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April 5, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: The “right kind!” This is Kevin Beehn from South San Francisco CA. Kevin has been in our pages before. He’s holding an El Bajo yellowtail caught this week on the seamount north of town. For the good part of last week, the winds stayed down allowing access to the distant high spots which has kicked out a consistent bite almost ever day…as long as the winds stayed down.

PHOTO 2: Two yellowtail taken by Monica who is Kevin’s girlfriend from S. San Fransisco and holds up two that are almost as heavy as she is. Big fish continued to come from the area north of La Paz in perhaps the best bite of yellowtail in recent memory.

PHOTO 3: Here’s Kevin again. Two more fish. Had to include this one just ‘cuz I like when people take different photos with a sense of humor! Thanks, Kevin!

PHOTO 4: Cary McDermott of Las Vegas NV put this toad yellowtail on board the panga when he fished off Punta Perrico south of La Paz just outside of Muertos Bay.

PHOTO 5: Here’s a fish we chase and hook, but don’t often put in the boat! This is a pargo liso or “mullet snapper.” Schools of these badboys are roaming the shallows in their annual spawn. This is an “average” fish. Larger fish are rarely taken simply because they go right into the rocks. Mike Mattes of the San Fernando Valley area near Los Angeles jumped in his plane on a spur-of-the-moment-trip to get in on the yellowtail and pargo fishing.

PHOTO 6: Lots of Oregon folks down here and others from the Pacific Northwest soaking up sunshine right now. Nathan and Ryan Tarbet from Portland OR, came down for a week with their family and got a variety of fish including some big yellowtail like this one off Punta Perrico.
PHOTO 7: Glen McCarthy from Las Vegas ripped up a nice sierra here. Quite a few sierra are still in the area despite warming waters. Great eating and excellent fighters with a mout full of sharp teeth, sierra are an excellent game fish and table fare despite being members of the mackerel family.

PHOTO 8: One of our favorite Oregon amigos, Bruce Tarbet goes a little sideways on us to show off a nice jack crevalle (“toro”) he took. Schools of these feisty fish are up in the shallow waters offshore right now.

PHOTO 9: Just to show you the incredible variety, roosterfish have also come into the picture now. Captain Gerardo hold up a good roosterfish that Diane Tarbet caught on a day out’ve Muertos Bay. The roosters came a little earlier this year. Diane is from Portland OR.

MORE THAN A DOZEN VARIETIES OF FISH MARK THE WEEK WITH YELLOWTAIL, PARGO, ROOSTERS and even some DORADO (yes, that’s right!) ON THE BITE!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for April 6, 2008

I guess this is one of those weeks, when I’ll let the photos above do the talking!

For some folks it’s probably some of the best fishing ever. Big yellowtail continued on the non-windy days north of town at the El Bajo Seamount, but with diminishing winds it allows us to check out other areas as well.

North Point at the north end of Cerralvo Island, the La Reyna light house, Punta Perrico, the Rock Highway (S. Cerralvo) and some others all produced fish this week. At times, it was a pick bite but on others, anglers described big fish simply “foaming” on the surface.

Not every day and every location was full turbo on the yellowtail, but there was enough action on enough other species to give everyone opportunities to get fish. Albeit, even if they weren’t the big sluggers, there were still big pargo…sierra…skipjack…snapper…cabrilla…jack crevalle…big eye jacks…pompano…and others! One day, I counted more than 15 species taken and not a needlefish in the bunch. If you were a light tackle angler these are some of the most sought after species on the light sticks and line.

However…that’s also undergunned for most of these fish…You want the bigger artillery.

Heavy line and fluro leaders are still the inside track to the bigger fish, but Rapalas and slow trolled BIG live bait also produced panga- stopping strikes!

On the days when the wind blew, the bite dropped off and winds hampered fishing later in the week. However, overall, not many complaints about the fishing….

Oh… as I was going to press on this fishing report, we had some EARLY season bull dorado caught as well this week and 1 marlin hook up. This is dynamite winds as this means perhaps warmer water species are coming early!

That’s my story! Have a great week

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: , 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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March 29, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: Yellowtail like this show up in the spring in the Sea of Cortez

PHOTO 2: This is off Cerralvo Island. It’s the kind of trophy type yellows the Sea of Cortez is known for.

YELLOWTAIL I.Q.
Originally published in Western Outdoor News the week of April 3, 2008
I think it’s called “repetitive learning.” With apologies to all you educators out there, it’s the idea that the best way to learn something is repeat the same action over and over. Eating with chopsticks Learning a language. How to play an instrument. And yes…fishing.

When you get to see and chase a fish day-after-day it helps to hone your craft. For example, I used to advise anglers that by going out on a single over night trip out’ve San Diego for tuna for 5 years probably isn’t going to make them a better tuna fisherman. Time (and money) ultimately is better spent on one FIVE day trip where your learning curve will accelerate.

