[ksong]

After leaving Newark Airport, NJ at 6:00 am on Oct 25, I arrived at Atlanta Airport, GA to transfer airplane to Mexico City and met Chase and Anthony for the first time.

It was kind of blind date as we never met before each other, but they turned out to be great partners. Anthony works at a big law firm in Manhattan and Chased works at investment bank in Manhattan also after graduating from Princeton Univ. recently.

When we arrived at PV airport Capt Louis was waiting for us. I was looking for a good panga operation in PV as I needed a fast boat to chase tuna for jigging and popping.
I called Louis when I got the information from Mel (Jureal) about the operation and I found Louis is an American who used to live in Brooklyn, NY and Florida. I decided to try the boat as Capt Louis very friendly and informative and the description of his 28 ft panga with 90 hp twin engine with all necessary equipment looked what I had been looking for.

After checking in the condo in Paradise Village, we decided to make a tour to old Puerto Vallarta. The beach areas were pretty crowded even at night and we took a walk for a while before we took a taxi to our condo as we were all tired after a long flight without much sleep.

Mexico City from the airplane

Inside view our condo

Outside view from the condo

Anthony and Chase at Marina Vallarta

Dinner at a restaurant in Marina Vallarta

Chase and Anthony at the beach of old PV

Mexican dancing at the beach

 

[ksong]

Louis came to our condo to pick us up at 7:00 am and drove to Los Peines dock which was next to Marina Vallarta. I was surprised to see so many local panga charter boats there.

The Babalu was very clean and nice, and had enough room for three as I saw in the picture. But we got the bad news. They couldn't get bait (goggle eye) as every boat did that day. We headed for the Rock ( Corbetena), which is 36 miles from the harbor.

When we got there there were a few boats trolling to catch skipjack for bait. We trolled around the Rock, but it was very difficult to catch skipjack. We finally start slow trolling with two live skipjack only after 11:30 am. We didn't get any hit while trolling a few hours and didn't see any surface action all.

While trolling, we saw the depth changes constantly. There were about half dozen underwater peaks around the Rock and those underwater peaks are magnets to attract baits and game fish.
After the tide change in the afternoon, we were getting excited as there were some bird actions and small tuna start to pop here and there.

We threw poppers while chasing birds and jigged while drifting throughout the afternoon.

Tuna were popping not far from our boat while drifting. I thought we might land a few tuna if we had live goggle eye baits with us. The highlight of the day had to be the catch of nice jack on poppers by Anthony. He threw his poppers toward bird action and a fish hook his popper and we all thought he hooked up with a tuna finally. After fighting for a while with his Stella 20000 and Smith popping rod, the fish came up to the surface, but it was a nice jack instead.
On the way to the dock, Louis drove the boat to the marina dock at Paradise Village within short walking distance from our condo. We took a shower and went to a restaurant at Paradise Villages's main hotel.
We were very tired, but everybody seemed to have a good mood.

the Babalu and other pangas at Los Peines dock

Anthony fighing a fish which took his popper

and his catch

poorman's GT

I got a fish on my jig

Approaching Paradise Village marina dock

Capt Louis

 

[ksong]

Louis came to our condo to pick us up again and told us he secured 40 live baits.

I asked Louis I would like to fish El Banco this time. El Banco is located about 50 miles from the harbor. Ceasar joined us as a guide at the request by Louis. Louis said Ceasar is one of the best captains in PV and I observed he had a confidence in what he was doing and possesses great knowledge about local fishing.

When we got there, there were only three boat trolling. It is usually more difficult to catch skipjack in El Banco than the Corbetena, but we didn't have much problem to catch them.

We trolled with two live skipjack and two goggle eye for a while and one rod with goggle eye had a hit and Chase fought the fish. The fish fought pretty hard, but when a colorful fish jumped 100 yard away, we knew it was not the fish we were looking for.
However the mahi mahi estimated at around 40 pounder was one of the biggest mahi I've seen.
Chase was very excited and happy while still sweating after the catch as the fish was the biggest fish he ever caught. You got to see his smiling face during the whole trip. He was purely delighted to be in PV, to fish in PV and experience the new fishing adventure.

During a couple of trolling we had two solid hit on live skipjack. There were marks right behind gill both times. The second hit was done by a marlin and Ceasar saw marlin chase the bait. El Banco was much promising than the Rock which we fished yesterday.

Later on we decided to drift over the underwater pick and caught some fish on jigs, especially skipjack. Just before we went back to the dock, we saw bird working and tuna jumping. While most of us jigging, Ceasar sent a flat line with a live goggle eye and had a nice tuna. I saw the big tuna jumped out of the water, but unfortunately 80 lbs fluoro carbon leader line got broken. It was Anthony's new Avet Hoo-X reel and Ceasar told me he didn't push the lever to strike position when the line got broken.
After 14 hour fishing, we had to run to the dock in darkness, but nobody complaint.

