Fish Report

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN FISHING REPORT

WEATHER:  What day of the week is it?  What time of day? It changes so rapidly sometimes by the hour.  When the sun is out it’s hot…very hot and very humid.  If storm clouds are passing it’s cloudy. Simple as that.  Stay hydrated.  Folks getting heat sick all the time.  We keep dodging these major storms.

WATER:  Related to the weather.  If there’s a storm around and the wind is blowing, it can be choppy.  It not, it can be flat.  It can be different 100 yards away

FISH HOOKED THIS WEEK:  Dorado / bonito/ barracuda/ triggerfish/ jacks

MEXICAN MINUTE LA PAZ VIDEO FISHING REPORT

Not even sure where to start this report…

It has been one storm after another.  Each one looking ominous.  Each one a potential threat.

We’re watching the weather again!

SIMON might be turning into a hurricane by tomorrow but it’s still pretty far so the south but…it doesn’t look like it’s going outside this time to the Pacific like Maria…Polo or Rachel.

It’s coming up the Sea of Cortez so no telling if it will affect us or not. Maybe yes.  Maybe no.  The weather this year and last 4 weeks has been as erratic as any in history with this super El Niño.

 Anyone’s guess…like all the 4 storms the last month. All depends on how big the “cone” is.  Not a single storm since August has behaved like a regular storm or as predicted.

I can’t even remember all the names.

Maria came up and threatened…then went outside and up the coast and ended up battering S. California.

Then, Polo looked like it might turn into one of the largest hurricanes ever.  We spent days sandbagging, storing waters, flashlight batteries, etc. and preparing for the worst.  It was supposed to be a category 4 of 5 storm…the strongest on the ratings.  It eventually only bumped us and went up the Pacific Coast and hit landful and mid-Baja and flattened and flooded areas like Lopez Mateos, Constituccion, Mulege, etc then crossed the Sea of Cortez and hammered mainland Mexico.

Then Rachel followed behind Polo.  It never really hit us at all.  It just sat there and created enough disturbances that locked us down.  Big waves.  Erratic winds.  A smattering of rain. Then, it moved north like the others.  Now it looks like it’s going to smash into northern Baja near Tijuana/ Ensenada and San Diego areas.

And now we’re looking at Simon.  This one does not not look like it’s headed out to the Pacific or up the coast . It’s coming up the Sea of Cortez and anyone’s guess as to what it will eventually do or how it will affect us in La Paz.  Bottom line is that I think it will bring us some big waves and wids.

So many storms everywhere in the northern hemisphere in the Atlantic, Pacific and Gulf of Mexico.

Here’s what all of this did to us.

Because of condition like big waves, strong winds and the port of La Paz being closed, we lost 9 straight days of fishing and couldn’t get out, stranding our fishermen in town.  This is what the big waves did to the beach at Bahia Muertos where we launch the boats.  It was scoured of all sand and left us a beach full or rocks that were impossible to launch from.

So…

Well we pretty much lost all our bookings for the last 2 weeks of September and almost all of October.   Understandably with the erratic and unpredictable weather and repeated threat of storms, we encouraged our guests to think about postponement.

The threat of airport closures for arrival and departures or getting stuck here in town with the potential for loss of electricity, flooding, water, food, air-conditioning, sanitation isn’t very appealing to us or anyone.  So, most of our guests postponed and thankfully have re-booked for later dates.

But, the other thing…the fishing.

Since August, the waters have been extremely hot.  Not warm.  HOT!  Surface temps are in the low 90’s.  The fish have virtually disappeared except for a smattering of 5-10 pound dorado and even those fish are hard to come by. A 15 pound fish right now is a trophy.  There are a few other species around, but mostly it’s the small dorado.  And that’s it.  Scratchy fishing at best.

My theory is that the water has gotten too hot.  There’s no oxygen in the hot water.  Bigger fish requiring more oxygen have gone elsewhere or deep where the water is more oxygenated.  The smaller fish don’t require as much as the larger fish.  Simple as that.

And so, until conditions change with this super el nino situation, I think we’re going to see more of the same.  In a few weeks the northern winds will start up like usual and then, it’s going to be too rough to fish through the winter.

To all our guests and friends who DID come down, thanks for being patient and I’m sorry about conditions. I wish I could wave a magic wand and change things.  For everyone who had to postpone their trips,  we’re as disappointed as you.  Vacations are important but glad you’re going to come back at a later date.  Turns out your decisions were probably good ones.

Cheers and blessings!

That’s my story

Jonathan

Jonathan Roldan’s
Tailhunter Sportfishing
www.tailhunter.comMexico Office: 

Tailhunter Sportfishing