The winter fishing here in Puerto Vallarta has had some smoking hot days of fishing with cool mornings to start with. The weather in the winter here is something to die for. The mornings are 65 degrees and warm up to 78 degrees.   This makes for perfect conditions for fishing.  The Pacifico ocean does cool down some here in the winter months like January.  The locals and Captains refer to this cold water, but the temperature is always around 78 to 65 degrees. Most anglers would love to have these kinds of conditions back home. I know most folks up north have already winterized their boats and stored their fishing hear away for the season.  Here in Puerto Vallarta, we are just getting started. 

With the cooling of the water, some of the pelagic fish move from the fishing place to the fishing place or offshore farther.  The big blue and black marlin like the water to be a tad bit warmer so move offshore to different areas. This does not mean we won't catch them, it’s just less of them around to catch.  The sailfish, mahi-mahi,tuna, and yellowtail will be here for some rod bending action offshore.  The amberjack will move in about the time the roosterfish show up this month.  We already see some of these fish show up in good numbers.  Nothing like catching amberjack or roosterfish on a big 5 lbs Bonita. The roosterfish and amberjack like the reef areas and can’t stay away from the live bait we use to land these big fish.  One of the tricks we use for roosterfish is a large Spanish mackerel as a teaser. This brings them up to our live bait. Then hold on for dear life when the hit the line.  There big fish can go well over a 100 lbs.

In the month of January, we have schools and schools of sardines showing up all over the bay and offshore this helps our inshore and offshore fishing tremendously.  There are days when we find and fish around the huge bait balls and we will catch fish until it feels like your arm is going to fall off.  When the bait is around the fish start feeding and you can catch them on just about anything.  The next few months we remain the same with more and more bait coming into our bay.  The offshore fishing is a little different and we usually toll for the striped marlin that love the cooler water temperatures.  These huge pelagic fish roam offshore ,but are often found in the bay looking for big schools of sardines or bait balls.

When trolling offshore we always like a couple of live baits ready.  We call the bait google eye.  Many times during the trip we will see a Dorado, sailfish or striped marlin finning on the surface.  This is when they are most active and feed during the tide changes. If we see them finning on the surface they will 90 % of the time hit the live bait on our 2 speed avet spinning gear loaded with 150 yards of mono line backed with 400 yards of spectra line. You will need all this line when these marlin get hooked.  They can make a run of several hundred yards in just a few seconds.  So when your out there on one of our inshore or offshore trips keep an eye out for that fin in the water. This could turn a good day into an extra ordinally day. 

The inshore fishing for the month of January will be good for the troll, jigging, bottom fish and of course live baiting. We watch the conditions daily for temp changes, water clarity, and bait movement.  I always tell our clients if they find the bait you will find the fish.

The fast-feeding yellowtail, good-eating Spanish mackerel, California bonitas and snapper will be here for the taking for those who venture out on one of our 6 hrs trips here in the bay.  If you are looking for a fun trip fishing in the bay and wat to catch a lot of fish this is the trip for you.

 So please come down and enjoy this winter wonderland we call home 

Puerto Vallarta where the friendliest people in the world live

Merry Fishmas and Happy New year

https://www.travelvallarta.com 

Capt. Pete and crew