You have the opportunity to learn from mistakes and still get in on the next bite. You get to try tricks and methods you would not normally get to try on a single venture where the bite could be over by the time you realize you have the wrong hook size and it’s time to go home. Too bad. So sad. Thank you for riding. See you next year.

Where I have my fleet here in La Paz, we’re not really a yellowtail fishery. When folks want to really catch a yellowtail in Baja, I refer them up north to places like Mulege, Santa Rosalia, Loreto or Bay of Los Angeles, where the waters run cooler and the back of those big homeguard fish run deep emerald green!

Down further south where we are, our bread-and-butter fish are the dorado, tuna, billfish, etc. We get our share of yellowtail, but nothing like they get to the north. You sure don’t hear about many yellowtail even further south of us on the East Cape or Cabo.

So, although I think I’m pretty above-average on the bluewater species, I’m not bad on yellowtail, but understandably there’s room for improvement and believe me, I’ve caught my share of the big forktails.

Well, we’ve actually had an incredible yellowtail bite here for about the last two months. Fish are deep. They are in the middle of the water column. They are foaming and crashing on the surface with birds diving on them like the tales you read about from Ray Cannon or your grandfather told you about. You just don’t see things like that very often. Or at all. Tuna boil. Dorado boil. You don’t see many yellowtail boils these days.

One things for sure, yellowtail are members of the jack family (amberjack, pompano, jack crevalle, big eye jacks, roosterfish, etc.) and any fish with that pedigree is a natural fighter. Like any one with the last name of Monzano must make a mean spaghetti sauce. The guy named Lee in the action film is the martial arts master.

When yellowtail fight, all have that burst of bruising energy to want to take it down and deep right back to the cover from where they came. Whether that be some weed patch; some rocky pinnacle or some wreck. That’s where they want to go and your new two-speed be damned.

So the deeper you fish them, the greater the chance they are already half-way home to cover. It might be rare, but getting them on the surface or higher in the water column increases your chances of success. The problem with yellowtail is that they don’t often give you the level playing field. Everything is in their favor and they like to play below the surface.

So, let me pass on a few things I’ve learned over the last few weeks of yellowtail fishing that I had not known before. Some completely stunned me.

My best yellowtail lure, when they would hit a lure, would be a slow trolled crank-bait like a big Bomber, Rapala, Yozuri or similar. I have found that making a commotion on the water like with a spreader bar of small hoohies or even daisy-chained hoohies will get them up and hitting. They will even hit a fast skipped rubber swim bait. The bigger the swimmer, the harder the strike.

I grew up always thinking that yellowtail will only hit the fastet-jigged lure. It was “yellowtail catechism” that you cranked your iron as hard and as fast until your arms came off the socket to get a yellowtail interested. It’s like getting a cat interested in chasing a ball of yarn. Roll fast and kitty chases!

Instead on several occasions, the slow-retrieve lure with the big wiggle has outfished the ultra-retrieve yo-yo iron. My arms actually were falling out of the sockets and I’m getting old so I slowed down. WHAM! Hook –up!

I also experienced that a slow-trolled bait below the surface works better than a lure. Nose hook the bait. About 3 feet ahead, actually tie a torpedo sinker to the line using a smaller diameter line like say 10 pound test. It’s almost like a dropper loop except trolled. A 2 to 4 oz sinker is about right to keep the bait just below the surface a few feet. A simple overhand knot on the sinker is enough to keep the sinker while trolling, but quickly breaks off after a strike.

Over the years, I have found green line outfishes other colors close to shore, but fluorocarbon leaders outfish green line. But they break off more fish. It’s a trade off. I’d rather get bit.

Just my opinion and some observations. I’m fishing tomorrow and all of this could be completely wrong…again! That’s fishing for you. Just when I feel confident… all this could change. It’s what makes it fun!

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

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March 29, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: You’ve seen these two guys before. They are regular poster children with Tailhunter International because they always do so well AND take great photos. Mitch Chavira and Charlie McGhee from San Diego area are holding a few of their many yellowtail they took fishing over several days down here.

PHOTO 1: Fresh off the rail…Punta Perrico in the background. Mitch and Charlie hold two more forkies.

PHOTO 3: This is what the term “mossback” means. It’s the dark green/emerald back of a big old yellowtail. Also called “homeguards” because they don’t seem to migrate as much and hold “down home” in the rocks and other areas where they grow big and mean!

