You know for years now I’ve been writing this article and I’ve learned that when the fishing finally gets to the “World Class Level”, there are very few charter boats heading out with low tourism. So if you were here now, you would have our famous fishing locations all to yourself. It’s been just in the last few days that everything changed, Dorado, all of a sudden are very large. Sailfish are finally picking up in numbers. Yellowfin Tuna are still hanging out at the high spots. Blue and Black Marlin are fair sized and there’s plenty of bait. Puerto Vallarta fishing conditions have finally gotten to the point where the fishing is incredible. The abundance of species guarantee you’ll have the time of your life, but your arms might fall off before the end of your fishing day. Yes folks, these are the type of days that made Puerto Vallarta Fishing the envy of the free world. The only thing missing is you!
Alright, let’s get serious about this. We’ve waited patiently, dealt with the cold water, the green water and the changing seasons. It’s been frustrating for me to the point I just wanted to skip writing articles some weeks with cookie cutter speak. Starting at Corbetena, with blue water and massive amounts of Skipjack Tuna as bait, Blue Marlin at 250 lbs may not be super abundant, but it’s pretty darn good. Sailfish are everywhere and they’re good size, no babies any longer. Cubera Snapper are all over this area, taking trolled Skipjacks running anywhere from 35 to 65 lbs of good eating. Yellowfin Tuna are running the area as well, but they’re smaller in the 35 to 50 lb range. Not huge, but great eating and you won’t fight just one fish all afternoon. But the huge surprise is the size of the Dorado all of a sudden. Dorado at 35 to 40 lbs are running circles around the rock and are more than happy to give your bait a hard look before a thunderous strike! Corbetena is a ten hour day normally, but if you have the time and the fuel dollars the El Banco is the place to be. Yellowfin Tuna in the 50 to 100 lb range are running the area in perfect blue water. Blue and Black Marlin are in the 250 to 400 lb range. Dorado are large here as well with the average at 35 lbs. A 35 lb Dorado is a big fish and kinda rare. Frankly I’ve been afraid to promote what’s happening at Corbetena and El Banco for fear this may be short lived. But now I’m changing my mind, the El Nino currents are hitting our famous fishing grounds head on. But we had the strange luck of having a weak, close in Hurricane pass us just two days ago. I was afraid it may push fish out, but it looks like it pushed the action into our favorite fishing spots and we’ll take it!
El Morro last week was seeing Red Snappers at 35 lbs and are still hitting trolled Skipjacks with a bad attitude! Great eating, we don’t see that many Red Snappers in the year, so I’d suggest you jump on this before things change. The usual Bonito and Jack Crevalles are there of course. But off the back side of El Morro, the Marlin and Sailfish have been cruising the area, so anything is possible for the bold with fuel money. Looking a bit to the north, Punta Mita has been on the calm side, but it doesn’t quite figure. Dorado are a little quiet, but this will change shortly. Find a buoy, maybe some debris in the water and you could have something to “crow” about. Rooster fish can still be around the Caballeros area at Marinal rock, worth a try. Give it a week, things will change before the next report. Sailfish are also running the area, but no more than 8 miles off the point, that’s a little secret to keep to yourself!
Inside the bay, a six hour trip is producing world class fishing for those on a budget or just smart. There is a channel that stretches from Corbetena to the Los Arcos area and this week those larger Dorado at 35 lbs have followed that ridge into the bay. Along with those Dorado, we’ve seen smaller Sailfish running the south end of the bay. Now it’\s hard to plan for Sails in the bay, but Capt. Pablo of Tiburon was chasing one the other day at Los Arcos! Red Snappers could find their way into the bay so keep an eye out. Bonito, Skipjack Tuna, Jack Crevalles, Sierra Mackerels and more make up an incredible day of fishing for younger family members to adults looking for some arm burning action in shorter fishing durations. A four to six hour trip will make sure you have a fun day with lifelong memories.
Pretty exciting stuff, but remember this is only the beginning of the fishing season in Puerto Vallarta. If you’ve been waiting to see what the fishing was going to be like, now you know. It looks like the northern currents are hitting our fishing grounds perfectly. With plenty of bait, Marlin and Tuna running our fishing playground, it’s just the beginning. Those heading out want to be at their chosen fishing grounds no later than 08:00. Live bait is king, but you need Skipjack tunas in your Tuna tubes as quickly as possible. Making bait is no problem, but Skippies are the bait of choice right now. With water temperatures from 83 to 85 degrees, it’s perfect! High visibility blue water is just the cherry on the cake.
Until next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish!
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