Welcome to my first fishing report of the New Year! And how better to start a new year with a new beginning at El Banco, so to speak. Yes folks El Banco, or The Bank is showing signs of life and it has a strong heart beat for the moment. Also, Sailfish and Striped Marlin are still running our world class fishing grounds when talking about fishing in Puerto Vallarta. It’s also Whale Season, this means there are just tons of Krill, or rather Whale food in the bay. So there are challenges, but nothing the local captains can’t figure out. What’s really news is the drastic drop in water temperatures due to El Nino. Now you’d think water temperatures would be going up, but that logic is flawed as we see the winter fishing season coming on strong and early. A month early so start thinking “winter species”.
The clock is ticking and the end of the summer fishing season is upon us. But there is still time for those late to the game. Surprisingly Dorado are still in the bay. Sailfish are still taking bait, Striped Marlin are moving in and the winter fishing season is coming on strong. Soon fishing in Puerto Vallarta will be all about winter species. But not yet! If you’re looking to boat a Yellowfin Tuna, the clock is ticking. Thinking about a Blue Marlin, it may already be too late. But those looking for Dorado still have a chance. Sailfish will “hang” for a while, as long as we have plenty of bait. For those here in Puerto Vallarta looking to go fishing, we’re still targeting summer species, but the clock is ticking. Tick tock, tick tock.
Right now we’re a week deeper into “fishing high season” and what a difference a week can make! Suddenly Dorado are pretty much at all our world famous fishing grounds! Sailfish numbers are picking up nicely like they always do come mid-September. Marlin and Tuna are more active and larger at Corbetena and El Banco. It’s all about mostly blue water, but there are days where we’re seeing the clean green water, but it isn’t effecting the fishing any. Just about any species you want to target right now is in the mix. For now, the first time I can remember in many moons, a shorter day trip can be your best bang for your fishing dollar! Those looking for larger gamefish, El Morro is alive and kicking with Sailfish. Punta Mita is another option for the longer duration guys. All and all, fishing is hard to beat right now. And let’s face it, we wait all year long and now the fishing is incredible. So check the Calendar, you’ve only got so many months of this level of action before you’ll be back in the “waiting” game. The fishing in Puerto Vallarta right now is as good as it’s going to get all year long! So get off your butt and let’s go fishing amigos!
I’m afraid this week’s report is much like last weeks, but that’s not a bad thing. As we continue to see Corbetena on and off again when it comes to Marlin, we’ve seen Dorado move into most of our world famous fishing grounds. Now that we’re in the solid beginnings of world class fishing in Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds, things will only improve with the coming days. But it’s a “menu” item fishing report. It seems that each area has its particular species of choice. Water temperatures are warmer yet perfect, but don’t expect any changes there with an El Nino year. The water is blue, plenty of bait and the only thing missing is you!
Once we finally enter September, you automatically know the fishing will be great. The only questions is which fishing ground(s) to choose. For now you pretty much can’t go wrong and for the most part you can get your target species if you’re willing to go the distance, literally. For those lucky enough to be in Puerto Vallarta, the fishing is great and getting better by the day. Does that mean there aren’t any fishing challenges? Of course not, but it does mean is the challenges are minimal and we have all the summer species people want. We also have Ballyhoo’s swimming all around the area and this is a favorite bait of the “locals”. Now you can’t, for some reason, purchase Ballyhoo’s at the bait boats in the morning on the way out. This means you need to have the correct equipment if you want to be “in the game”. Now that we’re into the summer species pattern, Puerto Vallarta fishing is wonderful. Not perfect, but good enough to have life long memories and plenty of burning arm action. Not to mention a few less pesos in your pocket.
Now that we’ve moved into what I call “Fishing High Season” conditions are much the same as last week and that’s not bad. Sailfish are picking up in numbers at Corbetena. Black and Blue Marlin are at both El Banco and Corbetena. Two weeks ago “making bait” at the deep water fishing grounds were an issue. Right now we’re seeing massive amounts of different baits moving into both the bay and the deep water locations. Fickle fish are full of Ballyhoo’s, flying fish, Squid and more. Water temperatures have stabilized and there is a nice circling current from Corbetena to El Banco like we used to have! With more of our treasured summer species moving into the area with these favorable conditions including perfect high visibility blue water, if you don’t catch fish right now, that’s all on you amigo!
You know for years now I’ve been writing this article and I’ve learned that when the fishing finally gets to the “World Class Level”, there are very few charter boats heading out with low tourism. So if you were here now, you would have our famous fishing locations all to yourself. It’s been just in the last few days that everything changed, Dorado, all of a sudden are very large. Sailfish are finally picking up in numbers. Yellowfin Tuna are still hanging out at the high spots. Blue and Black Marlin are fair sized and there’s plenty of bait. Puerto Vallarta fishing conditions have finally gotten to the point where the fishing is incredible. The abundance of species guarantee you’ll have the time of your life, but your arms might fall off before the end of your fishing day. Yes folks, these are the type of days that made Puerto Vallarta Fishing the envy of the free world. The only thing missing is you!
For the locals in Puerto Vallarta we all know that no matter how good things were yesterday, it’s no promise for tomorrow. Don’t take that as a suggesting that fishing has taken a turn for the worse, quite the opposite. We’re finally heading into the time of the year when the fishing is about as good as it’s going to get. From this point forward Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado, Tuna, you name it will be on the increase. But like always there is a “monkey wrench” that will soon be affecting our fishing both here and up the coast into the states!
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!
You know I can´t figure it out, we have winter species in the bay like Jack Crevalls, Needle Fish, Sierra Mackerals. Then we have the summer species of Marlin, Tuna, Wahoo and Sailfish in the same waters at the same time. Yes folks this is El Nino with it´s scrambled egg approach to fishing. We don´t know what to expect on a weekly basis, but we do know there are big fish at El Banco and Corbetena. We have Sailfish around the Marietta and Punta Mita area with Rooster fish. Then we have freak fishing situations like Blue Marlin being boated in the Bay. So fishing right now is like a trend we should ride and not get too much into the ¨why it´s happening now¨, just keep reeling!
