Bonefish in Mexico

[jovalle]

Given the preponderance of winterly steelhead photos on the site these days, I figured I would share some photos from a recent day out on the flats south of Tulum. I was lucky enough to be invited down to a wedding, and with a spare day and a willing wife, I was able to book a day with Boca Paila , which is about half an hour south of Tulum, or about two hours south of Cancun. The location was fairly impressive as the lodge is located in the midst of a large nature preserve and they have an immense estuary in which to fish. Evidently the grand slam is possible, and permit are relatively populous, but on the day I went I only saw bonefish (something about a steady north wind kept the permit and baby tarpon out in the ocean). Needless to say, but I was more than happy to be chasing bones for the day, so while I would have loved to hook up with a permit, I was fine with the bones.

At any rate, after motoring for about twenty minutes, and poling for five, the guide put me into a lone cruising fish. Somehow I was able to get the fly in the right zone and strip adequately so that less than half an hour into my day, the reel was screaming.



What followed was an awesome morning of fishing. Though not huge fish, most in the 2 - 3 lb class, it was rarely more than five minutes before we saw more cruising fish and I at least had a shot at hooking up. It took a little while for me to switch over to the horizontal set, so I missed maybe half of my takes, but when the fishing was so hot, I was hardly upset with the action. Funnily enough, the guide very quickly got into the mode of netting and releasing the fish before I could grab the camera, though I managed a few cool shots of releases...







The last fish of the morning was the best, with all the elements of great bonefishing. Two large fish were tailing, oblivious to the boat, and my repeated casts. After three casts, I put the fly a little close to one, which spooked the fish, but only briefly. They quickly circled around, and started to tail again. The last cast, the guide had me throw the fly out and let it sit for a while until one of the fish moved again. I then began stripping and the fish struck hard. Three times to the backing and a few circles in the boat and I got him.



While I figured the fish was a good one, the real kicker came when a local paddled by in a canoe shortly after and the guide started bragging about the fish...I guess the estuary doesn't tend to have good sized fish in great numbers.

At any rate, hopefully people enjoy the change of fish scenery...definitely try and get some bonefishing in if you can swing it. All I can say is its highly addictive and the thrill of the previous catch recedes when you start fantasizing about that tug-tug and bolt of lightening on the end of the line.

Thanks for posting the instructions on photo sharing...have plenty more fishporn in the library to share.

[AaronJasper]

Good going on the bones! Were the schools large? I want to catch some of those. have you traveled to Eleuthera? My girlfriend used to work at a school there and said the schools of bonefish were massive. I heard those things are some real, reel screamers. I was watching guys get them on light spinning gear and those drags were getting a real workout and it was cool watching the fish zip around. They were fast as hell!

[Dave]

Great report Jovalle! and great to have the contrast of location, fish type, etc.
I forgot what it feels like to fish without waders on and about 5 layers. Those look like great bonefish. I heard they fight like mad.

Any productive flies that worked? What kind of setup; rod, tippet, etc. were you using?

[jovalle]

Aaron:

Never been to the Bahamas, but I have a friend that religiously goes to Andros (and has been pretty much everywhere else in the world going after bones - Seychelles, Cuba, Christmas Island, etc) and he claims Andros is the best. Given the proximity, I'd guess Eleuthera is similar, if not better given every rich bonefisher in the world isn't stalking the flats every day...the only other bonefishing I have done is in Belize, which was great (got both bones and a permit), with the fish on average slightly larger, but less of a flats experience and more targeting the muddy spots in deeper water where you knew a school was working.

It was mixed, sometime the fishing was to one or two cruisers, a few times there were about six or so fish (inevitably the smallest would break off to chase my fly), and there were also those magical moments of seeing five or six tails sloshing around in the waves. God damn, I want to go back!

Dave:

Rig was a B2MX 8 weight, which was new for me as I have RPL's for my salt rods. I fish winstons in freshwater and prefer the medium action for closer casting range, but in wind I hate to say it, but the sages (or faster action in general) are better suited to tighter loops and shooting line with minimal effort - that said, I didn't loose a fish and the tip bend clearly helped me fight the fish - I'd say in general thats something that anglers overlook in terms of rod-actions, casting is only a small part of what you are looking for in rod-bend. The reel was a Danielsson seven-nine, which is the maker of the old loop reels. I use this as my big freshwater reel (with the sage bass rods), and normally use a tibor, but decided to go with the lighter weight reel for whatever reason. Big mistake - the arbor wasn't large enough and I had trouble keeping up with the fish if he ran to the boat or switched directions. Line was SA bonefish (thanks to Torrey for ordering on short notice!), which worked well. My big issue with saltwater lines is their memory (in particular a problem with rio) and the SA stretched out pretty well. SA Bonefish leader and 8lb mono leader. Pattern was a regular crazy charlie for the morning, which was when I caught all but one of the fish, the afternoon switched over to a crab. I think it had less to do with with pattern as opposed to sink rate of the fly and where the bones were feeding.

[Salter]

jovalle,

Great report! Man, I wish I was there right now!! I fished down there in 2007 with my Brother-in-law. Boca Paila is a first rate outfit, we had a great giude who kept us on fish all day. I got the biggest Bone of the day 5-6 lb. which is very big for down there.



But my Brother-in Law stole the show with a Big 'cuda he caught in the last 5 minutes of the charter.

[AaronJasper]

Those Bonefish and that nice sunny weather are giving me some warm thoughts!

[jlajoie]

Wow!! That barracuda is damn impressive! Great change of scenery for us in the northeast. looking at some cold weather by the end of the week!

[Nymphmeister]

You need to come up with a fly specifically for Mexican Bonefish and call it the "Bonefish Burrito".

[Salter]

Torrey,

Is this what you mean?!?

[Nymphmeister]

Somehow juxtaposing the burrito with the fly makes it look a whole lot less appetizing!