That's My Story

PHOTO: Small roosters on the splasher! Catch and release. Single barbeless hooks are best to minimize damage to the fish and fascilitate releases.

ALL THAT COMMOTION!

Originally published the week of May 15, 2008 Western Outdoor News

Admit it. It’s fun to torment small animals. I don’t mean in a bad way so please no cards and letters! I do not hate animals.

But being high up on the food chain, we upright single-eyebrow-Neanderthals like to exert our superiority over the lesser species. C’mon. Before you judge me, how many times have you guffawed while rolling a ball past your cat watching him pounce on it over and over? Or taken your flashlight and run your poor family pooch all over the house and up the wall chasing the bouncing beam of light?

Yea, you know you do! That’s why American’s Funniest Home Videos made a zillion bucks.

Well, the last few weeks, I’ve been doing more than my usual share of topwater fishing with light tackle. The waters around our spot here in La Paz warmed early bringing with it a multitude of species we normally don’t see so early like dorado and marlin mixing it up with inshore species like pargo, jack crevalle, roosterfish, sierra, plus non-stop bonito and skipjack. In fact, these are just a few of the many species that have shown up.

Not that I’m bored or anything, but if you want to have some fun, try fishing surface poppers and other top water tackle on these fish. Even when fish are finicky, the predatory instinct in them that causes them to pounce and strike is an irresistible urge. It’s much like your kitty who yawns at a ball of yarn that just sits there, but will leap across the room to assault the yarn if it’s rolled across the floor.

Fish are like that too. Especially the hunters who can be enticed if you make a commotion or drag something across their faces.

Poppers and splashers are my favorites because there’s nothing like seeing a fish on the surface attack a lure where you can see the viciousness of the attack. For those of you who grew up fishing in S.California waters, you remember the old bonito splasher rigs. Essentially, they were cone shaped styrofoam , cork or wooden cylinders that had a big concave mouth.

The main line was tied to the big-mouth end. A leader was tied to the other with a streamer fly or even a shiny spoon. Cast out and cranked as fast as you could, that poppler splashed and gurgled and resulted in huge hits.

The same thing works in Baja. I’ve had roosters, snapper, sierra, not to mention tuna and dorado simply fight each other to get the noise-maker popping on the surface.

The same effect c an be used with large commercial-grade poppers sold by numerous manufacturers. Just don’t chitty-pop them like you’re fishing for largemouth bass at the reservoir. The more and faster you crank it seems the most hits you’ll get. Just hold onto the rod. For some reason the largest fish in the school is often the one gets to the lure first.

Another great method is “skip-jigging.” Basically, you throw lighter surface iron as far as you can. Rather then letting it sink you wind like your shoulder is going to fall off. You make that jig skip along the waves. Maybe it looks like a flying fish or escaping bait fish, but I’ve gotten some of my largest fish on this technique.

Now, for the real fun…take off the hooks!

This is when you can really amp up the entertainment value. Fish will attack the lures. They sometimes bump heads in mid-air trying to jump on the splasher. Dorado knocking into each other. Tuna wacking each other out of the air and back into the water! Often, one fish will grab the lure and run. The line goes tight like you have a hook-up. The rod bends… but there’s no hooks! The fish lets go. It comes flying back.

It hits the water with a splash only to be picked up again by another fish who tears off with it. It’s like when you a kid playing keep-away. One guy grabs it and runs from the pack being chased by everyone else. The fish is only running with it! BOING! It comes flying back out of it’s mouth and another fish grabs it.

That one lets go and the lure flies back and hits the water again. And the cycle repeats itself. Hours of cheap entertainment. Get several of you on the boat doing the same thing and watch the waters foam!

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

PHOTO 1: The smile says it all. Nothing better than a kid who catches a fish! Sebastian Villareal is 12-years-old and came down with his family for the first time to La Paz. It was a great week for roosterfishing as shown by this striped pez gallo! Larger roosters moved into the shallows with fish up to 50 pounds. Note how close the panga is to the shore! The fish was released.

BIG ROOSTERS PACE HEAVY INSHORE ACTION FOR SPECIES BECAUSE WINDS KEEP ANGLERS FROM HEADING OFFSHORE!

LA PAZ / LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR MAY 111, 2008

PHOTO 2: Mark Langley from Orange Co. CA makes it down almost yearly with his wife (see below) to fish with us. Check out the burly rooster he got here just outside Muertos Bay. the fish was released.

PHOTO 2: The beauty of working the shoreline. Check out the variety of fish in front of Mo Langley! Someone is gonna have a smoking-good barbecue! In frnot of her are nice pargo (big red fish), yellowtail and cabrilla. The small yellowtail made several big charges this past week with boats getting 10-20 of the fish.

