MitchMan
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Fishing in La Paz
Recently got my 15 ft self-bailing fiber glass runabout fixed and put it in the water in La Paz Marina. Took three excursions out toward Espiritu
Santos Island and all I caught were trigger fish and two cabrilla on a great little lure. On one of my trips, I motored 65 miles - that's a bit too
far.
I need some suggestions on where to go in La Paz to find fish and not have to motor so far.
For the past two years, I have fished on pangas that left out of the light house area, I think they call it "El Faro" or something that sounds like
that. Usually fished around the south end of Isla Ceralvo. I usually caught Dorado. Last year in August on one outing, I caught Dorado, a
yellowtail, a Mulato Pargo and one tuna just outside of Bahia de los Muertos. That area is about forty miles away from La Paz.
I wouldn't mind catching Cabrilla all day long, but I would also like to get some Dorado too, an occadional Pargo or tuna would be great also. I only
like to catch fish that I like to eat. Not interested in Rooster fish, Wahoo, or Marlin.
Are there any locations to launch a boat and fish that are in or near La Paz and don't require motoring on the water forever?
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dtbushpilot
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Theres a boat ramp at Bay of Dreams and you can catch all the snapper and grouper you want right in that area. A little ways to drive but better than
a long boat ride......dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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castaway$
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You don't eat Wahoo? it's one of my favorites!
Live Indubiously!
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MitchMan
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Castaway, I have been told and have read that Wahoo is not good to eat, never tried it myself. What does it taste like? I am open.
Pilot, Where exactly is the boat ramp? I am familiar with the restaurant that is there and have seen people beach lauch right in front of the
restaurant, but I don't remember seeing an actual boat ramp in the immediate area of the restaurant. Also, isn't there a 3 mile washboard dirt road
leading to the restaurant instead of paved road?
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castaway$
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Wahoo is a very white but dense meat, not flaky like grouper or bass. It has a delicious lighter flavor than dorado or YT, it REALLY is worth trying,
I think you'll get a lot of nomads and fisherman agree that wahoo is excellent.
The boat ramp at the Bay of Dreams is in front but slightly to the west of the restaurant, watch out for the rocks at the end of the ramp, it's an OK
ramp but can be tide dependent based on the size of your boat, @ 15' should be no problem.
Live Indubiously!
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woody with a view
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smoked wahoo is the best eating grub from the ocean......
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dtbushpilot
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The ramp is where castaways said, the road is paved all the way as I recall and wahoo is one of the best tasting fish going. I cut it into 1" thick
steaks and cook it rare to medium rare over a very hot fire or a very hot griddle plate, ribbed side up. 20 seconds and rotate 90degrees for 20 more,
flip it over and repeat. You can marinate it however you like, slice it 1/2" thick for a sandwich....good stuff......dt
"Life is tough".....It's even tougher if you're stupid.....
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MitchMan
Super Nomad
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Thanks Nomads,
Looking forward to eating wahoo as soon as I can. DT, you know how to cook fish, I like the "medium rare" approach to most of the fish I eat.
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bajajurel
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It's actually Bahia de los Muertos, about an hour out of La Paz. The developer has changed the name to dreams instead of the dead to attract more
buyers. The restaurant / bar used to be a Giggling Marlin and the boat ramp is concrete and one of the better ramps in Baja. There are numerous
places to fish along the rocky coast for many varieties of fish including super-charged Pez Gallo. Heading out of the bay towards Las Arenas and the
south end of Ceralvo presents many fishing opportunities. Just talk to the locals and follow the Pangas for the current bite.
Wahoo when they are present are usually caught early in the morning tolling Rapallas between Las Arenas and Ceralvo. Dorado when present are found
many locations. Tuna are found more off shore and the shark buoys a little ways out are favorite Dorado spots. Many spots for grouper and sierra
around Ceralvo exist. There are usually bait pangas hanging around that sell live bait whick works well for anything biting.
BTW, Wahoo are some of the best eating fish you can bring to the table!
bajajurel
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
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Hola MitchMan, the road to muertos bay is paved all the way to to the bay and then it's hard pack in the parking lot and launching area and you can
drive right up to the water. it is very shallow and is usually very calm so you shouldn't have any problems launching. if you launch at muertos bay,
the baitmakers were at the southerly end of the bay itself but, that was last week.
for the bottom fish, we used the same setups but slow trolling with live bait and chumming continuously letting out about 100 feet of line. when we
got bit, the pangero would throttle out into deeper water as we were only fishing in 20 - 30 feet of water. recommended main line would be 40 # test
with about 6 feet of fluro due to bite offs and chaffed line from needlefish or getting immediately rocked by the bottom dwellers.
we fished meeting our pangero at the lighthouse area in las arenas de la ventana and are doing so again tomorrow. you cannot drive up to the water in
las arenas unless you have a good 4 wheel drive so it may be a difficult launch there.
