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”.
For the last month or so, I’ve been declaring “summer fishing” has arrived, and it has. But like most things in life, it doesn’t happen all at once. Daily, as we move deeper into “high season” for fishing in Puerto Vallarta, we’re confronted with several “fishing surprises”. What surprises you may ask? Well, Blue Marlin at El Banco, Yellowfin Tuna at Corbetena and Striped Marlin being boated in the bay? If none of that is surprising, then you don’t know fishing in Puerto Vallarta or you’re jaded. But even the most jaded like myself are felling the excitement. Last week we had some indications that Marlin were moving in to El Banco. But the bay? Striped Marlin being boated in the bay, dirty water an all? Sailfish are all over the place, in fact, in the bay your chances are better to catch a Sailfish than at Punta Mita! If this isn’t exciting to you, then maybe you’re reading the wrong article. If it is exciting, please read on!
This week we’ve built on the outstanding fishing conditions of last week. With the seasonal rains, we now have a trash line! Water temperatures have stayed much the same and with the changing summer currents we have plenty of bait at all our world famous fishing grounds. For now there have been some surprising changes, weird actually. For those willing to take the risk, longer duration trips can produce larger Yellowfin Tuna, Marlin, Sailfish and more. For the family guy looking for a fun day on the water, shorter duration with plenty of action. For now I can’t remember a better July when it comes to fishing. With Hurricanes pushing fish in the area, I can’t imagine conditions being any better than they already are for July. That doesn’t mean you won’t have a “bad” day now and again. But for now the fishing is great and should only improve from this point onward into fishing’s high season!
For months now I’ve been putting out accurate information regarding fishing conditions here in Puerto Vallarta with as positive a spin as possible. Finally this week, no spin, things have changed drastically and now there is every reason to be heading out of the bay. First, water temperatures are up, Bait is plentiful, New Summer species are moving into the area. And even El Banco, aka The Bank is showing signs of a pulse! I’ve been patiently waiting for mid-June to show up as this is normally when things start to turn around. Things aren’t perfect, but they’re moving in the right direction and it’s only going to improve as we get deeper into High Season for Fishing in Puerto Vallarta’s fishing grounds!
Sometimes it feels like I’m almost making excuses for the “fishing conditions”. Clients come into my shop midwinter looking for summer species. Being at the wrong end of the calendar it’s disappointing for some. Things have changed, water is warming up, Red Tide has all but disappeared, No dirty water to speak of and we have a trash line. With the La Nina keeping water temperatures down I was wondering when the numbers and species would ever pickup. But we’re back in the Summer High Season for Fishing in Puerto Vallarta. Conditions are improving by the day, the “locals” are stuffing themselves with varied “karnada” or baits. Now if we could just figure a way to keep the air temperatures and humidity down, everything would be perfect!
Another week and more small changes. But that’s normally the case, we wouldn’t want extreme swings in fishing conditions and this week the “small” changes are adding up to great fishing action. When you talk about fishing in Puerto Vallarta, people want to know about the major summer species, which of course for the last six months haven’t been here in the area. Now that we’re at the end of May, the transition period with the dirty water and questionable species is coming to an end, finally. Does that mean the water conditions are perfect, of course not! But it does mean there is plenty to be excited and optimistic about. For now, my “glass” is half full, so don’t expect doom and gloom, things are improving amigos!
We’re seeing small changes, but not enough to say they’re much different from last week. We’re still seeing massive amounts of different baits. Squids, Sardines, Google eyes and the list goes on. We’re still seeing the challenges of moving fish and the overabundance of food. Sounds tough I know, but there is plenty of positive stuff. Spinner Dolphin are touring the area near Corbetena. El Banco is your best fishing option with Sailfish, Dorado and Striped Marlin running the area. And of course there is always the possibility of Yellowfin Tuna the farther north you get. Water temperatures are ticking up and if things continue the way they are, once we get into a more stable situation, condition wise, we’re setting up for a beautiful fishing season in Puerto Vallarta.
Well, here we are again, another week of changing currents, changing water temperatures and massive amounts of bait and whale food! Yes folks this is the transition period where you never really know what conditions you’ll be dealing with and for the last three weeks now, things have pretty much been the same. Of course this is no surprise and my articles are meant to limit the frustration and save on the fuel expenses. And like I’ve been telling everyone for the last few weeks, you have two real fishing options, six hours in the bay or twelve hours, more would be better. Where Dorado, Sailfish and Striped Marlin can be found. Maybe not boated, again, that depends on the level of bait in the water and how hungry the fish are. Are you getting a “feel” for conditions? We’re transitioning from not only a La Nina year, but from winter species and water temperatures to summer species and hopefully warm water.
Every year as we come out of the winter fishing season into spring we see the annual changing of the seasonal currents. This past year has been weird, there is no other word for it. As we are hopefully exiting a “La Nina” year, we’re seeing the beginning of a regular fishing season, if you don’t mind my positive perspective. You see this is what we expect, this is “normal”. Last year we went straight from summer fishing, to spring fishing all through the “winter” fishing season. Now with the clashing currents and dirty water that produces, this is a positive thing. When this happens, it’s at the lowest part of the spring tourism season or basically PV is a bit of a ghost town after Easter. That means that while it’s not the most positive thing, it’s an indicator that we’re moving into a “normal” season and to me, that’s positive. Now I’m not saying the fishing is any better or worse than it was last week. But we roll with the punches and prepare for the positive!