PHOTO 4: Helmut Tutass from the S.F. Bay area is a professional commercial diver up there and came down for some sunshine. He stands here with Captain Victor on the beach at Muertos holding a nice yellowtail.
PHOTO 6: Helmut Tutass and his wife, Mary, also spent a day fishing north of La Paz and hit El Bajo Seamount where he got 6 yellowtail and 3 other broke off.
YELLOWTAIL EXPLODE NORTH OF LA PAZ AS EL BAJO LIVES UP TO ITS REPUTATION!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Sunday March 30, 2007

Sure….here you go… it;s kinda hard to believe, but let me put this into context…

Normally, La Paz isn’t exactly Yellowtail Central. We get our share, but the normal Meccas for yellowtail are north of here in Loreto, Mulege, Santa Rosalia, Bay of L.A., etc. Normally, when we do get the yellows, it’s in late March or April.

This year, they started two months ago and the bite has just gotten better. As winter winds have given way, the yellowtail have come on like gangbusters. The initial bite was mostly off Bahia de Los Muertos in the shallow rocky waters just off Punta Perrico not 5 minutes away from where our panga fleets leave the beach. Unlike early fish, these fish kicked right off the bat with 30 and 40 pound sluggers!

And it got better from there. As the winds diminished, other spots north of La Paz around Cerralvo Island and Espiritu Santo Island joined the fray. Some days are better than others, but overall, this is possibly the best yellowtail bite we’ve seen in years. At El Bajo yellowtail, normally deep fish, are crashing and foaming on the surface chasing baits with bird diving on the melee. At La Reyna north of Cerralvo, the lighthouse and other high spots are producing fish tickling the 50 pound mark on big baits and iron. And, the original spot between Muertos Bay and Las Arenas seems to have that same school holding and holding. These fish are not line shy and have been hitting, 40, 50 and 60 pound test, but probably 50 percent or more of the fish are rocking anglers or busting them off. The key is to get out early and get to the fish first and before the sun gets too high.

For about 3 or 4 days this past week, the bite was just solid. El Bajo, especially, north of town was producing 5-10 fish per boat. with anglers telling me that they lost almost as many. Several rods got busted. Literally snapped. As one angler told me, “I had my Shimano 30 buttoned down in full drag with 60 pound test and could NOT stop the fish!” Another wasn’t ready when he got hit and was almost yanked over the side had the captain not grabbed him.

The La Paz side was definitely the hot spot this past week, but as we got into the weekend, perhaps because of more traffic on the spot, the bite slowed. For our hot spot at Muertos, the yellows were not quite so thick…at least, not as many fish were put on the boat, but….whoaaaa…the pargo jumped into the gap!

The pargo have been getting ignored, but they came on strong this week. Lots of hookups on BIG fish, but not many made it to the boats. Perhaps 1 fish out’ve 10-15 hook ups! That’s how powerful these fish are! But, we also had good light tackle action on a variety of other species including sierrra, big eye jacks, jack crevalle, pompano and roosterfish, not to mention bonito and skip jack. All-in-all, a pretty good week!

Tell ya what…if you’re coming down…here’s some tips..heavy short rods…40-60 pound test…flurocarbon leaders in 30-80 pound diameters are working well.

PERSONAL ACCOUNTS
This is what Mitch Chavira had to say:
“These fish are brute’s and you gotta pick up the Pace. Pro or not, if you hook a big guy and he’s close to the rocks it’s all you can do to stop em. You need luck and experience. We did well with our loss ratio at Punta Perrico but it was much tougher at El Bajo. The day we got 12, we were rocked on about 35% of our bites. It was a very steady bite all day. We played around with some A & B testing of fluorocarbon vs. mono and various line weights, 30, 40, 60 and it didn’t seem to matter. The key to getting bit is to watch the water for boils, and chum like crazy. You gotta get em going and get bit near the surface to have the best shot at boating these slugs. We were also using short stout rods with A LOT of back bone. If you cant show these toads who’s boss from the get go, you’re in trouble. I think the ideal line would be 50lb maxima ultra green on a small two speed like a Shimano TLD 20 or a star drag Trinidad 40.”
This is Charlie’s take on it:
“We fished an hour earlier than anyone else every day and we fished twice one day. In fact, I would recommend that you put your costumers on your first boats out at Muetros as the bite is very short lived and always shut down around 8:30 when we were there. We fished with 40# Floro for the first three days at Muertos. No real problem with the rocks as the captains pull the fish into the deep water. When we got out to El Bajo, I decided to see if Floro mattered. I silently went to straight tie. No difference! It makes me think that 60 might be the call at el Bajo as the rocks got all the big ones. (You need to button it down and pull! There are some big fish there just waiting to be caught). We fished with Mustads. I think I am totally over the Owner and Gamagatsu thang! $4.95 for a pack of 20 hooks is just right for me. I’m sorry but those hooks don’t make you a better fisherman.As far as iron is concerned, I am an iron guy and I tried like hell to catch a fish on iron. I hooked one on surface iron, throwing into a boil. Nothing on yoyo (iron).”
Thanks, guys!
That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
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.”

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March 23, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: Professor David Dorado is marine biologist and college professor who specializes in fisheries. Here he holds up a namesake dorado! He actually has done studies showing that warm water pelagic species in Baja fight harder than their cold water cousins!

