Boatless Fishing Forum, Reports, Info

Hey guys, have a trip on Dec 15-18 with the Osuna Brothers (Marla Sportfishing) out of Puerto Vallarta that one of our group had to drop out last minute due to a family illness. If you have any interest in going and can make it shoot me a PM. Cost is $1675 for 2.5 days of fishing (food and tackle provided if you don't want to bring your own). We will be targeting big yellowfin tuna. The Osunas have consistently been catching 200-300 lb fish over the past month. Just thought I'd throw it out there to see if anyone can fill this slot.

kblue?

I have fished with BNZ (Bill) on the yankee capt. and on his boat..... He is a stand up guy & loves fishing! This is a great trip with great people going as well.

If my passport wasn't out of date I would join you. Try this on 360tuna or bloodydecks you have a chance there of finding someone

Yep, already posted on both places. Just thought I’d try here as well. There are a few on here who’ve told me they’d like to do this trip sometime. Disadvantage is that this is last minute for such a big trip.

Alright guys, trip is paid for so at this point trying to just recoup a little money for the guy who dropped out. Your cost is $1,000 and he paid your deposit.

Discounted spot taken.

Just thought I'd post a recap of how the trip went.

We were joined by Mike and Scott for our trip to Puerto Vallarta this year and can't say how honored we were to have them along (Vietnam vet and 9/11 responder). For all the troubles we had putting this trip together I can't say how well it ended up going for us. If you've never been our trip went something like this:

Fly in to Puerto Vallarta




Stay the first night at a B&B a few blocks from the marina




Eat dinner that night




And lunch the next afternoon while waiting to board the Marla IV




Leave the marina some time after 5 pm and cruise all night out to the islands. By early the next morning you are ready to begin your fishing.




After discussing our options with Capt Scott we decided to head out to the furthest island as he said there were a lot of big tuna spread out there lately. We could have fished the first island where the smaller ones were schooled up but we came to try for the big girls. Mike had been on a 3.5 day trip on the boat two weeks prior and they did well the first 2 days but skunked out the last after an accident with their bait and it all died. He especially was wanting a tuna over 200 lbs. At the third island we knew patience was going to be the name of the game.

Mike ready to get the balloon out




And sometime that morning we hooked up and Mike was first




But this fish was not to be. It came unzipped on him. Later in the morning we had another hook up and it was Scott's turn.







It came in at 67" and 196 lbs. Got the lines back out to wait again and later in the morning we had another hook up. Called for Mike to take this one and the fight was on.






We knew this one was another good one but didn't realize how nice it was until it died down deep and Mike had to winch it up. The only thing we saw was a big head coming straight up out of the water at us.





The fish was so big that not even three of the Osunas could get it over the rail like they usually do.




So it was through the door it came.




Ended up being 82.5" and 347 lbs. Mike's goal of surpassing a 200 lb fish was far surpassed. Of course the hook was saved for posterity.

That afternoon the bite pretty much died down so we went closer inshore for some pargo, triggers, and amberjack. I turned in early as I was tired and the others stayed up to sabiki some bait for the next day. I ended up waking around 3 am, and since everyone else was asleep grabbed a squid jig and was able to jig up around 40 squid for the next day. We were set for bait.

The morning started out the same in getting our lines out and it wasn't long before one of the free lined squids was hit. It was my turn.




The only problem was that as I was fighting this fish the handle on the reel seized up on me and I could barely turn it. I was fighting the reel more than I was the fish. The Osuna's jumped right in and we were able to tie on to another rod and reel and continue the fight.







The fish ended up being 70" and 202 lbs. A little while later we had another hook up on a freelined bait and it was LB's turn. We got her strapped into her harness and it was on.




Had to chase this fish around the boat a couple of times but she handled it like a pro.





Got it up and down.





And the gaff shot.






Before we could get LB's pic with the tuna standing up one of the ballooned baits was hit and Scott was back up.




It wasn't long into his fight that a freelined bait on my titan H jigging rod and alutecnos gorilla 20 was hit as well.




Double hook up.




I had my drag set at 35 lbs and this fish pulled drag all the way to the last minute. I was able to get it up and down and as close as 30' under the boat and there the fight went on for another 30 min.




