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Mexico saltwater fishing.


Stratosman

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The wife and I are in the beginning stages of planning a winter vacation for our 5 year aniversary and she mentioned trying to find a place that was near some good saltwater fishing (what a women) and just thought I would see if anyone on here has done any fishing in Mexico or other vacation destinations and has any recommendations or experiences to share.

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I have fished the Mazatlan area with pretty good luck.I usually go in the first part of Feb.as thats when the fish that I want to target are in the area.

Another great area is Cabo for some excellent Marlin and Sailfish fishing.

No matter where you go,check out the specie that are in those waters at that time of the year.As the water temps change different specie come and go.

I do believe that if you are looking for Sails or Marlin,Cabo would be my pick.Its a little more money than Mazatlan,but the fishing can be out of this world.

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my parents went to cancun a few years back and went on a offshore fishing trip they just nailed the baracuda, i think they caught like 30 or so within a 4 hr trip, looked like a blast from the pics they brought back

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Contact Frontiers International and book a trip to Boca Paila or one of the fishing lodges far down the Yucatan coast. That's where you can find bones, permit, small tarpon and the species you mention. You won't find them on the west side of MX. You can also book a boat out of Playa del Carmen for sailfish and striped marlin.

You're welcome.

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Speaking from experience I say Cancun. Middle to end of April is a great time down there for the bite. 58 inch Mahi Mahi. Numerous smaller fish over the same time. Fished thru Cancun Scuba on their charters. There are larger operations and there price reflects it.

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ST, I've been fishing Mazatlan and Cabo for years. The "left" coast of Mexico offers offshore species like marlin, sails, and tuna, while the atlantic side is all about inshore, tarpon, etc. There are exceptions, of course, but it's pretty much an either/or thing, especialy in mid-winter. You need to decide which way you want to go. If it's marlin, sails, etc...you want then the pacific side of Mexico is the place, Dec thru March is excellent. I lke Cabo best, and can give you some specifics if you like, but Maz, Peurto Vararta, and points south are also very good. For inshore species, tarpon, permit, bones...head for the Yucatan. I'm not as sure on the timing over there...but I expect you can find good action in feb., you might just need to go farther south. Cabo is pretty steady for striped marlin Dec thru Feb., almost a sure thing if you fish multiple days. And yeah, they are that much fun:) Usually some Dorado or Tuna around as well, but that varies.

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If I were you I would definitely go to Cabo San Lucas. I have fished in both Mazatlan and Cabo and did well in both locations. You won't go wrong with either destination, but you won't do much better than Cabo. It sits at the tip of the Baja peninsula where the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Cortez meet and is teaming with trophy class fish. The waters are a hypnotic blue, the scenery is spectacular, the pace is whatever you want it to be, the food is excellent, the night life is world renowned, activities abound, etc, etc. Cabo has it all.

Inshore fishing trips are usually booked by the hour (appx $40 an hour) and are often run out of pangas. A panga is basically just a 23-foot center console fiberglass boat. Offshore trips are run out of Cruisers and Sportfishers, and range anywhere from $400 to $2500+ per day depending on size and amenities provided. Cruisers and Sportfishers usually have bathrooms and galleys, pangas do not. That's something you'll want to take into consideration, especially with the misses aboard.

As far as charters go, there are several in Cabo to choose from. I would limit your choice to either Redrum or Cabo Magic. They have excellent reputations, competitive rates, and offer both inshore and offshore opportunities. We went with Cabo Magic because they have a daily catch report on their HSOforum that has a historical daily log of all the ships in their fleet and what they caught. This helped us determine what species were typically caught during the time of year we were going, what the captains of each boat preferred to target, and which captains seemed to have the most success. No other outfit provided such critically important information.

Hope that helps and have fun planning your trip you lucky dog!

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Dude, your lady wants to go fishing for the anniversary?!?!?!? Whatta woman!!!!!!

I'd say Cabo. A lot of travel agents can hook you up with a charter, plane, hotel, blah, blah, all in one shot so you don't have to go looking for a charter when you get there.

When/if you hook into a sailfish.......dude hold on!!!!!! What a rush.

Make sure you bring a 55 gallon drum of SPF 900000000 sun screen and just dunk your head right into it or your lips and ears will be bummin for sure.

