Fishing in Cancun?

[1_pointer]

My wife is forcing me to go to Cancun with her(I'm not a big beach fan), we leave next Friday. As part of the negotiations she agreed to go fishing with me for a day. I've only fished in salt twice and have caught snapper, mackerel, and mahi mahi. Looking for suggestions as to which species to go after? I'd probably lean a bit more towards quantity over quality as I'm not checking species off a list or getting anything mounted. Just want a fun day. Looks like many go there after billfish. What about rooster fish? They'd look pretty cool in a picture.

Any charter recommendations?

 

[T Bone]

Good luck fishing!

I've never fished saltwater from a boat.

 

[nbell]

My wife and I went to Cabo last year, and the dorado were the coolest fish I've ever caught. Its like reeling in a sheet of plywood that is fighting. The marlin and sailfish were fun also, but seemed a little more difficult to catch. The dorado eats great too.

Best of luck to you

 

[Z Barebow]

I have fished down in Playa del Carmen. (Most of our fishing was directly in front of hotel). One trip was great from shore, sight fishing mainly w/fly rod. (You could see schools move through) Nothing big, most fish about the size of a crappie. (Next trip a few years later) was terrible as the water was churned up from wind and it was a bust)

We did hire a boat for 1/2 day. And you are right, they wanted to go after big stuff. (Billfish, wahoo). In a compromise we trolled for 2 hours and then bottom fished for 2 hours. Zip on trolling but we caught all kinds of fish on the bottom. (I brought my own gear and used basically a bass rod) We fished from 30-80' or so and drifted. Again, mostly small fish. But we did have an encounter with a barracuda. As we were reeling in a smaller reef fish, this barracuda followed it up. The deck mates immediately grabbed a reef fish from the cooler and hooked it up to the deep sea rod and casted. I watched the barracuda smoke the bait and swim off. The deck mate fed it line, set the hook, and handed me the rod. What a blast! A few minutes later, I landed a ~ 15 pound cuda.

Saltwater fishing is a blast. They fight 10 times harder than anything in freshwater. There are 3 kinds of saltwater fish. They are either really big, really fast, or dead.

 

[SFC B]

I went to Cancun about 15years ago and went on a shark fishing trip. We got a recommendation out of the hotel and it was a great day/evening. Caught some bait fish and then a few reef sharks (black tips). Sorry I can't remember the guy's name. I think if your goal is just fun and some action you will have a great time. Can't really beat floating on the Car. Sea, getting some sun, drinking a Dos X and smoking a Cuban.....fish end up being a nice bonus!!

 

[RobG]

I believe Rooster and billfish are mostly on the Cabo side. Baracuda can be a lot of fun to catch if you are into quantity. You can even pick them up on a 8-10 wt fly rod, fair casting or especially trolling a 8" fly if you are sacrilegious. South of there may be better... I've fished Punta Allen before, but we were flats fishing for bonefish.

 

[drthornton]

Fished there twice and had a similar experience to Z Barebow. I went on a boat where they group you with other singles. I think there were 5 or 6 total fisherman on the boat. We fished billfish and sport species then bottom fished when that dried up. The ding on the party boat is you rotate the catch so you'll need to get lucky if a good fish hooks up on your turn. If you've got the $, chartering is the better option.

We only caught blue fish on the first trip but the 2nd trip we caught a Baracuda and a good Grouper. Another guy on the boat was hooked up on a monster Grouper. The guy tried to horse him in like a large mouth and lost him.
We did see another boat in the marina that got a nice Sail Fish.

Overall it was fun and if I went back I'd do it again.

The boats I was on served Carta Blanca Cerveza by the quart. One of the coolest things I saw was one of the deckhands opened the bottles with his eye socket. Quite impressive!

 

[1_pointer]

Thanks for the info and keep it coming! We're going with a group (neighbors and most of the wives just want to ride on the boat) and there may be enough interest to charter a boat. If they don't want to go I may still opt for a private charter but a shorter time.

RobG- When it comes to fishing I am very sacrilegious. . Any which way to get them caught, including bait and bobbers

Doc- good pic! That's exactly what I want to bring home a few good fish pics.

SFC- I hadn't thought about sharks! My 6yo will think I'm the coolest if I can catch one of those!

 

[Dinkshooter]

My wife is forcing me to go to Cancun with her(I'm not a big beach fan), we leave next Friday.

Boo Hoo. I'll go in your place, deal?

