That's My Story

PHOTO 1: Talk about a GRAND SLAM fishing day! Oregon boys on their first trip down here are Troy King (left) and Jess Robinson (kneeling). Captain Joel Martinez lends a hand. Fishing with our La Paz fleet, the guys got a big trophy bull dorado, the striped marlin and a mako shark! There was quite a bit of variety in the water this week!

TUNA STILL HOLD THE SPOTLIGHT WHILE DORADO FISHING SLOWS A BIT BUT BILLFISH GETTING MORE INTERESTED!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of Aug. 2-9, 2008

PHOTO 2: Josh Owens from San Francisco knows how to swing on fish! He had a full week of bent rods, but did quite a few billfish including this sailfish. Hat’s off…Josh released lots of fish including ALL his billfish. You rock, amigo!

PHOTO 3: Here’s a hog of a fish! This is a “dog tooth snapper” aka “pargo perro” aka “cubera snapper.” Vince Preszler holds it up while standing on Las Arenas Beach. These fish are rare, not because there are so few, but because they are so difficult to catch. They get much larger and usually hang out in the rocks and are near impossible to wedge out. Well, this guy must have been lost because it ate a tiny sardine way out in deep water where the tuna schools were feeding!

PHOTO 4: Wally and Jeff Lee are from the bay area and were on their first trip with us. Here they are after their first day of fishing where they whacked the yellowfin tuna that have been on the chew now for over a week.

PHOTO 5: Nice dorado for Grace Chang from the San Francisco area. Gracie fished with us for about a week and hung some nice tuna as well.

PHOTO 6: Rob Burns is our buddy from Texas. He has way too much fun and this is his 3rd trip to visit us this year. Rob fished several days again, but on this particular day, he decided to use his flyrod and got 8 fun yellowfin tuna.

PHOTO 7: Justin Simon and his pals area all from Los Angeles area. They raced up to see us from Cabo San Lucas to squeeze in a day of fishing with our Las Arenas fleet and nailed a box of tuna from that school just to the south of Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 8: Leon Throckmorton was on his first trip with us. Donnie Rhea (on the right) visits us all the time and was on his 2nd trip of 2008. They love the light tackle and show off two of their bull dorado. Both fish took almost an hour to boat on the smaller gear fishing with our La Paz fleet north of La Paz near Espiritu Santo Island.

PHOTO 9: Steve Bryan and Dave O’Leary came down from the rainy state of Washington to check out our La Paz sunshine and get in a few days fishing. They spanked the yellowfin tuna as shown by two of the several tuna they caught their first day. Most of the fish have been about 10 pounds more or less, but as show by Steve’s fish, there’s some large models swimming in the schools! Steve and Dave also got in a day of dorado fishing and hooked and released a sailfish as well.

PHOTO 10: This is a real special fish. Chris Dufour is on the right. His wife Alissa is on the left. Chris did not catch this striper. Allissa did! On 25 pound test, she battled this fish for almost 4 hours north of La Paz! Quite an accomplishment and she did NOT hand off the rod. Alissa has fished with us a number of times and always does well.

PHOTO 11: OK…yes…that’s a yellowtail on the left being held by Kevin Kurstin about to enter his senior year in high school and fishing for the first time with Tailhunter International. We normally do not get yellowtail down here during this time of year, but this 18 pounder and others like it seem to show up a few times a week to remind us they’re still around. Kevin also got a nice yellowfin for his fishing efforts!

VIDEO CLIP FOR THE WEEK

Click this and turn up the sound:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Qw2P9DD7Mw

THE FISHING REPORT

Not sure who to characterize the week. It was one of ups-and-downs! If you were fishing for yellowfin tuna, well, that school of football tuna south of Muertos Bay for our Las Arenas fleet just continued to rip for a 2nd straight week. If you were fishing for anything else like dorado, billfish, roosters, etc., it kinda depended on where you fished and just being plain lucky, not to mention having your game plan together and your “A” game in place.

Listen…everyone got fish. That tuna bite for our Las Arenas fleet continued to roll. Nothing big but certainly alot of fun and our light tackle guys had a blast as well as flyfishers. The fish are about 8-15 pounds, but FLASH…bigger 40 and 50 pounders have been seen and were boiling just outside the zones but were either moving too fast or wouldn’t eat what we chased them with or threw at them. However, seeing them is sure encouraging. I did check out one of the larger fish caught on the troll by a commercial fisherman and it’s guts were full of little squid so that might be the ticket OR could signal that the squid might be coming up from the deep channel and bringing the tuna with them. We’ll keep you posted!

But, on top of the tuna, we also got a handful of dorado, billfish and roosters each day as well. The ticket for these tuna were the eenie-meenie little sardines we were using all week. If you had big sardines, the tuna weren’t interested. If you had the tiny sardines, you’d better hold onto your socks!

For our anglers fishing with our La Paz fleets it was hit or miss at times. You could hit the right spot on the right day and it could be well over by mid-morning. You’d have enough fish or enough BIG fish to call it a day. Dorado tails would be hanging out of the fish box. On the other hand, there were times you really had to work at it and spank the water to get fish to rise or find the right spots. Some boats got ’em and some boats didn’t. The next day, you could go from goat to hero or hero to goat. Alot of it was just luck.

