It’s funny how things work out around here. When winter arrives, tourism’s high season begins. But as high season begins, fishing high season comes to an end. There is a small timeframe where great weather and great fishing overlap. Sadly that timeframe is not right now. That doesn’t mean the fishing is “bad”. It just means most of our summer species favorites like Dorado, Marlin and Sailfish are not on the catchable fish list for now. While one of the top favorites, Yellowfin Tuna is always in the area, but they’re smaller at this time of the year. Yes we have Striped Marlin, but they prefer cooler water temperatures, but frankly I’m surprised they’re still in our world class fishing grounds. But things change around here rapidly. Soon the water temperatures will we warming up, the Whales will be leaving and Sailfish will be the first Billfish to come back into the area. For now we’re seeing shorter day action for those not looking to boat Moby Dick. It’s a great time for family fishing where your younger family members are going to be larger than the fish they just caught!
This week’s report is much like the last report, it’s winter fishing. Yes folks it’s all about the colder water, massive Whale food baits, smaller gamefish and the possibility of a Striped Marlin or Yellowfin Tuna! Nothing is easy and with minimal fishing trips for clients it’s hard to get a handle on the daily conditions. But we do know what we’ve been seeing so we’ll go from that starting point. It’s not bad fishing, it’s just not summer fishing, if you have a positive attitude and a desire to give it all a shot, then you’re the guy I’m talking to this week!
A few weeks ago, we saw an incredible drop in water temperatures which of course pushed the warm water species out and rather quickly I might ad. It decimated the local fishing, but things have improved. Water temperatures are now 70 degrees pretty much in all our world famous fishing grounds. So the local conditions have become a bit more attractive as we have more Striped Marlin moving in. Covid on the other hand is causing some tourism challenges, but not when it comes to fishing. For those lucky enough to be “stuck” in Puerto Vallarta you will for the most part have empty fishing grounds. For the moment the fishing is about as good as you could hope for with plenty of action and Whales are just a side benefit!
With the present conditions, things could be better for fishing. Not a great opening statement but things got weird. Water temperatures that dropped drastically a few weeks back have picked up a little. Corbetena water temperatures are up drastically but the Stripers that were in the area last week seem to have disappeared. This is what a transition period looks like. It’s a rollercoaster out there right now with some days “iffy” at best. UpDate: things change quickly in the world of fishing, things have improved since I first wrote this so read on as El Morro has turned into “Striper City”
For the last three weeks now I’ve been surprised at the amount of Striped Marlin in the bay. As water temperatures rise we normally see Striped Marlin leaving the area. But when there is so much “Fast Food” why would you leave? Smaller Dorado are in the bay which is encouraging. For now we’re focusing on the “water” conditions. We’re in a “current” transition period where clashing currents can create dirty water and hair pulling frustration.
One thing is for sure, nothing stays the same for long in “Fish City”. Things have stepped down a notch from last week and we’re seeing what was concentrated around Corbetena and El Banco has spread out again. Marlin and Sailfish are out there, but for the next few days you’ll need to move some water. In layman terms that means you’ll be moving around from El Banco to Corbetena so you’ll need longer days on the water. The good news is there are fish out there!
In the world of Big Game Fishing, nothing ever stays the same from day to day. For the last few weeks it’s been wide open. By that I mean the fish are moving around the area with no real concentration for any real length of time in any one location. So, this means you have to be prepared to move around and find the fish. This is actually normal, but for those on a thin fuel budget this could be an issue if targeting large Marlin, Sailfish or Tuna. We have fish, but we don’t have them in a barrel.
Every year we know it´s coming, the end of high season for fishing here in PV. Normally by the second week of the New Year we see water temperatures drop and everything changes. This year we saw this happen a little early, we´ve had 76 degree water temps now for about two weeks. We should see Dorado, Marlin, Sailfish and others bugging out. But that´s not the case as we see larger Dorado being boated, Striped Marlin in a frenzy, Blue Marlin are small but there. So no matter how contradictory it may sound, we have cool water and good fishing
