People ask me all the time when the fishing is best in Puerto Vallarta. That is always a moving target because everyone wants a little something different. My standard answer is Mid July to the second week of January. But for some reason people seem to take that as if the fishing is bad any other time. This of course is not the case, but we do know up front that January, February, March and early April are not Billfish months. But we´re in March now, the water is warming up daily, we have seen Sailfish fifty miles out at The Bank or El Banco in Spanish. There is still plenty of bait in the bay, the water is clearer and bluer every day. Spring is right on time this year with the weather conditions coming in line with expectations and water temperatures moving into the range summer fish prefer! Yes Amigos if you are into fishing, then this is the time of year when things will change for the better. Larger, more abundant gamefish are already here, time to think about your summer fishing trips!
It seems at times that all I do is rewrite what I said the week before and I guess that is normal when your primary subjects, fish in this case, don´t change habits drastically in the winter. Normally for February the sailfish are still here and we´ll see Dorado in diminishing numbers and smaller as time passes. In March we see the water temperatures normally warm up a bit. After a La Nina year I have no clue what to expect. But remember this La Nina Year came after an El Nino year which is hot water temps. Now that we are hopefully moving into a normal current pattern we are seeing warm water species move back in to the area. The fish I am talking about here are primarily Needle Fish. Just as we see the Sierra Mackerals and Jack Crevalls indicate that water temperatures have cooled down come the end of winter in to fall. So it looks like we will see an early spring this year is this is any indication.
One of the places I don´t write much about is El Morro. Located about ten (10) miles south of the Marietta Islands, El Morro is one of those locations that can be dead for extended periods of time and then just explode with action. One reason is the bottom of the bay in that area works to produce upwelling’s that contain all sorts of organic materials that have settled on the bottom from the summer months. This is a little known area that a new comer would not know of unless a local told him about it.
Two weeks ago I turned away more people than I care to think about with the truth about what the actual conditions were in the bay. Four hour trips, unless you like checking out sea life and whales, was pretty much a waste of your time and money. Same for Six hour trips and even the eight hour days were coming in at times with empty fish boxes. But as the warmer water is working its way back into the area we have seen the normal players like Jack Crevalls return in a big way. Tons of smaller Red Snappers, Pompano and several larger Rooster Fish and the list goes on. One thing for sure, there is no reason now to hold back. Even the four hour trips are averaging 10 to 15 fish or all types.
Feb. 15, 2011 We are seeing the water temperatures hover in the low 70’s and while that is still cold water for us here in Puerto Vallarta, it is still much better for fishing than the low 60’s we were dealing with last week. There were some mornings where my Mexican side wanted a parka […]
Mexico: A Reality Check is about what is happening in Mexico. The United State is moving jobs to mexico at a furious rate, yet bad mouths mexico using the press as it´s messenger. Read why this is all h appening now and why…. Interesting stuff if you plan on visiting or not.
And at this time of the year the fishing is white hot! November marks one of the two months that the High Tourism season meshes with High Season for Fishing where vacationers and professionals alike are sharing the same fishing grounds. Now of course they’re mostly looking for Yellowfin Tuna at this time of the year and they´re coming in with full cockpits! Black Marlin have moved back into the area and Sailfish are huge, some in the 120 lb range and 13 feet long! November is always an exciting month in Puerto Vallarta and this year looks to be exciting as well!
Once you enter the middle of October anywhere within 400 miles of Puerto Vallarta, north or south, you’ll find the best conditions for fishing for the entire year. Cabo had two tournaments the last week including the Bisbee’s Black and blue. A week earlier, there was the Los Cabos Tournament sponsored by Marlin Magazine. Soon we’ll have the Pez Vela Tournament coming up here in mid November (www.fishvallarta.com for details) which is always a big local hit and this year marks the 55th year this tournament has been running. The point being these locations schedule tournaments when fishing is at its best! With Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, Marlin and Dorado all firing right now you can only imagine how good conditions are right now for the angler looking for a trophy. But the fishing grounds are still deserted, a lingering effect of the bad economy up north, but for those heading out, the best fishing grounds in the world can be yours almost alone!
