I initially had trouble getting the charter to respond to my messages online, but a quick contact with Fishing Booker resolved the issue. Within half an hour, Victor called me and took the time to answer all my questions and set up a meeting point closest to our resort. We decided to meet at Playa Los Muertos at 7 AM as they said it was the best time to go fishing. When we got there, they were ready for us and left right on time.
I paid the remainder of the trip in cash as they did say they preferred cash over using credit card because then they’d have to bring the machine and charge a 3% fee. I had no issues paying in cash and paid it up front as we got into the boat.
The crew didn’t speak much, only when we engaged in conversation. But they were friendly and seemed knowledgeable. We were interested in fishing for Red Snappers and Spanish Mackerels, but we were told the Snappers were further out and the Spanish Mackerels were really small at the moment. For the first 3 1/2 hours, we unfortunately had no activity, but I know the crew did what they could. We were trolling near the shore about 20-25 mins from our meeting point and tried several different spots and even switched from live bait to lures. But in the end, it was the live bait that helped get my dad his two big catches.
The one thing I do want to mention is that during the 3 1/2 hrs, we were only instructed to pick up a pole once. And at all times, there were 4 poles setup. Honestly, of the 4 of us fishing, only my dad got to touch the fishing pole. To be fair though, there were only three catches and so we let my dad do the honors. Since this fishing trip was for my dad’s big 60th birthday, I really wanted him to experience it all. I was hoping it would be more like fishing off the side of the boat where we’d get to cast the line out ourselves. But instead, they have this big setup where they do everything. And it isn’t until the fish is hooked onto the line that they’ll instruct you to reel it in. You don’t even get to feel the excitement of a fish nibbling. Maybe it’s my lack of knowledge of how this all works, but we were all starting to feel a bit disappointed. So I spoke up and asked if my dad could just fish off the side of the boat. Captain was nice about it and said yea, grab any pole. And funny enough, my dad’s two big catches (both Jacks) were all on his line. After fishing for a little over 4 hours, I told the Captain we were ready to head to Las Animas. We took the smaller fish of the two to Los Conos (recommended by the Captain) at Las Animas to have it cooked for us. After spending about an hour at Las Animas, we headed back while they filleted the bigger for us to bring back. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time for ceviche. But overall, we really enjoyed the trip.
I initially had trouble getting the charter to respond to my messages online, but a quick contact with Fishing Booker resolved...