However, we also did see quite a few billfish. A number of them were hooked and lost and proud to say quite a few of them were also released as well. The fish are scattered. Some days there wouldn’t be a billfish. The next day, the boats would have 2, 3 or more fish around the boat. That’s fishing.

Weather has been real tropical lately. Almost everyday, a bit of rainstorm falling somewhere for a few minutes. Sometimes, they’re real gully-washers and others are like a warm shower. They blow over pretty fast but are putting alot of debris in the water for dorado schools to hide under! We’ll keep you posted. Still, might be a good idea to bring a light windbreaker or cheap pancho, or do like I do and just cut some holes in a trash bag!

CAPTAIN JORGE

Our ever-popular Captain Jorge appears to be sick again. As many of you may recall, he was out about 4 years ago with serious intestinal problems that required surgery in Guadalajara. Apparently, the symptoms have come back. Not sure what it is, but he’s getting checked out. He’s been out of the lineup for 2 weeks now and until further notice, w’ere not sure when he’ll be back in the starting rotation with the first string. We’ll keep you posted. Jorge is one of the best captains not to mention one of the most likeable of any captain you’ll ever meet. Bear with us if you’ve requested Jorge. Believe me, he’s chomping at the bit to be out on the water ASAP.

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.”

TAG ENDS!

Originally published the week of Aug. 5, 2008 in Western Outdoor News

Some loose “tag ends” this week to tie up and spread around to you. Just some bits and pieces and notes off the tackle box:

SOMETHING SMELLS FUNNY

After my column two weeks ago about keeping smells away from your fishing gear and bait, I got a number of comments from readers agreeing with me and offering various remedies. Initially, the column was generated by a WON reader who asked about having sunscreen on his hands and whether the smell repels fish.

Two readers, wrote in and told me that they keep a small can of WD-40 handy. It’s not only good for the occasional squeaky reel handle, but it’s then sprayed on a small rag. The rag us then used to wipe on hands or fishing tackle that may have been “contaminated” by non-fishing smells such as suntan oil, food, cigarettes or mechanical items.

Great idea. Many anglers swear that WD-40 is a great fish attractant and will spray it directly on lures and other items. I once asked a WD-40 executive about it and all he could do was smile and say, “No comment!” But it’s rumored that the popular lubricant has fish oil in it.

Another amigo wrote that he keeps a little bottle of that waterless hand sanitizer handy to clean his hands of sunscreen then keeps a little bottle of shrimp or anchovy fish scent in his box. A drop or two on his palms then rubbed together gets his hands smelling “just right!” But he adds that his hands smell pretty stinky afterwards.

ECONOMIC RIPPLE EFFECT

Yes, indeed, Baja is feeling the pinch from a lot of different angles. Whatever happens economically to the U.S. also has an effect down here in Baja. Americans have less disposable income so conversely, they’re not traveling as much. High airline tickets and fuel prices don’t help.

Actual gas shortages in northern Baja over the past few weeks have actually stranded many vacation drivers insofar as commuters and commercial drivers, fleeing high U.S. gas prices have come across the border to fill up on the cheaper Mexican gas prices. Supply has not been able to accommodate the demand. Ergo vacation travelers have been caught in long lines of stranded vehicles.
Along those same lines, nervousness over road violence towards tourists, has severely crimped U.S. tourism to Mexico. And nothing says “money” like a big old shiny Suburban pulling a sportfisher down Highway 1. (And it’s probably filled with gasoline!)

I’m not saying something is going to happen. Hundreds of thousands of people cross the border daily and nothing happens. But, by the same token, I’m not one to advertise when I have a bankroll in my pocket as I walk down a dark alley.

But, even for passengers flying down here, not only are flights more expensive, but they’re getting harder to find. Out of Tijuana, our old friend, Aero Californa, is once again having problems. You may re-call that several years ago, their flights were suspended because of too many safety violations. Thousands of U.S. fliers were left holding worthless tickets. Well… They were allowed to fly again, but never regained their ability to have international flights.

However, many folks travel domestically with Aero Cal and lots of San Diego and S.California residents and fishermen find that traveling to Tijuana to catch Aero Cal flights to cities in Baja and mainland Mexico is quite convenient and surprisingly easy. Well, Aero Cal has been suspended again allegedly for failure to pay fines and taxes. Some of the newer Mexican airlines that seemed to have great service such as Alma Air and Avolar are having their own difficulties because of higher ticket prices mean fewer travelers.

Bottom line, it seems things are slow down here in Baja. Depending on who you talk to or what you read, business is off 20-40 percent. In the northern border states where much of the economy is directly affected on a daily basis by Americans and Mexicans crossing the border for business and pleasure, counts have been as high as 60 percent.

Speaking to friends in Cabo, La Paz and the East Cape, they tell me it’s off about 30 percent from normal years.

Baja is still a bargain relatively speaking compared to other places, but there’s no question that what happens in the U.S. affects everyone else.

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

PHOTO 1: These two characters have fished all over the world and are two of the funniest. Jack McGuire and Doc Moses from Southern California stopped to fish with us for the week in between a trip to Alaska and then off to Africa to fish…or something like that. I couldn’t keep it straight. Anyway, they got into our best tuna bite of the season so far. Footballs like this were foaming south of Muertos Bay pretty much all week and it was easy limits!

