Fishing Report
April 14 – 21, 2019

Hello Esb Lodge Anglers & Fans,

We’ve enjoyed another wonderful week here at ESBL. We are in the midst of enjoying our spring fishery with its warm winds, sunshine, and of course great service provided by our team. It was our pleasure to host returning guests Mike Thompson and Bill Schweri. Both of these guys joined us on a hosted trip last fall with Captain Billy Trimble. Mike enjoyed himself and was able to put his own group together and host some well-traveled anglers as well as introducing a couple new anglers to our special corner of the Yucatan. Mike has also been a huge asset to aiding us stateside with merchandise and gear for the lodge. He provided our Yeti silo water jugs in each room so guests can enjoy ice water as well as removing the necessity of having plastic bottles. Through a carefully planned program ESBL will be eliminating an estimated 4000 plastic water bottles for the 2019 season.

FISHING
ESB Lodge Report - April 14 - 21, 2019Our fishing was consistent, and we were subjected to fishing the bay based on a crisp eastern wind that stuck with us for much of the week. I thought our weather pattern was par for this time of year where we will see directions change slightly as we make our way towards early summer fishing. Anglers this time of year can expect at least a couple days during the week with stronger winds and we can see mixed directions, often with our day starting with one direction and finishing from another by the end of the day. Our anglers had the right attitude on how they approached each day. Each morning was greeted with being open and basing targeted species solely on wind and tides. That is a great way to maximize potential for the fishery and we see much higher catch rates with this approach. Permit fishing was mixed throughout the week and we had to work hard to find protected waters where they were staged and accessible. With east winds we see our western flats become choppy with heavily stained water and while we know permit are still in these waters it becomes very difficult to locate them.

Four out of our 8 anglers had never landed permit and where able to connect with multiple fish.

Frank Barton landed a couple beautiful permit and carried the only permit landed for much of the week. On Saturday we woke to very light winds out of the west and a clearing sky on the horizon. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the week with 7 permit landed the last day. Ben Ellis, John Williams, Todd Frank all landed multiple permit! Frank was able to land his second for the week as well.

ESB Lodge Report - April 14 - 21, 2019Our total for the week was 8 permit landed with 8 guests.  Our season total is 79 angler and 128 permit landed.

Along with first permit landed most anglers were able to land tarpon and snook. We saw good numbers of tarpon in our northern river system and some mangrove haunts located close to our morning launch. Snook were in their usual numbers and we saw them everyday when targeted. Bonefish were readily available, and anglers enjoyed consistent action. Mike Thompson and Frank Barton got into some great schools of larger bonefish located outside the bay further along the northern shore. These fish seem to be bigger in this location and I am led to believe they are reef dwelling residents that will occasionally make their way onto the flats.

WEATHER/TIDES
Weather for the week was mixed sun and clouds.  Wind direction was mostly strong from the east with a couple days that came in from the north and west.  Tides were higher in the morning but dropping and resulted in a low around 1:00 PM.  We saw an incoming tide around 2:00 PM.

FLIES:
ESB Lodge Report - April 14 - 21, 2019#2 Tan Squimp and white raghead crabs contributed to most of the permit landed. Tarpon were landed on EP style baitfish and tarpon toads in chartreuse/white and blk/purple. Snook were landed on similar flies only tied with more natural colors. Bonefish ate any smaller shrimp patterns sizes #4-#8.

Chef Felipe along with Sous Chef Ivan cooked up our flagship meals and were backed by our eager, hardworking house staff.

ESB Lodge Report - April 14 - 21, 2019It was also an exciting week for us and our staff at ESBL has brought on three additional managers. Sam Gigliotti, Mia De Tomaso, and Faustino Lagun will be joining us for two weeks of shadowing the operation and will be running the lodge for the months of May and June. We are confident and trusting towards this great team and they will carry on the daily roles, logistics and hosting. This will also enable Chiara and myself to allow some time off site to focus on other aspects of the business as well as prepare us for our operating months of August through November.

In last week’s newsletter we announced that Chiara and I will be hosting an exciting week at the famous fishing lodge El Saltamontes located in southern Chile.  Dates for the trip are Dec 28 2019 January 04 2019.  We can’t think of a better place to enjoy closing out 2019 and welcoming the new year.  We have two spots left for the week and we encourage you to adjust and make plans to join us!  Please contact me with further questions at pescador8855@gmail.com This is a great way to capitalize on dry fly fishing to larger browns, enjoying wonderful food, great comaraderie and one of Patagonia’s most scenic settings.

We hope you enjoy the upcoming week and please drop a line to our friends over at The Fly Shop to inquire about this special place. Stay tuned for next week’s report!

From a very special place in the Yucatan,

Saludos desde el Caribe Mexicana

Dane & Chiara

800-669-3474 / 530-222-3555

travel@theflyshop.com