MISSED THE COWS--Elise Catchpole and her husband John Catchpole of England hunted Puerto Vallarta's giant yellowfin tuna for three days with Esperanza Sportfishing, but had to settle for a blue marlin hookup and this respectable dorado for dinner. Photo courtesy Kurt Hjort.

OFFSHORE FISHING WATER CONDITIONS VARIABLE AT CORBETENA

Sept. 18, 2005, Kurt Hjort, Esperanza Sportfishing, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Fishing Report:

The fishing in Puerto Vallarta has stayed strong, with the yellowfin tunas and marlin still providing most of the action.

Dirty water is still the issue offshore with the blue water returning sporadically to the bank this week and Corbeteña has still been plagued with some off-colored to dirty water all week.

Water temps in the Puerto Vallarta fishing area are in the mid to high 80's and once the clean water moves back, fishing for all species should ignite.

There is little to report on sailfish and dorados still, but some Puerto Vallarta sportfishing boats have found decent roosterfish and snapper action on the closer reef areas, along with needlefish close to 4-5 feet long to provide some entertaining action on light tackle.

John and Elise Catchpole from England finished up their vacation with 3 days fishing this week and we targeted Big tunas at Corbeteña, but came up negativo! John has hooked and fought these giants so he now knows what to expect, but he needs a photo to show his mates back home, because just talking about how hard these guys fight can't really be understood until one is on the business end of the rod. These people are fishing nuts and will be back next year to finish the story.

Puerto Vallarta has seen stable fishing weather with some afternoon thunderstorms and some heavy, but brief rains moving through. For the half-day sportfishing charters, skipjacks have invaded the bay once again and are providing fast action and if the water improves soon, we can expect the dorado and sailfish to move closer in so anything is possible even on the shorter trips.

Capt. Danny of the Dhamar had a hot week fishing the bank with his buddy Bernie this week on Bernie's new 28 foot Aquasport and reported that many of the Puerto Vallarta boats fishing the banks were able to score on the marlin and tunas in the area. But on any given day, some of the boats got nothing while others just hammered the fish. I guess that is the gods of luck at play. These local guys have been fishing these grounds for years and really know how to catch the giants here, so come on down for what promises to be the best part of the season in the next 3 months.

(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.