Posts Tagged ‘fred hall show’

El NINO NEENER NEENER

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, highway, holidays in mexico, 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, 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 de los muertos, bahia de los suenos, baja, baja sur, beach, billfish, blogs, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, cerralvo, certififed scale, charter, children, chubasco, cubera, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, El nino, el sargento, espirito santo, family, fish, Fishing, flyfishing, fred hall show, freediving, girls, guide, guides, hurricane, igfa, inshore, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, jillene roldan, jilly roldan, Jonathan Roldan, kids, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, live bait, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexico, odile, offshore, outfitters, package, panga, pargo, reports, roosterfish, roosterfish foundation, sailfish, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea of cortez, sealions, sierra, snorkel, spearfishing, sportfishing, swim, tour, tuna, vacation, video, wahoo, weather, western outdoors, women, yellowtail on November 16, 2014| Leave a Comment »

“EL NINO NEENER NEENER”

Originally Published the Week of Nov. 10, 2014 in Western Outdoor News

It’s inescapable. There are just certain things that puzzle you so much and make you sit back and go “hmmmmm…”

Like, how come a pair of socks go into the dryer and only one side comes out?

Or how come birds overhead ALWAYS know when you’ve just washed your car?

Or two treble hooks left in a tackle box will ALWAYS hook into each other?

Anyway, I’m writing this while overlooking the marina here at Cabo San Lucas waiting for the start of the Western Outdoor News/ Yamaha Tuna Jackpot Tournament.

It’s a lively place and the excitement that’s going to kick off is pretty palpable. It’s quite the circus atmosphere as more than 130 teams from around the world get ready to fire it up.

But, for the rest of Cabo San Lucas, life goes on as “normal.” Whatever “normal is, in this fun place!

The cruise ships are downloading swarms of sandal-wearing sun-seekers looking for t-shirts and “authentic pottery”. The booze cruise has a deckload of bikini-wearing gals and tattoo’d boyfriends whooping and vibrating to some bass-laden song my kids would know; and the street vendors descend on tourists swaying down the sidewalk with red Solo cups in hand and “Cabo Wabo” t-shirts stretched across sunburned shoulders.

“Cuban cigars. Best price, amigo!”

“Silver jewelry. Almost free, pretty ladies!”

“Two for one tequila shots all day, right here, senores!”

But part of “normal” all of the folks fishing here who aren’t part of the tournament and this afternoon, I’m watching sportfishers unload their catches. Catch flags are flying and it’s always interesting to see what gets off-loaded.

There’s some dorado. There’s a few tuna. Hmmm…a marlin. Wahoo on that boat, nice one. A few more dorado over there. Looks like a decent day on the water.

But one fish catches my eye and seems to be drawing a crowd. It’s about 15 pounds and in a plastic bucket and I hear someone say, “That’s the strangest yellowfin tuna. It’s a mutant.”

But, it’s not. It has the familiar football tuna shape, but the elongated pectoral fins…that’s no yellowfin tuna! It’s an albacore.

Yes, the “chicken of the sea.” Highly-sought commercially. Normally associated with 57-62 degree water. Caught in the dark-blue-purple oceans from California to Washington. But, caught here in Cabo? In 85 degree water?

I guess it’s just one more thing to chalk up to El Nino. Or is it?

After experiencing a season’s worth of signs indicative of El Nino conditions, the scientific forecasters have finally “decided” that we are surely in an El Nino year.

It has been highlighted to the delight/ dismay of many depending on where you live and what you do for a living!

Warmer waters than normal played havoc with fishing season. Dorado and marlin up the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Massive tuna schools in southern California. Wahoo on ½ day charter boats out of San Diego.
Those same unseasonably warm waters killed off the bait south of the border in many areas which meant the fish schools moved elsewhere or, there was little or no bait for the fishermen to use
The same conditions lead to more storms on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Mexico. Some 2 dozen big storms were charted as evidenced by the recent “Hurricane Vance” that just skimmed off Baja the week of Nov. 4^th. But it numerically underscores the fact that the storm folks have almost gone through the whole alphabet naming all the storms.
Highly unusual to even see storms in November in Baja, but warm waters draw storms!
The highlight/ lowlight of the year was the devastating “Hurricane Odile” in September that ripped Baja and was the strongest storm in Baja history registering winds in excess of 150 mph. Months of repairs and recovery continue almost 8 weeks after the blast.
Should “El Nino” continue as predicted, heavy rains might show up this winter and early next year for much of the drought stricken western U.S.

