Robin,
Many thanks for the response. I will PM you if I have any time, on Sunday.

LHD,
Found Rodman Hunter's website on the Internet, earlier this year. I emailed and tried calling him, several times. Never got a response, and all of my calls got a recording, saying I basically had the wrong #. So, I am not sure what has become of Rodman. But, if you have any different or new contact information for him, please let me know. He definitely sounds like someone who enjoys and knows what they are doing. Sorry, I must have misread your post about Ascencion Bay. Who did you fish with there? And where did you stay? Pesca Maya? And I am planning to hit Bass Pro, Barlows or Academy this weekend for Tarpon leader material. Definitely plan on 20# and 50# flourocarbon. According to the baitshop through which I booked Alex Padilla, we will be fishing Isla Blanca. Can't wait. Saltwater Fly Fishing in the mornings. Beer and Tequilla by the pool in the afternoon, or on the beach. And hopefully, high end beef or seafood for dinner, and who knows what else...

perhaps some dominoes?

Fine cigars?

I went to Ascenscion Bay and did a long day trip driving from Playa Del Carmen to where the Pesca Maya guys are located. We had a tough trip because my spanish was rusty and we got put with a young inexperienced guide, wasted a lot of time chasing after baby tarpon in narrow mangroves and should have spent more time chasing bonefish because there was a decent population down there. The tarpon I saw down there, a straight 30# floro leader would have been fine (3-5lbers), but have never fished Isla Blanca to comment on how big the fish are there this time of year. I was wishing I would have done a trip around Cancun instead, as I drug my 12 year old on the trip and 2.5 hours of driving back and forth and one small bonefish was a beating and I struggle now to get him to go bonefishing with me on trips. Good luck around Isla Blanca, sure you will do well.

Wasted time? Have you ever hooked a tarpon? One eat is worth like 10,000 bonefish!!! I just got back from fishing a week there, a couple hours bonefishing in the morning then we went for the meat of the trip: fish that are strong!

And yeah the tarpon there, 20 or 25# flouro should do the trick nicely.

No, we were thinking something more like bridge. Except neither one of us knows how to play bridge...

Yeah, maybe we will try a good cigar after a good game of bridge, or something...

Dave - I will be after them again at the end of June in the Caymans - but this time I will have more than 20 feet to make a backcast with and have a feeling it will be time well spent.

that could make it a little easier!!!

Hey guys. I just learned to tie a crazy charlie and a raghead. Pretty fun. Gonna try to tie a Borsky's Slider, sometime on Sunday. But, I am also going to try and get some practice / carp fishing in, as well. We'll see... And a buddy of mine just gave me a DVD on bonefishing, filmed on Turneffe Atoll. Damn good stuff.

And Dave, I have looked for 25-50# flourocarbon at BPS and Academy, as you suggested. I could not find any, that heavy. Any suggestions? Otherwise, I am just going to order some of those hand tied tarpon leaders, by Rio, off the Internet.

gray, at Academy, they don't keep it on the aisle with all the line on 1/4 pound spools, they keep it on the aisle that has wire leaders and bobbers and stuff. It will be slightly bigger spools than tippet, and, the vanish is square in front. If you have to mail order, you may still save money buying the flouro over the leaders, you'll have to figure that out, but here's two links for the stuff:

Bass Pro Link


Cabela's Link

Gray, since you are tieing, be sure to have several of different weights and sizes. The more shallow the water, the less weight (splash on entry) you want. You will likely encounter fish in very shallow water of just a few inches to water 3 or 4 feet deep. In my experience which includes fishing the Mayan coast many times well south of Cancun, the Permit will be in the relaively deeper water and the bones in water so shallow you won't believe it. Your flies should match the color of the bottom you will be fishing.

Regarding Tarpon, I haven't fished specifically the area you will be in but have fished the Tarpon coast from Campeche up towards the area you will be in. This area is a great fishery for 10 to 30 pound Tarpon. Tremendous fun, as fun as anything I've ever done in the water...or elsewhere... That area isn't like the Keys where you can easily encounter 150 pound Tarpon. If where you are fishing is like that, i.e. no really large Tarpon, then don't spend a bunch of money on leaders you may never use again....keep it simple. The best flies I found for small Tarpon there are cockroaches, black death, and seaducers in that order...and 9 wt rod worked just great.

Hope you have a great time and great fishing!!!

Meadowlark,
Excellent advice. Will do as you suggest. What color seaducers, do you suggest? And what hook sizes?

Gray,

I'm a visual guy so maybe this picture will help better describe what works for me on Mayan Tarpon... better than my words....all work but the seaducer is the least effective of the three.



p.s. note the frayed bite tippet....that's what we're after!!!!

Gray,

I hope you found the above picture useful and in that same vain, I'm posting a picture of my favorite Mayan Bonefish and Permit flies. The two bonefish flies are a variation on the Gotcha (and that's no joke) and the Permit fly is a "match the hatch" fly for the small crabs in Chetumal Bay and produced two excellent Permit for me.

He used to split his fishing time between Cancun and Belize. (sucks to be him)

Rodman does (did)? Wow... a short boat ride from one to the other

Regardless of where Rodman spends his time, it sure would have been nice to receive even an email reply, saying "I'm busy right now. Buzz off." Anyway, hope Rodman is OK. But, I will not waste my time trying to call him, again...

Meadowlark,
Great pictures. I am actually about to sit down and do some tying. I will have to give one of those flies a try. Especially like the match the hatch. Let you know how it goes. Many many thanks.

Gray

danceswithquail have you fished Cayman before ?this month is kind of busy for me If you need info call me 345 548 4435
John Farrell

Gentlemen,
The plot thickens... I just got an email from Rodman Hunter. I explained to him, that he was our first choice. But, we went with someone else because he never responded. And I asked him why we should switch and book with him. Let you know, how he responds.

Experience with Latin culture tells me that Rodman is likely to be offended by my question. Too bad... Or as my Mexican friends like to say "Ni modo."

LHD,
Any chance you might post some pics of that most recent Ascencion trip?

Trust me, I'd love to share some pictures... but I have 8 gigabytes of pictures and video from the trip. I need to whittle all that down to maybe 12-20 pictures and maybe 3 minutes of video.

As you might know, that's at least 8 hours of work, if not 24. I went from Mexico to 5 days at work then back on a plane for a family thing out west for a week then right back to my regular work week, plus all my weekends have been shot because I'm either carp fishing or doing the house work that has piled up because since March 15 I was preparing for both trips every waking non-work hour.

By the time I get the pictures together nobody will care anymore but I still do!!!

LHD,
Unfortunately, I understand your situation. I am busy trying to tie flies for the Paluxy on Saturday, and tie flies for Mexico. Nice problem to have... Regardless, I will be vedry interested in seeing your photos, whenever ready.