blank. The clear polish also works well on any dings I may have in the rod as well.

By the way, as long as you have that same cloth with WD-40 on it, wipe down your reels. It does a nice job on cleaning.

Speaking of spraying things on, if you’re like me, your line is wound on your reel tightly. At least, it should be. If it stays on all season, like mine, it tends to develop into coils as it comes off the reel.

Instead of laying flat and limp, it has developed “memory.” I hate throwing away line (I’m cheap…uh..er… economic and I have too many reels to replace all that line!) so I use one of several new commercial sprays. When sprayed on the line, they actually tend to relax the line and to a great degree restore the suppleness of older line.

Jonathan Roldan is the Baja Editor and his column appears every other week. He can be reached in La Paz at: riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com

PHOTO 1: It wasn’t what you would call incredible fishing this past week, mostly because of less-than-stellar fishing conditions, but it got better as the week continued. Surprisingly, there’s still dorado swimming around like these two held by our amigos Rob and Jodi McClean even though we’re in the dead of winter! We even had some biters right in La Paz Bay!

PHOTO 2: No, we didn’t catch this brute of a black seabass here in La Paz, but rather this big boy was taken by commercial fishermen on the Pacific side of northern Baja about 2 weeks ago. Unlike in the states, it is legal to take blackseabass. Hate to see this, but I”m sure this was a big payday for some lucky commercial guy who eeks out a living and I’m sure every bit of this fish got eaten or used. This is an ancient fish and hopefully, it had lots of years of breeding. In the states, black seabass must be released.

VIDEO 1:

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

We know alot of our amigos back in the states are having some weird and horrendous weather. We’ve been travelling across the U.S. all during January with our booth doing all the hunting and fishing shows in Denver, San Francisco, Sacramento and most recently in Puyallup, Washington (near Seattle/Tacoma). It’s been great, but this week, we’re back here in La Paz. We had not seen sunshine in more than a month and some of our friends and clients on the trade show “tour” asked me to post up some sunshine in the weekly fishing report. I took this Saturday morning, Feb. 6th, on the waterfront downtown.

VIDEO 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMWu3pAXlAs

We’re coming to Portland, Oregon this week! After 4 shows we finally come to visit our amigos in Portland. It’s one of the best shows of the tour and we’re looknig forward to seeing alot of you. The show will be from Wednesday to Sunday Feb 10-14 at the Portland Expo Center! It’s always packed. Come say hi. This video is some of the aisle action from the Denver ISE show where it was 10 degrees below zero outside! That’s Jill you see talking in the booth.

THE EARLY WEEK IS DIMINISHED BY WINDS AND EVEN SOME RAIN BUT IMPROVES LATER IN WEEK

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Feb. 6-13, 2010

It was a bit of an off-week here in La Paz. Earlier in the week it was literally a sierra “rodeo” with all the inshore fun you might want with unlimited sierra biters pretty much at any of the usual spots along the beaches where shallow waters tapered to deeper waters. It seemed like the schools were really concentrated. Normally, you might get a handful at any stop and have a good day, but this week, it was almost one-stop shopping. If you’ve ever been in a bonito or mackerel bite, that’s what it was like. Any shiny lure slow trolled or any piece of bait in the water got hit. I had one client catch and release almost 40 fish on day and he said he lost count of all the sierra he lost that bit through the leader. Even with wire, he said sometimes they bit higher than the wire and nipped the mono. He had a blast. Another client who was flyfishing, didn’t bring wire, but still managed half-a-dozen on a 6 wt rod and lost a ton more, but said, “Having never fought a fish that had REAL TEETH and power, it was the most fun” he’d ever had on a flyrod. As well, there were a few roosters and jacks also caught inshore.

Not much else worth mentioning except a few stray small dorado. However, like I keep saying strange thinks keep happening. One of our local amigos took his boat out just to cruise around La Paz Bay for 30 minutes with visiting family. He ran into a feeding school of dorado. He managed to get two on the flyrod right off the shore!

As the week went on, waters got choppier and things got windy. We even had two days of sporadic rain and showers that periodically and in spots, came down pretty steadily for a few minutes.

OTHER HAPPENINGS IN LA PAZ

Just some bits and pieces of info to pass on.