PHOTO 2: Does a 20 pound dorado fight harder than a 20 pound king salmon? Our amigo, Ed Robison of Whopper Stopper Rods holds up a nice Sitka, Alaska king. With all due respect, there’s now clinical evidence showing why warm water predators fight harder!

BAJA FISH FIGHT HARDER!

Originally published in Western Outdoors Magazine Spring of 2008

For those of you who’ve ever been in the middle of this conversation, see if this discussion sounds familiar:

“Where I come from in Alaska, there’s nothing that fights like a 40 pound king salmon.”

“Pound for pound in Southern California, I”ll put my money on a yellowtail. They’ll eat your king salmon for lunch and bring you to your knees.”

“I landed a 200 pound halibut once and let me tell you, you ain’t been fishing until one of those busts you up!”

“You guys are crazy. Striped bass are studs. Hell, if they ever grew a 100 pound striper, your yellowtail and hal-eee-but would run for cover!”

“Oh right. You guys ever had a tuna on the end of your line? A hundred pound yellowfin or bluefin will rip you over an hour. It’s first run will tear over 100 yards of line. In fact, any member of the tuna family, even a 15 pound bonito will probably outfight any of those other weenie fish!”

And so the chest thumping and fist (fish?) pumping goes on. We’ve been doing it since the age when dirt was already old and and we “hunter gatherers” were hunkered around a campfire with our loincloths and our bushy single-eyebrow across our sloped foreheads. The controversy over which fish fights harder has raged.

Like football fans at tailgate party, pumped up for their hometown team, every “tribe” insisted it had bigger, badder, meaner, tougher…blah blah blah…fish. No one ever got to be chief or got his picture painted on cave wall claiming to have battled a guppie!

Well, given our age of technology and information, there aren’t too many subjects that haven’t been researched and I thought I’d actually see if there is one type of fish that fights harder or longer than another.

Turns out there is! Turns out someone has actually done the research and is an expert on the combative abilities of fish. And he’s a fisherman too!

Professor Dave Dorado (Iam not making this up. This is really his name!) teaches marine biology at Fullerton Junior College in Southern California. He has taught more than 20 year including more than a decade at his current post. He has done extensive field studies in Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and currently spend good portions of his year in Baja and the Sea of Cortez.

According to Professor Dorado, there are two basic types of sportfish. One is the open-water predator that chases and hunts its food. The second is the “sit-and-wait” predators that pounce on their food.

“The fast swimming, open-water, pursuit predators like the tuna or dorado have darker muscle or more dense blood vascularity within their musculature, therefore their meat is darker in color. These fish have high blood flow in them and also have a protein (Hemoglobin) in their red blood cells which specifically has a high affinity(magnetism) for oxygen.”

He adds,” So when they breathe water through their blood saturated gills, the hemoglobin sucks the oxygen out of the water and then carries it to the muscle where the muscle has another protein (Myoglobin) which even has a higher affinity for oxygen than hemoglobin does.
According to the professor, it’s the concentration of hemoglobin and myoglobin in the muscles that contribute to the darker meat of the predatory open-water fish and their corresponding strong taste.

It also affects their fighting ability.

“These fish are constantly moving around and need to breathe a lot, due to the large amount of muscle in their body. A large constant supply of oxygen is needed for these fish to stay alive. They are very unique in such a way that their body is very streamlined and their opercula are almost rigidly open.”

“ The muscles of the opercula (gills) are not that strong in opening and closing them in order to pump sufficient water through the gills to oxygenate the tissues. Therefore, these fish opt to use their muscular tails to push their body through the water with the mouth open while swimming fast, instead of pushing the water through the mouth while sitting still.”

Hence, they have to move and move fast to keep enough oxygen in their systems making them hard-chargers by nature!

Contrast these to the “sit-and-wait” predators who don’t necessarily chase their food.

“Sit and Wait Predators” or “regular” fish like Rockfish or Calico Bass would use their gills as a vehicle to pump the water through their gills instead. These fish obviously have blood in them with hemoglobin, but as predictable, their muscle contains less myoglobin; is on the whiter side, and has a lower oxygen requirement . They also have less fight in them as well. Their ability to pump their gills sufficiently for the acquisition of oxygen is what gives them the “sit and wait” predatory ability, “ explains the professor.

Bottom line, open water fish fight harder than inshore fish.

“The open water fish are constantly moving; inherently fast; streamlined, and provide excellent long battles for the sportfisherman. This type of fish lives its life ‘faster’, so it normally doesn’t live a very long comparative life to the sit-and-wait predator. “

They sit-and-wait predator can remain still for long times, (but) can still be fast for short distances. However, they usually seek cover instead of trying to outrun a fisherman, once the hook is set. “

There is one caveat according to Professor Dorado. “The last bit here is the mixture of these traits like in albacore, or wahoo. Both have white meat and usually have one or two good runs in them once hooked. . . then nothing. No myoglobin, (hence) no endurance to speak of.”

