Roll The Dice Fishing, Marlin & Tuna, Waiting on Dorado

Here we are again, another long period between fishing reports as conditions seem to be stuck in Limbo. Conditions from a month ago are still pretty much the same today. Water temperatures are still warmer than we’d like, but not too high. We have blue water; bait is on and off again at the deep-water fishing grounds. But for those who have the time and money, we have world class fishing! Marlin, of the Blue and Black Variety are running the entire area from Corbetena to north of El Banco. Sailfish are finally picking up in numbers, but Yellowfin Tuna, is here one day, gone the next. The question here is; Where? The bottom line here is if you have the time, the money, we can put you on world class fishing!

I normally go down the line and report on the different fishing grounds. But today we’re going to talk about the general conditions and recent history. First off, nothing is normal in this extreme El Nino with our currents, water temperatures, rain and Hurricane patterns, nothing. Our northern currents from warm areas from south America passing our fishing grounds and are nonexistent. In reality, most of the currents are coming in from the east, not south. That’s right, from Japan and as a result, the normal currents we have just aren’t happening.

Something to put focus on are Hurricanes, or lack thereof. As a result, for now, there really are no concentrations (following normal currents) of any specific species at any given area. Remembering the fact that fish move and it’s normally a short window with schools, here today, Gone tomorrow. But we have our world class species of Blue Marlin, Black Marlin, Sailfish, Roosterfish, Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado are due any day now. Sounds pretty good right? Until you form a plan and decide which direction you want to head in. That’s the question, do you go to Corbetena? El Banco? Head north of El Banco? That’s the problem we all are having right now. With very, very few fishing boats heading out, we’re relying on mostly private boats to give us any insights as to which area has action. So, this fishing report is more of a history of where the fish “were” these past weeks. Having said that, I’ll continue.

Looking at Corbetena, located 35 miles out from Marina Vallarta is our most flexible and dependable fishing location here in Puerto Vallarta. You can always catch something at Corbetena! But like I always say; “They’re bigger at the bank”! But for now, Corbetena has had some action, unpredictable action, so it’s all on a day-by-day basis. But if you’re looking for Blue Marlin in the 400 lbs. range, they’ve been in the area. Sailfish are finally picking up in numbers, very late for Sailfish. Some Dorado have made an appearance, but they’re not really “in” as yet. Yellowfin Tuna are in and out, mostly out for now. But when they’re in the area, they’ve been anywhere from 60 lbs. to over 100 lbs. or larger. The water is blue, bait is an issue at times, so make bait before you arrive, very important. But here’s something that will help if you can’t get the bait you need, Dead Bait and lures. They’ve been working and if they don’t work, break out your bag of tricks and throw everything at them! Magnifico the other day had better luck on Lures and dead bait, go figure!

Now naturally all of what’s happening at Corbetena can be happening at El Banco. We don’t know, but the last real report I had about twelve miles north of El Banco, it seems to be an “action” area. The problem is, if there is no bait and no action and you better have a full fuel tank. If you pay attention to the bite, this will help your cause. If you decide to roll the dice, let me know how it all turned out and I’ll get the word out! One positive aspect is the fact there is high visibility blue water at all the fishing grounds! But again, Bait is on and off when it comes to the fishing grounds, so be sure to have a variety of baits, including dead bait and a full range of color or lures!

At this time of the year one of our most reliable fishing grounds are off the point of Punta Nayarit. At about the ten-mile mark out from the point, you should find Sailfish and possible Dorado. In fact, I can be on the positive side and say if you’re in this area, you have a 70% chance of boating a Sailfish. Now Dorado will be around any floating debris, but lately that hasn’t been the case. The good news is, this will change shortly. But these fishing grounds reach to the back side of the Marietta Islands, outside the protected area I might add, there are Sailfish in this area as well. For a short time, we had some nice Dorado in the 20 lbs. range, but it’s been mostly miss than hit. Roosterfish like to hang out in these areas as well. Again, in a few weeks this will all change and I’ll start making fishing videos for your viewing pleasure soon. One thing I might add is the fact there is a good possibility there are Blue Marlin at the Ten-mile mark off Punta Nayarit as well, so you could get lucky, let me know. Again, beautiful blue water, but forget about a trash line, no rain to speak of.

Inside the bay, we’re still seeing Jack Crevalles, our bread-and-butter species, at 25 lbs. around the bay, but they seem to be more abundant off the Nuevo Vallarta area! But Jacks are all over the place, you don’t have to worry about targeting them in this area specifically. Another cold-water species we still have in the bay are Sierra Mackerels! Smaller in size, they make up for it in flavor! Down by Garza Blanca Hotel or Punta Negra there have been smaller Roosterfish at 10 lbs., Bonito at 15 lbs. With some luck you’ll have a chance to boat a Sailfish, yes, I said Sailfish. We had some Dorado out there a few weeks ago, but for now there are no reports of their presence in the bay this week. But again, this will be changing Shortley.

You know we get a lot of people who demand the big names in species. But Ben and I know (Ben works with me at the shop), we both know there is a full range of fishing in the bay if you don’t choose just a few species. Up around Yelapa, there is a rainbow of species that are smaller, great tasting and readily available around the abundant structure we have in the bay! The down side, if this is a down side, they’ll be smaller species. But there isn’t anything wrong with a plate sized red snapper, I should say “restaurant sized” Snappers! And that’s just one species. So, open your mind to the idea of more and smaller sized, great eating species! Don’t ignore what’s available for larger and less abundant species! You will thank me for sharing this.  

With tourism down, seriously down, there have been very few boats heading out, so there is a drought of information presently. With the El Nino effect, normal currents aren’t really happening to bring fish into the bay. We’ve seen very little rain this year so the Trash-Lines have been inconsequential this year. We do have varied baits though, Skipjack Tuna, flying fish, Sardines, Ballyhoo’s and the list goes on. Inside the bay the water is a little dirty, but it’s mostly near the rivers and it doesn’t go out too far. This means the water in the bay is mostly blue. The bite has been interesting. You can still depend on an early bite, but the strongest bite of the day right now is happening after 11:00 a.m. No kidding, from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, the bite is at its’ strongest for the day. As mentioned earlier, bait can be sparse at Corbetena to El Banco, so make bait early before you reach your chosen area. But remember lures of green with a black print or even dead bait is working. If the lure of my suggested color isn’t doing the job, start with the combinations. One secret is to take a dead bait and put a skirt on it’s nose with a green skirt. Now keep that to yourself, it’s a local secret for the moment. And that’s about it this week 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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