PHOTO 3: Even sideways, this is a nice fish for Scott Luker from Santa Maria CA. There’s a reason that the Mexican name for these members of the jack family that fight like crazy. The English name is “jack crevalle.” The Mexicans call them “toro.” (bull). Extremely tough on light tackle.
PHOTO 4: Josh Kiffe from Grover Beach CA holds up another nice jack crevalle. These fish often hold up in some fairly large schools. Where there’s one…there’s others! It can last for hours if you keep them around the boat and often they are close enough to fish from the beach.

PHOTO 5: You don’t know jack! Yes…along with yellowtail, roosterfish, jack crevalle and others, this African pompano is also a member of the jack family and has the same bad attitude when hooked. Sebastian Villareal from Rosarita Beach holds him here.

PHOTO 6: Beach spread! Sebastian and Pablo Villareal pose in front of a fine day of inshore fishing. Pictured here are yellowtail, African pompano, barred pargo, big eye jacks, and yellow snapper. They also got many jack crevalle and roosters that were released.

THIS FISHING REPORT

PHOTO 1: There weren’t as many dorado caught this week, but we shouldn’t normally even have dorado this time of year yet. However, those that were landed turned out to be gems like the deuce held here by Sherry and Carter Crossland (are you happy now?) from Yuma AZ. They fished 5 days here this week and seemed to hit about every species we had to offer. Including these bulls taken at the 88 spot buoys, they hit a triple hook up on sailfish; nailed numerous roosters; jacks; pargo, sierra and everything in between

NOT SO MANY BIG FISH OR QUALITY FISH THIS WEEK BUT IF YOU WERE LOOKING FOR LOTS OF LIGHT TACKLE ACTION IT WAS NON- STOP FOR NUMEROUS SPECIES OF INSHORE FISH!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Sunday May 4, 2008

PHOTO 2: One of our poster-boy regulars over the years is Marty Johnson of Atascadero CA. I think he’s caught about everything that has eye-balls and a face down here in our waters and comes each year specifically looking for something new. Here he holds up some of our inshore species…a barred pargo on the left (pargo mulatto) and a china maru (China face) on the right. Both great eating fish. Marty loves the flyrod and light tackle, but put them down and pulled a rapala through the rocks to get those two.

PHOTO 3: Not so many of the big pargo this week. Part of it was windier and roughter waters. Part of it was a lack of luck and fishing experience among anglers and some was just plain nastiness of these big snapper! However, Don Winklepleck from FLA holds up a slugger pargo liso.
PHOTO 4: No shortage of roosterfish for sure. All sizes and shapes. There are so many in some spots they foam to get the baits. Most are released with some of the smaller ones taken for the table which make pretty good frying or sauteeing!

PHOTO 5: Some days there are so many little roosters, they are like hungry little puppies. Other day, the big baja bad boys cruise the shores like this 50 pound class rooster Doug Shearer got fishing with Capt. Victor. You can often see these characters just on the edge of the schools of smaller fish. One of our clients, Carter Crossland (photos above) was in the middle of the smaller roosters, but had hooked a sierra mackere. Just as he was about to pull the sierra to the boat, a rooster estimated at 50 pounds came up and wolfed the sierra! Hook up on the big rooster, but Carter had on the light tackle so it didn’t last long, but that’s just insane fishing!

PHOTO 6: Dave Elliot and Eric Massey, hold up one of those monster pargo that are lurking off Punta Perrico and the SE corner of Cerralvo Island right now. Despite winds, they got int a variety of species, but none better than a prized pargo liso. These are hooked every day, but few are landed.

PHOTO 7 and 8 : I couldn’t ignore these photos by Brent Wisniewski from Oregon. At just the right moment he hit the shutter button and caught this sailfish hooked by Pat Ireton as the fish came out of calm water and tail walked. There’s quite a few billfish considering how early in the season it is. One day you’ll se dozens and they won’t eat a thing. The next day they are fighting to get a single piece of bait on your hook!

PHOTO 9: Yes, the rumors are true. This old guy can still catch a fish now and then. There’s a spot in front of Boca de Alamo we found about 2 weeks ago. Unlimited light tackle small roosters for HOURS!!! Catch and release as fast as you can go. (But there’s bigger ones hanging on the fringe, but the punk fish zip in too fast!). Anyway, I threw a white and fluro orange splasher with a small Krocodile into the melee and the fish exploded on it. This was the lucky guy…who was lucky I wasn’t hungry because this size is very good eating. We released about 30 of them this round.

PHOTO 10: Texan Rob Burns showing off again the incredible variety right now. Here he holds up a toad of an African pompano. Super fighter. Great eating. Busts your chops on light tackle and capable of snapping a rod with burst of speed. Look at this guy…he still looks pissed off (the fish, not the angler!)