Even among say the dark meat tuna family, the fish with the darker meat are the strongest. As an example, he says if a 400 pound bonito existed it would tear apart a similar 400 pound yellowfin tuna. By that rationale he says that is also why the “the bluefin tuna is probably the hardest fighting gamefish on the planet” given the size they attain.

But there’s one other factor which leads to the conclusion that the warmer water fish of the Baja are tougher fighters simply because of their geographic location. Basically, he explains why two tuna…one taken in say, Cabo San Lucas where waters are warmer or on a San Diego Long Range boat fishing the Ridge would fight harder than the same sized tuna taken off San Clemente Island south of Los Angeles.

He says it has to do with the viscosity of the water and the amount of oxygen it holds. He says the warmer the water the less oxygen it contains. It also has less viscosity so it’s easier to swim through.

According to the professor, “When it comes to water quality, the hotter the water, the lower it’s viscosity and the lower the solubility of gases within it (Warm up a pot of water at home and watch the oxygen bubble out of it). Gases will diffuse less into warmer water than into colder water so there will be less oxygen in warmer water but the water is easier to swim through. “

“Colder water has more oxygen in it, but it also has a greater viscosity. The colder the water, the colder the body temperature of the fish./ This will undoubtedly contribute to the fish being more lethargic and less active. When we hook a large (warm blooded) pursuit predatory fish in warm water, hang on, they are fighting against you and for limited oxygen…struggling hard to breath efficiently.”

So, all you Baja anglers, high-five and pump your chests. You can collect on those bets now.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

If you ever need to reach me, my e-mail is riplipboy@aol.com. My website is www.tailhunter-international.com Come fish with us!

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March 23, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: Whoaa…off Punta Perrico the yellowtail are still milling! These first two photos are two of our best amigos and favorite poster boys! They know how to fish and they also take great photos for us trip after trip. This is Charlie “Stix” McGhee, a great drummer, music professor and angler. We’ve done several long range trips together. Stix knows how to put fish in the boat. This yellowtail is impressive. It’s almost as tall as him…and Charlie is taller than me!

PHOTO 2: Mitch Chavira, like Charlie McGhee also from the San Diego area and perhaps one of the best anglers in our area. He’s another of our poster boys. I have so many photos of him over the years as well as his son, Cole. Many of them make it into the magazines that I write for. Mitch knows how to pose with a fish! Check out this huge yellowtail. Note the calmness of the water and how close they are to shore! I keep telling folks that unlike so many other places in the Baja, we don’t have to go out very far for our fish! The guys fished at Punta Perrico which is literally 5 minutes away from where the boats left the beach.

They got 12 of these in one day. Some anglers are hooking this many, but the fish are taking them into the rocks. When these bad boys bite, you gotta PULL and lock down. Once they turn their heads…you’re done! Mitch and Charlie have fished the area for years and have done big fish out at Guadalupe Island as well.

PHOTO 3 : Jack Galloway from Alaska came down for some sunshine and tangled with some of our big yellowtail. This is an absolute HAWG fish! The yellowtail continued to bite off Punta Perrico, but some of the other area also started to open up as well.

PHOTO 4: A great rack of trophy-size yellowtail. This bite has been ongoing now for the better part of two months…close to shore and fish willing to eat live bait in shallow water. Fish are going 20-40 pounds with some larger. Great eating!
PHOTO 5: Sara Galloway is 12 years old. She and her dad came from Alaska. Take a look at this great picture! That’s a big mossback yellowtail she has there and check out the other ‘tails behind her. Sara got a couple of these fish with her dad, but lots of fish are getting the better of anglers taking them into the rocks before they can dig in and get the fish out!

PHOTO 6: Take a look at the size of this big boy (No, I’m not talking about Captain Victor who seems to be wearing a bit of winter weight…we’ll work it off him!). Seals got into the act and tore into some big fish. Nothing more frustrating than hooking a fish then watching the dogs get him. We don’t normally have a problem with seals, but every now and then one gets a wild hair and comes out to the fishing grounds ruining some great trophy fish!
PHOTO 7: I guess this needs no explanation. This is the bandito. I don’t like to hurt ’em permanently , but I don’t want them around either. That’s why I always try to keep a dead bonito or skipjack around. If the sealion comes around, I fill up the inside of that dead fish full of the hottest hot sauce I can find and throw it at the seal. The seal gulps it and immediately goes ballistic flipping around the ocean. And goes away!

PHOTO 8: This one made it to the boat. Great photos and a trophy fish for Sara. This would be great framed. That’s alot of meat there. Captain Victor lends a hand. Even a 12-year-old can do it!
MORE BIG YELLOWTAIL ROMP ON ANGLERS AT MUERTOS, BUT CALMING WINDS ALSO PRODUCE FISH NORTH OF LA PAZ!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 23, 2007

Happy Easter everyone! God bless you all and your families!

