Fishing Report #10
March 31 – April 07, 2024
Welcome to the Caribbean!
In the mystical jungle of Quintana Roo, the legend of two Maya warrior princes is told. These two princes were brothers: Kinich and Tizic. Both had the same blood but were very different from each other.
The younger brother was Kinich, a gentle and kind young man with all the people. On the other hand, Tizic was the opposite of his brother; he was cold-hearted, ruthless and arrogant.
In the dualistic world of the Maya, which is based on the principle of good and evil, Kinich represented the powers of nature for good and Tizic attracted pain and evil.
One day, Nicté-Ha appeared, a beautiful woman with the most beautiful heart and a soul so pure and gentle. The beautiful maiden conquered the hearts of both princes.
The brothers, realizing that they were both in love with the beautiful Nicté-Ha, decided to do battle to win her love. The gods were so angry that they covered the sky with dark clouds, and the moon was hidden during the entire battle.
This fight for love had a tragic outcome: both brothers died. It was truly a battle to the death and, logically, neither could win the love of Nicté-Ha. They were so in love with this woman that when they reached the underworld, they asked the gods to see Nicté-Ha again.
The gods agreed and returned the brothers to earth in the form of trees.
Tizic returned to earth in the form of a poisonous tree: the Chechén (Metopium brownei). With branches and leaves of great beauty but that burn the skin if you touch it or are near it, even its shadow causes wounds on the skin of sensitive people. Kinich was reborn as the Chacá tree (Bursera simaruba), a tree with very fine and beautiful wood that cures all the toxic poison left by the Chechén with its nectar.
For his part, Nicté-Ha died of sadness after seeing the tragedy of the brothers. But when she arrived in the other world, the gods allowed her to be reborn in a beautiful white flower that is located near the water.
That is why, if you find a Chechén tree, be sure that there will also be a Chacá tree nearby that will cure all the evil that Tizic could cause, it is the balance of nature, but both will always be at a distance from the water, where perhaps they can see the white flower into which Nicté-Ha was transformed, but they will not be able to get close.
This is how in the duality that governs the world since its beginning and that all cultures have interpreted it in different ways, but with the same concept, this week we have had a little bit of Chechén and a little bit of Chacán, a little bit of Yin and a little bit of Yang.
The shadow of the Chechén was represented by the shifting winds and the nectar of the Chacán by the unwavering spirit of Tony Ankar, Webster Ray, Mark Lake, Greg Warneke, Steve Dyer, Mike “Ricardo C.” McVay and Jim Rector, who were the perfect antidote to deliver another memorable week at ESB.
Fishing:
The movement of the Chechen’s branches brought us moderate northeasterly winds and the incessant dancing of its leaves cast shadows in the form of thick, somewhat scattered clouds that foretold a somewhat complex first day of fishing. Our brave guests woke up with high doses of Chacá nectar and everyone had a chance to try schools or solitary permit during the day. Jim was in charge of opening the scoreboard with his first catch; he went in search of the Grand Slam and the third aerial acrobatics of a silver torpedo denied him the achievement.
The Chechen saw that his attempt the day before to hinder the fishing day of our guests had no effect, so he tried again, but this time shaking his branches, with similar intensity, but from the southeast. Between electrolytes and beers, the nectar of the Chacá impregnated our anglers, and in a fierce display of his unbreakable spirit, Mark managed to land the first Permit of his life, which, logically, we celebrated with several shots of tequila that night. To finish off the Chaca’s clear victory, Tony, Webster, Mike and Jim added several more permit catches to the scoreboard.
Wednesday’s day began as the day before but around noon the inevitable Chacá victory began to become evident and Chechén stopped flapping its branches and casting the shadow of its leaves. Our guests took advantage of this situation. Jim and Webster had very good opportunities to stick their sharp hooks in the delicate mouths of the emblematic species of the bay, but bad luck or perhaps some new strategy of Chechen, did not allow them to land them. Tony managed to win his battle with a beautiful Permit. Mike, on the other hand, battled against a good-sized tarpon and a few feet from the skiff’s gunwale, executed an escape maneuver worthy of the great Houdini, leaving the entire crew trying to understand what happened. Mark experienced a similar situation with another silver torpedo, but this one made a mistake in his escape strategy that Mark did not forgive him and took the victory.
At dawn on Friday, Chechen began to wave its branches from the north, then rotated to the east and continued to cast the shadow of its leaves in a scattered fashion across the bay. Greg managed to measure his strength with the first Permit of his life and after a long battle, an unfriendly piece of coral denied him victory. All of our guests had chances with the elusive “ojonas”. Webster and Jim added new catches to Permit’s score, while Mike added snooks and tarpons.
On the last day of fishing this week, Chechen took defeat and surrendered to the unbreakable spirit of our guests. Chacá celebrated his new success and gave Webster and Tony half a dozen wins against the Permit; they even finished the day’s fishing with a double. Jim also measured his strength against this species, but twice his opponents were victorious. Mike, Steve, Greg and Mark closed their week with several catches of the remaining species that inhabit Espiritu Santo Bay and that night, during dinner, we all toasted to another excellent week in which Chacá, once again defeated Chechén.
Weather:
Winds this week rotated through absolutely all cardinal points, affecting the entire bay and its coveted flats, so our guides’ strategies had to be constantly modified during the fishing days.
Speeds were variable between 10 and 22 mph which made the tides quite erratic and unpredictable.
Flies:
Permit were tempted with the classic crabs and shrimp, such as Flexo Crab, ESB spawning shrimp, Casa Blanca, ESB Yellow Eyes Rag Head Crab, etc.
Medium sized, EP style baitfish were chosen for Tarpon and Snook as usual throughout the wide range of colors that these types of patterns usually feature.
Bonefish in shrimp and crab patterns in sizes no larger than #6 and #8.
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
