P90Amberjack...Playa del Carmen, Mexico

[CFScheer]

Hey Everyone - Right after returning from my last Costa Rica trip the girlfriend and I met up with the rest of the fam at my dad's place in Playa del Carmen Mexico for the Thanksgiving Holiday. This place is a pretty popular tourism destination known mostly for tranquil beaches, good restaurants, and bumpin nightlife, but is proving to have some pretty good jig fishing as well.

The routine here is pretty simple, for $150 you pile as many people (with your own gear) into a small panga as you want and the captain takes you out to the jigging grounds about a mile away from put-in and you start doing your thing. He's got no sonar, but does have a GPS with productive locations and a cooler full of beer and other beverages. The standard trip is 4 to 5 hours, but he'll happily stay out longer if you get into some fish as he will later sell what you don't take home yourself to the local restaurants. This is Mexico, so everything (price, length of trip, and discounting price of trip if you catch a lot of fish) is negotiable

We put in an afternoon and morning session on back to back days.

First fish of the trip. We call this a bonito in Costa Rica. Both the captain and mate said this tuna was muy rico. If it is what I think it was, it is dark, bloody, and something I would never eat.


First proper fish of the trip, decent almaco caught by the old man


Only grouper we caught...is this a red??? Fish came in 450 feet on a 300 gram Easter Tackle first drop.


Right after the tide change we got into a good flury of action.


All fish were hooked not too far from the bottom in water 380 to 500 feet. Decent currents necessitated 260 to 400 gram jigs. Working the jig and getting these fish to the boat put some serious strain on the shoulders and biceps!
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_GzCMImRZFE8/TP...mber%20080.JPG







These dudes were fishing the same marks as us the following morning. Apparently if you're a groovy Mexican and you like to jig, you do so only wearing a speedo and a fighting belt. I'll give them credit on more than just their fashion sense though...they had what looked to be decent gear and technique, and were hooked up a few times throughout the morning.


It's pretty sweet having such a short run to good jigging grounds. Get up early, fish hard, meet the gf for breakfast after she does yoga or some bull@#%$, spend the rest of the day slammin' cold ones on the beach...she's happy, you're happy, viva Mexico!


Big fish of the trip. I pulled the hook on something significantly stronger though. Biggest one captain has seen in these parts was around 85#.




the port


In addition to the AJs and grouper we caught a football blackfin and were cutoff a couple times by kings or wahoo. I can only imagine how much better it could be if the captains would pony up for a good graph.

This is an all around solid place to visit and fish. It's very different from the gentrified and cheesy Cancun. If the gf or wife wants you to ever take her someplace warm, but you still want to fish this is a good choice.

Pura Vida - Cassidy

[shoefish]

Very cool Cassidy! After my last trip down there, it opened my eyes that there is a good jig fishery to be had there. I love fishing from pangas too, it's just such a cool experience. Congrats on a great trip and thanks for sharing!

[MarioDou]

nice trip Cassidy!! im going to Cancun in late january for a couple of days. do you think i might have an opportunity to fish some time in one of those pangas? i havent gone before to mexico so its my first time. im going with some college friends to enjoy tequila, tecate, coronas and everything that an all inclusive hotel offers im planning to go to the pyramids, isla mujeres and also if i have any chance drop some metal near shore! nice catches!!

pd love the $150 4-5 hr trip

[Sea Draggin]

Lots of Potroast jigs hanging from those fish.

Another great report while I am stuck in the dirty dirty.

[CFScheer]

Lots of Potroast jigs hanging from those fish.

Another great report while I am stuck in the dirty dirty.

Pink Katanas were working pretty well along with the potroast/green ayugasakis.

[CFScheer]

Here are a couple more pics from Playa del Carmen that my dad just sent me. In addition to a bunch of AJs they caught a 70 lb. sailfish on a jig today. Apparently it went airborne a couple of times but stayed hooked. A pink Eastern Tackle 240 gram katana took the honors...first billfish on an ET jig Jim??? The angler was a first timer dropping the lead.

[Sea Draggin]

A pink Eastern Tackle 240 gram katana took the honors...first billfish on an ET jig Jim???

As far as I know...yes. But I send out a lot of stuff to folks that never post a report, so who knows? Its the first one I know about.

I might have to share this on 360tuna if thats ok with you.

[CFScheer]

As far as I know...yes. But I send out a lot of stuff to folks that never post a report, so who knows? Its the first one I know about.

I might have to share this on 360tuna if thats ok with you.

Sounds good man...share away!

[edge]

As I know in our area from cancun to playa we had billfish on every month of the year with JIGGS.

but on the troll it dies after may.....

[giantfan]

Great report and pictures.

I am heading down to PDC for the second week of Feb. Can you tell me about hooking up with the Panga guys? Where are they and do you set the trip up the day before or just go down to the beach and jump on with whoever is there?