Tourisms High Season and Fishing High season are at different places on the calendar for the most part. As we enter low season for tourism we see the fishing which has been up and down, is up again. Water temperatures are about the same as last week, but the sun is staying higher in the sky these days and with the intensity the water temps will soon increase, that is if we don´t get hit with the La Nina they´re talking of… only time will tell.
This past week we´ve seen Yellowfin Tuna Cows move into El Banco and Corbeteña just to watch the Tuna Boats, the Seiners or those boats that run the nets and decimate the fishing and now there are none! What remains now is a void of fish at our World Famous Fishing grounds. For now it ¨appears¨ that we have Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and Sailfish, but only in between the Tuna Boat Sweeps. Long liners all over the Tres Maria Islands, our last fishery and if you´re a true conservationist this breaks your heart. But the bay and Marietta Islands are picking up the void or slack and you can still have great action as long as you understand Moby Dick has been chased out of PV!
Every year we know we have to deal with the Spring Time Transition. Yes folk’s we´re moving into Spring Fishing from what has been summer fishing all winter long. Bait is not an issue, Sardines, Bullet Bonito, Skip Jack Tuna, Goggle eyes, Flying fish, it´s a fish smorgasbord out there. So you may ask where did the fish go? Nobody knows. The main thing is to remember El Nino gave us all a gift of summer species in winter. We are now seeing the conditions we would normally see in February. This is transitional fishing, so we will play to our strengths. If you´re the kinda person that thinks fishing is an action sport and you´re looking for action, which we can do easily. Now if you´re going to demand Moby Dick join you on the way back for pictures, expectations of this nature may leave you disappointed amigo.
Welcome to another week of Flip Flop Fishing. What does that mean? Well two weeks ago we saw the water temperatures drop to 73 degrees. As a result the Marlin, Tuna, etc took a powder. Then the water temps a week later went back up to 77 degrees and the Marlin, Tuna and Sailfish came back to the super plentiful bait in the area. Now, it´s dropped again to 74 degrees and we´re seeing the results as Marlin are sparse again, Tuna are moving out. Yet we´re seeing a slight increase in Rooster fish chasing the massive amount of Sardines around the point.
Easter is behind us now, the tourism season is slowing down with tourist thinning out by the day. You can feel the days are a little warmer, a little more humid, yes spring is here and summer is about to appear in our little corner of Paradise. Last week we saw a chill current chase all the billfish and Yellowfin Tuna out, the Production Fishing ships are still in the area and once they figure out there are Yellowfin tuna around El Banco it´s just a matter of what could be hours before they decimate the deep water locations all the way into the Marietta Islands. Yes folks fishing is great if you can get to the fish before the Seiners. Welcome to corruptions in the world of Sportfishing in Puerto Vallarta!
Getting straight into it, the fishing was . . and could be a lot better. We were looking at Sailfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Marlin, Wahoo and more. Now we´re wondering what happened. It´s ¨Mystery Fishing¨, which really means where the fish went is a mystery! Sailfish are barely coming back, Marlin that were out there, not abundant but out there are MIA or Missing in Action. We had warm swirling currents which has now changed to cold water. You may ask how cold is it? Well the same areas where the water was 79 / 80 degrees, is now 73 degrees, that´s down seven degrees in days! Talk about a water chill curtain! Will it stay like this?
You know I can´t figure it out, we have winter species in the bay like Jack Crevalls, Needle Fish, Sierra Mackerals. Then we have the summer species of Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo and Sailfish in the same waters at the same time. Yes folks this is El Nino with it´s scrambled egg approach to fishing. We don´t know what to expect on a weekly basis, but we do know there are big fish at El Banco and Corbetena. We have Sailfish around the Marietta and Punta Mita area with Rooster fish. Then we have freak fishing situations like Blue Marlin being boated in the Bay. So fishing right now is like a trend we should ride and not get too much into the ¨why it´s happening now¨, just keep reeling!
Normally in March we´re talking about disappointing winter fishing, not so this year. With El Nino being it´s unpredictable self raising water temperature to late spring equivalents we´re seeing unusual fishing with Black Marlin, tuna, Wahoo, Rooster fish and the list goes on. Yes folks, the fishing is incredible and there´s ¨Fish for Everyone¨!
What a difference a week can make and what a week it´s been! With the cold front that came through, closed the port and messed with the fishing it was little more than a night mare for a few days there. But with the cold front came a cold current that ¨pushed¨ Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna and other species into the area in decent numbers. For the lucky sole that is here in Puerto Vallarta looking to go fishing, you just hit he jackpot!
The Calendar shows it´s March yet the water temperatures are telling us it´s early summer with water temps jumping to 80 degrees or about 23 Celsius. This is highly unusual as we´re officially in the middle of the winter fishing season where water temps should be around 70 to 72 degrees. For now with some Sardines and massive amounts of Bullet Bonito and Skippies (babies) as bait conditions are improving a bit. Rooster fish are spotty, Marlin are moving back in, kinda. Forget Dorado and Sailfish, they´re done for now. Then again there are still Sails being boated in the bay?! What does this all mean, who knows, but we´ll figure it all out together so stay tuned, things could get interesting!