Rooster Fish Numbers Increase, Red Tide Challenges, Massive Bait

In the world of world class fishing, not every day is a perfect day. The fishing grounds of Puerto Vallarta are considered some of the best in the world. Yet we still have to pay homage to the changing season, changing currents and of course changing water temperatures. We also know we have a seasonal swing from winter species to summer species. Conditions are changing and there’s no escaping that. Right now we’re in the middle of this seasonal change, which means there are some days are better than others. With plenty of bait in the area, the down side, temporarily I might add, is we now are experiencing red tide. Red tide, which is created by dead or dying plankton has taken over the entire area. We’ve seen this now for about a week and it could last for a brief while longer. Red tide is a normal condition and fishing in this red water is difficult at best. While not preferable on any level, this is a short lived condition. As you read this article, keep in mind things have probably already changed. Fish are out there, your challenge is finding clean water, even if it’s green. If not for the red tide, we’d still be dealing with “pregnant” fish! Update: The red tide is moving out slowly, Corbetena and the area north of Punta Nayarit, aka Punta Mita is now showing signs of life.

Corbetena once again this week is a little “slow”. When a Mexican captain says things are “slow”, that means the fishing is difficult. And difficult it is. Corbetena, like all our other fishing grounds have been plagued with red tide now for a week. The good news is this won’t last much longer. There are spots of “clean green” water and in those spots we’ve seen Striped Marlin and Sailfish, not to mention the abundant Jack Crevalles. But there is another universal challenge that needs to be addressed: “pregnant fish”. As my Mexican captains call them in their best English. What they’re trying to get across is the fish are for the most part full of eggs. We go through this “hair pulling” experience on a yearly basis and it never stops being a “pain in the drain”.  With Corbetena being 35 miles out, this area will be among the first to return to clean water conditions. I have also heard no reports from El Banco as well. For the next day or so things should remain the same. But conditions can change in a heartbeat so keep your ear to the wind, or give me a call for the present conditions. Again, give this a few days and things will improve. Stay tuned… UPDATE: Red tide seems to be moving out. We say some 100 lb Yellowfin Tuna off Corbetena yesterday, but be advised with massive amounts of skip jack tuna, the Yellowfin are chowing down on them now. Sailfish and Striped Marlin are also off the rock to the north. Things are changing so keep up with the reports.

Just like Corbetena, red tide persist closer to shore. Having said that, there have been Bonito to 22 lbs, Jack Crevalles and Skip Jack Tuna and even Rooster fish off the back side of El Morro. To keep things in perspective, there were just a few of these boated, probably taking surface baits that they could see. North of Punta Mita aka Punta Nayarit, there could be clean water, but that’s not much more than a guess at this point. Any area outside of the bay of Banderas will be the first areas to return to clean water. I put a boat full of people out for eight hours the other day with one of my best captains and drew a total blank. With Rooster fish, Jack Crevalles, Mackerels, Bonito and others, but they’re all full of eggs in this area as well. The double Whammy! Again, this area is well outside of the bay, so it will be among the first to snap back to normal. UPDATE: North of the Punta Nayarit point the Red Tide is close to shore, which is an improvement from just a few days ago. I’ve seen some Rooster fish post as well. So things should get better by the day… Stay tuned!

Short day fishing inside the bay is a red tide and frustration sandwich! The bays currents aren’t as strong circulating water as you’d expect. So this could last a few days more. There are spots of clean water at the south end of the bay and they have had some luck with Bonito, Sierra Mackerels and of course Jack Crevalls. Six hour fishing trips will increase your chances of catching fish since the spotty clean green water is there to be found.

Ok, so here’s the bottom line, Red Tide is not a fishermen’s / fisher lady’s friend, either are breeding fish. With both of these happening at the same time, it’s difficult to suggest to people anything less than a six hour trip. But this can change in a heartbeat. And frankly there isn’t much more to write about so I think I’ll just hang tight until next week and hopefully things will improve. One thing I’m looking at now is the strong possibility of El Nino hitting us again, which is normal believe it or not immediately after a La Nina scenario. If heading out fishing, a good time to leave the dock now is about 07:00. Good Luck!

The bite is still about 10 and 2 in the afternoon. With red tide giving yourself some time to find clean water may be the winning trick. The bait conditions couldn’t be better with massive amounts of Sardines, Flying fish, Skip jack Tuna, Green runners, Google eyes and the list is endless. This will all change in a few days, so be patient. For those heading out in the next few days, look for the clean green spots. There should be a concentration of fish in these areas so be ready for action. I’d suggest running digging baits like Rapallas with the hope the red tide is only on the surface. This condition happens as the red tide dissipates or moves out, it’s worth a try if you find yourself out there!

Until Next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish.  

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