Fish Report

Ok, after my last article, you should have a pretty good understanding what has been happening in our world famous fishing grounds of Puerto Vallarta in and around the Banderas Bay. The dirty water conditions continue. We’ve been dealing with these changing currents and dropping water temperatures. The dirty water is breaking up a bit, but the clean green is coming in behind it. Having said that, find blue water and you’ve got some world class fishing. We still have some challenging conditions, but with the proper information, what seems like a disaster in the making can turn into a world of surprise and excitement. Part of this is luck, admittedly, but the other part is skill and local knowledge! At this time of the year, the inshore or in the bay fishing is fun and affordable. But the days are rapidly coming to an end when Sailfish, Striped Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, Dorado and the rest will be leaving for warmer waters. As we move into the winter fishing season, things will change, but that doesn’t mean the fishing is bad or diminished. We just switch gears, species and processes. Soon we’ll be talking about Snapper, Grouper and Bass! Stay positive, it pays dividends in memories and never ending smiles.

I gotta say, I didn’t know what to write about last week. Every fishing situation looked pretty bleak to be honest. Remembering we always have decent fishing, but the local knowledge ensures you know where to go, what to do, and all the particulars in between. Once again, we’ve had dirty water this week throughout the entire Banderas Bay area. There is nothing new about this come early January. Moving quickly into a full-fledged “La Nina” year, water temperatures are a little stuck at 77 degrees. Normally Striped Marlin will hang around in water temperatures not much lower than 75 degrees. What is surprising is the fact Sailfish, Dorado at 25 lbs, Yellowfin Tuna from 30 to over 100 lbs and even Blue Marlin can still be had. You first have to find clean water, not an easy task. But about ten miles north of Corbetena there has been large areas of beautiful blue water, or the clean green water. The downside, there is no bait in the area. Those who prepare and do a little thinking understand that right now you have to make bait before hitting Corbetena or El Banco. There are plenty of fish in these areas, but there is no bait! Strange I know, this does happen normally at this time of the year for some reason, but it’s normal. All the species mentioned are looking for larger baits. Skip Jack Tuna, Bonito and larger lures will do the job. Your standard morning bait purchase is still a good idea, but for the serious, you want to make sure you have a boat with ‘Tuna Tubes’, the more the better. The same goes for El Banco. In fact the area half way between El Banco and Cleofus, the first of the Tres Maria Islands is the perfect place to drop your baits! Now this is a long haul, I know. But for this time of the year, this is normal. If you’re serious about your fishing, this is where you have to be. Enough said!

The area in front of Punta Nayarit, taking a heading of 320, once you hit about twenty miles there have been Striped Malrin, Sailfish and Dorado. Again, have larger baits and anything is possible. A strange development has been the arrival of Rooster fish off the back side of the Marietta Islands (protected area so be in the correct areas). You’ll also find Rooster fish of los Anegados and a bit farther north at Marinal Rock. Rooster have been in the 40 lb range plus. I’d suggest jigging off the back side of El Morro, but the water is dirty deep and this may not be a good idea. For now this is a bit of positive news for the adventurous. If targeting Rooster fish, Cabo Corrientes is Rooster fish Landia!

Inside the bay has been a disaster story. The water is just dirty and that pretty much tells the whole story. At the far end of the local area of Los Arcos, the river is feeding clean, fresh water into this area and it’s helping dissipate the dirty, silty water. Jack Crevalles are picking up in numbers daily in all the fishing grounds, especially around Los Arcos and Nuevo Vallarta. Sailfish are still being seen in the bay, but many times they’re not taking bait. Dorado are also a possibility for the lucky. But for the most part it’s about Jack Crevalles, Skip Jack Tuna, Mackerels, Bonita and the list continues. Bait is still an issue in the bay as well. With just fields of Krill, aka Whale food, some areas look as it there’s red tide. But in reality it red Krill! Everything in the bay is chowing down on this Krill, but there are several types of smaller bait filling the stomachs of these local players. I believe the fishing is more challenging in the bay right now than farther out at El Banco. This is normal and for those willing, anything is possible right now.

My ending comments are almost a story in themselves. At this time of the year the bay is stuffed with Krill and smaller baits of all kinds. Capt. Cesar of Magnifico boated a few Jack Crevalles the other day and check the stomach. He discovered even the Jack Crevalles were eating these tiny crabs. Not Tuna Crabs, but they’re tiny. Who knows, maybe they’re baby Tuna crabs. But with the Krill and massive amounts of other Squids, Flying fish, Sardines, etc. You can understand it’s a ‘all you can eat fish buffet” out there. Water temperatures have dropped a touch, but they’re still in the 77 degree range, a bit chilly, but the fish aren’t leaving, so that’s a good thing. The biggest thing to take away from this weeks report is the drastic change in the bite. For now the bite is at it’s best from about 10 to 2 p.m. So make sure you don’t shoot your fishing trip off too early and come back in before you have a chance to really catch a fish. If your agent can’t discuss this with you, find another agent. In the coming weeks we should expect more of the same and eventually we’ll see the warm water species leave until next year. So if you don’t get that Bucket List Fish, you’ll just be another year older and a little more expensive! Take care amigos and thanks for your continued support!       

Until next week, don’t forget to kiss your fish!

Written by Stan Gabruk