Fishing Report #6
March 03 – 10, 2024
Welcome to the Caribbean!
Here I am again, anxious to find out what new adventures this season has in store for us. It is exciting to see familiar faces and new faces that have joined the ESB family.
With Pakal the great, Mayan ruler who was promoted to deity in the year 685, always watching my back as the Mayan God of travel and nomadic people, I have managed to find my way back to these beautiful lands of white sands, sargasso and warm Caribbean waters.
Another day I will tell you the story of K’inich Janaab’ Pakal or Pakal the great, it is very interesting, just as a preview I will tell you that the Mayas promoted him to deity because they considered him the first astronaut of planet earth.
It was very special to see the faces of Skip Slavin, Tom “Kevin” Corbett, Baylor Gordon, Scott Grainger, David Ellis, Jeremy Rush Moore, and Bob Francis, it seems like it was only a few weeks ago that we saw each other for the last time.
Fishing
The early hours of Monday morning showed us that the Mayan god of storms and winds, Huracán, had not had a good night, uncomfortable easterly winds and scattered low clouds augured that the challenge of the day would be to spot and execute effective shots at the target species in the bay.
Tom and Scott broke the ice by scoring the first Permit of the week. They decided to double down and add the rest of the species needed to score a Grand Slam or Super Grand Slam. The bonefish and snook decided to participate in such an incredible feat, but despite having had several opportunities, the tarpons did not want to cooperate with them.
For the rest of our anglers, it was a fun day with several chances to catch the most desired species of the seven seas, as well as the wide list of inhabitants in the bay, with great success in some cases.
The dawn of the second day again showed signs that the Huracán God was continuing with his sleeping problems, moderate easterly winds and clouds were still present. Far from discouraging our excellent group of anglers, they met the challenge, and these were the results.
Skip and Tom increased the overall Permit counter caught this wee
k and went in search of the grand slam, but again the silver torpedoes denied them tequila parties.
The tarpon were much more considerate of David and Bob, who caught a few. Bob experienced a rather atypical situation during his solo fishing trip. As they were circling the southeast end of the bay, with Nando at the push pol controls and Jerry assisting Bob, they saw a silver torpedo, attempting to emulate the U-boat attacks of World War II, head straight for them. A few seconds before impact, it executed a leap with the style of an Olympic athlete seeking the gold medal and landed almost at the feet of a surprised Bob. Fortunately, the only explosive charge on this silver torpedo was the contents of its intestines, so the damage could be quickly repaired simply by using a cloth.
The equator of this week of fishing continued to show the bad sleep of the Hurricane God, but this time the winds were coming from the Southeast.
David and Skip added new Permit catches. Jeremy had some very good opportunities and the general comment that afternoon at the palapa was the number of schools that presented themselves to them during the day.
As usual in the fishing of this challenging species, some of the thousand variables involved in Permit fishing, decide not to collaborate, and leave us all with that bittersweet taste in our mouths.
Thursday was an exceptional day for Skip and Baylor, as they achieved the first Grand Slam of their lives and Bob added his first Super Grand Slam to the festivities that afternoon at the palapa, which continued during and after dinner. I think it goes without saying that our tequila supplies were significantly depleted that night.
As Friday’s fishing hours in the bay unfolded, the number of Permits caught steadily increased to just over a dozen. Bob, Skip, and Tom added the most to the overall count. Dane’s reaction to the number of Permits caught was to ask me if we had enough tequila.
Before we knew it, we woke up on Saturday, the last day of fishing, it’s amazing how quickly the time goes by when you’re having fun.
Jeremy and David added more permits caught. We all agreed that night at dinner, that nothing more could have been asked of the week, even though the Hurricane God was still having trouble sleeping.
Weather
Winds were from the east and southeast throughout the week with speeds ranging from 18 to 24 mph, which limited the fishing areas almost exclusively to the south side of the bay.
The thick but scattered clouds that we had each morning were disappearing as the day progressed.
Despite the wind action the tides were steady and predictable, much to the delight of our guides.
Flies
Permit: The most successful fly of the week was the ESB Yellow Eye Raghead Crab – #2 and its silver-eyed variant. Of course, the classic Casa Blanca and Flexo Crab also received attention from this species.
Tarpon and Snook: The variety of colors and patterns that were successfully used this week was very wide, from the classic Puglisi Peanut Butter to flies out of the imagination of our guests. So, we strongly recommend you not to dismiss that fly that you have in some corner of the box and that for some reason gives you a good feeling.
Bonefish: These endearing Caribbean ghosts never cease to amaze me with their honesty and open-mindedness when it comes to going after a fly. So let your imagination run wild, but always keep a few shrimp and crab patterns on #6 and #8 hooks handy.
I can’t get to the end of my first fishing repo
rt of this season without thanking several people.
First, to Chiara and Dane for trusting me leaving their “kids” in my care, they know I will do my best to keep Lucia, Canela, Negro and ESB safe.
I thank Isabel, Freddy, Pancho, Luis, Angel, Eman
uel,
Nando, and Alex for welcoming me back as an old friend they were looking forward to.
Finally, I would like to welcome Pili, Charly and Niño, gr
eat friends of mine with whom I will share one more season, only this time we will do it in a different hemisphere. Also, Luis and David, very experienced guides from whom I hope to continue learning the secrets of the bay.
The lodge is in excellent shape, with everything running on track, so we are just waiting for our guests this season to honor us with their visit.
See you next week with a new report and do not hesitate to contact our friends at The Fly Shop® so they can tell you first-hand what life is like in Espiritu Santo Bay, the Sian Ka’an biosphere reserve (which means “Where the sky begins”, in the Mayan language).
Taak ulak k’iin and Ka xi’ik teech utsil!!!!
(See you later and good luck! in Mayan language)
Martin Ferreyra Gonzalez and the entire ESB Family
800-669-3474 | 530-222-3555 | travel@theflyshop.com | ESB Lodge
