Marlin, Dorado, Wahoo are out there, Do You Feel Lucky?

                        Marlin, Dorado, Wahoo are out there, Do You Feel Lucky?

Written by: Stan Gabruk owner of Master Baiter´s Sportfishing & Tackle

Puerto Vallarta is known for its world class fishing among other things. When winter comes we see the major Gamefish species of Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and Tuna take a powder and head south. They´re replaced by our winter species. This year after what seems to be a never ending El Nino we´re seeing unusually warm water temperatures keeping some summer species in the area. What does this mean, well for one thing you´ve got a shot, not a huge shot, but a shot at Marlin, Sailfish and Dorado. Yellowfin Tuna have moved their operation to the Tres Maria Islands, but nothing in guaranteed and it has been a miss or hit situation. It all comes down to skill with a fair measure of luck, but one thing is for sure, if you´re not out there, you have no shot at all. So, do you feel lucky??

One thing that has happened in the last week is the fact that we´re finally seeing the ¨change of season¨ currents we normally see in January, which of course means we have the dirty brown / green water. In fact the muck on the sea floor has things so stirred up in the bay it´s at a point that even the Whales are out near the Marietta Islands and that should tell you something (and they´re air breathing Mammals). What was great fishing in the bay last week has turned into a hunt for clean water where you´ll have a shot at some fish, but the bay for the next twenty minutes or so is not a great option for your fishing dollar. For those who will be venturing out, remember to look for the cleanest water you can find and then you´ll have a fair shot at Skip Jack tuna to 25 lbs, Sierra Mackerals to 20 lbs, Arctic Bonito to 35 lbs, Jack Crevalls to 50 lbs, Snook at the river mouths and of course the list goes on.

You have to get out to the point of Punta Mita to El Morro to find clean water, you´ll also find the Whales hanging out in this area a well which of course means the water is ¨livable¨ for the locals. So of course this means there are fish in the area and this is where you need to be if you´re looking for gamefish. If around the Marietta Islands or El Morro you will still find Jack Crevalls in the 35 to 50 lb range. Skip Jack Tuna and Arctic Bonito to 40 lbs, Sierra Mackerals, a faint shot at a Rooster fish, the same goes for Snapper. Some Dorado are lingering in the area but I couldn´t suggest going to this area to target Dorado. Wahoo (to 60 lbs) have been hanging out around El Morro and off the point of Punta Mita anywhere from two miles to 16 miles, but they´re out there, feeling lucky? If the answer to that question is yes, then you´ll be interested in the fact Striped and Blue marlin are in the area as well and they´re being boated daily. Not many, but they´re good sized around 450 lbs. there is abundant bait in the form of Flying fish so mimic this bait and you could get ¨lucky¨! The bottom like this week if you´re not in the area between El Morro and off the Punta Mita Point, you´ll be in the best area to boat a nice gamefish of any size.

If you´re thinking about a ten or twelve hour day to Corbeteña or El Banco you´d be better off saving the money. Having said that, there are days when the boats that head out this way are boating Black or Blue Marlin in the 375 to 500 lb range. Not exactly a sure thing, but if you´re targeting Billfish, this is a great place to start, Sailfish are in the area as well, but not abundant… Feeling Lucky? You´ll also find the normal winter players as well, Jack Crevalls, Skip Jack Tuna, Bonito and the list goes on. There are some sizeable Cubera Snappers over 55 lbs, the only problem is the strong currents may not let your bait find their way to the fish or the boat is just moved out of the way, thank god for GPS systems that keep you somewhat stable location wise.

So this is winter fishing, even the Tres Maria Islands are having issues with more cold days than hot where Anglers are heading to this area and finding less than attractive results after spending a bucket of money. Now we all know fishing is not guaranteed on any level, but when things get slow at the Tres Maria Islands the hit is in the pocket book since these are multi-day trips.

Water temperatures are still hovering at 78 degrees when they should be around 72. This explains a lot, but not everything. Bait is abundant to the max with Flying fish, Blue runners, Sardines, Bullet Bonito, Skippies, Bonito, Goggle Eyes and the list is never ending. For this reason you need to focus on the bait in the area you´re fishing to make sure you´re offering up something that will turn their fish heads!

