Before I move on, you legally can’t fish within twelve miles of Madre Island. Now in the winter time this doesn’t work for the Southern California boats because they’re trying to make their year, avoid the slow season of winter in California. But here’s the deal nobody is telling these California anglers, it’s not easy catching Yellowfin Tuna when the navy is busy chasing the boat you rented out. You see, these boats are fishing well within six miles of the island and frankly if you want to catch Yellowfin Tuna in February, you have to be on the reefs, the most sensitive part of the ecosystem. What the Navy does, they come and board your boat, have a nice, sometimes heated conversation with the Mexican navy protecting this area. The results these days are the Navy grabs the boat, the crew and everyone onboard and force them to go to the Island. There they’ll be held for the day if you’re lucky. The navy knows the Anglers on the boat are innocent and know nothing about them patrolling the area. But the captain, the crew and the owners are not telling you about this. You aren’t hitting these islands at the optimal time of the year!
When we come to this time of the year, everything is in a state of flux. With changing currents, then one day there is blue water, the next is the clean green water comes back. This is not unusual, in fact it’s more or less normal. It’s just very early in the summer fishing season to have more stable conditions as we continue the seasonal transition, nothing complicated. But we are seeing subtle and constant improvements by the day. The strong currents of a few weeks back that brought with it the larger Black and Blue Marlin have relaxed. For now we have most of the favorite species people are looking for. Sailfish, Dorado, Tuna, Marlin and more are already here. Sounds great, I know, but the whole thing needs some time to jell. Right now with all those famous species, massive amounts of warm water bait has come with them. Now this is a double edged sword, too much bait means it’s hard to get these fish to check out your “presentation”. Not enough bait, and they all leave. The good news is these species are filling in the entire area in all the different fishing grounds right now there are serious possibilities. With so few boats heading out in this slow part of the year for tourism, what I’m seeing could be just the tip of the iceberg. People are catching fish, but first you have to be on the water for the “action to begin”.
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!
After a few weeks of less than exciting fishing, things are starting to look up. Now I’m not going to tell you things have improved to the point you’re going to catch Moby Dick, but you can have a fun day on the water using light tackle. We call it action fishing and that’s the best you can expect for the time being. Now if you want to roll the dice, then take a twelve hour fishing excursion, targeting Yellowfin Tuna, Striped Marlin and possible Dorado and Sailfish
In the world of world class fishing, not every day is a perfect day. The fishing grounds of Puerto Vallarta are considered some of the best in the world. Yet we still have to pay homage to the changing season, changing currents and of course changing water temperatures. We also know we have a seasonal swing from winter species to summer species. Conditions are changing and there’s no escaping that. Right now we’re in the middle of this seasonal change, which means there are some days are better than others. With plenty of bait in the area, the down side, temporarily I might add, is we now are experiencing red tide. Red tide, which is created by dead or dying plankton has taken over the entire area. We’ve seen this now for about a week and it could last for a brief while longer. Red tide is a normal condition and fishing in this red water is difficult at best. While not preferable on any level, this is a short lived condition. As you read this article, keep in mind things have probably already changed. Fish are out there, your challenge is finding clean water, even if it’s green. If not for the red tide, we’d still be dealing with “pregnant” fish!
This week, finally we have an interesting report from Corbetena. The water at the rock is that brown dirty, sediment cocktail fish just detest. But if you go eight miles or so north of the rock, you’ll find 100 lb Yellowfin Tuna. No joke, but the rub is getting them to take bait. With massive amounts of 2 inch Squids with shells, Green Runners, Sardines, Skip Jack Tuna and more, the biggest challenge can be competing with the “bait”. You could say it’s a race for which bait the “fish gets” first! In this area the water is the clean green I’ve been telling you about for what seems like months now. Striped Marlin have been making appearances, but again, fickle and picky. Dorado are also in the area at 15 lbs, but they’re mostly full of the tiny Sardines and the remaining Krill. Not to mention the small squids. Get my point? Also, with spring in the air, you need to hit the “bite” just right. Those who are “Tuna Starved” will find this an irresistible opportunity, but don’t be deceived, nothing is easy out there. Feeling lucky?
What has been for the most part an amazing year for fishing, I find myself scratching my head as we once again see all the indicators of seasonal changes. The largest “indicator” this week was the two to three degree increase in water temperatures. We’re moving into spring so this isn’t too unusual. We have the swirling currents, the continued clean green water and of course massive amounts of Whale food in the form of Krill Squids.
You know I’ve been writing these articles now for something like twenty years. In that time, writing and paying attention to conditions, you begin to learn and see what happens with the seasonal changes. That means how currents work, water temperatures change, the results of these types of natural ocean movements and the things that just don’t “fit” in the scenario. So it’s not surprising to me when the seasonal changes comes and frankly we’ve been waiting for it. But it’s a La Nina year, which throws a wrench into everything you’d expect, especially water temperatures. Then we come into March.
Once again the area in between Corbetena and El Banco is showing why this area produces more tournament winners than anywhere else. Fishing is “fishing” and conditions will never be perfect, but if you focus on what’s “biting” and what’s not, then Dorado right now should be grabbing your attention!
Well it’s been a hell of a week. It seems we’re in a Hurricane pattern and for the last couple to three weeks we’ve been looking at the weather maps. Finally as we see Black Marlin move into the area, perfect Tournament Season timing, we’ve been focused on weather issues. The good news is for Puerto Vallarta, is Hurricane Rosyln was basically a “non-event”. We got some rain, some wind and frankly it’s the only Hurricane I’ve ever slept through. We don’t really know what we’re going to have since the Hurricane Roslyn has just passed us. But we’re in “High Season” for fishing and you can’t stop PV when it comes to world class fishing.
