Puerto Vallarta Early Summer: Roosters, Jacks, and Prime Tide Windows

I’m Artificial Lure, checking in with your Puerto Vallarta fishing report. Out on the bay this morning we’ve got classic early-summer conditions. Local marine forecasts are calling for light morning winds under 10 knots, building slightly mid‑day, with calm to moderate seas, generally 1–3 feet. Skies are mostly clear with some coastal haze and warm, humid air pushing toward the high 80s to low 90s by afternoon. Sunrise is right around 6:00 a.m., with sunset near 8:30 p.m., giving us a long window for working those tide changes. According to regional tide tables for Bahía de Banderas, we’re seeing a fairly typical mixed semi‑diurnal pattern: a pre‑dawn high easing into a late‑morning low, then a decent afternoon push. That first high‑to‑low swing has been triggering the best bite, especially inshore. If you can launch just before first light and fish through the dropping water, that’s been money all week. Inshore, the story has been roosterfish, jack crevalle, and some solid snapper. Local captains have been reporting good numbers of jacks in the 10–20 pound range cruising the current edges off the river mouths, with roosters patrolling tight to the surf line on the more open beaches. There have also been respectable pargo and cabrilla around rocky points and structure, especially when the current is moving. Offshore, boats working the outer bay and toward El Morro and the Marietas have been seeing dorado, skipjack, and the occasional early‑season sailfish. Most of the dorado have been school‑size fish, but every day or two someone sticks a nicer bull around floating debris or current rips. The sails are not thick yet, but enough are around to keep things interesting if you commit to the blue water. On the hardware side, the best **lures** inshore have been: - Medium diving hardbaits in sardine or mullet patterns - Surface poppers and stickbaits in white, blue‑silver, or bone - 1–2 oz jig heads with soft plastics in natural bait colors For **bait**, live sardina are still king when you can get them, with mullet and small skipjack or bonita chunks producing solid snapper and grouper. Slow‑trolled live baits just outside the surf have been deadly on roosters. Offshore, small skirted trolling lures in pink‑white, blue‑white, and green‑yellow, plus rigged ballyhoo or strip baits, are getting most of the dorado and sail bites. A couple of local **hot spots** to keep on your radar: - The **river mouths north of town**, especially around the Ameca and the smaller coastal arroyos, have been holding jacks, snook, and the odd rooster where the green river water mixes with the clearer bay water. Work the color change lines and any bait showers you see on the surface. - The **El Morro and Marietas area** offshore has been one of the better bets for dorado and pelagics. Work the edges of structure, bird activity, and any floating debris you can find. A spread of small to medium trolling lures with a couple of live baits in the mix has been producing consistent action. Overall, fish activity has been best at first light and again late afternoon into sunset, bracketing those main tide swings. Mid‑day can slow down inshore when the sun gets high, so that’s a good time to push a little farther out or drop deeper around structure. That’s your Puerto Vallarta fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn