PV Fishing, Hot Water and The El Nino Question
June 5th, 2026
Hello everyone, you may have noticed it’s been almost two full months and I haven’t posted a fishing report. Now we all know that’s not like me, but we’ve had some “dynamic” situations here in Puerto Vallarta’s world of fishing. With the crazy tourism, the crazy fishing conditions, the seasonal changes and some crazy warm water, fishing has been a rollercoaster act to follow. So, to say the fishing has been strange, would not be an underestimate. Once we pass the first of May, the fishing normally gets slow, breeding season is coming and the seasonal change with currents, dirty water and the always popular seasonal rains, anything is possible. For the last few weeks, there have been almost no charter boats heading out. Now this is pretty normal, but this year it feels even “slower” for lack of a better word. But even with all this “weirdness” happening, the fishing is not bad and in fact, there have been some days that probably shouldn’t be happening, thank you El Nino! For now, nobody knows what to expect fishing wise. They’re saying this could be one of the strongest El Nino’s for the last 30 yrs or so. And get this, predictions for fishing on the west coast for Yellowfin Tuna are impressive. But talk is cheap. If what we’ve seen in the last month or so is any indication, then we’re going to have a Yellowfin Tuna Season you won’t forget!
With very little information from paying fishing charters, it’s been mostly the private boats that have been going out. Now even the number of private boats heading fishing is minimal. It’s just that time of the year. When we enter August, this will change. With that in mind we’re seeing mostly blue water at all the deep-water locations like El Banco and Corbetena. Water temperatures have hit 88 degrees out there and that’s hot. Very not for June! There had been Yellowfin Tuna at the Rock of Corbetena, but the entire area is alive with the possibility of 50 to 200 lbs. Yellowfin tuna, it just depends on your luck. But you can make your chances go up by heading farther north, about ten miles north of El Banco anything and everything is possible. About five days ago we had a boat head out and had a great day boating about 6 Yellowfin Tuna in the 60lbs. range. A few days before that, we had some at four at 100 lbs. On top of that there have been Marlin sightings, nothing boated. And I’ve heard there are Dorado at Corbetena, but again, no pictures, nothing boated. And that’s about all the information I have, but speculating, there should be Black Marlin out there, Blue Marlin as well. Yellowfin Tuna will be going deep with the already hot water temperatures, so downriggers are mandatory. For now that’s about all I can tell you about our deep-water locations of El Banco and Corbetena. UpDate: I just got word there are Yellowfin Tuna at El Banco north about ten miles, Tuna 50 to 100 lbs., decent bite, but they’re deep. Which means with the full moon, they’re probably not out there before Sunup or Sundown when Tuna will bite. Relax, the bite should change drastically in the next week, stay tuned. Also included in this update, I just received word there are Dorado showing up in numbers in this area as well! There are also Blue Marlin running the entire area. Take this for what it’s worth, unverified as yet, but I trust my source!
For the most part, trolling baits around or world-famous fishing grounds hasn’t been working as well as we’d like, but the area off Punta Mita has Sailfish. Many sightings, no reports of people boating any. What did happen, this is surprising, about 10 miles off the point of Punta Nayarit they boated a Blue Marlin in the 450 lb range. So that’s exciting! Jack Crevalles are also in the area and I Bonito as well for bait. If El Banco has Dorado, it shouldn’t be long before we see them closer in. FYI, you may see many of the local captains posting pictures of Cubera Snapper. They’re great fun to catch and they taste great, but the captains never target Cubera Snappers. So, when they start posting, they’re a bottom fish, it’s because there isn’t anything taking a trolled bait. Remember the signs, when captains and crew post large, beautiful Cubera Snappers, it’s because they have to get some action for the clients… So, keep this in mind amigos.
Inside the bay, Jack Crevalle’s have exploded in numbers. This again is unusual since they’re primarily a cold-water species and our “bread and butter” in the winter season months. They’re super strong fighters and well worth the effort, but they’re not the best tasting species. I have a cook who knows his stuff and can make this species taste great! Another surprising detail is the fact Sailfish have shown up in the bay all over the place, including La Cruz area, Sayulita, off Los Muertos Beach and down by the Los Arcos Islands. Dorado were all over the south end of the bay at about 10 lbs, but with no boats going out, I’ll just consider this a positive indicator. One thing for sure, there is a ridge that stretches from Corbetena to the Los Arcos area and if there are Dorado at Corbetena, they could be at size in this area as well. Cross your fingers and toes amigos! Throw in Bonito at 15 lbs, Needle fish ranging from 10 to 30 lbs, Blue plate special sized snapper around structure. And Capt. Ceasar has been lucky enough to boat some big Snook near the rivers lately. Snook is hard to come by because the rivers have these things like Gill-nets and pretty much nothing escapes those. Otherwise, we’d be pushing the white meat species like Snook! It’s still a possibility and worth the shot, for a short while anyway. But we do have action in the bay and it’s a six-hour deal to find the fish, but four hours will give you some nice smaller species action. What the heck, fishing and catching something is what it’s all about. But if smaller fish won’t “float your boat”, hang tight, it looks like we’re on the cusp of some exciting action, soon… Let’s hope very soon!
Ok, I’m going to lay out the facts and what we expect at this time of they year. In a normal Year, the fishing pretty much locally will slow dramatically. We move into the seasonal change where winter species will move out and we’ll see the summer species move in. Right now, it’s all mixed up and will continue to be like this as the Grand Daddy of El Nino’s is heading our way. Many “Experts” are saying we could have the Tuna Season of a life time. Or it could turn into a “No Man’s Land for Tuna”. I heard a separate report on our El Nino and they say it’s going to be the most severe El Nino in the last 30 yrs, maybe the strongest El Nino on record. What this means is, the ocean currents may change drastically and we’ll see warm water all the way from Japan heading our way. Bringing with them larger Yellowfin Tuna! From Japan to the West Coast of the America’s is in their running grounds and this is seriously more likely than not. And as I understand it, the cooler waters coming up from the depths will be centered in the Japan area. Which of course will push currents in the opposite direction. Which if we’re lucky means anywhere from San Francisco to Costa Rica will be fertile fishing grounds for those lucky enough with the means to exploit this “freak of nature” heading our way. I’ve never seen anything like this and I’ve been writing these fishing articles now for more than twenty years! It’s all a “wait and see” type situation and I can’t even guess what’s going to happen. So we’ll all just experience this together!
For now, the basic details, Water temperatures are warming quickly and drastically. I already mentioned the water temperatures are at the 88-degree mark and heading into “fish soup” ranges. Normally the warmest temperatures in warm years will hit at about 90 degrees and as you can see, we’re already there. The bite is earlier now, but where you want to be before 08:00 and remember the sun is coming up here in PV at about 06:00, so don’t get caught short. There is plenty of live bait in the area from Skipjack Tuna to Flying fish. No bait issues.
Now that something is finally happening, not dead water with no tourist to go fishing, I’ll have these reports more regularly. Also, I have a News Letter I put out to those who are interested. Send me your email address and I’ll put you on the list. I offer discounts on products and fishing trips now as I try and break into the realm of Master Baiter’s Sportfishing Television on YouTube. So I’ll be putting up a lot of new and different content, so hang in there with me, the world is changing and I guess I have to change with it. But that’s all for now….
Until next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish!
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Written by Stan Gabruk
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