I went walking downtown. There is now a little Subway Sandwich place now down near where Carlos & Charlie’s used to be. Kinda nice. I also found a cool little place that makes awesome cinnamon buns!

On a sadder note, it looks like the brand new Fiesta Inn at Costa Baja is going to be closing it’s doors. Looks like so many operations, they had financial problems. From what we understand, Costa Baja will be taking over but they are letting all the staff go. Probably they’ll be looking for a new operator. They never really catered to fishermen anyway there so hopefully, the new tenants will be more fishermen-friendly.

CARNIVAL COMING !

We have CARNIVALE (Mardi Gras) starting this week so the town is really gearing up to put on it’s party-face for a whole week. The place rocks. The whole waterfront will be closed down for the revelry. Our Tailhunter Bar just happens to overlook the street and all the parades and booths so folks are reserving tables out front. Great fun.

PORTLAND SPORTSMENS SHOW

Beginning Wednesday, we’ll be at the Northwest Sportsmens Show at the Portland Expo Center from Feb. 10-15. Five full days with great exhibits and, of course…US! Come say hi and check us out for your 2010 La Paz fishing trip too. Things are filling up.

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

PHOTO 1: It all started with an idea, a lime and some good tequila!

INSPIRED BY A WOMAN!

Originally Published the Week of February 3, 2010 in Western Outdoor News

Over the past month, we’ve been travelling around the western U.S. for our annual fishing/hunting shows. First Denver, then San Mateo (near San Francisco), then Sacramento and now I’m writing this from Puyallup, Washington near Tacoma. Through it all, I think we’ve been in some of the craziest, coldest, wettest weather I’ve ever seen!

Often, we stand shivering in our booth in front of huge pictures of the fish caught in our tropical Baja waters of La Paz. Pictures of guys in shorts and t-shirts holding huge dorado. Ladies in bikinis fighting marlin and tuna. Sunshine. Sunshine. Sunshine.

And the folks we chat with, we see them bundled up in layers of flannel, down, polyfil and fleece, anxious as get-out after, in some cases almost 2 months of cold and wet, to jet as far away to sunny climes as they can.

My comment to one person, “Come to Baja because the only snow you see will be in your margarita glass!” prompted some comments about margaritas among a few Baja old-timers. One gent claimed to have been around in Tijuana where the first margarita was supposedly invented. Another said they were an American concoction from Los Angeles. The guy in the booth next to us (from Alaska) was eavesdropping and said margaritas were first stirred up in Galveston, Texas.

The lively debate about the enduringly frosty beverage, made of a combination of tequila, triple sec and fresh lime juice, has become a Mexican icon. But, no doubt in many respects, it has become synonymous with Baja, fishing, and Baja fishermen.

Here then, is what I found when I checked out Wikipedia and a few other sources:

1. In 1934 Rio Grande Valley in Mexico, a senorita named Margherite Hemery was a friend of the owner of the “Dos Republicas” Restaurant in Metamoros Barman “Willie” invented the drink for the owners.

2. In 1936, Danny and David Negrete owned a bar in the Garci Crispo Hotel, Mexico. As a wedding gift, Danny gave David a drink of equal parts lime juice, triple sec and tequila with hand-crushed ice. Rumor has it that the infamous “chicken dance” was co-incidentally also started at the wedding after the 3rd round of wedding drinks.

3. In 1938, famous Ensenada bartender Danny Herrera worked at the Riviera del Pacifico Hotel and Casino. Infatuated with American actress Marjorie King, the canintero wanted to woo her. Marjorie was strange. She enjoyed drinking, but the ONLY alcohol her body could tolerate was tequila, but she hated drinking it straight up. Danny whipped up the famous drink just for her. No word as to whether Danny eventually got lucky with Marjorie. “But it doesn’t taste like tequila, Danny!” “It’s not supposed to, senorita.” (he says with a wink and a leering smile!) “Andale! I”ll make you another!”

4. Enrique Gutierrez in the early 1940’s in the heyday of Tijuana was also another infatuated barman. Margarita Cansino was a pretty teenage dancer in Tijuana at the Foreign Club. Enrique devised the drink as homage to Margarita. Americans know Margarita well. She came to the U.S. and became actress Rita Hayworth!

