OK, I know the name of the blog is South Dakota Outdoor Adventures but I had to share my experience doing some Deep Sea Fishing while in Mexico this past week.

Myself and eight other family members chartered a 42 foot fishing boat for a half day one morning while staying in Play Del Carmen. Anyone who enjoys fishing and is in Mexico should try to get out on the water because it is absolutely a mind blowing experience.

First off , SALT WATER FISH FIGHT HARD! I was tasked with pulling in a large trigger fish (a reef fish that is relatively small when talking about ocean fish) while bait fishing and I could feel my biceps aching after the couple minute fight. Ultimately, that fish came off the hook as the guide was lifting it into the boat but it was so exhilarating trying to pull this manhole cover of a fish into the boat.

After catching our bait for the day we began bottom fishing.  Our guides told us we were going to be trying for big fish and they weren’t joking.  While we could see other boats around us catching smaller fish with the guides doing most of the work, we were fishing the bottom with cannon ball sized down-riggers.  The guides would hook a fish and then hand it off almost immediately to a family member, who then had the incredibly difficult task of pulling these huge strong fish off of the bottom 400 feet below our boat.  To make things more difficult the fish that we hooked were at least 500 feet out.  In the end, we hooked three big fish while bottom fishing but didn’t get one in the boat. After a struggle that lasted around 10-15 minutes per time each fish bit off the 60 pound monofilament line or spit the hook.

Luckily, we had our revenge while trolling.   My brother commented what we were fishing for walleyes because the set up was very similar.  We were using 5 poles, two on huge outriggers, and simply driving around with bait following a couple hundred yards behind us skimming the top of the water.  After 20-30 minutes of nothing we heard the whiz of line coming out fast while the guides yelled “fish on” and started jumping for joy with fingers crossed pointing to the sky.

What ensued over the next 45 minutes was a 7 person struggle to bring in a 6 -7 foot sailfish that ultimately ended with two guides pulling the massive fish into the boat. We had the fish out of the water for all of 45 seconds, just enough to snap a few pictures before the guides through it back so the fish could live to fight another day.  A shout of “Cerveza” came from one of the guides as we celebrated our catch.

Our Captain, Ivan, said we were very lucky to catch a sailfish.   Sport fish (marlins, sword and sailfish) are almost exclusively caught in March, April and May in that area and he said each boat catches only about one sailfish per season.  

If you go:

Get enough people together to charter a boat.  This drove the cost per person way down rather then pay a set price per person to be on a boat with a bunch of strangers. 

Be ready for a workout, salt water fish have a heck of a fight in them and the aren’t going to come to the boat easy.

While between fish watch the water around you, our group spotted a couple sea turtles and a large number of flying fish during out time on the water.