That's My Story

PHOTO 1 : Possibly one of the coolest billfish photos I’ve ever seen. This is Jeff Ott’s sailfish taking flight in the early dawn against a rising sun off Las Arenas and Cerralvo Island. Jeff was on his first trip with us to the area from Utah. Note how close the fish is to the gunwale of the panga. Outstanding!

TUNA TURBULENCE AND TEMBLORS AS AUGUST CLOSES OUT!

LA PAZ / LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR SEPT. 2, 2007

PHOTO 2 – Richard Shipley from Utah is all smiles with a bull dorado. That’s Cerralvo Island in the background. He and his group got quite a mix of fish over 3 days of fishing.

PHOTO 3: All the way from New Jersey, Chris Barnard brought all his brothers and uncles down for a big La Paz reunion this past week. They got billfish, dorado, tuna, and numerous other species. The dorado remained the most prolific fish this week with fish scattered in all the warm spots between Punta Pescadero up through Cerralvo Island and up north of La Reina lighhouse. Winds that persisted over the weekend made the fish hard to find at times after cooler waters came in or winds scattered the sargasso weeds. The key was finding blue water or pieces of debris from sporadic weekly rains that had washed junk in to the water.

PHOTO 4 – Captain Victor of our Las Arenas fleet poses with Earl Denos, our amigo from Mission Viejo CA and his fishing partner Todd McChesney from Utah. The dorado recently have been quite a variety of sizes from 5 pounders up to 40 pounds with some larger fish lost. We’re hoping that the bigger bulls start to move in now, but we’re waiting for the waters to stay consistently warmer.

PHOTO 5 : Randy Galaz and pro race car driver Art Saavedra from Las Vegas NV tore it up with a great mix of dorado and football-sized tuna. Art was most proud of doing a big 150 pound billfish on 20 pound test he fought for over an hour on the small Whopper Stopper rod he’s holding in the photo meant for ultra light big game fishing.

PHOTO 6 : For our La Paz fleets, dorado were the hot ticket early in the week when they were pushed out’ve ths spotlight by a raging tuna bite at the north end of Cerralvo Island. Joe Barnard holds up a nice pair standing at Ballandra Beach where we clean our fish. Joe and his family filled alot of ice chests fishing both La Paz and Las Arenas despite having to cancel one day due to a fast -moving rain squall.

PHOTO 7: Cory Kato from Whittier, hung tough during some tough fishing and tough weather and still got to pull on some good fish on his first trip to Baja. Here he poses with a good-sized dorado. Despite the rough conditions, Cory insisted on going out every single day!

THE FISHING REPORT

To those of you still coming down this week, bring a windbreaker or pancho. It might rain. It might not. Weather down here in the tropics is funny. It could rain buckets….50 yards away from you and you could be bone dry. Or it could rain directly on you and last 10 minutes!!! Bottom line…no matter the weather…as long as you want to go out and it’s safe (no fish is worth getting dangerous), we will find a way to fish!


We did it this week when high winds made it impossible to get our boats off of Las Arenas beach (it’s the wind that bothers us more than rain!). We put everyone back into the vans and hustled them back here to La Paz and put them on our super pangas. It was still rough, but at least they still got out fishing and still caught fish! We will always do our best.


Earlier in the week, it was pretty much a dorado bite for both our La Paz and Las Arenas fleets. Billfish mixed in as well with stripers and some really big sailfish. It was a pull at times, but if you hung in, there were fish to be caught. Where we fished and what we fished for was largely dictated by the weather which was as inconsistent as your girlfriend changing her mind on what to wear!


However, by the end of the week, the weather eased up and…TUNA!!! North and south ends of Cerralvo Island started to kick out yellowfin tuna! Fish ran 5-30 pounds. A real nice grade of fish! At times, they were foaming the pangas just like the old days!

Inshore, there’s still some good cabrilla, pargo and roosterfishing. The fish are still there, but not many anglers are fishing for them.

What will happen this week? I can only guess. Anyone with a crystal ball, please contact me!


The last part…in addition to the rain and wind that came up from time-to-time this week, we also had a 6.4 earthquake on Saturday! In over a decade here, that was my first and it rattled doors and windows pretty hard.


Centered just about 35 miles north of La Paz in the Sea of Cortez, there weren’t any injuries or damage reported, but it shook up some folks. Most of the anglers and divers had great stories to tell.

You could see the ocean actually vibrate. Folks sitting in beach chairs were actually bounced around. Divers who were underwater said they could actually feel the compression wave underwater and fish immediately disappeared into any nook and cranny! The sound was like a loud explosion. Anglers told of big rock slides as cliffs collapsed off Cerralvo Island like icebergs calving in Alaska sliding into the ocean. Pretty fantastic stuff!


That’s my story!

