BLUE MARLIN AND BLACK MARLIN CAUGHT WHILE FISHING AT EL BANCO

Sept. 23, 2006, Keith Williams, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico:

We just returned yesterday from another fishing trip to Puerto Vallarta for the hunt for big Yellowfin Tuna. Eric Binz and I fished with PV Marlin Sportfishing on the vessel Lorena, on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week.

Unfortunately, there were not too many big Tuna swimming around down there. There was only one 255 pound tuna caught that we know of while we were at Puerto Vallarta.

We fished El Banco all three days.

Although the big yellowfin tuna were not around, Eric and I were able to land beautiful Black Marlin and blue marlin at El Banco on our last day of the trip, which taped out at 611 and 368 pounds, respectively. Both fish died during the battle and could not be released.

The smaller Blue Marlin took me approximately 2 hours to bring to the boat. The big black marlin took a little longer, approximately 3 hours to come to the boat. It was a team effort catching the big one, as Eric and I traded off the rod to rest our backs during the battle.

The marlin were caught 45 minutes apart, which took up most of our 12 hour fishing day considering the 5 hour trip to and from El Banco.

Both fish were caught in standup gear after swallowing down-rigged 10 pound Bonita.

Both marlin were caught on the same rod,, a Cal Star 760H given to me for Christmas by my girlfriend Ida Cohen. The reel was a Penn 50SW spooled with 130-pound Spectra, 100 pound mono and 200 pound Fluorocarbon top shot bridled to the Bonita. Every other trip I used the rod on, we were skunked prior to this trip. Ida's also real happy.

Bait out at El Banco was plentiful all three days with lots of birds working the schools of Bonita.

During the three days fishing out there, we didn't see one tuna jump from the water, which was unusual at Puerto Vallarta for this time of year. Both fish were donated to the Puerto Vallarta Mission to feed the poor, which I hope will make the fish gods very happy.

Many thanks to our skipper Felipe and his son Felipe Jr. on the vessel Lorena for a job well done.

The water temperature at El Banco was 85 degrees. Seas were calm, with light wind and periods of rain all three fishing days. There was thunder and lighting during the rain. It made things a little more exciting out on the water.

(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.