Just got back yesterday from a vacation to the Dominican Republic. Wonderful vacation, many new experiences. The most unique of which...a deep sea fishing trip in what was not much more than a row boat.

When we booked the trip we were told to make sure we had plenty of sun screen and wore hats because, of course, we'd be going out in a "traditional Dominican fishing boat". My initial thought was...well...I guess there's just not much cover.

Wrong...the wife of the captain picks us up and brings us into to town where we will be launching from the beach. Okay...thats fine...what next. She points out the new motor he just bought...a 25 HP Mercury. Hmmm...well lets see how this goes.

We get out on the beach to see the captain launching a large row boat by rolling it over what appeared to be a 24" piece of pvc pipe. Okay...I can handle this. We get in and start heading out. The captain puts out two rods in rod holders for trolling and starts heading out to buoys that have been placed in various places for the purpose of attracting bait fish and hopefully mahi mahi and tuna. They then hand my wife a rod to hold while we troll and shortly after she lands a bonito(sp?).

The fish puts on a hell of a fight and she gets it in. Not big, but you know how any sort of tuna is. She then switches with me and I catch one just slightly bigger. I must admit...I've caught them before and bigger, but never had a rod in my hands when it hit...nothing in the world like it.

Suddenly I realize that the wind has picked up and so have the waves. Water is starting spray up at us as the boat cruises through the water. I'm looking back at the captain and I see an interesting look on his face as he throttles down the motor and suddenly my back is soaked and there's water crashing into the boat. He starts scooping water out in what appears to be a cut open gallon jug. No look of panic, so I don't worry.

Lunch time! So I hand the captain's mate the fishing pole and start eating a delicious turkey sandwich prepared by the captain's wife. Unfortunately, this gave me time to think...

The water is continuing to get rougher and rougher and I realize how far we've gone and how far away from shore we are. Then I come to the realization that there is no radio on-board...and suddenly all I see are scenes out of movies where people are stuck out to sea in larger boats...and remember that I still feel like I'm a rowboat. A bit of panic begins to set in so I tell the captain that at any point he doesn't think this is safe that we can head in and I don't need my full 6 hours. He replies that it will take us 2 hours to get back anyways.

So then for the next two hours, I'm gripping the piece of plywood I'm sitting on in total panic. Trying to figure out if I am a strong enough swimmer to get back if something happens and knowing my wife certainly isn't. When we finally got back I was never so happy to be on land.

Definitely a unique experience. Definitely would not do again, but hey...you only live once. If anyone gets the chance to do something like this...think about what the water may be like later in the day...I bet its great. The captain and his mate were excellent...but wow. This is certainly second hand to them...but again...wow.

Its actually quite humorous to me in hindsight. Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong forum since we weren't "bass fishing." Would love to hear similar stories from other people.

At one time we had a place in Cabo.  The first couple of years I went fishing in a Panga, not big maybe 23' or so.  No motor, the guide rowed into the cape, but there you need not go very far into the bay, now they have motors.

Yeh those bonita are awesome, we catch them here in Florida. 

Yeah I guess you just never know what to expect huh. At least they seemed nice. And you had a nice samich

Just got back yesterday from a vacation to the Dominican Republic. Wonderful vacation, many new experiences. The most unique of which...a deep sea fishing trip in what was not much more than a row boat.

When we booked the trip we were told to make sure we had plenty of sun screen and wore hats because, of course, we'd be going out in a "traditional Dominican fishing boat". My initial thought was...well...I guess there's just not much cover.

Wrong...the wife of the captain picks us up and brings us into to town where we will be launching from the beach. Okay...thats fine...what next. She points out the new motor he just bought...a 25 HP Mercury. Hmmm...well lets see how this goes.

We get out on the beach to see the captain launching a large row boat by rolling it over what appeared to be a 24" piece of pvc pipe. Okay...I can handle this. We get in and start heading out. The captain puts out two rods in rod holders for trolling and starts heading out to buoys that have been placed in various places for the purpose of attracting bait fish and hopefully mahi mahi and tuna. They then hand my wife a rod to hold while we troll and shortly after she lands a bonito(sp?).

The fish puts on a hell of a fight and she gets it in. Not big, but you know how any sort of tuna is. She then switches with me and I catch one just slightly bigger. I must admit...I've caught them before and bigger, but never had a rod in my hands when it hit...nothing in the world like it.

Suddenly I realize that the wind has picked up and so have the waves. Water is starting spray up at us as the boat cruises through the water. I'm looking back at the captain and I see an interesting look on his face as he throttles down the motor and suddenly my back is soaked and there's water crashing into the boat. He starts scooping water out in what appears to be a cut open gallon jug. No look of panic, so I don't worry.

Lunch time! So I hand the captain's mate the fishing pole and start eating a delicious turkey sandwich prepared by the captain's wife. Unfortunately, this gave me time to think...

The water is continuing to get rougher and rougher and I realize how far we've gone and how far away from shore we are. Then I come to the realization that there is no radio on-board...and suddenly all I see are scenes out of movies where people are stuck out to sea in larger boats...and remember that I still feel like I'm a rowboat. A bit of panic begins to set in so I tell the captain that at any point he doesn't think this is safe that we can head in and I don't need my full 6 hours. He replies that it will take us 2 hours to get back anyways.

So then for the next two hours, I'm gripping the piece of plywood I'm sitting on in total panic. Trying to figure out if I am a strong enough swimmer to get back if something happens and knowing my wife certainly isn't. When we finally got back I was never so happy to be on land.

Definitely a unique experience. Definitely would not do again, but hey...you only live once. If anyone gets the chance to do something like this...think about what the water may be like later in the day...I bet its great. The captain and his mate were excellent...but wow. This is certainly second hand to them...but again...wow.

Its actually quite humorous to me in hindsight. Sorry if I've posted this in the wrong forum since we weren't "bass fishing." Would love to hear similar stories from other people.

wow im sorry for your bad experience in the dominican republic im a local in the north coast (puerto plata ) and we do a lot of good deep sea fishing and bottom fishing and in fresh water we go fishing for bass , peacock bass  and trouts next time sent me a pm i will direct you to the right people   

dominicanbass - Don't get me wrong.  It was certainly different and like I said humorous once we got back to shore. 

A different sort of judgement certainly would have been used by a captain here in the States, but its a totally different mindset concerning both the boat and people on board.  I would certainly recommend the trip to someone looking for that sort of wild experience.

On another note...would have enjoyed going into the rivers.  Wish I had been in touch before we left...cuz we were in Cabarete, not far from you. 

Next time...