So, if this actually is an official El Nino season (they usually span parts of two successive years), then one would expect that warm water fishing would continue for Baja fishermen for species like marlin, sailfish, wahoo, tuna and dorodo. Conversely, fishermen on the West Coast of the U.S. should continue to enjoy their phenomenal year on unusual species as well.

But, hold on. Something doesn’t fit.

Colder winter winds are already starting to blow into Baja. Water temperatures are dropping in many areas.

The fishing is already changing too. I doubt we’ll see a full-blown “albacore” run in Cabo San Lucas, but the fact that an albacore was caught says something about a fish that has a messed-up directional radar or, has followed a cooler current of water. I tend to think it’s the later rather than the former.

Where we are in La Paz, we’re seeing fewer dorado and other warm water species and already getting sierra, amberjack, roosterfish, cabrilla and pargo. These are all fish associated with cooler conditions.

Our air is already many degrees cooler than normal and humidity has dropped considerably. Winds are blowing stronger from the north and there are areas that are already too rough to fish on some days.

Everyone asks me , “What do you think, Jonathan? What do you predict if we come fishing?”

I’m stumped. It’s one of those things that make me go, “Hmmmm….”

One of my captains just taught me the word, “Perplejo.” It means “perplexed.” And that’s me. None of this year has made sense.

Roosterfish or dorado?

Bait or no bait ?

Full moon no moon ?

Rain or sunshine ?

I’ve been wrong more often than not this year. My crystal fishing ball is on the fritz. I stopped trying to over-think it and ultra-analyze it. I just tell people, “Come fishing.” Then I shrug.

It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be. Maybe we should be more concerned with fishing than what we’re gonna catch. It still beats work. And it’s still Baja!

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

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Website: www.tailhunter-international.com

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“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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Making Lemonade Safely

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, 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, 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 accommodations, amberjack, articles, bahia, baja, baja pirates, bay, beach, billfish, bonito, Cabo San Lucas, cabrilla, catch and release, cerralvo, certified scale, charter, chubasco, costa baja resort hotel, discount, dog tooth, dorado, east cape, editor, el sargento, espirito santo, fish, Fishing, fishing and hunting shows, flyfish, flyfishing, fred hall show, freedive, gaviotas hotel, grey whales, guide, holiday, hotel, hotel araiza, hotel cantamar, hotel el moro, hotel marina, hotel marina palmira, hotel palmira, hotel perla, hotel posada, hurricane, igfa, images, inshore, ise, isla, island, jack crevalle, jillene roldan, jilly roldan, Jonathan Roldan, la concha beach resort, La Paz, la ventana, las arenas, light tackle, live bait, lodging, los barriles, mahi mahi, marlin, mexican, mexico, mosquito fleet, muertos, odile, offshore, outfitter, package, panga, pargo, photos, pirate fleet, pompano, reports, roosterfish, sailfish, san jose del cabo, scuba, sea of cortez, seminars, sierra, snapper, snorkel, sportfishing, stories, storm, suenos, swim, Tailhunter International, tailhunter restaurant bar, techniques, tips, tour, trolling drift, tuna, vacation, video, wahoo, western outdoor news, whales, whalesharks, whalewatching, yellowfin, yellowtail on September 15, 2014| Leave a Comment »

In a matter of minutes…here it comes! Out’ve a blue sky.

One way to handle it…

MAKING LEMONADE SAFELY

Originally Published the Week of Sept. 17, 2014 in Western Outdoor News

As I sit here writing on the 2^nd story terrace of our Tailhunter Restaurant here in La Paz, it looks like a postcard. The waters of the bay shimmer in the sunshine while I can see birds diving on a school of jacks near one of the buoys.

Sailboats and motoryachts drift on their moorings while a larger cruiser heads out. Palm fronds from the waterfront trees give a hint of the salty breeze blowing through siesta hour. If I weren’t writing, I’d be like a few guys I see on the beach with their feet up under a shady palapa with cold ones in hand just watching the world go by.

Hard to believe that just a few days ago, Hurricane Norbert blew through here. Life returns quickly to normal once the sun comes back out. Conversely, everyone is now watching and talking about Tropical Storm / Hurricane Odile which has Baja in it’s crosshairs and might be hitting us as you’re reading this.

Actually, there’s two other storms (Tropical Depression 16-E and Invest 96E) which are yet un-named, but accompany Odile into our area. Sigh…can’t get a break! So, a trifecta might be in the making.

