Conditions Improve, Clear Water, More Sizeable Fish

Conditions Improve, Clear Water, More Sizeable Fish

Feb. 12 , 2011

When this time of the year comes around we never really know what to expect when it comes to fishing. For the last few weeks we weren´t expecting much to be straight up. Water temps were cold, the water dirty, red or worse. Bait was hard to make and many a fishing boat came in daily without fish.  Quality of your captain, the level of equipment on hand and the crews experience all came into play. That was last week, this week things have improved and your chances of coming in with a trophy game fish are much better!

The Tres Maria Islands are still the place to be if you’re looking for Yellowfin Tuna.  Running from anywhere between 80 to 200 lbs it just all depends on what you come across. The down side is naturally the distance and time you’ll have to put in, but if you´re looking for Yellowfin at this time of the year, then this is where you have to be until summer. Live bait is the way to go for these beauties,  but have a kite on hand, happy hunting!

The area between Corbeteña and El Banco are Fertile fishing grounds with ridges and canyons are showing signs of life when it comes to Sailfish lately. This is a little strange for sure to find these fish in this area at this time of the year. But who is complaining. This may fall off so make sure you have checked the latest and greatest on my blog.

North of Punta Mita at Guyavitos there are Dorado. Yes, I said Dorado and they are fair sized at 20 to 35 lbs. The commercial fisherman has set out buoys so the Dorado for now may be moving back into the area, keep your fingers crossed this continues, but you´ll need ten hour day for these so prepare your mind for this…

Once more the real story for the average person looking to catch some fish and not spend the best part of the day on a boat is still the Marietta Islands. The big difference this week has been the increase, I should say unexpected increase in the water temperatures in the area. With water warming up to the mid to lower seventies this takes the frigid chill out of the water and we see the normal fish we would see returning now. Some unexpected surprises as well off the reefs. We are seeing some large Broom Tail Grouper, in fact we boated one bordering on 80 lbs just the other day. Cubera Snapper the same day was over 40 lbs, Jack Crevalls in the 25lb range have returned. Snappers of all sizes, many pan sized, many larger are also more abundant by the day. Sierra Mackerals, Bonito, and even the occasional Rooster fish. But Roosters have pretty much disappeared so don´t go hunting them! Lots of African Pompano and a variety of fish I couldn´t even tell you their names. The bottom line here is, head to the Marietta Islands if you want a fun and favorably priced trip. See Doug Cole and Bob Sandtveit with their catch from a great day in this article….

Six hour trips in the bay are worth your time now since there are more Jack Crevalls in the area as well as more and more Snappers near structure / Rocks. But there are more fish moving into the bay so this will only get better. As far as short or half day trips, things may improve in the next few days, but  there is still very little bang for your short day fishing bucks!

An area to keep your eyes on this coming week is the Gravitas area since this area is where Sailfish like to hang out in the winter. With Dorado and Sailfish here I expect this will become a popular area in the coming days.

For those heading out be sure you have your bag of tricks wit h you as well. Lately the bait of choice has been lures for some reason, who knows why. Green, Yellow and Orange combinations are working well. Black and purple combinations are also working well on skirted baits about six inches in length.  So make sure you have some plastics running with your live bait rigs. Remember surface poppers are always a safe bet as well….

I am finally happy to be able to present a positive side to what our fishing has been like.

As always feel free to contact me about the latest and greatest when it comes to getting information on the fishing in Puerto Vallarta, not just what my boats are doing.

There you have the latest and greatest Puerto Vallarta has to offer, so until next week, don´t forget to kiss your fish!

Remember, if you have any questions or suggestions you can reach me at: www.MasterBaiters.com.mx or CatchFish@MasterBaiters.com.mx

The trade name Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trade mark law and is the sole property to Stan Gabruk.  Always ask to speak with Stan to insure product quality and to insure you are working with the true Master Baiter´s ® and not an imposter