That's My Story

FROM THE COCONUT TELEGRAPH

Originally published week of Nov. 13, 2006 Western Outdoor News

This week…bits and pieces I’ve scratched out on my tackle box that I wanted to pass onto you.

THE BAJA 1000 – The 39th running of one of the most grueling races kicks off this week. It starts in Ensenada Nov. 15th (Wednesday). The “survivors” who arrive on time Nov. 18th (Saturday) should be in La Paz. Believe me, the desert extracts a huge payment and a lot of teams and cars don’t make it or hobble in way after the fiesta is over, like being the last person in the Boston Marathon.

If you’re planning a spur-of-the-moment trip to any place along the race route and expect to find lodging…NOT! You’d better bring a sleeping bag because even many of the worst cucaracha places have been sold out for months let alone the nicer places along the route. Many rooms have been rented at a premium and have a waiting list to get in.

The old saying of “lead, follow or get outta the way!” is probably going to be really true as a record breaking 400 plus entries are expected from 11 countries and 35 states plus their teams and entourages. This is a major event. I haven’t decided what I’m doing yet. I’m either leaving town or I’m gonna get a lawn chair and an ice chest and watch from a hill far above the crowds, but it should be a lot of fun.

TROUBLES in PARADISE? – I don’t want to say it’s widespread, but several incidents at the airports have been reported enough that I’m gonna mention it. Something is smelling fishy at the Tijuana and Cabo airports.

Several anglers reported that at the Cabo airport, their ice chests were routinely searched and re-taped. No big whup. But then, when they got to their U.S. destinations, the ice chests were found to have been opened and fish either removed or, in at least one case, someone else’s fish was found in the ice chest! He packed gallon bags of dorado and found smaller bags of someone else’s tuna when he got home. A hocus-pocus-slight-of-hand-going on?

Also, at both the Cabo and the Tijuana airports, beware of the “heavy-finger-behind-the-counter” trick. The last several months, I’ve sent clients home with full ice chests that were weighed before they left for the airport. However, when the clients got to the airport to depart, their ice chests somehow “gained” weight by as much as 10 or even 20 pounds! Now, I don’t have the world’s most accurate scale, but it’s not THAT bad or that off.

The clients were then required to either pay an exorbitant overweight fee (one paid $6 extra per pound over) or were required to lighten the load and hand out bags of fish to airport employees who were only too happy to help.

Here’s the further rub. When I started hearing about this, I started to advise clients to tell the airline employee they had no cash and only credit cards to pay. Interestingly, many times the airlines folks would wave the ice chests through no problem. What? Only interested in cash? No paper trail? Hmmmmm…What happens to the cash that gets collected? Employee’s Christmas fund no doubt. Sure. Right. Always ask for a receipt.

I’m not saying this is widespread nor to I want to paint everyone with the same brush. Thousands of folks go through daily with nothing but good experiences. But keep an eye out.

PHOTO 1: Dr. Craig Petersen swims his giant yellowfin tuna to the surface unaware that he has a spearfishing world record in his hands. He was freediving/spearfishing off Puerta Vallarta.

PHOTO 2: Good thing Craig found a certified scale to weigh the monster 317 pound yellowfin tuna he speared.

THAT’S A LOT of SASHIME – Congratulations to Orange Co. CA chiropractor, Craig Petersen. Craig is one of the growing number of freediving bluewater hunters who have taken up spearfishing in Mexico’s fertile waters. Now, check this, it’s illegal to spearfish with tanks. These guys hold their breaths and dive to incredible depths to hunt. Try holding your own breath for even a minute in the pool. Guys like Craig, dive to 40, 50, 60 or more feet on a single breath of air and stay down for several minutes. Yes, divers do get killed doing this…

Craig was off Puerta Vallarta and popped a new spearfishing world record yellowfin tuna that ran 317 pounds on a certified scale.

“We were diving high spots around a rock about 25 miles out and making dives to about 50 ft and just hanging there for 30 seconds or so. Once in a blue moon a monster tuna will swim by. On this dive I had just leveled off at 50 ft when I saw him in the distance maybe 40 ft. from me. I quickly kicked hard to close the distance and was able to get about 20 feet away before the fish started to act like he didn’t want my company.”

“ I let the shaft fly and it found its mark a bit lower and further back than I would have liked and not as deep of penetration but I hoped the shot would hold. He pulled me around for at least 45 minutes. I think he died or was close to death as I could finally start to pull him up. As I got him to within 30 feet, I could see that the slip tip (detachable spear point) was toggled just under the skin! I decided I would try to grab him and point him up and swim up with him. I tied him off to the boat feeling great but thinking he was only 250 to 280. When we got him on board the captain said he was definitely over 300! WOOOHOOO! Luckily we found an IGFA certified scale and well… I am one happy camper.”

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

TUNA and DORADO BEND RODS AFTER STORMS!

La Paz and Las Arenas Fishing Reports for Nov. 5, 2006

Photo 1: Kerry Armstrong has made two trips to La Paz and always seems to do well. Here she is with Capt. Martin off Espiritu Santo Island with a beautiful blue bull dorado. More on her trip below!

In an unbelievable start to November, blue water species make a great showing after last week’s storms. Tuna and dorado mix it up with pargo, snapper, sierra and cabrilla!

LA PAZ FISHING

It was hard to believe it was November, but dorado came roaring back for our boats and our anglers fishing out’ve La Paz. Sure, there were some seasonal winds, but fishing wasn’t too far anyway. Hitting that same honey hole just off Espiritu Santo Island big dorado foamed for many of the fishermen who jumped all over fish from 20-60 pounds.

