To own your piece of paradise come to Coldwell Banker Tropicana Costalegre Real Estate

Fishing Types

OFFSHORE FISHING

All of the same fish species that inhabit other areas of Mexico such as Los Cabos, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta are found here further south in the waters along the Costalegre. If you are staying in one of our Barra de Navidad condos your boat will leave from your own private dock. If you are coming in from Blue Bay Hotel, Careyes or another area, you will leave from the main dock in Barra de Navidad located directly behind the Cabo Blanco Hotel, or from the sport fishing co-op dock in Barra.

Offshore fishing in our area offers up pretty much the same species available as in other parts of Mexico, including Yellowfin tuna, Dorado (Mahi, Dolphinfish), Wahoo and billfish species Pacific sailfish, Striped, Blue and even Black marlin.

An advantage of fishing in our area is that our water temperatures are quite consistently between 78 and 84 degrees, perfect conditions for at least one or more of these species at any given time.  This is largely due to a warm water current, which comes across the South Pacific Ocean from Hawaii and hits land right about where we are. * This means that we probably have more resident fish, as opposed to an area like Los Cabos where water temperatures have a 20 degree variance (65 to 85) over the course of a year, which results in more migratory fish and defined seasonal fishing. In other words, most of these species can be caught all year long here.

Click on this link   FISHING BOAT INFO  to see what we have to offer in the way of charter boats, or drop by our tackle shop at the Alondra Hotel in Barra de Navidad and have us set a trip up for you.  For those of you who have your own boat, we have a large selection of offshore fishing lures and terminal tackle available.

Tuna: Year round, more of them in the warmer water temperature months being May Through September.

Dorado: Year round.

Wahoo: Year round. Lots of islands, banks and seamounts here.

Striped Marlin: Year round, not as common as Blue Marlin, better chances in the coolest water temperature months, being October through January.

Blue Marlin: Year round, always a chance for a monster.

Black Marlin: Year round, more opportunity early fall through late spring.

Pacific Sailfish: Year round.

* We get less hurricane activity in our area than other coastal spots. Hurricanes, which are basically water generated tornados, develop further south and hug the shoreline as it comes up the Mexican coast. As they approach Manzanillo, just to the south of us, they hit this warm water current and veer offshore, following it along, trying to break through. It usually does, right near the tip of Baja California, which is why Los Cabos gets way more hurricane activity than we do.

INSHORE FISHING

"Inshore Fishing" refers to the fish species caught along the shoreline, within a half mile of shore, or around rocks, islands, reefs and such. Generally these are considered "light tackle" fish, although some of these species can better 100 lbs. Typically one would troll smaller hard baits, such as “Rapalas” etc and/or live bait, or use casting or spinning reels and top-water plugs or spoons. Jigging irons (yo-yoing) around rocks isn’t practiced much here yet but as this type of fishing is explored more I am sure we will see this as an effective medium to fish these waters as well.  Inshore fishing also provides the fly-fisherman their best opportunities.

Because of our water temperatures we have a year round inshore sport fishery. Furthermore, species like Pargo (assorted large snapper species) are not really sought after by commercial fishermen here, who primarily target 12 to 16 inch Huatchinango (red snapper) for sale to restaurants, who bake them whole. This means that there are still populations of the larger snappers usually fished out in other areas.  I haven’t seen any of the large groupers or amberjack here yet, but don’t doubt that they are present.  They just haven’t been targeted as far as I have seen.

Record-sized fish catches are possible with Jack Crevalle, Big Eye Trevally, Blue Fin Trevally, Rainbow Runners, Cubera Snapper, Colorado Snapper, Red Snapper, Sierra Mackerel, Amberjack, Black Snook and of course the very popular Roosterfish.   

These fish are available Year Round in Melaque, Barra De Navidad and other places along the Costalegre Mexico!
  
 Jack Crevalle  

 Red Snapper  
 Big Eye Trevally  
 Blue Fin Trevally 

 Si erra Mackerel   
 Rainbow Runners  
 Cubera Snapper  Black Snook   
 Colorado Snapper   Roosterfish  

On another note … I have seen several photographs of anglers holding large (80lb plus) Giant Trevally (GT, Ulua), which were claimed to have been caught fishing in our area. The Giant Trevally is known, pound for pound, to be among the strongest, if not the strongest fish alive. It is a fish native to the South Pacific (Hawaii, Fiji, Australia) and not known to be found in the Eastern Pacific, which is the Mexican coast. How is it possible that this angler caught this fish here?  If it is true and these fish were caught here, they more than likely followed the aforementioned current across the Pacific and ended up here.  I have also recently seen for myself the large Greater Barracuda in our waters, a fish also not known to frequent the Mexican Pacific.   Who knows what else we’ll encounter over time. 

SURF FISHING

There are plenty of opportunities here in Costalegre for the sport-fisherman which don't involve a boat. All year long there are fish species here of one kind or another attainable from the shore. Such species include jacks <http://www.reel1in.com/Pacific-Jack-Crevalle.html> , trevallies <http://www.reel1in.com/Bigeye-Trevally.html> , pargo <http://www.reel1in.com/Barred-Pargo.html> , sierra mackerel <http://www.reel1in.com/Sierra-Mackerel.html> , snook, <http://www.reel1in.com/Snook.html>  sharks, roosterfish  <http://www.reel1in.com/Roosterfish.html> and others. Most of these species can be caught with 12-20lb spinning gear, casting top water lures, spoons and other assorted lures. There are also other smaller species of croakers, snappers, and the like available with cut bait for those who like to sit-put on the beach enjoying refreshments and the scenery. We also use larger dead or cut bait for sharks and large snapper.

Drop on by our tackle shop, at the Alondra Hotel in Barra de Navidad, for surf fishing gear, lures, leaders and bottom rigs or if you have your own stuff just get tips on where to go and what to use.   We have a large selection of surf fishing lures and terminal tackle available for purchase. Of course we can also set you up with a charter boat for the offshore experience.

ESTUARY FISHING

This area is full of rivers, estuaries, mangroves and even an occasional freshwater lake. At times, some of these open up to the ocean, transferring baitfish, shrimp and other forms of life back and forth. Although we have not explored these avenues for sport-fishing yet, rumors are that these brackish waters hold snook, assorted snapper, and other fish. Given more time to explore these possibilities it is my guess that in the not too distant future, we will be offering some great opportunities for the light tackle enthusiast and fly fisherman. Keep checking back. As soon as we figure some of this out, we will make it available to you.

To go Offshore Fishing in Barra De Navidad, Melaque or anywhere in the Costalegre Mexico area please check out our Fishing Rates and Packages

---