Fish Report

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  Mostly sunny.  Highs in the high 80’s to low 90’s.  Winds from the north up to 15 knots or more some days.  Nights are in the comfortable low to mid-60’s.

WATER:  Still relatively warm with surface temps in the mid-70’s but cooling as the winds become more prevalent.

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  yellowfin tuna, dorado, marlin, dog-tooth snapper, sierra, wahoo, bonito, cabrilla, jack crevalle, yellowtail, palometa

MEXICAN MINUTE VIDEO REPORT

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

On the days when you can get out, there’s a surprising variety of both warm and cold water fish. Greg Wong was at Cerralvo Island and came back with alot of fish to clean! I see dorado, a tuna triggerfish, cabrilla, snapper and pompano!

It’s an amazing experience to be in the water with these gentle animals! Don’t worry, they have no teeth and are in the bay feeding on algae and plankton through the filter in their mouths.

These are “baby” whalesharks in La Paz Bay right now. Adults can reach 30-50′ long! But, they are in the shallow waters of the bay feeding right now.

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Well…it’s that lull before the holidays.

Fishing slows about mid-October as winter winds increase and the waters can get fairly rough and there aren’t many fishermen out.  Most are locals or visiting anglers who can pick and choose the better days to be on the water when the winds aren’t blowing.  That’s a big reason all the windsurfers are starting to descend on the area as well.  Winter is wind time and La Paz can get some world-class winds.

However, when you are able to fish, the variety of fish is fairly surprising.

This late in the year, we’re still getting warm water species like some tuna, dorado, billfish and wahoo.  Not many.  Not like during the season, but surprising to still have these species around at all which indicates that the waters still hold warm patches.  Not sure how long this will last as the coming winds will cool things off, but nice to enjoy for the time being.

Most of the fish, for us, have been around Cerralvo Island and in the channel between Bahia Muertos/ Punta Arenas and the island as well as the north and south points of the island.

In addition to lots of bonito, there are 10-30 pound yellowfin below the schools, if you can get through the pesky bonito.  Some small schools of roving dorado in the 5-15 pound class can also be found in the warm waters.

Some wahoo have also been reported around the south point of the island as well as the occasional hook up with blue and black marlin, stripers and sailfish.

Inshore, we’re seeing more of the cooler water species like cabrilla, sierra, the smaller yellowtail.  But there’s some fun 5-pound roosterfish still prowling th beaches and a hoot on light tackle and some beast dog-tooth snapper (cubera) in the shallow rocks that can be tempted with whole a chunk bonito.

Bigger news is the long-awaited whaleshark season has finally opened to swim with these gentle animals in La Paz Bay.

Normally, the season runs October to April, but the past few years the season has been very erratic.  Sometimes open.  Often closed.  It all depends on several things.

If it’s rough and windy, as it often is during the winter months, it’s too rough to locate the animals in the shallow waters of the bay.

Secondly, it all depends on how many animals are around and how many folks are reserved with certified outfitters to swim with the animals.  These are gentle, albeit wild animals. They’re not in a cage like elephants or monkeys in the zoo!

Sometimes there are 2 or 4 or 8 of them.  Sometimes, there are zero!  And they can hang out for an hour or 3.  Or maybe disappear in 15 minutes.   They’re not on a rigid schedule like the circus.

Therefore, it can be hit-or-miss if you book a trip, but exciting if you do get the opportunity to get in the water with them!

BAHIA MAGDALENA FISHING

This is that time of year when we send anglers out to Bahia Magdalena (Mag Bay) on the Pacific side to fish in the remote mangroves as well as the offshore ridges and mounts.  It’s about a 4 hour drive from La Paz if they fly into Cabo or La Paz  or we are picking up anglers from Loreto.

Fishing in the mangroves is a pretty unique experience with light tackle and live bait.  There can be over a dozen different species of fish in the roots, eddys, shoals and shallows.  Our last few trips has produced some nice grouper, spotted bay bass, dog-tooth snapper, corvina, snook and cabrilla.

Offshore, if the winds permit, wahoo are biting on the Thetis Bank, but there’s also a shot at dorado, tuna, yellowtail, broomtail and leopard grouper and billfish.

Let us know if you’re interested!

That’s our story!  Blessings for a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Jonathan & Jilly

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.com

Mexico Office: 

Tailhunter Sportfishing

755 Paseo Obregon, La Paz, Baja Sur, Mexico

U.S. Mailing Address:  Tailhunter Sportfishing
8030 La Mesa Blvd. #178 La Mesa CA  91942

Phones: 
from USA : 626-638-3383
from Mexico: 044-612-14-17863