Last week my buddy Robert invited me fishing with him. I hadn’t been fishing in the Pacific Ocean in more than five years, so it seemed like enough time had passed for me to give it another go. I’m generally bad luck when it comes to catching fish. He had rented a boat and crew and we would be trolling for dorado (mahi mahi). Trolling is running multiple lines off the back of the boat as it moves fairly slowly through the water. There’s a lot of watching rods to see if there’s a tug. I asked Robert how he came to choose this boat, and he said he went online and basically did a google search, found reviews, and chose based on that. He has been fishing a few other times over the past several months and has fished on a different boat each time, and gone after different fish each time.

We rode with Edgar and Andy on the Elva III. It’s a 32foot long boat with a decent enough bathroom. Their father has a fishing boat, too, called the Elva II, and their mother is Elva I. I arrived at the pier at 6:35am and the crew was already waiting to push off the dock. Of course I fell getting into the boat. It was nice to see the sunrise as we left the bay and entered the Pacific Ocean. I had taken a motion sickness pill before leaving the house, and for the most part my body held up okay. I did take a nap about 2 hours into our expedition.

By 8:30am we had caught three dorado fish. I had also reeled in a skipjack tuna, but that was immediately tossed back into the water. We also saw several dolphins and sea turtles, plus a container ship, shrimp boat, and other Zihua pangas out fishing. We got back to the Zihua pier at 2:30pm. It was a long day! Edgar and Andy raised three yellow flags above the boat as we entered the bay. This signifies our catch as a form of bragging rights.

I thought Edgar and Andy did a great job and would recommend them to other people visiting and looking for a fishing excursion. If not those guys, then do your research and make sure to find someone that will take care of you on the water. I think the going rate for a fishing trip is more or less 5,000 pesos for the day, and this generally allows you up to four people. The boat was ready to go on time in the morning, Edgar and Andy did all the prep work, getting bait and providing a cooler of beer and soda. They were constantly maintaining an organized boat while we were on the water, and they cleaned the fish before we returned to Zihua. Robert was prepared and brought several bags to put the fish in. I believe tipping is generally expected, so depending on each person’s experience a few hundred pesos per crew member would be appreciated.

If you do go on a fishing excursion, don’t forget a hat, sunglasses, sunscreen, motion sickness pills, and your camera. Bring bags if you want to take your fish home. It can be a long day, so extra water and some snacks are a good idea. If you plan on drinking beer then you won’t regret bringing a good koozie to keep the drink cold. Maybe I’ll go fishing again within the next five years, with a preference to catch something different and to limit the trip to four hours. I do feel like I broke my string of fishing bad luck, though.