VIDEOS OF THE WEEK!

Click on these links to check out our video clips from the week!

1. Weekly round up of variety:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2lftURjaCE

The first angler in this video is Mike Hossack long time-drummer for the Doobie Brothers who got in a day of fishing with us.

2. Sherry and Carter Crossland were hot sticks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xd31Na_egiE

THE FISHING REPORT:

I won’t lie. It wasn’t spectacular fishing this week. It was VERY good fishing, but not like it had been with the big pargo and giant yellowtail. In fact, I’d say the great yellowtail bite of 2008 is probably over as water warm.

But…

Dang…when it was good it was good! If you wanted action, this was an incredible week when almost every bait that hit the water some days blew up with something. There were some rough spots and some days that the fish were a bit stingy, but over all, if you put in a few days at the rail, there was some good rod-bending to be had.

I lost count of some of the species… dorado, small yellowail. some marlin, some sailfish, cabrilla, sierra, big eye jacks, bonito, skipjack, roosterfish, rainbow runners, jack crevalle, barred pargo, yellow snapper, pargo liso, sabalo, pompano, china maru, chilecanos…what variety!

The biggest detriment was that there were times this week when it was too windy to go outside to the dorado or marlin spots. For sure…we almost did NOT fish the La Paz side because winds produced mostly a long boat ride for only a few yellowtail, cabrilla and alot of bonito. Almost all our fishing was from the Muertos/ Las Arenas side where even if the wind was blowing, at least the fish were close up and not to far away.

The other part is that not every fish bit every day. One day the yellowtail would foam, but the next it would be sierra day or roosterfish day. If you went out to the yellowtail spot. you might have a bum day. The guys who went for roosters or sierra would’ve had a banner day!

Live bait and small rapalas did the most damage. Flurocarbon leaders were definitely bit more than standard mono. Flyrodders and light tackle guys had a ball. We didn’t catch alot of the big pargo this week, but that’s also because so many continued to be lost in the rocks.

Water temps are moving up! Air temps are in the mid-90’s now.

ALASKA AIR REDUCES RATES FOR LIMITED TIME!

Alaska Air announced another surprise sale. For a limited time, fares have dropped almost half for flights here to La Paz. Alaska flies Monday/ Wednesday and Saturaday. Seats must be purchased by May 8 and used before June 25. Their phone is 1-800- AlaskaAir. Jump on these. Seats are limted and so are our spots here for boats and rooms.

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.”

THE GREYING OF THE BAJA

Originally Published in Western Outdoor News the week of April 29, 2008

So, there I was at the La Paz Airport waiting for some clients to come off the plane from Los Angeles. Pick them up and take them to the hotel for their fishing vacation.

I normally send our drivers down to get our clients, but these clients were good family friends from long ago so I decided to go myself. I hadn’t been to the airport in about a year.

I’m used to seeing the security gates open from the inspection area and guys loaded with rod tubes and coolers, come waddling out with all the gear. They would roll out…one after the other in an unending procession of guys bursting to do some fishing You could feel the barely contained exuberance of their finally arriving here in the sunshine. Respective tour companies were greeting them with hand lettered signs and ice-cold beers and sodas. Let the vacation begin!

But “Aye Dios Mio!”

There were no fishermen coming off the plane. Instead, each time the security gates opened, there were grey-haired folks. Lots of them. It was like Senior World must have had some special tour or something or it was a special package trip like the ones that load busses to Vegas!

They weren’t carrying ice chest or rods. Nor did they have that, “point-me-to-the-nearest-margarita-bar-look” in their eyes.

Nah, these looked like our moms and dads and Uncle Joe and Aunt Mary and along with their little rollaway suitcases, they had boxes of linens, bundles from the “Crate and Barrel” and “Williams Sonoma.”

And I looked around at the people waiting for them. Not many tour or sportfishing operators. Instead, there were other grey-haired folks and after the hugs and greetings, there were snippets of chatter like:

“So, did the carpenters finish the cabinets yet? “We need to stop by the realtors office after we pick up the bank statements for the condo.”
“I found the BEST housekeeper named Maria Teresa!”
“I hear the tile man finished the bathroom counters but they still hadn’t put in the plumbing yet.”

It’s building and it’s real estate and it’s development. As real as the dash across the Oklahoma plains by the prairie sooners eager to stake out their plot of land, the boom is on. And all the aging retiring baby boomers have arrived.

And I said, “Man, there’s a lot of old folks coming off that plane!” Then, I realized that I’m one of them too and I’d have the salt-and-pepper hair as well if I had any hair left! Those aren’t senior citizens! That’s my own generation retiring to Baja. No longer the casual vistors. They’ve come to stay!