Chase fighting a nice dorado with my Hopper jigging rod/Torsa 30.

nice dorado.

Anthony fight a fish

dinner time

 

[ksong]

10-28

The final day

Louis told us he could join us and Ceasar would be the captain, When Ceasar asked us where we wanted to fish and I told him to decide.

He chose the Rock and it was a good decision as weather was not favorable in the morning and we had a late start because the gas station opened late though I wanted to fish El Banco. There were some bird activities just before the Rock and Ceasar asked us whether we were interested in mahi mahi fishing with liver goggle eye. He knew what kind of fish were under the bird. As soon as we casted live baits, we hooked up immediately and landed three nice dorado.. After landing three I asked Ceasar to go tuna ground as I didn't want to lose valuable time for tuna.

Again, it was a tough to get skipjack at the Rock and we managed to get one and started to troll with one skipjack and two goggle eyes. We had a one short hit on skipjack while trolling a few hours and we decided to do kite fishing. While kite fishing Chase got a hit on his live goggle eye on his flat line. We thought it was a tuna, but it turned out to be a nice jack. Later on Ceasar switched to troll with kite. It was very interesting how they fish kite with trolling. I observe the method is very effective as goggle eye bait was skipping the water far away from the boat. In fact, Danny of Marla II got two tuna near by us in the afternoon with the method. We had a hit while trolling kite, but unfortunately it was not tuna.

While trolling with kite we saw bird working and tuna jumping. We hurriedly rushed to the scene and I had a chance to throw popper right in the middle of boiling water a few times, but they didn't take it. But Chase had a big one on his diamond jig and line was screaming. Instantly it took almost 300 yard lines and we got to chase the fish. I thought it was at least 200 lbs tuna. Anthony took over as Chase had no energy left. Chase called me a help after he fought the monster for a while. I got my harness ready as I knew it would be a long fight to get the monster. The fish run to the horizon and I started to gain lines as Ceasar run the boat to the direction. When the fish came up to the surface, I saw a big fin. It was definitely not a tuna. When I got the fish near the boat, we could see a huge ray, maybe several hundred pounds, but it took a long run again. I wanted to bring the fish to the boat and take some pictures, but it was already too late and I cut the line by tightening the drag of Saltiga Z6500.

pictures with Louis

Ceasar running the boat today

Nice view of Marina Vallarta harbor

Getting bait

dorado jumping

Nice catch by Chase

Preparing kite fishing

Bird action

Anthody fighting with Saltiga Z6500 and Smith jigging rod

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/ksong/PVon10-26-07092.jpg

Chase and Anthody after hard fishing for three days
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/ksong/PVon10-26-07097.jpg

We saluted our fun and enjoyable PV trip at a fine Italian Restaurant in Paradise Village. They even prepared dishes from our mahi we brought.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y2/ksong/PVon10-26-07096.jpg

 

[ksong]

We did not land tuna on this trip, but it was a fun and enjoyable trip with great new fishing partners. I found even panga boats can fish the same way as a big cruiser at the Rock and El Banco. In a sense, it gives you more room for fishing, especially for popping and jigging as a panga can be fished all around the boat. But there are also limitations fishing on a panaga as you have to choose a good day to fish on a panga offshore and it is not comfortable. I definitely do it again on a panga in PV.

Capt Louis of the Babalu is very nice, honest gentleman and I must thank him for his special care to make our trip enjoyable and successful. The Babalu is very roomy and clean for a panga and it has all required equipments.

PV is not one dimentional fishing destination. While PV is known for cow and marlin, there are unlimited opportunities to catch bottom fish, huge dorado, rooster fish, jack or sailfish, but very few utilize the fishing opportunities for other species. As our major objective of our trip was to catch tuna, we had to concentrate on tuna fishing and we lost our opportunities for other fish as we could not land a tuna.

Our total cost per person for the trip excluding airfare (around $480 – 550 for round trip) to fish three on a panga was $1,006 which include three day fishing(12 -14 hours a day), tip to mates, gourmet food at nice restaurant every night, lodging at luxurious two bed room condo at Paradise Villages. You can not beat it wherever you go.

Chase and Anthony, let's do it again.
If was a fun to fish you guys.

