Posts Tagged ‘chubascos’

“STAY OR GO? “

Posted in airlines, aquaculture, bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, Baja, Baja Fishing, Baja fishing lures, Baja Life, Baja Mexico Fishing, Baja Rockfish, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, camping, car, cerralvo, cerralvo island, charity, charters, chubasco, circle hooks, Dehydration, donations, dorado, driving, east cape, ecotourism, el nino, el sargento, espirito santo, family, farm-raised, fish, fish farming, fish pens, Fishing, fishing blogs, fishing hooks, Fishing lures, fishing packages, fishing reports, Fishing Tackle and Techniques, Fishing techniques, fishing tips, fishing tournaments, fishing trips, fishing videos, flyfishing, freediving, giant squid, green, Heat stroke, highway, history, holidays in mexico, humboldt squid, hurricanes, ice chests, inshore fishing, inshore fishing in Baja Mexico, jack crevalle, Jonathan Roldan, kids, kids fishing, La Paz, La Paz Fishing, la ventana, las arenas, Leisure, light tackle, Living in Mexico, los barriles, luggage, marlin, Mexican, Mexican business, Mexican culture, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Mexico Christmas, Mexico economy, Mexico life, Mexico neighborhood, missions, outfitters, pack for a purpose, packages, packing, packing fish, panga, Panga Fishing, pargo, passport, planning, pompano, rental car, rentals, road trip, roosterfish, Salt Water Fishing, Salt water lures, San Jose del Cabo, saving money, Sea of Cortez, seafood, sierra, spearfishing, sportfishing, squid fishing, storms, suitcases, Sun stroke, sustainable, Tailhunter International, techniques, tourism, tours, transpeninsular highway, Travel, trolling tips, tuna, Tuna jackpot, tuna tournament, Uncategorized, vacations, vehicle, wahoo, waterspouts, weather, Western Outdoor News, Western Outdoor Publications, women fishing, yellowtail, tagged amberjack, bahia, bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, baja, baja fishing, bay, billfish, blogs, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, cerralvo, Cerralvo Island, charter, charters, children, chubascos, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, el sargento, espirito santo, Espiritu Santo Island, expatriates in mexico, family, fish, Fishing, fishing charters, fishing reports, Fishing Techniques, flyfishing, freediving, gringos in mexico, guide, holiday, holidays, hurricanes, igfa, images, inshore, international, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, Jonathan Roldan, kids, La Paz, La Paz Fishing, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, Light Tackle Fishing, live bait, living in Mexico, los barriles, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexican culture, mexican life, mexico, muertos, outfitter, outfitters, packages, panga, Panga Fishing, pargo, pompano, reports, roosterfish, sailfish, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea of cortez, sierra, snapper, snorkel, spearfishing, sportfishing, suenos, tackle, tailhunter, Tailhunter International, techniques, tips, tours, travel, tuna, vacation, vacations, video, wahoo, western outdoor news, wife, women, yellowtail on June 7, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Looking ominous!

STAY OR GO?

Originally Published the Week of June 9, 2015 in Western Outdoor News

You’ve been looking forward to this Baja fishing vacation for ages. You’re all set. Baja is calling you. You can taste that frosty margarita and you’ve packed and re-packed your fishing gear a zillion times.

Checklist. Passport? Got it. Toothbrush? Check. Hat and camera? Roger. Extra socks. Are you kidding? Extra underwear? Hmmmm…nah…you’ll just rinse your shorts in the sink. Unnecessary clothes add weight that could be used for packing fish on the way home!

Even moreso, you’ve promised your boss, co-workers and your mother-in-law you’d bring them all some fish. However, the minute you walk out that door, you’re turning off your cell phone and e-mails.

You’re already humming Jimmy Buffet tunes.

And then, you hear the news. What? Oh no. A storm? A hurricane? Rain on MY vacation? No! No! No! Please oh please no!

It starts with a little blurb on CNN or the little rolling banner at the bottom of the TV screen. But, it’s a slow news day and now your evening news picks it up too. A dozen words of dread. You would swear they did it just to jab you.