The yellowtail got bigger, feistier and hungrier this past week. Check out these photos above. I guess if you just read the captions, there’s not much more for me to write without sounding like a broken record! See, the thing is, La Paz just isn’t known as a great yellowtail fishery. When someone says, ” I really want to catch yellowtail!” and are in earnest, I usually send them to Loreto, Mulege or Santa Rosalia where the waters are cooler and the yellowtail fishery is much more predominant.

La Paz gets it share of yellowtail, but it’s sometimes hit or miss. We get a few days in spring, then nothing, then a few more days, then nothing, then a few more days. You get the idea. Fortunately, other fish are often biting when the yellowtail aren’t biting.

But this season the yellowtail have come on like gangbusters and they showed up early. Normally, we don’t see yellows until late March or April, but these fish have been parked off Punta Perrico for the better part of two months. How long will they stay? I have no idea!!! The neat thing is that with the winds calming, we can now start checking out some of the other spots like Espiritu Santo Island or El Bajo or other spots around Cerralvo that have been too rough to get to. Who knows? Maybe even more and bigger yellowtail! We do know that some schools of the big pargo have started showing up around Cerralvo in a couple of our secret spots and also amberjack as well…the big toad boys that go up to 100 pounds. One lump of about 60 was hooked and busted off near the boat at color! But the captain told me he saw larger ones following it up as amberjack will often do! Dang…that gets my toes curling thinking about that. We actually got a few of those big boys last season!

Anyway, the yellowtail are eating sardines. No secret about that. Same with the pargo. Same with the roosterfish and cabrilla. Same with he sierra and big eye jacks we are also catchiing as well.

The biggest problem has been the seals and the rocks. Both are out there ready to cut you off! You really can’t horse with these fish. You have to turn their heads and get them to the boat ASAP! The longer they are in the water, the great the chance you’re gonna lose it!

We’ll keep you posted!

ALASKA RATES DROP

We noticed that on selected dates, Alaska Airlines has dropped it’s rates again. We found some as low as $350 round trip from Los Angeles to La Paz and back. That’s incredible. It was close to double that early in the year! Alaska flies Mon/ Wed/ Saturdays into La Paz. If you happened to purchase one of the higher priced tickets early, you may want to re-book at the lower rate. Even if Alaska charges 75 bucks or so to re-book, you still save money!

FISHING IN A PEN? IS THIS CHEATING? OR ARE YOU JUST A WEENIE? Hahahahaha….Man up!

Click this. Can you believe it? They are putting marlin in a pen as well as tuna, jacks, wahoo…whatever fish your little heart always dreamed of catching. They put the boat in the pen with you and the fish and you hook up. Guaranteed!!! C’mon… Big bad big game fisherman!!! Pound your chest! Maybe this is what it’s coming to!

It’s a fishing ranch, where they catch ’em; grow ”em in a pen just so YOU can tell everyone you caught a grander marlin or 200 pound tuna! Click this: http://www.bluewaterfishingranch.com/

Have a great week!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
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.”

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March 16, 2008 by riplipboy

FORWARD THROUGH A REAR VIEW MIRROR

Published originally in Western Outdoor News the week of March 17, 2007

The great radio journalist Paul Harvey once wrote a piece about dirt roads. With apologies to him if I paraphrase and dig out parts from memory, he wrote that people were just different when they were on, near or lived near dirt roads.

He said values were different before the dirt was paved. Back in the day, dirt roads taught you that despite the teeth jarring, mud and dirt, life could be a little bumpy. But everything would be OK if at the end of the road, there was either a warm home, a dog, a fishing hole or some place to fish.

There was no street crime before the road was paved. Drive by shootings? I don’t think so.

Dirt roads taught you patience. No one tailgated. You could only go as fast as you could go and you took the time to look at things around you and see where you were.

You got closer to your family, friends and neighbors because of that dirt road. You didn’t just zip to the movies or store. You talked. You actually conversed. You depended on each other.

Early on when I first started running our fishing biz, I wore many hats, metaphorically speaking. We all did. We all still do. When dollars/ pesos are short and you don’t have a staff, you do what needs to be done.

So, back in the day, I cleaned boats; made breakfasts and lunches; cleaned the fishing gear and washed wetsuits. I sharpened the hooks. I fixed flat tires. I made beds. And many times, I drove. And I drove.

I would drive our anglers down 10 miles of Baja road twice and sometimes four times a day down to the beach where our pangas waited. All their gear, ice chests and bags stuffed and packed as well as could be.

But let me tell you about that dirt road.

It was the archetype of Baja roads. It suddenly appeared at the end of the pavement. It just started and off it went. There was nothing gradual or subtle about the way it started or how it treated you along the way. It could be brutal.