Last week it almost seemed like the bluewater season was all but done after the stormy wintry weather that jumped all over us making fishing almost impossible. However, this week, it was like nothing had changed and the dorado were willing to pick up right where they left off and have been chewing the last 3 months in what to me has been the best dorado season in many many years! I mean…hey…it’s almost winter and we’re still hanging big bull dorado.

Using sardines, whole bonito and stripped bonito, the big mahi can change a slow day into pure frenzy. One of our good amigos who has been fishing with us for years told us that they got some of their fish, including their biggest…a 50 plus pounder by using live pufferfish! He said our popular Captain Chito kept a few in the bait tank and when the big dorado came up, he pinned them on the hook and dropped them back. “The fish hit in seconds!” said Mark. His dad, who has a bad back, and is 82 years old, toughed it out and fought the fish start to finish. Whenever Mark would try to help his dad would say, “Get away from me!”

Anyway, hard to say how long this will last, but we’ll take it for as long it lasts!

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Once again…surprises!!! Who’d have guessed that this late in the season yellowfin tuna would pay us another run! All week, I had told our anglers that the bluewater stuff was probably pretty much done for the season and to expect stuff like a few stray dorado, some snapper, some sierra and maybe some seabass. H0-hum! Fun stuff no doubt, but not always rod pumping stuff!

Then, whoa…what happened? The tuna showed up! It wasn’t WFO, but make no mistake this was fun football tuna fishing and a great surprise for the anglers who were taking 2-6 fish per panga rounded out with some sierra, snapper and pargo.

FIRST PERSON ACCOUNTS

Court and Kerry Armstrong – Salt Lake City Utah

“WOW , that,s all I can say about our last trip to fish with Tailhunters international , Jonathan Roldan,s fishing experience has not failed me yet ! This is my third trip to La Paz , and every trip has it’s highlights. We might get one slow day in a week but that is about it .
My daughter, Kerry has joined me for her second year in a row and already is planning for next year ! this year I brought a friend for his first trip to La Paz , Beau Valtinson and his daughter Mckell and they has a BALL!!

Beau was plenty excited to outfish me for the biggest fish of the trip a big Bull dorado of at least fifty or more !! But pound for pound I got him!!

Kerry and I filled two ice chests , and had to buy another and still had to put more fillets in the suitcase ! The local food was excellent except for one night at Applebees, so I recommend just eating as the locals do , the mexican hotdogs off the food carts are KILLER !! We also took a day and went diving at the SeaLion colony and it was a great first time scuba experience for my daughter, Kerry, and were totally blown away with the sea lions and all the lifeforms under the water !!! Thanks again for such a great trip Jonathan , you took care of us in every way that is the most important part in making everyone enjoy themselves !!! adios amigo… Court and Kerry Armstrong”

Photo 2 : Court Armstrong from Salt Lake City UT got a number of big bulls fishing almost an entire week with us.

Photo 3: Kerry Armstrong came with her dad. This was her second trip and she is never a slouch always getting some great fish.

FIRST PERSON REPORT

Craig Petersen, an Orange Co. California , chiropractor, is one of our amigos and regular free divers in La Paz. In freediving, it’s an amazing sport. It basically means spearfishing without the use of tanks which are illegal in Mexcio. Therefore, these incredible athletes have only the air they can inhale in a single breath and dive to incredible depths to hunt! A number of world records have been set in the La Paz area, but Bruce didn’t come to La Paz this week, but he went to Puerta Vallarta and it resulted in a new world record yellowfin tuna!

“I have been going down to Puerto Vallarta the last year to hunt for this fish. We were diving high spots around a rock about 25 miles out and making dives to about 50 ft and just hanging there for 30 seconds or so.

Once in a blue moon a monster tuna will swim by. On this dive I had just leveled off at 50 ft whenI saw him in the distance maybe 40 ft from me and moving toward me and to my left. I quickly kicked hard to close the distance and was able to get about 20 feet away before the fish started to act like he didn’t want my company.

I let the shaft fly and it found its mark a bit lower and further back than I would have liked and not as deep of penetration but I hoped the shot would hold. He pulled me around for at least 45 minutes-after it took 6 or 7 minutes just to find the float and another 10 to catch up to it. I think he died or was close to death as I could finally start to pull him up. As I got him to within 30 feet and clipped the end of my float line to my float and swam down to him I could see that the slip tip was toggled just under the skin!

I decied I would try to grab him and point him up and swim up with him. Tied him off to the boat-feeling great but I thot he was only 250 to 280. When we got him on board the captain said he was definately over 300! WOOOHOOO! Luckily we found an IGFA certified scale and well… I am one happy camper.”

Photo 4: Dr. CRAIG swims his tuna to the surface! Remember…no tanks allowed. This is all done with whatever air you can inhale in your lungs.

Photo 5: Fat tuna and a new world record 317 pound yellowfin tuna for CRAIG!

AIRLINE NEWS

In case you hadn’t heard, Alaska Airlines is now flying from Los Angeles to La Paz 3 times a week. They commence flights from the San Francisco Area Nov. 15th. Beginning on Dec. 15th, Delta Airlines under the name of “Eastern Atlantic” starts flying from Los Angeles to La Paz.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: 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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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.”

SAVING THE DAY!

Originally published in Western Outdoor News week of Nov. 6, 2006

So, you booked your trip to Baja or finally got everyone together to make that drive down the Transpeninsular. Man, you were gonna fish your brains out; drink beer; and suck down carne asada tacos until your eyes popped outta your head!