One thing that most of my readers’ don´t know about is the problem we have in Puerto Vallarta with the Long Lines. A ¨Long Line¨ is a hundred pound test monofilament line that runs for miles and miles. It has a number 9 hook about every six feet and sometimes they even have bait on the hooks. They are placed at prime current spots where Dorado and other dinner table fish will cruise. They are patrolled with gun carrying fisherman who know what they´re doing is illegal and screws up the fishing for everyone and everything except them. I should also mention this practice is Illegal and permits can´t be purchased for any price. The navy does nothing about this, but that´s not surprising, they don´t do anything except act tough and make their presence known. Many boats will drive over these long lines and turn them into spaghetti. Others go around them if possible, where in lies the problem, they can be miles long and what you´re blocked from fishing because these lines are taking up water they don´t own?? Well that is the case and I don´t know what to do about it or if anything can be done with a corrupt system these long liners are allowed to operate at everyone else expense.

We´re just now seeing the Snapper population increase, the fish markets are showing more in the markets so this is good news. With all the Sardines in the area I am very surprised Rooster fish have not make their presence known. You can hit one or two if lucky, but targeting Rooster fish or Snappers is a little premature now. With the winter currents finally showing up late in an El Niño year maybe we´ll see some Roosters coming in soon, cross your fingers.

Sharing boats: Master Baiter´s is doing what we can to hook people up with others looking to take a shared boat and share the expense. If you´re willing to submit a fifty dollar deposit, refundable if we can´t hook you up with others looking to share a boat, then Michele will bust her hump to fix you up and save some money. It can be a bit of a challenge but if you submit your name, phone number and hotel you´ll be staying at and the name you´re registered in we´ll fix you up. Finding people isn´t the hard part, it´s getting people together on the same durations, same size boat and of course the targeted fish… But tif you´ll go for 8 hrs, your cost would be $225 dollars per person and that´s a great day fishing at a great price. If I get enough response to this idea, we´ll put panga fishing parties together and really make it a saving for a nice day fishing. So send an email to: MasterBaitersPV@gmail.com and Michele or myself will answer it and get the ball rolling…. These are not guaranteed fishing trips as you can imagine… But they´re out boats and we´re getting more.

Master Baitter´s is opening another location on Insurgentes  and Basillo Badillo in old town on the road to Conchas Chinas. We´re excited and we´ll be selling products like T-shirts, Hats and soon Koozies at a great price. Hopefully we´ll get back into Tackle with the market picking up again for fishing equipment and tackle, etc. So keep an eye open for our new location.

As always  you can book whatever tour you´re looking to do with Michele at either office, you´ll get the best pricing around and you won´t have to worry about ¨performance¨ issues, hahahahahaaaa…..

Until next time don’t forget to kiss your fish and remember at Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle “ We Won’t Jerk You Around”!

Remember, as I´ve told you before, Master Baiter´s is alive and well in Marina Vallarta at the Westin End of the Marina just a few doors down from Victors Café Té Cuba. If you ask my so called ¨competition¨ where Master Baiter´s is, you´ll find a blank stare or they´ll tell you I´m dead, out of business or worse. I had people just ask where we are so they could pick up a PV Mirror and they went straight into the ¨I don´t know of them¨ statements so these folks couldn´t even get my article and the other wonderful articles in the weekly publication. So don´t be fooled and don´t worry, I will always be someplace in Marina Vallarta, check my web page for the exact location and we´ll be waiting to help you any way we can…..

Until next time don’t forget to kiss your fish!

Remember at Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle

“ We Won’t Jerk You Around”!

Master Baiter´s has changed locations in Marina Vallarta between docks A and B on the boardwalk. Email your Questions to me at: CatchFish@MasterBaiters.com.mx  Web page:  www.MasterBaiters.com.mx , Local Phone at: (044) 322 779 75 71 or if roaming: 011 52 1 322 779 75 71 cell phone direct Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Master-Baiters-Sportfishing-Tackle/88817121325 The trade name Master Baiter’s ® Sportfishing and Tackle is protected under trade mark law and is the sole property of Stan Gabruk.  Articles written by Stan Gabruk for the Master Baiter’s ® brand is the intellectual property of Stan Gabruk.  Any unauthorized use of these articles without authorization will result in prosecution to the full extent of the law.  I´m sorry I have to put that in the newsletter…..