Dorado Everywhere, Summer Species Linger

Here we are, heading into late January and you’d almost think it was late November fishing. With water temperatures hovering at 73 degrees, all of a sudden the ‘clean green’ water returns. Clean green water normally isn’t a Dorados best friend, but if there’s bait in the water, minor things like water temperatures are easily ignored. None of this means much to the visiting tourist looking to get on the water and have a day they’ll never forget. To them all they want to do is catch fish and that’s easy. If you’re interested in fishing Puerto Vallarta’s world class fishing grounds, it’s not too late amigos to boat that bucket list finned fantasy. All you need to do is choose which species you want to target from Sailfish, Dorado, Striped Marlin or Yellowfin Tuna and I’ll tell you where to find them!

If you were surfing the P.V. Facebook pages, you’d find many of the local captains boasting their abilities as they present Dorado pictures for your approval, which hopefully result in a reservation. Remembering there is a lot of other species out there, look no farther than Corbetena. Right now about eight miles to the north of the rock, it’s a fisherman’s paradise. Pick your fish, Sailfish are large, Striped Marlin are more abundant by the Day.

Spinner Dolphin are running with Yellowfin Tuna in the 60 lb range and the Dorado are in the 25 lb average range and aggressively attacking baits! El Banco, remember this location, there have been Yellowfin Tuna in the 80 lb range, Sailfish of good size, Dorado in the 25 lb range and possible Blue and Striped Marlin. Now many of those are coming very close to the Island Cleofus, located just about a hundred miles from Marina Vallarta. With fuel cost the way they are, you’ll be looking hard for fish, when Corbetena seems to be the best location for fishing in Puerto Vallarta at the moment.

If you’re looking at an eight hour duration fishing trip, anywhere from El Morro to Punta Nayarit ‘the sky’s the limit’! Wahoo at 40 to 60 lbs are still in the area on the back side of El Morro to Corbetena. Dorado in the 20 lb range aren’t that common at El Morro, but they’re playing hard now! Jack Crevalles, Sierra Mackerels, and even Sailfish are on the available species menu. If you’re at the Punta Nayarit point, it seems anything outside of eight miles off the point turns in a barren fishing area. So be advised, Sailfish and Dorado off Punta Nayarit are in the 3 to 8 mile range off the point. Throw in Jack Crevalles at 40 lbs, Bonito at 20 lbs with other possibilities makes this whole area well worth your precious fishing dollar.

This week, when you think about fishing in the bay, the first thing that comes to mind is Krill. Krill, the whale food the Bay of Banderas get flooded with come early January to late March. During this time we naturally have Whales, but with all this Krill we have Dorado still hanging out at Los Arcos! Now they may be full of Krill, but no worries, the Dorado are hitting everything! Sailfish are a little thin in numbers in the bay, but Sailfish are a freaky thing in the bay anyway. Near Yelapa, there are Yellowfin Tuna footballs, Skip Jack Tuna in the 20 lb range as well. At the other end of the bay, Jack Crevalles are getting larger and more concentrated by the day. If heading out for a four hour fishing trip, this is where you’d most likely be heading out to. Sailfish for some reason like the area around the La Cruz Marina. And of course we have Sierra Mackerels, Skip Jack Tuna and Jack Crevalles cruising the bay.

One thing, we’ve seen the clean green, cooler temperature water in most of Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds. But it doesn’t seem to be affecting our warm water, summer species much. Now right now live bait is king, but sometimes dead bait and lures will tickle their interest. Lures that work well in clean green water are those that have purple coloring. Guacamayos and Petrolero lures always work. So give them a try, it can’t hurt. The bite is still locked in from about 08:30 to about 11:30, then picking up again in the afternoon about 14:30 to sundown. I suggest you be at your chosen fishing area before 08:00!  And of course the water temperatures are a chilly 73 degrees for our summer species, but again, they don’t seem to be affected. And there you are folks, the latest and the greatest.  

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 trade mark Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trade mark law and is the sole property of Stan Gabruk.