And then, dangit…you couldn’t go out. What’s up with that? The weather is bad? No way! It never said that in the travel brochures! You can’t push your tin boat off the beach; or your favorite local panga captain said, “Perdon, Senor, es muy peligroso hoy!” (“It’s dangerous today you idiot and there’s no way I’m gonna take you or my boat out there!”…or something like that!) What do you mean the captain has closed the port? Or your captain simply says, something about not getting out to those tuna grounds that were on fire with fish just before you came. He says it’s too rough and the spots are too far away.

And there you stand on the beach like a kid who was just told he’d have to go to summer school, watching the seasonal winds whip the ocean into a froth and kicks up the sand so it stings your bare legs that were all prepared to get their seasonal dosage of sun. Johnny can’t come out to play today.

So, whatcha gonna do, Pancho? Once you’ve stopped blaming and villifying your captain, the hotel; your booking agent, and your buddies for picking these dates and settle down, you realize it looks silly to keep stamping your feet in the sand. Yes, you could go back to the hotel and drink more beer, but Madre de Dios, you came here to do some fishing and you sure don’t wanna wait until the winds and weather are more amiable. In November and December that could be quite few days.

A contrario, Pancho. Get your gear, unpucker your shorts and follow me!

Just because you can’t get to the offshore fishing grounds doesn’t mean you have to fold up the tents. If you can either get your own boat in the water or your chartered cruiser or panga can still get out, go work the inshore stuff. OK, so maybe you won’t hang a 30 pound dorado today, but how would you feel about a 50 pound pargo or 40 pound amberjack or a dozen sierra, assorted snapper, seabass and other species?

Even if you can’t get on a watercraft of any type, you can still fish many of these species right from shore.

Fall is some of the best times for inshore fishing. Unlike the spring when big pargo…the dogsnapper, mullet snappers, barred snappers…are often tight up in the rocks while moving in schools, during the fall many of these fish leave their fortress-like structures. Instead, you can find them in areas where rocks and reefs are more minimal, although they do like a little bit of cover. You can even find them cruising the sandy areas during tide chains looking for baitfish and food uncovered in the sands being shifted by the tides.

All this means is that you won’t get busted off so often as you would at other times of the year. You can even lose lighter tackle than before. Use live bait if you have it. If not, make it,; catch it; or buy it. If you can’t get your hands on live bait, use fresh dead like squid or strips of smelly strong muscled fish such as mackerel or bonito. If you can’t get anything organic or can get it, but don’t like using it, break out the plastics and iron.

Fluttering spoons that are shiny impersonators of the baitfish that roam the shoreline and rocky areas, as well as crankbaits; surface poppers and other noisy topwater performers can generate explosive strikes. Sierra especially love the shiny stuff. Bonito, skijack and other jacks will also greedily put the hurt on shiny lures and things that make a commotion on the water.

If you’re a plastics man, swim baits, jerk baits and grubs worked slowly around structure and close to the bottom are also extremely effective for snapper, cabrilla and other structure inhabitants.

Amigo, if the boats aren’t leaving the marina, work the marina! To the smart angler the marina is nothing more than a giant man-made fish habitat. Pilings, docks, under boats, or anything submerged can be holding fish. The only caveat is to bring a bunch of plastics. All the critters in my backyard have teeth and will destroy a plastic in a few well-placed bites leaving you with not much more than a sliver of amputated plastic attached to a leadhead. Don’t think there aren’t some beasts under the marina. I have seen or caught 10, 15 and 20 pound fish while I was goofing off in and around marinas.

There are always way to change a bad fishing day into something productive! When you walk back up from the docks or back to camp with a boxload of fish for dinner, you’re gonna be a hero to your buddies that stayed ashore. Trust me!

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

WHISTLING IN THE GRAVEYARD

Published week of Oct. 30, 2006 in Western Outdoor News

It called me up from the roadside gas station and something compelled me to walk towards the scattered markers and low mounds in this early morning sun, somewhere north of the arroyos and south of the great cactus mesas. The slight chill of the fall morning still evident, I tucked my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket.

It’s besides an old church. Well, that’s being a bit charitable. It’s barely even a chapel, but it sits on a small rise in the Baja desert on the edge of a pueblo. . . on the edge of a road. . . on the edge of somewhere called “El Ra…” The constantly blowing sand has scoured the rest of the sign. On cue, a tumbleweed rolls and bounces past the corrugated metal church doors still bearing a fleck or two of blue paint that the wind, sand and rust have yet to conquer. But it will eventually lose the fight.

One door is locked or maybe permanently rusted shut and the other ajar, but squeaking on metal hinges. The sandblasted exterior and faux steeple are straight out’ve a central casting movie set.

We’ve stopped for gas in this lonely spot where the cactus stand sentinal; the boojum trees imitate Dr. Seuss forests and huge boulders mark the passing of eons. And not much changes except here in the cemetery. It’s a favorite pastime to visit old cemeteries. Take a walk with the fantasmas (ghosts) and espiritus (spirits) of the earth and it’s amazing what they will sometimes tell you. Not all places have a museum but all places have a graveyard.

My hiking boots scuff along the gravel. The stones and angels, crosses and markers, await like an open book. “From dust thou art to dust thou shalt return.” No manicured lawns, reflecting pools or sections named “Garden of Tranquility.” Were it not for the small mounds and markers this might look like just another patch of Baja desert. Here in this little town…Many of the old stone graves…hence lives… are not even marked. Too poor? Worn away by time? Can’t write? But out here, they call to be read. They call to be recognized that a life existed and had a story to tell.

I see that the Cotas, Martinez and Romero clans must have been the predominant familias. The earliest markers are dated around the mid-1880’s. Homberto married Anna and they are here. They had a son named Rodrigo and daughter named Maria who rest over there. They never left this little pueblo. Neither did their children’s children and I bet a descendant probably runs the one –pump gas station down by the road.

