BIG TUNA RUN FOR BOATS OUT OF MARINA VALLARTA

Sept. 9, 2005, Darrell Smith, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Fishing Report:

On September 1st my friend Larry Lionetti with his mate Juan took his Delta custom fishing yacht fishing out of Marina Vallarta in Puerto Vallarta. They made bait on the bank at daylight, putting a bunch of Caballito in the bait tank and a couple big Skippys in the tuna tubes.

All morning the bite didn't happen but at 1300 hours with the afternoon rain squall pouring, the heavy Tiagra spooled with spectra and a top shot of 130 went off using a caballito for bait.

One hour later Juan can see deep color. Larry called in for help and one of the other boats that were near by came to the rescue. Two mates jumped in the water each holding a gaff and swam over to help. Once aboard they stuck the fish with 2 gaffs. Then Larry got a 3rd one in, but they were still not able to pull the cow aboard until Juan put the rod down and put a 4th gaff in the fish.

Back in the Puerto Vallarta marina the boys hustled up the guy with a certified scale and hung it up using the boat davit. The cow tuna settled in at 345 pounds!

The part that burns me is I was invited to go with Larry and Juan but I had to wait for the customs official to inspect my boat for my import permit.

(See "Mexico Fishing News" online for current fishing reports, photos, weather, and water temperatures from Puerto Vallarta and other major Mexican sportfishing areas. Vacation travel articles, fishing maps and seasonal calendars, and fishing related information for Puerto Vallarta may be found at Mexfish.com's main Puerto Vallarta page.