MIXED WEEK OF FISHING WITH WEIRD WEATHER BUT TUNA FINALLY PUT ON A SHOW FOR OUR LAS ARENAS FLEET!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of July 27 to Aug. 2nd, 2008

PHOTO 2: All the way from the Carolinas, the Daly family…Jim Sr., Jim Jr., Madison and mom, Lake hold just some of the yellowfin tuna and dorado they ripped fishing a day just south of Las Arenas. This has been the first sustained tuna bite of the season…football season…with football and peanut tuna from 5-15 pounders ,but willing to eat sardines, squid, iron and feathers!

PHOTO 3: A bull of a fish! Chad Everett from Los Angeles holds a huge bull dorado caught north of La Paz in the dorado grounds that stretch between the islands and down the channel. Dorado fishing was a bit chameleon. One day they were touchy and the next day they charged the boats. However, there were some huge bulls like this one caught that tore into anglers and tackle.
PHOTO 4: Every year we go to the Portland Sportsman’s Show up there in Oregon. And every year, Jess Robinson (right) says he’s coming down. It’s been happening for about 5 years now. We’ll, he finally came down! This was his first day fishing at Las Arenas. His amigo Troy King is on the left. Although it rained a bit that day, these Oregon guys didn’t have a problem and got limits of tuna and a full day of action on several other varieties. Later in the week, they also got dorado as well.

PHOTO 5: Every year, our good amigo, Roger Van Steenkiste makes several trips to see us and always does well. In fact, he’s coming back again in September now that he just retired this year. Probably no one catches more than Roger. He won’t let them and he hangs tough no matter what. Here, he’s with his daughter Judy on her first trip her with him from Arizona. Over several days they hung dozens of tuna and topped that with lots of dorado as well.

PHOTO 6: Two happy fellas…Rick Hocking and his son, Carney, had several banner days or dorado fishing with our La Paz fleet. They fished with Captain Marcos Martinez (center).

PHOTO 7: Another one of our neat Oregon amigos is Wes Perkins. Wes holds up a nice pargo mulatto (barred pargo). These fish make great eating but are tough fighters trying to yank them out of the rocks. Although they get bigger, this is a trophy.

PHOTO 8: James and dad, Roger Hall show off some of the variety we’ve got lately. Dad holds up a pair of delicious pompano. James holds some dorado. James had a tussle with these dorado but could hardly predict the huge dorado bulls he got the next day!

VIDEO CLIP OF THE WEEK

Just turn up the sound and click here! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnV35jAAUbw

THE FISHING REPORT

Yellowfin tuna finally put on a show for us this week in the first sustained tuna bite of the season. The fish weren’t big. Peanut and football sized tuna in the 5-15 pound class were the norm with some bigger fish on the fringe, but there was so much action no one really cared!

In between the foaming tuna with fish crashing all around the boats plus hungry bonito and breezing dorado, there was no shortage of action. If you’re a light tackle or flyfisher this was ideal fishing.

The fish were just south of Muertos Bay and our Las Arenas fleet has been on them most of the week, but so have boats from the East Cape. At first, I thought that the bait might be a problem. The sardines are TINY!!! I mean smaller than your little finger. They barely fit on a hook. However, the tuna rolled all over them. If you tossed a handful out of the panga, the tuna could not get to them fast enough and anything with a hook got inhaled.

Flurocarbon line in 20-25 pound test leaders seemed to have an edge, but it was hard to tell. Everyone was bit!

For our La Paz fleet, it was a bit more anemic. Maybe it had something to do with the weather. It was kinda of windy most days and cloudy too. Several times, we got hit with brief showers and tropical downpours that lasted several minutes as cells moved through.

However, it was strange. One day the dorado would simply explode on anything in the water. The next, captains and clients would tell me there were dorado and marlin all around the boat and the fish would sniff the baits and go bye-bye! Really frustrating.

Several spots were productive. Despite the occasional slow day, most guys fish more than one day so even if there was a slow day, the next day probably made up for it. Find the right paddy or high spot and you could be done early. Our friend Coach Donnie Rhea had two days where they were fully loaded and plugged with dorado by 10 a.m. One-stop dorado shopping!

However even on the slow days for our La Paz Fleet, there were several HUGE bulls caught. We got a number of fish in the 40-50 pound class that fought anglers to exhaustion with battles lasting over an hour. On two occasions, dorado ripped line faster than the boats could turn and the anglers got spooled!

Will keep you posted!

That’s our story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

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

Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745

Mexico Office: , 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.”

PHOTO 1: Marty Newbury from Oregon was on his first trip down here to La Paz. This was his first day on the water fishing with our fleet out of Las Arenas. He got a sailfish that he released. He got roosterfish that he released. And, he got dorado including this ripper bull dorado…that didn’t get released! The fish looks big, but also figure in that Marty is pretty big too as a former college football player.

