Best Fishing in Puerto Vallarta in last five years!

Written by: Stan Gabruk owner of Master Baiter´s Sportfishing & Tackle

If you look at the local conditions in Puerto Vallarta you´ll have a hard time finding a word that would fit better than ¨Perfect¨! Here in Puerto Vallarta we´re seeing the best fishing we´ve had in five years (per Capt. Cesar of Magnifico) and we´re as happy as we can be! With water temperatures at 85 degrees of High visibility blue water all our different species available now mixed in with the amounts and availability of bait every bait there is under the sun, it´s going to be sometime before we see any changes! Prepare for cookie cutter reports that resemble the following!

Corbetena: Just pick a fish! Sailfish are thick, Blue Marlin are between 200 and 600 lbs, Black Marlin are the same. Dorado are in the 15 to 30 lb range, they came back. Yellowfin tuna for those trolling are in the 30 to 45 lb mark running with Spinner Dolphin for the most point. Cubera Snappers to 60 lbs, jack Crevalls to 45 lbs, Bonito to 30 lbs, Skippies are feeding on small squids ( which could draw in larger YF tuna so stay tuned ) .. For those looking for larger Yellowfin Tuna they´re out there running 60 to 80 lbs but only if you´re using a kite! Keep that as our little secret. Also all of a sudden we´ve seen Lemon Sharks at 100 lbs or so coming in. They´re a white meat fish, they´re like reeling in a whale and if you can boat one they´re great eating! For now if you want it, whatever it is, it´s at Corbetena! As far as El Banco, nobody is going to this location because Corbeteña is closer and why go farther to get the same species? Still, if in the Area of El Banco you can expect the same species and conditions at El Banco. The only reason I would head to El Banco is on the off chance Yellowfin Tuna are in the larger ¨cow¨ category. Nothing ventured…. but in this case is nothing lost.

The Marietta Islands and around the area are really no better than fishing in the bay. So for your best fishing it´s either in the bay or out at Corbeteña. If in the area of The Marietta islands you´ll find fish like Jack Crevalls to 35 lbs, Bonito to 30 lbs, Needle fish to 30 lbs, Fluke Rooster Fish to about 30 lbs, Snappers for the jiggers and you get the idea. The Point off Punta Mita is alive and well with Sailfish in tournament winning sizes, Dorado if you can find ¨debris¨ or trash in the water. Striped marlin if lucky ten miles off the point between a heading of 285 to 300 will put you in the right place. All and all, the only thing that could change is if Rooster fish turn up or the Dorado get larger which should happen soon.

Inside the bay is incredible. Dorado on the organic ¨crap¨ from the rains in the bay, it´s not exactly a trash line since we have only had swollen with rain rivers pouring into the bay from the Guadalajara rains, so no real trash line to speak of. Still we have Football Tuna around Yelapa to 40 lbs with a touch of luck, bigger than at Corbeteña! Sailfish have been boated this week at Los Animas, Los Arcos, La Cruz Marina, if you´re looking for Sailfish you have a strong chance of boating one in a four hour trip now! Dorado are in the 15 to 20 lb range, small babies, throw them back. Rooster fish can be in the surf line so for the Surf Fishing guys try Rapallas, silver diamond jigs and three inch lures with skirts of green and yellow with black markings. The water around the shoreline could be murky, but this can be on the surface only so using a planer will get your baits below the dirty water and where they can be seen. With massive amounts of Jack Crevalls, Bonito, Needle fish, Snook around the river mouths and snapper around the structure the bay is alive with action. And lets face it, if you can fish close in and get what you´re targeting then why spend the extra money on a ¨maybe¨ especially if heading to El Banco.  But this is just my opinion, I’ve been wrong before, just ask my ex wife (said with a smile)!

Right now the only thing that could make things better (with a cherry on top) is Yellowfin Tuna of real size at El Banco or Corbeteña. Other than that we´re looking at the best fishing we´ve had in five years. While we may be scratching our heads, we´re not complaining, Water temperatures are where we like then at 85 degrees, up slightly from last week. High visibility blue water with massive amounts of every type of bait you could imagine should continue for months to come. With other baits like coming in like Squids and possibly Red Crabs as I´ve heard of in San Diego presently the Yellowfin Situation will only get better. The bite is still happening around the 11 a.m. period but would expect that to get earlier and earlier as the moon is fuller by the day. Lures / Baits: Right now Dead bait is working well, go figure. Live bait is preferable just make sure you´ve got a full live well and make bait when  you get to where you want to be to make sure you´ve got the locals dinner special on your line! If running lures like you should start with these color combinations first. Purple combinations, including Petroleros, Green with black stripes with yellow on the bottom or Pink with blue marking and of course all should be six inches or smaller while trolling these baits.

In Summary: We´ve seen very little rain the last week, Guadalajara is getting it´s fill of rain for sure. When it returns we´ll have the trash line back around the rivers. But one secret is Snook or Robalo, they love the fresh water coming out of the streams, with mostly clean water out of the rivers the visibility for baits is improved and that means if you cast a jig in the Agua Dulce or Sweet Water (fresh water) they´ll see it easier and be more aggressive, something to think about. Sometimes it´s best to follow a Mex. Nationals lead.

Master Baiter´s just got another freezer so this means we can once again Freeze Your Fish! Master Baiter´s clients get this service for free, non clients will pay $150 pesos ($7.00 usd each bag) and can rest assured it won´t be stolen by the concierge, bell boy or anyone passing your fish in the freezer with sticky fingers. And of course we´re the only ones offering this service in Marina Vallarta. If you get ten bags of fish it makes us the cheapest fishing company in Puerto Vallarta.

I also have a new, smaller panga with a super superior captain and for the next two weeks I am offering this 26 ft Panga for four hours at $200 usd which is at a loss for me, but we´re introducing this panga so we can earn your business in the future! But you have to mention you read it here in this article to get this deal or mention you read this in the PV Mirror (www.pvmcitypaper.com ) !!

Smoke Your Fish: As another exclusive service of Master Baiter´s we´re offering a Fish Smoking Service where we´ll smoke your fish, bag it and prepare it for shipping, we take half for payment. People are loving this service and frankly I love the taste of smoked Marlin / Smoked Sailfish, Dorado, Rooster fish or any other fish you catch. Even Jack Crevall taste good smoked!! Just call us and we´ll come to the boat and get it with instructions on how to reach us, we´ll deliver it a few days later or trade you what we have in stock, but not the day of the trip amigo, call us, we´ll fix you up! I can´t tell you how good this is with a beer!!

July Fishing Special: Right now we´re running a special for the month of July, 4 hrs, four people max, Ice, bait, captain, crew, licenses, on insured boats with English speaking captains is only $250 usd for a ¨Full Service¨ fishing Trip. Option II: For those looking to just get on the water and do some basic fishing our 4 hr trip from Marina Vallarta to Los Arcos trolling for smaller game fish is only $195 usd, four people, same as the 250 trip but you´ll be limited on distance and how much fuel we use. Air fares are cheap, hotels are all running specials and the fishing grounds for the most part is still empty.

Until next time, don´t forget to ¨Kiss Your Fish¨. . .

Master Baiter´s is located in Marina Vallarta between docks A and B on the boardwalk. Email your Questions to me at: CatchFish@MasterBaiters.com.mx  Web page:  www.MasterBaiters.com.mx  , Local Phone at: (044) 322 779 75 71 or if roaming: 011 52 1 322 779 75 71 cell phone direct. Come like me on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Master-Baiters-Sportfishing-Tackle/88817121325

The trade name Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trade mark law and is the sole property of Stan Gabruk.