Puerto Vallerta?

[Lunker]

Looks like I'll be heading down to Puerto Vallerta Mexico towards the end of April for a week. Anyone fished down there? If so, if you wouldn't mind letting me know how it was and what charter(if any) you fished out of. I don't really want to shell out 500 bucks for a half a day or whatever they want(all the charters look pricey there) so maybe thinking of sharing a boat, anyone done this?

I fished in Hawaii last winter, and it was cheaper then Mexico, that doesn't seem right to me.

[traveler]

Lunker, search back and you'll find some PV postings here...a fellow FM'er (Maitoi) is either down there right now or leaving very soon and his report should be helpful. I can tell you what I know for now; PV is a fantastic BIG tuna spot, talking 200-300+ lb fish, but the high season is roughly August thru Dec, I'd consider april thru june low season, sorry. Not to say you can't catch fish there, but the fishing for things OTHER than big tuna is better at other Mexican ports, imho. In general, Mexico is cheaper than Hawaii, PV is on the high end for Mex, but then, they have those BIG tuna. Head to Cabo or Mazatlan and you can get a good boat for 400-500/day. Most of the outfits in Mexico want you to take the whole boat, rather then selling "seats", although there are some that do that. Many will try find "shares" for you given enough notice. Hawaii is reasonable if you don't mind the crew keepig most of the fish, and killing most of the billfish. I do. You CAN get boats there that release, but expect to pay considerably more for them. My thoughts on Hawaii are from reading a lot of saltwater info over the years, not personal experience, but thier reputation for being a meat fishery is well known, I'd be interested to hear how your experience there was. Good luck, and watch here for Maitoi's report in a week or so.

[Lunker]

Thanks. As far as Hawaii goes, it was so so. We were there during the slow time of year, and fishing seemed to show that. Myself and my exgirlfriend shared a boat with another couple. The girls each caught a big dolphin(mahi), and of course the guys got zip, o well. It was fun though, a new fishing experience for myself. And we were there during whale season so it was fun to see them all over the place. As you said, they do seem to want to keep just about everything, although we were offered to keep our own fish. But after the experience our guide went through I very happily offered him our fish and a nice tip. In hour 2 of our 8 hour trip he took one of the largest hooks I've ever seen through the forearm. And I mean THROUGH the forearm. The second mahi shook the hook right into the fat part of the forearm and the other guide had to push it all the way through and cut it off. Puncture wounds were about the diameter of a pencil, and he kept us out there for the entire time with his bleeding and unbandaged arm. Quite dedicated I'd say. It wasn't great, but I'd do it again.

[Lunker]

I was just skimming through old posts about PV and noticed one that I found interesting. He mentioned going down to the docks and renting a boat and guide to fish in the bay. Would be much cheaper, and probably more consisitent action. Anyone else ever done this?

[traveler]

Lunker, Usually I try to get my boats lined up before I go, but since the bite sounds pretty slow, it's probably not a bad idea to wait and try to save some $$, especially on inshore fishing. Go to Mexfish.com and scroll thru the various locations, PV is there and reporting slow offshore but good bottom fishing lately. Pretty tough mate on that Hawaian boat!!

[MAITOI]

I just got back from PV. I was only there for 4 days and it was difficult to find a share boat. I wanted to go for the big ones but had to settle for an 8 hour trip in the bay. I shared the boat with 5 Canadians who never deep sea fished before. My expectations were not high. We caught 4- 30 pound yellow tail tuna and it was fun. We lost 2 tuna, maybe the inexperience. I also fought what seemed like a monster for 45 minutes. After backing the boat up and still losing most of the line they said it was a Manta Ray and had to cut the line. I never saw it but it exciting. The boat was the Karina II and cost $128 per person including a box lunch. If you fish in the bay a Panga might be the way to go. It's a smaller boat 20 to 25 feet but the bay is calm and your odds would be better with only 2 in the boat. About $300 for a panga.

I checked out the Marina and as usual there are good and bad operators. Master Baiters looks like a good one but they were full. They were very informative and friendly. They admitted it wasn't the best fishing right now and they had very few trips going to El Morro (50 miles) for the big tuna. I finally made my reservations through the MLT rep.

[traveler]

Hey Arnie, welcome back, and thanks for the report. They wouldn't let you do an "old man and the sea" with the ray, eh? We could have heard about it on the news here; "minnesota man engaged in epic battle with sea monster") Save the energy for the big tuna I guess. Sounds like you had a good time anyway, always good to do the fun in the sun thing. We were in Mazatlan 2 weeks ago but just did a panga for bottomfish, we got some snappers and such for eats.

[LoonASea]

Lunker I fished PV back in Feb 06 ...A panga would be cheaper but most consider the Bay of Banderas as grey water and most of the big game fish will be in clearer water north of Punta De Mita I fished a Charter called "Fishing with Bruno" shared the boat with 3 other guys and it was about 125 USD for an 8 hour of fishing

Did see a lot of humpback whales and dolphins on the way out and back no tuna or sail fish out of our boat but we did get into some "Skipjacks" on the way back fun fish on lighter tackle then what they use for the tuna and sails

Most of the less expensive charters leave from Marina Pienas (pronounced "pain yas")

Master Baiters will give you lots of info but they are on the spendy side if you charter with them all boats can only fish with 5 lines regaurdless of how many are in the boat some thing to consider if you want to make sure you get first crack at hauling a hookups

Hope this helps you out

Randoid