at either site, it is not recommended that you leave things outside your vehicle as it won't be there upon your return. the pangeros remove
everything but the motors.
we got yellowfin in front of punta perico but we had to run to muertos bay for sardines first. the sardines were all dead and were pinhead size. the
pangero would pin two dead sardines on a # 2 hook with 30# flurocarbon, chum a bunch of the dead bait, peel line out hand over hand with the reel in
freespool and the clicker on for about 50 - 80 feet. you need to get there early as the bite lasted about 2 hours or so and we did get 6 yellowfin to
about 25 pounds.
they do have the humbolt squid there as there were a cluster of boats about a half mile out from muertos bay. our guy said sardines are the better
bait ?
afterwards, we went between cerralvo and la ventana and found a commercial panga that sold us some live sardines of about 4 inches. we slow trolled
the sterofoam buoys with the same terminal setup and got limits of dorado of about 10 pounds or so.
our fairly good size body bag was full with the six tuna and with dorado tails hanging out the top of it and we called it a day and were ashore by 12
or so.
indeed, wahoo is a top rated eating fish, period ! when they are biting at the southerly end of cerralvo, we slow trolled a marauder and a purple and
black deep diving rapala and earlier in the year, we got two that went 50# and another that went about 12# both on the rapalas.
IF YOU GET WAHOO BIT, BE VERY CAREFUL BRINGING IT INTO THE BOAT AS THEY HAVE RAZOR SHARP, SNAPPING TEETH !!!!!! BETTER STILL, BEAT IT TO DEATH FIRST
!!!! IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS FISH !!!!
hope you have a great trip,
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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MitchMan
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Absolutely great advice! Thank you guys. RAT, I owe you, man. I much appreciate the comprehensive info, especially on the specifics of terminal
tackle and other great details. Also, thanks for the reminder about the danger in bringing aboard a wahoo.
I remember reading a fish story about some guys that went out on a small cabin cruiser and brought in a big wahoo on deck. They were all revelling
about the catch when the boat rocked and the very live and thrashing wahoo slid into one of the anglers and bit him in the upper thigh severing or
puncturing an artery. Fortunately, all the anglers were dentists and used monofilament to suture up the wound and saved the guys life. That always
made an impression on me (I read the story about 15 years ago).
I will be fishing Los Muertos.
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
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Hola MitchMan, you're welcome ! also, if you want to go out on a panga out of las arenas, u2u me and i will give you direct numbers for the pangeros.
my pangero charges $ 100.00 for a bare bones tiller panga with a honda 50 and $ 140.00 for an older super panga with a 90 honda.
if it's windy, they launch out of muertos bay and fish close in and if not windy, they launch off of las arenas. las arenas however is about a five
mile dirt road that is washboard.
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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bajajurel
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Hola Desert Rat,
Was this a fishing report from yesterday? If so, how far out did you get the tuna?
bajajurel
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
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Hola bajajurel, here is a back patting report from yesterday, thursday, launching at las arenas.
four of us went to las arenas from los barriles on two prearranged pangas we set up from los barriles. an older super panga at $ 140.00 and a tiller
panga for $ 100.00 plus bait and tips & fish filleting included.
got unloaded and went to muertos bay for sardines, mostly dead and some live pinhead sardines. about a five minute run to a spot in front of muertos
bay also with other pangas. i got setup on a 25 # rig and almost immediately, got bit ! short story, 1:45 minutes later, we gaffed a yellowfin that
bottomed out my shimano 50# hand scale, pangero said maybe 60#. lightly set drag, overheated newel 332. we were extremely fortunate as after we
landed, we were told that about 20 pangas went out from las arenas and we got the only tuna for the day for the fleet !!
i was really concerned after a half hour as usually, you get sawed off or the hook pulls but after gaffing, the # 2 owner j-hook got in the corner in
the bony part of the jaw, really lucky !!
after the tuna bite was over, we ran between cerralvo and el sargento and slow trolled the shark buoys for a limit of dorado about 10 - 15 pounds.
left the launch area at 1:30 and back to los barriles.
we were also very lucky as we caught the weather window, light breezes and slight, very fishable chop.
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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MitchMan
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Good report, Rat.
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wessongroup
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Ditto's on the report
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BAJA.DESERT.RAT
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Hola, i need to make a clarification on my cost statement.
" an older super panga at $ 140.00 and a tiller panga for $ 100.00 plus bait and tips & fish filleting included ".
the cost is plus bait and tips as they are not included, sorry. fish filleting is included.
BIEN SALUD, DA RAT
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bajajurel
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thanks for the report BDR. We are thinking of a November trip but can't decide on La Paz, Los Barriles, or Mag Bay. All seem touch and go tight now.
How did you do in Los Barriles?
bajajurel
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