I'll start by saying that Damon is very responsive during the planning process - always replies to emails promptly. My wife and I arranged a day of fishing with on the super panga Pacific. We booked 6 hours with the option to upgrade to 8 hours depending on how the fishing report was. We were met by Cesar promptly at the marina at the scheduled time of 7am. Fishing report was kind of spotty and it was decided that 8 hours would be better to get both more time on the water and allow us to get to a more productive location. Departed the Los Peines pier and headed out into the bay - up the Nuevo Vallarta side and out toward Las Marietas and Punta Mita. Saw some humpbacks, including a baby, fairly close to the boat. Also saw some manta rays jumping out of the water. Both of those sightings added to the day's experience. Stopped to buy some live bait on the way out. Trolled a few spots for billfish & dorado, but no takers. Fished some rocks to try to find a roosterfish, but again no luck. Cesar had informed us that fishing had been a little slow - and after all, it's "fishing" not "catching." Cesar and his mate were both working hard to find us some fish. Meanwhile, my wife and I relaxed in the front of the super panga, getting some sun. We managed to hook and land a few small skipjacks which were used for bait in hopes of enticing a billfish. We went out beyond the marker buoys at Punta Mita and into the Pacific proper, as Cesar had some reports from other captains on the radio of a few billfish being hooked out there. He also got a report of a killer whale in another area that shut the fishing down as it likely scared off the sport fish. Suddenly, The captain spotted a jumping dorado and sprung into action. His mate guided the boat while Cesar grabbed a rod and bait and stood on the bow of the panga. When he was in position, he cast the bait out toward the dorado (there were two of them) and was hooked up right away. Dorado are great to see in the water, all lit up like a yellow/green/blue neon sign. While I was fighting a nice cow dorado, Cesar grabbed another rod and bait in hopes of doubling us up on the bull that was trailing my fish. Alas, it wasn't to be. Would have been a blast to have both of them on, but in the end I managed to put a 25-lb cow dorado in the box. After it calmed down, we snapped some pictures and Cesar's mate went to work on cleaning the dorado. We got two plastic bags of dorado fillets which we brought back to our resort and cut up for meal-size packages to freeze and bring home. (Side note: Hard to believe, but we were told there wasn't a service at or near the marina to vacuum seal and freeze your catch. PV is a big city and plenty of anglers, so you'd think that service would be available.) After another 90 minutes or so without another hookup, Cesar said that his dad was reporting folks hooking up with jack crevelle in the bay, back toward the marina. We decided that catching fish (even though jacks aren't very desirable table fare) would be more fun than not catching fish, so reeled up and ran back inside the bay. After about 30 minutes of trolling, one of the baits was absolutely smashed and I was hooked up to a 20-lb jack. What a strong fish! Brought it to the boat, and it was gaffed. Guess that Cesar and his mate kept it for food - no problem for us. One thing to point out was that my wife used the "facilities" onboard and let's just say it was cramped. A marine toilet is housed in a little enclosed area just forward of the steering wheel. Small space + dark + no air (unless you crack the little door) + wave action = not the greatest bathroom experience. Just felt it was worth pointing out for the ladies. One final note...when you get back to the marina, look for the iguanas on the grass, sidewalk, and in the trees. The ones we saw were large and orange color with black stripes. We were told that they are endangered, and our taxi driver needed to have someone "spot" for him while he was backing up because apparently there's a $300 fine if you kill one. All in all, the experience was a good one. We booked a super panga because it was only the two of us and the bigger boats get a little expensive for just a couple. The captain and his mate worked hard, we found some fish, brought home 14 packs of dorado (and had one prepared at El Jacalito down in Mismaloya - check it out!), and saw some other interesting marine life. Pretty good day, I'd say. |
Puerto Vallarta fishing report, by PV Sportfishing. |
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