Montana Fish Report

La Paz – Las Arenas/ Muertos Bay/ Suenos Bay Fishing Report for Nov. 21-Dec. 4, 2024

SHORT ATTENTION SPAN REPORT

WATER:  Still some warm patches of blue and somewhat warm with surface temps about 75 degrees, but the ocean is cooling and getting greener as the winds come up and the deeper we get into winter.

WEATHER:  Mostly pleasantly sunny. Daytime temps in the high 70’s to low 80’s. Cooler at night dropping to the low 60’s.

FISH HOOKED:  Dorado, pompano, trevally, small roosters, marlin, tuna, wahoo, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, sierra, amberjack, bonito, jack crevalle

THE BIG PICTURE and the REST of the STORY…

The fishing report is a bit tardy once again.

I was hoping for a break in the weather and hopefully something with a little more content to tell you about instead of the same broken record.  So, I kept waiting!

Honestly, in the last two weeks we’ve only been able to put out one boat but have had to cancel several other trips as well as turn away some snorkel and scuba reservation requests.

I get reservation requests daily, but I like to be honest and transparent about expectations and frankly,  the northern winds are getting more prevalent.  It’s harder and harder to find a gap in the weather where I can tell folks they might have a shot at getting on the water.  Especially these days.  Many of the folks in town are not hard-core anglers.  Many or on vacations and are just looking for a day to try some fishing.  Often, they are families and often with youngsters in tow.

It’s not fun if I send them out and they get soaked and bounced around and get seasick and maybe even get canceled or blown out.  It’s supposed to be fun.  So, I turn alot of folks away and tell them it’s best to just stay on the beach.

It’s a nice time to be in town. It’s mostly sunny and in the high 70’s to low 80’s. in the day time.  Definitely alot more pleasant than say Canada or North Dakota. Evenings drop down into the cooler high-60s.

But looking at the wind forecast for  example, the next 10 days show’s northern winds blowing up to 18 knots per hour.  That’s a big reasons all the windsurfers are often the only ones on the water.

The fishing reports I have are from the handful of guys I got out about a week ago for one day, but also from friends in town who have the luxury of knowing when the winds lay back for a bit.  It also comes from friends who are commercial fishermen who don’t have the luxury of choosing their times so they have to go out to feed their families and make a living.

What I”m hearing and seeing is that there’s some good variety on the water if you can find the right weather-spot.

There are still warm patches of water holding some dorado, marlin and even the occasional tuna or wahoo. The dorado are the school-sized 5-10 pounders mostly.

However the waters are cooling and continue so as the winds get stronger the deeper we get into the winter.  Hence, we also seeing species like amberjack, trevally, pompano, pargo, cabrilla, snapper, bonito and jack crevalle.  I hear there have been some jags of yellowtail at the north end of Cerralvo Island as well as the east and north sides of Espirito Santo Island.

There’s some small roosters and jacks along the beaches.

Live bait becomes and issue as it’s harder for the commercial bait-sellers to find live bait to sell if the waters are too rough so that means sportfishing can become more lure-based fishing.

RESERVATIONS FOR 2025

They’re coming in daily and a number of dates between May and October (prime time) are already sold out or filling pretty fast.  We don’t want to miss you especially if you have a favorite captains or hotel or are chasing that bucket list fish!   Don’t wait.  Check your calendar and get in touch with us as soon as you can!

That’s my story!  Hope ya’ll had a great Thanksgiving week and your holidays are off to a good start!

Jonathan & Jilly