It’s been a real rollercoaster kind of year. If you recall, we moved from a La Nina year directly into an El Nino year. When you go from one extreme to another, something is going to happen. The entire summer in PV, even in an El Nino or warm water environment, the water never got as warm as it should have. We never got over the 88 degree mark in the middle of September. At that time I noted to myself that “I hope this doesn’t mean an early chill”. By that, normally by the end of December, right about the week before New Year’s Eve, we always get the “chill currents”. When this happens, water temperatures drop like a rock and the next thing you know we’re looking down the throat of our coming winter fishing season. With the recent cold snaps north of the border and in Canada, these weather patterns push their “influence” all the way to Mexico. This week we’ve seen the normal results of weather shocks like this in the form of cooler weather here in PV and cooler water temperatures. Now this could be temporary, but it’s an early indicator of what could be coming. For now we’ve seen some changes, but nothing drastic as yet. If you’re in Puerto Vallarta looking for world class fishing, then you better get in the game before it’s over amigos. We’ve had a wonderful season, but all good things eventually come to an end.
After another week of outstanding fishing, things are starting to slow down just a touch. Yes, we still have Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and more in our world class fishing grounds of Puerto Vallarta. But now we have Krill. Krill, also known as “Whale food”. These tiny squids and micro fish are back in the area of course with the Whales. This creates a specific set of challenges we deal with on a yearly basis. How do you get fish to pay attention to your presentations, aka bait, when they’re stuffed with Calamari? No worries, we have been dealing with conditions like this from the beginning of time. There are always challenges and as challenges change, captains have to come up with solutions. Krill for the most part are more abundant in the bay, but they will be all around the Bay of Banderas’ fishing grounds.. Again this is normal, but it’s a pain in the backside at times. Larger species like Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna are not affected by this Whale food since they like larger baits. So one challenge can produce opportunities if you know the seasonal basics. As we enter the final stretch of fishing high season, there are some big fish out there waiting for you to show up!
Welcome to another wonderful week of fishing. As we all know, fishing is an emotional Rollercoaster. When things are great, you can still have a down fishing day. Once we get into this time of the year, it’s difficult to not catch fish, if you’ve got an experienced captain and enough bait. There are some small, but important changes this past week as we start to enter Whale Watching Season. For many fisherman, this is a trigger. When the Whales arrive, the Krill are not far behind. And we’re seeing some of this “whale food” coming into the bay. The bait fish will start feeding on this Krill, the larger species like Dorado to smaller species like Skip Jack Tuna will all happily chow down on this “fast food”. This is not a “big thing”, but it is a “thing”. And will become a bigger “thing” in the coming weeks. But this is normal. Presently, Puerto Vallarta fishing is at its yearly peak! The warm water species will be hanging around until the end of December. Those looking to target world class species like Marlin, Dorado and Sailfish should make a move. If not, it will be another year before you realize you should have “done this years ago”!
Where to start? I almost feel like I’m writing the same article over and over again. Now when this happens in the winter time, say March, I know I’m going to be writing many a “cookie cutter” report. But when we come to this time of the year, the best time of the year for world class fishing. I don’t expect to have a “cookie cutter” report about how one species has taken over the entire fishing grounds. Anywhere from Corbetena to Yelapa has been invaded by Dorado! Are there other species out there? Well of course there is, but the thing is, there are so many Dorado out there, it seems getting a bait in front of another species is like getting a Nordstrom’s credit card out of my ex-wifes hand! But after Dorado being M.I.A. for so long, it looks like Dorado have returned to our fishing grounds in Puerto Vallarta!
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!
Here we are again, a week has gone by and things have changed considerably! The bait issues at Corbetena and El Banco have gone away. Sailfish and Marlin have returned to both Corbetena and El Banco. All the deep water locations have blue water and mature Trash Lines. Dorado and Sailfish are also on the menu, thanks to the fish gods. We’ve even seen some decent sized Yellowfin Tuna as well. Two days after I wrote the last article, things changed drastically as Skip jack Tuna moved back into Corbetena, El Banco and Punta Mita! While water temperatures are still warmer than we’d like, we’ll have to endure since this warm water isn’t going anywhere soon. All the necessary “elements” are here now. The only question is if you can put those elements together. If so, the results will be the stuff memories are made of and will last a lifetime!
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!
