After what I thought might be a temporary thing, Dorado numbers have exploded. In fact fishing in Puerto Vallarta is all about Dorado right now. It’s now October, the fishing from now until hopefully New Year’s will be the best of the year. The local climate is calming down and it feels like an early winter. But for now a bay trip to Corbetena is well worth the time and money. With mostly dirty water, once you’re past the Marietta islands things change. If you’re in the south end of the bay, things are different and now even larger Dorado are in the bay. So sit back and let the Dorado Show begin.
This past week was full of rain and wind, but the fishing is still improving. As far as unexpected weather surprises go, we’re doing pretty well. Just the normal seasonal rains. You’d think rain would be bad for fishing but in reality it’s best in the rain! Fish get excited and come to the surface, which makes your chances of boating an “excited” fish much better. Naturally with rain, areas near the river mouths will be coffee colored, not a preferred condition at all. But in the areas away from the mud in the bay, things have improved as well. When it comes to the deep water fishing grounds, Dorado are both picking up in numbers and size! Sailfish are also picking up in numbers as you’d expect. Haven’t seen any Black Marlin this year, that’s not normal at all. But on the other hand, we’re happy to still having Yellowfin Tuna at Corbetena! At this time of the year the deep water locations is where your best fishing will be for the near term. Inside the bay, there is still great fishing, but you won’t find Marlin, Sailfish and Tuna for the most part.
When we enter this time of the year Hurricanes are a part of our daily life. Now we don’t get hit with Hurricanes, but they do pass the Bay of Banderas frequently. More frequently than you might think. We’ve see some interesting situations. Clashing Currents from two different Hurricanes hundreds of miles apart came together perfectly outside of the bay and we had some large swells with short intervals. It put the idea of fishing out of the picture. That doesn’t mean we didn’t have any fishing. It just means you couldn’t get out of the bay!
After weeks of stagnant conditions, small changes can make all the difference. With water temperatures up it looks like the swirling currents should be coming to an end soon. With the seasonal rains finally beginning, we have a trash line again, YeHa! Sailfish are picking up in numbers, the first of “reliable” Blue Marlin are moving in. With sprinklings of Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado, things are changing, finally! We’re still transitioning, but not for much longer.
Written by Stan Gabruk, owner Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle It seems sometimes that Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds are always changing. Seasonal changes and daily changes in fishing conditions can be frustrating for sure. We’re now at the time of the year where we have warming water temperatures with swirling cold currents, a frustration […]
Written By Stan Gabruk Before I start this article, I have to say the latest travel warning posted by the United States surprised me. I expected them to warn the world about Covid-19 again. Put the fear of god into you travelers, but that’s not the case at all. In fact the U.S. Travel […]
This week’s report is much like the last report, it’s winter fishing. Yes folks it’s all about the colder water, massive Whale food baits, smaller gamefish and the possibility of a Striped Marlin or Yellowfin Tuna! Nothing is easy and with minimal fishing trips for clients it’s hard to get a handle on the daily conditions. But we do know what we’ve been seeing so we’ll go from that starting point. It’s not bad fishing, it’s just not summer fishing, if you have a positive attitude and a desire to give it all a shot, then you’re the guy I’m talking to this week!
Every year, for a brief few weeks, we see perfect fishing conditions in a comfortable climate! But this is how a transition period begins. It happens every year and we hope it’s late so we can get through the holiday season with world class fishing. And like every year we start to see the changing currents and thus water temperatures drop. Every November we have the Whales visit our bay and hang around until March. This is the first indication the seasons will soon be changing.
Welcome once again to a wonderful “cookie cutter” High Season fishing report. Once we get into this mode things will pretty much be the same weekly with few changes. Subtle changes can make all the difference though. Water temperature being one of them, right now we’ve seen a subtle drop which indicates changes are on the horizon. For now we’re still It’s all about world class fishing with just about perfect conditions. For those looking to boat a “finned fantasy” now would be a good time to be on the water. For those who are “budget challenged” we have short day options that are fun and affordable. If you came to Puerto Vallarta and didn’t get on the water, then you missed half what Puerto Vallarta has to offer!
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.
