READ THIS FIRST
Most fishing in this bay happens on pangas. This is the other kind.
Boat and Bay, a boutique private yacht experience agency in Puerto Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit, Mexico, curates private fishing charters on yachts only — every one with a bathroom aboard, shaded deck space, a working kitchen, and written terms. The fishing is real. The comfort is not negotiable.
The men who fish this bay from pangas have done it their whole lives, and many of them are very good at it. I do not curate pangas, and I will not pretend to. What I hold to a standard is the other way to fish here: a private vessel prepared before you board, a crew whose profession is sport fishing, catering served through the day, and a cancellation policy you can read before you pay. Nothing agreed on the dock. Everything agreed in writing, first.
One vessel in my selection exists for this. Most fishing yachts in the bay did not pass my inspection. F3MJ, a 38-foot sportfishing yacht, did.
A MORNING, TOLD IN HOURS
The day a family fishes.
6 hours of family fishing, departing La Cruz or Nuevo Vallarta
8:00 — La Cruz de Huanacaxtle or Nuevo Vallarta
You board before the heat settles. Coffee is out. The child's rod is already rigged — lighter than the others, sized for smaller hands. You may leave later if you prefer. The fish will not adjust.
8:30 — The bay opens
Lines go in as soon as the marina channel is behind you. F3MJ fishes at eighteen knots; the vessels built for lounging do not, and that difference is measured in hours of fishing gained.
9:30 — The reefs at El Morro
Roosterfish, cubera snapper and coconaco snapper hold along the rock. Some mornings a dorado or a sailfish takes a trolling line on the way out. Some mornings nothing does. Nobody aboard will pretend otherwise.
11:30 — The first fish
Whoever reels it in gets the whole deck clapping — the crew included. Then the photograph, the fish held up, still bright. There is always a photograph.
12:00 — Lunch you caught
The deckhand turns part of the catch into ceviche at the galley counter — lime, salt, not much else. The rest is filleted and vacuum-sealed over ice for the flight home.
2:00 — Back at the dock
In before the afternoon heat, ahead of the boats that left at ten. The child carries the photograph.
FIELD NOTE
The child-friendly light rod aboard is not a toy. It is real tackle scaled down, and the crew rigs it first — a child waiting while adults get ready is a child who has already stopped wanting to fish.
WHAT HAPPENS TO THE FISH
Five honest answers.
Every fish you catch is yours to decide about. Released, if that is the day you want. Turned into ceviche at the galley counter while you watch. Or filleted and vacuum-sealed over ice to travel.
The fourth answer arrives at your door a month or two later. A trophy mount: the moment you decide, the fish is measured and photographed on deck — and that is all the workshop needs, because the mount is a sculpture, not the fish.
Gray Taxidermy of Pompano Beach, Florida builds it: a house more than fifty years old with over half a million mounts behind it, casting its moulds from real fish — which is how a length and a photograph become a replica true to the species down to the set of the fins, hand-finished to the colours your fish had in the water. The same workshop was chosen to reproduce the world-record mako shark. So the same dorado can still be your ceviche an hour later — or the fish goes back over the side alive, and the mount arrives anyway. A sailfish released and a sailfish on your wall can be the same fish. A plaque, a composition — a marlin with a second fish in its jaws — all of it can be specified.
The captain of F3MJ keeps Gray's full price list aboard, so the numbers are on the table before you decide. Mounts run by the length of the fish: the list opens at 619 USD for a catch up to 25 inches, and a 100-inch billfish runs 2,204 USD. Roughly forty percent is paid as a deposit on deck — non-refundable, so the decision is made plainly — and the balance when the mount reaches your home. Crating and delivery are quoted separately, and the contract and the payment are yours with Gray directly; their own representatives work here in Vallarta.
What the crew does — and does often — is everything around it: the measuring, the photographs, the paperwork at the gunwale, or the call that brings the local representative to the dock. One to two months later, depending on the size of the mount, the day is on your wall.
A fifth answer, ashore: several kitchens near the marina will cook your catch for dinner. Tell me and I will point you to the right one.
WHAT WILL NOT HAPPEN
No shared deck with sixteen strangers.
No eight hours without a bathroom.
No warm sandwiches from a cooler at noon.
No verbal agreement that dissolves when the weather turns.
No promises about the fish.
FOR THE ONES WHO CAME TO FISH
The long run.
The biggest fish in these waters do not live inside the bay. Marlin and yellowfin tuna hold at La Corbeteña, a rock rising from deep water past the Marietas, and at El Banco, farther still. Reaching them is an eight-hour day with heavy gear — fifteen trolling rods and four casting rods ride aboard F3MJ, with a live bait well below.
For El Banco, the departure can be set as early as 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. First light at the fishing grounds instead of first light at the dock. The alarm is the price of the chance. We do not run overnight fishing charters — the earliest departure replaces it.
Every November, for more than sixty years, Puerto Vallarta has held an international marlin and sailfish tournament. That is the caliber of water this is. F3MJ has carried bachelor parties who measured their day in fish rather than in bars, and came back at eight to do the bars anyway.
FIELD NOTE
F3MJ is not a vessel of elegant interiors. It is built to fish — kept clean and well cared for, one simple bathroom, cold air inside, and a forward sun deck big enough for the half of your party that came for the sun. For a real fishing day, it is exactly right.