But over here, around 1890’s, there were a few Italian families that must have shown up. About that time they say the old fish plant was started too. It’s now only a memory of rusted girders and concrete two miles down the gravel near the beach. It’s probably not a co-incidence that many Italians were fishermen.

There’s a Chinese marker half-buried and slowly melting into the earth. I’m only guessing. It has only one chiseled word “CHOW.” A man or woman? At the turn of the century a group of Chinese walked…yes walked… through here traveling all the way from San Felipe on foot 700 miles and most died along the way. They were promised jobs in La Paz that never materialized when only a handful of survivors finally arrived. Maybe Chow was part of that migration of dreamers that came so far…from Asia…to Mexico…only to end the journey in a place named “El Ra…”

I step around the rubble of an old stone fence as some interesting dates catch my eye. The birth and death dates are close. Even in this harsh land, I see where lives were cut short. At least a half dozen children and babies died in 1919. Hard to believe that not too long ago kids died from the measles and chicken pox. Is that what happened here? Not many doctors back then. There aren’t many now. In the early morning sun, I squint down the deserted highway still not shimmering in the heat. I would guess we’re 60 miles away from the nearest medical facilities. Two cerveza cans tied to strings might be the nearest things to a telephone and I doubt AT& T is in a rush to put up a tower here either.

I step around a few crosses. The older the gravestones, the shorter the life expectancy. Gabriel Sanchez, Aurelio Gomez Bautista, Juan Carlos Ferria and scores of others never made it past the age of 30, but from thei headstone, they lived long enough in these rugged times to have been parents of many children. Life wasn’t very forgiving. These folks didn’t live in a time where you “went on tour” or “found your space” or “listened to your inner child” before settling down. And when you got sick, a bad cold could kill you as easily as a busted leg. The HMO in this pueblito had a hot dull knife, boiling water and a tortilla compress if you were lucky.

The ones that really bring it home are the ones where small black and white photos have been placed into the stones. Some are so old and yellowed that I can only imagine that they were taken by some traveling photographer who’s camera stood on a tripod and he covered his head with a black cloth as the flash powder in the pan exploded and blinded his subjects.

But in that fraction of flash, was captured an unblinking moment in time. Not just names on headstones. Real people. They lived in the Baja that we will never see again but wasn’t too long ago. Before the big highway. Before the condos. Before air conditioning and all-terrain cycles and RV’s, electricity, cappuccino and ice machines. Look into those eyes. Why did they pick this place so far from anywhere? They ate. They toiled. They laughed. They dreamed. They endured. They eventually came to rest in one of the harshest places on the planet. Was this a better life than the one they left?

Surrounded by the vast desert and towering peaks of the Gigantes, their spirits continue to speak in the arid Baja wind and they are still part of this wild open place we call la frontera de Baja…the Baja frontier.

I hear a horn honk down the rise. Gas is filled and I walk back to the truck careful to trod lightly on the Mexican spirits. I pull my Levi coat a little closer against the October breeze and am suddenly reminded, next week is Dia de Los Muertos in Mexico. It’s the day the dead are celebrated and honored. I glance back. Thank you for sharing your stories, amigos Descanse en Paz. Rest in peace.

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

RAIN SUN WIND AND DORADO!

La Paz / Las Arenas Fishing Report for Oct. 28, 2006

PHOTO 1 – This is simply an incredible fish. Check out the size of the head of this freaky beast dorado! On the left is Mark Logan helping his amigo, Jerry Pelton, both from the Palm Springs area. The fish is estimated at 65 pounds and took Jerry almost 2 1/2 hours on 20 pound string. He was glad that I recommended he put on some 40 pound leader because this fish put the wood to him. The other part of the story is that Mark did not remain idle while his buddy battled the big toad mahi. Mark kept his own line in the water and caught and released several limits of his own dorado! Mark would later put an even larger fish aboard. This horse was caught just north of La Paz

WHAT A WEEK!!!!

What a way to taper off the season. Out of nowhere, hurricane warnings. Winds, waves, rain all hit La Paz in a freak storm, but in between, we still did manage a few dorado and when they hit they blew up big time!

LA PAZ FISHING

I’m not even sure where to start. What a freaky freaky week. Amigos, we’re supposed to be D-O-N-E with this kind of weather of any kind! Two weeks ago were were all saying it was finally cooling off and looking at some great fall dorado fishing. The next thing you know we’re getting the alarms going off that Hurricane Paul was on the way!!! No one can ever rememeber a hurricane this late in the year or even rain!

We did as much fishing as we could as we all watched the winds increase and clouds come in from the south. With each approaching day…it just looked more and more ominous as we also watched the computer weather screens and jumped at any info we could.

But, we kept going out until the very last minute when the rain started falling. Headed out to that same area north of La Paz and to the south of Espiritu Santo Island, the dorado weren’t much affected and if you found the right spot you could do some serious damage in short order! Not just punk fish either…I’m talking the big trophy bulls and there were several fish in the 50-70 pound class size this week. One day they would eat only sardines. The next it was only bonito strips or the whole bonito. They guys who fished those last days got slammed in the waves and wet from the rain and fished until they absolutely had to turn it around.

Then, the rain came and came and came. So did the wind. The full force of the hurricane never hit, but it was enough that we couldn’t fish. It was yucky for about 3 days. More like being in Seattle or Oregon with 100 percent humidity. The roads from Cabo were bad. Cabo itself closed the port. Almost all our clients from mid-week on canceled their trips.

On Thursday the clouds parted long enough to get out although it was still rough. The few boats that got out all got dorado.

