When People ask me “when is the best time of the year to go fishing in Puerto Vallarta”? My normal response is the first two weeks of November or the first two weeks of December. I’ve been saying this for years as those are the down times for tourism in between the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, being a La Nina year, the calendar has changed seasons early and what was on fire last week, is cooling down a little more each day. The longer duration trips are still coming up winners, but blue water is scarce. With Swirling currents and massive amounts of bait moving into the area in the form of Krill, remember none of this is new to experienced captains. What is new or unusual is the “La Nina” factor that throws the whole “seasonal clock” into disarray. Those looking for larger Dorado, Marlin and Sailfish need to get on the water before the summer species bug out. For now the fishing is still “worth” the effort. But the clock is ticking and the summer fishing season will be over soon.
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.
It was amazing, last week, what was looking so promising for the rest of “high season” for fishing, has now changed with the early indicators of early winter currents. Suddenly the drop in water temperatures dropped from 84 degrees to 79 degrees in a matter of a few days with early winter currents are going take it’s toll. We’re also seeing the winter currents stirring up the sediment on the ocean floors in some areas. When we get these winter currents, Krill or Whale food show move in as expected at this time of the year. The annual challenge of competing with local baits versus the baits you’re running is nothing new. It happens yearkly and the local Captains know how to deal with this. Having Said that, Blue Marlin are picking up in numbers and size. Dorado are still thick at Corbetena, Sailfish are spread out, with concentrations from Punta Mita aka Punta Nayarit to Corbetena and El Morro. Fishing is always the process of dealing with daily challenges, nothing new there. Normally they come about a month later in the season. Are you up for the challenge?
If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you already know this is a “La Nina” year. It keep the water temperatures at a solid 84 degrees, which is perfect for all our world class species. We’ve been seeing solid fishing around our world class fishing locations. Unlike normal years, the “fish” or all the Sailfish and Marlin have a wide range of travel. What that means is they’ve been moving around and they’re spread out. You can’t just focus on one location and expect all the varied species waiting for you to arrive. Or can we? With massive amounts of bait already in the bay, more is moving in. I’m calling it “Hit & Run” fishing. With massive amounts of the Krill or seasonal “Whale” food, Krill stuffed Mahi are not interested many times in your bait. Marlin and Sailfish are chasing baits and playing fish tag. Smash the bait and then they turn away. The only “favorite” species we have that aren’t eating Krill is Yellowfin Tuna. The fishing is great, but you have to keep at it. Lazy Captains and crews are coming up empty handed. Those putting the effort of changing bait, changing trolling speeds and have the fuel to find the fish are coming up winners.
Well, we’ve finally come to the time of the year when “tourist high season” meets “fishing high season”. What does that mean? It means that we’re in the best two months of the year to target Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and Yellowfin Tuna. Weather or climate is a beautiful 83 degrees during the day and the water temperatures are prefect for world class fishing. You don’t have to be an expert to have the experience of a lifetime right now. Bait is plentiful, the water is blue and the excitement is high. In fact, it’s time to “Pick Your Fish” at Puerto Vallarta’s world famous fishing grounds, YeHa!
Well it’s been a hell of a week. It seems we’re in a Hurricane pattern and for the last couple to three weeks we’ve been looking at the weather maps. Finally as we see Black Marlin move into the area, perfect Tournament Season timing, we’ve been focused on weather issues. The good news is for Puerto Vallarta, is Hurricane Rosyln was basically a “non-event”. We got some rain, some wind and frankly it’s the only Hurricane I’ve ever slept through. We don’t really know what we’re going to have since the Hurricane Roslyn has just passed us. But we’re in “High Season” for fishing and you can’t stop PV when it comes to world class fishing.
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?
Every year we deal with “low” season action, when in reality the funny thing is “low” season for tourism happens smack in the middle of “High Season for fishing”. And you might ask what that means? You see when the weather in perfect in Puerto Vallarta, that reflects the lower water temperatures in the area. As we know, weather patterns follow water temperatures, nothing new there. Well in “Low” season Puerto Vallarta Fishing is at its best because with the high temperatures, comes warmer water temperatures. Perfect for our most famous species of Sailfish, Dorado, Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna. In fact, it’s Dorado city at all our fishing grounds! And that’s where we are now. But, things are changing, as we enter October, we enter the best time of the year to be on the water in Puerto Vallarta. If you’re looking to catch a fish bigger than your car, now is the time to be booking fishing trips amigo or get left with another year before you do!
Living in Puerto Vallarta now for 22 yrs., I’m what you’d call a “Gringo Pata Salada” or American with salty feet, aka a long time local. And I can relate to this nick name, although through the years I’ve been referred to by many different names by many different types. I’ve watched Puerto Vallarta grow into a cross between a small town and the big city. Puerto Vallarta and area have in the neighborhood of eight million people a year come to this beautiful and safe location to vacation where the dollar goes a long way and the people are famous for their kindness and generosity. Yet at the last consensus, there are less than three hundred thousand people living in the entire coastline of The Bay of Banderas. Which of course encompasses both states of Jalisco and Nayarit.
