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!
Last week I reported that water temperatures had dropped drastically, incoming massive Whale food in the form of Krill moving in and Dorado moving out of the bay. That was all accurate and frankly I was more pessimistic about fishing in the “coming” week. I was about half “right”. The massive amounts of Krill are still in the bay, but the Whales have turned up and they’re doing their job consuming and breeding. Yes folk’s winter has returned to the Bay of Banderas with the arrival of our yearly visitors. This of course means that it won’t be long before we’re all targeting smaller game fish in the bay as the deep water locations “cool off”. But for now, Billfish are at Corbetena. The swirling currents are a normal part of the “process” and of course there are still plenty of “Dinner Mahi” for those willing to go the extra distance to our world famous deep water fishing grounds.
For the last three weeks my articles look similar because we’re in a great fishing loop. Last week it was all about Dorado, this week it’s still all about Dorado, but now we’re seeing Striped Marlin in the bay along with Sailfish! Up until the first week of October, it’s summer fishing. It’s good fishing, but when October hits, our world class fishing gets super charged. From this point forward the deep water fishing grounds of Corbetena and El Banco will turn into Marlin-Landia. With perfect blue water, perfect water temperatures, plenty of bait and plenty of fish to target. You can’t go wrong fishing right now until late December. With this being a La Nina year, the fishing could continue into late February. Excited yet?
Living in a tropical place like Puerto Vallarta, Hurricanes can and do happen all the time. Most are hundreds of miles out to sea and frankly the general public doesn’t know anything about Hurricanes until they come close to shore. But this last week we had a slow moving Hurricane that screwed with the fishing for three days. So the report this week is positive and we expect the perfect conditions for Dorado, Sailfish and Blue Marlin to continue. As we move into “High Season” for fishing we’re in tournament season, which of course means the time of the year to boat that “bucket list” fantasy fish. Feeling lucky?
After the last few disappointing weeks of fishing, things changed like a lightning strike. All of a sudden currents change and with it a massive invasion of varied baits. Small tiny baits eaten by Skip Jack Tuna are being follow by much larger species. 30 lb to 200 lb Yellowfin Tuna about 65 miles out are chasing these baits in unusually cool water for Yellowfin Tuna. That’s a 12 hr. day with no guarantees. These southern currents are bringing Sailfish and Striped Marlin are also in the mix. Snapper off El Morro and the action is unexpected. To see Yellowfin Tuna this early in the season can only be explained as a La Nina result. We aren’t complaining, but this may not last long as the bait is riding currents which means as quickly as they’re moving in, they can move out.
Strangely enough we’re in the third week of the “Bubble”. It’s strange, but this freak situation of warm water hanging off the point of Punta Mita continues. Water temperatures seem to have stabilize a bit for the moment. Massive bait in the form of Squid and Red Crabs are all around the area as our yearly transition period continues. With plenty of action, everyone fishing in Puerto Vallarta right now are getting their fill of action. If you’re looking for Billfish or just a family day on the water, we’ve got you covered!
