Fishing in Puerta Vallarta

[DBP]

I'm heading down to Puerta Vallarta on the 20th of April and I'm wanting to do some fishing. I was wondering if anyone could recommend a outfitter, or ones to stay away from. Thanks

[Piker]

Its been a lot of years and I cannot remember the names but there will be lots of guys around to sell you a trip. Just go look at the boat in person that you will be on. I never just looked at a pic. needless to say there was a small riot on the dock next day. We gave him 1/2 down and when we got in we refused to pay the rest. You had to have been there, the boat was a wreck, broke down twice, no bathroom,no food or drinks of any kind and we had to fight our way out of there. Also always haggle over the price at least %50 off. My bad experience anyways. Piker

[Zulu9er]

I have fished there 4 times in the last 5 years down there,, (Christmas New Years),,, they really push the Marlin fishing out in the big water,, but for your money it usually turns into a $500 US boat ride for 4 guys. Marlin are most prevalent in the fall offshore of Banderas Bay,, and taper off mid November. Thats not to say you won't catch one, but if your going specifically for Marlin,, be prepared to be disappointed. We were out 36 miles in the blue water, and did see a couple,, but not a tight line all day. Next day, we went fishing in Banderas Bay,,, the water depth is in the 300 to 550 ft of water,,, we were banging skip jacks in the 35 lb range all morning. If your guide is good, he will watch for the birds that dive into the water from great heights,,, they go in like a bullet, and come out with bait fish to munch on,,,,, and thats where the skip jacks are as well.
We did keep one and had the hotel we were at cook it up for us,, and although the meat was a dark red,, it tasted like chicken. Some of us liked it,,, some not. I have a few pics of them,,, maybe someone knows their real names,,, but for fight,, (20 minutes at least), they are great game fish. Will try to see if I can resize a pic to what it has to be to post on here.
In the meantime,,, check out a website called TripAdvisor. There are lots of forums such as this about who is the best captain, most success, etc,,,

[seahawkfisher]

fishing there can be very good; we have had success every time out, altho like stated, no billfish (due to time of year). i like the panga fishing there, in the bay and at the big river mouth. we charter out of a place called las penas pier with a guy named "mike"; he has good gear (including fly) and is a really nice guy.
good luck!!

[bardfromedson]

i just went in january and it was the best fishing of my life. landed 7 yellowfin tuna between 120 and 200 pounds. lost a few at the boat that would of went over 250. I researched the hell out of pv and the best charter i could find was manny on the elmatador www.elmatadorsportfishing.com . it was pricy but he is the best. i payed 1200 a day by myself and don't regret a penny of it. also took the wife out in the bay with manny and caught some smaller stuff and followed the wales around all day. there is some cheaper options. you can charter a superpanga for around 600. the prices im listing are for 12-14 hour charters out to the banks. its 50 miles out but is loaded with fish of a lifetime. tuna over 300 pounds and big marlin. you can pay less and go for 8 hour charters closer to the bay. in closer you can catch roosters, sailfish, and some good eating fish but i recomend going out to the banks if the tuna are around. i hooked up with over 10 tuna and i was beat to hell. also got a nice mahi mahi and 2 mako sharks that were around 300 pounds. the tuna fights made the sharks look like childs play.manny is a super cool dude. mid thirties mexican. speaks great english. has a kid with a nice canadian girl. super nice boat tricked out in leather and has a/c. if you want a cheaper boat go with danny from dhamarsportfish . he has a 27 foot superpanga. its open air style boat but he can keep up with the big boys when it comes to catching big fish. i would go on www.bloodydecks.com go into the mainland mexico fishing forum and there are tons of fishing reports from pv. manny and danny are both on the forum. its the easiest way to get ahold of danny. you will find a ton of people on there who will recomend these two along with some others like topgun and marla sportsfishing. i don't recomend picking a random charter down there because there are a lot of bad ones. don't just pick the cheapest one or you will regret it and might miss out on the trip of a lifetime. also take down a cooler to bring back fish. get the resort to freeze it for you. just dont put any ice in it or the airlines might not let you take it on the plane. i brought back about 50 pounds and it was still frozen when i got to edmonton.

[Tofinofish]

For a big water- first class vessel experience I'd definitley recommend Josh Temple "Prime Time Adventures" out of La Cruz which is far closer to the fishing grounds by at least 15 miles compared to the boats that leave Marina Vallarta or the Marina in Nuevo Vallarta.

For a smaller vessel (Panga) option, which is a great way to fish within 10 miles for Dodo's, Rooster, Jack and Tuna on the right times of the year, you should connect with Lora Vasquez in Punta Mita. Agian much closer to the actual fishing grounds with excellent fishing within 15-20 minutes of Mita.

Lora guided in Prince Rupert, so his english is excellent and he works hard. Light Tackle is already on his radar, and you can bring your own if you like.

Neither of these guys will take you on a boat ride. It will be a fishing experience that will be as good as they can provide.

I have fished Vallarta and Mita a number of times (and a lot more in the near future) as we have a place in Nuevo, and until I get my own boat there, I wouldn't consider looking elsewhere unless these guys are totally booked out. They will then provide the next best option.

J. Tofinofish

[curtis_rak]

I go to Puerto Vallarta every November and have yet to go on my dream deep-water trip, Usually due to lack of interest of the guys I vacation with (not a bunch of avid fishermen)

This past November, however, we booked a 4hr fishing/snorkeling trip (panga style as Tofinofish called it) right on the beach in front of our hotel. 6 of us piled onto this thing for the equivalent of $35 CDN each. I expected to catch SFA on this little adventure...

As luck would have it, we maximized the use of the Panga captains 4 hooks that he had andcaught about 15 small black fin tuna (18"ers) and then we got VERY lucky and caught 2 beautiful Dorados in the 20lb range. These two fish fought like crazy and were beautiful and were caught right in Banderas Bay.

Its not my ideal trip at all (I still want to head out deep and go big sometime) but for $35 bucks each we fared very well and had an awesome time. So dont rule out a simple Panga trip for some good fishing action, you may get lucky.

[alacringa]

Hey, guys, I know I'm diggin up an old thread, here, but this is something I'm looking into for the beginning of April, and was curious as to whether anyone might have something more to add?

Thanks.

[trapper726]

It's been a couple of years but I booked a 10 hour trip through Mr. Marlin there. I thought it was going to be a bust when he told us he'd double booked and had hired another boat to take us out but it turned out to be one of the best trips I've ever been on. The boat was the La Cindy. If you can find her I would highly recommend it. The crew was great, we caught Sailfish, Mahi and Tuna. The lead hand was named Chava and really did a great job. One bit of advice, make sure you're clear with the crew on what you want - we started the day off catching small Mahi but once I told them we wanted to catch bigger fish even if it meant fewer fish they took us out to a couple of spots that produced some great fish. Good luck.

[Gary K]

I'm also heading down in april looking to get out. Where are yah staying? I'm heading down with the gf and she isn't the most avid fisherman. Was just gonna have here in the boat. But if there's a fellow AO member downthere we could split a charter to cut costs ;)
I was also gonna bring down a heavyspinning set up and try casting from shore in the morning. Anyone have any experiance in this in PV?
Gary