Cancun Fishing Trip

[IA Born]

We recently took a family vacation to Cancun to get away for a bit.  Of course, I had to book a flats trip since the last time I was there in 2010, I landed my first tarpon on a fly rod.  Since it was the whole family this time, we had to book two boats.  My son and I were in one boat and my wife and daughter were in the other boat.  

We started off at sunrise and almost immediately our boat hit a school of permit.  I found out how much I need to practice my saltwater fly casting, but we did our best to sneak in close to the school of about 500 fish.  I laid out a great cast, had a take, and set the hook perfectly.  After about 20 seconds, my line went slack.  I reeled in to see the fly gone and my leader broken above the knot.  As we were discussing what happened, a 5-6 foot lemon shark rolled on the surface about 10 feet from our boat!  I'm guessing that is what happened to my fish and the fly.  We quickly tied on a new fly and then our guide rigged a spinning rod for Jacob to cast off the side while I was launching flies.  He ended up missing two hook sets and I hooked another fish.  This one worked out and I ended up landing a ladyfish that sneaked in between us and the permit.  The guide dismissed it as a trash fish (which they are to sport-fisherman), but I was proud and excited to finally break in my Orvis 9wt with a landed fish!  The permit finally spooked, so we took off after tarpon again.  It didn't take long to find rolling tarpon, but they were super picky and wouldn't take a fly.  I let Jacob jump up front for his turn and he had a blast.  His first cast landed a mangrove snapper!  Not long after that, a tarpon came surging out of the mangroves and caught everyone by surprise.  It was over as soon as it happened.  We worked our way around the mangroves and our guide spotted 6-7 tarpon swimming up ahead, but there were 3-4 barracuda between us and them.  Jacob needed a long cast to get past the cuda, but landed right in front of them.  They didn't disappoint and grabbed his lure before he could get away from them.  It was his biggest cuda to date (about 18"), but we opted to forego pics and get back after the tarpon, which were still there.  About 10 casts later, he finally got everything lined up and a nice little tarpon hooked him up!  He fought it amazingly and it jumped three times before it took him straight to the mangroves and broke him off.  It looked to be about a 10-15 lb class tarpon and the look on his face said it all.  He LOVES tarpon fishing now!

Shortly after that, we found another school of rolling tarpon and it was my turn.  I had a take on my fly rod and managed to set the hook.  Two jumps later, the fish was gone because I forgot to give it slack on the jump, even though I “bowed to the king” lowering my rod.  The school didn’t spook and I had a few more takes, but I couldn’t get a hook set.  On three or four of the takes, I stood the, mesmerized, as I watched the tarpon inhale my fly and then spit it out.  The other couple of takes resulted in me reverting to a “trout set” and yanking the fly completely out of the fish’s mouth.  When we got back to the boat, I found out my wife landed a nice 15-20 lb class tarpon and my daughter had a couple of missed strikes.  We saw lots of sting rays, including eagle rays, and my wife’s boat saw a crocodile from a safe distance.  Man, I love saltwater flats fishing!  If you’re down there and interested, I highly recommend Cancun Fly Fishing (https://www.cancunflyfishing.net/).  Enrique and his son, Bernardo, do a great job!

I really hate that pics come out sideways and upside down and I can't fix them on this, despite my best efforts.  My apologies for the crazy pics and my ignorance at how to manage them.

[Roosevelt Mark]

Right on. We were there in May and went trolling for a few ours and got a 9 foot sail fish.

[PRDATR]

That is a nice size Ladyfish.

[Heat]

Good Stuff Brian, thanks for sharing!

[Outdoor Writer]

22 hours ago, IA Born said:

Shortly after that, we found another school of rolling tarpon and it was my turn.  

 

Now that you got your feet wet, so to speak, somewhere down the road plan a trip to the Keys for bones and the BIG tarpon. It's a blast.

[IA Born]

3 hours ago, PRDATR said:

That is a nice size Ladyfish.

Thanks!  I lost track of how many times it jumped and it actually put a bend in my 9wt, for no bigger than it was.  The guide was funny.  He was like, "Oh, its just a ladyfish.  They're trash fish."  I told him I understood, but was getting my picture anyway since it was the first fish on that rod!  I like fishing too much to consider any fish, especially one caught on a fly rod, a trash species!  He figured out pretty quickly that we weren't his usual, high-maintenance clients!

 

1 hour ago, Outdoor Writer said:

Now that you got your feet wet, so to speak, somewhere down the road plan a trip to the Keys for bones and the BIG tarpon. It's a blast.

I've caught one tarpon on the fly before, back in 2009 in the same area.  It was smaller than my wife's, but it was a blast!  The Keys and/or Belize is high on my list, especially for another chance at permit.  I need to get a bone on my new 8wt.  I've caught a bone on spinning gear at Abaco Island and, honestly, I'd go after bones all day over tarpon.  Of course, I haven't gotten into big tarpon!  I mention to my wife going back to Abaco at least once a week!

[Outdoor Writer]

52 minutes ago, IA Born said:

I've caught one tarpon on the fly before, back in 2009 in the same area.  It was smaller than my wife's, but it was a blast!  The Keys and/or Belize is high on my list, especially for another chance at permit.  I need to get a bone on my new wt.  I've caught a bone on spinning gear at Abaco Island and, honestly, I'd go after bones all day over tarpon.  Of course, I haven't gotten into big tarpon!  I mention to my wife going back to Abaco at least once a week!

When I still fished, I also used a 9 wt. -- a Series 1 Berkley ( which I'll be selling shortly) for tarpon. I can't remember without pulling it out of the rod tube, but also will have either a 5 or 6 wt. Series 1 for sale.

Caught my only permit while fishing for bones in John Pennekamp Park in the Keys.  With those big slab sides, they put up a heck of a battle. Also got to see one of those monster manatees that hang out in the park.  And, it's also the site where I wound up with hypothermia when  it was 70-80 degs. 

[Shooter McGavin]

That looks like a fabulous time.

That brings back so many memories, but in the Florida Everglades fishing in and throughout the 10,000 islands. My grandparents lived in the Everglades and we would access the water via the canals that led directly into the islands. Huge 3'-5' Tarpon, Snook, Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Red fish, Sheepshead, Grouper, Black tip Sharks...everyday we would catch so many different types of fish and then grandma would cook fresh breaded fish and scrambled eggs. And then to top it off, we would catch the nasty bottom dwelling catfish off of their boat dock (20-30/day) in the canals and cut them up into chunks and go Blue Claw Crab fishing with rolls of braided nylon twine and a big ole 3" hook. Man were those some good times!!!!!!