That got us encouraged to go out on Friday. Bad move. Let me put it this way…the winds and waves were so big and so strong that the entire fleet was back by 8:30 a.m. I was on a super panga myself and we got soaked and blasted. After an hour we were going so slowly through the chop and swells that we hadn’t even passed Pichlingue Marina. Panga after panga turned around and headed back. The waves were coming straight at us and higher than the panga and we’d chug up the face then slam down over and over until our teeth rattled. By this time we had lost the bilge pump; the bait pump AND the radio! We were going to try to keep going but when we started seeing 50 and 60 foot sportfishers turn around, we figured our 22 foot super panga had not business out there!

Coming back, we literally surfed down the faces of waves trying not to broach the boat and get rolled. Kinda scary! When we got back, for those of you that have been to La Paz, imagine waves at La Concha Beach big enough to ride a surfboard or body surf! Imagine the entire bay filled with churning white water even though the sun was out bright. Imagine huge waves hitting the Malecon (waterfront) downtown and throwing spray all over the road! Yea…it was that kinda day…

The next few days it’s supposed to calm down. At least the sun is out, but the weather folks say this wind is part of the Santa Ana winds buffeting California right now.

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Easy…we couldn’t. Rain hammered the roads again making it dangerous and winds on the water made it the type of water you wouldn’t want to be on either. Northern winds are the worst!

NOT SURE I BELIEVE IT BUT…

Boys and girls…guess what? Aero California says it’s refunding money to those of us that got stuck with tickets when they were pulled outta the air. Don’t get mad at me, I’m on the messenger, but they say if you mail a letter to:

Roberto Castro
Aero California
Alvaro Obregon #550
La PazBaja California SurMexico 23000
Include the ticket numbers, passengers names, address, telephone number, and credit card for refund.

My take…

I won’t believe it until I see it! Most of you know what we’ve gone through with Aero Cal all year. In fact, last week, I purposely put on my “angry face” and marched into the Aero Cal office here in La Paz just to see what they would say if I pretended to demand a refund. I marched right up to one of the counter gals and in both English AND Spanish, I demanded a refund. She said, “No refunds!” I demanded again. She repeated her response and giggled. I demanded again and looked at the rest of the ladies at the counter all watching me. Then they started to laugh. I couldn’t keep up the charade and started laughing too. I knew that was going to happen.

Frankly, I think you’re still better off going through your credit card company. It would be just like us to mail our stuff to Aero Cal then it “disappears.” When you call them to find out what happened, they won’t know anything! They haven’t known anything all year. Why now?

That’s my story
Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
Website: 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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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 TRANSITION

Published in Western Outdoor News week of Oct. 22, 2006

Hombre, fishing days like this are just fine! Where else but in the Baja can you wake up; jump in a boat; go catch some fish and still be back in the office by 8:30 a.m. taking calls and handling e-mails? I’m blessed and I know it. At 8;30 a.m. some of my amigos are still eating their morning cereal over the paper and coffee or sitting in the car pool lane or standing in the Starbucks line. I’ve put a dozen fish in the boat; had a breakfast of leftover dorado fish tacos; and snuck in a cerveza to wash it down (I forgot to bring water!).

I really enjoy this time of the year in the Baja. It’s not the summer and it’s still not quite winter or even fall. The urgency and hectic frenzy of the summer fishing season is behind us and it’s still not the holidays. It seems that the whole of the Baja sort of exhales and ratchets down a few notches. It’s like a ballpark just after the game is over or being among the last few people at a huge picnic and you get to go picking through the leftover goodies on the buffet line all to yourself.

The sun doesn’t seem as high and the brisas del norte (northern winds) are starting to blow a little more regularly. Those summer days of glassy calm waters will soon be memories. In the span of a week, the sometimes-oppressive humidity of the summer/fall simply vanishes and the weather isn’t just comfortable. It simply doesn’t exist. You don’t even think about it! You only notice the bright glare of the sun but also notice that it’s a tad cooler in the shade.

This is the one time you truly can tell the tourists from the locals. While the tourists continue to sport Docker shorts and Hawaiian print shirts; tropical wrap-arounds and sandals, we’re wearing long pants, sweatshirts and shoes to temper the morning “chill” even though the day will still eventually reach 90 degrees. In 3 weeks, I guarantee I’ll have my sheepskin Uggs boots on and the tourists will chuckle.

And the food! Andale! A hot steaming bowl of pozole soup or fish albondigas (meatballs) soup swimming in fresh cilantro, rice and a dash of jugos de limones (lime juice) not only tastes good, but is a welcome meal on evenings when two weeks ago, it was too hot to even think about eating.

But the best part is the fishing! To a large degree, you can actually find your spot on the ocean and call it your own. Plant your philosophical fishing flag on your personal honey hole and fish your brains out. If you really want to find some solitude, whether it’s a beach, a reef, or a high spot, it’s here to be found even close to the large metro areas. You can be as lonely as you want.

The last 3 times I’ve been on the water, we saw barely another boat. No one was even jabbering on the radio. There’s something really special about silence out on the water. No boom boxes. No one named Jose making animal noises on Channel 16 or speaking so fast in Spanish it sounds like a single 5 minute word. You can hear yourself think and the only sound you’re keyed to is the sound of your clickers going off and the pop and sizzle of another cold one being liberated from the confines of the ice chest …just like your soul.

