I contacted a few different captains prior to going to Cartagena.  I was looking for a family fishing trip where I could also do a little fly fishing.  I picked Cartagena Fishing due to his boat, he spoke English and sounded like he had some experience guiding fly fishing.  So I booked the FAMILY FUN TRIP with Captain John V.  I communicated with him via WhatApp several times, he sent pictures of fish they were catching, I was excited to go.  As soon as I met him on the dock he said that we were not fishing him, we were fishing with another guide which surprised us.  The plan was to troll for a bit, then chum to bring in some fish where my wife and daughter could fish, I could also fly fish and then possibly fish some flats (which he never mentioned in previous conversations).  Well, the captain that John sent us with did not speak English which made it a little difficult.  I understand that I am in another country that generally does not speak English, however, that was part of the reason I booked with John.  We loaded up into the boat and started out.  The water was pretty rough.  We had a wave come over the starboard side of the boat that actually knocked my wife off of the captains bench and onto the floor of the boat.  Needless to say, that was a bit startling.  The captain said we could not get to the spot that he usually trolls.  So we headed to another spot, which by seeing the GPS, the captain never fished before.  We trolled around for another three or four hours without any action.  It appeared to me that the captain had no other plans to fish anywhere else and did not have chum to continue with the original plan.  I assume that he was expecting to catch something trolling to use as chum but again, could not communicate with him, so I am not sure.  We decided to call it a day… half way through the FAMILY FUN TRIP…

Later that day, John contacted me and asked to take me out to fish the mangroves another day but unfortunately, I did not have another day available to fish.  This also made me question why the captain I was with did not take us to the mangroves…  Maybe it was due to the fact that he only reels for trolling and did not have the equipment to fish the mangroves…  I assume that John’s boat would have been prepared for this but who knows…

I have been on enough fishing trips to know that you cannot always catch something and you also cannot change the weather.  However, I also know that a good guide or captain will do whatever they can to make your trip enjoyable, regardless of the conditions This did not happen, not even close.  We had no specific fish we wanted to catch, just wanted to go out and have a fun day on the water, fishing for whatever is willing to take our bait.  We are easy to please. 

I was not told that we would not be fishing with Captain John until we were on the dock.  I booked with Captain John and expected to fish with Captain John.  And if he decided to for whatever reason (more money, more people, etc…) to take a different group, I should have been notified and had the choice for a refund or go with the other captain.  Again, that did not happen.  I saw in the comments that there was a similar issue where John had a family emergency, that is a little more understandable, but again, the clients should have had the option to get a refund or go with the other captain.  However, this was definitely not the case for us.  Captain John was there taking a different group out.

I feel bad about writing a negative review but hopefully this will help future prospective fishermen.  At the very least, prompt them to confirm the details. 

It was an expensive couples hours…  on the positive side,  my next trip (not with Cartagena Fishing) can only be better!