Have a great week!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter International
Website: www.tailhunter-international.com
Phone: (626) 333-3355
FAX: (626) 333-0115E
-Mail: Riplipboy@aol.com
U.S. Office: 3319 White Cloud Dr., Suite A, Hacienda Hts. CA 91745
Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, 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 VILLAGE JEFE

Originally published in Western Outdoor News Aug. 28, 2007

There are certain given “truths” I have found in Mexico that are inalienable. Nothing will ever change about them and you can take it to the bank. It’s a bit like Murphy’s law.

A few examples:

The slowest car at the border crossing is always in YOUR lane on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.

Ice melts too fast

No one stops at stop signs in a Mexican neighborhood

The best places to eat would never get an “A” rating back home in your neighborhood from the health department

In your hotel shower, the letter “C” does not mean cold. It means “caliente” (hot) and you will burn yourself!

At the worst possible time you will find out Mexican toilet paper is really thin

Everyone loves stickers

A spanking clean house can still have dirt floors

It is better to have a bad boat and great skipper than a great boat and bad skipper

There’s no such thing as a free lunch; free fishing trip or free shopping spree at a timeshare presentation

A hot chilis eaten now bites back later in many forms. Fire in. Fire out. You are impressing no one.

One other truth I have found the longer I live down here is that if you want to get something done, fast, efficiently and with the least amount of hassle, find the neighborhood “jefe.” (boss) Every pueblo has one. Every barrio (neighborhood) has one whether you call him “jefe”, “tio” (uncle), “patron” (protector) or some other name.

The jefe is many things. I suppose in places like Sicily or New Jersey he would be called “Godfather.” The man (and sometimes a woman) makes things happen.

He is many things to many people. He probably is “uncle” to many in the neighborhood, not to mention the real godfather to half the kids. Why not? He was probably the matchmaker at some point. He knows everyone and everyone knows him.

He is sometimes judge and arbitrator between disputing neighbors. You ask him for advice and counsel. You don’t make big moves without asking the jefe.

Often one of the more affluent persons in the neighborhood, he may have a dirt floor, but he’s got a satellite dish. He is often the banker/lender when it comes to financing that new car or washer/dryer. He holds money and accounts and is asked to give counsel when folks have a problem.

He’s a grade-A hustler. Need tires? Ask him first. He’ll set you up with a friend of a friend. Concrete work? His cousin is in the business. Nintendo for Christmas? He’s got a connection up in California and someone to drive it down. Nice car for your daugther’s wedding? Juan at the Ford dealer owes the jefe a favor.

Indeed, just about everyone owes him a favor. He knows the accountants, lawyers, body shop owners; the chief of police and all the restaurant owners. He and the mayor went to school together and he can walk into the mayor’s office at any time.

Yessiree. Services are free, but tipping is welcome and a commission structure can always be organized along the guidelines of the mutual back-scratchers association. He’s worth the time and money.

You do not throw a baptism without the jefe. He’s there at every wedding and quincinera (coming out party). No social event is complete without him. He sits at the head table. There’s not too much the jefe cannot do.

For gringos trying to operate in a place where language, culture, politics, religion, and social norms are a difficult forum to navigate, finding a jefe can make life a lot easier. Try doing things yourself for awhile. Gnash your teeth. Get your blood boiling as you deal with the the frustrations of seemingly simple things like getting your car tuned up or subscribing to cable TV or how to get a dentist for a dropped filling.

Find a jefe and life suddenly gets simpler. Things and people appear by magic. Wheels get greased. Show your appreciation with returned thoughtfulness and you’ll probably make a friend for life and find your own “in” to the complexities of Mexican living.

Even if you’re not going to live or work down here, having a local jefe as a contact to help you and your buddies navigate around town is invaluable. It can be a favorite taxi driver (always well connected if he’s worth his salt) or your favorite captain or bellman. They’ll direct you to restaurants; entertainment; services and other things you might not have found on your own. Tips are appreciated and believe me, every year you come back, you’ll have a friend waiting.

Lastly…

JONATHAN got snookered. I recently touted the “fact” that on August 27th, the planet Mars would be so close to earth that it would appear 2 full moons would be in the evening sky. It would not happen again in our lifetimes. NOT! Turns out it was a hoax! I got the info from a doctor friend who got it from a scientist friend, etc. etc. All of us fell for it. Sorry! At least it’s not as bad as falling for the one where Bill Gates and Microsoft will give me a zillion dollars!

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

PHOTO 1: Nathan Weiner came down to put the hurt on a big fish and got this big bull dorado on 20 pound test off Las Arenas. Bigger bulls have moved in for both our Las Arenas and La Paz fleets although pesky winds during the week and occasional flurries of rain resulting from southern storms kept blowing the sargasso weeds apart. Dorado still remained the main catch for most of our anglers.

