What would you recommend to anglers fishing in Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur for the first time?

The water was colder than normal for this time of year so the fish weren't as abundant. I guess they head out of the bay with cold water. However, we still had good action and caught what we were hoping for!

We learned that August was not the best time to fish in Cabo, but that is when we were there, so that is what we did. We had a great time, but will chose a different month for better conditions next time. No fault to anyone but ourselves.

Truly a family experiance with a great team. Our group included 3 kids (9,11,12)and 3 adult ranging from first timer sport fishing to a life time of experience. This trip hit the mark for everyone and provide a once in a lifetime experiance.

While we were disappointed to learn from our captain that we cannot ship fish home to Texas, he suggested that we take the fish to a local service that would package and flash freeze it for us to take on the plane. We decided it was too much to take care of as we still have 4 days here in Cabo. We took enough fish for our days here and took some to a restaurant at the marina which cooked some for us as soon as we got off the boat. It was delicious. The trip is definitely kid friendly but I’d say only for half a day. We were whooped after a full day so I imagine a full day would be hard on young kids.

Fishing was slow closer in towards shore. If you want to catch sport fish, rent the bigger boats going out further. If you just want to catch some fish, the bottom drift fishing was fine and provided some action.

I have sport fished a number of times and the stated goal was always to go for the big marlin or tuna. Don't get me wrong, hooking into one is awesome and a thrill of a lifetime, but don't skip on some bottom fishing. This is the first time I got skunked on a marlin but also the first time I pulled up shop and went bottom fishing for eating fish. What we caught (sea bass, grouper, snapper) was in abundance and so delicious to eat it was amazing. We pulled up multiple lines with 3 fish on (5 baited hooks per line). Having done the bottom fishing, there is no question that I have completely changed my opinion on sportfishing. If you are out for 8 hours, go for that big catch and if you hook into it, hold on for the ride. Regardless of the big fish, from now on, I will ALWAYS add some bottom fishing simply cause it's fun, easy, and the fish you catch you can eat. Do yourself a favor and tell your captain that you want the last 2 hours of your day to be spent bottom fishing and take that catch to a local place to be cooked. You won't regret it.

Bring a backpack so you can keep all valuables in the kitchen area. If you do put things in your pockets, make sure that the pockets have zippers so as to not lose anything. If you’re going to use your cell phone, you better have a death grip on it because the boat is moving bobbing and weaving and there’s no getting it back once it falls in. These are standard things on any boat no matter where you’re fishing. Also I would recommend layers of clothing. Unless it’s August, we start off in sweats and a jacket and then a sweatshirt and sweats and then a T-shirt and sweats and then shorts and a T-shirt and then just shorts. I would recommend layers of clothing. It’s always better to take something off then to not have something you feel you need. Bring water bring some food and bring your muscles. This is sportfishing not really for the elderly or the weak. If you’re not into a lot of exercise, just take a water taxi and take a little tour out of the water. This is sportfishing emphasis on the word sport.

For first time anglers, there are several best practices I would recommend: 1) Be very clear when booking on your objectives for the trip and adjust your trip duration accordingly. If seeking Marlin, arrange for at least a 6-hour trip. 2) The Cabo Marina is massive and cab drivers/language barriers can hinder you arriving at the required pier/slip designation in time for your charter departure. 3) Inquire whether the charter will turnkey the process of obtaining the fishing license, or if you will need to secure the license personally. If the latter, add at least 15 minutes of extra time to complete this process; and 4) which relates back to item #1 above, confirm your desire trip objective with the captain when you are arrive at your boat. The tendency of the charters is to fix standard, closer shore destinations for easy limits of Mahi and Tuna--which is fine if those are your target species. If aiming mainly for Marlin, you will need to be clear that you want to fish offshore.

Yes I recommend. I booked a private charter my son and I. A father son experience. Leaving the dock it was an incredible sunrise as you can see in the video. Then when we started driving out, due to storms a few hundered miles south, the swells in the ocean were big, not height but constantly rough. We powered through and went after Marlin. We went through visited a couple spots. About 2 hours in. FISH ON! The battle was on, and as a good dad I deferred to my son to battle the fish. During the 30-40 min battle, the fished jumped out of the water and it was incredible. It was not a Marlin. It was a rare, blue sparkly spotted Sailfish. Wow. I knew these were rare and if you get lucky, you get a Marlin but we hooked a Sailfish. The battle was intense, and when it was jumping out of the water wow! It was out of a dream. This fish was magical and we decided to keep it and make a trophy. It was 90 inches and 101 pounds. I want to say Alfonso (Captain) and Edgar (First Mate) were incredible. A fun group. My son and I had a great time. I recommend booking them for sure! We did have to reschedule one day later due to the weather being bad the day before, they were easy with that. Thank you BlueSea Sportsfishing for providing an experience of a lifetime. We will see you again soon!

Hard to say with one afternoon of fishing but if I had to choose Florida (fished numerous times) All my charters now would be in Cabo. More variety in the same area-you don’t spend 2 hrs of you trip getting to the good spot. I’m curious to give it a few more tries and see what it offers!