5. Pancho Morales in 1942 worked at a bar called Tommy’s Place in Juarez City. A woman patron ordered a Magnolia which is a drink made with brandy, cointreau, egg yold and champagne (yuk!). In what is often customary in Mexico, rather than say he didn’t know how to make it, he came up with a fuzzy alternative that wasn’t even close! (just like my contractors who worked on my building in La Paz) The new drink was an instant hit.

6. Barman Santos Cruz in 1948 worked at the infamous Balinese Room in Galveston Texas. He created the margarita for famous singer and Peggy “Margaret” Lee. The Balinise room was quite the hot spot and famous for having great food, entertainment, music, a casino and even..air-conditioning! The Texas Rangers shut it down in 1957.

7. Margaret “Margarita” Sames was a wealthy Dallas socialite 1948. She claims to have invented the frosty citrus drink and also the first to rim the glass with salt noting that Americans liked to lick salt before shooting tequila. She had alot of time on her hands.

She was given to lavish entertaining and strove to concoct a tequila drink for her guests that was refreshing and could be downed before lunch “because you can only drink so many beers and margaritas and screwdrivers or whatever…”

Early attempts by Sames were not immediately successful. “I was pushed into the swimming pool many times because some of those drinks were so bad.”

She finally got it right. Party guests included John Wayne, Lana Turner, the Nick Hilton, Hotel Bel-Air owner Joseph Drown; Tail ‘o’ the Cock owner Shelton Henry and other world travelers who brought the drink to their own establishments.

And an immortal drink was born…somewhere…pass the chips and salsa…

Jonathan Roldan is the Baja Editor of Western Outdoor News and his column appears every other week. He can be reached in La Paz at: riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com

PHOTO 1: Inshore fishing right now can be outstanding. Even on days when it’s windy, there’s usually no shortage of fish willing to chew in the rocky areas and reefs like this nice pargo mulatto (barred pargo). Tough fighters…great on the dinner plate! This was taken just off Punta Perrico.

PHOTO 2: I don’t know if it’s El Nino, but yes, we’re still getting exotic roosterfish like this one around the beach areas. No big ones lately, but this fun size school fish rooster is alot of fun on light tackle. You can catch dozens of these some days if you hit the right school. Note how close to the beach this is.

PHOTO 1: Unlike so many places right now, it’s not freezing/ snowing/ raining in La Paz! Temperatures this past week ran into the high 70’s and even low 80’s. It’s more like spring-conditions rather than winter! This sunset photo was taken from town looking across the Bay to the Mogote Peninsula.

PHOTO 2: It’s not as serious as I look, but at the recent series of Sportsmen’s Shows, I was chosen to participate with a panel of “experts” to answer questions about fishing in Baja. I guess I had folks fooled as I tried to live up to the billing but I’m flanked by two great pros…on the left, you can barely see John Donovan, owner of Redrum Sportfishing in Cabo San Lucas and to the right is Felipe Valez from the famous Valdez family that has run the Spa Buenavista / Buenavista Beach Resort for so many years. Felipe is on the microphone.

Tailhunter’s next stop on the fishing/hunting outdoor trade show circuit will be Puyallup, Washington south of Seattle. The show starts Wednesday and goes to Sunday.

PHOTO 3: A school-sized roosterfish off Muertos Bay is pulled near the boat before it gets released. The fish in the 5-15 pound class are mixing it up on the shallows right now along with sierra and jack crevalle. Great light tackle and flyfishing opportunities!

MIXED SPECIES AVAILABLE FOR SURPRISINGLY GOOD WINTER FISHING

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of January 17-24, 2009

Not many fishermen right now. Weather has been great. High 70’s in the day and relatively calm for this time of year as far as the wind is concerned.

Still lots of sierra inshore even in the bay but pretty much anywhere there’s a shallow place with a nice drop off, slow trolling the area with some live bait or a shiny lure produces strikes. We had a few roosters here and there and there could be more, but no one was really targeting them this week. It’s hard to get a good gauge of the fishing when there aren’t that many folks on the water.

