Spring is here at last…Fishing Report March 23 2008

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been writing a series of informational reports so the average person can better understand why things, including cost for charters, are what they are! We’ve talked boat cost / expenses, Captains and where they come from, so this week I think we’ll go into the equipment and Tackle used on charter boats.

Like any expensive sport such as Sportfishing, the equipment is never cheap and when it comes to Big Game or Deep Sea Fishing here in Puerto Vallarta (PV) where it’s possible to boat a world record fish, you just know it’s going to be expensive. If you compare a rig as I call it, or a fishing pole / reel set-up to a bag of golf clubs (balls and all), you could spend between $1,500.00 to $2,500.00 usd dollars in the blink of an eye. Take this number, multiply it by ten to fifteen times and you’ll have a basic idea of the most basic of all tackle necessary for a professional charter boat. If you’re looking for smaller fish inshore or larger fish at El Banco or Corbetena, you have to have the correct rig for the species targeted for that day. Mix in lures, hooks, line, floro Carbon leader (expensive), gaffs, harnesses, swivels ($15 usd each) and the list goes on and on you start to see what we’re talking about.

Now the Charter Boat who doesn’t have the best equipment and tackle, this will become obvious when you head out and snap the line ten times in one day. I don’t care what fish you catch, if you’re breaking line constantly and they’re not spitting hooks, it’s the the line itself which means it’s old, chaffed, and ready for the trash bin. The Angler spending a thousand dollars for a trip to catch Moby thingy deserves much more than the opportunity to lose fish. Getting spooled in this day and age is unacceptable and you should never go on a boat that doesn’t have Spectra Backed reels. Especially when you’re looking at Grander Marlin and Monster Yellowfin tuna from June to Mid January! Once you’ve boated or fought a larger billfish or Yellowfin Monster, the life of the line is between five and ten fish. This fishing line these days are designed to perform, but not forever. It stretches and get chaffed by bills, sun and age. Fresh line on full reels is very easy to see and is an indicator for what you could expect on that charter boat. So the next time you’re out choosing a charter, ask to see the equipment if possible. The whole day will depend on the mere fact that the charter boat owner spends fifty dollars to reline a reel so these things won’t happen constantly. Naturally breaking line is part of the game, but not ten times in one day! Saving a few dollars on a low cost or cheaper boat should come with these lower quality tackle and equipment expectations.

This week we’ve seen a real change in the action at the fishing grounds. If you’ve been checking the water temperatures on Terrafin, you’ve seen some interesting fluctuations in water temperatures between Corbetena and El Banco. While the Rock had been hovering in coller temps, El Banco has raised the bar with some nice Bull Dorado or Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin Football Tuna and Striped Marlin. But you’ve got to head out about five miles past the bank into the clear Blue Water. With lots of natural bait like Sardinas the Marlin and Dorado have been setting up camp as late.

As I mentioned earlier, Corbetena is down-right frigid, but if you’re shooting for some larger bottom fishing, I’d say go for the Pargo. They’re in the forty to seventy pound range and just off the rock. So use that expensive equipment, find the structure and rig a Skip Jack Tuna so it looks wounded, cast your line and hang on. This is one of the secrets of the rock. There is always fish there if you don’t mind changing your routine!

The bay is improving with lots of Mackeral, Torros, Skip Jack Tuna, Pompano, and Jack Crevells to name just a few. A four hour trip is still coming in with few if any fish. But six hours is making all the difference if you’re hitting the edges of the bay.

The hot spot this past week has still be off the point of Punta Mita to Sayulita. The water is unusually warm for this area and it’s been producing like a machine. Anywhere from ten to thirty miles out can produce anything from Sailfish (haven’t seen many of these lately), big Mahi Mahi, Yellowfin Tuna, or Striped Marlin. With the variety and availability of so many species, it’s probably your best bang for your fuel dollar.

Carlos tell me the city is not going to provide us with a 55 gallon drum of paint for us to continue the Master Baiter’s Graffitti project to beautify PV. This means we’ll have plenty of paint for the next month. If you’d like to support this project you can contact me at Stanray55@yahoo.com or come by the shop on the Board Walk or Malicon in Spanish in Marina Vallarta. We greatly appreciate the support we’ve been receiving and with the help of concerned citizens and vacationers the ugly eye sores will never be something anyone thinks of when PV come to mind. Thanks again to those supporting the cause!

Until next week, Don’t forget to kiss your fish.