IF YOU ARE HEADING TO MEXICO THIS WINTER
It is no secret that we love warm water angling at Pacific Angler. We also love our families and they like vacations. It has been a tradition that when the family wants to do a cool trip to a warm location that Jason and I try to figure a way to sneak out and fish while keeping family time a top priority.
We have figured a few things out over the years. What to avoid, what is a waste of time, what will get you in huge trouble with the family and everything in between.
Puerto Vallarta has been one of our family's favorite vacation spots. It might not be on our top fishing destinations list but there are some great opportunities if you know what to look for both on a DIY level and if you want to invest in a guided trip.
We have found the simplest way to maximize time when in PV is to look to an inshore charter. But don’t do your standard 5-hour tourist trolling exercise. These tourist trips are fun, and we have done a number of them but what we have found is the coolest, close to shore experience is what we call surf crashing.
You can do this with any of the guides in PV however you may run into communication and gear issues if you get the standard off the street fishing charter.
We have found a great guide. This is key for the kind of fishing we like. We have now fished with him multiple times over the last 10 years. His name is Lora. As far as we know he is the only Mexican national to ever guide in BC. He fished for salmon back when Jason was up north and with that experience, he understands the Canadian fisherman better than any Mexican guide I have ever had.
Guide Lora with a nice tuna!
He has perfect English, an attention to detail, 25 plus years of experience and when you tell him you want to flick feathers and catch and release, he won’t scratch his head. A big smile will appear on his face, and he will be racing for his own fly rod and well stocked fly box.
So, whether you are going to book with Lora, or another guide the first tip is try not to leave from the Puerta Vallarta Harbour. You actually want to depart north of Puerta Vallarta up in Punta Mita. It is about a 35 min cab ride, but it puts you an hour closer to the fishing grounds and you can kill the 35-40 min in the dark on the road instead of wasting fishing time.
If I were booking a trip and wanted to DIY shorelines this would also be a recommendation. Book north of PV and then maybe visit the city. The north around Punta Mita or Sayulita has great beaches that actually have fish on them unlike many of the beaches in PV.
The target species is roosters along with dorado, jacks and Spanish mackerel. It is hard to get a rooster on the fly. You may have seen footage of guys “Running Down the Man” on the beaches for roosters. This is super cool. I have done it, but it is freaking hard. In a week of fishing hard every day if you hook a couple fish you can call it a success. But on a family vacation we generally can’t put in that time.
The key to making things attainable in a reasonable amount of time is bait. Yes, we are going to chum. Kind of. The plan is simple. All along the coastline north of Punta Mita you will find breaking surf lines over rock/reef outcroppings about 100-400meters offshore. These are perfect habitat for predators. The game is you rip into the surf, try to position yourself ready just where the wave breaks and then Lora or his assistant guide throws a couple live sardines. If there are predators home, you will see them come out off the rocks. If you have you casting game on point you have the opportunity to cast at them. Once the fly hits the water you are stripping hard and fast (gloves are a necessity) the entire time Lora has his eye on the horizon for the next wave so he can rip you out of the way before it breaks and circle around for another pass if there were fish on the reef. If no fish are around, you head off to find another break, that might hold fish.
This whole exercise is a little crazy but super fun. Just note if you are not stable on your feet on a boat this is not for you. It is not unbearable; I have hung ten off the front of a couple skiffs when deep water tarpon fishing and almost gone overboard in big waves. When surf crashing it is not that bad because you can brace yourself against the gunnel of the boat, but it will toss you around a bit and you will feel it at the end of the day.
Most of the roosters won’t be monsters but they are still a rip even on a 10 wt.
For gear I recommend a 10wt. You could get away with an eight or nine but a ten punches harder in the wind and when you are bouncing around and need a fast long cast the extra horsepower is nice. Though rare at the inshore spots, there are big roosters around so the 10 will give you a chance if one of the 30-50 plus pounders wants to play.
I would also have a spinning rod in the mix. If you have trouble with the wind or rocking boat, casting poppers or diving lures is very effective and if you strike out on the cast fly, pitching a live sardine into the fray is almost a guaranteed hook up.
I take my trusty Okuma travel rod and though Lora has good spinning rods most guides in Mexico will not have solid gear for you to borrow. We wrote an article on these rods a few weeks ago if you want to check it out, we have them in stock. Check that article out for more DIY strategies and gear recommendations if you are going down.
Come down or give us a call if you are heading that way. We can put you in touch with Lora at Fortuna Sport Fishing or just help with gear recommendation.
Check out this little, short video if you want to get a feel for the fishing and see some fun footage.
