Paul Stevens Has A Great Time In Mexico.... Report & Pictures!

Angling Direct Holidays consultant and fishing guide Paul Stevens has just returned from his trip to Mexico, whilst out there he sampled four days fishing, and by the looks of his report he had a great time...

Words & Pictures Paul Stevens...

Travelled to Mexico to fish at the Hotel Palma De Cortez on the 24th Sept 2011 for 9 days with 4 days fishing.

After a very straight forward flight we were met outside arrivals in Mexico by our driver who was to take us the 30mins to the resort. Once at the resort we were shown to our room, which was a garden room that looked out to sea and all the fishing boats. I was very impressed with the room and even more impressed with how comfortable the beds were, especially after the flight from the UK. Fishing started on the second day from 7am – 3pm so we just crashed out ready for an early start the following day.

Day 2

Breakfast starts at 6am every morning and consists of a continental buffet style. The atmosphere in the breakfast room was buzzing with the talk of what the day ahead would hold. We made our way down to the boats at around 6:45am to meet our captain for the day and once we had purchased our live bait we were off. On my first day I had decided to target Bill fish which meant a small steam of about 10 – 15miles out to sea. Within 15mins of setting up on Marlin lures I had an angry Sail fish trying to spit the lure, but no chance this was my first take and couldn’t afford to loose it. After 20mins an 80 – 90lb sailfish was ready to be unhooked, what a great start.

1hr later I was connected to a 350lb Blue Marlin which was a totally different fight than the sailfish. This fish stayed on the surface for about 5mins and then decided he wanted to see how deep it was. It took so much line and it was going straight down we just managed to get the boat in a good position where I started to gain some line back. After lots of line taken and retrieved it was finally ready to be unhooked, wow it was so impressive to see such a big fish and even better to see it returned to fight another day. All in all it took 45mins to get in, in 40+ degrees very tiring.

Heard on the radio that there was a 1200lb Blue Marlin caught along with several smaller Marlin, rest of the day passed with out any more Bill fish.

Day 3

I decided to fish from the smaller boats today, Super Pangas, as I find these to be a bit more intimate but no wind which made the fishing much harder. We only had a few Dorado, tuna and snapper.

Day 4

Again fishing from the Super Panga’s I decide that today was the day I targeted my target species of the trip, the Rooster fish. It was a little slow to start with as we couldn’t locate the bait fish but as we approached a small bay there were bait fish every where and it wasn’t long before the tell tail sign of a Rooster breaking the surface for his breakfast had us moving close to the beach. On goes a small sardine and bang, a big Rooster slams it off the surface and I was in. The fight of a Rooster is an unbelievable battle as it heads deep taking many yards of line. After a short battle my prize was ready to come aboard. I was so excited, a bit like a boy at Christmas wanting to see what he has got. Once it was on board I couldn’t believe it at around 45lb it was a stunning fish, another species of my hit list…

We decided to move areas only to find that the very next bay we came across again had bait fish busting the surface and that great sign of a Roosters dorsal fin chasing them. So out goes another small lip hooked sardine and I was in again. After a great fight I had boated another, this one was around the 35lb and it still blew me away with its stunning markings.

Day 5

Today I decided to take another Super Panga but had a mixed days fishing as this was to be my last day on the water. First we went after more Bill fish which didn’t take long. 30mins into trolling and I was doing battle with a 100lb Sailfish which was giving me a great ariel display and then decided to go deep. After a small battle it was ready to be unhooked. The next couple of hours went passed with out any interest so we decided to go and try for more Rooster fish.

We decided this time to try just off the coast line this time by trolling slow with live baits. After catching a few small Dorado we must of trolled passed the Roosters house as we had a double hook up and these both looked good fish. Once we got the first one in which was around the 40lb mark they quickly took a couple of snaps and released it only to give me the other rod with another Rooster scrapping away on the other end. 15mins later this one was ready to be boated. With the pictures done the fish was released to fight another day. I sat back in the boat and cracked open a well deserved beer and thanked the skipper as this was probably one of my best days Big-Game fishing ever.

Day 6 - 8

The next couple of days were just spent chilling out round the pool watching the boats coming in from their days out at sea wishing I could be out with them.

Day 9

Going home day. We were picked up from the hotel at around 11am for our quick transfer back to the airport for our flight home.

Just one last note, if you are considering a Big-Game fishing family holiday then I would recommend this resort highly. There are plenty of non fishing activities to do ranging from jeep safaris to zip lining and if you fancy a few lessons on fly fishing they have some great instructors at the resort. All of your fishing tackle is supplied and is of good quality.

Until next time

Tight Lines

Paul Stevens