If you’ve been reading my articles, you understand that we’re on the tail end of a La Nina year. When this happens the “system” starts to swing back to “normal”. That means the water temperatures, the bait conditions and even the water color all come into play. With “not horribly cold” water, as is normal for February, we have a mix of fish that include summer species that are just hanging around. In a La Nina year you can’t predict what’s going to happen. All levels of what would be normal don’t apply right now. Because of this you can have several summer species running with winter species and of course this makes things interesting, if not frustrating.
ell, here we all are, stuck in a pandemic as Puerto Vallarta gets shut down like the rest of the world! This week’s report is about the bay and the possibilities which are mostly ignored. Fish don’t know there’s a pandemic so they’re ignoring the whole situation. With 68 degree water temperatures we’re still seeing the cold water species like Sea Bass, Snappers and Groupers around the river mouths. But there are some “secret” spots in the Bay where you’ll be alone and catch all you want. The point being you don’t need to go to the deep water locations, especially at this time of the year to get some wonderful action in our world famous Banderas Bay of Puerto Vallarta.
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.
