That's My Story

PHOTO 1: Marissa Rendall from Hermosa Beach CA shows off the two main fish we caught all week…dorado and yellowfin tuna. This was Marissa’s first time fishing and she enjoyed the tuna sashime we made for her at the Tailhunter Bar that evening. She was fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Capt. Pancho.

PHOTO 2: The ladies and especially folks from Utah have been well-represented all month. Another first timer, Trudy Grove from the Salt Lake City area, grimaces a bit, but she put this tuna as well as dorado into their box after a few days fishing with both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets. The yellowfin tuna were generally within about 200 yards from shore right out from the old Hotel Las Arenas. Baits were small, but it’s exactly what the tuna wanted.

PHOTO 3: Our amigo, Jeff Johnson, yearly escapes the chillier landscapes of his home in Idaho to visit us and put on a pair or shorts. Standing with Captain Victor he posted up a full day of yellowfin tuna limits to fill an ice chest to take home.

PHOTO 4: Matt Hartsook took a break from his 3rd year in law school in Arizona to finally make it down here to La Paz. Fishing 3 days, Matt, his dad, uncle, cousins and friends did some damage to the dorado schools, especially fishing with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet.

PHOTO 5: Like I said, Utah in the house! Well-represented lately with alot of great folks from Utah coming down. John Terbu brought his family for the first time and poses with a nice bull dorado with the south end of Cerralvo Island in the background.

PHOTO 6: Dave Deiter and Zach Smith, both from San Diego, came in for a little scuba diving and fishing. They did one day with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and show off some nice football-sized tuna and a dorado that came to chew.

PHOTO 8: Shane Grove caught much larger fish while he was here last week, but this is just such a cool photo of a little roosterfish taken on light tackle fly rod with the fly still hanging from the lip. Notice how close to shore he is. The rooster and all others were released. They had a bang up day inshore with the flyrods.

TUNA AND DORADO BITE DESPITE TROPICAL WINDS AND RAIN ALL WEEK

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the Week of Sept 27 to Oct. 3, 2009

Hot humid and cloudy here in La Paz with occasional spats of thundershowers cooling us off as well as choppy waters and some real blustery winds at times , but the tuna bite at Las Arenas has been great fun for the better part of the week. It’s almost been like stop-and-go shopping. We depart our pangas near the lighthouse; turn south about 300 yards to get bait; go another 300 yards down the beach and the tuna are right there in front of the old Hotel Las Arenas!

The morning bite has produced 15-30 pound fish most of the week with limits or near limits but for a pesky sealion that comes and goes with the bite. The fish are eating mostly live sardines that are really on the small side requiring smallish #1 live bait hooks or we’re using lots of dead sardines littering the water in the drift.

In that same area, dorado will come shooting through adding some variety to the catch. No wahoo to speak of, but marlin and sails have been hooked and either lost or released.

We haven’t been fishing too much on the La Paz side the past week because of strong winds, but by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be back on the spots hopefully on top of the dorado schools. Late in the week, we had some boats out and all of them got limits or near limits of dorado, but reported choppy seas and “We got wet!” However, as one of our anglers said, “It was great! The rain cooled us off and it seemed that when the rain would fall the dorado would go nuts!” According to them, it would rain, then the sun would come blazing out, then rain again later, but most of their fish were caught when it was raining so they had a blast!

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: Fishing in the fall can lend itself to alot of variety with inshore fishing. Offshore fishing can be even more spectacular!

THE UNEXPECTED FALL

Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the Week of Oct. 6, 2009

I’m sitting here looking at some of the gloomiest Baja weather I’ve seen in a long time. Short of a hurricane coming in, this reminds me of summer days in Southern California when the marine layer just hangs over the beaches. Supposedly sunny beach days like the type you see in all the Chamber of Commerce ads are just dreary grey. The water and sky are the same color that you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.

And that seems to be the gist of weather this fall here in Baja. Weather patterns are all askew. Bright sunshine one day and rainy tropical day the next. Calm waters one day then furious winds from all directions the next. Incredible humidity and no sun is interrupted later in the week with freaky thundershowers.

I think, so far, this has been the oddest fall in my 15 years down here in Baja.

From our own experiences as well as communicating with other operators and friends in Baja, the fishing appears to have reflected that as well. I think the word is “streaky.”

Normally, the fall is some of the best time to be in Baja. Balmy weather and afternoon breezes are the norm. Humidity is down. Storms season, at least by October, is largely past. It’s cooler than the summer, but the ocean can be bath-water warm and clear scuba-diver clear!

Likewise, it’s prime-time fishing as well. There’s a reason that so many of the major fishing tournaments take place in the fall. It’s probably the most popular time for fishing as well. Not vacationing. Fishing!

The big blue and black marlin kings prowl the waters during this time. The fat growler tuna come up from the deep canyons. Schools of dorado forage voraciously. Wahoo roll onto the high spots with trophy roosterfish marauding along the white sand beaches.

