Going to Peurto Vallarta around Christmas and wanted to start planning my fishing.  When it comes to saltwater (or really all fishing) I'm a light tackle junkie.  From a quick google search all I see are heavy trolling trips.  I guess eventually I need to bow down to the marlin, but does anyone have any suggestions for trips that would be light tackle?  And if not, I will take suggestions for big game charters if anyone has experience there.

 

Thanks in advance.

I've been to both Cabo and PV many times, I have a time share in Cabo and a sister resort in PV.  In PV there are charters that primarily fish inside Banderas Bay, you may want to look for one that fishes out of a Panga (boat style).  These charters fish for El Toro ( jack crevelles), Dorado and snapper that can run over 20#.  Not knowing what you considered light tackle to be, the lightest I would fish for these species is a hvy 25 lb class rod and 5000 sized spinning reel, personally I'd be using the boat's equipment.  Lighter tackle would be great for some beach casting.  One of the best charters I had was in PV, caught 100# Amberjack, many bull dolphin and some very large snapper, using the boats conventional gear I was so sore the next morning I couldn't raise my arm high enough to brush my teeth.

If you don't mind I'll give you a tip using conventional gear, when reeling in your fish pay attention to spooling the line back on the reel with your thumb, there are no level winds on these reels, you want the line to be evenly distributed.  Pulling up and reeling down is an absolute must, and let the Captain set the drag and don't touch it.  Out there you just never know what's going to hit your line.