“In other news, for you vacationers, there could be a big storm brewing a thousand miles south of Cabo San Lucas. And now back to Joe on the scene with his story about talking monkeys…”

And pretty soon, everyone on your Facebook page is telling you about it because, of course, they all know you’re headed to Baja! They start sending you graphic images of the weather map showing the tell-tale whirling cloud clusters. As if you didn’t know.

Your e-mail box is getting pinged as well. Well-meaning or envious friends are writing.

“Hey, duuuude, I think you’re screwed. Did you know that there’s this big storm…” Man, that’s not cool.”

Whoa…underwear is really bunching up. This can’t be happening. You’re trying to get some answers and the folks who booked you may or may not be responding. Your buddies are getting into panic mode as well. Rumors are flying.

“Man, I heard from a friend of a friend who was reading online that…”

“The word around town is that…”

This is snowballing. Badly. How do you calm your beating heart and reduce the pucker factor?

Well, keep trying to get in touch with your charter or hotel or booking agent, or whoever booked you. This is where it helps to have someone who actually lives where you are going. An agent who lives in Seattle might not be much help.

Remember that they have a vested interest in you coming down. No one likes handing back refunds. So, take their opinion with a grain of salt and accept it for what it is. The good ones will give you an honest assessment of the pros and cons so YOU can make an informed decision.

Get online and look up the weather forecast yourself! It seems like the most logical thing, but many folks don’t take that first step. There are websites a-plenty including the National Weather Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and many others.

Even for those of us who live here, believe me. We don’t have mystic powers. We look at those services as well. That’s how we get our weather information. So go straight to the source. If you ask us, we’re often going to give you the same information you can see for yourself.

That doesn’t mean you should discount what your outfitter, captain or charter guy says. Sometimes, there’s a lot of value to having someone simply stick their head out the window and tell you if they see storm clouds or bright sunshine!

Your nightly news might have grabbed the story, but a storm 1000 miles away can do many things before it hits landfall. It could easily peter out. It could veer off. It could turn into a drizzle.

Don’t get worked up for no reason or without all the facts. Or for something that isn’t even a certainty.

Call your airlines. If they are flying in, chances are, it’s OK. But it’s just one more bit of fact to weigh-in.

Here in La Paz, we had something like 18 storm warnings last year in an El Nino season. Only a handful ever dropped rain on us although one of them was a doozy and became the historic hurricane named “Odile.”

As I write this, there’s a storm warning. “Blanca”is heading our way. Everyone is jumpy. The weather forecast changes by the hour. Angst runs high. The memory of what Odile did to us is still fresh.

It’s the 2^nd such storm in about that many weeks. The last one, “Andrea” got everyone worked up too.

When it “hit” us…there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. Not a drop of rain. In 4 days, it went “poof!” Adios. Andrea did rain on someone’s parade way out in the Pacific, but not on Baja. We fished as usual.

With lower Baja so close to the equator, storms can just be part of life. It’s tropical. Storms blow through. With this current El Nino weather pattern, more storms than normal will be around.

Storms come up sometimes with zero notice and unleash for 15 minutes then disappear. It can be raining in one area, but 100 yards away no rain falls at all.

The weather forcast can show “rain”, but it rains in the mountains 20 miles away which are technically part of the city. In the city folks ar eating ice-cream cones with not a cloud in the sky.

That’s when simply asking someone to look out the window can be worth it’s weight in pesos.

Get all the facts. Make a good decision before you cancel your plans and have to tell your boss you’re not bringing him any fish.

That’s my story!

Jonathan

_______________

Jonathan Roldan has been writing the Baja Column in Western Outdoor News since 2004. Along with his wife and fishing buddy, Jilly, they own and run the Tailhunter International Fishing Fleet in La Paz, Baja, Mexico www.tailhunter-international.com. They also run their Tailhunter Restaurant Bar on the famous La Paz malecon waterfront. If you’d like to contact him directly, his e-mail is riplipboy@tailhunter-international.com or drop by the restaurant to say hi!

