Game Fish On Tap!
Many people know me from my shop on the Malicon or Boardwalk here in Marina Vallarta. They come and talk fishing, sea conditions, bait to use, techniques, and everything else under the sun about fishing and related subjects. But when I talk with people that live here in Paradise, also known as Puerto Vallarta and they tell me that they’ve never been fishing here, well it shocks me. That would be like living in Aspen and not skiing. Even if you don’t know a thing about it, you owe it to yourself to try it at least once! For those living or visiting our little corner of heaven, the fishing is coming on strong. Even if you don’t want a monster trip of ten or twelve hours, there’s nice sized fish in abundance everywhere!
In the south end of the bay, just of Yelapa, the Bonita, Skip Jack Tuna and even Yellowfin Tuna (footballs of course) are there for the taking. This would be a four hour trip and if there’s four people going on a Super Panga, then it’s down right cheap. A little father down to Cabo Corrientes, you’ll hit Sailfish here as well as Mahi Mahi that may surprise you when you see them in the 40 lb range all with in a four hour tour.
Shooting for a little longer trip, out in front of Sayulita Sailfish or Pez Vella in Spanish, are lounging around on the surface just waiting for some angler to present a bait to them! Rooster fish in the six foot range have been boated here as well this past week and if you’ve never hooked into a Rooster fish, you don’t know what you’re missing! They look like fish demons if there ever was one, they fight like demons also!
Now the deep water locations, Corbetena and El Banco or The Bank in English is where you’ll see the world class fish you see in articles like this one. Blue Marlin, Black Marlin now have arrived also. Lures pink in color will get the Mahi Mahi’s attention, but live bait works also. Yellowfin are still “footballs” but that will change soon! These are ten and twelve hour trips. Many people don’t “feel” like being out that long. I understand, that’s why there are shorter trips. But you’ll never catch Moby thingy in the bay amigos. Now I know these time share guys will tell you anything you want to hear, but let me keep it straight for you, if you catch a Marlin in the Bay, it’s either sick, lost or drunk! Not that is hasn’t happened, but it’s like hoping to get struck by lightening, it probably won’t happen in your life time.
Here in Puerto Vallarta, many people are interested in “Cows”! Also known as Yellowfin Tuna over 200 lbs.. Usually by the end of June they start rolling in, but by the end of July they’re “Monsters”. Or rather a Yellowfin Tuna over 300 lbs and let me tell you, boating a fish of this size, with it’s incredible strength will test the metal of any seasoned Angler! For every hundred pounds this fish weighs, you can expect an hour in the “chair”. This is no B.S. amigo and what makes it worse, they don’t even jump once you’ve set the hook. Unlike Marlin, Mahi Mahi, Sails, Yellowfin Tuna just turn into Submarines. They go down, down, down then you Pull, Pull, Pull…. Once they get close to the boat, and they realize what’s happening, then it starts all over again. Once you’ve gone through this process five or six times, I guarantee, you’ll have used every off color word in the book and even a few nobody has ever heard of. Funny how creative you can get when you’ve given it your all and it’s still not enough. To be fair, no normal human in a fighting chair will boat a YF Tuna of these sizes alone. Once you’ve finally boated one of these gorgeous fish, you may never want to catch another this size again!
The season is shaping up nicely, we expect July, August and September to be spectacular with all the conditions finally coming together in the right mix. Blue water, abundant bait and perfect water temperature of 85 degrees…. the perfect recipe for you boating that finned fantasy of a lifetime!
Master Baiter’s Carlos is still out there painting over that ugly eye sore of Graffitti from those with a low I.Q. and a spray can. It’s an ignorant and criminal act of vandalism that we just won’t tolerate. If you’d like to donate towards the cause, come by our Marina Store on the Malicon and donate what you can.
That’s if for now, Until Next Week, Don’t Forget to Kiss Your Fish!