But that’s life in a tropical zone during an El Nino year! We expected them. By one count, these are the 14^th or 15^th storms of the year. Most have fortunately glanced off and gone spinning into the Pacific with apologies to my family in Hawaii. (But Hawaii knows how to deal with rain! Baja is still working on it.)

Until Norbert last week the storms did some tremendous damage along Baja’s Pacific Coast. However, they really haven’t done much to Baja except rattle our collective tranquility.

Along with some heavy occasional downpours, street flooding and thundershowers , they remind us that Mother Nature still has a roar. But, mostly, all we’ve had is roar.

And roaring is fine. To a point.

As long as it doesn’t screw with our vacations, right?

But, it happens sometimes. Baja is the “frontera” (frontier). It’s not some hermetically-sealed-Disneyland where everything is somehow controlled by someone behind a screen like the Wizard of Oz.

It’s beautiful and rustic and rugged. And in it’s own way, still dirty and dusty and raw. And when it rains or gets weather, it can get dirtier and muddier and wetter and uglier and yes, even dangerous.

So, what do you do if Mother Nature hangs one on you? It’s not likely, but it CAN happen and co-incidentally, “hurricane season” just happens to be when the best fishing takes place.

You can watch the weather reports and, if you see something looming, take pre-cautions. Check with your outfitter and reservation people. Take out vacation insurance if it looks like you might not get refunded.

Don’t outright cancel your trip without first checking if the area you will be in will even be affected. Baja is a big place. Mexico is a big place. Weather patterns change rapidly. A storm affecting one area, might not even drop rain a few hundred miles away.

If you’re already on vacation, sometimes there’s absolutely nothing to be done. Storms can orginate from clear blue sunny skies in a matter of hours during certain times of the year. No amount of foresight or weather scouting on your part could have predicated the onset.

If that happens, use some common sense. Vacations are important, but nothing is more important than personal safety.

If your outfitter has to cancel a trip, so be it. See if there’s a refund or you can re-schedule.

Even if the outfitter or operator is NOT canceling the trip, ask if it’s going to be rough or even worth going out. Remember, it’s supposed to be safe and second, it’s supposed to be fun. This shouldn’t be an exercise in stamina and miserableness. Ask to re-schedule.

Some shady operators will send you out knowing full well it’s gonna be a boatride just to pocket the money. But, most aren’t like that. Especially, if you have the ability to re-schedule. They don’t want to be out there bouncing around either and happy satisfied clients are a priority.

If the hotel recommends you stay close or even indoors…by gosh…have a clue and don’t be running around outside when all heck is breaking loose.

I’m reminded of tourists I saw in the middle of a hurricane cavorting in the pool while bits of roof were spinning around like shrapnel in 80 mph winds. They were still laughing as 20-pound coconuts started dropping from coco trees like cannonballs around them. WHOOSH! WHOOSH! BOINK!

Another time, with thunderous bolts of electricity blasting La Paz Bay, I saw frustrated anglers still casting rods in horrendous wind and rai. They were trying to make-a-point to their amigos that they were “hardcore” fishermen. With every jag of lightning I expected nature to take aim at one of those “rods” and teach them something about “hardcore.” More like “burned-to-the-core!”

It’s pretty funny now, but back in the day, some other clients grabbed kayaks in the middle of the maelstrom and attempted to row around playing “kayak water polo” in a flooded parking lot where cars were submerged up to their windows.

Like the saying, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt.”

The point is, stay safe. Don’t tempt the powers, curse the devil or spit into the wind. So to speak.

From a secure vantage point, try to enjoy the adventure, as it were. Nature can be pretty amazing. Put your feet up. Crack a cold one with your other stranded travelers. There’s not much more you can do outdoors.

I’ve seen folks organize poker parties for others. One hotel set up a DVD and casino night in the lobby. Another hotel sent out for pizza for everyone and kept the bar open 24 hours.

Another put giant trash bags and scissors out so people could make their own “rain panchos.” Snip three appropriate holes and you’re ready to go.

Bottom line. Make the best of a crazy situation that can’t be helped. Don’t blame your travel agent, outfitter or the weatherman. It is what it is.

People get hurt during these things but MOST of the time it’s because they were doing idiotic things like trying to swim in raging surf or crossing swollen arroyos with cars. Or getting hit by flying debris.

No one ever got hurt watching a storm while eating a taco and drinking a margarita indoors.

I’m shutting my laptop right now. Three hours ago when I started typing, it was sunny and hot! Honest…the winds suddenly came up with dark clowds and it’s staring to rain…again! Where’s my trash bag pancho? I’m out!

(Within hours of this, Category 4 Hurricane Odile hit…)

That’s our story!