Now that we’re moving, finally, out of the winter seasonal transition period, things are picking up. As normal the “first” of the summer species start moving in and those are always Striped Marlin and Sailfish. And right now, that’s where we’re moving into now. Is it perfect for the jaded? Of course not. Is it a positive sign of things to come, of course it is. Last week we were feeling positive as Sailfish started to pick up in numbers. All that dirty water and red tide has faded away for the most part. The water is warmer every day, more bait for the moment doesn’t seem to be an issue. And the fish are close in for the most part. For now I couldn’t be more positive, but things change quickly and this could all be “less” exciting in a few days. What does this all mean, well if you’re in the mood to have crowd free fishing, then now is the perfect time to boat that Bucket list Sailfish or Striped Marlin. You may even run into some Dorado out there, anything is possible. Feeling lucky?
Another week and more small changes. But that’s normally the case, we wouldn’t want extreme swings in fishing conditions and this week the “small” changes are adding up to great fishing action. When you talk about fishing in Puerto Vallarta, people want to know about the major summer species, which of course for the last six months haven’t been here in the area. Now that we’re at the end of May, the transition period with the dirty water and questionable species is coming to an end, finally. Does that mean the water conditions are perfect, of course not! But it does mean there is plenty to be excited and optimistic about. For now, my “glass” is half full, so don’t expect doom and gloom, things are improving amigos!
We’re seeing small changes, but not enough to say they’re much different from last week. We’re still seeing massive amounts of different baits. Squids, Sardines, Google eyes and the list goes on. We’re still seeing the challenges of moving fish and the overabundance of food. Sounds tough I know, but there is plenty of positive stuff. Spinner Dolphin are touring the area near Corbetena. El Banco is your best fishing option with Sailfish, Dorado and Striped Marlin running the area. And of course there is always the possibility of Yellowfin Tuna the farther north you get. Water temperatures are ticking up and if things continue the way they are, once we get into a more stable situation, condition wise, we’re setting up for a beautiful fishing season in Puerto Vallarta.
Well, here we are again, another week of changing currents, changing water temperatures and massive amounts of bait and whale food! Yes folks this is the transition period where you never really know what conditions you’ll be dealing with and for the last three weeks now, things have pretty much been the same. Of course this is no surprise and my articles are meant to limit the frustration and save on the fuel expenses. And like I’ve been telling everyone for the last few weeks, you have two real fishing options, six hours in the bay or twelve hours, more would be better. Where Dorado, Sailfish and Striped Marlin can be found. Maybe not boated, again, that depends on the level of bait in the water and how hungry the fish are. Are you getting a “feel” for conditions? We’re transitioning from not only a La Nina year, but from winter species and water temperatures to summer species and hopefully warm water.
Every year as we come out of the winter fishing season into spring we see the annual changing of the seasonal currents. This past year has been weird, there is no other word for it. As we are hopefully exiting a “La Nina” year, we’re seeing the beginning of a regular fishing season, if you don’t mind my positive perspective. You see this is what we expect, this is “normal”. Last year we went straight from summer fishing, to spring fishing all through the “winter” fishing season. Now with the clashing currents and dirty water that produces, this is a positive thing. When this happens, it’s at the lowest part of the spring tourism season or basically PV is a bit of a ghost town after Easter. That means that while it’s not the most positive thing, it’s an indicator that we’re moving into a “normal” season and to me, that’s positive. Now I’m not saying the fishing is any better or worse than it was last week. But we roll with the punches and prepare for the positive!
We have fish, but they’re cruising with erratic currents and stuffed full of fresh bait. Varied water temperatures, varied water conditions and species normally not in the area for this time of the year. Being a person who’s supposed to be “more or less” an expert on the subject in the area. I have to tell you, this is driving me crazy. It’s hard to predict what’s happening on a daily basis. All I can really do is tell you what happened. Everything else right now is a “roll of the dice” Some days you’re coming up all winners. Other days, you’ll be wondering “What Happened”? And I’d be right there with you!
This year, the fishing has been strange. Especially Puerto Vallarta’s world famous fishing grounds. Last week we had many of our favorite summer species, Dorado, Yellowfin Tuna and Sailfish to mention a few. They all came in fast and hungry. The bait remained, but the different species have either moved on or have thinned out in number by spreading out across all of PV’s fishing grounds. Bass are still around, kinda strange with warm water temperatures in the bay. It’s a “La Nina” year, which means the normal conditions are anything but. We’ve seen summer species in the area now for months, when normally they wouldn’t be. Dorado are a perfect example. We’ve been dealing with this for about a year now, but things will be changing. The only question is how and when?
After the last few disappointing weeks of fishing, things changed like a lightning strike. All of a sudden currents change and with it a massive invasion of varied baits. Small tiny baits eaten by Skip Jack Tuna are being follow by much larger species. 30 lb to 200 lb Yellowfin Tuna about 65 miles out are chasing these baits in unusually cool water for Yellowfin Tuna. That’s a 12 hr. day with no guarantees. These southern currents are bringing Sailfish and Striped Marlin are also in the mix. Snapper off El Morro and the action is unexpected. To see Yellowfin Tuna this early in the season can only be explained as a La Nina result. We aren’t complaining, but this may not last long as the bait is riding currents which means as quickly as they’re moving in, they can move out.
Here we go again, I hope you’re not bald because it’s hair pulling time again. With swirling currents and mixed water temperatures, combined with massive amounts of bait, you should expect “chaos”. By this I mean some days the Billfish are taking baits, others not. Dorado finally have been taking baits again, as they come out of their breeding season. Clean blue water, Red Tide, Dirty water, clean green water, it’s all out there to drive you crazy. The other side of the coin is we have fish amigos. Sailfish, Striped Marlin, Dorado, all of which are frankly out of season. It’s easy to complain about what’s happening, or you can be happy we have species we normally wouldn’t sin a La Nina year. You may not want to head out to Corbetena quite yet, but the freaky thing is El Banco is stuffed with Sailfish and Striped marlin. Right now it all comes down to the “mood” that fish is in. Billfish are looking at baits, and at times will take them. Same with Striped Marlin, it all comes down to the bite and the mood of these fickle fish. One thing for sure, with massive amounts of two inch squid moving in, the local Captains are happy to face this out of season species challenges. Yeha!
Normally at this time of the year we don’t talk much about “breeding” fish. But normally we don’t have to deal with La Nina. Normally we don’t have species like Dorado in the area in the middle of “winter” fishing, even though It’s Spring. So much of the frustration we’re seeing in our fishing season is from species that “shouldn’t be here”. We all know it’s a “mixed up season”. So the locals are full of eggs and we have to deal with that. The good news is Jack Crevalles are taking bait again. Dorado that are here are still fickle, but beginning to take surface baits. Striped Marlin and Sailfish, again two species that are either “super early” for their normal season are showing signs of taking bait. With strange water temperatures and currents, species that shouldn’t “be” here, are because of La Nina, it can be hard to figure out. But the silver lining is the bay fishing is incredible with smaller species, like normal. And as the remaining Whales filter out, the near future for fishing in Puerto Vallarta is looking better by the day!
