Summer is here bringing with it the seasonal rains, many call monsoons, but in reality it’s just a mostly daily heavy rain that will last a few hours then leave a nice, “fresh” breeze to follow. If you’re a local, it’s a welcome break from the heat and humidity. But if you’re a “fish”, the rain is a god send. The rain fills the rivers, washing the organic materials like leaves, twigs, seeds and many other things fish love to eat. We call this a trash line, clean water on one side, dirty water behind it. Finding a mature trash line can guarantee Dorado. Same goes for floating debris or floating logs, you have a Dorado Goldmine! Trash lines can be great for Dorado and other smaller fish. But if you’re looking for a species bigger than your car, aka a Black Marlin, you’ll need a ten hour day. Bucket List Marlin are presently at your disposal and being boated daily! It appears that we’re finally in the middle of our summer fishing season. For those holding off on making reservations hoping for better Marlin or Tuna, it’s time to make a move.
This week it seems like we’ve been riding a rollercoaster. Some days are incredible and some days are not as good as we would like. But every day is a new day and we’re seeing slight, yet important changes in conditions. We’ve also seen heavy rains in the mountains and in the local area. Everything seems to be in a “flux” situation where one day you can have great arm burning action, the next you’re wondering what happened? The fact of the matter is fishing is an inexact sport where we’re all vulnerable to the whims of the weather and the fish gods. The secret is to be informed and ready to go in a heartbeat. Having said that, this week is definitely better than the last week with the challenges of no bait at Corbetena, but there were fish if you could make bait. This week things are much the same, but like always, not everything is the same. Small improvements can mean big differences in targeted species and the amount of action you can expect. Right now you’re rolling the dice, the only question is, how lucky are you?
As I’ve been saying all along, this is an El Nino year and we’ll have to wait and see what Mother Nature dishes out to us. For the last couple of weeks the fishing has been “fair”, but that’s reversed itself and we’re seeing warmer water than we like and a lack of bait in our deep water fishing grounds. I’m sure you can see the direction this report is going. I look forward all year to write incredible and exciting fishing reports, but I’m reminded by the present conditions, that maybe I’m putting the “Cart before the horse”. Having said that, it’s not a “doom and gloom” scenario by any means. But for now if you’re targeting Marlin at the deep water fishing grounds of Corbetena and El Banco, you’ll need “bait insurance” in the form of tuna tubes!
Tournament season has started and even though it’s still early in the season for peak fishing conditions, they’re not bad. With abundant blue water, plenty of fish and now a Trash Line, conditions are good. We’ve had a pretty good run for the last two weeks since the Hurricane passed, but like all good things, they come and they go. We’re not seeing the 35 lb Dorado in the bay any longer, but we’ve still got nice sized Dorado at Los Arcos, but the Dorado have spread out in the bay now. We’re getting a steady stream of Marlin these days, Sailfish are picking up in numbers and are in more locations. Water temps are up, no bait issues. Day by day the conditions take a click in the right direction. For now things aren’t quite as good as they were after Hurricane Beatriz. Those were freak conditions where if you were here to take advantage of the situation, you had some unforgettable action. Looking forward, I feel very positive for the season. With more fish moving into the area, we know conditions will only improve.
Tournament season has started and even though it’s still early in the season for peak fishing conditions, they’re not bad. With abundant blue water, plenty of fish and now a Trash Line, conditions are good. We’ve had a pretty good run for the last two weeks since the Hurricane passed, but like all good things, they come and they go. We’re not seeing the 35 lb Dorado in the bay any longer, but we’ve still got nice sized Dorado at Los Arcos, but the Dorado have spread out in the bay now. We’re getting a steady stream of Marlin these days, Sailfish are picking up in numbers and are in more locations. Water temps are up, no bait issues. Day by day the conditions take a click in the right direction. For now things aren’t quite as good as they were after Hurricane Beatriz. Those were freak conditions where if you were here to take advantage of the situation, you had some unforgettable action. Looking forward, I feel very positive for the season. With more fish moving into the area, we know conditions will only improve.
As we get deeper into the early stages of Puerto Vallarta’s high season for fishing, we’re still waiting for the “fishing” public to arrive. Nothing new here, this is pretty much normal. As we see the conditions pick up, there really aren’t very many fishing charters. We have great fishing, but it’s hard to give a report, when there are so few anglers hitting our fishing grounds right now. Now this may sound negative, but in reality it’s an opportunity to have Puerto Vallarta’s world famous fishing grounds to yourself. Now this is priceless when you have 300 lb Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and more waiting for you to arrive! So forgive any holes there may be in this week’s report, but the bottom line is we have great fishing and if you head out to these fishing grounds, then next week, I’ll be writing about you! If not, I’ll be writing about somebody else.
. El Banco right now has some serious action. Now this is a twelve hour day, so you have to be “into it” or it just sounds like “too much”. But for those that understand fishing happens where it happens, you literally go the distance. And right now you can find up to 100 lb Yellowfin Tuna. Now the Marlin are picking up in numbers as well, blue or black, they’re both running the area, but wait, that’s not all, Dorado, Sailfish have moved in and are hanging out. Right now it looks like the “high season” for fishing has finally begun!
Before I move on, you legally can’t fish within twelve miles of Madre Island. Now in the winter time this doesn’t work for the Southern California boats because they’re trying to make their year, avoid the slow season of winter in California. But here’s the deal nobody is telling these California anglers, it’s not easy catching Yellowfin Tuna when the navy is busy chasing the boat you rented out. You see, these boats are fishing well within six miles of the island and frankly if you want to catch Yellowfin Tuna in February, you have to be on the reefs, the most sensitive part of the ecosystem. What the Navy does, they come and board your boat, have a nice, sometimes heated conversation with the Mexican navy protecting this area. The results these days are the Navy grabs the boat, the crew and everyone onboard and force them to go to the Island. There they’ll be held for the day if you’re lucky. The navy knows the Anglers on the boat are innocent and know nothing about them patrolling the area. But the captain, the crew and the owners are not telling you about this. You aren’t hitting these islands at the optimal time of the year!
You know it’s funny, every week I’m tasked with the happy responsibility to inform, be a bit entertaining with a bit of a positive spin, but always honest. When we come to this time of the year it can be a real mixed bag. Things can change from day to day. Spring means many species are full of eggs, currents change, water temperatures are in “’neutral” and the fish are moving all over the place. Where they were yesterday, most likely isn’t where they will be today. For that reason you need to be open minded when figuring out your daily fishing plan of attack. Depending on your targeted species, this will determine where you need to go. It also means you may get some bad news, which means you have the necessary information, good or bad. Using this information will help to make sure you don’t waste your day, your money and lose your hair. Spring fishing is a challenge, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun, arm burning action. Just don’t expect to find Moby Dick on the end of your line.
Welcome back to another exciting week of world class fishing in Puerto Vallarta. After years of writing about fishing and the conditions, I’ve learned that nothing is predictable when it comes to the oceans. Last week we were talking about the dropping water temperatures and the “clean green” water that wouldn’t go away. This lasted for two weeks and it’s an indication of changing seasons with changing currents. While people were catching fish in these clean green conditions, fish don’t cotton to it. Things have changed now and conditions are more favorable. Blue water has finally replaced the green water. Water temperatures are up, Krill is down a bit and more bait is moving in. This puts Puerto Vallarta fishing in a favorable position and these conditions should last past New Years. Thankfully we have warming water temperatures, Blue Water, Dorado and a host of world class action! Fishing is still in a transition period, but the good news is these recent changes are for the positive. YeHa!
