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….