Buenos dias los pescadores; Happy U.S. Independence Day.  We let the MARIANA have a much needed rest following the Night Train Swim Team’s exciting attempt at a long distance relay swim world record.  That took place during the last week of June and into the 1st few days of July, so we used mostly our smaller vessels and pangas for most of July.  The remainder of the month, was an absolute buffet as far as fishing goes; EVERYTHING was being caught!  La Paz is known for some of the best and most diverse fishing in the world; this month definitely proved that to be true!

I would have to say the Dorado bite dominated the month from start to finish.  Fish from the 20-50lb classes were caught from all areas, north of La Paz to the southern areas around Cerralvo Island and Las Arenas.  Fishing south was somewhat of a catch 22 (if you’ve ever considered catching fishing could be a catch 22):  The further south you went, the smaller the fish and softer the bite.  However, there were a lot more species of fishing to be caught in the southern fishing grounds.  Pick your poison, as I like to say.

Our surprise guest of the month: Yellowtail in the 20-40lb class.  These mossbacks are generally not local to La Paz waters until late winter and best in the spring.  Here we were, in 100+ degree weather, south of La Paz, smack in the middle of July with Yellowtail.  Always a great reaction from our Southern California guests, when they come down here to catch pelagics and wind up with a ‘local’ catch.  No one’s complaining, it’s just a funny surprise.

We had an extremely strong and long lasting Yellowfin Tuna bite; again, south towards the Las Arenas/Cerralvo areas.  This tuna bite was sustained for most of the month.  None of our anglers caught anything huge, but they were frequent and obviously delicious.  Tuna are always a treat, if you’ve ever seen a ‘tuna boil’ (schooling tuna eating near the surface) it is a sight to see.  Birds crashing everywhere, bait jumping out of the water, tuna jumping out of the water- amazing to think there is a method to that madness.

**An important announcement**

Because the H1-N1 hype, raised many commitment issues amongst travelers, I was forced to move our Annual Fishing 4 Freedom program to a later date.  As i like to believe, everything happens for a reason, and Fishing 4 Freedom will now be held on September 11, 2009- a much more significant date.  This event is open to the public, please call for rates and event details. www.Fishing4Freedom.com We have an online ‘Support Store’ store available as well.

We are booking up quickly, so get on the horn and reserve your dates.  I look forward to having you aboard.  Please have look at the ‘NEWS’ section on our www.Fishing4Freedom.com website.  I had to include this photo from last month again.  On the left is William ‘Spanky’ Gibson, lost his left leg in the Iraq conflict; on the right is Vito Bialla, was a tank commander in Vietnam, until he was wounded.  Both are true Patriots, and excellent representatives of Fishing 4 Freedom.