In some spots it was little more than a one-laned burro path where a four-wheeler would be better suited. Mini-arroyos (gullies) marked the way and pockmarks were the rule rather the exception. Sandy in some spots, but more often rutted with kidney rattling washboards, the road ate tires, rims and suspensions on a regular basis. We had running jokes about nuts, bolts and screws that simply shook loose from places we didn’t know had nuts and bolts!

The abandoned carcasses of other unfortunate vehicles cannibalized for parts and left to oxidize in the Baja sun could often be seen among the arid parched cactus groves covering the route as far as the eye could see. Emaciated cattle, horses and burros, those icons of the Baja desert, were as much a part of the road as the heat that would sometimes rise off the road in waves.

And there was no escape from the dust. From start to stop we choked on the dust and heat. Our vans had air-conditioning only because we drove fast with the windows down!

And we jolted and careened and bitched about it. More often than not we laughed along the way; sang with the radio; told lots of bad jokes and there was always one guy in the back who ate too many frijoles that made everyone’s eyes burn or roar with hilarity. In the rearview mirror, he was always the guy I could see grinning.

In the mornings, there was always the excitement and anticipation of what the day would bring. On the way back, there was more laughter and stories and lies to be told of big ones that got away.

Four family guys, pals since high school, ribbed each other with locker room humor. Dads would sit a little taller talking about their kid’s first catch. Junior would beam. A retired couple joined the conversation with fish stories from “before Cabo had a marina.”

An older father and son would sit back in their chairs and listen to the stories and clink two cold beer bottles together. They nod and smile and savor a special day that had nothing to do with the fishing. And a bunch of dusty, sweaty strangers crammed into that van were now making plans for tacos and beer together that evening.

And one day they started to pave my dirt road.

The first “installment” was a huge chunk. In each successive season, the asphalt creeps closer and closer to the beach. Now only about 200 yards remain to the waterline.

And with each successive encroachment of highway, I see the telephone poles moving along side. Some areas have street lights. Say it ain’t so!

There’s a real estate sign. Someone is laying a foundation with cinder block. Barbed-wire fencing along much of the way now prevents me from accidentally warndering onto someone’s “Baja Estate.” And our vans are now air-conditioned and hermetically-sealed.

I miss that old road. I miss the Baja dust. We bonded and made some of our best friends on that dirt road to the fishing grounds “back in the day.”

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

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March 16, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: End of the 2008 Road Tour in Salt Lake City, Utah. After 3 months on the road through Califoria, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, Oregon, Washington and Utah, we’re done. Thanks to everyone who came out to the hunting and fishing shows to see us and came to chat. Now back to home to La Paz and let’s go fishing!

PHOTO 2: Monica was out fishing with Kevin Beehm of S. San Francisco and got into a nice school of jack crevalle. These tough fighters normally run in big schools off reefs and beaches and have such a hardcore reputation as fighters that the Mexican name for them is “toro” (bull). They’ll hit bait as well as lures with a crash and are excellent sportfish on light tackle or flyrods.

PHOTO 3: Another shot of Monica with a jack crevalle. Jacks are related to yellowtail, amberjack, pompano, roosterfish and several other species of the jack family that run in our waters. Most of them taste pretty good. Others don’t. However, all of them are grumpy battlers when hooked.
MORE YELLOWTAIL FILL THE FISHBOXES AS WELL AS JACK CREVALLE AND OTHER SPECIES!
La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 16, 2007


Another surprising and good week of fishing off Muertos Bay. Those big fat yellowtail are still on the chew with more big fish in that 20-40 pound class of slugger. I don’t know how to explain the bite because fish of this quality don’t normally start showing up until about April or even May.

And then again, the better yellowtail bite is usually north of La Paz, especially off the north ends of Cerralvo Island and then around Espiritu Santo Island and El Bajo Seamount. However, for whatever reason the fish gods have decided, these big forktails have decided to park themselves right off Punta Perrico in relatively shallow water. Go figure. Like most things, it’s probably a chunk of bait sitting there or something.

I’ve dove the area with tanks and the area is pockmarked with terraced channels that go from about 10-100 feet with schools of fishing swimming parallel to the shoreline. It would be great to see what these schools of yellowtail look like underwater as they’ve been there in numbers now since February.

The only other time I’ve seen concentrated yellowtail was a dive I did off the wreck of the Salvatierra a ferry boat that went down in the channel between La Paz and the south point of Espiritu Santo Island. Right under the fantail of the large ship, I swam up and felt like I was being watched. I turned to my right and under the fantail there must have been a 20 foot curtain of hundreds of 20-30 pound yellowtail all facing into the current like a huge sheet of fish. It was amazing. I just parked myself on a little patch of sand about 15 feet in front of the school of hundreds of fish and sat down on it and just watched and watched until my air tanks got low. I wonder if the schools of Perrico are like that now too!

