sailfish should be around, kingfish as well, there is always the 1000 to 1 shot of getting a marlin, but i know people that have fished a lifetime and not gotten a marlin,(costa rica can guarantee a marlin but i don't want to go to costa rica) and there should be dolphin, (the fish, not the mammal, known in the pacific as Mahi Mahi),,,,,
having lived in key west for 22 years and knowing it to be an expensive place for everything i was surprised to find out that fishing trips in the DR can cost more! in key west i am used to paying 350 dollars for a half day, plus tip for the mate. it is then my boat, captain, mate, ice, and bait...i sometimes take a friend or friends' wife along.......the last time i checked out deeep-sea fishing in the DR it was a per person deal, about 150 bucks and they would not go until they put six others, strangers, on the same boat with me. that is way too crowded,,,no way do i fish that way....7 times 150 bucks = 1050 dollars for the boat,,,in key west it's 350 if i go alone or take 4 friends wives.....also most US charter captains are limited to 6 passengers by the US coast guard,,,,,,safety issues....
when you get a big fish "on" the hook you don't want it getting tangled up with everyone else's line, so they have to get all the other lines out of the water. you can see the dilema.
this type of fishing is done by trolling and you generally can't manage more than 4 lines in the water at a time being trolled anyway....but if you want big fish this is how you fish them..
now if you are talking bottom fishing, the boat drops anchor and everybody drops a line, this can be done a "party boat", i've seen 40 people on them,,,,in KW this costs 25 bucks, i don't know about the DR, this can be a lot of fun and i encourage you to try it,,,,,,however, you do not catch sailfish or marlin this way.........
tight lines and screaming reels to ya,
michael lesawyer
Hi Michael, thanks for the tip.