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Marina Vallarta Las Palmas I Local 3

Porpoise Return to Corbeteña, Sailfish in the Bay

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

Capt Cesar of Magnifico with a nice Black Marlin at the dock after another successful day!
Capt Cesar of Magnifico with a nice Black Marlin at the dock after another successful day!

In years that follow an El Nino, like we´re in now, we never know how the fishing season is going to develop. So far we´ve seen days when the fishing is great, the next day we´re scratching our heads. So far we´re not seeing any Yellowfin Tuna or Dorado. That being said we´re seeing some large Blue and Black Marlin at Corbeteña, Not El Banco. Bait is moving into the area like crazy in the form of three inch Sardines which of course attract Rooster fish so cross your fingers. All and all the fishing could be better, but you can always say that. If you´re targeting Blue Marlin and Black Marlin you are in the right place. Yellowfin Tuna will be moving in shortly as water temperatures drop north of the border. Patience prevails, just make sure your tank is full!

I always like to start with Corbeteña and this week those ¨Darn¨ Porpoises returned, we should call them bait stealers. Capt Cesar of Magnifico was telling me how smart these Bottle Nose Dolphin / Porpoise are. Cesar was cruising three to four miles off the island, it looked like the Dolphin were not in the area just to find them coming up from the bottom with no surface signs of their presence, they´re smart! Now this will flip you out! If you can get a bait past these Porpoises you´ll have a solid chance at a Blue or Black Marlin from 200 to 600 lbs! Water temperatures here are down to 85 which is considered perfect and the water is a high visibility blue so no issues there. Cubera Snappers for the jiggers are plentiful, but nobody goes to Corbeteña for Cuberas except me of course. I love them! And when they´re running over 50 lbs of white meat bliss, who´s complaining. Now here´s a secret Capt Cesar shared with me, you know those staplers, the ones for stapling papers together, well if you put staples in the tails of your bait the Porpoises can ¨taste¨ the metal. You see their oral ¨sensors¨ can detect the metal and it leaves a bad taste in their mouth. They may still come up and put it their mouth, but they´ll drop that bait like a hot potato! So there you have the trick of the day, put staples in the baits tail, no issues with Flipper! Now the Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado, tuna, they don´t have the same sort of mouth a Porpoise does so the staples won´t stop them from taking a bait. So there you have it, the perfect solution. So don´t forget your new fishing equipment and don´t worry if the staples rust, it just makes them work even better! Moving on, with some luck you´ll also find Rainbow Runners to 45 lbs along with Jack Crevalls to 50 lbs, Bonito to 30 lbs and who knows what else. El Banco, well no fish, no bait, it´s dead unless you want to troll for Cubera Snappers which are taking trolled baits. So good luck, let’s hope the fishing is ¨on¨.

Sailfish moved into the bay as Sardines were massive around the bay!
Sailfish moved into the bay as Sardines were massive around the bay!

Punta Mita / El Morro / Marietta Islands: Notice how I clumped them together, that´s because as a group they are not producing well. Sailfish have moved into these areas chasing the endless supply of Sardines, Bullet Bonito, Flying fish and Goggle eyes. We´re also seeing a very strong northern current, I suspect that´s why we´ve seen a two degree temperature drop in one week. Other than Sailfish there isn´t much to target in these areas for now. Capt Cesar thinks if we see one more degree drop we´ll start seeing Dorado drifting south from their vacation home in Southern Calif. All and all an eight hour trip is heading out towards Corbeteña in an effort to bring back fish for the paying customers. But like always, when it´s bad, it doesn´t stay bad for long.

Inside the bay seems to be where the recent action under a hundred pounds is happening. Sailfish babies have moved into the bay chasing the abundant Sardines. Less than a hundred yards off the river mouth in Ameca all the way to La Cruz they´re boating baby Sailfish at will. Don´t let your captain kill this fish or keep it. They sell these fish illegally to the fish markets and will kill it before it´s on deck. If this happens, have them throw it back anyway, dead or not. Something in the water will make good use of it and the Captain will see his tip and his fish ¨sink¨. Bonito 35 lb to larger range, they´re good tasting as well so don´t avoid these. Sierra Mackerals are all over the place and great tasting to 15 lbs now. Skip Jack Tuna are also great tasting as these mini Yellowfin Tuna will only hit six pounds or so, eat all you can get, they´re super succulent! Plenty of action in the bay and frankly it´s probably your best value for the time being, stay tuned!

Jack Crevalls in the 35 to 50 lb range very common right now in the bay!
Jack Crevalls in the 35 to 50 lb range very common right now in the bay!

Ok, so everyone is wondering what to do with these up and down conditions. Well there isn´t much  you can do, be informed, take advantage of what is here and forget about complaining what isn´t in the area as it will only frustrate you further. Yellowfin Tuna should be showing up any moment with Dorado now! Sailfish will be as thick as flies shortly and thank the big guy in the sky for that!

This week we´re seeing water temps at 85 degrees as mentioned previously with Blue water and increasing bait levels. The bite is still mid day, three weeks not, afternoon bite is still after four to as late as sundown so use your time and fuel wisely grasshopper! Forget lures this week, grab the stapler and go straight to Corbeteña, do not stop to collect anything except bait and beer! YeHa….

We´re now offering Geno´s Box Lunches delivered to your boat at the dock in the morning. You don´t have to fish with us to take advantage of this service. Geno (pronounced Heno) worked and ran a local coffee shop / Deli and she´s delivering a wonderful and abundant product so let me know if you´re hungry, I´ll be able to scratch that itch! We´re also freezing your catch, clients for free. With My new Agent, Rafael is not one of the guys I warn you about, so feel free to talk with Rafael, he won´t ¨Jerk You Around¨ either! He is also an expert on Tours at discounted prices, you won´t find a cheaper tour (I can´t mention specifics, the companies get mad at the discounts). Canopy, Rhythms, Pirate Ship, Yelapa, you name it, we´ll beat ¨their¨best price.

Until next week, Don´t forget to kiss Your Fish!

Master Baiter´s is the only company in Puerto Vallarta that offers Free Fish Freezing to our clients. Once again we Support Our Clients with Necessary Services. Fish with someone else, we´ll still help, but it will cost you....
Master Baiter´s is the only company in Puerto Vallarta that offers Free Fish Freezing to our clients. Once again we Support Our Clients with Necessary Services. Fish with someone else, we´ll still help, but it will cost you….

Master Baiter´s will Freeze Your Fish! Master Baiter´s clients get this service for free. Non clients will pay $150 pesos ($7.00 usd each Gallon Zip Lock bag). You can make arrangements to pick up your fish just before leaving PV to keep cold as long as possible. And of course we´re the only ones offering this service in Marina Vallarta that I know of. If you get ten bags of fish it makes us the cheapest fishing company in Puerto Vallarta.

Master Baiter´s is located 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. Come like me on 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.