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

BAJA TRANSITION

Published in Western Outdoor News week of Oct. 22, 2006

Hombre, fishing days like this are just fine! Where else but in the Baja can you wake up; jump in a boat; go catch some fish and still be back in the office by 8:30 a.m. taking calls and handling e-mails? I’m blessed and I know it. At 8;30 a.m. some of my amigos are still eating their morning cereal over the paper and coffee or sitting in the car pool lane or standing in the Starbucks line. I’ve put a dozen fish in the boat; had a breakfast of leftover dorado fish tacos; and snuck in a cerveza to wash it down (I forgot to bring water!).

I really enjoy this time of the year in the Baja. It’s not the summer and it’s still not quite winter or even fall. The urgency and hectic frenzy of the summer fishing season is behind us and it’s still not the holidays. It seems that the whole of the Baja sort of exhales and ratchets down a few notches. It’s like a ballpark just after the game is over or being among the last few people at a huge picnic and you get to go picking through the leftover goodies on the buffet line all to yourself.

The sun doesn’t seem as high and the brisas del norte (northern winds) are starting to blow a little more regularly. Those summer days of glassy calm waters will soon be memories. In the span of a week, the sometimes-oppressive humidity of the summer/fall simply vanishes and the weather isn’t just comfortable. It simply doesn’t exist. You don’t even think about it! You only notice the bright glare of the sun but also notice that it’s a tad cooler in the shade.

This is the one time you truly can tell the tourists from the locals. While the tourists continue to sport Docker shorts and Hawaiian print shirts; tropical wrap-arounds and sandals, we’re wearing long pants, sweatshirts and shoes to temper the morning “chill” even though the day will still eventually reach 90 degrees. In 3 weeks, I guarantee I’ll have my sheepskin Uggs boots on and the tourists will chuckle.

And the food! Andale! A hot steaming bowl of pozole soup or fish albondigas (meatballs) soup swimming in fresh cilantro, rice and a dash of jugos de limones (lime juice) not only tastes good, but is a welcome meal on evenings when two weeks ago, it was too hot to even think about eating.

But the best part is the fishing! To a large degree, you can actually find your spot on the ocean and call it your own. Plant your philosophical fishing flag on your personal honey hole and fish your brains out. If you really want to find some solitude, whether it’s a beach, a reef, or a high spot, it’s here to be found even close to the large metro areas. You can be as lonely as you want.

The last 3 times I’ve been on the water, we saw barely another boat. No one was even jabbering on the radio. There’s something really special about silence out on the water. No boom boxes. No one named Jose making animal noises on Channel 16 or speaking so fast in Spanish it sounds like a single 5 minute word. You can hear yourself think and the only sound you’re keyed to is the sound of your clickers going off and the pop and sizzle of another cold one being liberated from the confines of the ice chest …just like your soul.

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

La Paz /Las Arenas Fishing Report for Oct. 22, 2006

Despite windy days, dorado continue to tear it up north of La Paz while roosters and other species keep anglers busy at Las Arenas!

PHOTO 1: Gary Maskiewicz, Marty McCune and Brian Cyr spent about a week with us on their first trip to La Paz from S. California. They ripped up the dorado and filled coolers with nice bulls such as these.

LA PAZ FISHING

As I’m writing this, we might have a storm on the way as Mother Nature wants to give us one last shot to the huevos before the season tapers off. Just when we had all been saying that we were out of the storm season, tropical storm “Paul” popped up. It might end up being nothing at all, but we’ll be keeping an eye on it.

Actually, we thought we were moving into our “winter mode.” Northern winds started up this week and knocked out any traces of humidity; dropped the air and water temps and actually made it a bit rough on the water. Really pleasant in town, but bumpy and choppy outside the bay.

Still…what can I say…the dorado continued their phenomenal chew. Without a doubt this has been the best dorado season I’ve ever seen here. It’s not just the numbers of fish, but the consisten BIG fish we see everyday. I have never seen so many trophy fish…not just bulls either but some HUGE females as well. If you ever wanted to hunt a big dorado…fish in the 30-60 pound category, this has been the year.

We’re still picking up live sardines at the bait boats then heading out near Punta Coyote to get live bonito. Then, it’s off to the SE corner of Espiritu Santo Island in an area no bigger than say, 1 mile x 1 miles. The dorado have taken up seasonal residence there and the big dorado are inhaling whole bonito! You do not want to be out here with less than 40 pound test leader. These fish are not line shy. Also, this is one of the few times when I tell anglers to bring a few 7/0 and 8/0 hooks because when we are using the big baits, you need a larger hook that will sink into the hard mouths of these mahi!

I don’t know how much longer this will last…maybe another week or two before we put the wraps on this epic dorado bite, but we’ll enjoy it for as long as we can.

I talk so much about the dorado that I forget that we also have sailfish and marlin out here too as well as snapper and pargo!

PHOTO 2: Tim Butterworth fished a couple of days with us at both Las Arenas and La Paz and shows off one of his nice bulls that he hung just outside La Paz bay.

LAS ARENAS FISHING

I don’t know whether to say it’s over, but the tuna bite sure turned anemic. The fish are still basically right off the Punta Arenas lighthouse, but one day there’s 2-6 per boat and the next two days there’s nothing. Hard to predict. Fish are still fun 15-25 pounders in shallow water, but no way to know if they will be there or not! The neat thing is that there’s still alot of action. If you have a line in the water, there’s big bonito, and marauding dorado that charge on through so folks are still having fun. The interesting thing is the roosters! It’s way late in the season for the pez gallos, but there are still fish along the beaches, at Muertos Bay and other spots that are giving anglers a chance at these exotics. No squid to speak of anymore, but I keep my big jig handy. We’re now launching our boats out of Muertos because of the north winds.