This year, it seems things are topsy-turvy. Billfish can be hit-or-miss. They are on fire one week then AWOL the next week with seemingly no change in conditions. Same for the dorado and tuna. They crash for several days then disappear to who-knows-where or go completely lockjaw ignoring baits tossed right in front of them. A wide-open wahoo bite one day turns into the desert the next day? Where’d they all go?

Roosterfish that were terrorizing the baitfish along the beaches suddenly turn to…sierra? Wait a minute. Sierra normally don’t show up until the cold waters of winter roll into the Sea of Cortez. What are sierra doing here? So are pargo and cabrilla which are normally taken in cooler waters.

Go figure. That’s the Baja and, although you may not get the weather or the species you had anticipated, it’s part of the adventure.

It’s unpredictability, especially this season is also part of the attraction. So, the marlin doesn’t hit your trolled feather, you may end up with the largest dorado you’ve ever taken. The roosters are gone, but you had never gotten 20 sierra in a day on light tackle either. Those high spots that usually hold the wahoo, might just produce a big fat 80 pound amberjack or dog tooth snapper instead. That’s what makes it fun.

And the weather, just roll with it also.

If it’s windy, adjust. Another good reason for the windbreaker. If it’s too rough outside, fish inshore. Or, know that this is a transitional time as we approach the winter months. The winds will blow a day or two then diminish for a few days.

I always bring a light windbreaker any time I am on the ocean anyway. Bring one down now. It’s light and doesn’t take much room. Or, in a pinch, grab a plastic trash bag and cut out a hole for your head and two for your arms. You’re covered if it rains. You’re good to go!

It usually doesn’t rain long anyway. You can often see storms coming if you’re on the water and literally watch columns of dark water coming from the approaching clouds. Of course, don’t take chances if it’s a serious storm.

But, if it’s just a little tropical blow, sometimes it is so distinct, you can actually drive around it. Rain will fall in one spot but 10 yards away, not a drop! Or, you get wet for 10 minutes…enough to wash the sweat and sunscreen off of you and blood off your arms, then the sun comes blazing again.

The unexpected is part of the Baja adventure!

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: Megan Premoe from Washington State was on her first ocean-fishing trip as well as her first trip to La Paz. She made no bones about telling folks she was going ot catch the largest fish! Well, take a look at this estimated 60-pound toad yellowfin tuna. Not only did she catch this fish, but she pulled it in herself even though the fish was TAIL-WRAPPED making it almost impossible to turn and double-hard to bring in! She got this fish on live bait at the north end of Cerralvos Island.

PHOTO 2: Captain Adolfo (“Yofo”) poses with San Diegans Steve Vargo and Robert Thoma and 6 of their yellowfin tuna. The guys came back to the beach at 10:30 a.m. I thought something was wrong, but they told me, “Hey…we’re just tired! My arm is tired! This is plenty of fish!” Good reason. The fish ranged from 15-20 pounds and popped up just off the beach between the old Hotel Las Arenas and the Arenas lighthouse.

PHOTO 3: He’s become one of our poster-guys. This our amigo, Don Melucci and Tony Gabriola who got into the tuna and broke off a few as well using light tackle. These were nice fat fish in the 20-pound class and eat the smaller sardine baits.

PHOTO 4: The catch…a nice rooster caught by Terry Biggs this week…that’s one good part. (see below)

PHOTO 5: The best part…THE RELEASE! Captain Jorge releases Terry’s roosterfish to fight another day. Bravo to all.

PHOTO 6: Dorado are still the mainstay for our La Paz fleet. The fish are holding in several areas and these nice fish are typical of those held by Richard Keogh and Jim Davis from Northern Cal. Live bait and stripped pieces of bonito work best.

PHOTO 7: It’s only October, but we got ALOT of sierra this week. Normally, these are cold water fish that show up around November or December and hang out during the winter. However, there were a few days when you could catch as many as you wanted. These are great eating fish and fantastic on light tackle. If you wanted to go no further than stay in La Paz Bay all day, you could nail limits of sierra in short order. Jim Davis holds a pair.

TUNA AND DORADO MIX-IT-UP FOR SOME STEADY FISHING

La Paz/ Las ARenas Fishing Report for the Week of September 20-27, 2009

Overall, a pretty solid week of fishing here highlighted by the re-appearance of schools of 15-30 pound tuna right off the the beach near Las Arenas, near the old hotel as well as in front of Muertos Bay. Another school of larger fish in the 30-60 pound class showed up and busted up the anglers at the north end of Cerralvo Island. It made for some good catches.

However, the mainstay fish continued to be dorado. There were small fish in the 10 pound class, but some nicer 20-30 pound models with sprinklings of thelarger 30-40 pound bulls. The dorado were scattered in numerous spots all the way south from Punta Pescadero to the north end of Espiritu Santo Island. No one particular place seemed to be the hot spot. You could encounter dorado pretty much anywhere. Sometimes you would dink and scratch for a few fish here and there or you could blank all day then at the 11th hour run into a nice school willing to go on the wild chew and all hell would bust loose!