TUNA SURPRISE LA PAZ ANGLERS ALTHOUGH BILLFISH AND DORADO STILL ROCK ANGLERS DESPITE TROPICAL STORM FLURRIES

LA PAZ / LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR AUGUST 26, 2007

PHOTO 2: Lots of folks think that just because everyone is out in the blue water chasing marlin, tuna and dorado that the inshore fishing is dead. On the contrary. The inshore fishing is just being ignored! This past week we got cabrilla, pargo, roosterfish, rainbow runners and other rockies like this great snapper (huachinango) being held up by Sharon Imada of Whittier CA

PHOTO 3: Mark Aizawa from Pasadena and his family always seem to do well, not matter what’s going on. Mark is holding a nice dorado, but they also go snapper, tuna, jacks, and billfish. While the majority of the dorado fishing is north of La Paz, if you want variety, the most species can be found for our Las Arenas fleet.

PHOTO 4: This is just too good of a photo to pass up. Joey Fuschetti and Captain Jorge hold up one of several tuna they got around the islands. Joey comes down alot and insists that chumming with chunks of papaya is the key. Hard to argue. Joey always gets the most and often the largest fish in his group by the end of the trip. Tuna have been a surprise all month. They are not always there, but doggone it…every few days they pop up and roll big time. Areas around Cerralvo Island both north and south have been holding fish between 5 and 40 pounds.

PHOTO 5: I don’t often post up photos of billfish. Actually, most times, we don’t have to, because most billfish are released, but when they are dispatched they are never wasted and this has been an incredible season for billfish. I kid you not. There are days when you can encounter billfish after billfish with multiple hookups. Take a look at these two young ladies. Alyssa Shinto and Eryn Imada from Whittier CA are two of the gamest anglers we’ve had in awhile. They had not done this kind of fishing before. Despite big seas and winds, they continued to go out every single day with no complaint. In fact, when given the option to cancel, they insisted on fishing! They did very very well!

THE FISHING REPORT!

What a week!!! I’m not sure how to explain it. If you talk to some guys, they’ll tell you fishing was off. Other guys stuffed their ice chests. It was really hit-or-miss! If you fished several days, you got fish. If you only fished a day or two, you limited yourself and you could have hit one of the days when the fishing was off. Mainly, we hit the periphery of the big storms that have been swirling around the Western Hemishphere all week creating havoc.

While we didn’t get any big storm (thankfully!), we did get flurries of strong winds; strong waves and “torito” rains hit at times that made it uncomfortable and even unfishable at times. But 10 minutes later…an hour later…the sun would break out…the winds would die…and the world would be right again and the fish would bite again!

During times like this, you could be getting drenched in the panga by rain getting miserable and 1/4 mile away your buddy could be in sunshine getting bent on fish after fish! Ten minutes later, the situation could be reveresed.

Like many things, it’s all timing. Be in the right place at the right time with the right bait in the right boat. It made all the difference.

Overall, the tuna bite sure surprised folks! We’re always wondering when they’ll show up and August has been pretty good but we just never know when and where they’ll show up. This week the 5-30 pound fish showed up at the north end of Cerralvo Island and then in various spots around the Punta Arena area. In addition to bait, the fish also hit trolled feathers.

Dorado, however, were still the spotlight. I’m sure alot of guys were a bit disappointed that there weren’t more bigger fish, as many of the fish are still in that school-sized 10-20 pound class, but larger bulls are out there up to 50 pounds and many an angler will tell you this week that they had a big fish or two on the line and farmed it!

As for billfish…what can I say? The marlin continue to be thick! Can you say “wall of marlin?” At times, they marlin are so pesky that the guys get angry because they’d rather be hooking dorado and the marlin won’t leave the baits and lures alone. However, on light tackle, these fish are sure alot of fun. Nice to see that alot of guys are releasing their fish too!

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 91745Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, 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.”

BAJA BITS AND PIECES

Originally Published In Western Outdoor News the week of Aug. 21, 2007

Every couple of weeks, I need to clear off all the sticky-pad notes stuck on my cork board down here. Ergo… some bits and pieces from around the Baja State for you:

FLY THE FRIENDLY SKIES

More signs that things will never be your daddy’s Baja any longer. Mexican President Calderon has pledged expansion of the San Jose and Loreto Airports. Additionally, remember the old runway in front of the Hotel Palmas de Cortez that got turned into a golf course? It used to be fun watching planes dodge cattle and slip down in between cars and the boat yard to land in what was basically the parking lot!

Well, there’s rumblings now of perhaps building a real life international airport on the East Cape. Just imagine! Can’t wait. Hold me back. It will be interesting to see where they put it. I can think of some residents of Los Barriles that could give you an answer as to where to put it.

