About this time last week we were wondering what was going to happen with Hurricane Lidia. Nobody knew what to expect as the predicted path of the Hurricane looked like the impossible path. Lidia came up naturally from the south, it was heading out towards Hawaii, until it took a sharp right turn and was heading right down the throat of the Bay of Banderas. Any deviation at all would have sent Lidia to a different area easily enough, but it didn’t quite play that way. As this was all happening, besides being concerned for my girlfriend who was freaking out, I was thinking “this Hurricane will push a whole lot of fish in the area. It took a few days before we had charters again, but now we’re heading out daily. All the “ills” of the Hurricane for the city of Puerto Vallarta have for the most part been taken care of. Marina Vallarta has all the utilities and no travel issues. Same goes for fishing, for now PV has almost every species our world famous fishing grounds have to offer. What looked like a possible disaster for fishing, has turned out to be a “backhanded” gift from the fish gods! For now, whatever your fishing budget looks like, get on the water. One reason, the Dorado in the bay are huge! Let’s start there.
Now that we’re in October, Tournament season has begun. This should be the best indication that we’re in the best part of the year for those targeting World Class Fish in our world famous fishing grounds. We all know there is no such thing as “perfect fishing conditions”. But we’re not far from it. We have all the major species people want and now is the time to meet the challenge. We’ve had a three week stretch where you couldn’t go wrong finding a trash line in the middle of the bay. But currents have changed now and you need to find where the trash lines are now. If you can find one of these mature trash lines, you’ll have all the Dorado you tired arms can handle. Right now we’re looking down the throat of a possible local Hurricane, Lidia to be exact. This will push fish into the area. I’m thinking by this time next week we’ll be talking about what happened or hopefully didn’t happen.
It never fails, people will always walk in my shop and ask me “when is the best time of the year to go fishing in Puerto Vallarta?” The answer to that is “Right Now”! It all really starts to “jell” around the middle of September, but Oct. 1, Fishing High Season officially begins! “Fishing High Season”, what does that mean? Well, if you’re looking to have the fantasy of catching a specific fish or rather species, you’ve got a 90% chance of boating your fish fantasy! We’ve seen an explosion of Dorado in most of our Puerto Vallarta fishing grounds. Head out a little farther and it’s all about Sailfish. Hit the deep water fishing grounds and you’ll have so much arm burning action, you may give up and come in early! With a perfect bait situation, blue water and Trash Lines, you have so many options it’s hard to decide. But one thing for sure, long day or short day, you won’t be sorry you hit Puerto Vallarta’s world famous fishing grounds!
We’ve been waiting now for warm blue water for months. We’ve had this “clean green” water, but frankly it’s a sad substitute for warm, blue water. It’s cold, green, not a fish’s first choice. We’re coming out of a three year “La Nina” running head first into what’s being quoted as a “Super El Nino”. We’ll find out what that means soon enough, but the initial “symptoms” are the return of blue water, massive amounts of warm water bait, followed by Black Marlin and now sizeable Yellowfin Tuna. Puerto Vallarta’s world class fishing is returning now and soon fishing conditions will be back to the level people have come to expect. This won’t happen overnight, but Puerto Vallarta is back in the game and until the end of December, you can expect arm burning action, big fish and even bigger smiles!
Two weeks ago I was a little scared that we may have seen our best fishing of the year with the announcement of La Nina. Water temps dropped like a rock and the fish bugged out after Pamela. Last week we had an improvement with some Dorado showing up in good numbers. But now, the Krill don’t seem to be an issue, but they’re still around. Bait is abundant if the form of Skipjack Tuna (aka Skippies). Goggle Eyes, Green Runners, Flying fish, you name it. Marlin moved back in, Yellowfin Tuna aren’t huge but they’re 60 lbs and the story just starts there. For those presently in PV and looking to go fishing, now would be a good time to “break the bank” or sneak out with the wifeys credit card. It’s ok, you can blame me, it wouldn’t be the first time!
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.
Written by Stan Gabruk As we come into “High Season” for fishing in Puerto Vallarta, Yellowfin Tuna Fishing is considered one of the most desired Game Fish there is. The Tres Maria Islands, our local fishery is full of Yellowfin Tuna at this moment bordering on 300 lbs and up. And it’s a daily occurrence […]
Normally at this time of the year we’re in a “loop”. It’s not summer fishing so we’re not going to see Dorado or most of the warm water species. Striped Marlin are still roaming the area and that’s about the largest fish and only Marlin you’ll find in the area. Jack Crevalles which are “our bread and butter” come winter time are lacking in their normal numbers. So the longer day fishing trips are targeting just a few species which is “normal”. The good news is we’re still seeing Sea Bass, Grouper and Snook. The weather is perfect and the bite is on.
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!
