Puerto Vallarta Fishing and the El Nino Rollercoaster
Written by Stan Gabruk of Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle
July 15th, 2026
Well, here we are again with another interesting week of fishing in Puerto Vallarta. With the tourism numbers down, which relates into reduced fishing charters, it’s difficult to produce the normal predictions, expectations and details I’m known for. But the “show” must go on and I’ve been doing research by looking into every information option I have. Which of course means the few boats that have been going out. My boats are seeing very few clients, but to be honest, that’s more or less normal for this time of the year. We’re seeing some interesting conditions that are unexpected and confusing to be frank. We have Marlin, we’re seeing Yellowfin Tuna, but it’s a “on and off” or rather “where are they” situation. Those heading to the deep-water fishing grounds have had mixed results, but having said all of this, we have decent fishing if you’re not locked into targeting one species. Like always, fishing has it’s share of challenges and right now, we are assessing what the coming “High Season” for fishing will look like. Right now, I wish my crystal ball didn’t have a crack in it!
If you’ve been keeping up with my articles, you may have noticed we didn’t mention the yearly “clashing currents” where we normally have a few weeks of dirty, coffee colored water throughout the entire area. That’s when the expected summer currents come up from the south and mix with the cooler water currents, stirring up the sediment on the bay’s ocean floor. Normally shortly after this happens, we’ll see Marlin, Tuna, Dorado, Sailfish, etc. move in as high season for fishing begins. So far this year it hasn’t happened, enter the “Monster El Nino”. I watched a video, some expert on Youtube, that mentioned with this El Nino the currents would be coming in from the East, from the Japan direction, towards the west coast of the Americas. Because of this, you should expect Sharks up and down the west coast of the Americas. I have been assuming that we would see Yellowfin Tuna coming in since there are YF Tuna all around Japan. But Yellowfin Tuna regulate their body temperatures with the water. When the water is too warm, and 91 degrees is too warm, they go into the depths where the water is cooler. Makes sense, right?
What we’re seeing right now is both confusing and sometimes exciting. By that I mean we have Fish, Blue Marlin in the 300 lb range, Yellowfin anywhere from 35 lbs. to over 100 lbs. Now you may ask where? We all have the same question, but when clients want to target these species, we take a stab at it and go from there, if the clients are adventurous. If they want to catch fish, but also want a shot at Marlin for instance, we head to Corbetena. If for some reason there are no Marlin, Tuna, etc., we do some bottom fishing and target Cubera Snapper as a fallback position. Now Cubera Snapper are a white meat fish, they taste great and they fight like a sailfish. I could say the same thing about El Banco, but Corbetena is closer and easier on the budget. One issue is bait! You have to make bait or get bait before you head out to this area or your chances of boating a Marlin would be pretty weak. The good news is, the water is blue and the sea’s have been calm, no Hurricanes and that’s all a good thing. For now, if you have the time, the money and don’t mind Cubera Snappers as a backup plan, then Corbetena is your place amigo. If not, maybe you should wait a few days and see what happens.
In the eight-hour distance, if you talk with any of the local Captains, they all say there isn’t anything out there to target, or nothing you couldn’t get in the bay. No Sailfish, No Dorado, but there is a chance of Roosterfish around the point of Punta Nayarit, aka Punta Mita. Some of my younger friends went out and got one Yellowfin Tuna at 35 lbs. and a Snapper about 35 lbs. So, off the back side of the Marietta islands. To say there aren’t any fish to catch, that’s not exactly accurate. Again, there’s blue water, perfect conditions, but again, make bait before heading out of the bay.
By now you’re probably thinking, “thank the fish gods” I read this article, I would’ve spent the money. And, of course, that’s the reason I write this article. But… the bay is another thing. We have an explosion of Jack Crevalle’s all over the bay. Normally known as a cold-water species, for some reason the bay is alive with them providing arm burning action and you can save some money. There aren’t too many Skipjack Tuna, aka Skippies in the bay. There are still some Bonito in the bay. We still have the Sierra Mackerels hitting an early bite. I have seen some reports of smaller sized Sailfish boated by Los Arcos. At Garza Blaca or Punta Negrea, anything is possible and that includes Roosterfish, maybe small, but you can throw them back. Dorado are in the bay as well, they’re tiny, but they’re in the area by the thousands. They’re babies so remember to throw them back and if your captain doesn’t, don’t tip him! Four-to-six-hour trips in the bay will be both fun and affordable.
The details: For now, the water temperatures are very warm at 91 degrees. This could explain why Yellowfin Tuna are not coming into Corbetena or El Banco. And if by some luck you find them on your electronics, you’ll need a downrigger, so be prepared. The morning bite has been about 09:00 but the other day the bite got strong at 16:00 or about 4 in the afternoon. Jack Crevalles are hitting anything you put in the water for bait, including lures that mimic Sardines. That could be because there are tons of Sardines in the bay. But I’d like to remind you that at this time of the year, we never has great fishing. Once we enter August we’ll have a better feel for fishing in the area. Black Marlin loves the warmer water temperatures and I’d expect to have a banner year for them, I think. The boys down San Diego way on the Apollo and the Independence fishing charters are killing the Yellowfin Tuna and that’s probably because the water temperatures are much cooler there in the spring / summer months. And they didn’t pay me to promote them; they’re just good companies with good people. So, there you go amigos….
Until my next report, don’t forget to kiss your fish!
One last thing, recently there has been a lot of news articles about Puerto Vallarta in the interest of public safety in Canada and the U.S.A. I have to say I’ve never seen so much fear mongering in my life. We’re all scratching our heads about the “out and out lies” they’re pushing. Yes, we had one day, 1 stupid day where the local bad guys created some chaos that happened on a Sunday. By Monday morning all the “chaos” was long gone and people were going to work and living their lives like normal people do in Puerto Vallarta. But I got another phone call today, they were telling me the mainstream press in north America is running an endless loop with AI making it all worse. Well, I had to put a video together because even my long-time clients and friends think it’s dangerous here in PV, it isn’t. If you’d like to see the video I posted, nothing fancy, but it addresses the issue. Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6MWHVjlR8U
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Written by Stan Gabruk
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