Hello,
a friend of mine is going there on vacation in a few weeks (lucky guy !).

Can anybody tell me how is shore fishing out there ? What kind of fish ? What gear should he bring along ?

Thanks a lot,
Olivier

Where abouts is he going? I was there on my honeymoon a few years ago. One option is to rent a panga for cheap, no more than $50. This will give him access to some of the larger fish such as Mahi and Wahoo. There was plenty of barracuda inshore and they would be a blast to catch from shore.

The Southern part of the peninsala and areas like Ascension Bay have world class flats fishing. Bones, Permit and miles of wadeable flats.

Puerta Aventura, is one of the larger marinas that hosts many big game charter boats if that is an option. We used http://www.chartermexico.com/index.html. Very profesional and we had a great time.

Thanks Tynan,
I'll ask him where he goes exactly.

I don't think he'll have the money to rent a charter, apart from a panga maybe !!! And he's kind of a beginner fisherman, so let's forget fly fishing.

As far as Cudas are concerned, do you think regular Bass or schoolie Striper gear is strong enough, or is it too light ?
I suppose he'll have to bring some kind of wire for these critters ?
What class of line should he use ? 20 lbs ?

Nasty creatures they are. Pretty prevalent in those waters. They like shiny objects so metal would be best. Their size also varries. While snorkling you would see anywhere from 16 inch fish to ones that where almost 40 inches. Strong fish so I would want a little bit of a stronger setup. Schoolie gear might suffice but not regular bass gear. My wife almost got her rod pulled out of her hands by one. They have very large teeth and strong jaws so wire would probably be best but depending where they hit their prey fluro might be better. I saw a show on the discovery channel recently on Barracudas and they are a highly developed predatory fish. It showed how they attacked their prey. They will usually only hit moving fish. Once they bite it in half the rest of the fish is just left to sink.
I wish I was going back and I am sure your friend will have a great time. The people are great down there and the scenery and history are amazing.