A few billfish were hooked and either released or lost. No wahoo to speak of. However, late-season roosterfish and pargo are still in the shallows with some of the roosters bring trophy-class 50-90 pound fish. Squid pop up for a day then disappear. No real trend to speak of with the big squirters. Everyone is getting fish is the bottom line. Even for the light tackle guys…small roosters, jacks, sierra, pompano and snapper can keep you busy all day long!

AUCTION FOR JACK VELEZ

We wanted to thank all of you who reached out and bid for the two custom rods that were being auctioned off for the family of Jack Velez.

The Whopper Stopper Mini rod went to Art Savedra of Las Vegas for $300.

The Seeker bait stick was won by Richard Winslow for $275.

You guys who kept up the lively bidding are awesome. Ed Robison of Whopper Stopper Rods http://whopperstoppers.976-tuna.com/

and Vic Ochoa who wrapped the Seeker blank, you also rock. Thanks, amigos!

In fact, just to bring you up-to-date, money for the family continues to trickle in. In a few weeks, the season will slow down and we plan to have a memorial dinner for Jack and will surprise the family with a check as well as a card with everyone’s names who donated. You’re the best! Mil gracias por todo!

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: THIS IS THE KIND WE’VE BEEN WAITING FOR! Bigger yellowfin tuna popped up at the north end of Cerralvo Island this week that bent rods, back and stamina! Brian O’Neill took down this 60 pound class toad yellowfin tuna fishing with Captain Adolfo and our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet . It was a long run to the north island, but it paid off in some of the largest tuna of the year.

PHOTO 2: What a week for Leif Dover who rolled in all the way from Atlanta GA . He booked 6 straight days of hardcore fishing just to catch a single roosterfish. He got a 35, 45, 50 and this fish estimated at 80-85 pounds. All the fish were released. He also go tuna and dorado on the week as well. The big roosters bit live ladyfish trolled behind the boat.

PHOTO 2: The man behind the fish is first-timer, Brian Meier, from Oregon hit this big boy on his first day fishing out of Las Arenas with Captain Adolfo. Estimated at more than 65 pounds (by the captain), it was caught off the Las Arenas lighthouse area and was released after the photo. It was a good week for the big roosters and most of them were caught fishing with our Captain Adolfo (Yofo).

PHOTO 3: Ladies Day! On the beach is Jillene Roldan of La Paz (tuna) , (Mom) Janille Todd from Spring Valley CA celebrating her birthday in La Paz (dorado): Captain Jorge holding jack crevalle; and “Lucky” (Auntie) Maryann Hendren from San Diego (tuna). There was a nice mix of fish out’ve Las Arenas all week.

PHOTO 4: Nice sized football tuna held up by John Brown from Eugene OR and Ray Miklich from Pueblo CO, holds a dorado. Most anglers this week took home a nice mixture of tuna and dorado. Most of the tuna were caught with our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet.

PHOTO 5: Quentin Abramo and Mike Koontz were on their first trip to La Paz this past week and hold up a few of the yellowfin tuna that poked up off Cerralvo Island a a few other spots this week.

PHOTO 6: Never too late to start! This is Frank Burgess from Kansas City. First time ever on the ocean. He showed ’em how it’s done and ran circles ar0und some of the other anglers here holding up just one of his fish. Frank came with his son Allen Burgess, who is one of our regulars. They fished 5 straight days and Frank just keep rolling…never getting tired!

PHOTO 7: Just an incredible shot of a marlin. This is John Chase’s striped marlin just after being hooked south of Muertos Bay. You won’t get many special shots like this with full action!

PHOTO 8: Charlie Gibson is actually really happy to have cuaght his nice female dorado fishing with Captain Chito and our La Paz fleet north of La Paz. The dorado fishing got better as the week went on. Stripped pieces of dead fresh bonito worked best to get the fish to charge the pangas.

PHOTO 9 : In this job one of the best things is that we get all kinds of folks. It’s what makes it fun. Jess Franco never has a dull moment. He came in with a big group of retired firefighters this past week and came down to the pool at La Concha Beach Resort wearing a bikini top. He proceeded to walk around the pool sending mothers and small children scurrying away!

PHOTO 10: Steve Linenberger retired from years working for CBS Sports and loves Harley’s and fishing. He got into our nice tuna bite earlier in the week. He holds a couple he nailed off Las Arenas near the old hotel.

GOOD WEEK OF FISHING HIGHLIGHTED BY 60-POUND TUNA and BIG ROOSTERFISH

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Sept. 13-20, 2009

It looks like we’re finally back on track. Steady to good fishing for our La Paz fleet for dorado ranging in size from 5-40 pound fish.

The schools are scattered north of the city all the way from Las Cruces to the gap between the islands then on the west side of Espiritu Santo near Isla Ballena across the bay all the way over to San Juan de la Costa in front of the mining town. Quite a few smaller fish, but cruiser bulls seemed to join the party as the week went on. The better fishing came on our pangas that were able to get big bonito in the morning and use the carcasses or strips of bonito to chum up the schools to the boat or entice a bite on the troll then get the fish to bite on flylined sardines. Not a bad idea, if you’re coming down to bring some hoochies to small tuna feathers to catch bonito. The faster you get your bonito, the faster to the fishing grounds.

