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!
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!
Summer is here bringing with it the seasonal rains, many call monsoons, but in reality it’s just a mostly daily heavy rain that will last a few hours then leave a nice, “fresh” breeze to follow. If you’re a local, it’s a welcome break from the heat and humidity. But if you’re a “fish”, the rain is a god send. The rain fills the rivers, washing the organic materials like leaves, twigs, seeds and many other things fish love to eat. We call this a trash line, clean water on one side, dirty water behind it. Finding a mature trash line can guarantee Dorado. Same goes for floating debris or floating logs, you have a Dorado Goldmine! Trash lines can be great for Dorado and other smaller fish. But if you’re looking for a species bigger than your car, aka a Black Marlin, you’ll need a ten hour day. Bucket List Marlin are presently at your disposal and being boated daily! It appears that we’re finally in the middle of our summer fishing season. For those holding off on making reservations hoping for better Marlin or Tuna, it’s time to make a move.
This week it seems like we’ve been riding a rollercoaster. Some days are incredible and some days are not as good as we would like. But every day is a new day and we’re seeing slight, yet important changes in conditions. We’ve also seen heavy rains in the mountains and in the local area. Everything seems to be in a “flux” situation where one day you can have great arm burning action, the next you’re wondering what happened? The fact of the matter is fishing is an inexact sport where we’re all vulnerable to the whims of the weather and the fish gods. The secret is to be informed and ready to go in a heartbeat. Having said that, this week is definitely better than the last week with the challenges of no bait at Corbetena, but there were fish if you could make bait. This week things are much the same, but like always, not everything is the same. Small improvements can mean big differences in targeted species and the amount of action you can expect. Right now you’re rolling the dice, the only question is, how lucky are you?
As I’ve been saying all along, this is an El Nino year and we’ll have to wait and see what Mother Nature dishes out to us. For the last couple of weeks the fishing has been “fair”, but that’s reversed itself and we’re seeing warmer water than we like and a lack of bait in our deep water fishing grounds. I’m sure you can see the direction this report is going. I look forward all year to write incredible and exciting fishing reports, but I’m reminded by the present conditions, that maybe I’m putting the “Cart before the horse”. Having said that, it’s not a “doom and gloom” scenario by any means. But for now if you’re targeting Marlin at the deep water fishing grounds of Corbetena and El Banco, you’ll need “bait insurance” in the form of tuna tubes!
As we get deeper into the early stages of Puerto Vallarta’s high season for fishing, we’re still waiting for the “fishing” public to arrive. Nothing new here, this is pretty much normal. As we see the conditions pick up, there really aren’t very many fishing charters. We have great fishing, but it’s hard to give a report, when there are so few anglers hitting our fishing grounds right now. Now this may sound negative, but in reality it’s an opportunity to have Puerto Vallarta’s world famous fishing grounds to yourself. Now this is priceless when you have 300 lb Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado and more waiting for you to arrive! So forgive any holes there may be in this week’s report, but the bottom line is we have great fishing and if you head out to these fishing grounds, then next week, I’ll be writing about you! If not, I’ll be writing about somebody else.
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!
