The vision of Randal Lee

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had come to fruition as 21 hopeful anglers converged on LAX eagerly awaiting our departure for La Paz to kick off the Catholic Big Brothers Big Sisters 1st annual La Paz Fishing Fiesta. It was my extreme pleasure to be invited on as Co-Chair to help Randal tie it all together which wasn’t really necessary as Jonathan Roldan already had every detail worked out, as usual. From the start It was clear we had an outstanding group of people that were all there for the same reasons, good times, good fishing & helping a great cause with a history of success.

There was some concern of weather but as luck would have it we just caught the tail end of the storm upon our arrival on saturday afternoon. The rain had stopped by the time everyone settled in & gathered poolside for a run down of our schedule, followed by an informative Q&A session with Jonathan. Goody bags stuffed with hats/shirts from Booyaa, shirts/swimbaits/leadheads from Big Hammer, Yamaha hats from Razor Yachts & Big Game line as well as Gulp baits from Berkley were provided for each participant. Jonathan Roldan’s Tailhunter International
http://www.tailhunter-international.com really stepped up, donating 2 return trips for 2 to the cause. As if that wasn’t enough, to top off our first day all of the guests were treated to an outstanding Mexican BBQ buffet at the Cortez Club, located within stumbling distance from our rooms.

Our first day of fishing was out of Las Arenas where the tuna & dorado were eagerly awaiting just stones throw from the beach.

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There was consistent to wide open fishing for mostly cookie cutter, football YFT tuna

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but a few of the guys who weighed in 3 of the larger dorado found themselves with a slight advantage over what was a very tight field. I was sharing a boat with an outstanding gentleman named Johnny Wong

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the first day for a good stab at the tuna but the only dorado we caught was small enough to be released or used for bait. We made an effort to push Johnny ahead of the pack by spending the end of our day targeting some of the huge roosters that had been caught. One made a massive appearance in the chum but as they often do, never gave the hooked bait a look. Once we got back to the beach it was obvious from the smiles, high fives & stories being told a good time was had by all.

One van load got away before Jonathan got this shot:
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Due to the previous weather only a few boats had been fishing the La Paz side where we were to spend the 2nd day.

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Tom & Johnny

In an effort to relocate fish the fleet all spread out more than usual resulting in quite a variety back at the beach. On this day I had the pleasure of sharing a super panga with Randal for a tougher day on mirror like seas. We ran across the bay looking for bigger dodo’s but the long shot only got us 2 standard issue dodo’s along with a wfo bite on firecracker yellowtail near some buoys.

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A few of the committed made a long run south for some excellent wahoo fishing with one of Jonathan’s boats returning with 6 ranging from 40 - 60 lbs. Pics to come!

Manny & Anthony Avila were one of the few that made the run, each nailing one of the toothy critters, combined with their consistency on the dorado locking them in the 2nd & 3rd spots. Anthony scored a dinner certificate good for 2 at any Bubba Gump’s Restaurant as well as swag from Booyaa, Big Hammer & Berkley that accompanied each and every prize. Manny brought home a new Avet MX reel for barely squeaking out his brother for 2nd place with the largest buzzsaw of our group.

The clear winner was Tuomas Holmberg who was accompanied by his father Bob & girlfriend Carrie Shylansky who came to La Paz a woman but went home an angler. The thrill she exhibited when hooked up was only matched by the obvious disappointment when she lost an extended battle. The bug is alive and well in her which is good because they chose a night of hoop netting for lobster with myself as first prize. This is a trip I can’t wait for, there couldn’t have been anyone on the trip who will get as much out of the adventure hooping can be as this young couple. Pressures on me now!

Eat Me Lures & Sevenstrand also provided a very nice package of jigs along with many other goodies we were using as an incentive to release billfish. Although several sailfish & marlin were caught each day none were in our group. Since several of the boats had caught wahoo a decision was made to give the “Species” package to Tim Leung for the only quality pargo caught by our group.

Each & every evening was topped by outstanding meals in different locations that were the topic of many conversations throughout the trip. Once again guided by Jonathan & Jill’s helpful hand for whom we can’t thank enough. On behalf of everyone who attended I would like to thank Randal Lee, Susan Kromka, Lulu Louie (Alaska Airlines) & Ken Martinet for all the work that goes into putting a trip like this together, it truly was appreciated as well as enjoyed. Thanks again to all the sponsors who made this event a success. On behalf of the CBBBS I would like to thank all the participants who showed up in the true spirit of the event.

If you want information, are interested in getting involved with or donating to the CBBBS please contact:
Ken Martinet: kmartinet@catholicbigbrothers.org

If you want information, are interested in getting involved with or sponsoring next years CBBBS La Paz Fishing Fiesta please contact:
Randal Lee: rjlee@ccim.net
or Josh Dunlap: fishbeer@earthlink.net