When it Rains, It Pours
I’m sure you you’ve heard the saying that when it rains, it pours! Well last week this was exactly the case. We had what many feared would turn into a Hurricane develop in the Central America area and it crawled north for what seemed like an eternity! It was cold for even winter standards here, light to medium rain for days straight. This didn’t make most of the visiting tourist happy, but the fishermen were smiling all the way to the Bank, El Banco that is… YeHa!
Every year we all just bide out time after the end of May waiting for the first of the seasonal rains. Usually they’ll come in from the West, not the South. But right now it doesn’t appear to matter, because the fish are getting more plentiful and larger!
Out at the Bank for the last few weeks it’s been a reliable location for football Yellowfin Tuna. But now with the rains the YF Tuna have come up in size to between 35 to 80 lbs. Great size for good fight, but they won’t take up hours to boat. Remember, Yellowfin Tuna will take on average 1 hour for every hundred pounds they weigh. Hook into a Monster that’s larger than two hundred pounds and you’re in for a couple of hours of arm burning, lung busting torture that will draw out the fishing masochist in all of us. Well maybe some of us.
We haven’t given El Banco or The Bank in English much space in this article for some time and it’s nice to see things coming alive there. Blue and Striped Marlin are out there right now, anywhere from 350 pounds on up to 600 pounds. That’s the good news, the bad news is they haven’t been taking the bait and are lounging on the surface, working on their tan. But no worries Anglers, this will change shortly as they gorge themselves on the abundant bait fish in the area. But like always, when there’s lots of bait in the area, it’s hard to get them to turn their heads. Like last week, you could hit one in the head with bait, and they’d ignore it… If you’ve ever been ignored by your wife or child, well it’s much worse than that! But this is when Marlin and Tuna season starts and we’re expecting an amazing year.
Sailfish are everywhere, and coming in even closer. Several charters this week have been boating nice, very nice sized Sailfish near El Morro and the Marietta Islands. But off Sayulita, just north of Punta Mita, this is still Sailfish heaven. They’ve been running anywhere from 90 to over 105 inches in weight ranges from 80 lbs up. But remember, bill fish breed slowly and what they know of these fish could fit in a thimble, so release all billfish so we all can continue to enjoy the ultimate in fishing here in Puerto Vallarta (a.k.a. PV) in the future.
Corbetena is hopping also. The dirty water that plagued this location for weeks on end is now clearing out with lots of game fish available and waiting for you NOW! Snapper, Amberjacks, Sails, Marlin, Yellowfin Tuna, well worth the extra fuel cost.
Inside the bay has been more miss than hit the last few weeks. But that’s normal for this time of year and don’t be discouraged. South near Yelapa, the inshore fishing is producing Sierra Mackerels close to fifty pound, Snappers and Bonito are there also. For those looking for action, but don’t want to hook into Moby thingy, this is the place to be. I’d recommend six hours in the bay for those on a tight budget or where time is an issue.
The water is warming up nicely, it’s about 82 degrees like it should be. It’s also clearing up from weeks of dirty water plaguing the fishing grounds (didn’t I just say that)? The fish are coming in right on time; plenty of bait and my cracked crystal ball is showing some nice signs of what hopefully will be another outstanding Season. So save those pennies and dimes and book your charters today. I have about 20% of Sept. booked right now and it doesn’t appear the economy in the states is going to slow things down here this year.
I’ve been writing about our Bomberos else where in this paper and this week Carlos, my partner who cruises around town covering up that ugly graffiti had a terrible thing happen to him and it just emphasizes the need here in Puerto Vallarta emergency services like paramedics. Carlos was biking down the street with a can of paint when he passed a construction site where they were working on High Tension wires. Well a heavy electrical cable somehow got loose, swung down and as luck would have it, struck Carlos in the back. Well thank god he had bike with rubber tires under him or he’d be knocking on those pearly gates! He was knocked out cold for more than two hours before he was “Dropped “off at the local hospital. It was like being struck by lightening. Well the electricity exited between his fingers and after three days in the hospital he’s going to be fine. He may start having some psychic powers soon, but for now we’re all glad he’s alive. This is just an example of how this growing city is lacking in ways that aren’t visible to the general public until they’re needed. Now Carlos was “lucky “, but what if he was your husband, son or relative. Check out his article and be informed. Carlos is back on the Graffitti project this week and will be doing his thing with the support of Master Baiter’s!
