Every year as we come into spring we see breeding season change into a transitional period where species, water temperatures and currents change. May is normally a slow fishing month, all of us here in Puerto Vallarta know this, but for the local tourist coming to PV it can be a little frustrating. First, we have fish, some very big Marlin, Sailfish and Yellowfin Tuna, but it´s at a premium. If you´re prepared to go the ¨distance¨ and spend the ¨time¨ not to mention money, trophy Gamefish can be yours for the taking.
Alright, flat out the season has been strange because of the water temperatures. Normal currents and water temps seem to be changing yearly, you could throw the words ¨El Nino or La Nina¨ out there and they would fit. Looking at the middle of April and having water temperatures at or over 78 degrees that should be around 72 degrees has a serious impact on YOUR fishing. Rumors of a ¨La Nina¨ year or a year where the water is cooler than normal have been floating around the internet. I believe it´s too early make a call like that, but it´s possible. For now we´re seeing the fishing loosen up a little as the love crazy fish looking to breed are beginning to take baits again and act a little more like we´d expect them to.
Update April 22: Well this report kinda left me flat, it´s the truth, but things have loosened up a little and we´re seeing fish are once again taking baits when just a few days ago it was murder to get them to even notice a bait ! Bella Del Mar with Capt Hector hooked up forty Jack Crevalls, Marlin and Sailfish are back at it at Punta Mita and rumor has it Dorado have moved back into the area. I´ll tell you with the amount of bait out there and the varied species, I believe we´ll be seeing summer species early in the season.
I give up, I am not going to try and make sense of all that is happening in our world famous fishing grounds, right now you´ve got Blue and Striped Marlin, Sailfish, Wahoo, Rooster fish, Snappers, you name it, it´s out there except for Monster Yellowfin Tuna. But be warned, I have never seen the amount and varied types of bait like there is now all over the bay, Corbeteña and El Banco. It´s a roller coaster for sure, but it´s worth the ticket for the ride of a lifetime!
For the last couple of weeks Mexico as a whole has had some serious rain. Guadalajara, Mexico City and Puerto Vallarta got a fair share of rain. This rain ultimately results in water in the rivers which of course flow to the sea, in this case we´re talking about Puerto Vallarta. If you read my summer time online articles then you know dirty water from inland will flood Banderas Bay with coffee colored water. Naturally fish don´t like ¨breathing¨ this dirty water going through their gills so they leave the area or won´t take baits they can´t see. With this dirty water comes all sorts of ¨Trash¨ from dead horses, floating debris of all kinds, I´ve even seen refrigerators floating out there. If you´re on a boat, then you´re looking for signs of underwater obstructions like stumps, tires, you name it! Other than putting trash in the bay, these rains also bring nutrients to the ocean that fish love to feed on, we call this a ¨Trash Line¨. So Rain can be a double edges sword, that is a plus and a minus, it just depends on which side of the ¨trash¨ you´re on.
This week we pick up where we left off last week. Things are pretty much the same with some small differences. We still have fish, tons of fish, we also have tons of bait and there lies the problem. It´s a bait factory out there, you name the bait, we´re sporting it right now! Blue Runners, Sardines, Flying fish, Bullet Skippies, Krill shrimp, Krill squids (1 inch), Google eyes, Skippies and who knows what else.
Puerto Vallarta is known for its world class fishing among other things. When winter comes we see the major Gamefish species of Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and Tuna take a powder and head south. They´re replaced by our winter species. This year after what seems to be a never ending El Nino we´re seeing unusually warm water temperatures keeping some summer species in the area. What does this mean, well for one thing you´ve got a shot, not a huge shot, but a shot at Marlin, Sailfish and Dorado. Yellowfin Tuna have moved their operation to the Tres Maria Islands, but nothing in guaranteed and it has been a miss or hit situation. It all comes down to skill with a fair measure of luck, but one thing is for sure, if you´re not out there, you have no shot at all. So, do you feel lucky??
Ever since El Nino raised it´s head again the fishing has been unpredictable and frankly strange. Right now in the depth of winter we´re seeing warm, very warm water temperatures which of course are keeping out of season species like Dorado in the area. Now I`m not going to tell you they´re thick as thieves, but there is a good shot you´ll boat one or several of the delicious pescado (fish in English). For the normal guy or gal, the bay is alive and doing its thing nicely with plenty of action to be had if you don´t mind catching smaller fish. We´ve transitioned into winter fishing species as you´d expect . If you´re good with that fact then you´ll have a great time n the beautiful Bay of Banderas.
The last couple of weeks have been disappointing at best with the change of the season, the current changes and the lack of great fishing to the jaded and spoiled types like myself. But fear not, things have changed for the moment anyway and you´ll find Nice Sized Dorado, Sailfish, even a shot at Striped Marlin so stay tuned, fishing just got better!
For the average guy coming to Puerto Vallarta looking for a fun day in the bay fishing, you won´t go wrong. For the guy looking to boat Moby Dick, well he´s gone south for the winter! Yellowfin Tuna for the fanatics will now only be found at the Tres Maria Islands, commonly known as the prison Islands. Marlin and Sailfish for the most part have bugged out as well. You may ask ¨what does that leave to catch?¨, Well plenty, but it will be winter species. For the diehard players looking for Yellowfin Tuna and Sailfish, it will be a long day and you won´t be heading to El Banco or Corbeteña for the next four to five months. That´s the bad news, the good news is you´ll find plenty of fish worth catching on shorter duration fishing days.
