The trip was ok, but didn’t catch anything.  I know, no guarantees.  As soon as we left the harbor we were in a steady, strong, choppy offshore wind the whole day.  Luis and Benjamin were great and knowledgeable, but it wasn’t meant to be.  We came back an hour early.  Unfortunately, it was just an expensive boat trip.

Capt Luis and mate Benjamin were a great team, very knowledgeable and profesional. It was a delight to fish with them.

We had the best time and caught fish all day! Thanks so much for the experience

Captain Luis and first mate Benjamin took my daughters and me out for a four hour inshore trip on the morning of New Year’s day. Gabriela V (the boat) is a great vessel. It’s smooth, quiet, and spacious enough for four guests to move around in. Luis had quality tackle, live bait, and snacks ready when we met them at 7:30 at Puerto San Juan.

We went south from the bay a few miles and immediately found birds working bait. We trolled artificials and casted poppers, taking advantage of the action. We landed a crevalle jack, cero mackerel, white (albicore?) tuna, and a few bonito. Luis and Benjamin did a great job of working the boat and the lines to keep everything smooth. When the action died, we went to some large rocks to look for roosterfish. We casted poppers while we slowly drug live bait around the edge of the reef. I landed a bigeye trevally on a popper, while my daughter landed the prize: a beautiful pez gallo! When we got tired and the action slowed, Benjamin brought out plates of pineapple and watermelon, which is a great touch and was much appreciated! I had a number of other hits on the popper, but could never stay buttoned up. We trolled back towards the port while Luis fileted some of the fish for us. We landed one more bonito to make it an even three fish each landed.

I highly recommend this vessel and crew. I appreciate that seven hours after toasting “¡Nuevo Año!” they were ready to guide us to a successful trip. Luis is a good communicator; his English is great (much better than my Spanish). They took and shared good pictures. The boat and gear were in great shape. Next time I’m in San Juan del Sur, I’ll come back!

6-Hour Ballyhoo Trip - This solid boat rides well with Suzuki 225 engine and gets out to deep waters quickly. We had a nice escort with dozens and dozens of Porpoise joining us on the way out. One Sea Turtle was only a spectator.  Captain Luis and First Mate Allan knew how to handle the boat well and give instruction when a fish was on. I told the captain my desired target was Dorado and he told me the latest catch on the day before was sailfish and marlin. Well, fishing is fishing and you catch what you catch. I’ve caught myself my share of bill fish and wanted the excellent meat Dorado provides. I wasn’t disappointed with two very nice Dorado and one catch and release Sailfish Captain Luis estimated to be approximately 10 feet long. That’s about as big as a Pacific Sailfish in these waters get. Lost another sailfish with a broken hook and one marlin. Quality of photos was not the best but the fishing was great!