Puerto Vallarta Fishing Report September 30, 2018

Marlin and Yellowfin Tuna Return to Corbeteña & El Banco

Written by: Stan Gabruk owner of Master Baiter’s Sportfishing & Tackle

Welcome to the beginning of Fishing High Season. Yes folks, when the weather is at its warmest and most humid, is when the fishing catches on fire. Finally, we’re seeing some real action at our world famous fishing grounds. Yellowfin Tuna are at Corbetena, Sailfish are just south of El Banco with absolutely perfect water temperatures and high visibility blue water! One beautiful thing about low season fishing, the fishing grounds are essentially you’re alone, which is of course priceless.

Again with High visibility blue water Corbetena has exploded with Blue Marlin from 400 lbs upwards to over 600 lbs. Black Marlin are in the same size range or even larger! Yellowfin Tuna are also hanging at the rock with sizes ranging up to 160 lbs. Many football Tuna in the 40 to 60 lb range as well, it just comes down to how lucky you are. Bait is abundant from three miles out of the bay to Corbetena. Skip Jack Tuna at 6 lbs are abundant everywhere as are Bullet Bonito.

One issue is Bottle Nose Porpoise have returned and run with the Tuna. Yellowfin Tuna and Dolphin / Porpoise run together as teammates, so this is normal. The downside of the Dolphin invasion is they eat your bait. It’s easy prey. This can be stressful, to say the least. It’s just one challenge to overcome, you’ll probably have to move around a bit. But if you do there are some big fish to be had amigos. One thing to remember, fish move and these pesky Dolphin / Porpoise have been going back and forth between El Banco and Corbetena. You have to catch and hook fish in between these beautiful “pest”. So flip a coin amigos.

With water temperatures hovering at 88 degrees, with surface temperatures to over 90 degrees it becomes very important to remember Yellowfin Tuna will control their body temperatures by sounding. In other words, they go deep to where it’s comfortable. After the morning bite, I’d suggest running at least one downrigger with live bait, it’s been working sporadically amigos. Sailfish have been outside the Rock and the High spots of El Banco. Just about six miles south of the High Spots there has been a fairly large concentration of Sailfish. Shark are still here and they’re big, not sure what species they are at the moment, not Black Tip or Fin for sure. But they’re 150 to 350 lbs. Just remember at times like this you may need to move a little water to find what you’re targeting so be prepared with a full fuel tank. It’s time again to put that expensive fishing equipment in the closet to the test.

Anywhere between El Banco to Corbetena is fertile fishing grounds now. Many a tournament winner has been caught in this area. For those who are moving around looking for that trophy fish, your chances increase greatly. Fuel cost is always an issue, but if you can’t afford the fuel, you shouldn’t be out there. So fill the tank and come back empty, you’ll most likely have a fish bigger than your car.

Rainy season in Puerto Vallarta brings with it dirty water pouring into the bay. This, of course, creates a Trash Line which is a big draw for many different species. With the rain also comes Snook, Robalo in Spanish to 35 lbs. Now you need to be at the river mouths or along the shoreline where the fresh and salt water mix. Any shiny digging bait should get their attention if they can see it. Many times the “dirty water” is only a few feet thing so running a planer will get your lures and baits in an area fish will be able to see it. Jack Crevalls are still in the bay but like mentioned earlier their numbers are thinning. Yellowfin Tuna to 40 lbs have been in the deep water around Yelapa. Skipjack Tuna are everywhere. Dorado are still around Los Arcos but they’re pretty small so throw the babies back. With Bonito and all sorts of edible fish around the structure, I’d suggest a six-hour trip if fishing in the bay.

For the Yellowfin Tuna guys, the bite has been happening between 7 to 9 a.m. After that, you’ll be in trolling mode. For other species, the bite can be all day, especially with high clouds and haze. Water temperatures have been at 88 degrees, with 91 degrees in the surface waters, plan accordingly. Bait is plentiful, Flying fish are just thick, Bullet Bonito, Skip Jack Tuna (scarce last week), Sardines, Goggle Eyes, and the list goes on. Lures that have been working once again are Petroleros, Iguanas and live bait especially the flying fish.

Until next week, Don´t forget to kiss Your Fish!

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