Here are some pictures of Ascension Bay to give you a feel for the area:


This next one is one of my top fishing pictures of all time, and there aint a fish in it!




This is back in the mangrove canals, lots of ducking and pulling on mangrove trees to pull yourself through to get to little 15 yard openings to cast in. Not my cup of tea



Fish we caught off the beach in front of the hotel in Playa,
I would cast and kids would strip. Would have been fun on a 5 wt.

How long was the plane ride? Looks killer.+surfing TITS!

Ok gentlemen,
The first half of Day #1 with Alex Padilla, was spent casting to baby tarpon, in the mangroves. So, I was sight casting to singles and schools of tarpon, in the 5 - 15# range. To do this, Alex pushed the boat through some solid walls of mangroves, that were more than 15' deep, in some cases. It was interesting that we would sometimes sit looking at the same 15' x 15' lagoon for 5 minutes, without casting or anything. Alex knew that sooner or later, tarpon would swim through the mangrove roots into our little lagoon. I got 2 of these babies to take one of the streamers that Alex tied onto the end of my leader. I was able to get a bend in my 8 wt. Unfortunately, I was never able to sucessfully sink a hook into either of them. And if my casting had been better, I would probably have gotten 3 - 4 more bites in the mangroves. This water was beautiful and crystal clear. Apparently, "sardines" are the preferred food, for tarpon. So, these streamers were supposed to imitate sardines. Anyway, Alex had a very good selection of flies, tied by himself. And we used 50# flourocarbon leader, with a loop knot connecting fly to leader. Alex prefers the action of the fly on an open loop knot, to a more direct / tight knot.

The 2nd half of day 2 was spent fishing flats, immediately adjacent to the ocean. Beautiful massive expanses of open flats, in crystal clear water. Alex repeatedly put me on schools of rolling tarpon. These fish were spectacular, probably in the 20 - 70# range. He was masterful at polling the boat into position to intercept these schools. Again my casting left something to be desired. But, it was good enough to get 3 of these bigger tarpon to eat my streamer. Amazing to watch a silver sided torpedo, 2 - 4 ft long, move 10 - 15 ft in half a second. Each time, I would attempt a strip strike, keeping the rod down. Unfortunately, I could not put enough pressure on the fish, to solidly sink a hood into their bony mouths. When the fish were aggressive, 3 or 4 would come after the fly, at once. And one of these fish, I never saw coming. And when I would lay a cast down on top of them, it looked like 5 people just did belly-flops. They violently and loudly threw water everywhere, when I spooked them. Anyway, I am fishing with the new sharksin, from Scientific Anglers. Seems to cast great. But damn, that s--- is rough on fingers. Twice I attempted to strip stike tarpon, only to have the tarpon take 2 or 3 feet of line back out through my index or middle finger. Cut the hell out of me. And it makes a loud whistle going through the guides. Anyway, going out again in the morning.

But, our post wedding breakfast just showed up. So, I will have to continue, later...

Oh, and I almost forgot to through in another part of the day #1 story. 30 minutes into our 1 hour ride out of the marina, Alex noticed that the handle to the rip-chord starter on the outboard, had snapped off. So, if he stopped the engine, we would have been in mucha caca. Calmly he turned the boat toward an island, and pulled up to a "small commercial fishing" village. This "village" was comprised of 2 tin roofs, held up by 4 posts. They had sheets for walls. Hammocks to sleep in. No running water or electricity. And there commercial fishing nets were hanging from nearby trees. Suffice it to say, I was quickly reminded that Mexico is still very much a 3rd world country. That said, these gentlemen provided us with a new rip-chord, which Alex replaced in about 15 minutes. It was pretty funny. And it was damn hot. One of these commercial fishermen, rode up in his boat, wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, a tee-shirt and whitey tighties. The camp also had about 10 dogs, and the villagers were cutting wood for a fire. Not exactly my idea of fun in that hot weather. But they did not complain. And they saved us a ride all the way back to the marina. So, God Bless them.

Getting little bits of fly fishing in Mexico, love it! Makes me want to chuck it all and RUNNOFT to fish.

Great reports...keep 'em coming. You probably know this full well, but it is critical that your hooks be extremely sharp for Tarpon fishing. In the mangroves, it pays to re-sharpen any time you hit something. Those Tarpon jaws are really tough and the very sharpest hooks are required. Looking forward to more reports...seen any Permit yet?

http://f542.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1_3409_2_147087_0_APUnvs4AANM7SGnFlwX8vhd8HAs&fid=%40S%

Dernit! I am trying to set up a photobucket account. But, it is taking a while. Anyway, I will post pics and more of the story, shortly.

Looking forward to pix.

Hey Robin,
If you are in a hurry, you can alway check Gray's Cancun pix, on Texas Fly Report.

OK, here is a picture of a nice little Mexican fishing hut, on Isla Blanca. It overlooks 1 of the flats where we fished for permit and bonefish.




