Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa's Catch & Release Sportfishing Fleet
This site is dedicated to the Captains of the Zihuatanejo Fleet
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Some of the "old hands"
"He was fishing with his uncles exposed to the elements in an open panga before most kid's mothers would allow them to cross a street unattended." -- Capt. Cortez
Captain Jamie Morales Cortez owns 3 Bertram cruisers, ranging from 31 feet to 33 feet and priced from $350.00 to $400.00 for a 7 hour day. It does not matter if you are on the Vamonos I, Vamonos II, or Vamonos III, these diesel powered vessels will give 5 to 7 people a great day on the water. Captain Jamie was born and raised in Zihutanejo. He was fishing with his uncles exposed to the elements in an open panga before most kid's mothers would allow them to cross a street unattended. Captain Jamie has been doing this for a long time and his clients have hooked an average of 250 sailfish each year....year in and year out. Each year there are a few international billfish tournaments here and in Lazero Cardenas. These tournaments are gaining recognition and generally never have less than 100 boats competing. To give you an idea of how successful Captain Jaime is, he has accomplished the incredible feat of actually winning seven of the tournaments outright for an average of one win per year. It seems like when he is on the water, everyone else is fishing for second place. Captain Jamie can be reached at 554-8158.
"He flat out produces marlin when other people do not think they are even in the area."-- Kunze on Capt. Hernandez
Captain José (Chiquis) Alberto Hernandez is the owner/operator of the 36 foot diesel powered sportfishing boat named the "Intruza". With an extremely wide beam and spacious cabin, the "Intruza" ensures a very comfortable ride for as many as 6 passengers under any conditions. At a very reasonable $350.00 for a 7 hour day, she is moored and departs from the Puerto Mio gas dock in Zihuatanejo Bay.
Captain Hernandez is defiantly one of the better fishing captains along the Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo coastline. It is a very rare occasion when he has not put his clients onto the targeted species. Like most of the good captains, year round they are on the water with clients several days a week. They get their information from their own experiences and are able to take their clients to the best areas without having to depend on information doled out by others.
If you had to pinpoint a specialty for Chiquis, or at least what he loves to fish, he would tell you the sailfish are his bread and butter but the blue marlin are what are always on his mind. He flat out produces marlin when other people do not think they are even in the area.
He likes to fish the blue water current and if it takes a 20 mile run to get to it, he will be there. He knows that there are lots of game fish closer to the beach but his better percentages are in the blue water.
His marlin are usually caught while fishing for sailfish. He does this by taking the time on his way out to catch a barrilete (a 3 pound black tuna) and will use this live bait on a downrigger while the rest of the other 4 trolling rods are rigged for sailfish. The large live bait is rigged on a standard live bait harness, the bait connected to the hook by waxed thread in front of the eyes, with the bait trailing along behind. A properly rigged live bait will last all day, or at least until it gets bit. The bait is big enough that other fish leave it alone and when it is taken, you know it will be a big marlin. It is inevitable that if a blue or black marlin is in the area and see this offering just cruising along about 30 feet below the surface, an easy snack is just too good to pass up.
Marlin and all game fish are attracted to a boat from the bubbles thrown off by the turning propeller. This same effect also happens when a school of fish are crashing on bait. The game fish probably notices the boat first because of the noise and vibrations. Whether or not the noise duplicates a feeding frenzy, it does bring the fish to the boat to check it out. When the game fish see the white water from the prop, a large bait cruising under the surface and several smaller ones skipping the top as if they are being pursued, the reactive instinct sets in and the marlin charge into the foray.
Even though marlin are generally here year round, our best season for them is when the water cools down a little from November through June. When targeting marlin for his clients, Chiquis can just about assure that if they spend 3 days on the "Intruza", they will catch the fish of a lifetime.
Captain Chiquis can be reached at 554-8436.
"...a good Captain is only as good as his deckhand because of the alertness and skills required." -- Capt. Cortés
Captain Angel (Mecate) Cortés is the owner of the sportfishing cruiser named the "Aqua Azul" (Blue water) which is moored and embarks from the Puerto Mio gas dock in Zihuatanejo Bay. The "Aqua Azul" is 36 feet long, powered by twin Perkin diesels and comfortably fishes 4 or 5 people at a very reasonable $300.00 for a 7 hour day.
Sailfish are Captain Mecate's specialty. He is definitely one of the better captains going for these exotic gamefish in an area renown for its year-round abundance of sailfish. People from all over the world make Ixtapa / Zihuatanejo their destination in pursuit of these spectacular aerobatic fish.
Mecate is 45 years old and has fished and lived in Zihuatanejo all his life. He knows these waters better than most people know their own neighborhoods. Generally, he fishes the areas from 6 to 15 miles straight out of Zihuatanejo Bay and even though he is not a perfect 100%, it is a rare occasion when his clients do not get an opportunity to witness firsthand the beauty and aerial display of a sailfish at the end of their line.
For locating his quarry, his method of choice is to simulate a school of fleeing bait fish. Sailfish are aggressive predators and even if not hungry, Mecate can trigger a "reaction" strike by properly presenting a bait that looks like it is being pursued yet, in the opinion of the sailfish, a tasty morsel is about to escape. He does this by trolling a spread of baits called "split tail". Trolling a "split tail" bait is the method that is the most commonly used by all the captains on this coast and consists of a 6 to 8 inch goggle eye (ojotone) or a 10 to 12 inch mullet (lisa) cut and sewn on the hook in such a manner that the back half of the bait is split right on through the tail. This creates two separate tail sections that simulate a very realistic live bait imitation when trolled at 5 to 7 mph.
Sometimes you can watch as the sailfish, with a burst of speed, will come up into the spread of trolled baits, choose one and slash at it with its beak. In his real hunting environment, this will stun the bait and then he can slow down and eat his meal. By simulating this real life environment and trolling an imitation bait, when the sailfish hits the down rigger or outrigger rod, an automatic "drop back" is created from the slack line as it is released from the clip. To the sailfish, everything is natural because the bait was stunned and stopped dead in the water. It is also fine if the bait takes off again once the slack line is used up due to the boat maintaining its forward progress because a stunned live bait can recover and take off as well. At this point, the sailfish really will take the bait because his reactive instincts will not allow it to escape.
On blind strikes or when a sailfish hits the flatline rod, a deckhand (marinero) must be sharp and paying attention. He will grab the rod and free spool it in order to simulate the drop back and then set the hook. When the fishing is slow and you have to make every opportunity count, a good Captain is only as good as his deckhand because of the alertness and skills required. Mecate has chosen and trained his deckhands with care, teaching them all the tricks he has accumulated over the years. The really good deck hands go on to be captains themselves and when they are trained by men like Mecate, it ensures that our area will have quality fishing in years to come.
Captain Mecate can be reached at 556-6772.
Also you can contact:
Ed Kunze
edkunze@gmail.com