 

[gman]

great report Kilson, welcome back still reports of tuna action up here

 

[tunacrazy]

Kil, great report,we would excect nothing less from you . You always do such a good job of reporting what happens on your trips, makes us here on the internet feel as though we were there too. Thanks for taking the time to write the report. I would love to talk with you sometime about this trip. Me and a freind are going there and this could be just the type of fishing we would be looking for. PM me if you like and maybe we could talk sometime Thanks again for you report. Bruce

 

[ksong]

Kil, great report,we would excect nothing less from you . You always do such a good job of reporting what happens on your trips, makes us here on the internet feel as though we were there too. Thanks for taking the time to write the report. I would love to talk with you sometime about this trip. Me and a freind are going there and this could be just the type of fishing we would be looking for. PM me if you like and maybe we could talk sometime Thanks again for you report. Bruce
Bruce, It would be nicer if I could show pictures of 200 - 300 lbs cow, but I believe the actual fishing report without big catches can be valuable too.
Many fishermen think they can catch cow when they go to PV, but unfortunately it is not. David (wahoodad) who is known as one of the best tuna fisherman on long range boats out of San Diego fished three days with Juan Moll who is also regarded as a top notch fisherman in PV on Oct 22,23 and 24 and got no cow. When cow are on the bank and are in biting mood, it is an awesome sight to see several boats nearby fighing cows, but you have to be at the right place at the right time.
I just wanted to see cow fishing is possible on a panga as I always saw a few pangas when I fished the Rock.
We could have had non-stop action with 30 -40 lbs mahi mahi,but we opted to fish tuna. And they said roosterfishing is excellent close to shore, but we didn't try. If I wanted to catch only cow with normal methods, I would have fished with Manny of the Pacifico and Danny Osuna of the Marla II (Josh Temple becomes out of my option as his rate is $2500 per day now).
I really enjoyed fishing on the panga and I definitely do it again.
If you need any information, let me know.

Kil

 

[tunacrazy]

Kil, the type of inshore fishing you were speaking of is just what we are looking for,we will be there with the wives, and just maybe a day of off-shore and two days of inshore was what we were looking to do. Sounded like you were pleased with Capt. Louis's operation, and that good enough for me.Were you also please with your codos? would you do anything different if you went on this trip again? If so what? Any names or contact numbers that you can give? Thank again Bruce

 

[ksong]

Kil, the type of inshore fishing you were speaking of is just what we are looking for,we will be there with the wives, and just maybe a day of off-shore and two days of inshore was what we were looking to do. Sounded like you were pleased with Capt. Louis's operation, and that good enough for me.Were you also please with your codos? would you do anything different if you went on this trip again? If so what? Any names or contact numbers that you can give? Thank again Bruce
If you go with your wife, I highly recommend a condo in Paradise Villlage.
I went there with my family during Chrismas Holidays and they loved the place. You can check www.paradisevillage.com .
Capt Louis' boat is very nice for fishing, but you might need a bigger boat if you go with wives. Anyway I am going to send some information.

 

[MrBill]

Ksong, I like that panga. I think it's worth a try. I'm glad to read that the Capt worked very hard. That is very important. Looks like you have hooked a couple of guys on fishing. Once you get the bug, it's hard to stop.

Sometimes fishing is a matter of luck and timing. I see where three days ago Danny Osuna on the "MARLA", caught a 330# cow. Angler spent 2 1/2 hours on the cow. PV is the hot spot for cows. They probably have been all over those rocks for hundreds of years. Now, everybody and their brother is driving up the prices on good charter boats in PV. Everybody has a dream, and is willing to pull out their wallet.

I was reading tonight about the night fishing off Kona. It will probably become a hot item. Lots of swords off Kona with nobody to catch them. If I can get some freaking time off, I'm either headed to PV or Kona. Meanwhile I still have three tuna trips in the GOM planned before the end of the year.

Here's a couple of pics of the 10/31/07 PV cow.

 

[ksong]

Ksong, I like that panga. I think it's worth a try. I'm glad to read that the Capt worked very hard. That is very important. Looks like you have hooked a couple of guys on fishing. Once you get the bug, it's hard to stop.

Sometimes fishing is a matter of luck and timing. I see where three days ago Danny Osuna on the "MARLA", caught a 330# cow. Angler spent 2 1/2 hours on the cow. PV is the hot spot for cows. They probably have been all over those rocks for hundreds of years. Now, everybody and their brother is driving up the prices on good charter boats in PV. Everybody has a dream, and is willing to pull out their wallet.

I was reading tonight about the night fishing off Kona. It will probably become a hot item. Lots of swords off Kona with nobody to catch them. If I can get some freaking time off, I'm either headed to PV or Kona. Meanwhile I still have three tuna trips in the GOM planned before the end of the year.

Here's a couple of pics of the 10/31/07 PV cow.

The panga I fished on in PV is not the normal panga you see in Cabo. It is kind of 28 ft center console boat here, but narrower.

It seems cow fishing starts to pick up again. Tropical storm definitely forced tuna off the banks and the full moon period didn't help either.
My friend was going to fish with one of Osuna borthers on Oct 30 and waited at the dock from 6:00 am, but they found out that the boat left with other guys. I got to find out what happened.

I really wanted an overnight trip to South Point or Seamount trip, 100 mile off Kona when I visited Kona, but I couldn't because it was a vacation with my family. When you decide to go Kona for a fishing trip, I can give some information.