The big news for our Las Arenas fleet was the appearance of larger tuna. Over the course of the week, 10-15 pound footballs had teased the fleet with our pangas getting 2-5 fish each from various spots around Espiritu Santo Island mixed in with some dorado, pargo and cabrilla as well as sierra. Late in the week, 30-60 pound fish showed up at Northern Cerralvo that really tore into the anglers. These were bigger grumpier fish and fishermen had their hands full and rods bent! Only problem is that it’s a long boat ride from Las Arenas Beach all the way up along the side of the island to get the fish, but no one complained once they came back with those big fillets!

By the way, waters must be getting cooler! We’re getting alot of sierra all of a sudden. Normally, we run into sierra when the waters are cooler and generally not until November so, but some boats ran smack into schools of these toothy guys.

As a side note…roosterfish are still here, over 6 days of fishing, Leif Dover and Brian O’Neill specifically came to chase roosters. They posted smaller fish, but tallied an 85 pound beast as well as a 35, 45m 59 abd 65- pound fish that were all released.

FACEBOOK

Last week, I told you that I started posting up daily reports on FACEBOOK under my name, JONATHAN ROLDAN. However, I didn’t know that we already had an account under TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL. So, if you’d like to check out DAILY reports, get on as a fan of TAILHUNTER INTERNATIONAL on FACEBOOK. Over the past two weeks, I”ve posted photos and items about the fishing and our Tailhunter Bar that may not necessarily make it onto the weekly fishing report.

JACK VELEZ FUND

At this time, we have bids on the two custom rods offered to raise funds for the family of Jack Velez. On the mini-Whopper Stopper rods, we have a current bid of $140. On the Seeker bait stick, we have a current bid of $70. If you’re interested, we’ll hold the auction open for one more week. Just send me an e-mail to riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com

Have a great week!

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: Al Burgess from Kansas City brought his 79-year-young dad, Frank to fish. It was Frank’s first time fishing in the ocean.

THROUGH A CHILD’S EYES AGAIN

Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the Week of Sept. 22, 2009

It’s amazing how your perspective can change when you see something through someone else’s eyes. The ho-hum of commonality takes new life when the kaleidoscope of life displays an entirely new set of colors when turned and seen from another angle.

It’s like taking a youngster to Disneyland for the first time. You may have walked through the gates of Snow White’s castle ad nauseum or ridden the (yawn) spinning tea cups (real nausea) a zillion times. But when you go for that very FIRST time with a kid, their enthusiasm vicariously rubs off on you. The little 10 year-old-in each of us comes out.

You may remember your first fishing trip like that. Maybe it was a trout trip or your first overnight tuna trip or even your first Baja trip when you were younger or “back in the day.” Wow.

You remember the excitement and anticipation. You couldn’t sleep. Your own dad or parents or perhaps an uncle did their best to keep up with you. It was pretty special.

Later, you got older and perhaps took your own youngster or other youngsters out for that very first time and made it a “Kodak moment” for them as well. Perhaps just another fishing trip for you, but for that youngster, just maybe you lit a spark they’ll carry their entire lives. And the circle continues!

I’ve been running this fishing operation down here in Baja now for well…a long time! I am getting long-of-tooth and grey-of-beard.

Many of my friends and fishing clients are also getting older with me also. Years ago, I saw them bring their own kids down here to Baja. I’ve been privileged to witness the “light” that comes on when kids catch that first tuna or dorado or scuba dive for the first time. I’ve been honored that they’ve shared that special family time with us down here.

But kids get older. They move onto their own lives. They go away to school. Have their own careers. Start their own families. They don’t come down so much anymore with their parents.

But, the circle of life takes another twist of the kaleidoscope. Now many of our guests are bringing their own parents down. Maybe they always were and I just never noticed.

And we get to see this great Baja experience through another set of eyes!

Allen from Kansas brings his 79-year-old dad, Frank, to see us. Kansas is a bit of a trek from the “big pond” and Frank has never seen, let alone fished in the ocean! Frank catches his first dorado and he’s as excited as that 10-year-old in Disneyland. And he can’t stop grinning.

And I step back and watch Allen glow. I see his eyes and how he looks at his dad. I see him help his dad carry the rods and schlep the tackle box. I see him put his arm around Frank’s shoulders. He knows what these moments mean. They both know. Each is special and precious.

Then there’s Mark, a big strapping San Francisco police officer. When he comes with his buddies, he’s a competitor. Arms like a python, he played college ball. He catches the most and the biggest. He is the alpha dog.

Today, I see him set the hook on a dorado and immediately hand the rod to his 80-year-old dad, Jerry. Jerry doesn’t move fast anymore. But Mark gently, puts the straining rod in Jerry’s hand and makes sure the rod belt is secure.

“Ooooo-ooooo-ooo…!” laughs Jerry as the dorado goes into a screaming leap!

