Punta De Mita Explodes with Sailfish / Lemon Sharks (Report for Week 7/12/2014)
Punta De Mita Explodes with Sailfish / Lemon Sharks Written by: Stan Gabruk owner of Master Baiter´s Sportfishing & Tackle (Report for Week 7/12/2014)
It´s the old ¨Good¨ vs. ¨Bad¨ when it comes to fishing here in PV these past few weeks. Change happens, which is not always for the best, but with the ¨bad¨ there is always a balancing ¨good¨. For now the ¨bad¨ equates to the bay water turning dirty, you know, that coffee colored water fish hate. It seems that every year before the fishing actually takes off (improves) we have to see the dirty water. Normally this is an indication that the seasonal currents have changed and frankly this dirty water is long overdue. The ¨Good¨ part or the balance is you can find clean, clear, blue water just outside the bay where you have a great shot at Sailfish and Dorado. But then again there´s the balance, Mother Nature puts her spin on it all this week with thousands of 3 to 5 foot long lemon sharks migrating. So what does this mean, well for one thing trying to get bait around these sharks to the local Sailfish and Dorado can present a challenge. Unless of course you don´t mind catching Sharks like me! Getting the hook out of their eight tiers of teeth in their mouth is a whole new danger in itself. But to focus on the ¨good¨, we have fish taking bait, the conditions are perfect outside of the bay!
Ok, in Banderas Bay as I just mentioned the bay is nothing but dirty water. Normally I would say this is because of the seasonal rains flooding down the mountain sides dumping into the bay. But in reality it hasn´t been raining much this past week, which of course means the bay trash line has gone missing. The seasonal currents swirling in the bay stirs up the sediment sitting on the sea floor and in a way this is a good thing. So to keep it short, fishing in the bay is a waste of your fuel dollar and your time until this dirty water flushes out. Normally it takes about three days for things to change, for better or worse. Once the rains start again, and that will be in a day or two at the most, we´ll have the trash line back so if you´re reading this in real time and are on my mailing list, don´t fret, just wait a few days, things change…
The Marietta Islands, is outside of the dirty water bay, for some reason the perfect conditions have resulted in only smaller gamefish. Needle Fish, Small snappers, small Dorado, Bonito in the 30 lb range, Skip Jack tuna at 5 lbs, yes I said 5 lbs, perfect bait, bad catch. The water is clean, clear and full of bait and that´s about the best thing I can say about this area for now. Last week about five miles off the islands north there were Sailfish that weren’t taking baits, may be worth a try now.
El Banco and Corbeteña, forget about it. Bait is plentiful, the water is beautiful purple blue color. Visibility is the water is the best I have ever seen at forty five feet. Now there have not been many boats heading out fishing, but the reports are less than stellar. Blue and Black Marlin (300 to 500 lbs) for the most part are missing in action. For the ones you do find, they´re chasing baits and that is about as far as it goes. There are Sailfish in the area, but they´re no reason to travel the distance and you´ll know why in just a second. Yellowfin Tuna, forget about it, they´re running less than 30 lbs which qualifies as bait. Dorado are there, running a whole 20 lbs, more bait if you will. It´s been a tough early season for the deep water locations. Again, perfect conditions, perfect water, perfect temps, smooth seas, no fish. I guess I could polish that up a bit and be a little more positive, but that would be a spin and we couldn´t have that.
Punta Mita, What we´ve discussed so far has pretty much all been ¨bad¨, now here´s the balance or the ¨good¨. Once you´re out of the bay and you turn the corner at Punta De Mita, about six miles off the point you´ll find large very large Sailfish, Tournament winning sizes. They are taking bait, and they are chasing bait. About half the fish chasing will take the bait. There are also very nice sized Dorado running in the 35 lb range. And as mentioned in the first paragraph, there are thousands and thousands of Lemon Sharks running about 3 to 5 feet dominating the area. The bad news is the sharks are so plentiful that you´ll have a hard time getting bait to anything other than the sharks. Magnifico boated a couple of Sailfish the other day, but they also boated several Sharks, which are great eating, so no complaints. They are nice sized, a quick catch, but not huge. Now remember any report is always about what happened yesterday, these Lemon Sharks are migrating, they´ll be moving out of the area fairly quickly, so if you have been wanting to target Shark, NOW is the time to hit it, don´t wait, don´t think, and don´t ask the wife (you may want to ignore that comment), just get your butt out there and give it a shot. Chum could only help. The Clean water starts at Anclote so give yourself a ten hour day to insure clean water and a great day. Oh, there is a trash line in this area, so take advantage of it, where it came from is anybody’s guess.
Bait situation, general conditions: like last week there are tons upon tons of bait. This week we´re seeing massive amounts of Flying fish about four inches, perfect for Dorado and other species. Skip Jack Tuna are running five pounds and thick. If you prepare these small Skippies (with wings) use a skirt of green(dangling off the nose) with red flecks or lines, it will drive the Sailfish straight out of their mind. Mullets, Goggle Eyes, and more are creating bait boils of monster proportions.
Water visibility as mentioned earlier is 30 to 45 feet and clear as a bell. Water temps have inched up to 86 degrees which is of course perfect. Those of you that are interested in Spear Fishing, this would be the place to be, but remember Lemon Sharks will take a bite out of you if you chum, no chumming if you´re in the water. We have Video of these sharks taking baits, soon to be online, I´ll put the link up next week, it´s a killer video Michele is putting together.
All and all, as fisherman we know fish are where you find them. For now they´re at Anclote around the corner from Punta De Mita. It´s about the only place I could suggest knowing what you now know. So get out there, have fun and remember not to leave too early in the dark of morning to avoid the ¨dead heads¨ or other obstacles that can ruin your boat, prop, support, shaft, did I leave anything out?
Until next time don’t forget to kiss your fish and 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.