WE’LL LEAVE THE LIGHT ON FOR YOU

One hotel closes and another goes on the block. The Hacienda Del Cortez Hotel that many of you may remember as the Hotel Posada de Engelbert on La Paz Bay has finally closed down. It was probably a merciful demise.

If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it was once owned by the famous singer who’s real name was Arnold George Dorsey (Engelbert Humperdink…mom loved him!) Perhaps it was for the better. In it’s day it was quite the place to stay but had languished for a number of years. Stay posted. No doubt, condos and timeshares to follow.

Conversely, Hotel Las Arenas, that grand old gem of the northern East Cape/ La Paz area is up for sale again. If you have deep pockets with about$ 36 million in it, check this out: http://www.doradoproperties.info/detalle.php?id=011-12&en=true It was always a favorite of many of us. It says it’s 9,000 acres of beachfront. If you buy it, call me!

It was a great place to stay in it’s day as well, but has been closed now for almost 5 seasons. The previous owners who purchased it from the old owners never did anything with it. While you’re at it, you can also buy adjacent Cerralvo Island which is being sold for $48 million at last check. Hasn’t every kid always wanted to own their own island? It’s just money.

SINCE NONE OF US FISH ON A FULL MOON ANYWAY…

Not a blue moon. Not a paper moon. Not a “drop trouser” moon. Actually on Aug. 27th at about 12:30 a.m. you can see something that no one alive will ever see again.

The planet Mars will be so close and so bright that it will be as large and as bright as the full moon that evening so that it will appear like Earth has two moons! Some places in Baja are selling “skywatch” evenings with which to view the phenomenon which will not be seen again the year 2287. Telescopes extra.

EVEN DOWN HERE YOU JUST CAN’T GET AHEAD

Oh-oh. So much for our Rosarito condo, Honey. The Hacienda (Mexico’s IRS) has some 60 field agents amped up and looking for foreign owners of property who rent them out and do not report the income!

Apparently, the hotel industry is ticked off at all the lost revenue so they put the screws to the Hacienda to get after all these property owners renting out vacation properties. Some agents are even going door-to-door.

Penalties could include loss of property rights. The payment is actually only a fraction, but you still have to pay it and the problem is lots of gringos just don’t know how to do it or think they had to do it. NOT! Go talk to your Mexican accountant.

GOING DOWN OVER AND UNDER

For those of you headed north or worried about those headed north, illegal border crossings have dropped sharply into the U.S. Declines are attributed to higher surveillance technology; better cooperation between the countries and their respective agencies; and 6000 National Guards troops lending a hand. (The Imperial Valley Desert beats the Iraqi desert hands down! You can always go home on the weekends!)

For those headed south, to allay the fears of gringo travelers who are paranoid that every Mexican police officer can’t wait to snag American tourists, several areas are considering the implementation of “no ticket zones.” Kind of like a “Pass Go” on the Monopoly board.

In the “zone,” they cannot give you a ticket. They can’t even stop you! Does that mean you can do what you want? Can you scream “alli alli I’m free!” when you get in “the zone?” Yell “sanctuary!” like Quasimodo when you step over the “zone line?” Conversely, are the police waiting for you when you step out?

THE COST OF A PASSPORT

With all the passport fiasco that took place this year requiring all travelers in North America to have a passport, this is what came out of a report from Washington:

“The price of a passport: $311,491 in back child support payments for a U.S. businessman now living in China; $46,000 for a musician seeking to perform overseas, and $45,849 for a man planning a Dominican Republic vacation.The new passport requirements that have complicated travel this summer also have uncovered untold numbers of child support scofflaws and forced them to pay millions.The State Department denies passports to noncustodial parents who owe more than $2,500 in child support. Once the parents make good on their debts, they can reapply for passports.”

THE LATEST ON SHARK NORMA

Not a darned thing. Nothing but silence from the feds. Fish on!

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

PHOTO 1: Hard to resist kid photos! This is 10 year old Bryn Parmenter and Captain Miguel. Bryn has himself a nice bull dorado. Bulls are still out there and seemingly getting bigger! They are in a wide area north of La Paz and around Cerralvo Island.

MARLIN AND DORADO BACK ON CENTER STAGE DESPITE BUMPY SUMMER WEATHER PATTERNS

La Paz / Las Arenas fishing report for August 19, 2007

PHOTO 2: Larry Crass and Al Cohen have been fishing together for many years and with us for more than I can remember. It is just like these two guys to play tug of war with a fish like this and argue about who caught it. This is a 40 pound class bull dorado caught off the Las Arenas area.

PHOTO 3: James Molina from Arizona got so many species of fish this past week including dorado, cabrilla, roosters, tuna and this striped marlin that was released. Capt. Archangel, from our Las Arenas fleet, gives a hand and a funny face pose! Marlin continued to be thick this week with most fish getting released.

