Welcome to another week of winter fishing in Puerto Vallarta. Yes, I said winter fishing, but that’s not quite right. In fact, it’s another week of La Nina fishing. Now you all know we get El Nino and the opposite of this is La Nina. That means what we would normally expect, isn’t happening. Water temps are what’s throwing the fishing community into a loop. Normally at this time of the year we’d be looking at less than 70 degree water temperatures. Right now we’re looking at 74 degrees, unchanged now for three weeks, unusual at best. This does is throw the entire “fishing calendar” off. We should be seeing Red Snappers, Bass, Grouper and several other winter species. There is normally a six to ten week window we get for this great fishing in the bay. This year it isn’t happening. Now it may still happen, but for now it’s not. So the Question remains, what is happening?
Right now your best bang for your fishing dollar is six hours in the bay. Bonito averaging 20 lbs, Jack Crevalles to 50 lbs, Sierra Mackerals are the equivalent of Ocean Trout, plentiful but no larger than 10 lbs. We’re still seeing the occasional Dorado, but with thirty boats heading out, maybe 2 Dorado boated. Which means they’re out there, but it probably won’t be you catching it! A couple of tricks you might want to try is using a downrigger, which seems to be working. The other is use light leader. Many of these guys, local Captains use heavy fluorocarbon leader of 80 to 125 lbs. When fishing for smaller gamefish, it’s like connecting a minnow to T.V. Cable! Drop your leader to 40 or 50 lbs and you’ll have better results. Keep these secrets to yourself.
It’s a “life is a box of Chocolates” sort of situation now when it comes to fishing in Puerto Vallarta. It can be hot and then cold, then hot again. We need to remember that fish move and you need to be prepared to chase the birds. If you’re stuck on a boat that won’t use fuel, then you picked the wrong company to fish with. The fact of the matter is you will catch fish, right here, right now! Dorado are averaging over 20 lbs, Sailfish are picking daily in numbers, Marlin, Tuna, maybe even Rooster Fish. With plenty of varied bait there isn’t any problems making bait. Water Temperatures are a bit lower than we like at this time of the year, but still in the “normal” range. Blue water and smooth seas. What more could you want?
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.
Sometimes in the world of fishing we have to ask ourselves “Where am I and how did I get here”? About a week or so ago we had a Hurricane “swipe” us and caused havoc for fishing, not to mention the city. We know fishing either gets great or horrible and the later was the case. But that was a week ago and frankly little has changed. With perfect water temperatures, blue water at the deep water locations of El Banco and Corbetena, things are still “iffy”. Yes there are fish, but with strange currents things are pretty mixed up. But there are finally signs of life and conditions are great with abundant bait and increased fish moving in.
I think the title says it all. If you’ve been watching the news lately there have been Hurricanes all over the evening news. Puerto Vallarta had a Hurricane skirt past us but that didn’t stop the massive amount of rain. Normally Hurricanes either push fish into the area, a great thing. Or push fish out of the area, a bad thing. You never know which it’s going to be until you get out to the fishing grounds. At that point it’s all about rolling the dice. With massive amounts of debris and trees and trash in the bay and out of the bay, it’s best you wait a few days before heading out. The fishing was great before the Hurricane so it’s going to be great again in the next few days. So let’s focus on the positive and there is plenty positive about fishing in Puerto Vallarta!
Not long ago I had this couple walk into my shop. They were just amazed that there was actually a private marina in Puerto Vallarta. They continued that they had come to Puerto Vallarta for the last ten years and stayed in the Marriott Hotel. For some reason this couple never knew that within walking distance was one of the top ten private marinas in the world. It just amazed me. But, after a few seconds of thought I could understand. You see as you enter Marina Vallarta, driving down Paseo de la Marina avenue, you will never see a boat, water, anything that suggest you’re in Marina Vallarta, nothing. You’ll pass the Marina Vallarta Golf Course and you’ll pass many condominium complexes just before you arrive at your hotel. In fact most people don’t even know that Marina Vallarta’s entrance is signified by our world famous whale statue!
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.
After weeks of stagnant conditions, small changes can make all the difference. With water temperatures up it looks like the swirling currents should be coming to an end soon. With the seasonal rains finally beginning, we have a trash line again, YeHa! Sailfish are picking up in numbers, the first of “reliable” Blue Marlin are moving in. With sprinklings of Yellowfin Tuna and Dorado, things are changing, finally! We’re still transitioning, but not for much longer.
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.