Next is a picture of Alex Padilla, polling the boat, for bonefish and permit. Let me tell you that fishing for bonefish and permit can be difficult. Standing motionless on the casting deck of Alex's panga, in tropical heat. The sun bouncing right off the water, back into your face. Holding your rod searching for a permit or bonefish. Sometimes not casting for up to 15 mins. Alex actually had tons of his own flies. But he chose a tiny San Pedro Crab, from my fly box, for casting to bonefish and permit. I actually got a couple of small bonefish to chase my fly. I bet they might have weighed 1.5#s, at most. Saw several schools and they were all about that size. I also got to cast to about 4 schools of permit. They were very impressive. Much Much larger than bonefish. And they were easy to see, even from a long distance. They swam with their heads down, and tails up. VERY spooky. And you can only spook a school once, before they disappear. Once I spooked a school of permit, with only 2 false casts, and the fish were 40' - 50' away. That said, all of the permit I saw appeared to weigh several pounds each. Of course I am just guessing. But, according to Alex, his best permit is 25#s.



Here is a picture of Alex with my tarpon.



And here are 3 pics of me with my baby tarpon. Caught the fish in a mangrove lined lagoon, about the size of my bedroom. A school swam out of the mangroves about 15 ft in front of me. All I had to do was make a flip cast, with a sardine streamer, make 2 short strips, and fish on. Great fight, even on short line. Tarpon really are acrobats. Little sucker jumped completely out of the water 3 times. I hooked a second that jumped and came off. Estimated weight is somewhere between 6 and 8#s. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Gray

Awesomeness! I would be completely tickled to simply catch those little tarpon all day long! Did they get on the reel? I suppose not up in those mangroves.

What a blast! Hope you keep on whuppin' 'em.

nice poons!!!!

i really like that alex guy he's top class.

sight fishing in saltwater is about as good (and hard) as it gets... you had a great introduction... in fact almost *too* easy

those little tarpon think they're full grown, don't they? nobody told them not to jump like they were 120 pound fish !!!

Those Tarpon are often called "baby" Tarpon...nothing baby about them when you catch them on a fly rod. Personally, I would much rather catch them than the big Tarpon.

Of the big three flats fish, no question, for most folks, the Permit is the most difficult fish to catch on the fly. Just getting good shots at them is really great fortune. It took me several trips spread over ten years to finally score on the first Permit, and then only one more day to score on number 2. The Permit is one of the most satisfying of all fish to catch on the fly.

You mentioned that flats fishing can be "difficult"....well it is more than difficult, IMO, it is really tough. Recently I was in Key West fishing for big Tarpon and Jan Isley who was guiding me could tell I was suffering up there on the casting platform after several hours. He kindly told me that he felt that it was one of the hardest things to do, i.e. cast all day in the sun from a pitching fishing platform on the bow of the boat...much tougher than the guide's job of polling the boat all day. That helped me feel some better...and maybe you too.

It isn't easy, but the rewards are the best.

Robin,

If you or some others on here are interested in getting together a trip, I'd love to join in.

agreed... as much fun as ascension was, i probably won't book there again... if i'm gonna spend the $$ i want to just play with baby tarpon all day: hopefully sight fishing but blind fish mangroves too...

awesome trip & pics...that would be so sweet to catch one of them baby tarpon .

I would love to go back, as well. But, I would not be able to afford it again, this year. And Alex tells me that May is the best month, for all 3 species. And I am not sure if I put in previous posts, but the bonefish I saw were not that impressive. The permit and tarpon were very impressive. I would guess the permit we saw were all several pounds, minimum. Anyway, I definitely want to go back. Just not sure how soon I can do it. FYI. The guys at <www.TarponCancun.com> tell me that they are working on opening a lodge sometime this year. According to the owner of the business, they are hoping to open a lodge as early as November of this year. But, the only electricity available out there, is wind or solar. And they have 4 or 5 fly fishing guides. Anyway, I am not sure how much better a group rate would be. But I am currently mulling over possible trips to Boundary Waters Canoe Area and going back to Cancun. Also discussing starting a family. So, who knows what will happen...

That's easy, I'd ixnay on the amily-fa if you're gonna start a saltwater fishin career

Very funny, Dave. Did I mention that I also got married during my stay in Cancun??? Thankfully, she likes to fish, tie flies, camp and all that other good stuff. Kinda odd actually. She likes to tie flies, but doesn't like to fly fish. She prefers spinning tackle. Anyway, having an extra fishing buddy, is an appealing idea. Of course I understand that it will be a few years, before I can take that kid fishing. But, it's a fun idea just the same. Somebody to raid my tackle box. Mess up my fishing rods. Backlash my baitcaster. Flip the canoe... Teach to fly fish. Teach to tie flies... Anyway, we are very serious about going somewhere next year. And we will be sure to let you know where, as soon as we decide.

Oh, and I just wanted to let you know that I was thumbing through my fishing mags last night, and I found the 2008 FEB, issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine. There is a very good article regarding fishing fly fishing the Yucatan / Isla Blanca. So, in case you would like to read more about the area I fished. I highly recommend this article.