Fishing Report
March 19 – 26, 2023
Welcome to the Caribbean!
We have had a very interesting week, with a roller coaster of emotions, we have gone from frustration and disenchantment to the maximum expression of joy that fishing can give us, perhaps a week not recommended for those who have heart problems.
We received the visit of great friends who honored us with their visit again and new faces that join the great family of ESB. They were Joe and Leonard Checchio, Bill Ingram, Chris Daly, Harry Singer, Mike Sieber who visit us every year and David Au, Jaime Stoller, their first time.
Fishing
The weather treated us a little rough the first few days of the week with moderate winds and thick clouds caused by a cold front from the north.
The wind speed and direction caused the waves to churn up the shallow coastal waters, muddying them and causing most of the fish to seek shelter in deeper water. Monday we were able to find many tarpon in the area of Lancha hundida, with many bites and great joy for our anglers.
On Tuesday, conditions continued to be unfavorable for fishing in the bay, but, as the forecast indicated, the cold front began to dissipate, turning the winds slightly to the east. During the following days the easterly wind began to decrease in intensity showing a greater activity of the species in the bay, as demonstrated by beautiful barracuda, bonefish, tripletail and other species that began to be tempted by the flies of our anglers.
As a result of all these marked weather changes, Friday made for perfect conditions for flats fishing, little wind, lots of sun and hungry fish.
All the frustration of the previous days disappeared with the first permit and the eleven more that followed, practically the whole group ended up with one, two or even three of them in their account at the end of the day.
Many remarkable things happened this week, but “let’s go by parts “, said Jack the Ripper:
Mike achieved a truly epic Grand Slam in Ensenada, which didn’t turn into a Super Grand Slam because of those little nuances that fishing has that make us always want to try again.
David landed the first permit of his life, of course we celebrated with a shot of tequila before dinner and to stamp in his passport to join the “Pescador de palometas” club he added a couple more during the week.
Harry ended up losing count of how many bonefish, barracuda and tarpon he hooked up, so we will probably see a lot of fish with piercings on their lips this week.
Joe and Bill left almost no species unfished in the bay, permit, bonefish, tarpon and two giant barracuda felt the edge of their hooks.
Jaime caught the first permit of his life, along with several other species, but he kept his promise made at the beginning of the week and when he landed his first permit that night after the obligatory tequila shot to celebrate, he sang part of Beethoven’s ninth symphony, repeating his performance at the Notre Dame cathedral and taking advantage of the fact that our dining room has the same acoustic qualities as the cathedral… after the fire that almost completely destroyed it.
Leonard celebrated his birthday with us, the bay gave him a lot of catches and he was part, together with Chris, Joe and Jaime, of one of the best moments of the week where three permits landed at the same time! That is without a doubt an epic moment!
Weather
As I mentioned at the beginning, the first few days of the week were not what we all dreamed of when we decided to go fishing, but since it is not possible to beat Mother Nature, the best we can do is accept what she gives us and make the best of it.
Fortunately, the slow change in the weather started on Tuesday and it took about two more days for conditions to settle in.
In fact, it is a well-known constant for the people of this area that cold fronts coming from the north are responsible for the bad weather whenever they appear, let’s hope that this was the last “norte” of this season and the arrival of spring/summer will bring us a constant good weather.
Flies
Bonefish took classic shrimp and crab imitations very well on hook sizes #2 through #8.
Permit did not reject the imitations of crabs presented, ESB Yellow Eyes Raghead and White House were the most used.
Although the Tarpon and Snook were not the most sought after by our guests, EP’s baitfish imitations were the most profitable option.
As usual, our staff is tireless in their efforts to make everything run smoothly and make our guests’ stay more than comfortable.
Our Chef Luis with his wonderful dishes and excellent combinations has once again taken it as a personal challenge to make me gain weight, taking advantage of his knowledge acquired about my tastes last season he has started to discover my weak points, I will have to be more cautious if I don’t want to face Dane to change the size of the doors in a few months.
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 González and the entire ESB family.
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