For all we know offshore, there could be monster tuna or giant marlin prowling…that’s not likely in January, but who knows? Everyone we had this week wanted to check out the inshore fishing and that’s always good right now. As well as the sierra, cabrilla and snapper were also caught and a few nice pargo got broken off in the rocks.

NEXT STOP WASHINGTON

For any of you who came to see us this past week at the Sacramento CA International Sportsmans Expo at the California State Fairgrounds, it was great to see you. The show was incredible. I think most would say it was one of the best and busiests shows in recent years! It as off-the-charts and we were talking and handing out brochures from our booth as fast as folks could ask for them! We almost ran out.

By the time you’re reading this, we’ll either be on the road or set up in our booth in Puyallup, Washington which is just south of Seattle. The show starts Wednesday and goes to Sunday. Hope to see you this week!

By the way, you can follow all of our reports and travels on Facebook now as well as the Tailhunter Bar. Check it out.

That’s our story!

Joanthan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”

PHOTO 1: Bay area resident Kwame Satterfield shows off the type of wahoo beasts that are still prowling south fo Cerralvo Island. Slow trolling dark crank baits like Rapalas and Yo-Zuris are
the ticket.

PHOTO 2: No, this isn’t Baja, but Tailhunter has been travelling the western U.S. on it’s 2010 trade show tour. We drove to the ISE show in Denver and encountered temperatures as low as 20 below zero. Driving from Denver to the ISE show this past week in San Mateo, near San Francisco, we hit snow and rain coming over the Donner Pass in the Sierras from Reno, Nevada. Tihs week we drive to the California State Fairgrounds for the Sacramento ISE show from Thursday to Sunday. We’re expecting…MORE RAIN! Anyway, come by the booth if you’re in the area and get a new brochure and DVD and book your La Paz fishing trip for 2010!

PHOTO 3: I just had to post up this photos from Rawlins, Wyoming where we stopped for gas on our way from Denver to San Mateo. Cheapest gas so far on the tour. Note the snow. The subzero weather followed us. It was five below zero that morning.

STEADY FISHING AND GOOD CONDITIONS THIS PAST WEEK OF A NICE VARIETY OF FISH!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of January 10-17, 2010

Not many anglers out right now but conditions all week were good although it’s certainly cooler with air temperatures in the mid-70’s and at night, we think it’s chilly in the upper 40’s. I guess compared to the rest of the country, we’re in a “hot zone!”

Most of our anglers this week wanted to fish inshore and did well on cabrilla up to 5 pounds although there were many “shorts” in the 1-2 pound range that were mostly released. Some pargo were hooked that might have gone 10-15 pounds, but, like most tangles with these toothy guys, the fish went straight to the rocks and most were “unintentionally” released when lines broke and frayed. Still, lots of fun. The sierra, as usual took up the slack and limits of these fish for anglers fishing both Las Arenas and La Paz were not uncommon. In fact, you could stay in La Paz Bay all day and hook sierra or catch a mess and be back by breakfast at your hotel! A few roosters and jacks were also hooked. Largest rooster went about 20 pounds. I don’t know if these fish are the tail-end of last season that never really ended or the beginning of THIS season which is an early start, but no one is complaining!

It’s surprising that at this time of the year, we’re still seeing pelgagic blue water species in our area. We’re still getting the occasional dorado, wahoo..and yes…even marlin. The fish aren’t far offshore either. We try not to build up anyone’s expectations when they come down this time of the year since it’s winter and these species aren’t common at this time of the year. However, when our anglers go out expecting to catch some seabass or sierra and come back with half the boat box stuffed with dorado or they tell me they hooked a wahoo or tuna…that’s bonus and frosting on the cake! I just have to think that there’s still some fingers of warm water in the area. Certainly, the fact that there’s good stocks of sardines all over doesn’t hurt!

TAILHUNTER ROLLS INTO SACRAMENTO THIS WEEK

At the time you’re reading this, we’ll have torn down our booth at the San Mateo Expo Center and will be rolling towards Sacramento. We’ll be at the California State Fairgrounds for the International Sportsmens Expo that starts Thursday and goes to Sunday. Hope to see you!

That’s our story!
Jonathan and Jill

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: http://www.tailhunter-international.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Drive, Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico
Phones:
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863
.

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:
http://www.tailhunter-international.com/fishreport.htm

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“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.”