“Easy, Papa! Easy, Papa! “grins Mark. “Just turn the handle and let him run when he wantsm ” he coaches.

He laughingly hooks one meaty forefinger through his dad’s beltloop from behind to steady the older man. “Can’t let the big fish pull Pop outta the boat!” he winks at me.

Two generations bond again.

Janille and Maryann are in their 70’s. Just back from their first experience in the middle of a wide-open dorado bite Hand gestures fly and fingers punctuate the air as fast as words and they re-enact the battle simulating fighting the beasts! And they’re so excited they’re finishing each other’s sentences.

“And then one rod went zing and…”
“This golden blue fish jumps out of the water and as I’m grabbing the rod…”
“Another fish takes another lines and we are…”
“Falling all over each other because…”
“And then and captain throws another bait so we have..”
“Three rods all going at the same time and there are fish all over the place and…”

And then …and then ..and then.. !

To anyone who will listen they literally bubble like two young girls just back from the carnival. They call friends and family on their cell phones. At the restaurant, they tell it again. And anyone who hears can’t help but laugh and smile right along and be pulled into their wonderful adventure. Tell it again! Please!

And the kaleidoscope turns once more. We are privileged to see through the eyes of a child again. But this time, the children are our parents and we re-discover right along with them. We are reminded that it’s not just another fishing trip.

And as the circle goes unbroken, we know these are special moments to savor and cherish.

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: Arizona resident, John Chase, came down to dive and fish with us and put this pretty bull dorado in the panga fishing with Captain Pancho and our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. Great colors and a great photo. Dorado were on-again-off-again, but some spots produced limits or near limits. It changed from day-to-day.

PHOTO 2: Just another fantastic dorado photo that really shows out the colors of one of the prettiest fish in the water. Paul Mohklenbuhr is a retired firefighter from the Sacramento CA area and he put the hurt on this nice bull dorado fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet and Captain Jorge.

PHOTO 3: Yes…we got some tuna this week. Early in the week, Dave Bean got one of the teaser football tuna that kept popping up and then disappearing while fishing south of Cerralvo Island. There were some larger 40-50 pound fish lost. Late in the week, some 30 pounders showed up schooling and got everyone excited. Maybe by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be going full turbo on the nicer grade of fish. That’s Todd Rudaitis with his back to the camera on another fish!

PHOTO 4: Might be one of the larger dorado of the week when big fish weren’t real common so you’d think Aaron Hamilton would be smiling. But, he said it was hard to hold up! Normally, Aaron goes after his game and fish with a bow since he works for Martin Archery. He caught this nice bull north of La Paz with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet and Captain Raul.

PHOTO 5: This is our gal, Jessie Pfost, who just moved to Las Vegas after just graduating from college. She came down and spent a week with us putting up not only with her two parents, but hurricane Jimena as well that put a damper on her vacation. However, once the sun came out, things got better. She got this bull dorado off Punta Coyote and then came back and her boyfriend, Brian Reid, proposed to her! She got a ring and everything! Congratulations, Jessie!

PHOTO 6: Ed Janas spent years coming down to Baja trying to catch “just one roosterfish” unsuccessfully. We sent him to the east side of Cerralvo Island where he slammed and released over a dozen roosters as well as dorado, pargo and other species all on light tackle! Notice how close they are to the island. All the fish were caught on live bait and released…except the dorado…which they brought back to the Tailhunter Bar for dinner!

PHOTO 7: Here’s another one of Dave Bean with a dorado he hung just south of Muertos Bay where he and Todd Rudaitis (battling his own fish) got limits earlier in the week.

PHOTO 8 : Sarah Hamilton from Washington State wanted us to adopt her. She didn’t want to leave after spending 3 days fishing and 2 days finishing up her open water PADI dive certification. We sure enjoyed her and her husband, Aaron. Sarah was a gamer…she could fish and dive all day and loved the Tailhunter mai tais at night. She loves the outdoors and is an accomplished bow hunter.

PHOTO 9 : Still swinging it’s tail, this big bull dorado wants to smack Pete Hansen from the San Francisco Bay area. Pete was fishing north of La Paz and got this fish on live bait. Best bait all week for the larger fish were strips of dead bonito trolled behind the boat to get the fish near then dropping a live sardine back onto them.

PHOTO 10: When Pete Hansen told me he was coming down with Sam Hansen, I figured he was bringing his son or his brother. It was his lovely wife “SAMANTHA.” Fishing with Captain Joel, she shows off one of her dorado she just gaffed.

FISHING ALL OVER THE PLACE FROM SLOW TO EXCELLENT AS AREA RECOVERS FROM STORM BUT EVERYONE GETTING FISH!