PHOTO 4: This is Danny. This is his first marlin. He was so excited that by the time I reached him on the beach to warn him, he had been posing in many different poses with his fish. I tried to warn him, but it was too late. Marlin have a slime on them that when it touches bare skin can be extremely irritating and caustic. Danny had posed with his fish holding it across his bare chest; over his shoulder; carrying it on his back and here reclining in the surf. Within minutes of this shot, he was in agony. I tried to tell him, “I told you so.” A bad rash developed over his upper body that we had to scrape away with salt water and sand. I also told him that pouring cold beer on him would be good too and that the acid from the beer would counteract the stinging slime. He had several friends pour beer on him. I also said that pee works good too but he drew the line at that, no matter how painful when several generous hearted friends also offered to lend a hand at that too! The rash was gone in 20 minutes. (I knew it would all along, but it was funny watching them pour beer on him).

PHOTO 5: Kathy Newbold from Arizona is a trooper. A real gamer. She gets really seasick, but gutted it out to go out fishing almost everyday with her husband, Ken. I gotta admire someone like that. She holds a nice dorado and pargo here at Balandra Beach.

PHOTO 6: Coach Joey Fuschetti has been visiting us for years. He’s a high school coach and does alot of youth programs all year then cuts out and comes down to pull on fish. Joe has a knack for getting bigger fish than everyone else. Here he holds one of the better sized tuna taken off Las Arenas. Joe chums with pieces of cut papaya and swears by it. He did well all week chumming with papaya. Can’t argue with his results. Joey is from Orange Co. Califorania.

PHOTO 7 – Here’s James Molina again. They decided one day to fish inshore alont the islands and got all kinds of rock fish including this roosterfish that was released. Yes, roosters are still here!

PHOTO 8 : One of our best amigos is Dentist Roy Morita from Modesto CA. He always brings us See’s candy! Here he’s holding some great eating pargo which are still pretty abundant inshore. This size, while not large, is highly prized in the markets and restaurants because it fits on plates and pans whole and gets the highest market prices.

THE FISHING REPORT

We got a little sprinkle here and there and those pesky winds were back every few days, but thankfully no HURRICANES!!!

I think most folks this week would tell you it was a pretty solid week of rod bending. No one went home empty. There were alot of fish caught…alot of bigger fish lost…everyone had opportunities and alot of anglers had stories of fish that got away. It was too bad that there were some weather conditions that didn’t help things, but if you had a line in the water, you got bit!

I guess the most inconsistent thing was that the fish didn’t stay put! One day the dorado were in one spot and the next they moved somewhere else. The same could be said for just about every species…tuna, wahoo, marlin…every single species kept us guessing. A captain could be “on fire” one day and the next could look like the goat for no fault of his own except that an area teeming with fish one day would be desolate the next!

Some hot spots, however, that did produce some nice bites included the 88 spot east of Cerralvo Island….there were a few days where the tuna were to thick you could jackpole them into the boat and dangle a bait above the water and the fish would leap out of the water to grab it; Ventana Bay, Las Cruces and north of Espiritu Santo Island for dorado as well as the buoys…for dorado ranging from 5 pounders to 50 pounders. These same areas were also hot for marlin where hooking 2-5 billfish was not uncommon.

Y’know…guys will go years wanting to hook a billfish and not get a thing, but you can be a total rookie right now and end up the whole day fighting one billfish after another! Most of the striped marlin are about 100 pounds or so, but some guys fought and lost some of the big slugger blue marlin that were in the 250-350 pound class.

With the tuna…just no way to tell. Darn these fish move around alot! However, we’ve had tuna every week but not every day. That’s the problem. They pop up willy- nilly wherever they darn well please! They are also in quite a range of sizes. I kid you not…one day, the tuna are the size of trout! I would not even call them football tuna. These are like cute little pet tuna or something! Then, the next day, 20 pounders pop up. Go figure.

Anyway…hot tickets….

1. Flurocarbon line

2. Purple rapalas

3. Blue and white tuna feathers

4. Purple and black feathers

5. A windbreaker or cheap pancho…or in a pinch a trash bag with holes cut for your head and arms for 3 minutes of rain!

TWO MOONS AT YOU!

If you are out and about at 12:30 a.m. on Aug. 27th, you can see something that no one alive today has ever seen or will ever see again in their lifetimes. The planet Mars will be so close and so bright that it will seem like there are 2 moons over earth. Check it out. It won’t happen again for over 200 years. Howl while you’re at it. I bet there’s gonna be all kinds of crazy things happening!

KAYAK SHARK FISHING

You gotta check this out. These Alaska guys are fishing for salmon shark outta kayaks!

