Most fishing captains in Punta Cana will tell you they know the water. Edgar Acra can tell you the exact number. In the 2024 blue marlin season he released 104 blue marlin, put together four grand slams in about thirty-five days, and averaged at least one blue a day. His best day was 10 for 13 on blue marlin.
Key takeaways
- Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina; moved to the Dominican Republic at age seven.
- Relocated to Punta Cana in 2016 for one reason: to learn billfish properly.
- Runs a 42′ Ocean Yachts Super Sport out of Cap Cana Marina, where releasing billfish is not optional.
A North Carolina kid who moved to the Caribbean
Edgar was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1987. His childhood fishing looked like most American kids’ childhood fishing: crappie, largemouth bass, bluegill. Ponds and lake edges.
When he was seven, the family moved to the Dominican Republic. His father bought a center console, an Aquasport 23, and everything changed inside a single afternoon.
The day that hooked him for good
Six miles off the coast on their first trip out, they found a tree log floating in open water. Anyone who fishes offshore knows what that means. Structure in the middle of nowhere holds fish, and this one was loaded.
They caught more than twenty mahi and more than twenty medium wahoo. Edgar was seven years old.
As he puts it now: anybody can get hooked like that.
Learning billfish
For years Edgar fished the south side of the island. That water gave him big yellowfin tuna, wahoo and mahi, with the occasional marlin thrown in. Good fishing. Not billfish fishing.
In 2016 he moved to Punta Cana specifically to learn how to fish for billfish — not to run charters yet, not to build a business, but to learn. He started chartering the following year, in 2017.
That distinction matters more than it sounds. Everything he knows about raising, baiting and releasing marlin, he learned in these waters, from the boats and crews who fish them every day. What he brought in from the outside was electronics and strategy — tips picked up from American teams — applied to the local fishery.
Why the teaser bite beats everything else
Edgar has fished bluefin tuna. He has fished Alaska. He has done the trips most anglers put on a list and never get to.
Nothing compares, he says, to a blue marlin coming up on the teaser.
That is the bait-and-switch: a hookless teaser drags a fish into the spread, the crew pulls it away, and a pitch bait goes in its place. The fish is lit up and close enough to see — sometimes close enough to touch. Everything happens in about four seconds, and the boat goes from silent to chaos.
On the Tease Me the spread runs one short, two longs, and two pitch baits waiting: ballyhoo on Mustad Ultra Demon 08 circle hooks with 80 lb fluorocarbon, and Moldcraft Lil’ Hooker chuggers on top. Two dredges — unusual for a charter at this price point — and teasers built from tuna flaps.
The heaviest gear on board is 30 lb. Everything here is light tackle, and a blue marlin on 30 lb is a genuinely hard fight.
Fishing out of Cap Cana Marina
The Tease Me runs out of Cap Cana Marina on the eastern tip of the island. Two fisheries sit on either side of it.
To the north, in the Atlantic, are the FADs — fish aggregating devices set by local fishermen in 2,500 to 4,000 feet of water. There are roughly eighty of them in the area. That is the 10-hour blue marlin trip, about a 25-mile run.
To the south is the Mona Passage, the stretch of open water between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. And on the marina side, white marlin bite about three miles off the beach in 800 feet of water — close enough that you can fight one while watching people walk the sand.
For anglers weighing destinations, that 25-mile number is the whole argument.
Why every billfish goes back in the water
Cap Cana Marina requires release. Not as a policy suggestion — it is illegal to come into the marina with a dead marlin on the boat, and the marina will involve the authorities.
Edgar is direct about what this means for the market. He is not the cheapest option in Punta Cana and does not pretend to be. The cheap operators run off the beach, and some of them kill what they catch because they need to sell it. That is not a moral failing so much as an economic one, but the result is the same: fish that should have gone back don’t.
If you are fishing out of Cap Cana, they go back in.
Watch the full interview
Edgar sat down with Jonathan Newar of Captain Experiences to talk about the season, the FADs, the tackle and how this fishery compares to Puerto Rico and Costa Rica.
Frequently asked questions
Who is the captain at Tease Me Sportfishing?
Capt. Edgar Acra, born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and based in Punta Cana since 2016. He has run charters out of Cap Cana Marina since 2017 and specializes in light-tackle billfish.
What boat does he run?
A 2005 42′ Ocean Yachts Super Sport with twin Caterpillar 3126 engines.
Do you have to release the fish?
Billfish, yes. Cap Cana Marina requires it, and entering the marina with a dead marlin is illegal.
How far offshore do you run?
About 25 miles to the FADs on the 10-hour blue marlin trip. White marlin bite as close as three miles from the marina.
Does he speak English?
Yes. Edgar is American-born and communicates with clients directly.
Fish with Captain Edgar
Message him directly on see the charter options on the site.