La Paz / Las ARenas Fishing Report for week of Sept. 6-12, 2009

A bit of a mixed week down here. At first, I thought that the hurricane hadn’t done much to us and on the surface, the waters and conditions seemed amazing. It wasn’t turned over or muddy or full of debris as is normal after a storm. Fish were still around. However, as the week went on, the bite got a little more spotty…a little more scratchy. Everyone got fish. The dorado are still bending the rods, but the fish seemed to move around a lot. They weren’t schooling up like normal. We had to work harder to find them and keep them around. One area could be red-hot on day and stone cold the next without even a bonito around. Like I said, it just meant we had to hunt a little harder. Dorado were the mainstay with fish about 10-20 pounds on the average, but larger fish showing up later in the week in the 30-40 pound class.

We did notice one thing. If you could get bonito early in the morning and use them for strip bait, you had the btter shot at gettting the larger dorado, especially for our La Paz fleet anglers. The dorado wouldn’t necessarily bite the bonito bait, but it would draw them in then you’d feed them back a live sardine and WHAM! By the way, weather is great…mid-90’s but it can be windy and rough in the morning so if you’re coming down, keep that in mind! Some guys got a little queasy.

One FLASH!

We did get a few tuna from our Las Arenas fleet. The fish were 10-15 pounds, but two larger fish estimated at 40-50 pound by our captain were lost. Then, late in the week…we hit a school of 30-40 pound fish that put the hurt on a few guys! (That’s why you come down here, right?). Anyway, hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, we’ll be into a regular tuna bit. I’ll keep you posted.

As well, we had a few marlin and sails come up. No calamari or wahoo to speak of, but we had some anglers who wanted to fish inshore and had an outstanding time on roosterfish, pargo, cabrilla and other rock fish with non-stop action.

NFL and COLLEGE BALL at the TAILHUNTER BAR

Just an FYI that we have NFL! It’s great to finally come into a season and have 7 flat screens carrying all the college and NFL games. Whooo-hoooo!!! After 15 years here to finally be able to watch AMERICAN football and have all our friends and guests and clients over with cold cerveza and good food is incredible for Jill and I.

We had on the USC vs. Ohio State game last night and were packed. Right now as I write this, we’ve got NFL on all the flat screens going and tomorrow night a double-header for Monday Night Football.

Also, we now have Tecate Beer Co. aboard. We’re excited because that brings us Tecate, Dos Equis, Indio and Sol Beer. We’ve been carrying all the Pacifico line…Corona, Corona Light, Pacifico, Pacifico Light, Bud and Bud Light, Estrella, and Modelo Dark and Modelo Light ON TAP in ice mugs!

Oh…and we also started serving breakfast as well and it’s been a big hit. We’ve got the best pancakes and huevos rancheros on the waterfront! And we plan to add chicken wings and sushi rolls to the menu this week too!

FACE BOOK

If you FACEBOOK Jonathan Roldan, I’ve started to be a little better. I’m going to be posting almost daily with little snippets that might not show up in the regular fishing report. All week, I’ve had mini-fishing reports and photos as well as things going on at the TAILHUNTER BAR. If you comment, I probably will not be able to respond to everyone, but will try. Don’t be offended if I don’t! But, I know many of you die-hards like to know almost daily what’s going on so I figured I’d better get better at FACEBOOK.

JACK VELEZ MEMORIAL FUND

Thank you to so many of you who donated to the fund for the family or our friend Jack Velez who passed away earlier this summer. The response has been fantastic. Money is still trickling in and at the end of the season, we plan to do a surprise memorial dinner for Jack for the family and present them with a check and a card with everyone’s names on it.

To that end…we have to great amigos who have donated their services to the cause

1. Ed Robison of Whopper Stopper Rods http://whopperstoppers.976-tuna.com/

and the famous mini-rod, has put one of his custom sticks up for auction. Starting price for the auction is $140.

2. Victor Ochoa, our long-time amigo, has also put up one of his custom sticks. It’s a 7′ Seeker stick double wrapped in blue. Starting bid is $75.

I”ll hold these open for 2 weeks. Write me directly at riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com if you have a bid and which rod you are bidding on. If someone tops your bid, I will write you back. The bidding starts Sunday, Sept. 13. Thanks for all your good thoughts!

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: 044-612-14-1786

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: Here it comes! It’s getting angry out there…Hurricane Jimena starts to roll into Baja.

PHOTO 2: I don’t have photos of La Paz during the hurricane because there was nothing really to take pictures of…moving palm fronds? Puddles of water? This, on the other hand, is Cabo San Lucas which dodged a bullet ,but still got some heavy winds and rains as well as big surf since it faces the open ocean, unlike La Paz.
Thanks to Bil Pulford for the photos.

PHOTO 3: Dave Duenas from Rialto CA took time off from his police work and got in some good fishing for dorado before the storm hit. He got this nice bull fishing north of La Paz with our Tailhunter Fleet.

PHOTO 4: Two of our best amigos who visit us yearly, Steve Huth and Billie Nash from the Glendora area new Los Angeles CA hold up an excellent “variety” of fish they caught earlier in the week fishing with our Tailhunter Las ARenas fleet. Steve holds up a barred pargo and roosterfish (the smaller ones taste pretty good). Billie hangs onto a handful of dorado and a pompano.

