. As we come into late July we expect to see the larger Gamefish like Blue or Striped Marlin which are now moving in behind Sailfish. Dorado can be a moving target, for now we´re seeing the 25 to 35 lb variety. Fair sized, great tasting, reliable as my ex wife. The seasonal rains have returned bringing with it the Trash Line, making short day fishing trips worth the time and the expense. With July comes warm weather and an equator sun. The first time visitor will quickly learn what spots were ¨missed¨ by sunscreen. Cheap air fares, deep discounts on hotel rates, deserted fishing grounds, empty Spas for the ladies and the shopping is unique. For the guy reading my weekly endeavors, this is the time to be here in PV. If you live here in PV and are digesting this information, you´re in the right place at a great time, so get on the water already. From now until the second week of January anything is possible in our world class fishing grounds. World Class, we´re not talking trout, Shad, Carp, Salmon, or Muskie, no folks, we´re talking the Real Deal in the world of Sportfishing. By the end of October those Deep Sea Fishing trips we´ll have produced world record sized ¨fish¨. It´s time to think finances, scratch those pennies together, grab the wifeys credit card and split before she knows you put a fishing trip on it…. Paradise is calling! I take no responsibilities as to husband behaviors, but I am an instigator!
For the last three weeks it´s been all about ¨Bait, Bait, Bait¨ with perfect conditions, purple blue water, perfect water temps and ultimately Nada, Nada, Nada or in English, Nothing, Nothing, Nothing would take a bait. Talk about a monster frustration, there was fish everywhere, maybe not the exact species we would ask the fish gods for, but no shortage of fish. The past weeks were about as close as a ¨cookie cutter¨ report from the previous week as you can get. I continually spoke of how ¨Any Day Now¨, and of course it didn´t come. Well I am happy to report things are changing for the better. We´re finally past the midpoint of July which is a milestone for our world class fishing. Breeding season is finally over, migrations are still happening, but soon that will stop also. For now we´re bursting with Sailfish and Dorado in the 25 to 30 lb range. They`re taking bait and they´re not shy about it, that´s great news, but there is some really weird stuff happening as well.
It´s the old ¨Good¨ vs. ¨Bad¨ when it comes to fishing here in PV these past few weeks. Change happens, which is not always for the best, but with the ¨bad¨ there is always a balancing ¨good¨. For now the ¨bad¨ equates to the bay water turning dirty, you know, that coffee colored water fish hate. It seems that every year before the fishing actually takes off (improves) we have to see the dirty water. Normally this is an indication that the seasonal currents have changed and frankly this dirty water is long overdue. The ¨Good¨ part or the balance is you can find clean, clear, blue water just outside the bay where you have a great shot at Sailfish and Dorado. But then again there´s the balance, Mother Nature puts her spin on it all this week with thousands of 3 to 5 foot long lemon sharks migrating. So what does this mean, well for one thing trying to get bait around these sharks to the local Sailfish and Dorado can present a challenge. Unless of course you don´t mind catching Sharks like me! Getting the hook out of their eight tiers of teeth in their mouth is a whole new danger in itself. But to focus on the ¨good¨, we have fish taking bait, the conditions are perfect outside of the bay!
All and all things have not changed much from last week. We still have perfect conditions, perfect water temperatures and more than enough bait. The water is blue, the seas are fairly smooth and frankly the only thing that that could make it all perfect are the seasonal Gamefish we´re still waiting to see. But there are signs of change, Sailfish are taking bait, Dorado are still small, but increasing in numbers and while there is a too much bait in the water, they have a chink in their fish armor. While still held for fish, we´re optimistic and we should see some positive changes by next week, I think, but then again, I´ve been wrong before, just ask my ex-wife.
All the conditions for world class Sportfishing exist right now. Warm water at 85 degrees, super Sapphire blue water, bait in mega amounts the only thing missing are large fish in any real numbers. That´s right folks we´re held for fish! As we normally enter July we get excited because we know it´s just a short while before we see world record sizes on many of the species we normally see at this time of the year, normally. So what´s the problem you may ask, well I didn´t promise an answer. Frankly most of the saltier Captains in Marina Vallarta in a Mexican laid back voice tell me that I need to be patient. That they are coming all we need are some current changes and we´ll be ¨swimming¨ in fish. As I say this, don´t get me wrong, the fishing is about 50 / 50 right now. You´ll see fish, they´ll chase your baits, and they´ll laugh at you as they turn their heads away from your presentation.