Until Next Week, Don’t Forget To Kiss Your Fish….
The Song Remains the Same
OH BOY, you can sure tell summer is coming. We’re barely into June and the heat is on amigos. Other than sweating your butt off, Anglers are beginning to flock to the Marina. After the usual slow days of May and early June, things are picking up. More People and more fish in our fishing grounds is a perfect equation for summer fun!
If you were excited about hooking up with a Sailfish last week, then you’ll be delirious! Just head out to the point of Punta Mita, set a heading for 310, an hour later you’re in Sailfish Heaven amigo. It’s a little early in the season to see these babies in the 80 lb / 100 inch range and larger. Some days Casting is the secret, others its lures. Trolling is working also, so I hope you’ve got a well stocked bag of tricks when it comes to color.
When it comes to Marlin, we know they’re coming. They’re out there at El Banco and Corbetena, but I think they’ve still got spring fever on their mind because they’re not interest in anything you put in front of them. But we expect that this will change soon with their normal migration into the area being mid June. Now I’ve been wrong before, remember I’ve been married twice, but it’s a good idea to make sure your line if fresh and your drags are working well. When they do come in, they come in strong and in big numbers. Don’t forget to back up your top shot with spectra; we wouldn’t want to see your fantasy get away because you were “cheap” now would we?
Yellowfin Tuna are still running strong at Corbetena, but they’re still “footballs” ranging mostly in the 35 to 50 lb. range. Many larger Yellowfin have been spotted, but for some reason unknown to me, they’re not paying any attention to the baits. Hang in there; this can’t last much longer amigos. Other species available here this week are Amberjacks, Dog tooth Snapper, Sailfish of course and the list goes on.
Inside the bay you’ll find Jack Crevells, Snapper or Pargo, Skip Jack Tuna, Bonito, Torros, and possibly Sailfish (they’re everywhere right now). I don’t care where you go, they’ll probably be there this week.
Sayulita, Sailfish are plentiful and have been for weeks, Jack Crevells, Torros, Snappers, Maybe a shot at Roosters in closer to shore where the smaller bait is. This area is just alive with action and if there’s a question where to go, this would be the place I’d suggest for eight hour trips or more.
The bottom line is the fishing is getting better every day and will continue into summer.
This week I want to discuss the upcoming tournaments we have here in Puerto Vallarta. Prices can range from double the charter boats normal price for the better boats or I should say the boats in demand. Other boats, good boats, will charge you their daily rate, plus extra money to cover the three days or so for the extra fuel usage. Others will price their boats the same way, but want you to bring your own equipment so they’re not responsible for you losing a tournament winning fish because they have crappy equipment or won’t step up to the plate with fresh line and new drags on their reels. To be straight up with my readers, two times the normal price is customer abuse, but if they can get it, hey that’s the law of supply and demand. Others who are charging their daily rate plus fuel, they should get a little more for the level of work and time they’re putting in. Especially if they’ve got fresh line, etc. With entry fees that have a broad spectrum of entry fees, competing in a tournament is never going to be cheap. Here at Master Baiters I have a series of boats that are great, with dependable and professional Captains at reasonable prices. So don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re looking for a boat to compete.
Even with the warmer weather, Carlos is still out there doing what he can to keep PV beautiful and Graffitti free. If you’d like to volunteer time or money, we’d love to hear from you. Like Edna Brooks from San Jose who spent some time in the hot sun with Carlos last week and had a great time.
Until Next Week, Don’t Forget To Kiss Your Fish…