FISHING STARTS OFF THE WEEK WITH A BANG BUT BITE GETS PICKY LATER IN THE WEEK HOWEVER…DORADO STILL LEAD THE WAY WITH OUR FIRST DECENT SHOWING OF TUNA!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of July20-26, 2008

PHOTO 2: I like fun photos. Can’t help it. Here, Kurt Hargett, his wife Corrina, and amigo Martin Newbury all from Oregon pose with some of the dorado they got fishing with our La Paz fleet north of La Paz. The majority of the fish are dorado right now north of town varying in size from small fry up to larger bulls in the 40 pound class.

PHOTO 3: We’ve had alot of neat folks from Oregon lately for some reason come visit us. Captain Armando with our Las Arenas fleet helps hold up a sweet bull dorado held by Randy Evans…FROM OREGON! Next to our Californians, I think we’ve had more folks from Oregon and Texas than other years.

PHOTO 4: Late in the week, the dorado got picky and the bite got scratchy, but our good amigo, Tom Moon from the Los Angeles area, said they kept at it and over two days still got some nice bulls like this one. Much of the bite took place in the afternoon and he said you just had to wait. In fact their best flurry of dorado was when they were fishing inshore for pargo when a jag of dorado came swimming through the shallow water.

PHOTO 5: Fishing two days with our La Paz fleet, Rob Woods poses with one of his dorado after a good day. They hooked six this particular day, but reported that there wasn’t even a bite until the afternoon. But rather than change plans, they were patient and the fish showed up!

PHOTO 6: Dave and his wife Linda-Lisa-Lacy-Lucy Evans (I know she’ll read this) got into some nice dorado fishing. In fact, they got about 8 different species of fish over the week they spent with us. Here, the Oregon couple show off some quality dorado.

PHOTO 7: Show me an unusual pose and you stand a better chance of making the report. Bob Connell, Jr. holds one dorado aloft while Chad Everett’s fish is so big it drags the sand! They had to work hard for their fish, but managed to fill their ice chest to take home.

PHOTO 8 – Mr. Willie Randolph (no not the baseball guy, but everyone asked him)…fished several days with us and also got into the dorado while fishing with our La Paz fleet. Las Arenas had alot of variety, but this time of year, if you want dorado, our La Paz fleet is the one to be with. Willie is from Henderson, Nevada.

PHOTO 8: Captain Jacobo with our La Paz fleet poses with Camille Randolph from Henderson NV, who came with her father. Here’s how dad described the event:

” . . . after 2 days of fishing and a not so productive morning, I instructed the captain that we wanted to come in early. On the way in, the captain placed 2 trolling rigs in the water. About 30 mins into our trip the Captain spotted a Marlin skimmy across the surface and immediately placed the boat on an interception path to the Marlin. In a flash, the marlin was on our tail. The Captain sped-up/slowed-down several times in an apparent attempt to keep the fish interested–and he was; however, no matter how many attempts the fish made at the plugs (and there were several!) he was not hung. In desperation, the captain had me drive the boat (now that’s desperation for you!) while he prepared a rod with live bait. That did the trick! For the next 3 hrs, my daughter, Camille, was in for the fight of her life which ended, unfortunately, with the death of the fish. It was our hope to catch, photo, and release this magnificant fish but it didn’t work out that way. My daughter and I will cherish the memories from this trip for the rest of our lives, and we look forward to our next trip to La Paz. “

PHOTO 9: There’s still alot of roosterfish along the beaches at Las Arenas. Schools of smaller fish are great fun with the light tackle. But there’s some 50-90 pounders in the same area. This guy will hopefully grow up to be one of the big boys. He was caught by Kurt Hargett from Oregon who got into a bunch of these and released them.
PHOTO 10: Eric Hinderliter said it was the “time of his life.” He and his family came all the way out from Illinois and were convinced to try a day of fishing with us. They nailed a bunch of large dorado like this one then sat down to a big fish dinner that they’d be hard pressed to find back home in Illinois. The smile says it all.

PHOTO 11: Uncle Al Cohen from the Los Angeles area, always does well. He’s been fishing down here for a couple of decades. This big bull was taken north of La Paz. Note the tail end where he said it looked like something had taken a bite out of the fish…a fresh bite! Al comes down every year.

PHOTO 12: Look carefully. There is supposed to be a picture of Larry Crass from Santa Maria here. He is holding a HUGE dorado. But, maybe Larry is a vampire. No matter what I did to the photo, it would NOT appear on this page! Pretty eerie. But believe me, it’s BIG FISH!!! It’s almost as big as his buddy Al Cohen’s fish (above).

PHOTO 13: Can it be? Sure looks like Dave Wight from Torrance CA has a catfish. Actually, it’s a cominate sea catfish. Check out the whiskers!

PHOTO 14 and 15: I’m not sure this is something I’d want dangling between my legs, but Pete Wight from Torrance CA was kayak fishing in front of the Costa Baja Marina and jigged this Pacific Cutlassfish up. Pete has a habit of catching weird species everytime he comes down. There’s over 700 species of KNOWN fish in the Sea of Cortez.

THE FISH REPORT

The week started off incredibly well for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets. A continuation of the great full moon bite, there had been a solid rip of a bite going on. So much for theories of bad fishing during a full moon.

I would have thought that as the full moon waned and got darker that fishing would have continued strong or even gotten better. We had dorado slashing our La Paz boats and marlin suddenly showing up in the chum lines. It was almost a question of having TOO MUCH FISH!