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Thanks for the info guys, what a great help so far! It sounds like Cabo is one of the tops, there are a few others to check out as well the way it sounds. Costa Rica sounds cool too. I would love to fish marlin and sails and whatever else is mixed in, I would also love inshore but not sure if I can swing both in one trip.

I suppose it is wise to book charters in advance as opposed to when we arrive??? Or is it? It's kinda nice to see the operation so we don't get hosed. I bet the reputable ones have websites anyway.

Thanks again.

What a women she is indeed, but what I didn't tell you is that she also wants to trade in her wedding ring for a larger diamond...I think this is her way of sweetening the deal. Either way what the hell I 'm rolling with it!

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Strato, I've been looking into Costa Rica and would love to get down there, from what I read it's a very cool fishery, both inshore and off. Unfortunatly, it's more $$$ (what a shock!) As for Cabo...it's really hard to beat for the money. (fairly) reasonable airfare, lots of hotels, a great variety of restaraunts, and LOTS of charters to choose from. The couple recommended above are reputable, although not ones I would personally recommend. I also wouldn't spend my limited time/money inshore fishing in Cabo, although if you ended up renting a car there and wanted to drive up the coast a bit, there's a very good outfit in San Jose called Gordo Banks pangas that fishes the sea of cortez up there and does very well in the right season. The great thing about Cabo is it's pretty much hands down the BEST striped marlin fishery anywhere. And it's remarkably consistent for them. If you do a little more homework (like you're doing now) and are willing to spend the $$$, it's as sure a deal as I know of. But understand thats if you spend a couple full days with a reputable outfit. You can get shut down on any given fishing day, and the ocean is no exception. The outfit I fish with mostly is Pisces. They have a HSOforum, as do Cabo Magic, Rebrum, and many others. Pisces offers better prices than most, and knows thier fishing. I've caught lots of fish with them, mostly marlin because thats what I like, but also other species if they're on the bite. I'd stay away from all inclusives; for hotels because there are so many good restaraunts in Cabo, and for fishing because setting up your own charters is really pretty easy (if you do your research) and I like to know who I'll be fishing with rather than having a tour put me on a boat. Ask some folks who have done AK cruises how the charters they've done while on cruises have gone...I've heard plenty of sad stories. Tour operators are NOT fishing experts. We are:) Kind of, anyway...Seriously, I'll be in Cabo Oct 9-17, for about my 12th trip, all about fishing. I wouldn't be wasteing my time on here, or yours for that matter, if I didn't really love it. The only down side is you just might get seriously hooked on it...but there are worse things:)

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No problem Stratosman. Anything else comes up don't hesitate to ask. It's really a shame more guys on here don't look into trying the saltwater thing, it's such a hoot and can be comparable to Canada trips in price if you do it right. Good luck, I'm sure you'll have a blast!

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Sorry traveler....

The e-mail to that address comes back undeliverable... did you type it right?

If not I was just wondering of you could recommend any hotels on the beach or anywhere to stay away from?? Pisces looks awesome and thanks for all you help with that. Just looking for some viable recommendations on where to stay is this is to be a vacation foremost and fishing will be secondary... thanks alot I owe you one.

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I've been down to Cabo to do a little fishing a couple of times now and had a pretty awesome time. We went down in mid-September both times- very hot and off-season as far as tourism, but the water is very warm and the fishing was good. We ended up bringing a cooler full of mahi-mahi and yellowfin tuna fillets home. I believe we went with the Gaviota Fleet ?? the first year and had a lot better luck than we did the following year with Redrum. The Redrum crew were telling us that other boats on the radio weren't having much luck and basically kept working back and forth over an area before trying to get us to cut our charter short. I was a little upset as we paid for 8 hours and they didn't seem to want to try out farther (where I found out other boats were having success that day as posted on various fishing reports on the internet.) I would avoid Redrum and go with Pisces (my choice for my next visit)as my friend used them on their honeymoon last April and had a blast boating 3 striped marlins. There are some great watering holes down on the marina, which is where we found the cheapest drinks, and they also prepared some of our mahi-mahi for dinner for a very reasonable fee. Fish tacos to die for!! Best of luck on planning your vacation; wherever you go will be better than cold winter back home.

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