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Barra de Navidad Fishing

Barra de Navidad is located about a half hour north of the Manzanillo airport. “Barra”, as it is locally known as, has been a prominent vacation spot for generations of Mexicans and more recently Americans and Canadians. All tourist amenities are available here … a town square, many retail shops, a variety of smaller hotels, several bars and many restaurants. At this time Barra is a little more “happening” than the town of Melaque, which is 2kms away, on the north half of the bay, but both are growing.

Barra de Navidad has its own small marina, situated right in town, behind the Hotel Cabo Blanco at the second canal (of 3) and is where most of the local sport-fishing boats, including ours, leave from. There is also a small group of 8 sport-fishing pangas, which leave from the center of town, along the laguna, as well as a public boat launch on the first canal. Across the lagoon is the spectacular Grand Bay Hotel, which has its own much larger marina (with plans to build another). Our clients can also be picked up there. This resort has been rated by the Travel Channel as being the number one rated resort in all of Mexico and has a beautiful 27 hole golf course as part of its many offerings. You can also check out the Barra de Navidad Condos we offer our clients, located 5 minutes walk from the beach and downtown restaurants and shopping.

The aforementioned lagoon is very large (quite shallow in spots) and holds all kinds of fish for the light-tackle angler. I like to troll smaller Rapala-type lures throughout the lagoon and even cast floaters along the mangrove-lined shoreline. Recently, in an hour and a half outing, I caught 17 fish, which encompassed 9 species. Most of the time we catch smaller Snook, Jacks and Pargo, but you can also encounter Sierra Macs, Needlefish, Barracuda, Garrick and even small Pacific Halibut (Lenguado). There are several deeper spots throughout the area and I’ve been busted off by much larger fish than my 8 lb line could handle. Several of our Captains have landed Snook to 30lbs in here and Pargo (snapper) to 10lbs.

Offshore opportunities for Marlin, Sailfish, Tuna, Wahoo and Dorado are similar to other Pacific Mexican coastal areas, such as Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, the difference being that we have very little fishing pressure compared to these other areas. The inshore fishing opportunities are even better than just about anywhere else for Jacks, Trevallys, large Pargo (Snapper), Amberjack, Grouper, Rainbow Runners, Roosterfish and who knows how many other species. Commercial fishermen generally only target the smaller red snapper for restaurants, leaving most of the other species alone. Unfortunately, the bane of all sport-fishermen … long-liners … are way to close to shore here, sometimes no more than a mile out, and heavily target Dorado. Hopefully, as this area becomes more popular with sport-fishermen they will be pushed out, or will disappear altogether, as which happened in Los Cabos during the 1990’s.

There are shore-fishing opportunities available along the jetty at the center of town. One needs to be careful as the base of the jetty is rocky. Cast spoons along there for Barracuda, Sierra and even the odd Snook. Use top-waters for Jacks. Watch for boat traffic and swimmers / surfers on the north side of the jetty, where the beach starts.

Along the beach, heading towards Melaque you’ll find Jack Crevalle (year round), the occasional Roosterfish and Sierra Macs in the winter months. It’s best to hit this beach at sunrise and again at the end of the day as there are often swimmers to contend with.

Right at the furthest point of the beach (Melaque) there is a walkway (Malecon) that extends for a ways around the point. There are tons of rocks along that area holding many smaller snappers, assorted groupers, Needlefish, Jacks and Sierra. Smaller spoons work best here, as do plastics. Be careful not to snag the rocky bottom. This is also a fun place to fly-fish from shore … 8 weight, floating line (to keep off the rocks), short leaders with smaller streamers.

MELAQUE:  Melaque is located only 2 miles northwest of Barra de Navidad sharing the same long curving beach, has a town square, many retail shops, small beachfront hotels and plenty of restaurants.  Unfortunately, because of the large bay Melaque sits in there is no marina, or place for boats to dock. There is a large lagoon, adjacent to the beach, on the south side of the town, however at this time it does not enter the ocean at any point. Perhaps in the future, as Melaque grows, someone will make a marina of some sorts at this spot. In the meantime, fishermen staying here need to make the short $5 taxi run to the marina in Barra de Navidad to catch their boat. We have several to chose from.

There is surf fishing available along the whole stretch of beach, which runs from the jetty (marina entrance) in Barra de Navidad right through Melaque. Cast top-water and spoon-type lures along this shoreline, for Jacks and the occasional snook. You could also bottom fish with smaller hooks and some squid or shrimp for smaller snapper-type fishes and croakers.

The north side of the beach comes to somewhat of a protected corner and quite often sardines and other bait fishes can be found backed up in there, attracting Jack Crevalle (year round), the occasional Roosterfish and Sierra Macs in the winter months.  Right at the furthest point of the beach there is a walkway (Malecon) that extends for a ways around the point. There are tons of rocks along that area holding many smaller snappers, assorted groupers, Needlefish, Jacks and Sierra. Smaller spoons work best here, as do plastics. Be careful not to snag the rocky bottom. This is also a fun place to fly-fish from shore … 8 weight, floating line (to keep off the rocks), short leaders with smaller streamers and poppers.

Other nearby areas: If you have a car rental you can head north of Melaque to “Cuastecomates”, which is a short 2km drive up over the hill. Easy to find, just look for the sign for the turn-off. Not a great surf-fishing spot as the bay is small, but there are usually Jacks at the north end. With several beach-side restaurants on site, it’s a great place to have lunch. A couple more kms up the road (heading towards Puerto Vallarta) you’ll find the town of Zapata. There is an awkward beach access (Ranchito) through that town that can be hard to find, but people are friendly there and you just need to ask a passerby how to get there. Spectacular surf fishing can be had there, especially in the morning for snapper (pargo), Giant Hawkfish and even Leopard grouper. Klassic Poppers are a must for fishing this rocky area. Daytime and late afternoon hours are best for Jacks and Trevallys and even Roosterfish. The best nearby place however is Tenacatita, access at km27. This area has long sandy beaches, rocky areas and even a river that enters the ocean at the north side of the north beach. Surf-fishing possibilities are excellent here and one should have quite an assortment of lures … top-waters, spoons, large plastics and bucktail jigs. This area has the largest Jacks, Sierra and Snook anywhere near here. A couple of years ago I caught a 30lb bull Dorado from the beach near here. We caught it on film and you can see it here on our website.

Come see us at our tackle shop to set yourself up with a fishing charter boat (you can also do it here online) or a surf-fishing rod rental and gear.

To go fishing in Barra De Navidad please check out our Fishing Boat Info

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