Fishing in Isla Mujures

[teamjefe]

How do people fish for sails down there? We are looking at taking the boat down there next winter and I just want to be prepared for the awesome fishing that I hear of!

[Reelcommocean]

Naked ballyhoos and dredges

[Marlinmate]

Squid chains off the teasers with Islander/jumbo ballyhoo on end
2 dredges pulling split mullet/ballyhoo/rubber hoos
Naked ballyhoos with circle hooks - (lots of them)

We fished 5 rods - 2 flats, 2 long, 1 down the middle

All trolling bites using TLD20 with 25lb test to 80 wind on to 60 leader

[Swami]

Since it sounds like you're fishing on your own boat, I'll try to give you a couple tips on the style of fishing--I'm sure some others will also chime in.

Most of the sailfishing revolves around finding the frigate birds working the baitballs--find the birds, find the bait and the sails will be there. Get on the working VHF channel and coordinate with the other boats since you probably won't be alone. Everyone works pretty well together, with one boat lining up and making their pass near a ball, getting bit, then moving off to fight their fish while another boat lines up to make their run. As you can imagine, it works well when everyone's coordinating their actions but one cowboy can ruin it for everyone.

There are also some unwritten rules: no casting baits into baitballs on spinning tackle, no backing up into baitballs and no live-baiting. Everyone's pretty much gone to circle hooks as well.

Good luck, hope you catch 'em up down there!

[FESS]

nice synopsis swami...! Correct on all counts...one small qualification...the frigates (pronounced "chee-my" in spanish) will be close to the deck (waters surface) when it's "going-off"...invariable you'll see quite a few frigs not far from the port...these are high-flyers and not "on" the balls of bait usually....if there's a ball of bait with sails on it the figates will be plucking sardines right on the surface...a cooler sight may not exsist. when in doubt, keep running north! don't forget the binos!

[Foul Hooked]

Since it sounds like you're fishing on your own boat,

There are also some unwritten rules: no casting baits into baitballs on spinning tackle, no backing up into baitballs and no live-baiting. Everyone's pretty much gone to circle hooks as well.

Heed these rules, or you'll find that you can't get fuel.