Black Marlin Numbers Increase, Sailfish Spread out, Blue Marlin off Punta Mita, Massive Bait and Plenty of Challenges and Opportunities

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

We’re smack in the middle of summer now. It’s about as hot as it gets in Puerto Vallarta on a daily basis now. Water temperatures are still very warm, but not really unusual for this time of the year. We have some very large pelagic species out there, but they’re spread out. Insane amounts of bait, Blue water and mostly smooth seas. In reality the conditions are very good and just what we’d expect and hope for. We’re entering the best time of the year to boat that bucket list finned fantasy you’ve dreamed of. One of the things you can’t buy are uncrowded fishing grounds, where you’re the one and only boat at places like Corbetena and El Banco. The result of reduced tourism as we’re in the slowest of the slow time of year. Because of the very few boats heading out, there are very few reports coming in so it’s difficult to make daily calls for locations and fishing grounds. But that’s why you’re reading this article amigo and while it may seem a negative, in reality it’s a perfect opportunity. Stay tuned!

Corbetena is alive and well with Yellowfin tuna from 60 to over 180 lbs, depending on your luck. Sailfish are to the north east. Black Marlin over 650 lbs to 800 lbs are roaming “loosely” all around the area to El Banco as are Blue Marlin averaging over 500 lbs. Cubera Snappers have faded out but Rainbow Runners filling this void at 45 lbs are great tasting. Massive bait in the area in the form of Skip jack Tuna, Google eyes, flying fish, and the list is endless. With high visibility blue water conditions at the Rock conditions are as good as they can get. Having this whole world class fishing area to yourself, alone, well it’s priceless. El Banco has Big Black Marlin in the area around 700 lbs, but again, they’re roaming and in many cases just cruising the surface. Sailfish are naturally here as well, no reports of Dorado which seem to have thinned out. Then again with few reports the area is more of a question mark than an exclamation point. From this point forward we expect the abundance of larger species to increase as it does normally at this time of the year. If you’re a local it’s a good time to hit the Credit Card and get that finned fantasy you dream about.

Closer in El Morro has seen Sailfish moving in about five miles off the rocks and smaller island area. There have also been some Blue Marlin in this area, sighting but nothing boated so that info is soft. The Punta Mita area is sporting a nice Trash line about 8 miles out from the point. If you’re targeting Dorado, I suggest heading in this area as it appears some of our Dorado are “vacationing” in Southern California, again! Most of the time you’ll find Dorado around debris or a trash line which we have working now in this area so don’t miss out. This doesn’t mean they’ll take your bait or Presentation as the fancy magazines like to call it. A little frustrating when you could easily Gaff them onboard, but that’s not sportsman like now is it. There are a few exclusive secrets I’d be happy to share with you, like my new Tortuga lures!  My other trick is the wash down hose “rain” trick. Take your wash down hose in the boat, sprinkle a stream on the water like “rain”, cast a bait in the middle, see what happens. In situations like this Dorado and many species for that matter, get excited when it rains so take advantage of this. The Popular belief is these gamefish think Sardines are landing on the water. It’s an old trick, but worthy of trying when you have few options to boat what you can see under the boat!! Blue Marlin at 500 lbs are three miles off the shoreline, another great reason to hit this area. For now my best recommendation is an eight hour day. Having said that, if you’re targeting larger Pelagics like Marlin, you’ll need to hit the deep water fishing grounds amigo. I haven’t heard any information regarding Rooster fish, but I have seen several post from my “Facebook” friends north of Sayulita. Sailfish are roaming this entire area.

Inside the bay we’ve seen Jack Crevalls move in ranging from 25 to 40 lbs. This is strange, but not too surprising. Known as a cold water species they’ll chase bait into any water conditions and man is there a lot of bait in the bay. My small Panga “Buddy” electronics were showing bait balls all over the bay, with no “fish” in the area. So this is at times a problem, too much bait. When this happens you need to introduce something they haven’t seen before or have a trick up your sleeve. Once again, the fish are there, it’s up to you as the angler, with the crews’ help, to answer the challenge. Sailfish freaks have been seen and some boated around the Los Arcos area. Sailfish will come into the bay, but for many, many years you didn’t see this. With massive amounts of bait, they’ll break their pattern. Bonito are from babies to 25 lbs, Skip Jack Tuna to 10 lbs which is huge for this species and easy to find. Remember there are lots tasty species around structure or rocks, don’t be afraid to jig the structure like the locals do. For the vacationing family you will have plenty of fish to catch, it just won’t be Moby Dicks Cousin. We have some great summer deals going so check my Facebook and web pages for my “friends” special pricing for September!

Once again we’re looking at a 09:00 on bite. With recent rains and dangerous debris for your props, getting out too early does not help your cause. Bait is abundant, but Skip jacks are your best option at Corbetena and El Banco, inside the bay and at the point as well. Water temperatures are still hovering at 89 /90 degrees. That’s a bit warm, so use your electronic sounding option to see the temperature breaks to set your downriggers to the correct depths. When it comes to baits, try everything, but Skip Jack Tuna, once again, are working the best for the moment. The down side, there are massive amounts of Skippies everywhere. It’s like having all the free hamburgers you can eat. You stuff yourself until you don’t want to eat anything afterwards, especially burgers. So think of Skip Jack Tuna as Natures hamburgers, without fries! But seriously, this is the fishing season we wait for all year long. Hopefully you won’t miss out on this, fishing high season in Puerto Vallarta is happening now!

Ok, so that’s the report, all good stuff. But we’re coming into the main fishing season, I commonly call it
“Fishings High Season” which picks up now until the end of the year about the first week of January normally. From now until Oct. 1st Black Marlin start moving in and will become one of the primary “Players” in our deep water fishing grounds. You can expect Black Marlin to be over 500 lbs on average up to a1,000 lbs for the “Catch of a lifetime” . Blue Marlin come in a little earlier but are also well over 500 lbs. Sailfish get so think that many times you can’t get a bait past them. Sailfish will hand off the Rock of Corbetena, El Morro, Punta Mita North and of course El Banco. Sailfish will pretty much roam the entire area, so even an eight hour trip can get you a nice billfish. Yellowfin Tuna have been returning to Corbetena and El Banco, but they’re smaller schools and will be about 150 ft down when we have warm water in the 90 degree range. Dorado are normally in the area from 25 to over 60 lbs, but they’re in and out… So from about now to the end of the New Years holiday is wide open. Now you may ask what’s the best time to be here in that time frame. Wel the two weeks before thanksgiving and the two weeks before Christmas holiday are perfect. Deserted Fishing Grounds, a variety of World Class Species roaming the area, reduced hotel rates, reduced airfares, I mean it’s perfect.

For those of you looking for weekly information on the local conditions subscribe or fire me an Email, I’ll send you weekly newsletters. Just click the link below and it will take you to the sign up form…

We’re still running luxury fishing charters to the Yellowfin Tuna Fishing grounds! It’s the kind of fishing trip you read about as a kid in Marlin Magazine, beautiful “unobtainable” fishing for most. It’s a Crazy Beautiful Private Boat, not a high density “Sardine Can” long range boat. Contact me I’ll send you the information or check my web page….

Until next week, Don´t forget to kiss Your Fish!

Web page:  www.MasterBaiters.com.mx , Local Phone at: (044) 322 779 7571 or our international number is: 011 52 322 209 1128 10 to 9 local time. #MasterBaitersSportfishing on Instagram, 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.