PHOTO 3: Ned Keough told me he spent most of his life never going ANYWHERE! He barely ever took a vacation. He finally decided to stop telling himself he’d go “tomorrow” and do something about it so he came to La Paz to try fishing. He had a blast. This is one of his nice bull dorado he got out of La Paz.

HEADS UP

Just in case you didn’t already hear…Alaska Air starts flying direct from Los Angeles to La Paz beginning Oct. 30th and from San Francisco Nov. 15th!!! Delta starts Dec. 15th! Finally…!!!!

PARTING SHOT! “It’s a keeper!”

Photo 4: I am not sure if this is Frank Suh or Steve Lui from S. California in the line up, but I like funny candid shots. Anyone can hold up a fish, but creativity gets style points! These guys were on their first trips to La Paz and got so many dorado they had to buy extra ice chests! Thanks for the shot, guys!

That’s my story!

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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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.”

SNAPSHOTS FROM THE TOWER

Published week of Oct. 16, 2006 Baja Beat of Western Outdoor News

Get your motor runnin’
Head out on the highway
Looking for adventure
And whatever comes our way
Yea, Darlin’ gonna make it happen
Take the world in a love embrace
Fire all of the guns at once and
Explode into space!

“Born To Be Wild” Steppenwolf 1968

Steppenwolf’s classic headbanger is doing a downill cavalry charge out’ve the speakers rumbling and thundering and bristling with power and I suck it in like an audio nectar of power.

I can’t help but remember a scene from an old pirate movie (Treasure Island?) of a few years back. The bad guy pirate climbs to the top of the mainmast. He looks down as his ship is blasting away with a British man o’war and all hell is breaking loose. Smoke is swirling. Shot is whizzing by his ears. Both ships are burning. You can taste the cordite and sulfer. He doesn’t care if he’s winning or losing. He’s oblivious to the fact that both ships are getting shot to hell but he raises his sword and screams from the top of a yardarm,

”I LOVE THIS LIFE!”

Today I am in my own crow’s nest of sorts. I’m up in the tuna tower of a sportfisher and we’re in hunting mode. I’m crew. It has been a long time since I was up here. I’m on a gunship. Not a banger local boat. This boat is meant for hunting. Full arsenal of gear. The crew is trained. No weekend warriors aboard. It’s as close to being a professional boat as I could hope for. There’s a sense of pride with being asked to play with the big boys. This boat has game and it’s been a long time since I’ve worked a boat like this and it’s ready for a rumble!

I like smoke and lightning
Heavy metal thunder
Racing with the wind
And the feeling that I’m under

When you work at ground zero every day close to the waters on the pangas, you forget the view from on high. You can’t see the forrest for the trees. Up here, I’m king of the world again. Leo di Caprio has nothing on me! I’m flying and king of all I survey.

We move up along the rust colored islands and I wedge myself in and hold on as the boat rhymically rocks as we troll along the edge of the drop offs easily distinguished by the torquioise shallows dropping to the cobalt cliffs splashing by under the fiberglass hull.

Porpoise join and roll under the bow wake. Their dark sleek bodies effortlessly gliding below my lofty grandstand. It seems that from here, I can see for miles down into the depths as easily as I can spot a single finner 10 miles away. Maybe tuna under us? I don’t care. I look back and down at the cockpit astern two decks below me. The warm sunshine beats down and the music pounds from the deck speakers.

Six lines. The outriggers are set. In perfect unison and expertly set in our wake, the big slant-headed popper and smoker heads cut, shimmy and pop out of the stern waves. Occasionally, one leaps then falls back and each leaves a perfectly smoking bubble trail behind it. Crew members on each stern corner know their jobs. All eyes scan. The wind drums lightly on my ears and Steppenwolf plays on as the big gunship bumps, halts and glides as the bow bites each swell then pushes through and I ride the gentle bronco from high in my tower. Salt mixes with diesel and the aroma of burgers on the galley flat grill waft up to my perch. I love this life!

Then, there is is…dark…darting…blink my eyes to be sure. A dark elongated shape is in the trolling pattern. It jigs, zags and examines one then another lure. I can clearly see the flurescent patterns of bluish purple stripes on the marlin as it chases then falls back, clearly in “feed mode.” FISH ASTERN! A bill comes up and slashes once, twice, an outrigger clip snaps with a loud crack and a 50 wide sings it’s song! Then the starboard short line also goes off. FISH ON! Double hooks ups!

Fire all of your guns at once
And explode into space
Like a true nature’s child
We were born, born to be wild
We can climb so high
I never wanna die!

It’s good to get above it all now and then. Everyone should get to be a king of all they can see at least once in their lives. Nowhere else but the Baja to do it in!

That’s my story. If you ever need to reach me, I’m at riplipboy@aol.com

FULL MOON HURTS TUNA BUT FISHERMEN CONTINUE TO HURT DORADO!

LA PAZ – LAS ARENAS FISHING REPORT FOR OCTOBER 15, 2006

Anglers are still headed home with full ice chests even though the full moon this past week seems to have put a damper on the big squid and tuna bite. Thanks to one of the best dorado bites in years, we’re still going bendo!

PHOTO 1 : Deborah Pellini from Colorado was fishing for the first time in La Paz and spent a day with us hooking this monster bull dorado as well as several others fishing with Captain Joel Martinez. They were fishing off the SE corner of Espiritu Santo Island.

LA PAZ FISHING

If you had been fishing with us the last 10 weeks or so you would say the dorado bite had dropped off, but to most folks, this was some of the most incredible dorado fishing they had ever seen. OK…so we’re not catching 20 big bulls a day per boat, but what can you do with that much fish anyway except keep on releasing them! Most anglers are too tired anyway after just a few of these beasts. Limits this past week were still more the rule rather than the exception and if you ever wanted a trophy bull dorado, there are still plenty of 30-50 pound sluggers out there and plenty of “one-that-got-away” stories from tired anglers.