______________

Jonathan Roldan’s

Tailhunter International

TAILHUNTER FISHING FLEET #1 Rated on Trip Advisor

TAILHUNTER RESTAURANT BAR #1 Rated in La Paz on Trip Advisor

Now follow us on FACEBOOK TOO

Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

U.S. Office: 8030 La Mesa, Suite #178, La Mesa CA 91942

Mexico Office: 755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

Phones:

from USA : 626-638-3383

from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863

Tailhunter Weekly Fishing Report:

http://fishreport.jonathanroldan.com/

Tailhunter YouTube Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/user/pangapirate

“When your life finally flashes before your eyes, you will have only moments to regret all the things in life you never had the courage to try.”

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LESS IS MORE…or MORE THAN ENOUGH?

Posted in airlines, bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, Baja, Baja Fishing, Baja fishing lures, Baja Life, Baja Mexico Fishing, Baja Rockfish, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, camping, car, cerralvo, cerralvo island, charity, charters, chubasco, circle hooks, dorado, driving, east cape, ecotourism, el nino, el sargento, espirito santo, family, fish, fish farming, fish pens, Fishing, fishing blogs, fishing hooks, Fishing lures, fishing packages, fishing reports, Fishing Tackle and Techniques, Fishing techniques, fishing tips, fishing tournaments, fishing trips, fishing videos, flyfishing, freediving, giant squid, Heat stroke, highway, holidays in mexico, humboldt squid, hurricanes, ice chests, inshore fishing, inshore fishing in Baja Mexico, jack crevalle, Jonathan Roldan, kids, kids fishing, La Paz, La Paz Fishing, la ventana, las arenas, Leisure, light tackle, Living in Mexico, los barriles, luggage, marlin, Mexican, Mexican business, Mexican culture, Mexican Independence Day, Mexico, Mexico economy, Mexico life, Mexico neighborhood, outfitters, pack for a purpose, packages, packing, packing fish, panga, Panga Fishing, pargo, passport, planning, pompano, rental car, rentals, road trip, roosterfish, Salt Water Fishing, Salt water lures, San Jose del Cabo, saving money, Sea of Cortez, seafood, sierra, spearfishing, sportfishing, squid fishing, storms, suitcases, Sun stroke, sustainable, Tailhunter International, techniques, tourism, tours, transpeninsular highway, Travel, trolling tips, tuna, Tuna jackpot, tuna tournament, vacations, vehicle, wahoo, waterspouts, weather, Western Outdoor Publications, women fishing, yellowtail, tagged bahia de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, baja, baja sur, beaches, billfish, blog, blogs, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, cerralvo, certified scale, charter, children, chubascos, day trips, deep sea, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, eco tour, el sargento, esprito santo, family, fish, Fishing, flyfishing, fred hall, freediving, gear, girls, guide, holidays, hunting and fishing shows, hurricanes, igfa, images, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, jacks, Jonathan Roldan, kids, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, live bait, los barriles, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexico, ocean, outfitter, pacific northwest sportsmens show, packages, panga, pargo, photos, pompano, portland expo, reports, roosterfish, sailfish, salt water, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea of cortez, seminars, sierra, snapper, snorkel, spearfishing, sportfishing, stories, storms, swimming, tackle, Tailhunter International, tips, tournament, tours, trip, tuna, vacation, vacations, video, wahoo, weather, whales, whalesharks, whalewatching, wife, women, yellowtail on August 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

So so so many toys! But we can only fish with one-at-a-time!

LESS IS MORE…OR MORE THAN ENOUGH?

Originally Published the Week of Aug. 20th, 2014 in Western Outdoor News

It was almost comical and I didn’t want to say anything. After all, they were our fishing clients. But it took 4 of us to load all their fishing gear on the panga. It reminded me of an Everest expedition where the intrepid explorers are followed by a line of sherpas.

Artic ice chest…spinning rods…fly rods…bass rods…conventional rods…three jumbo tackle boxes…video camera case…Gopro camera water proof case…underwater extension rods…special seat cushions that had beer holders in them…even “catch flags” they planned to fly from rods for when they returned to shore.

Ahhh…God bless ‘em.

They were so excited. First time Baja fishermen. They were like little kids. It was like Christmas. They had a list of all the species they planned to catch. They had a GPS pre-programmed with all the “hot spots” they had read about. They had waterproof maps and fish i.d. charts.