TWO WAYS TO FISH THIS BAY
Which vessel should you fish from?
If the fish are the point of the day, you fish from F3MJ, the dedicated sportfishing yacht. If the fish are the side of the day — a line in the water while the rest of your party cruises, swims and eats — you charter one of three motor yachts that carry fishing gear aboard: 2W, 2MG or 2S.
The fishing day — F3MJ
Built for it. Fishes at eighteen knots, so more of your hours are spent over fish and fewer in transit. Trolling and casting gear for every level, light tackle for children, live bait, a crew whose profession is sport fishing. Up to 8 guests with rods — a working deck needs room for a hooked fish to walk an angler down the gunwale, which is why the fishing capacity is smaller than the cruising capacity of 12.
Slower vessels, more comfort, fishing gear aboard and crews who know how to use it. You troll on the way to lunch. Someone may catch a bonito; someone may catch nothing; everyone swims either way. The primary occasion is the cruise. The fishing is the pleasant maybe.
THE YOUNGEST ROD ABOARD
Can children fish on a private charter?
Yes — and this is where a private fishing yacht earns its price. A child fishing needs shade when the sun gets heavy, a bathroom that is actually aboard, cold air to cool off in, food they will eat, and a crew with the patience to teach. F3MJ carries all five. No experience is needed, at any age.
The crew rigs light tackle for the child and coaches at the child's pace while the adults fish the heavier setups. Lunch boxes are prepared specifically for children, alongside the standard catering. The reefs at El Morro are the right water for it — steady action, manageable fish, and the real possibility of something bigger taking a line while everyone watches.
When a child reels one in, the applause is not a courtesy. Ask any parent who has stood behind them for it.
WHERE THE FISH ARE
Four waters, told plainly.
The route decides the day length, and the day length decides the fish. This is the honest map of it.
There is no closed season on this bay. The biggest offshore game peaks from mid-summer into late fall; winter fishing stays nearer the reefs, with humpback whales alongside from December to March. Tendencies, not promises.
WHAT IS INCLUDED AND WHAT IS NOT
A licensed partner captain and an experienced deckhand — sport fishing is their profession
A 60-minute pre-boarding inspection and a crew briefing in Spanish, before you arrive
Live bait, lures, and all listed gear
IVA and proper invoicing
Standard catering and drinks, served through the day; lunch boxes for children
Not included: boarding at marinas other than Nuevo Vallarta, which carries a transfer fee stated before you confirm, and the whole stuffed fish, which is arranged with the crew on the day.
Ceviche or filleting of your catch, prepared aboard
WHAT I CONTROL & WHAT I DON'T
I select the vessel, inspect it for 60 minutes before you board, brief the crew in Spanish, compose the catering, and put every term in writing. I meet you at the dock and remain reachable from shore until you are back.
I do not board fishing charters — the day stays with the professional crew. I do not control the weather, the sea state, or the fish, and I will never write a sentence that says I do. The captain's decisions on the water are the captain's, and the captain is right.
THE STARTING POINT
Private fishing charters begin at 1,800 USD, VAT included.
Two guests, four hours, departing Nuevo Vallarta. Hours, party size and route move the number. Itemised before you confirm — never after.
QUESTIONS I AM ASKED MOST
Before you fish.
Do you charter fishing pangas?
No. Most fishing in this bay happens on pangas, and the men who run them have fished these waters their whole lives. What I curate is different: private fishing yachts only, each with a bathroom aboard, shade, a kitchen, and written terms. If a panga morning is what you want, I am the wrong agency — and I would rather tell you that than sell you the wrong day.
Will we catch a fish?
Nobody honest promises a fish. What improves the odds is real: a morning departure, live bait, a crew that fishes these waters year-round, and enough hours to reach where the fish are. Some days the bay is generous. I will never present that as a certainty.
Can children fish, with no experience at all?
Yes. Light tackle sized for a child rides aboard, the crew teaches at the child's pace, and children's lunch boxes are part of the catering. The reefs at El Morro give steady, manageable fishing — the kind that makes a child want to go again. Shade, a bathroom and air conditioning do the rest.
What happens to the fish we catch?
Your choice, fish by fish: released; made into ceviche at the galley counter; filleted and vacuum-sealed over ice to travel; turned into a trophy mount by Gray Taxidermy of Florida — a replica molded to your catch's exact length and species, from 619 USD by the list the captain keeps aboard, delivered to your home in one to two months, contracted and paid directly with Gray while the crew handles everything on deck; or carried to a kitchen near the marina that will cook it for your dinner. The mount is a sculpture built from a photograph and measurements taken on deck, so the same fish can still be lunch — or be released alive and hang on your wall anyway.
When is the best season for fishing here?
There is no closed season. The biggest offshore game — marlin, yellowfin tuna — peaks from mid-summer into late fall, when the long runs to La Corbeteña and El Banco pay best. Winter keeps the action nearer the reefs, with humpback whales alongside from December to March. Every November the town holds an international marlin and sailfish tournament, and has for more than sixty years.
How early can we depart?
As early as 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, by arrangement — the long runs reward it with first light at the fishing grounds. We do not run overnight fishing charters; the earliest departure replaces them.
Is Oksana on board during a fishing charter?
No. Fishing days stay with the professional partner crew. My part happens before you board — the inspection, the briefing, the catering, the written terms — and I remain reachable from shore from the moment you leave the dock until you are back.