The hot spot still seems to be the area around the SE corner of Espiritu Santo Island. I have no idea why the fish hang out there, but in shallow water, we’re trolling live sardines as well as stripped dead bonito and whole fresh bonito as well. Believe me…anything that can inhale a 2 pound bonito is usually pretty BIG!

If you’re coming down, you do want to have some heavier leader for these fish…at least 40-60 pound leader. The dorado are not shy. Also, bring some 7/0 or 8/0 live bait hooks to use for the bonito and also some swivels too. One day the dorado only want the sardines and the next day only the bonito will work, but there’s something incredibly awesome about watching a 40 pounc class bull shoot or greyhound across the water to pounce on a big bait and then hearing the reel scream! The biggest problem I see with the anglers is that they get too excited. That creates two problems:

1. They get excited and burn their thumbs! (I have never seen so many of you guys burn your thumbs and you know better than that…I have been passing out a regular supply of bandaids and neosporin!)

2. When using these bigger baits, the fish need time to swallow the meal. Pulling the trigger too fast only yanks the big bonito hot dog outta the fish’s mouth! Result..no hookup!

I don’t know how long this bite will last, but we’re already noticing a drop in temps and more northern winds so fingers crossed that things will last.

In addition to the dorado, we’re also still getting sailfish, marlin and roosters on the La Paz side!

PHOTO 2: Mark Stoller and his amigos from Northern California tried 2 times to come down to La Paz this year! First time they were thwarted by Aero California losing it’s flights. Then, on their second try, the threat of a hurricane caused another postponement. Well, we finally got them all down and they really beat up on the fish nicely. Mark got this nice bull dorado his first day out and it turned out to be his biggest dorado ever.

LAS ARENAS FISHING

Frankly, early in the week, it was pretty stanky at Las Arenas. The full moon put a whammy on us. The big squid went bye-bye and so did the yellowfin tuna off the lighthouse. Not only did the tuna disappear, but not even the bonito bit. We were reduced to catching triggerfish!!! Well, as the week went on, things got to thawing and as of this report, we were back to getting 2-4 yellowfin per boat ranging from 10-25 pound fish. Some larger ones were sighted.

The squid have not yet returned so I don’t know if they are gone for good or only went deeper during the big moon. However, we’ve moved the fleet to Muertos Bay and there’s a good supply of small sardines there (as well as alot of small roosterfish) and the tuna are willing to chew the sardines. What’s cool is that in between the tuna, there’s quite a bit of action as the big bonito maraud through and beat everyone up and you can never tell when the dorado will also move through the drifting boats. Guys using light flurocarbon…like 25 pound test…as leader material or using small rubbercore sinkers are getting more bites…that’s the hot tip!

THE BANANA CURSE STRIKES AGAIN!

To those of you who know me or have fished with me before, you know how I feel about bananas or anything to do with bananas on board a fishing boat. Don’t ask me why it happens, but bananas are just bad ju-ju. It’s not me being excentric…the banana thing is a universal bad omen in many place around the world. Don’t call it superstition either if you’re an angler who trusts having his lucky rod; lucky socks; lucky underwear etc! If you need more info click this: http://www.tailhunter-international.com/bananas.htm

Anyway, I was fishing last week with two of my clients from Utah, Randy Hales and Johnny Ogao. We were fishing out’ve Las Arenas and I was aboard with Captain Chito Martinez one of our most popular captains. We worked our way up to the fishing zone at Espiritu Santo Island and almost before the rest of the fleet even got their lines wet..wham…we had 7 dorado aboard!

Then, we lost a few that we shouldn’t have lost! I remarked that it was, “as if we had bananas on board!” I was joking. Johnny and Randy asked me about the banana curse and I told them. They didn’t say anything except laugh.

We then lost a few more fish and one of the guy said, “Maybe we outta tell Jonathan.”

Tell me what?

They told me to look in their cooler. I opened it. Not one or two, but an entire dozen bananas were in there! I didn’t even want to touch it.

“Should we throw them away?” they asked.

I told them I couldn’t tell them to toss away food, but…(I said with raised eyebrow)

Without hesitation, they tossed the offending bunch of yellow fruit over the side.

Captain Chito started cracking up. He thought it was the funniest thing ever! He turned the boat around and fished the bananas out of the ocean with a gaff and said I was being ridiculous. He put the bananas back in the ice chest. He also got on the radio and told the rest of the fleet and my captains and clients how funny it all was.

Oh-oh…the banana gods were offended.

For the rest of the afternoon, we never got another fish despite the fact that the rest of the fleet continued to hammer the dorado. We lost fish after fish. We lost big fish and small fish. Hooks simply fell out of fish mouths. Fish spit hooks. Lines broke. Lines tangled. Reels stopped working and one froze up. Weird crap happened. They finally relented and tossed the bananas back over the side. But it was too late. The first seven dorado were all that we got.

When we got back, I also discovered one of my rods had broken. As well, the pocket in my fishing shorts where I always keep my things was empty. I had lost about 80 dollars; my room key; my i.d.; and my credit card. I fish hundreds of days I keep my stuff in the same pocket day after day and year after year. I never lose them. But today…vanished. I can only assume they blew out over the side of the boat.

Lessons learned?

The next day…16 dorado and another 10 released. Big 40 and 50 pound bulls. Not a single fish came unbuttoned or got lost. Now they believe…

That’s my story!

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International

Website: 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 Pichlingue KM5; Numero 205, La Paz, Baja 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.”