In other matters…

My amiga, Pam Bolles, owner of the Baja Big Fish Co. in Loreto and also the IGFA representative in the area, reports illegal yellowtail netting at the north end of Carmen Island. This is within the restricted Marine Park Zone.

According to Pam, nothing is being done to enforce the park rules which prohibit commercial pangas from netting in this area.

“We buy tickets to support the marine park for each and every client that fishes with us each and every day as per the law. The fee for these tickets must include enforcement of the very rules and laws that outline the park management plan,” says Bolles.

The Marine Park offices promise to “look into this.” However, Pam says that hauls of NINE TONS of yellowtail per day are being taken and sold to the fish buyers at 8 pesos a kilo (translation: 40 cents per pound).

She’s asking anyone seeing this activity or sportfishing in the area to take photos and submit them to her at http://us.f523.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=paminlto@gmail.com So that she can take the images to the park office.

Lastly, a parting good-bye to a fellow fish brother.

Francisco “Pancho” Aguilar was the owner and operator of the Baja Pirates Fishng Fleet here in La Paz. He was 42 years-old when he died unexpectedly of a heart attack while out on the boats. A funnier and more popular guy you would never find.

I’m sure many of you either fished with him over the years or met him at the outdoor shows. He and I started our respective fishing fleets about 13 years ago. Although our paths diverged as we each grew our respective businesses and it became harder to hang out together, he was always good for a grin and a joke. He will be missed.

He leaves two young daughters, Andrea and Kamila. Kamila is only a few months old. Andrea is almost a teenager.

A trust fund scholarship is being set up through Bank of America and Bancomer by Pancho’s partner, Leonard Phillips. Check can be made to: Andrea Aguilar or Kamilla Aguilar at 10016 Pioneer Blvd suite 110 Santa Fe Springs, Ca 90670 or call toll free to 866 454-5386 to make a credit card contribution.

Make everyday count. Tomorrow is never promised.

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

PHOTO 1: A new king is crowned! An incredible week of pargo fishing for the big elusive and frustrating fish was topped by this beast! We had more pargo and bigger pargo this week than we ever normally see! Barry Wood from Orange Co. CA with an assist from Captain Armando hefts a HUGE 49.6 pound pargo liso (on the scale!) he pulled out of the rocks near Muertos Bay.

BEST WEEK OF PARGO FISHING AS INSHORE SPECIES GO OFF WITH OFFSHORE SPECIES STILL GETTING BETTER!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 27, 2008

Photo2: Dan Cook was on his first trip to Mexico and first time fishing La Paz. The 18 year-old graduates from high school next week but skipped out for some early R n R to go fishing all the way from Boston MA to hang with his dad. Efforts rewarded! Check out the slugger of a pargo he got as well as roosterfish and lots of other species!

PHOTO 3: These fish are all over the shallows right now, but usually almost impossible to yank out’ve the rocks. Lee Cook and his son Danny (photo above) from Boston got FOUR of these huge fish off Cerralvo Island on live bait.

PHOTO 4: You may not recognize this guy, but he’s famous! Mike “Moogie” Alperin used to have a very popular fishing TV show on FOX TV. But he’s better known for being the inventor of the famous “banjo lure” that you used to see advertised on TV. Don’t laugh. He sold millions of these little plastic lures and laughed all the way to the bank enabling him to retire and do what all of us want to do…fish whenever he wants! He came all the way from Massachusetts to fish light tackle with us putting numerous species on line as light as 6 pound test. (Releasing almost all fish!) However, he knew enough to put down the little rods and grab heavy artillery to nail this HUGE pargo liso. He got four of these monsters in a single day. Almost unheard of!

PHOTO 5: Caryn Aizawa gets a hand from Jeff Sakuda both from the Los Angeles CA area with this nice bull dorado taken off the offshore buoys near Cerralvo Island. Dorado have show up early this year! Last year we had a decent dorado season, but not many big bulls. This year, we’ve already seen larger fish in the last 3 weeks than we’ve had all last year.

PHOTO 6: Not bad for a first fishing trip. Dan Cook is 18 years-old and ripped all kinds of species this past week including this trophy dorado.

PHOTO 7: Mike Alperin holds up a nice little roosterfish taken on 6 pound test. If you wanted roosters this week, we found a spot south of Muertos Bay with unlimited roosters. Alperin caught and released so many roosters “we stopped counting.” This is a perfect size for light tackle. Alperin also lost a fish estimated at over 50 pounds that chomped a huge ladyfish bait.

PHOTO 8 : Keith Mufford from British Columbie and Kelly Ashmore from Valencia CA hold up a pair of dorado they got at the outside buoys. Mufford had never fished salt water. Ashmore is constantly on the water. In addition to a box of dorado on this day, they also hooked 3 marlin including a double hook-up and released all fish.