PHOTO 5: Sunny Chung from Santa Clarita CA is also a police officer and got into a really nice snap of dorado fishing with our Captain Chito with our La Paz fleet. Before the storm, the dorado bite had just started to pick up.

PHOTO 6: Eileen Dann from Los Angeles got a nice batch of dorado and here holds up a prized barred pargo mulatto.

FISHING INTERRUPTED BY HURRICANE JIMENA ALTHOUGH LA PAZ ESCAPES SERIOUS DAMAGE

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for week of Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, 2009

Not much to show you in the way of fishing this week. We spent most of the week in lockdown as Hurricane Jimena ran towards us with Category 4 written all over it. We taped windows, hoarded water and flashlight batteries and sandbagged our building and got ready to get slammed. And at the last minute it veered north of us and thankfully, hit us with only about 2 ½ days of intermittent rain and some strong winds doing little damage and only localized flooding. I think we dodged a big bullet! But, it also kept us off the water for 3 days.

Prior to the storm, the dorado bite had picked up nicely and I’m anticipating that once the water settles the dorado will come back strong given all the junk that gets washed into the ocean from storms. At the time of writing, we’ve been back on the water for two days and the waters are still a bit turned over and murky. It’s gonna take a bit for it to settle down and clear up because there’s still some residual chop. However, we did find some dorado up to about 20 pounds and normally that gets better assuming no other fronts come through. Looking at the forecasts, it looks like great conditions on tap.

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: Something tells you it’s just NOT going to be a good day to lie on the beach

PHOTO 2: Sometimes all you can do is hunker down and order another round of tacos and margaritas!

PHOTO 3: Sometimes, there’s nothing to do but wait out the storms and make the best of it!

INCONVENIENCED!

Originally published the week of September 7, 2009, in Western Outdoor News

Well, I just “survived” another hurricane down here in Baja. I think between my life spent in Baja and Hawaii, I’ve made it through about 10 “chubascos” now. I don’t want to make light of them or how serious they can honestly be with the destruction they bring. They are dangerous and need to be taken seriously.

But largely, most don’t reach that intensity, they’re incredible to watch and awesome to experience. Check out nature going primeval on us! Given all our technology, you’re pretty much as powerless as the first Neanderthal guy holed up in his cave. Not much you can do.

If you’re prepared. As long as you’re safe. And the folks you know are safe, it’s really an experience. And, you’re not doing anything stupid.

Ahhhh…and that’s where I’ve seen people get hurt here. Like trying to drive their cars across raging arroyos of mud and water. Huge boulders are in the roiling mass. And it’s obviously deep. And they still drive through it. And get stuck. Or worse.

It’s not like Auto Club is gonna save you. It’s the same mentality as people who try to race trains through crossings. Same result.

For most, however, when all is said and done. And all the hand-wringing and worry are behind, most folks will tell you it was an experience. It wasn’t really an emergency. It was just one big freaking-INCONVENIENCE.

So, you lost a few days of fishing. So the SCUBA boat had to cancel. So you missed a day of the glass-bottom boat and shopping and the art-gallery tour to Todos Santos (NOT!). And (heaven forbid), your Blackberry couldn’t pick up a signal to keep you in touch with your kids and office. You’re off the clock. There’s no tour bus to catch!

Sigh. Shrug. Here comes the rain. You’re gonna be in the hotel for awhile. Oh well…You adjusted. You got to chat. You were forced to actually have REAL conversation with REAL people instead of text messaging. What a concept!

You ate long drawn-out dinners instead of rushing around. It’s not like you’re gonna be headed to any of the nightclubs. For awhile when the electrical power went out, they had to light the place up with candles but the guitar player kept playing. Man…that was kinda romantic with your wife! Tell her you planned it all along and score some points!

And the folks at the next table…You actually made new friends while telling fishing fibs over margaritas and found some mutual amigos who knew your kid brother back at your old home town in the cornfields. And you traded addresses and photos of your respective families.

And the TV in your hotel room didn’t work. So you sat in there in the dark and watched wide-eyed as the storm did it’s thing. And talked more and had some laughs.

So this isn’t EXACTLY the vacation you had planned. You do have a right to be a bit grumpy. But all the gnashing of teeth won’t change the storm or make it go faster or open the airport.

It’s no one’s fault. There’s no way to predict these things. So, you make the best of the situation.

If you think about it, you still wouldn’t trade this time with your family, your gal or your homeboys to be back on the freeway… or mowing the lawn…or in an office meeting. There really are no emergencies. Just inconveniences. Enjoy the experience.

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

PHOTO 1: Sheryl Lucero doesn’t have many oceans in New Mexico where she’s from but got out on the water with Captain Victor and our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet and got this nice dorado not too far offshore on live bait.

PHOTO 2: From San Francisco area, Shannon Aurand and her husband got 10 different species of fish over 3 days of fishing. Captain Jorge from our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet help with gaff duties on a feisty yellowfin tuna. This past week, they ranged from 10-30 pounds.

PHOTO 3: My dive buddy from San Luis Obispo CA, Anthony Reynolds got into a nice snap of dorado fishing north of La Paz with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet. He just racked this nice bull but buddy , Bob, pumps one to the boat in the stern.

