playa del carmen

**osprey_rich** · 06-03-2006, 12:01

hi im off to mexico this april so is it alll guided trips or are they catchable from the beaches whats best fly spin or bait
thanks

**Marcus** · 06-03-2006, 12:47

hi mate,,moved your post to the relevent forums,,hopefully you'll receive a better reply..

Welcome to WSF.

Marcus

**PanamaJack** · 06-03-2006, 15:09

Hi Osprey
And welcome to the forum. The Yucatan, certainly in early Spring is renown for its offshore Billfish fishing, particularly Sailfish. Some of the top American boats have recorded over 40 releases in a day! But as well as Sailfish you'll find the odd Blue Marlin and, if you're there towards the end of April the run of White Marlin should have started. The Sails are likely to be in the 40 to 60lb range, the Whites 60 to 80 and the Blues 150 upwards.

Also offshore you'd expect to catch Dorado at that time of year.

Boats seem to be around the 650$US mark for a full day, although the pangas are somewhat cheaper and often just as good, albeit not quite as comfortable. And you'll certainly find that some will put together mixed parties for around 90$US for a half day.

The drawback is that most are geared up to taking out tourists. So you can get some indifferent 'boat rides' - they're not necessarily expecting you to book for the next day as well!

One of the US forums - there're a number identified on our Club's web site - http://www.scbi.org.uk - against 'Links to Other Forums' might well be able to offer advice on specific boats.

Most seem to go from Puerto Adventuras, just down the coast. And here're a couple of further links that may be of use - http://www.puertoaventurasfishing.com/ and http://www.playa.info/playa-del-carm...o-fishing.html.

Not certain about the shore fishing but I suspect things like Barracuda and Jacks are likely to be encountered either first or last thing that you could catch on lures - tube lures for the Barracuda, Poppers for the Jacks.

I noticed in your posting that you mentioned fly fishing. The area's similarly renowned for its Bonefish. And a number of the Lodges, further down towards Belize, record excellent numbers, together with Permit, small Tarpon and Snook. They certainly seem to catch 'Grand Slams' very regularly. Whilst the average size of Bonefish isn't anywhere near that of the 'Keys or Bahamas they certainly make up for them in numbers!

What I'm not certain of though is whether there are any local skiffs that operate out of the area you're staying at. Could I suggest that you perhaps post to the International forum on http://reel-time.com, or possibly even that on http://ukswff.co.uk.

Hope that's of some help.

Please though could you report back on this thread about your trip. I'm sure any number would be interested to read of your exploits.
Kindest regards
Dave

**rockling** · 06-03-2006, 19:03

Welcome to WSF nut house look forward to your reports tight lines

**Red Diesel** · 06-03-2006, 19:23

hi osprey,
i went there three years running always in april or may depending on conditions we have caught dorado and sailfish within 500 metres off the shore will try and find you some contact nos My wife and i used to stay at the continental plaza which is next door to the ferry terminal to cozumel

**Red Diesel** · 06-03-2006, 19:33

hi osprey ,
because most of my fishing is offshore i forgot to tell you about the superb bonefishing , permit and barracuda which we had down the coast at ascension bay which is in the sian kaan biosphere reserve well worth a trip

**marktheshark** · 19-04-2006, 01:23

Hullo matey
Hope you read this before you go; if you fancy a little beach fishing, try evening or night. I was in Playacar three years back and fished a small livebait in the gutter 30 yards offshore and caught two monster jacks, 28lb and 22.5lb on spinning gear. The bigger one took more than half an hour to land. Beg some shrimp or squid off the hotel and fish small (14) hooks right in the surf at your feet for small threadfin (you'll also catch small bonefish ... I put mine back); bring an aerator to keep them alive and use the hotel bin as a bucket.
There's also bigger bones (to 2lb), barracuda and, where there's rocks, snapper too. Let the jack run first off (Baitrunner reel very useful); it will pause, and hit it when it starts the second run. Be VERY careful beaching big jacks by hand; the temptation is to pick up the tail, but it has a line of sharp scales that can cut your hand to the bone. Use gloves or a fish-grip.
The rest, boats and fly, you know ...
Good luck