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

Fishing in Melaque

The towns of San Patricio Melaque, simply known as “Melaque” and Barra de Navidad have been prominent vacation spots for generations of Mexicans and more recently Americans and Canadians.

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. It’s best to hit this spot 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 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.

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 boat (you can also do it here online) or a surf-fishing rod rental and gear

To go fishing in Melaque Mexico please check out our Fishing Rates and Packages

---