For my La Paz fleets a smattering of dorado, but mixed with roosters, pompano, bonito, amberjack, wahoo, sailfish, and pargo made for great fishing as well.

Then, about Wednesday, clouds moved in. Winds came up. But that’s it. Not a big deal. But for whatever reason, the fish just got lockjawed. I mean, marlin could be seen and would refused to take a bait. Same with dorado. They’d swim around the boat and then look at a bait like it had stink on it or something or simply bite off the back half. That’s really frustrating to see dorado all around and then they aren’t hungry. Dorado are usually so voracious that something must be off if they’re not opening their mouths!!!

Still, there were fish to be caught. You just had to be a little more patient. You had to be persistent and you had to bring your “A” game. You might only get one flurry and you’d better not be sitting on your hands. If you missed your shot you missed your shot. Miss and go home. That big bull is only swimming by once today! But, everyone got fish. You just had to work it a bit more.

The big thing is that tuna finally made a sustained showing this past week. I’m not sure I’d get real excited just yet, but schools of small football yellowfin tuna popped up at the north and south side of Cerralvo Island. I wouldn’t have even called some of these “football fish” as they were about 5 pounders, but there were a few 10-15 pounders. We’ll have to keep an eye on that.

If you’re coming down this week, bring some patience. Some of my captains told me that the clients were too antsy and if they had just waited, the fish were coming. Let the captains do their thing. Also, flurocarbon leaders made a big difference in both the quantity and quality of the catch.

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.”

HANDS ON! HANDS OFF!

Originally published in Western Outdoor News, the week of July 22, 2008

One of our readers, Larry Wayne, sent me an e-mail recently asking about scent and it’s effects on fishing. Specifically, he wanted to know about sunscreen on his hands. To wit:

“ I have both read and been told that sunblocks have ingredients that are highly repellent to fish, and that if you have sunblock on your hands when you handle lures or bait, it will significantly hurt your chances of getting bit.

Since I am fairly dark skinned to begin with, I have rarely worried much about sunburn, but with what I now know, I have to be careful not to overexpose myself…Do you agree that getting sunblock from your hands onto lures or bait can repel fish, and, if so, what do you advise your clients to do to prevent that problem?”

This is the first time I’ve gotten a written query about the subject, but I’ve been asked about this when doing fishing seminars. So, let’s spread my two cents (scents?) on the subject.

First and foremost, I too am dark-skinned. I never go out on the water without the sunblock on. I used to think that I was immune to the sun as well. I never burned. I got a deep dark tan. Then, I had a little bout with skin cancer and that opened my eyes and I’ve also noticed how many of my own clients and friends are now paying the price for their time under the sun. It’s a serious issue. Don’t let yourself burn.

Secondly, on the subject of scents, I’m a big believer. Fish might have brains the size of a pea, but they have handy-dandy keen senses that keep them alive. Their sense of smell is just one of them. But it’s awfully powerful and a big motivator in getting the fish to eat or not to eat what you’re offering.

Just look at yourself. If the cheeseburger not only looks like a cheeseburger , but also smells like the roasted charbroiled meat, the grilled onions, the sesame bun toasted with butter…well, you get the idea. Are you salivating yet?

By the same token , if it looked like a cheeseburger but all you can smell are your roomate’s smelly gym sneakers he left near the dinner table, that would be a turnoff too!

Same with fish. Just look at the display counters at your local tackle store. Row upon row of lotions, potions, oils and goo to put you your lure, live bait, or other terminal tackle. There’s “stink bait” for catfish. Shrimp scent for rockfish. Anchovy and squid stink for pelagic bluewater species. Crawfish flavor for bass. Trout get garlic. There’s probably a cheeseburger scent in there somewhere too!

Some anglers even swear that stuff like WD-40 lubricant is a powerful scent as well. (But that’s for another column).

The point is, smell does have an effect, both positively and negatively.

Sprays, lotions, chemicals, gasoline and solvents from your boat; your cigarette; wiping sweat off your brow; even (gasp) eating that cheeseburger or burrito on the docks or in your box lunch all have scents and oils. Rub the side of your nose. See that oil on your finger? All can be transferred to your rod, reel, line, lures and bait.

I grew up fishing with my old Japanese, Filipino and Hawaiian uncles and cousins. They were religious about keeping their hands clean. The hand that touched the cigarette or sandwich did NOT touch the baits or gear. That’s how we were brought up, whether fishing for trout or tuna.

Obviously, you can’t go around all day with your hands in gloves so anytime we touched anything, we would wash our hands when possible before touching the gear or baits. But, even soap has scent to it…usually something flowery or antiseptic.

So, after getting the gunk off our hands, we’d grab a piece of dead bait or even a small live one and mash it in our hands. We’d stick them in the ground chum…anything to mask the human oils on our hands or things we had touched. Only then, would we touch our gear.

So, use the sunscreen. Eat the burger. But keep your hands as clean as you can!

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

PHOTO 1: What a week for dorado! And it wasn’t even full-turbo yet…it’s just getting started, but take a look at some of these photos! There’s some big fish running through here and here’s a perfect example. Cheryl Atkinson rolled up on this 50 pound class dorado and is seen here with popular Captain Jorge with our Las Arenas Fleet. Cheryl is also one of our favorites and always does well. Scroll down and see what her husband, Len, caught!