PHOTO 9 : Just to show more of the inshore variety, Joe Fong from Laguna Beach holds o a jack crevalle (left) and a nice cabrilla (seabass on the right). Inshore fishing included sierra, jack crevalle, big eye jacks, snapper, pargo and pompano.

PHOTO 10: Yes, there’s still big yellowtail around, but since the dorado and pargo showed up, the focus has fallen off the great yellowtail bite. So, not many yellowtail on the books these days. However, outdoor writer and guide Ronnie Garrison from Atlanta GA holds up a fat yellowtail and lost many more to the rocks. Captain Jacobo lends a hand. Here’s what Ronnie wrote…

“. . .we went out with our local guide and fished all day in our old clothes. It was a fun trip. After buying live sardines for bait we headed to a ridge to fish. On the way we spotted a marlin and I found out why the outfitters are called Tail Hunters. As a marlin swims on the surface feeding its tail waves around and gives its location away. It was early in the season and the marlin did not bite.

We did land a 35 pound yellowtail. Linda hooked it and the guide took the rod from her when it looked like it was going to pull her in. He then handed it to me and I managed to land it. I found out how lucky I was when we hooked eight more yellowtail and every one cut our line on the rocks.”

PHOTO 11: Monica Calin originally from Romania and now living in La Paz always seems to do well. She was fishing with her boyfriend Kevin Beehn in the channel between the islands and got a nice bull dorado.

PHOTO 12: We had folks from all over the country this week. Rob Burns from Texas had a great few days of fishing with his family and hung a few of these big yellowtail.

PHOTO 12: We have a tremendous number of billfish in the area right now. One day they will barely give you a stare. The next day they are almost jumping in the boat! Pat Ireton from Pacific City, Oregon got this sailfish with Captain “Yofo” Adolfo and then released it.

WE NOW HAVE VIDEO!

Check out these clips from the past week. We’re doing our best to keep it fresh for you!

Click these links too!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRqLV4o2wAg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS5o-BNn2TI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_krVmqoXp-4

THE FISHING REPORT!

Check out the photos and it tells the story! Every week there’s another surprise. For a number of weeks the story was the great bite of big yelllowtail. Then dorado showed up and edged the yellows out of the spotlight. This week, it’s big pargo and roosterfish. This early season is the best we have had in ages!

Here’s the scoop…honestly, we had FEWER fish caught this week. However, the QUALITY of the fish was great. Big pargo…normally hard to catch…were breaking lines and rods. As one angler put it…”The waters were’t red with pargo! They were BLACK because the pargo were so thick!”

Additionally… We found a spot of roosterfish that yielded some of the BEST roosterfishing I have ever seen. With light tackle, the waters foamed around the pangas with as many 5-10 pound roosters as you could have wanted. I was on the water and we literally lost count of all the roosters we caught and released!

Are the yellowtail still there? I have to believe they are…but…we had a few days of wind which prevented anglers from heading to north Cerralvo. Further, folks were out chasing the dorado, pargo and even marlin and sailfish that have shown up a the outer buoys.

In all honesty…there are a few slow days. It’s not wide open. It depends on what variety of fish you are chasing and where you go. But EVERYONE is catching fish. I counted over 18 varieties of fish this week. Just alot of great fun.

One fishing tip…bring flurocarbon leaders! It makes a big difference with your bite. It’s very expensive to buy here in La Paz. You don’t need much. Just a few feet at the end of your line can make all the difference.

That’s my story. Have a great week!

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 91745Mexico 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.”

UNEXPECTED FISHING FOR YELLOWTAIL, DORADO AND EVEN MARLIN KICKED OFF THE WEEK BUT SHUT DOWN WHEN WINDS STARTED LATER IN THE WEEK.

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 20, 2008

PHOTO 1: Good- sized dorado…early for the season, continued to show up in surprising numbers. Spencer Lasley (L) and Jerry Smith (R) from Santa Rosa CA packed their coolers with dorado, yellowtail and a number of other species. These dorado were picked off outside Cerrlavo Island

PHOTO 2: All the way from Kansas, Marc Richert and Chris Richert are helped by Capt. Victor with one of their dorado. The pair had never been out’ve the country and were originally thinking of going to Cancun! Insstead, they came to La Paz and got dorado, yellowtail, roosterfish and marlin. Marc fought one striped marlin almost 3 hours on 30 pound test before it broke off.

PHOTO 3: This is the “right kind!” Note the colors on this young bull dorado held by Pete Schuller of Pacific City, Oregon. Check out the flat waters too. Captain Pancho is in the background. This dorado and others were taken off the 88 spot buoys outside Cerrlavo Island.