So much enthusiasm. Between my captains, deckhands, drivers and other fishermen, it was hard to suppress the chuckles. I really wanted to say something. But what could I say? They had all the toys and they planned to use them.

They took to heart the saying, “Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. “

Here’s the rub…I was supposed to go out on the panga that day with them. I rolled my eyes.

My captain had to leap over all the gear to get to the tiller on the motor. There was barely any room to sit. I squeezed on top of an ice chest as we headed out. This was gonna be interesting, but I was grinning. Whatever. Let’s go fishing, guys!

With all the rods jutting out, we looked like a CIA boat bedecked with prickly porcupine radar antennas as we zoomed to the fishing grounds. I counted…1, 2, 3…8…11…15…19…20…26 rods! Custom wrapped. The latest hi-tech reels. Spooled full of shiny new line.

When we got to the spot, it got a little awkward.

Do remember watching your kids at Christmas barrel into the goodies under the tree? Ripping and shredding and laughing…oh the carnage! Oh the humanity!

Well, the gear boxes opened and out came hooks and lures and feathers of all shapes and sizes. Leaders and gadgets and wires and do-dads and thing-a-ma-jigs and watcha-ma-callits and chingaderas came pouring out. ! Many still in their wrappers.

All organized. Color-coded. Size-coded. Species evaluated. Things for tuna. Things for dorado. Things for dorado AND tuna. Things for wahoo. Need a purple pink speckled marlin lure? Got it! Surface lures…bottom lures…mid-water lures. Everything had a pouch or pocket. Everything in it’s place!

I’ve done plenty of long range trips for 12 and 14 days where I didn’t have this much stuff. We were only going a mile offshore for a few hours. Fishing 2 days total!

And stuff for their belts…pliers, dikes, hook disgorgers, hook pouches, sunscreen holders.

My gosh, they must have accumulated enough points on their Cabela a dn Bass Pro visa cards to fly around the world!

And just like kids oooh-ing and ahhh-ing…each guy was as eager to show off his “toys” to me and the captain. Simultaneously, he was in showing them to his fishing buddy and also seeing what his buddy had brought along. Like opening two picnic baskets at the church luncheon!

I just stood back. Tried to look really really realy gosh darn excited! I mean, I hate to discourage or curb anyone’s enthusiasm. So, I smiled and gritted my teeth.

“Wow…that’s uh… really great you found one of those lures.”

“You got 4 of them in each color?”

“You bought 100 hooks of each size too? No way!”

But, we were burning daylight. I could tell on the radio that some of our pangas were already into fish.

There was stuff scattered all over the decks!

I finally said, “Guys, time’s-a-wasting. Let’s get fishing.”

They looked at me. They looked at the captain like eager kids. The captain shrugged his shoulders and dropped a bomb.

“Tie on a hook. We will fish with bait.”

Silence. They looked at me. I looked at them.

I said, “Yup…bait’s working. No leader. Let’s just tie on hooks. Maybe later we’ll get to use some of that great gear you brought.”

They looked at each other and I could sense the puzzlement and disappointment from their quizzical looks.

“C’mon, guys, “ I tried to say gently with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. “The fish are biting so let’s get in on it. Get out some hooks and stow the rest of the gear for now so we don’t miss the bite.”

While they stashed all their stuff, the captain and I tied on hooks for them to save time. I didn’t want to look them in the eyes. I felt like I had taken away their toys. Or had told them there is no Easter Bunny.

But, the fish bit. The sun came out. The water was blue. And the fish bit again. And the icy beer and lunches always taste double-good outdoors on the water.

There was a point later in the day when their fish box was filling and the fish were swarming and I asked if they’d like to try out some of their fancy gear. But, they laughed and were too busy hooked up to want to change.

The whole day, they ended up using one rod each. And maybe half-a-dozen hooks. And were happy. Beyond happy.

As one of the guys laughingly said to me headed back, “Somehow, I still have to explain to my wife why I needed to buy all this gear.”

His buddy said, “I once asked my wife why she needed so many shoes.”

“What did she say?”

“Because I say so, Dear. Because I say so…”

“I don’t think that will work on my wife.”

We all laughed.