You can see where Scott had landed his fish (68" and 180 lbs) but I was stuck gaining and losing ground to this fish. Finally was able to get it close enough for the gaff and it was over. Mine ended up being 67.5" and 185 lbs.




The trio




After this we were all tired and were probably grateful the fishing had slowed again in the afternoon. We decided to end the trip with another run inshore to go after some pargo but it was the triggers that took the day.




The sun was setting and it was time to head back to the dock.




An unforgettable trip with new friends made. The food was simple but great and as always the Osunas work hard and are pleasurable to fish with.

Great report and some quality fish. That is a nice fish on a jigging set up. I may have to set up a trip like this as the time required for the long range trips gets to be a hassle sometimes.

Dang what a sweet report.
Thats some fighting right there. Would give an arm to have a 185 on a jigging setup. Hell 60 would do lol.

Awesome writeup

Thanks so much for sharing

Bill

That is a great report !!! 185lb on Jigging rod was the best!!!

Congrats on the trip and the last final moments dance to get it all together!

Few questions!

after an accident with their bait and it all died.

What happened?

I turned in early as I was tired

I dont believe this!

Great trip once again! 347lbs!!! DAMN!!!

Great report bud. Love them big tuna so much I spend 16 days a year long range fishing for em. Hope this fishery stays healthy.

Awesome! I'd definitely be interested in a trip like this, much easier then trying to find time for a long range trip.

The only thing that detours me from a long range trip is the 2-3 days of traveling on the water with no fishing. Not sure I could do it without going crazy.


On the other hand I do have Dec 7-10 booked for next year. The Osunas do have two boats they can run out there (overnight trip) if there are enough people.

Yes 2-3 days relaxing talking fishing and drinking really sucks lol. It's part of the fun of the trip.

Heck, even the overnight trip on the YC is too long for me.

One hell of a trip Bill. Awesome way to end the year! Let me know by when I need to send the deposit for next year's trip

Definitely. You were missed on this year’s trip.

Wondering what is not included in "Cost is $1675 for 2.5 days of fishing"???

Not included is airfare, B&B cost for one night, taxi to and from the airport, and any meals while waiting to board the Marla IV. The boat will provide food, drinks, tackle, and vacuum packing of fish. (Other charters there charge you extra for food, drinks, every piece of tackle you use, and fish cleaning).

How do you get the fish home? Do they flash freeze em for you? The Diego boats gut and gill em when caught, then pack em in RSW. Once we arrive at the dock the processors take over. 5 Star pulls your fish, weighs em, logs the weight, then they pack em in forklift boxes and pack em in ice. You can pick up your fresh fish that afternoon if you’re local. Or you can have em flash freeze em and air freight em like I do. It’s expensive though. .85 a pound to process and .80 + or - a pound to ship depending of air freight prices.

Anyway you look at it, the P/V trip is way cheaper. I probably spend upwards of 8k total plus any new gear. Tackle wise 4/0 through 9/0 hooks. PL68 jigs. Wind on leaders 80 pound through 150. Marauders for wahoo and wahoo bombs. And squid jigs. Add various assorted Tandy’s and such and you can run up a hell of a bill first time out. How much of everything you need depends on where you’re fishing. The buffer zone isn’t usually sharky But can be. Guadalupe on the other hand is known for 20 foot whites so you’ll lose allot more there. 2 trips before ours caught a ton of fish at Guadalupe but nothing big made it back to the boat. FF is right though. I enjoy the boat ride. We party the whole way down and back. Backs the best because there’s only a few of us on the boat. Everyone else bails in Cabo. Loss of WiFi now is a little inconvenient but boats got hundreds of DVD’s.

I brought home 110 lbs of tuna this past trip. I have one roller cooler that is used as a carry on (40-60 lbs can fit), a soft sided polar bear 48 can cooler (40 lbs checked), and a polar bear backback cooler (30 lbs) carry on.

The boat now has a vacuum sealer on board so they will put your fish first in an icy saltwater bath after vacuum packing and then into their deep freeze. It does help them if you bring your own vacuum bags (vacmaster).