Living in a tropical place like Puerto Vallarta, Hurricanes can and do happen all the time. Most are hundreds of miles out to sea and frankly the general public doesn’t know anything about Hurricanes until they come close to shore. But this last week we had a slow moving Hurricane that screwed with the fishing for three days. So the report this week is positive and we expect the perfect conditions for Dorado, Sailfish and Blue Marlin to continue. As we move into “High Season” for fishing we’re in tournament season, which of course means the time of the year to boat that “bucket list” fantasy fish. Feeling lucky?
You know the funny thing about the world of fishing is, you never really know what to expect in the summer in Puerto Vallarta. With constantly passing Hurricanes hundreds of miles out, this affects currents. Currents are fish highways. The ride along and use them to their advantages. This creates crazy currents which can be for good or evil. And along with those currents come bait fish. In fact it’s a bait buffet at all the deep water fishing locations. The bay had a surprising streak of a few days were larger Dorado and even Sailfish were running the neighborhood of Yelapa to Los Arcos. Things are changing by the day, what happened yesterday, well that was yesterday.
Normally at this time of the year, we’re discussing the “incredible fishing” at Corbetena. But not this week, this week we’re seeing the complete opposite. You see we’ve had tons of heavy rain. Combine this with passing Hurricanes pushing currents in all different directions and all of a sudden, fishing at Corbetena turns into a grave yard! We all know “fishing is fishing” but this is a bit unusual. It’s a La Nina year, we should have close to 90 degree water temperatures, but we don’t. Air temperatures should be much warmer, but they’ve been hovering at 85 to about 88, with high humidity. The panic that these “conditions” could last are unfounded. Remembering I’m writing about last week, this is no indication of what’s going to happen. We all know fishing is like riding a roller coaster, lots of ups and downs. But we have Marlin at El Banco, even if there is almost no pulse at Corbetena. If that’s not bad enough, Porpoise have been stealing your dead bait and chasing your lures. For now that’s all a “pain in the drain”.
We have fish, but they’re cruising with erratic currents and stuffed full of fresh bait. Varied water temperatures, varied water conditions and species normally not in the area for this time of the year. Being a person who’s supposed to be “more or less” an expert on the subject in the area. I have to tell you, this is driving me crazy. It’s hard to predict what’s happening on a daily basis. All I can really do is tell you what happened. Everything else right now is a “roll of the dice” Some days you’re coming up all winners. Other days, you’ll be wondering “What Happened”? And I’d be right there with you!
After years, if you’ve been reading my articles, then you know what happened last week or even yesterday is no guarantee of what will happen tomorrow! But if this week is any indication of what is to come, then we’re going to have a great fishing season! With Black Marlin finally making an appearance, Yellowfin Tuna are right there with them. Now fishing this early in the season is always hard to call, but we have fish! If you’re thinking about coming to go fishing in Puerto Vallarta, world class fishing awaits you now.
Things have gotten even a little strange for a transition period. It’s a yearly thing, cold water currents changing to warm water currents from the opposite direction can at times be “confusing”. Right now the mix-up is with the species and the water temperatures. Honestly it’s like they don’t know if they’re “coming or going” literally. The good news is normally when we see the “clashing currents” we get dirty water stirred up from the bottom of the bay. For now it’s mostly blue water, but there is that “clean green” that is cold, not blue, it’s somewhere in between. There has been some of that, but for the majority of the area the water is blue and waiting for you to arrive.
Written by Stan Gabruk, owner Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle It seems sometimes that Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds are always changing. Seasonal changes and daily changes in fishing conditions can be frustrating for sure. We’re now at the time of the year where we have warming water temperatures with swirling cold currents, a frustration […]
It’s funny how things work out around here. When winter arrives, tourism’s high season begins. But as high season begins, fishing high season comes to an end. There is a small timeframe where great weather and great fishing overlap. Sadly that timeframe is not right now. That doesn’t mean the fishing is “bad”. It just means most of our summer species favorites like Dorado, Marlin and Sailfish are not on the catchable fish list for now. While one of the top favorites, Yellowfin Tuna is always in the area, but they’re smaller at this time of the year. Yes we have Striped Marlin, but they prefer cooler water temperatures, but frankly I’m surprised they’re still in our world class fishing grounds. But things change around here rapidly. Soon the water temperatures will we warming up, the Whales will be leaving and Sailfish will be the first Billfish to come back into the area. For now we’re seeing shorter day action for those not looking to boat Moby Dick. It’s a great time for family fishing where your younger family members are going to be larger than the fish they just caught!
Finally after weeks of rollercoaster conditions and fickle fish things have finally changed. With super high visibility blue water and perfect water temperatures conditions are close to perfect. Bait is a bit of an issue at the deep water fishing grounds though. Corbetena and El Banco are both “cooking with gas” and more or less deserted, imagine that. Coming into October we’re ready for the best fishing season of the year for fishing.
