The air is warm, the humidity is way up and all of a sudden these cold currents show up out of nowhere! That´s right amigos, just when you think it´s going to be a great day fishing, the water gauge shows water temperatures that are hitting a chilly 75 Degrees. As a result Black and Blue Marlin have moved out of the area for the moment, that´s the down side. The up side; Striped Marlin are back in the area and they´re good sized running 300 lbs, but you won´t see Striped Marlin occupy the same areas as Black Marlin with their preferences in water temperatures being at different levels. Having said that the fishing is great, but you may have a mixture of winter and summer species fighting for your bait!
With water temperatures at unseasonable highs, it´s more like summer fishing than winter fishing. Winter and summer species are streaked throughout our world famous fishing grounds and anything is possible. Dorado are still hanging out and have moved into the bay, which is a good thing. Monster Yellowfin Tuna at the Tres Maria Islands. Spinner Dolphin at El Banco and Corbeteña mean ever welcome Football Tuna to 70 lbs. And with Striped Marlin in the area, there seems little to complain about when it comes to fishing in Puerto Vallarta. For fair weather fisherman, you finally can have your cake and eat it too! It may be Global Warming, it may be El Nino once again, but whatever it is, we´ll just thank the stars that it seems to be continuing.
Wow, if you think you have a clue about what the fishing is going to be like today, tomorrow or next week you´re a crystal ball is better than mine! Last week I though the fishing had finally turned into winter conditions, yet here we are with Sailfish off El Morro and the Marietta Islands, Sailfish! They never left! Water temperatures are still running in the mid 70´s, with plenty of bait the mixed summer and winter species living and eating in the same area are likely to hang for a while. Strange, yes.. But if you´re out there fishing in this mixed up season, you`re catching fish you shouldn´t be seeing!
Normally in December we see the turn of the season, the days are cooler, the evening cold to those who live here in Puerto Vallarta Year Round. This December as yet has been unseasonably warm keeping our world famous fishing grounds warm and abundant with fish! A machine for Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna. Dorado are still strong around the Marietta Islands, with some nice bulls still hanging out around ignored El Morro. With empty fishing grounds, the seasonal Sportsman has everything he could possibly want. Perfect temperatures, blue water, abundant fishing, deserted fishing grounds, it´s like you´re in the 50´s but with newer equipment. For a short time every year the conditions come together and form the Champaign days of Sportfishing in Puerto Vallarta.
For months now I have been writing what I call ¨fluffy¨ fishing articles making what I would consider a disappointing summer sound as positive as possible. The fishing scene this summer was not about Mexico, but rather southern California. Warm water, plenty of bait and currents that swept our world class gamefish to points north of the Mexican border were very welcome indeed to the Southern Cal boys for sure. Yes we had fair sized Yellowfin Tuna, Sailfish, small Marlin, but no Dorado to speak of. With plenty of bait in the water, perfect water temperatures, Sapphire blue water at all the fishing grounds and disappointing fish counts. This week things have changed for the positive, Animal House with Captain Luis and First Mate David Chorra came in with a 300 lb Yellowfin Monster! Even The Bank or El Banco finally started firing on all eight cylinders. For those who have been saving their precious fuel dollars now is the time to raid the piggy bank amigos. We are now in the best time of the year to boat that ¨bucket list¨ fish you´ve always dreamed of as fishing explodes in Puerto Vallarta!
One more time, just when you think you know what the deal is, you don´t. To me it looked like we were going to have a warm water winter this year as we all enjoyed some of the warmer water species that have been hanging around. But the green water returned to the bay and if you are looking at anything under eight hours your chances of boating anything larger than Nimo is dismal at best amigo. Straight up the bay is dead, dead, dead. But not so elsewhere in our world famous fishing grounds.
Everyone knows that when October finally arrives Pesca or Fishing will be at it´s yearly best. Magazines and fishing programs know this as they begin to move into the area where they will document and film our World Class Fishing. The area between Puerto Vallarta to Cabo San Lucas will soon turn into Tournament city. The largest of which occurs mid October in Cabo San Lucas with the Bisbee´s Tournament. This is a three million dollar prize in cash and cars! The entry fee is huge, but the fish are here and the time is ripe for Huge Black Marlin, Sailfish, Dorado, and of course Yellowfin Tuna Monsters / Cows… Mooooo.This past week we had reports of Monster Black Marlin coming out of Cabo San Lucas of close to 1,000 pounds depending on the report you read. Now I know we are not Cabo, it´s only 350 miles out of the Bay of Banderas. This means that particular fish passed us at some point which is a great indication of what is possible at this time of the year in the enter region!
If you´re looking for Marlin even striped Marlin, it’s highly unlikely you´ll be coming in with one of those as well… Not seeing or hearing of Marlin strikes is a good indication they have left the building. Clients this week targeting Yellowfin Tuna were very successful, but they paid the price in dollars and time. For the fanatics, the YF Tuna are running from 80 to over 200 lbs, it just depends on what you come across. So what does this all mean to you, the fishing public that is hoping to boat a Yellowfin Tuna over the Christmas / New Year’s holiday? Well you will have to measure your risk factor against the possible gain. … But no worries, you have options amigo.