DORADO AND BILLFISH RIP UP ANGLERS IN SOLID WEEK OF FISHING DESPITE RAINS AND CLOUDY SKIES…and EVEN A FULL MOON!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for the week of July 12-19, 2008

PHOTO 2: Darned good week for marlin and sailfish. David Wight of Torrance was on his first trip with us. He nailed the dorado and got his first two marlin as well. One was released, this 300 pound blue marlin was fought for 90 minutes. Captain Miguel with our La Paz Fleet stands by. All the meat was donated to families.

PHOTO 3: Yes…spearfishers rock! Jeff Saito, Craig Nunokawa and Corey Fujita spent a week with us. Jeff and Craig are from Maui, Hawaii. Corey is from Torrance CA. These guys blew up the schools of amberjack (big cousins to yellowtail). Here, they hold up just a few of the big jacks they speared off the El Bajo Seamount north of La Paz. Spearfishing in Mexico is an incredible atheltic sport. This is all free-diving. No scuba tanks allowed! (MORE PHOTOS BELOW)

PHOTO 4: Our buddy, Len Atkinson, comes down here to La Paz with his wife, Cheryl (see photo 1) several times a year. He’s always after a wahoo and so far has been unsuccessful. Well, this week he finally got one. But look closely! No one could believe the size of this wahoo! Normally, they’re 40, 50…80 pounders. This little guy is about 2 feet long and hit a lure half his size! The wahoo are still out there at the south end of Cerralvo Island for our Las Arenas fleet.

PHOTO 5: One more big big bull dorado. Steve Vetrone from Monrovia CA came down for his annual summer-time trip and got into our dorado bite this past week as well. The fish are eating a variety of baits including mackerel, caballitos, sardines, stripped bait, whole small bonito and feathers.

PHOTO 6: Dave Flake from Temecula CA hold up his big bull dorado just out’ve the water. Great colors! Dave’s the author of a number of thriller books and his book, “Tight Genes” about genetic engineering with an NFL football team is not only a great read, but is being made into a movie to be released in 2009. This was Dave’s first trip with us as well.

PHOTO 6: James King from San Antonio, Texas fished off Espiritu Santo Island for this dorado. The schools are congregated in several spots north and East of La Paz.

PHOTO 7: Kodak moment for father and son. Roger Hall and his son, James, were on their first trip from Oregon down to see us. James got his first marlin as well as this bull dorado just a tad larger than dad’s bull.

PHOTO 8: From San Bernardino CA, these are the Antillon boys…Merle, Jr (13)…Merle, Sr….and David (11). The boys had never caught anything larger than a trout from the mountains near their home in S.California, but got two solid days of dorado fishing in plus dad got a marlin.
PHOTO 9: Just a pretty shot of a hooked dorado getting some air. Merle Antillon (photo above) got this nice shot.

PHOTO 10: Dorado trifecta! S.Californians… Bill Swan (Santa Ana), Mark Grant (Downey)and Abe Favela (Baldwin Park) were all down on their first run with us. All bull dorado taken north of La Paz.

PHOTO 11: Craig Nunokawa from Maui, Hawaii…showing how it’s done underwater with an amberjack he just speared.

PHOTO 12: Craig Nunokawa and Jeff Saito both from Hawaii pose with some of the larger amberjack they shot this past week.

PHOTO 13: Cari Casillas and Captain Victor representing! Cari gives the thumbs up on a tough jack crevalle. The jacks are still along the shorelines near the beaches and although they might not taste good, always put up excellent blazing fights.

PHOTO 14: “Iron”Dan Aguilar (left) from Riverside CA gets a hand from Captain Alfredo and somewhere behind the fish with his gut poking out is Captain Jacobo with this big time bull dorado. What a week.

THE WEEK IN VIDEO

My video footage this week wasn’t very good…pilot error! So, I put basically the whole week of images on a video for you. Check it out. Turn up the sound!

Small warning…yes, you will see some billfish hung up. Four were taken this week. The biggest one and one of the smaller ones, all the meat was donated. We realeased 8 other fish.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54mopeQhWz0

THE FISHING REPORT

I guess you can tell by the great photos…DORADO WEEK!!!! Except for about 1 day when it an unexpected summer storm hit us with some rain (we still fished and still got fish) and the day after when the waters were settling down (we still got fish)…it was a solid week of dorado fishing.

As you can see from the photos, there were some good bulls caught with the largest bottoming-out a 50 pound scale! But lots of fish in the 30 pounds class mixed in with smaller fish. This also resulted in a pretty good week for billfish with blues, blacks, stripers and sailfish breezing through and perhaps drawn to the area by the large number of dorado and bonito to eat like a big buffet line.

The fishing zones extended from as far north as El Bajo Seamount north of Espiritu Santo Island down to the “gap” between the south end of Espiritu Santo and north Cerralvo Island down through the channel between Cerralvo Island off Las Cruces where sargasso patches were gathering and holding fish…all the way down to Las Arenas and outside to the buoys. So much for full-moon worries!

As well, roosterfish were still hugging the beaches plus pargo, some late season yellowtail, cabrilla and we’re also watching the amberjack come on stronger and stronger with seemingly larger fish every week. Some of the ambers were in the 40-50 pound class.