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/9195704p-9112127c.html

That’s my story. 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 91745

Mexico Office: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, 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: All hail the king! This is our new wahoo king. Darrell Manginelli from the Ventura area of S.California got SEVEN wahoo and lost others while fishing with us. One day he and his lady Christine Merriman (see photos below) got FOUR of these much-sought-after speedsters. The fish were once again near the south end of Cerralvo Island which you can see in the background and were crushing the big purple Rapalas. After one day, Darrell showed me his lure completey scarred and torn up and he was saying he was looking for a “new one.” I told him “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it! There’s a reason the wahoo love this particular lure and do NOT lose it!” In all honesty, the wahoo bite last week and earlier into this week was incredible, but tapered as a small weather front hit mid-week and had not revived by this past weekend. Hopefully, this coming week…

WELCOME TO THE MARLIN ZONE! DORADO GET SMALL! TUNA GET SCARCE! BUT BILLFISH PICK UP THE SLACK!!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Sunday Aug. 12, 2007

PHOTO 2: Captain Victor (he shows up an awful lot in these photos!) peaks from behind the big wahoo held up by Tim Sayre who came all the way out with his dad and brother from Illinois to fish Las Arenas. What a day, they got two wahoo and numerous other fish.

PHOTO 3: Pete Smigeiskit holds up another ‘hoo. This is turning into the best wahoo season in a number of years. They fish are not there every day, but at the end of the week, the numbers don’t lie. The fish will bite or 2 or 3 days, then take a powder for a few days, then come back on the chew again after kicking back. The ticket is just being there on the right day!

PHOTO 4 : Check out 18-year-old Stephanie Huth from the San Gabriel Valley area of S.California. Then chcck out the thickness of the “neck” of this huge slugger toad wahoo. What a beast. Wahoo are supposedly the fastest fish in the ocean clocked at speeds of 60-70 mph when they want to kick in their jet bursts! If you ever hook one, be prepared to MOVE! With a sleek rocket-body like you see here, these fish are built for speed. Las Arenas has been the top spot all season!

PHOTO 5: I don’t often show photos of marlin here, but this week, there were days when that’s ALL we were catching! You could not keep them off the lines! Boat were hooking 1-5 marlin a day one some days, especially mid-week when nothing else was biting! Fortunately, most of the fish were released. I can think of a number of anglers this week that caught 1, 2, 3 and even 4 marlin by themselves and let all of them go. Bravo! Others, like this great first marlin by Kevin Bell look as perfect as a fish mount on the wall. For alot of first timers, this was a big thrill this week as the marlin were eating big lure, small lures, baits and jigs! It was not uncommon to talk to an angler who would tell me they had half-a-dozen marlin surrounding the boat “like mackerel.” Pretty amazing to have big fish like this fighting to eat your little sardine! Fun week. None of the marlin that were taken were wasted. Meat was taken and even when the angler did not want the fish, it was donated to families who needed fish and some donated to the old folks home here in town.

PHOTO 6: Like I said…sheesh…there were alot of marlin this week! Brian Sayre holds up his first…a nice striper. Tales of larger blues were not uncommon either! Brian is from Illinois and this was his first time fishing our area. They also got dorado and tuna. One day on the beach, I counted 26 marlin hooked between 9 of our boats of which only 3 were kept. There were many other marlin that were also fought and broke off.

PHOTO 7 – Christina Merriman got her wahoo off of Las Arenas. This 40 pounder fell for a purple and black rapala. Christina had another fish even bigger come off just before the gaff. These wahoo weren’t shy about striking. And it didn’t matter if it was early or late in the fishing day. If the fish were ready to eat they bit!

THE WAHOO EDGE!

Originally published the week of Aug. 7, 2007 in Western Outdoor News

PHOTO 1 – I couldn’t resist! Smiles say it all This is 5-year-old Ezra Kinsche. Came out with mom and dad (see below) for his first trip. He got his first dorado and had a great time, but more fascinated with catching puffer fish! Dorado continued on the chew big time for La Paz anglers this past week!

WAHOO BLOW UP AT LAS ARENAS WITH TUNA – DORADO GETTING BIGGER – MARLIN STILL BENDING RODS – A GREAT WEEK OF FISHING!

La Paz/ Las Arenas Fishing Report for Aug. 5, 2007

PHOTO 2 – Not bad for first time fishing! Nice batch of mahi! Fewer schoolies and more bulls were showing up north of La Paz with fish going 15-30 in many cases with larger 40-50 pound bulls!

PHOTO 3: Kevin Beehn came is from San Francisco CA area, but flew in from Istanbul, Turkey for day of fishing to get his girlfriend out for her first time fishing. They got a batch of nice dorado as well as tuna. It’s been a nice surprise getting such a great mix for our La Paz boats. The bite is straight north out’ve the bay between Cerralvo Island and Espirit Santo with several nice spots of fish!