PHOTO 4: This is a typical nice inshore catch here by Mike Mamman and Scott Carpenter from Beaverton OR who came down for their birthdays. (They each got tatoos to commemorate the event!). In the photo you see dorado, sierra and pargo. All great eating fish!

THE FISHING REPORT

The week started off with a bang. Just like last week, the sound you heard was the sound of fish exploding at all points. The yellowtail (20-50 pounds) continued to rip at the El Bajo Seamount north of Espiritu Santo Island. Sardines worked, but if you had the bigger caballitos it was almost instant bendo as fish fought for the baits.

The surprising thing…dorado in the channel as well as marlin! This is a first for the year. Again…way earlier than normal, but just like the dorado and billfish that showed up far outside at the 88 spot, these fish are normally pretty dormant until later in May or June. However, I’ve been watching water temps and the sargasso weed building up north of town.

Wham! Sure enough, boats early in the week got into both species big time with some great battles on light tackle and some anglers getting their first dorado and marlin. So, it was a good grab bag…yellowtail in the morning then grand slam with a dorado or marlin in the afternoon!

As well for my fleet out of Muertos, early in the week, the big bite at La Reyna north of Cerralvo Island continued to kick out those monster yellowtail with boats taking 2-6 of the big fish each. Outside at the 88 and a few spots in the channel around buoys or clumps of grass, dorado were milling and ready to eat like hungry wolves!

Then the winds came up…

We’ve been living on borrowed time the last few weeks with not much in the way of winds, but late in the week, the seasonal winds we normally have started blowing making it downright uncomfortable if not impossible to get out to some of the big fish spots.

That meant back to inshore fishing.

So…roosters, sierra, cabrilla, big eye jacks, jack crevalle, bonito, skipjack punctuated by big pargo were the game toward the latter part of the week. The counts did not look good but that’s also because a lot of these fish, especially the pargo would take anglers to the rocks. So, lots of hook ups, but not so many fish brought into the boats. Lots of action! Winds will be intermittent all week so we’ll play it by ear.

It’s a warm 95 now! Break out the shorts!

ON A SADDER NOTE…

In a huge shock to all of us here in La Paz, fish brother, competitor and friend, Francisco “Pancho” Aguilar owner and operator of the Baja Pirate Fleet here in La Paz died suddenly this past week.

He was a good guy. Always smiling. He was out on the boats when hit by a massive heart attack. He was only 42 years old and left two kids including a newborn.

Pancho and I did a lot together in the mid-90’s and worked together. We’d laugh at each other seeing each other at 5 a.m. every morning then seeing each other in town at midnight the same day laughing our heads off figuring we were the only guys in town still working that long or that late.

As our respective fleets grew larger and business interests got more complicated we saw less of each other except the occasional bump into each other in town or see each other at the trade shows. But he always had a joke or we’d bitch about wind, bait or some “special” customer and again…crack up.

I will miss him. I don’t think I had seen him happier than in the last year or so after his marriage to La La.

His partner, Leonard Phillips, is setting up a educational trust fund for the two kids, Andrea (14) and Kamila (5 months). The trust is being administered by Bank of America and Bancomer for the benefit of the kids. (Andrea wants to be a chef!). You can donate by sending a check or calling in a credit card to:

Andrea & Kamila AguilarC/O Baja Pirates10016 Pioneer BoulevardSuite 110Santa Fe Springs, CA 90670Or call (866)454-5386

God bless our fish brother. Make each day special. Every day on the water is a gift.

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.”

THE BROTHER-IN-LAW-UNION!

Originally published in Western Outdoor News the Week of April 15, 2008

PHOTO 1: The sound of one man painting!

I get asked all the time what it’s like just moving down here to Mexico; to run a business; to build a house. The appeal of simply doing a “Jed Clampett: and loading up to move to the land of manana and tacos has an understandable appeal.

That is certainly reflected in the number of gringos snapping up property left and right all along the Baja Peninsula. The sound of the mariachis is now so often wrapped around the equally rancorous sound of earthmovers, backhoes and jackhammers. Que lastima!

I tell folks to read all they can. Get on the internet. Go to the bookstore. Get their hands and brains wrapped around as much literature as you can and absorb it all. Then quietly file it away because NOTHING ever works the way it’s planned down here.

For one thing, none of the books will ever tell you about the most powerful union here in Mexico. We have unions (sindicatos) for everything in Mexico. The waiters, taxi drivers, room cleaners…every occupation…has a union that can bring a business or project to it’s knees if you go sideways with them.

But none is stronger or more neglected than the infamous “Sindicato de Cunados!” Basically, the Union of Brother-in-Laws!

