Dirty Water Continues, Dorado Moving in, Stripers Too

I put one of our long time clients, Will Botten on Fish Stories our new 35ft Cabo. Two hours after leaving the dock they hooked into two Striped Marlin. Striped Marlin will hang around until the water is below 75 degrees, but again, this is my opinion…

Well, here we are again in what seems to be the never ending dirty water! For at least six weeks now we’ve seen fishing in Puerto Vallarta suffering through the change of seasons here in the bay of Banderas. We expect a few weeks of dirty water, it’s just part of the process of changing currents. The good news now is even though the water is still a little dirty, the fish can finally see your bait. The results of this the longer duration trips are now producing some great action. For those not interested in spending a full day on the water, a bay trip may be your perfect trip. But the simple truth is we’re moving swiftly into the winter fishing season. Having said that, we still have some warm water species like Striped Marlin and we’re seeing the “Indian summer fishing” time when Dorado start working their way to warmer water’s to the south. It’s the ‘last hurrah’ for the remaining summer species amigos.

This week at Corbetena, it’s was pretty slow to be polite. And to be fair not too many people are heading out for ten hour days. For those that give it a shot, it’s a hit or miss type of situation. You see there are massive amounts of varied baits. Normally this isn’t a real problem, but right now with the Squid, Flying fish and the list goes on, many times your fantasy fish isn’t going to be enticed by your presentation, aka bait. But, if you hit the bite right, then anything is possible. More on this later. To get you the details, Sailfish are still in the area, but not many and for the most part they’re just smashing your bait. That means taking a look, maybe even hitting it, but they don’t take it. Frustrating to say the least. Striped Marlin are also running the area, but depending on how they’ve been feeding, they may not be any different than a fickle Sailfish. And there is still Yellowfin Tuna, but of course that all depends on how lucky you are. Remember Yellowfin Tuna move, pretty simple fact. If you’re targeting Yellowfin Tuna from 60 to 200 lbs, they’re out there amigos. But if you pay for one area, you’ll stay in that one area, that’s why you need your luck with you. Now if you want Yellowfin Tuna like so many of my clients, then you need the Safari Tuna trip. Feel free to send me an email for more details. For now Corbetena and El Banco, even with the ‘cleaner’ water is not your best bang for your fishing dollar amigo.

Looking in a bit closer to the El Morro area to Punta Mita, there has been a lot of action in this area. Those catching fish are anywhere from one mile to ten miles off the point. Striped Marlin seem to be plentiful and people are boating them daily. Sailfish are also in the area, but again, they’re just smashing baits and getting us all excited for nothing. Some interesting news is we’re seeing some Dorado moving in. Yes, I said Dorado. We see a sort of ‘Indian Summer’ for Dorado yearly about this time. You see Dorado are actually warm water species, but they will hang around if the bait situation suits their needs at the time. With the Dorado Indian Summer, Dorado come down from the colder waters of the north, heading south to more comfortable and warmer waters to the south. But for a few weeks, we will have Dorado, also known as Mahi, so hopefully you get a chance to experience this arm burning action before it’s too late. El Morro is also sporting Jack Crevalle’s, Possible Roosterfish, but don’t hold your breath. Bottom fishing can produce Cubera Snappers, possible Amberjacks, and of course Dorado and Striped Marlin could be in the area. For now this whole area is alive with action and for those looking for more popular species, then this is where you want to be.

For the Family guy or the person who doesn’t want to make a full day of it, then a six hour trip in the bay is exactly what the doctor ordered amigos. Even a four hour trip has some great action and I seldom recommend four hours of fishing unless it’s worth it. We’ve seen clients catch Dorado in the 15 lb range at Nuevo Vallarta and near los Arcos. That’s a big plus, but the simple fact is the bay is Jack Crevalle landia! Many people are ‘fish snobs’ and will tell you Jack Crevalles are ‘trash’ fish. In my book, there is no such thing as trash fish, but bad attitudes. For those looking for action and not demanding a great eating species, then you’ll have the time of your life, with arm burning action. First you can’t believe how strong they are, you expect to see a very large fish, and then you see the Jack Crevalle. Jack’s are running anywhere from 25 lbs to 50 lbs in the bay and the action can be non-stop for those up to the challenge. The Bonito, Arctic Bonito are cousins of Yellowfin Tuna and taste great as well. Some people won’t eat them, but I do all the time. With Bonito running in the 25 lb range, they are also strong fighters and perfect for the family outing. Skip Jack Tuna, exact matches for their larger Yellowfin Tuna, are running about 10 lbs and perfect again for the family, especially the younger members of the family. And soon we’ll be seeing Snappers, Grouper’s and more in the bay as water temperatures continue to drop as we enter the winter fishing season. On eight hour and shorter duration fishing trips you can expect plenty of action and sore arms the next day. We had one gentleman about 86 yrs old boat two 50 lb Jack Crevalle’s, after the second was boated, he had enough. He called it quits, but with a smile and some positive satisfaction. He was all smiles as he shared his fishing experience in the Bay of Banderas. It puts a smile on my face just thinking about it. He’s the gentleman in the blue shirt in the pictures.

For weeks now I’ve been predicting an end to the dirty water and boy have I been wrong. When we come to the seasonal change, we see clashing currents that stir up the muck on the sea floor. But the year has been weird with the switch from La Nina, to El Nino and back to La Nina conditions in about 14 months. And, the water is still dirty. The difference is the fish can see your bait now. that’s the biggest change, a fish won’t chase what it can’t see. The bite is between 09:00 and 11:00. The afternoon bite has been just past 13:00 or about 1 P.M. With the massive amounts of Krill, aka Whale food, every species will chow down on them. But for some reason Jack Crevalle’s, Bonito and Skip Jack Tuna don’t seem to be effected by this bait issue. Water temperatures are down as low as 74 degrees right now, but the Stripers are still running this chilly water for now. My experience is once it hits below 75 degree water temperatures, they bug out. But Capt. Cesar of Magnifico tells me they’ll hang around if the bait is abundant, and it is! Call us about our four hour special, it’s quite affordable for up to four people. You can also squeeze in some Whale watching as you ‘multi-task’ and stretch your options. Fishing and Whale watching, it’s a guaranteed fun time for everyone involved.

Last week my computer ‘passed away’ and I’ve spent the last week trying to setup my new computer with no existing files to move to my new computer. So I appreciate your continued support. Things are getting back to normal now, so I’ll get back to promoting our company on the social media channels pronto.

Until next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish!

Written by Stan Gabruk

Web page: www.MasterBaiters.com.mx, Local Phone at: Our international number is: +52 322 209 1128 #MasterBaitersSportfishing on Instagram, Facebook: Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle. The trademark Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trademark law and is the sole property of Stan Gabruk