Anyway, these fish are eating bait pretty readily so it’s not complicated fishing. Basically, pin a bait on a hook and drift it down. A bit of flurocarbon leader doesn’t hurt. The fish do not seem to be line shy at all.

In addition to the big yellowtail, however, there’s schools of jack crevalle in the area (see the photos). These fish taste like the bottom of a shoe, but are excellent sportfish. There’s also schools of bonito and skipjack, cabrilla (seabass) and pargo in the same area as the yellowtail.

THANKS FOR THE GREAT TIME- TAILHUNTER ROAD TOUR 2008 ENDS

Well, we’ve been on the road since the beginning of January and we just wrapped up our final show in Salt Lake City. What a great venture it is every year and continues to be. Eight states covered in that time and driving the whole time perhaps through one of the worst winters on records through rain, sub zero weather, high winds, snow, ice, and mud. But at each show, at each city it was incredible to see all the old friends and meet the new ones. Thanks for all the hospitality, amigos. We got invited to so many homes and asked out to so many dinners and lunches and drinks, we could have been taken care of from start to finish and never paid for a motel or a meal. Thanks to all.

Now…back home to La Paz and a great 2008 season!

That’s my story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
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.”

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March 10, 2008 by riplipboy

PHOTO 1: Winter fishing doesn’t get much beter than this! Shallow water, inshore live bait fishing for big yellowtail! Rob Clark from Santa Rosa CA ripped up this nice forktail off Punta Perrico near Muertos Bay SE of La Paz. Rob got a few of these nice ‘tails and dropped another nice one he fought for a long time before it took him to the rocks and busted off!

PHOTO 2: Again, here’s Rob with a pretty yellowtail. Take a look at the flat waters and how close Rob is to the rocks. Even though winter is windy, we can hide on the lee side of the winds out of Muertos Bay and around Punta Perrico and still get quality fishing for trophys like this yellowtail, pargo, snapper, cabrilla, roosters and sierra. This week most of the yellowtail went 20-40 pounds.

YELLOWTAIL SHOW NO SIGN OF LET-UP THIS PAST WEEK AS MORE BIG ‘TAILS RIP UP ANGLERS!
La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for March 9, 2008
It’s pretty hard to believe. They showed up early this year and have stuck around so far for more than a month. These big yellowtail off Punta Perrico continue to tear up the tackle. If you don’t know, Perrico is the little jut of rock and land just outside of Muertos Bay…that’s literally minutes from our launch spot in Muertos and only several dozen yards away from the beach at times.

This isn’t rocket science fishing either. Literally, a live bait pinned on a hook and dropped over the side on a drift is about all it has been taking. Not much complicated about that other than trying not to let the rod get jerked from your grip! Most times, no lures or weights are being used as the fish are relatively shallow and artificial gear gets hung up and lost on the rocks below.

Indeed, the biggest obstacle, once hooked, is keeping the fish themselves from rocking the anglers! This isn’t wide-open fishing, but there’s surely a good number of fish and the quality of these fish is incredible. Fish up to 40 pounds are not unusual and the boats are ranging from 2-8 fish per boat.

Other fish on the prowl include sierra, roosters, and pargo that were also caught as well as big eye jacks (the good eating ones) as well as skipjack.

ROAD TOUR 2008

Well, after 3 months on the road we finally wrap up our 2008 road tour. We just finished the huge Fred Hall Fishing and Boating Show at the Long Beach Convention Center and again, what a great time seeing all the amigos and also making new friends as well. Anyone coming by the booth knows it was PACKED in front of our booth most times and I’m really sorry if I didn’t get much time to chat very much at times as folks were 3 and 4 deep in front of us! But, we hope everyone had fun.

We are now back on the road and headed back to the cold after a week in the sunshine. We’re headed to one of our favorite places…Salt Lake City where we will be at the International Sportsman’s Expo in Sandy, Utah that goes from Wednesday to Sunday. Come see us. It’s our last show. We have a limited number of comp tickets to give out. If you let us know at least a day before you plan to arrive, we can give out 2 pairs per person for as long as they last. First come, first served. After that, we do have tickets at a discount. Hope to see you then!

ALASKA AIRLINES!

Rates have been kinda high this year, but it seems that we got a break this week. Check with Alaska Airlines as rates went down a few days ago to around $380-450 round trip from Los Angeles to La Paz round trip for MANY dates! Also, don’t forget that if you get approved for an Alaska Airlines Visa card, you can get a 50 dollar companion voucher for a 2nd ticket. If you have questions, ask us!

That’s our story!
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International
Phone: (626) 333-3355FAX: (626) 333-0115
Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: , 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Cal Sur, Mexico
“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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March 9, 2008 by riplipboy

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March 9, 2008 by riplipboy

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