 

[Summitthunting]

I've fished Cancun twice, once for marlin and once for bottom fish. Marlin fishing can be the most boring and most exciting thing you'll ever do. If fish come up on your baits it's complete and total chaos. I've landed one and have paid for a lot more long boring boat rides. If I was headed that way I would skip the deep sea and go for flats fishing. Bonefishing can not be beat, it combines aspects of hunting and fishing, and there's a lot more to look at on the flats than out at sea. Good luck.

 

[SFC B]

Thanks for the info and keep it coming! We're going with a group (neighbors and most of the wives just want to ride on the boat) and there may be enough interest to charter a boat. If they don't want to go I may still opt for a private charter but a shorter time.

RobG- When it comes to fishing I am very sacrilegious. . Any which way to get them caught, including bait and bobbers

Doc- good pic! That's exactly what I want to bring home a few good fish pics.

SFC- I hadn't thought about sharks! My 6yo will think I'm the coolest if I can catch one of those!

I have to say it was a hoot!! The best portion was that they hooked a about a 5 footer on a hand line they were using to catch bait and I fought and landed him. It was already dark by then and it wasn't tough until he got in the lights of the boat:hump: Bonus for the little one is that if you catch a shark you can get them the JAWS!!

 

[noharleyyet]

Pointer, park it at the pool and poach leers via ray ban camo.

 

[1_pointer]

Boo Hoo. I'll go in your place, deal?

If I can go elk hunting in your spot, we may have a deal!

 

[1_pointer]

Pointer, park it at the pool and poach leers via ray ban camo.

I can't quite pull off the Risky Business look, but I plan on doing plenty of poaching. But, a guy can't live off poached leers and cervesa can he?

 

[1_pointer]

I've fished Cancun twice, once for marlin and once for bottom fish. Marlin fishing can be the most boring and most exciting thing you'll ever do. If fish come up on your baits it's complete and total chaos. I've landed one and have paid for a lot more long boring boat rides. If I was headed that way I would skip the deep sea and go for flats fishing. Bonefishing can not be beat, it combines aspects of hunting and fishing, and there's a lot more to look at on the flats than out at sea. Good luck.

And just when I thought I was getting something figured out... Thanks for the info. I'll definitely take that into consideration.

 

[Zach]

Forget fishing, take the charter to Isla Mujeres and enjoy the topless beach!!

 

[noharleyyet]

I can't quite pull off the Risky Business look, but I plan on doing plenty of poaching. But, a guy can't live off poached leers and cervesa can he?

Top Gun...and yes...you can...... for four days, you certainly can.

 

[Dinkshooter]

Forget fishing, take the charter to Isla Mujeres and enjoy the topless beach!!

So true story. Wife and I are sitting on the swings at that bar drinking away. I told her I was going to be blessed to finally see my first topless beach bunny! Up walks to the bar someone old enough to be my mother, oranges in socks a swinging My wife was dying laughing.

 

[Devil Diver Down]

If you need a stand-in, I'm your guy.

IMHO, there's not a better eating fish than mahi mahi (aka dorado, aka dolphin fish) - it's the fish so nice they named it twice! Second best is gulf grouper. Grouper are in the spawn right now so they're very aggressive and you can hook into some big uns - it feels like you snagged a VW Beetle driving by when it's 120 feet down and headed for the rocks. Win the first 30 seconds with them by getting their head turned up and it's pretty much over.

Unless you do what I did this Memorial Day - win the early battle and then take a small breather just as the big fish (this one was probably only ~35 lbs) is coming toward the surface. Two seconds... then slack line, grouper beating it back down to the bottom. Three guys staring at me like I just drank the last beer. I felt so bad I wanted to jump over the side, but there's too many makos in the area and the tide was ripping.

We caught a 30lb grouper and a 18lb sardinero, ~7 lb 'cuda and some big mackerel and other stuff. And we drank about 45 beers, 3 waters and 6 sandwiches between the 4 of us. But we were 27 miles out. You won't have to go that far.

Yes, of course man can live on leers and beers for 4 days. Nine days with the proper eyewear and warm up regimen.

 

[1_pointer]

So true story. Wife and I are sitting on the swings at that bar drinking away. I told her I was going to be blessed to finally see my first topless beach bunny! Up walks to the bar someone old enough to be my mother, oranges in socks a swinging My wife was dying laughing.

That would definitely be my luck!