PHOTO 4: Here’s 5-year-old Ezra Kinche again but this time with mom and dad. They came all the way out from the East Coast. There’s a great story here. Ten years ago, they were living in Ventura CA and came out to La Paz to fish with us. Ed proposed to Katie here in La Paz. He almost did it on a panga with Captain Victor! Anyway, Katie said yes and they moved to the East Coast. This was their first time back and they slammed the tuna by 9 a.m. in the morning and brought back their 5 year old son, Ezra. Great week for tuna fishing and one we’ve waited for a long time! The fish are south of the island but as close as a hundred or so yards off the beach! When they crash, it can be a frenzy!

PHOTO 6: Neil and Kathy Soto from San Bernardino CA have been visiting for a long time and some of the nicest folks you’d ever want to meet. Each time down they always came with a group or with the family. Well, the kids are finally up and grown so they did a spontaneous trip to get into the dorado bite. Kathy had never been on the boats with Neil and she did great. The dorado are swimming solo…at least the larger ones are, but the fish are also hitting in schools and swarms where an empty day can suddenly turn into madness as 10, 20, 30 or more fish suddenly appear and crash the panga. Just be ready and have extra rods ready to go. The secret is not to lose that first fish. If it swims away…bye bye school ! Don’t get cocky and farm that first fish!

PHOTO 7 : For those of you who fish La Paz before, when was the last time you saw a catch like this? Dorado PLUS tuna!!!! Both La Paz and Las Arenas are kicking out both species right now. As I recall, this was the first day’s catch! This filled up two ice chests. They still had two more days of fishing to do!

PHOTO 8 – I couldn’t help but put this photo in. Shawn Cooper took this great striped marlin photo of his son’s first marlin Great shot. Marlin have been balled up around our area from the East Cape to well north of us in La Paz and they are finally chewing! Big time! We encourage releasing these guys whenever you can because it is not unusual to hook more than one of these a day. One boat this week hooked 5. Another hooked 4. All fish were released!

PHOTO 9 : Gina has the knack for big dorado. She never fails. Gina is from the Pasadena/ Sierra Madre area of Los Angeles and fishing with Capt. Chito, she’s always into the big bulls. Over three days she got marlin, tuna and billfish including her first marlin.

PHOTO 10: Mitch Kawamoto is in the middle of John Knowles (left) and John Dunne (right) and they’re holding up a whopper of a sailfish. Mitch is a long-time experienced long-range fisherman and is about 5 feet tall and weighs about as much as my tackle box! Everyone always pulls for Mitch. He had a couple of bad trips the last time down although everyone else got plenty of fish. This time, Mitch got the sailfish, marlin, tuna, and dorado. No shortage of sashime meat for his cooler!

THE FISH REPORT !!!!

This was perhaps one of the best and most consistent fishing weeks of the season. If you had a line in the water you got bit and everyone who wanted fish in the cooler took home fish in the cooler. It didn’t matter whether you chose to fish with our Las Arenas or our La Paz fleet although some anglers preferred one over the other, not because of the fishing action but because they preferred one type of species over the other

For one, our Las Arenas anglers were all over the yellowfin tuna this past week. Nothing big but yellowfin in the 10-20 pound class were all over the rods and eating in a nice arc between the south side of Cerralvo over to the Arenas lighthouse then down towards Punta Perico and south to Pescadero. It’s been awhile since we’ve had an nice bite like this. However, even more incredible was the explosion of wahoo once again on the high spots south of Cerralvo Island. Guys come for years looking for wahoo and never get a sniff. Unbelievably, there were a few days this past week when the boats AVERAGED 2-4 wahoo biters A DAY with some hoos as large as 60 pounds. Darrell Manginelli is one of our long-time amigos. He’s my new hero and king of the wahoo. I lost count, but I think he got 7 this week including 4 or 5 on one day and that doesn’t include the ones that got off! That is UNHEARD OF ! You should see what his purple Rapala looks like. At one point he wanted to get a new one, but I told him, “There’s a reason they like that lure. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it!”

Roll that into a box full of tuna, add in a few dorado, perhaps a billfish or pargo and you’ve filled the ice chest in one day!

The ticket on the wahoo continues to be the dark purple and black/white Rapalas, Marauders and Yo-zuri’s.

For our La Paz fleet, more outstanding dorado fishing with the mahi now getting away from schoolie fish and more consistently in the 15-30 pound class. The biggest problem some days was knowing when to stop and adhere to limits because when the dorado swarm the pangas it could be pandemonium with every rod going off. Additionally, the marlin continued to be thick with multiple hook ups on numerous occasions with stripers as well as sailfish and the occasional blue marlin ripping into the baits.

WANT A HOTEL ANYONE????

Everyone keeps asking. I thought it had just been sold, but apparently not. Hotel Las Arenas is for sale if you got the fat wallet! Click this:

http://www.doradoproperties.info/detalle.php?id=011-12&en=true

If you buy it, make sure to let me know!!! I’ll send you my resume!

