We were in Cartagena for a wedding and needed to finalize the headcount a few days before hand. The communication leading up to the trip was good and they were flexible with us on headcount. I had requested to stay inshore, that we wanted to eat our catch and possibly feed quite a few people (we ended up with 7 fisherman), and that my wife gets seasick. All the communication from Captain John was in English. I was told there would be food and drinks on the boat and we could bring our own also. There was also going to be Dramamine on the boat. The day of the trip we got to the boat and captain John was not there. We learned that he manages the business from Miami and would not be with us. We were on time and they did not have ice or drinks or food yet so we had to wait for the first mate to run to the store while we waited at the dock. No Dramamine either. Once we set sail I started to check out the equipment. Older rods and reals with beat up lures that were clearly for big fish only. The crew did not speak English. We immediately headed to big water and were riding through big waves the entire time. After about a hour of trolling with no bites, I was told the fishing was slow and we’d give it another half hour then move to a different area. I assumed this meant we’d switch tactics but we just talked more, all day, without a bite. The lines kept crossing so they had to cut and reset a few times. We saw a few dolphins, and they dropped us off closer to our hotel but that was about the only good thing about the trip. I understand fishing can be tough for some species on some days but I felt like there was little to no communication between Captain John and the crew. Lesson learned for next time I guess.

Did not catch anything. The “captain” or whomever it was that I was talking with before the trip pawned us off on a crew that did not speak a lick of English. He knew we were coming from America. We would have gone out with them again if the experience was somewhat good. But it was pretty awful from the start. One of the worst fishing experiences I have ever been on. Find someone else to spend the money it. This was absolutely not worth it at all

What a terrible experience with Captain John. I’ve fished all over the world and have never experienced such a poorly run fishing guide. We paid top dollar for it too. First off, we were taken out in a non compliant boat which I learned after boating around for 45min trying to find extra oil to comply with state regulations, which we didn’t find. Couldn’t the boat have been prepared in advance? After trolling for hours and not catching anything, we had two line hang ups and was asked to real in one of them because they thought they had a fish on. We fished for hours with no action. Captain John said we would get live bait and try that method but he never did anything, no bait, no alternate fishing methods to get us into anything.  He wasn’t prepared at all. He decided to pull the lines and take us spear fishing, I was excited to do it. We dropped anchor and jumped in near the coast, as he was handing me the spear he said that what we were doing was illegal so to not let any other boats see us. Are you kidding me? Next thing I noticed was that the snorkel mask and breathing tub had been completely drenched in gasoline. Yes, gasoline. Every mask had this issue, it was insane. We left the area and went to lunch on a small island, food was good and the locals were really nice. Captain John and his crew member said we would tour the castle and maybe fish off the shore of this area knowing we hadn’t caught anything yet, but they had no interest in taking us there. He instead boated us up to one of his personal properties to show us the progress he was making on his new restaurant. He was more interested in talking to his contractors than helping us catch anything. We waisted time there when we should have been fishing. All of this was on top of his racist jokes, yes, legitimate horrible racist jokes aimed at the people of Colombia. Do not give your money to this guy.

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! 

The equipment and boat were poorly equipped. We lost a nice fish due to the poor line management.  There was no lunch. I have yet to receive a copy of my transaction from Captain John.  I was under the impression that our day was to be with Captain John.  We were paired with Captain Dave who had only been in Cartagena for 2 months was unfamiliar with the area we were to fish. The first mate was “experienced”according to Captain John. He did not speak English he was not friendly and was upset with the Captain and his ability to direct the boat in a productive manner. We seemed to go in circles.