Most of the fish are being taken with live and dead baits (stripped bonito) so hooks are your number one weapon plus flurocarbon leaders are a plus. However, some of the larger dorado and marlin aren’t real interested until you drag something fast moving by their noses…like a feather! Some of the most violent strikes have been on small to medium-sized feathers.

One alert to make. The local authorities are now checking permits to fish around Espiritu Santo Island. It’s not clear to me what “around” the island means…whether that’s 100 feet of 100 miles off the island, but it’s a 4 dollar charge per person if they ask. Seems they are there one day checking the boats then don’t show up at all for days and days. Trying to get the story on this so we can supply the “bracelets” which shows you’re covered.

Have a great week!

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.”

PHOTO 1: Al Cambell knows how to hooke ’em and pose ’em! From Santa Rosa CA, Al is a professional photographer and poses with a rooster estimated at about 75 pounds. It’s alot bigger than it looks! Al and Captain Gerardo are both big guys. The fish was released. Big roosterfish are still off the Las Arenas ledge and lighthouse!

PHOTO 2: Our amigo, Mitch Chavira from San Diego never fails to produce some of the best fish and best photos we ever get off the water. This was was outstanding for big amberjack…big cousins to yellowtail. Mitch here holds a 50 pound class “Pez Fuerte”. One of the best spots this week was the famous El Bajo Seamount.

PHOTO 3: Bill Johnson gets the smiling rights on this nice dorado he got off Las Arenas. For our Las Arenas fleet, the fish were scattered. One day the outter buoys were hot. The next, it might be the channel up by Las Cruces. Some days, the mahi would flash through not more than a few yards offshore. The fish were not congregating as much so we were trolling a bit more than usual to bring the fish close then keeping them around by chumming or leaving slabs of bloody bonito in the water.

PHOTO 4: Too nice of a photo to ignore. Those of you who like the inshore fishing, it can still be great. Mostly, many of the inshore species are being ignored because everyone is outside chasing the glamour fish! However, fish like this nice cabrilla are always around. Mitch gets his mug in the fishing reports twice this week! Felicidades! That’s Espirito Santo Island behind him.

PHOTO 5: Like I said…it was a great week for amberjack! R.J. King from San Antonio, TX is still in high school and on his first-trip to visit us. He hung this sweet 38 pound amberjack fishing with our Las Arenas fleet.

PHOTO 6: Corey Poach was on his first drip down here. Richard Natividad, on the right, has fished with us several times and has a knack for dorado. The guys are from S.California. Both gents hold up some dorado headed for the barbecue. They were fishing with our Las Arenas fleet. The dorado action changed from day-to-day and boat-to-boat. There was no pattern, but if you were at the right place and the right time and had a bait in the water, you were bit! By the way, much to the skepticism of the rest of the group, these guys swear that PINK LINE works best! Hard to argue with fish in the box!

PHOTO 7: Mary Wehner and her husband, Dave, were just with us and here Mary holds up a 37-pound yellowtail. That’s a trophy fish no matter how you cut it. The thing is, yellowtail season ended about two months ago! We had a great yellowtail season and normally don’t catch ‘tails after the early part of June. However, the last week or two, sporadic bites of yellowtail continued to come in indicating that there’s still come colder water down there. Some of my divers reported seeing yellowtail in the 60 pound class roaming the El Bajo Seamount!

PHOTO 8: Paul Kilborn holds up his first sailfish. Like many the past few weeks, he was on his first trip down here and slammed fish. The cool thing is that he did a great job of CPR…Catch-Photo-Release. He got the fish to the boat. He took the photo. He got it back in the water fast and let it swim away. Excellent! Captain Gerardo lends a hand.

PHOTO 9: Zack Barnard is 9, Connor Barnard is 11. They came down with mom and dad. According to dad, the boys handled the fish from start to finish on a tough day on the water and dad said, they just kept smiling! They proudly hold their catches of dorado here!

THE WEEKLY FISHING VIDEO CLIP

Just click here and turn up the sound!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW5zLZT-5AM

THE FISH REPORT

Well, we had a pretty active week here. Boy…there were sure alot of species! Where do I start? The weirdest of weird seasons got even more goofy…

I think we had them all in one way, shape or form: DORADO, SAILFISH, MARLIN, AMBERJACK, CABRILLA, PARGO LISO, PARGO PERRO (dogtooth), PARGO MULATTO (barred pargo), WAHOO, YELLOW SNAPPER, ROOSTERFISH, JACK CREVALLE, POMPANO, BIG EYE JACKS, BONITO, SKIPJACK were just a few.

But then…add in the weird ones…TUNA…yes we even got a few TUNA. And where did the yellowtail come from all of a sudden? Yellowtail season ended weeks ago when all the cold water left us then…BOOM! We start getting yellowtail again.

Look…I don’t wanna blow smoke up the chimney, but it wasn’t WFO fishing my any stretch. It was good…NOT GREAT. At least not everyday. But, in all honesty, everyone got fish. And most got alot of fish. What I’m saying is that you could be on a boat that just missed the bite or sat on the wrong spot! The next day, you could be the boat that blows up the ocean and comes back with huge tails sticking out of your fish box and pound your chests as kings of the beach. Everyday was different. You COULD have a skunky day one day, then be on top of the hill the next.

