I'm going back to PV for 10 days starting the 29th. Any recommendations for good skippers/boats? I wasn't too pleased with the boat/crew the charter office gave us last time. I would be happy with a local trip for dorado and/or sailfish. Don't need the long trip for tuna/marlin.

I've got a picture on my desk of the sailfish that my wife and I caught while taking a fishing excursion off of a cruise ship back in 1992, but I couldn't tell ya the name of the charter.

I can't give you who to go with but I can tell you who to avoid. "MR. Marlin" fleet over at the Marina Vallerta. I know PV is not the best place for sportfishing but these guys were just horrible. We only caught our bait (bonito) and ran over a Manta Ray and bent one of our props .

Here's a name of an outfitter who hooked us up with a great captain down in Costa Rica awhile back. I'm not sure if he works with anybody out of PV but I'm sure he could point you to somebody cause he works with captains up and down the west coast from Mexico to Panama.

We called and told him what kind of boat we were looking for and (more importantly) what we were looking to spend and he took care of the rest.

Wild Bill's Sportfishing Tours
P. O. Box 304
Aledo, TX 76008
Phone: 817-448-8688

I am not very impressed with PV as a sport fishing destination. It's a looong run to the ocean and I seldom see any great catches.

You might want to catch a bus to Barra de Navidad - about a four hour ride. It's a really great little fishing village with pretty decent panga fishing. Ask for Enrique at the Cabo Blanco

Fished in PV back in Nov '02. Had a great time with a local outfit called Monalisa. They are located in old PV at the end of the only dock. The young buck that took me out was awesome! Caught a ton of fish and even landed a tuna on my fly rod. The best part was catching Bonita, creating an incredible, fresh Ceviche, and having it for lunch....great day, great time.

I like Dave's recommendation. PV is not a real fishing destination as you already know. Stick with drinking and chasing women there. Take the bus to the old fashioned fishing adventure. Don't foget to pack an extra roll of TP.

I will second the opinion of staying away from Mr. Marlin ,as our guide would not leave the dock untill we paid upfront for the gas. Then we ran to get some fuel, this is where the real nightmare starts. The so-called captain parks the boat in front of a cruise ship that is offloading, and says that we can't leave untill they're finished.Three hours later!!! We run out and catch a couple bonita(2 hrs.) then he wants to call it quits. We returned to the dock where he wants his fee of $125 per person and not to deduct the gas money. We gave him "NO TIPO" and had to drink alot of margaritas to erase the memories of that boatride. No I would not recommend Mr.Marlin.

Hey Sid, our trip had lunch included, guess what they served........Bonitas.

I wish I could remember the name of the outfit we went with...have a business card somewhere and I'll let you know if I find it. It was in July and we had lots of evening rain.

Took the loooong trip out to the shelf in a super panga (I'm guessing about 22', maybe 24'), caught two sailfish in about 2 hours. Great fishing, even if the trip out took my b-i-l out of commission for the day.

Thank you for the come-backs.

Yes I know that Puerto Viagra doesn't have the location to be a great sportfishing destination - especially for short trips. But the wife likes it and the old part of town with the cobblestone streets does give you the feel of "real" Mexico. Some of the "new" Mexican resort towns feel like you're still in southern California.

I guess I'll just check the incoming boats at the marina and try to buy a ride on one I like...

SQ: I totally agree with you loving the old part of town. We alway stay at the Villa Del mar - not the fancy hotel in the Marina District -=- the old place in old town. They have a few kewl apartments for $25 per night, but you usually need to reserve them well in advance.

If you aren't locked in to a place for your entire stay give them a look. They are about a block and a half from the river and about four blocks from the beach.

Also try catching a bus to Barra de Navidad. It's a wonderfuul old mexcian beach town.

Having been to Mexico several times, including P.V, we have had our best trips when we went to La Paz. It does not have much in the way of wild night life ( no senor frogs or Hard Rocks) Nothing like that. But it does have some outstanding fishing. Its also real Mexico. You can still get a beer for about 50 cents and you can have a nice dinner for a few bucks apiece. Its a big town, has an awsume old town district and some nice but inexspencive hotels. We like the Las Arcos. Have been down to Cabo and what a rip off. Home of the three dollar beer and food costs as much or more than at home. If you leave fishing totally out, P.V is hard to beat. When we where there last, 1996 I think, there was an 860 lb blue marlin hanging at the Marina. It had been caught over 100 miles offshore. The sad thing was it hung there for 2 days baking in the sun each day. Thats pretty gross, killing something like that and letting it go to waste. I don't know if anyone else on the board has been to La Paz, but its really a good bargin for a Mexico trip.