ANGLERS AND CAPTAINS WORK HARD FOR THEIR FISH AS DARK MOON PHASE SEEMS TO HAVE SLOWED THE BITE THIS WEEK…OR SOMETHING…IT WAS DEFINITELY OFF…

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 23-29, 2009

PHOTO 1: Wahoo went on the chew again this week! South end of Cerralvo Island held most of the fish. Here’s one that chased down a Rapala pulled by Jeff Sakuda of Monterey Park CA. Captain Jorge shares the smiles.

PHOTO 2: Professional hunting dog trainer, Steve Artis from N. California looks pained, but he was pretty happy with this fat wahoo he got his first day fishing with our Tailhunter Las Arenas Fleet. That’s Captain Victor hiding behind him.

PHOTO 3: Again with Captain Jorge! This time assisting Shannon Aurand from the San Francisco Bay area with her first wahoo she pulled on the troll. The fish showed a definite affinity for dark Rapalas this week.

PHOTO 4: All the way from New York, this is Arie Hendeles. Arie took a break from school like he does each summer to fish with us. This is one of several wahoo he put on the boat.

PHOTO 5: Yes, the yellowfin tuna also bit and they also got bigger too! Rod’s yellowfin was taken just off Las Arenas. The fish ranged from 10-30 pounds this week and crashed the live baits.

PHOTO 6: Bill White from San Luis Obispo is a fireman and he had sashime and sushi in mind for dinner as he holds up two of his yellowfin tuna he got fishing with our Las Arenas fishing fleet.

PHOTO 7: “Three Chicas and a Pancho!” Captain Pancho poses with Roseanne Ishihiro from Hawaii; Marianne Sugawara from Los Angeles and Karen Sakuda-Aizawa from San Franciso and their catch of dorado.

PHOTO 8: George is all smiles holding a bull dorado that might be our largest dorado of the week. George caugth this fish while fishing with Captain Victor and our Las Arenas Tailhunter Fleet. The fish fell for a live sardine.

PHOTO 9: Los Angeles resident Moise Hendeles got a cooler full of tuna fillets and added some great wahoo steaks to the catch with this fish.

PHOTO 10: First-timer, Ian Colbert from Belmont CA near San Franciso had a great first outting while fishing with us this past week. Here, he shows off a nice dorado he caught north of La Paz with our La Paz Tailhunter fleet.

PHOTO 11: Dave Tyree pulled this whopper dorado fishing on one of our super pangas with our Tailhunter La Paz Fleet out of La Paz Bay. The dorado were hit or miss some days, but if you found the right spot, it could go nuts.

PHOTO 12: One of the most amazing action photos I’ve seen. If you’ve ever tried to take a shot of a leaping fish, you know how hard it is. Your eye, your brain, your finger and your camera just don’t work fast enough! Well, Steve Artis had everything lined up perfectly for this shot of a big bull dorado going ballistic and grabbing air while on the hook!

PHOTO 13: Not a bad day! Arie Hendeles from New York; Eli Hendeles and Jonathan Uretsky from Los Angeles do the group pose with wahoo and dorado. They had a banner few days with us taking wahoo, tuna and dorado.

PHOTO 14: Double fist tuna for Tom Aurand after fishing a day with our Las Arenas fleet. Tom comes from the San Francisco area and got into a nice snap of yellowfin tuna early in the week off the Arenas lighthouse area.

WAHOO AND YELLOWFIN TUNA LEAD THE CHARGE AT LAS ARENAS WHILE DORADO KEEP LA PAZ ANGLERS BUSY (MOST DAYS).

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Week of Aug. 16-24, 2009

Finally back on track after a little glitch the previous week. Not only did the dorado find their way back into the feeding mode, but even more importantly for our Tailhunter Las Arenas fleet, the tuna and wahoo came back strong! Yellowfin tuna running 10-30 pounds bit nicely just off the beach inhaling live baits, dead chummed bait and iron. Light tackle anglers had a blast because the tuna were mixed in with even harder-charging bullish bonito and big skipjack so it was non-stop action between the 3 species. Limits were very common.

As well, and even more exciting, the wahoo made a strong comeback at the south end of Cerralvo Island along the rock highway. Two to four biters per boat were the average if you were pulling a big dark crank bait or wahoo rig. Quite a few fish were lost with bad hooksets and busted lines but boats were taking 1-2 wahoo in the 30-50 pound class.

Other species this week included a few marlin (released), roosterfish (most released) as well as some cabrilla, pargo and a nice jag of large pompano. Dorado ran 10-30 pounds on the average.

There were some slow spots and if you fished a few days you might have an off-day, but overall, it was a real good week of fishing with some anglers canceling (bad for us!) some of their trips later in the week because they had too much fish to take home after 2 or 3 days fishing! Glad to see guys releasing more and more fish and also more guys going to circle hooks as well. It wasn’t wide open, but the opportunities are there for some great catches right now.

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.”