Finally after weeks of rollercoaster conditions and fickle fish things have finally changed. With super high visibility blue water and perfect water temperatures conditions are close to perfect. Bait is a bit of an issue at the deep water fishing grounds though. Corbetena and El Banco are both “cooking with gas” and more or less deserted, imagine that. Coming into October we’re ready for the best fishing season of the year for fishing. 

For the last few weeks the hurricanes, tropical depressions and strong currents have resulted in less than perfect fishing reports but thankfully this week there is plenty to write about. For the first time in some time I can actually speak from reports that El Banco or The Bank in English is alive and breathing. Black and Blue Marlin between 300 to 600 lbs have moved in and are hungry. Why are they hungry, because the bait situation in the area is not the best. For this reason you’ll need to make bait before you get to the fishing grounds. Chasing Skip Jack Tuna and smaller Bonito will pay off in arm burning action. Now is the time if you don’t have Tuna Tubes you’ll be sorry. Some Dorado are in the 20 lb range but those number will be increasing soon. Yellowfin Tuna are also in the area but no size range information. If like Corbetena they’ll be between 40 to 150 lbs. 

Speaking of Corbetena conditions can’t be much better. And as always I don’t care how great the situation is or the conditions are, there are always challenges. This week it seems to be bait. This is not unusual and in fact it’s the reason Tuna Tubes exist and are worth the investment. Having said that bait is hard to find at Corbetena. Yes they have red, blue and rainbow runners, Google eyes and who knows what else. But Skip Jack Tuna and Bonito (which just arrived in serious numbers) are the bait of choice right now. If you have bait, you can expect at least four Marlin Strikes per boat amigos. Sailfish are still running the area and will take your bait as well. Yellowfin Tuna, of course they’re in the neighborhood but they’re now surface feeding with the perfect water temperatures. Kites and balloons are you best options for Yellowfin Tuna. Marlin and Sailfish are hitting baits all day so you don’t need to worry much about the bite. Yellowfin Tuna on the other hand are different, the moon phase will affect their bite. For now you’re looking a mostly full moon which means the bite is early, before sunup and it will be late, maybe past sundown into the evening. If Targeting Yellowfin Tuna an overnight trip would be perfect. Not many reports of Dorado, but this too will change shortly. For those kicking the idea around, now is a great time to be in Puerto Vallarta and have these world class fishing grounds to yourself!!

The area around Punta Mita is still touch and go. With so much crap in the water from the recent storms there are now a few mature trash lines that could be producing. Both Black and Blue Marlin at 300 to 550 lbs are off the shoreline about three to six miles where you’ll find high visibility blue water and are ready for your baits as well. Rooster fish off the pint of Punta Mita have been in the 40 to 45 lb range and while not too many, they’re there! Dorado are focused for some reason behind El Morrow rocks / islands and could be a good area to try for Rooster fish as they like the upwelling’s around this area. For now this area around Punta Mita would be a secondary choice to El Banco and Corbetena.

You know we discuss the bay but in reality at this time of the year it’s just saturated with dirty water. Now that we’ve had so much rain inland this dirty water full of tress and branches and debris of all kinds is just pouring into the bay. Sometimes this dirty water is shallow and other times it’s not. For touring around and having fun the bay is great. But at this time of the year it’s best to keep up with the daily reports before making a fishing decision.