For example, I’ve spent about 3 years trying to get a simple concrete block building erected, re-modeled and opened up so I can run our business more effectively. Anyone who has tried building something in Mexico can bear witness. I got pulled into the trap early and has taken 3 years to finally catch on.

I have a guy who is cleaning some of the old concrete debris off the lot. I happen to mention, that I need some cabinetry work done. “Senor Jonathan, don’t worry. I will have my brother-in-law come down. He is a muy bueno carpintero (carpenter) .” Wow. Great. A personal reference and all.

I bring him on. He starts the project. Two days later, he quits. He says someone stole his tools. Can I help him out by loaning some money to buy tools s and take it off the bill? Well, I have half a shelf complete so I guess I’d better lend him the money so he can finish. Three days later, he’s no longer answering the phone. Neither is the first guy who referred him. I still have half a shelf.

Another “brother-in-law” was referred to patch a few cement holes in the wall. “Si, Senor Jonthan. Don’t worry. I have mucho experiencia!” I leave for a week. I come back and two of the 4 holes are patched.

But the guy had a truckload of sand dumped on the sidewalk outside the building blocking the walkway and into the street. He used all of two shovels of sand to make his cement patch. Then he left. He stopped answering his phone too!

I now have a 5-foot-high-pile of sand in front of my building that the kids use to play “King of the Hill.” The city say it will give me a citation for blocking a public walkway and causing a traffic hazard into the boulevard. Of course, I paid another “brother-in-law” to truck it back somewhere else. I didn’t ask and didn’t want to know.

I had a brother-in-law welder do some great iron work for me so I gave him a project of building me a gate. It was beautiful too. Until I tried to open it. He had welded it shut.

Another brother-in-law was referred by several people as being a “great professional painter.” I got a quote from him to paint several rooms. “Senor Jonathan, one week job. That is it!”

Three weeks later, when I come back, they have not finished. “We only had one paint brush” says the head brother-in-law. “In our quote we made a mistake and did not include extra paint brushes so we only had one.” They did not buy more because I told them not to go over the budget!

Two watched while one painted. Then, it was the next guys’ turn and the other two watched. Three weeks of this. From what I’ve heard, that’s the prototype “union” job. One works and two watch.

And it was not the right color. They thought I would like the color THEY chose better. They also explained that the color they chose was cheaper so it saved me more money!

If I did not like the color, no worries. They would happily re-do it again with the right color! And they would give me a good quote and INCLUDE enough paint brushes. Only problem is that the color I wanted is now no longer in stock and will take 1 month to get.

But don’t worry. They have another brother-in-law in the paint business who can get the paint faster. For a small fee. Of course. A discount no less because “Somos familia!” (We are family!) He says with a grin!

Ah, the union. It goes on and on! I have met and had the pleasure to work with so very many good workers down here. Many become friends. But beware the Union of Brother-in-Laws! There is one to fix your car; install your TV; and build you a wall. Most of the time, you just have to laugh and roll with it. Shake your head. That’s Mexico.

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

WINDS DIE DOWN ! WATERS GO OFF WITH THE BEST WEEK OF FISHING FOR THE YEAR!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Sunday April 13, 2008

Amigos…

I’m not sure where to start. What an incredible week. They say pictures are worth a thousand words so I’m gonna let this week’s photos tell the story.

For one, we had our 8th Annual Cabin Fever Classic and it was banner. Not only a great fun crowd but, more fish than we have ever seen. Remember…this is supposed to be APRIL!!! Instead of cold inshore fishing we had temperatures in the 90’s…and unbelievably HOT fishing. I counted over 15 different species taken over the course of the week.

And…these weren’t all yellowtail….DORADO…big bulls…the kind we don’t see until summer fought and charged the baits while marlin and sailfish also went after the same baits as if they hadn’t eaten all winter!!! Scroll down and read the tales!

PHOTO 1: Look VERY carefully? See some strange looking fish? Yes..those are indeed DORADO! In April! The buoys out at the 88 spot east of Cerralvo turned into a fishing honey hole this past week. Look also at all the big yellowtail too! North of Cerralvo at La Reyna lighthouse 30 and 40 pound HAWG yellowtail ripped surface baits like candy! Left to right: Pete Schuller (Pacific City OR); Larry Parnell (Pacific City Or): Pat Ireton (Pacific City OR); Jill Stevens (San Diego CA); JD Drucker (Redondo Beach CA); Bob Handigard (Portland Or); Stacy Amos (Harbor City CA); Gary Evans (Irvine CA); Bill Evans (La Paz BCS); Brett Wizniewski (Pacific City OR)

PHOTO 2: Bill Evans helps his brother Gary Evans (middle) and Captain Jorge hold up a 140 pound striper Gary fought over 3 1/2 hours on light line. It was his first trip to Baja and he got numerous species. Normally early season billfish are lethargic, but this past week marlin and sails charged the boat while dorado milled about. The dorado were so prolific that while Gary fought the marlin, Bill was able to put several bull doardo aboard. The guys had planned to release the billfish, but found it bleeding badly and instead donated the fish to the town of San Pedro.

