La Paz/Las Arenas April 23rd, 2011 Report

This trophy pargo bruised him, beat him and nearly pulled him out've the boat, but Al Jones got the last laugh (plus a big plate of grilled pargo at the Tailhunter Restaurant that night!) taking this bad boy out've the rocks just outside of Bahia de Los Muertos where the pargo continue to crash and shred and frustrate anglers.



As the waters got warmer we had alot of billfish (sailfish and striped marlin) show up. As one person described it…”there were dozens and dozens just sitting on the surface.” Many weren’t willing to bite having gorged themselves during the full moon, but we did get some biters like this one that Rich Jones holds…his first striper and among three that he and his partner, Ron Hepner, hooked but got released. Rich got this one on 40 pound test and swallowed the hook.



Not a bad first day for a first timer to La Paz, but Fred and Lisa Cruz from Washington put 4 of these nice YT’s in the boat (and a trigger fish) plus had a marlin come unbuttoned. Later in the week they got dorado and pargo (see the photo below).



Blue water, white sand and a good day of fishing is a great combination here in La Paz. Felix Basadre and his dad fished 4 days with this this past week putting some nice yellowtail like this one in the boat .



Being from Washington, Fred Cruz is more used to pulling on ling cod and salmon but got to feel the power of the big red pargo that are ripping lines near Punta Perico these days.



It’s pretty hard not to have fun when this guy is around because he’s just so enthusiastic about his fishing and even when he’s not catching a fish, he never has a bad day! Rich Jones really works at his fishing and got one of our first nice dorado of the season out of Muertos Bay. He also got his first striped marlin ever as well.



85-years-YOUNG from Anaheim CA, Felix Basadre, Sr. can still pull fish and took some nice yellowtail this past week. The fish were more finicky this week and we had to work harder for them.



There weren't alot of them around this past week, but the yellowtail we got into were all quality fish like this one held by Ron Hepner at Balandra Beach taken on the El Bajo Seamount. Ron is from Salt Lake City UT.


FULL MOON WITH WIND PLUS WARMING WATER MAKE ANGLERS WORK FOR SOME GOOD FISH!

With air temperatures now in the 90's it’s looking like we’re transitioning out of our cool water fishing to our warm water fishing. Unfortunately, that means we’re probably at the tail end (no pun intended) of our fantastic yellowtail season we’ve had although I’m sure we’ll still get a few strays here and there. Looking at the Terrafin water charts, there’s warm water south of Cerralvo Island and then also just east of Espiritu Santo Island.

Interestingly, that’s where we’re seeing marlin and sailfish seeming by the dozens sunning themselves and, although some are biting I think if we kick it up just a degree or two more, it’s gonna bust out WFO. Let the full moon stuff pass and the water warm just a hair and BOOM! It’s gonna be billfish rodeo time! In fact, by the time you’re reading this, we might already be in it. We have had a few flurries and fortunately, most of the billfish are getting released, but a few have been taken and we’re seeing that their bellies are full of squid like the schools balling up on the east side of Cerralvo Island and I think with the full moon that just passed the squid were coming up from the deep and the marlin were “on the chew” all night long stuffing themselves! So…maybe we better get ready! When the buffet table gets taken away, the billfish might just come charging!

Oh…yea…we also had to deal with some big rolling swell…higher and lower tides from the full moon…some days of strong winds…plus the changing water temps mentioned above. By themselves, any one of two of those events would normally be no problem, but we got the multi-spanking whammy from mother nature and props to all our anglers this week for putting a great face on it and still coming away with some great fish!

As for other species, like I said, we’re seeing perhaps the last hurrah for the yellowtail, but other cooler water species like pargo (barred pargo/ dog-tooth snapper/ mullet snapper) are still rolling in the shallows frustrating anglers as thehy take anglers to the rocks time-after-time. Still, we did get a few nice ones this week…interestingly, the rookies did so much better than the veterans! As well, we also got into some nice fat cabrilla (Mexican seabass) some amberjack, nice roosterfish and maybe not surprisingly some decent-sized dorado given the warmer waters!

That’s our story!
Hope everyone has a great Easter. God bless!
Jonathan and Jilly

[Edited on 4-26-2011 by Sirena]

Thanks for the great reports guys! They really help with shortening the learning curve I am going through down here, and I need all the help I can get!!
How does Bouy Weather compare to Terrafin's service?? Their SST chart seems to be very close to what I meter at the areas I've been fishing. Even the wind/swell info has been close, most of the time
By the way, both your captains, and Davids have been friendly and helpful to the gringo in the little Triumph with the blue T-top.
Very good PR by your crew!! In Socal you never get help from the local pros/sportboats in my experiences on the water up north.

Quote:

Originally posted by bajabass Thanks for the great reports guys! They really help with shortening the learning curve I am going through down here, and I need all the help I can get!! How does Bouy Weather compare to Terrafin's service?? Their SST chart seems to be very close to what I meter at the areas I've been fishing. Even the wind/swell info has been close, most of the time By the way, both your captains, and Davids have been friendly and helpful to the gringo in the little Triumph with the blue T-top. Very good PR by your crew!! In Socal you never get help from the local pros/sportboats in my experiences on the water up north.

Dave, I am going to miss you this round. I am flying in a few to San Diego to help our youngest with the run up to her wedding. Jonathan will be here to help you cause trouble
Hugs!!