ALASKA AIRLINES CHEAP FLIGHTS!!!!

Alaska Airlines has some cheap rates again!!! Go directly to the airlines or their website. Hook it up. The sale goes on for several months and seats are below $300 bucks round trip Los Angeles/ La Paz. Call us to set up the hotel and fishing!

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: Carr. a Pichilingue KM 5, Numero 205, 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.”

GOING NOWHERE FAST!

Published the week of July 30 in Western Outdoor News

We gringos are in such a hurry. Everything has to be FAST! We want to get down here to Baja as fast as we can on the fastest non-stop planes. Then… Into our hotels and onto our boats and out on the fishing grounds as soon and as fast as we can.

Even our other leisure activities, are fast! We invented “fast food” and live by the microwave even on vacations. We book waverunners and off-road vehicles and dance to FAST music in the nightclubs. Look out if our hotel does not have “high speed” internet.

And then there’s guys like Captain Manuel. Manuel is 45, but looks 55 with salt and peppered hair; calloused hands from years of fishing and skin weathered from more sun than any SPF could protect you from. The lines of his face are permanently creased from squinting without sunglasses into the glare of the Baja sun and the Cortez’ rippled waters for fish that will feed his family; please a fishing client; or draw the highest prices in the fish stalls at the mercado publico.

He doesn’t say much, but laughs a lot and most of the lines on his face are from smiling more often than not.

And today was one of those days when it was just him and me on the panga. Our mutual client begged off the day after his evening’s rendezvous with the three Mexicans of the apocalypse Don Julio, El Patron and Senor Cuervo. He was in no mood or condition to fish so I found myself guiding no one.

But the boat was paid for and it has been awhile since I had spent time with Manuel so off we went to go fishing…in a loose sort of way. There’s not a day that I don’t learn something new out on the water and today was no exception but it had nothing to do with fishing.

The season had already been long. Manuel was in no particular hurry to find fish and I didn’t particularly care either. I had lunches and drinks for two so like a couple of Baja Huck Finn’s we baited some hooks; tossed them overboard and let’ em soak. No pressure. No hurry. Lazy sunshine Baja day. The radio crackled with other pangas catching fish, with that inane captains chatter that on one understands, but so what? We lay back across the panga benches and tipped our hats over our eyes!

“So what do you think about the Patriots chances to get back to the Super Bowl?” he asked in Spanish after a prolonged silence of soaking sunshine.

“What? The Patriots? What do you know about American football?” I asked surprisedly taken off-guard. “I thought you all watch soccer!”

“Several of the captains now have satellite TV so we all watch sports. Mexico’s soccer team is terrible this year so we have started watching more American football and of course, there is always BASEBALL!” Manuel said with relish. “ Viva Los Yankees de Nueva York!”

I couldn’t help but smile. I’m thinking most of the captains have dirt and concrete floors with chickens running around, but they have a sat dish sticking onto a wall!

I laughed. “Ever been to the United States, Manuel?”

“Nunca” (never), he replied.

“Ever want to go to Disneyland or Hollywood? ( I thought everyone did!) “

“No.” He shrugged with a smile.

“Maybe Tijuana?” I continued

“No reason to.” He said stifling a siesta yawn.

“Cabo San Lucas? “(only 3 hours drive away). I queried.

“Maybe one time a year. But only if it’s absolutely necessary to visit my mother-in-law.” (Had to nod to that line of reasoning).

“Really? Not even Cabo? “

“For what?” Manny looked at me now with grinning cheeks. He knew where this was going.

“Well, how often do you go to La Paz? It’s only an hour away. For shopping? Entertainment? “

“Why? Maybe 4 times a year for a car part,” replied Manny now sitting up shrugging.

“Oye (Listen). “Everything I need is close to the pueblo. My home. My wife. My friends. We buy tortillas and some meat. We trade for cheese and vegetables at the ranchos (farms) for my fish I catch. I raised 3 grown children, thanks to God. All of them graduated from the university and I am very proud. One is a teacher. One works for a big shipping company. My youngest has just become a dentist. I have nietos (grand kids) and their parents bring them to see me and tell me stories of all the places they go and see. It is enough. I am content.”

He lay back down on the panga bench hat over eyes.

“And there is always satellite TV and that should be enough for any man,” said Manny from under his hat. “As long as los Yankees de Nueva York win…”

He pulled down his baseball hat over his eyes to doze.

Enough for any man.

I reached into my backpack and turned off the ringers for my two cell phones and my Blackberry and tilted my own straw hat over my eyes. Wouldn’t want to wake Manuel.

We drifted and swung in the current on the anchor chain. I don’t even think I had bait on my hook and didn’t care. Going nowhere fast in the Baja. And the sun felt good.

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