Here we are in September, arguably the hottest and most humid month of the year. That may sound like a bad thing, but we know when it comes to fishing in Puerto Vallarta’s Banderas Bay, the hotter, the better! Being close to the equator, the sun is directly overhead and the days are long. Water temperatures naturally rise and conditions become almost perfect for Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado, and Sailfish to name the most popular species. From now until about the end of December, the fishing in Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds is about as good as it’s going to get. For now, it’s the beginning stages of High Season for Fishing, the crowds are low and the fishing grounds are basically empty except for a few lucky Anglers and the private boats. The Marlin are getting larger during the day and the Sailfish are picking up in numbers as you’d expect come Mid-September. It’s time to raid the piggy bank and make your own plans to boat a once in a lifetime experience!
You may have noticed that I haven’t written an article last week like I normally do, nothing had changed and frankly the fishing wasn’t worth writing about. Tourism is down, so very few boats are heading out. But the private boats have been rocking at El Banco. The simple fact is we’ve just gone through the seasonal change where the warm water species are continuing to move in as the winter, or cold-water species are trickling out. We’ve had an interesting summer so far, not much rain so the trash line has been neutralized for the most part. But we’re seeing warmer water temperatures right on time. Bait is perfect, the water is a high visibility blue and the Marlin are rolling in. We’re in tournament season now and conditions will only get better from this point forward.
When it comes to fishing right now, especially at our deep-water fishing grounds of Corbetena and El Banco. Fishing is a Rollercoaster, some days up, some days down, but always changing. We have plenty of fish, they’re out there. We have plenty of bait and blue water. And we have plenty of wide-open spaces. Fishing has been spread out for weeks now, nothing new there. The frustration comes when the Lookie-Lu’s, just look and not take the bait. For the last week, we’ve seen more than our share of this, but we all know, conditions can change in a heart beat and again we have fish. Times like this require a skilled Captain and crew, not to mention a little luck never hurts.
I’ve been writing these articles now for many years. And every year about this time, I get excited because the conditions and the abundance of Marlin, Sailfish as Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado gradually increase in both numbers and size. Puerto Vallarta fishing has taken a step up this week as we’re seeing our deep-water locations of the Bay of Banderas improving by the day. Everything seems to be coming together right now, right on time. Water temperatures are a desirable 86 degrees and the water is high visibility blue. And there is plenty of bait in the water and plenty of fish to be had at both the deep-water locations and in the bay. Those looking for short days with a lot of action, we’ve got you covered. But if you’re looking to hook into a freight train Black Marlin, we’ll put you on at least one of those as well. We’re getting into the season where our world class fishing comes under the spotlight. From this point forward, it may not be perfect all the time, but it will be most of the time. If you’re ready to get into the game, we’re here and ready to support with a once in a lifetime, bucket list experience.
What a difference a week can make! All of a sudden, we see Puerto Vallarta’s world class fishing grounds come alive. No, it’s not perfect, and remembering it’s the start of PV’s ‘high season for fishing’, we’re finally moving into a normal, summer, fishing season pattern. So, conditions are more favorable by the day. Water temperatures are where they should be, the water is blue and there’s no shortage of bait to entice those ‘Bucket List”, warm water species into the area. As I’m writing this, the west coast of Mexico has now already seen five Hurricanes in three weeks. They’ve brought some rain into the area, but they’re also pushing fish into the Bay of Banderas. This is the pattern we were lacking last year and I’m already getting excited for the season with the arrival of Blue Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and more!
Once we enter mid-June, we get past a rough spot where the season and Spawning for many species end. We see massive amounts of baby Dorado get larger by the day. We see Blue Marlin move in, Sailfish are picking up in numbers and it’s all about Blue Water! Water temperatures are now in the perfect range of 84 degrees. Bait is everywhere and Hurricane Barbera is passed us by 250 kilometers pushing even more fish into the area. ‘High Season for Fishing’ is here again as we see the very beginnings of our summer species beginning to move in. Blue Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, Roosterfish and more are available to those both lucky enough to be in Puerto Vallarta and secondly, those with the fishing budget to get that ‘Bucket list’ fish you’ve always fantasized about.
Here we are at the end of May ’25 and we’re looking to the weeks ahead of us as we seem to be entering a normal, summer pattern. We’re even seeing the first Hurricane of the season as it passes the Bay of Banderas. We will normally see these Hurricanes push fish into the area as they pass our world-famous fishing grounds here in Puerto Vallarta. It’s part of the fishing cycle we missed last year. Water temperatures are about where they should be and the water is getting bluer by the day. Sardines are hanging out around the area, so we’re still seeing Rooster fish, this has been happening now for the last three weeks and their bite is still strong. It’s still Spring conditions; fish spawning is an issue we’ll need to deal with. Tournaments are already starting to spring up from Barra Navidad to San Blass. Blue Marlin are showing up in the surrounding areas, Yellowfin Tuna * Monsters are at the Tres Maria Islands. So, there are some positive signs of a normal season after two years of ‘WTF is happening out there’?
This will be a year to remember, with the El Nino to La Nina ‘double’ flip, the normal types of winter conditions we’d expect, are anything but. We’re now in the middle of our winter fishing season, but it’s not really winter fishing. If that confuses you, then join the crowd. For now, we’re seeing plenty of action in the bay, like normal come March in the Bay of Banderas. Now that’s not as bad as it may sound, heading out for a short day, plenty of action related to Jack Crevalle’s and Bonito is a good thing. But Puerto Vallarta offers options most don’t think about or even offer. Bottom fishing, aka ‘Jigging’ is one of your best winter fishing options.
Well here we are in the middle of February and the water temperatures are much warmer than they should be. Normally at this time of the year we’re looking at water temperatures in the upper 60’s. And to be fair we did see a week of cold water, then ‘pow’, the water got warm again. If you’re confused, just think about the fish! For now we’re still seeing some of our summer species running our world class fishing grounds in Puerto Vallarta. But the Bay of Banderas hasn’t let us down, we’re still seeing great, action-fishing. For those looking for Sailfish and Striped Marlin, they’re out there, but the numbers are thin, you’ll need a full day fishing trip and you could still come up empty handed. That’s fishing for you, assess the situation and make a decision. But there is always great fishing in Puerto Vallarta if you’re open minded and focused on action and no so much a specific species.
Well, here we are again in what seems to be the never ending dirty water! For at least six weeks now we’ve seen fishing in Puerto Vallarta suffering through the change of seasons here in the bay of Banderas. We expect a few weeks of dirty water, it’s just part of the process of changing currents. The good news now is even though the water is still a little dirty, the fish can finally see your bait. The results of this the longer duration trips are now producing some great action. For those not interested in spending a fulll day on the water, a bay trip may be your perfect trip. But the simeple truth is we’re moving swiftly into the winter fishing season. Having said that, we still have some warm water species like Striped Marlin and we’re seeing the “indian summer fishing” time when Dorado start working their way to warmer water’s to the south. It’s the ‘last hurrah’ for the remaining summer species amigos.