Not kidding. If you hit the right spot, it could go world-class and explosive in the time it takes to cast a bait in the water. For some of the boats in our La Paz fleet that hit El Bajo during the latter part of the week…OMG…they whacked some of the biggest dorado of the season and more amberjack than I have seen in one spot in a long time. I had some freedivers in the area and they told me they saw 60 pound yellowtail swimming around down there. Big tuna were also seen breezing the area.

Bottom line…if you fish Las Arenas…light tackle heaven on a number of species. If you fish La Paz, expect about 90 percent dorado…and some of these dorado were tickling the 50-60 pound mark! Get ready to pull! It will be interesting to see what happens this week with the full moon. I’m not a big believer in the full moon stuff, but combine it with wind and the complexion could change of the fishing.

Several tips…this is one time, I would recommend bringing one or two tuna-sized feathers. One dark and one light color. The dorado are breezing. Sometimes, we find the schools by trolling the feathers then after a hook-up, chumming the rest of the school to the boat. Also, bring one or two sabiki /Lucky Joe rigs to catch a few of the larger caballitos or mackerel in the bay to top out your sardines for the day.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

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

Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745

Mexico Office: , 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.”

TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING – THE OTHER SIDE OF BRAIDED LINE

Originally published the week of July 8, 2008 in Western Outdoor News

Years ago when braided spectra lines first came out I made a trip to down here to Baja. This was in the early 90’s, long before I had moved down here to La Paz.

I had spooled my reels with this new “miracle” line and was on my first trip using the new-fangled stuff. I was anxious to put it to the test and had read up on all the wonders it would accomplish towards my fishing.

As we rolled out to sea that first day, I was setting up my gear there on the deck and I happened to cut off a tag-end piece of spectra. I laid it on the rigging table next to me figuring to throw it away with the rest of my debris when I was done.

The Mexican deckhand came to sit with me and watch me rig up. He absent-mindedly picked up the piece of spectra and started to use it to floss his teeth!

Now, if you’re familiar at all with braided line, you know how abrasive this stuff can be. It’s virtually indestructible and is made of the same stuff they make bullet-proof vests. Saw it back and forth on a piece of wood or metal and you can almost cut through it. You can only imagine what it might do to a set of teeth and gums!

Back in the day, my command of Spanish consisted of being able to place an order at Taco Bell. I did my frantic darndest to explain via hand gestures, grimaces and enough mime technique to make Marcel Marceau proud to the deckhand that this piece of string was “no bueno!”

He looked at the innocent piece of string and me and back at the string. He uttered some profanity about the stuck-up gringo who wouldn’t let him use a simple piece of string to clean his teeth. He got up and walked away.

I felt like an idiot too. But I couldn’t let him saw through his gums and probably into his skull!

Well, in more than a decade of use now, spectra line has become more widespread and can be found universally even to the simplest panga captain. It’s well-known for it’s low stretch, incredible strength and low diameter, allowing anglers to pack on lots of extra yardage into small reels.

However, as more anglers are using it, I see a lot of improper use of it as well down here.
For one, too much of a good thing is a bit wasteful. For instance, packing a trolling reel with 1500 yards of the smaller diameter braided line, just “because you can” is pretty expensive. Besides, how often do you honestly get deeper than say, 200 or 300 yards in any spool?

Further, unless you’re on a party boat, which is rare here in Baja, or a long range San Diego type vessel, most fishing craft can follow or back down on a hard-charging fish. Short of a huge marlin or really giant tuna, the majority of sport-caught fish down here aren’t going that far before you turn them or they finish their runs.

Better to use the braided line as backing then “top-shotting” (splicing) regular monofilament on top of the braid. I see quite a few anglers coming down fishing straight braid with no top shot. East Coast anglers are fond of it. I’ve never heard a definitive reason. But I can give you my two-cent against it.

To begin, if you’re fishing live bait, braided line is a lot more visible than mono. Additionally, the braid, especially when wet, is heavier than mono. If you’re using a small live bait like a Mexican sardine, it won’t fish as well. It won’t swim as well. Your whole bait presentation is off diminishing your fish-catching abilities.

Pragmatically with braid, if the line loops, it has a greater tendency to tangle and get into knots that are ridiculous to untie. This is unlike mono which has a more springy nature to it. Get into a knot with braid and chances are you’ll have to cut that expensive bit of string, which often requires special cutters. Your normal dikes won’t work.

Finally, let’s talk gear and personal safety. Braid cuts! It will saw into the fiberglass or wood gunwale of a boat. It will wear a groove into the guides on your rod. In a bite with everyone bent, your braid line will slice very neatly into your buddy’s mono cutting off his fish and earning you a physical or verbal punch in the nose.

When you or your captain or deckhand tries to grab the line to get a hold of a hot fish or trying to release a fish, tension-filled braided line also cuts very neatly through fingers and hands. It’s a bit like grabbing a moving hack-saw blade.

Admittedly, there are a few applications where straight braided line is recommended. However, in most applications I’ve seen down here, pop a few hundred yards of mono on top of your braid and save the money and frustration.

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

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.”

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

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