PHOTO 3: Check out the smile and the big pargo! Angela Farrell of Oceanside CA comes down several times a year and never fails to rip up the waters. Here she took this big pargo liso off the rocks near Punta Perico on a Whopper Stopper rod and 40 pound test with a live sardine. Numerous pargo were hooked all week but so many were lost in the rocks. At one point. several of our anglers marveled as a “river of red” seemed to rise up about 100 yards long of nothing but 20-50 pound pargo! Many fish could NOT be stopped with 60 and 80 pound test!

PHOTO 4: This was NOT taken in the summer! Look at this bull doardo! We do NOT see this kind of quality dorado normally this year. Stacy Amos hold up a quality mahi he took out at the 88 spot east of Cerralvo. Stacy got limits of dorado and said there were many others plus billfish around the boat. As long as the winds are down, there’s a warm spot out there holding these bluewater fighters and they are eager to hit about anything tossed in the water!

PHOTO 5: Gary Palese and Bob Robins are two of our long-time amigos. Both are from Arizona. Check out the quality slugger yellowtail and the flat waters. This past week it was a bit of a ride to north Cerralvo, but anyone who went there ran into fish that were some of the biggest and baddest we’ve had in years. I personally had 3 fish on 50 pound test I could not stop before they rocked me! Air temps have been in the low to mid-90’s!

PHOTO 6: Larry Parnell and Pat Ireton from Pacific City OR were among our first pangas to find the dorado spot outside. Pretty much against all better judgement they went out there anyway and came back with tales of the big honey hole out there filled with milling dorado and billfish. These aren’t early season punk fish. These are full-grown summer swimmers!

PHOTO 7 : Lots of anglers this week got their first species ever like dorado, yellowtail, billfish, pargo and many other species. For some, it was their biggest yellowtail. Jillene Stevens, originally from San Diego grew up fishing S.California waters but never tangled with any yellowtail like this big 40 pound class forktail. She put two in the boat at the north end of Cerralvo Island off the La Reyna lighthouse in waters that were also alive with barracuda, jacks and 10 pound bonito. She yelled, “It’s a wonder!”

PHOTO 8: The tale of the “tails” just kept rolling! Steve Marabella (right from Wilmington CA) has been here plenty of times. So has Mark (“spread ’em”) Cabatuan from Santa Maria CA and seem to do better each time they roll in. This one day, the two anglers took 12 big yellowtail “until their arms fell off!”

PHOTO 9 : JD Drucker is also one of our frequent offender amigos from Redondo Beach, but invited his pal Bob Handigard from Oregon to join out Cabin Fever Classic this past week. They both stuffed ice chests with a variety of fish!

PHOTO 10: Two of the best eating and most prized inshore fishing from our area are being held up by Stacy Amos of Harbor City CA. With al the attention on chasing the big yellowtail as well as the dorado, everyone was ignoring the great inshore bite on the rocks just outside of Muertos Bay for pargo and cabrilla like these held by Stacy. Other species this week included big-eye jacks, jack crevalle, sierra, snapper and roosterfish.

PHOTO 11: Gary Evans and Bill Evans had 3 days of off-the-charts fishing. At La Reyna, they got these nice yellowtail. The key was heavy line; short rods and FLUROCARBON LEADERS!!! Mainlines were usually 40-60 pound test minimum. No spectra needed because these fish weren’t running far, but the mono is prime to keep the baits swimming right. The problem (not really) was that there are also so many big bonito and schools of barracuda in the area that EVERY bait got eaten sometimes before the yellowtail could get them but the big homeguards were swirling on the surface.

PHOTO 12: They’ve been on these pages numerous time. Tim and Angela Farrell…always spank the fish. The Oceanside CA couple hold some BIG TIME pargo liso. The pargo are up and spawning now. Only problem is that they are in shallow waters with big rocks.

PHOTO 13 : They are almost getting ignored, but schools of sierra are still roaming the inshore waters. Chad here is holding up a nice speedster headed to ceviche and chips! Great light tackle fare but wire is needed to guard against the teeth.

And that’s my story, amigos! The secret is really the winds. When the winds ;lay down, we can fish pretty much anywhere and chase all these species. When the winds blow (normal for this time of year). we’re more restricted to inshore fishing. However, the appearance of dorado and billfish is really unusual for this time of year and in these numbers and quality. We’ll keep you posted!

Have a great week!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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

E-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com

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