High Season Hurricane Rush Brings Marlin, Dorado, Sails
For the last few weeks, we’ve been plagued with several Hurricanes. We’ve received both the benefits and the downside of these events. For now, the whole area of the Banderas Bay is alive with world class fishing in Puerto Vallarta. We’re moving into the timeframe when tourism and fishing come together. We had two Hurricanes in five days pass us and the results are spectacular. Hurricanes will push fish out of its path. Those fish go someplace and normally when they pass PV, the results are positive in the form of Black Marlin, Blue Marlin, Dorado, Sailfish and of course Yellowfin Tuna finding a home is our world class fishing grounds.
Corbetena this week was the place to be. El Banco has been on and off lately. The simple fact is that fish move, they follow currents and bait. With the recent Hurricane activity, the different species are scattered between Corbetena and El Banco. Anywhere in between those two locations is where you’ll find the action. The problem is, we don’t know where to target first! Where the action was yesterday, may not be where the action is today. It can be a crap shoot. There were a few days last week, before the Hurricane passed us, where El Banco was a Marlin Machine. This week, they’re still out there, but they’re farther north by about 15 miles, if you were there right now, you’d find Yellowfin Tuna in the 60lbs. range along with Black Marlin, Blue Marlin and Sailfish. If you hung around the high spots, then you didn’t see any of these fish. So, when you head out, sometimes a longer trip will produce better results. Sometimes not. But to be frank, if you take a fourteen hour trip, that means from sun up to sun down, you won’t have to worry too much about running into a finned fantasy! Such was the case with a client who did just that. The poor guy was heading out for an overnight, they closed the port and I suggested 14 hrs to try and make up for the day he lost. Heading out with Capt. Fredy, the results were incredible. Four Marlin released or lost and they kept some for the picture. That same day, I had another boat out for twelve hours, they wound up bottom fishing and getting some very nice sized Cubera Snapper, the client was happy, but he was targeting Marlin! The bottom line being, you need time and fuel to chase the dream species. These days where fuel cost in Puerto Vallarta is bordering on seven dollars a gallon, fuel is a limiting factor to distance or roaming around.
For the more conservative fisherman, Corbetena has a more favorable record. I always say “they’re bigger at the Bank”, if they’re there. Corbetena on the other hand is a little closer, but that doesn’t mean the species you’re targeting will be there waiting for you to show up. Right now, you’ll find Black Marlin to 600 lbs., Sailfish, Dorado to 25 lbs, and Yellowfin Tuna in the 60lbs range as well. And if you’re in the mood to do some bottom fishing, you’ll also find Cubera Snapper to over 50lbs. They’re great tasting and nobody targets Cubera Snappers for some reason. But, like I’ve been talking about, you need to be six to twelve miles north of the rock at Corbetena. This would be beyond the ten hour area, we do it, but others won’t. We want you to catch fish, so we will eat the expense to gain a return customer. But there you are. For those on a budget, fishing has never been for those worrying about a budget, but of course none of us have more money than we need, so it’s a balancing act. Now we’re talking about the deep-water locations where you’re targeting fish that can be bigger than your car!
Which brings us to the eight hour distance locations like Punta Nayarit, El Morro and every where in between. You may not get a Marlin, but Sailfish and Dorado to 20 lbs. are running the area. If you’re out about six to ten miles off shore, you have a slim shot at Marlin as well. They’ll probably be a bit smaller, but they’re still a Marlin amigos. Many times, after the rains the water will be dirty, so we’ll head out a little farther to find clean water and of course, your chances for a Marlin go up. So, it’s not doom and gloom fishing around here, you have options. Right now, an eight hour fishing trip is well worth the time and money.
Normally at this time of the year we have Dorado all over the bay. For some reason, right now the Dorado in the bay are at the 10lbs. range, a bit disappointing. For the most part, at this time of the year the fishing in the bay is fun, but there isn’t anything of any size. We will see the freak Sailfish near Los Arcos or near the La Cruze Marina at the opposite side of the bay. You’ll still see Jack Crevalles, Skip Jack Tuna, but the Dorado haven’t shown up in the bay yet. From October to January, Puerto Vallarta fishing is all about the deep water species. But if you don’t want to spend the whole day on a boat, the bay is a perfect option, especially for the younger members of the family.
After the Hurricanes, we’ve got High visibility blue water, plenty of varied bait, especially Skip Jack Tuna which is our best bait for larger species. Water temperatures are still hovering at 89 degrees, and the bite is a touch earlier. So be where you want to be before 08:30, but remember, give yourself some extra time if leaving in the dark. We have so much debris in the bay, it’s easy to hit a submerged log or tree, which of course would ruin your day, not to mention the damage to the boat. If you can’t see it, you’ll hit it and we’ve already lost one iconic boat in the bay this week. From this point forward, it’s the best fishing of the year. All the world famous fishing tournaments from Cabo to Manzanillo are happening in the next six weeks. So, it’s a good idea if you’ve been waiting for the conditions to be more favorable, to get on the water now. Good luck!
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Until next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish!
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Written by Stan Gabruk
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