Communicate with the crew about what you want to target and how you want to fish. We didn’t on our first trip and trolled the whole time so we’re bored. If we had told them that, they would have put on some live bait and we would have had more fun. We went out 3 days and only caught 5 fish.

Be prepared for not ideal conditions and possibly not hooking up to a fish the first few hours, but stay committed to the process and talk with your fishing guides to see if you should potentially change spots or fishing tactics.

I understand we can’t catch all the fish but at the least we could have tried to catch a different type. Our friends went on trip same day and they had no luck with marlin but caught plenty of tuna. We didn’t have that option. Also no mention of paying for license or bait and we got stuck with that charge also.

Fishing license are $20 each and can be picked up at the docks. Live bait is recommended to be purchased and was an additional $40. Purchased from a small bait just outside the marina. Glad I got it because the live bait landed us a big fish.

It’s fishing and just because you’re at one of the best places in the world to fish doesn’t mean you’ll catch a lot of fish. I went on 2 trips in a week and the first wasn’t very successful but the second could get much better.

Boat had us buy a fishing license and also buy the bait for the day. Not something I was use to in MX, but OK. $20 for the license and $40 for bait, cash only. I saw most boats in the Marina doing the same thing, so wasn’t just us.

Unbelievable service. Provided drinks and constant snacks throughout our 8 hour all day inclusive trip. We caught 2 Wahoo which we later had for dinner. Ricardo, Noah, and El Capitan David are the best you will find. There were alot of boats on the water, and we were the only ones that caught fish. You're making a mistake if you do not book with them.

I recommend taking Dramamine the night before and morning of if you may get sea sick. Book a bigger boat if you can afford to do so. Bring more cash than you think you need. $40 for 10 live bait fish goes very quickly.

Wear sunscreen, a light jacket or 2nd layer of shirt. Ask questions before booking. Remember it’s fishing not catching so don’t be disappointed if you don’t catch fish. Half day recommended for first timers.

Enjoy the day out on the water. For only a few $ more than a whale watching trip per person you have have lots more time out, see whales (during season) & catch fish. Often you see other sea life also - we saw a turtle & dolphins this trip, and we have seen rays in the past. Also, only the fishing boats get the “Sea Lion Inspections” that the kids will love! Most kids won’t be able to reel in the big Marlins but it’s great fun for adults of all ages and the work can be shared if one gets tired. The smaller, good to eat, fish can be fun and more activity for the younger or impatient groups.

Very easy booking experience (Fishing Booker) and all the boats are at the marina which is within walking distance and very easy to find. Kids trips are good for 5 hrs but if they can tolerate 8 (full day), I would recommend doing 8 hrs and splitting the trip up into 4 hrs small game fish, then 4 hrs on large game. Large game afternoon so you can end trip early if they aren’t biting. Go with live bait when available. There is also a good grocery store at the marina if you want coffee, snacks, drinks, or fishing license before heading out in the early morning.

Don't plan on the marlin and tuna / dorado that is on everyones' mind. Those species are not available in catchable numbers in March. The inshore action is good with a rooster fish being on many people's bucket list is definitely available as well as cero mackeral, yellowtail and skipjack tuna which are all good eating species.

Don’t trust Fishing Booker. The whole point of using a service is because good guides are better at running trips that running a business. You cannot be confident in the way Fishing Booker runs their business. They took my money but never confirmed with the guide. Fortunately he is a reputable man who made it right and rebooked me on a day of my choosing

Check the season on what bucket list fish and water temps and fishing reports where ever you journey takes you it's different every everywhere around the world yr round for bill fish and the mahi, wahoo,tuna and others.

Billfish are hit or miss in the colder months. Know that going in to avoid being disappointed. We tried hard for a Marlin, but just couldn’t find warm enough water. Where as a week earlier the water was a couple degrees warmer and they had hooked up. We switched to rooster fish and had a blast catching what was a bucket list fish for me.

Everything that other charters were posting being caught daily left group very very optimistic...but sadly resulted in our charter, not catching 1 fish. I realize it's called fishing and not catching, but to be skunked, what is considered to be prime time fishing, was extremely disappointing to say the least for the price we paid$$$

El Budster prides itself on the customer and exercises great care towards the safety of the client. Initially questions are asked of the type of fish seeking to be caught and will try his best to accommodate.

I do not recommend fishing in Cabo for young children under 12. It can be graphic and there is alot of commotion and yelling at times. If you have a child that is not prepared for this, i would not recommend. Our kids loved it, but at moments our daughter had trouble emotionally but that is part of fishing.

This particular charter boat was older and well worn, it was not told to us but the fishing was Off season, we had an inexperienced captain who did not prepare the boat or the bait before we arrived.

You get to relax and enjoy all the cool experiences that you typically do not see. From the sunrise boat ride, to the arches, to getting bait, to watching other boats. Very cool. I am happy I did it. I recommend.