Fishing Report #16
May 12 – 19, 2024
Welcome to the Caribbean!
Hurakan, the feared god of the Maya is known for his monstrous appearance and unstoppable fury. From the clouds, he descends his one leg with a sharp clawed foot, shattering everything in his path. This is the immense power of the “Heart of Heaven”, the god of wind, fire and storms.
Hurakán is a central figure in the Maya pantheon. His name comes from Quiché, a variant of Maya: “jura”, which means one, and “kan”, which means leg; that is, “the one-legged one”. According to the Popol Vuh, the sacred book of the Maya, Hurakán is one of the 13 gods who created man from corn.
With his fearsome appearance, Hurakan reflects his destructive powers, feared even by other gods. With head, thorax and abdomen, but only one leg with claws, its arms, one above the waist and the other above the head, symbolize the direction of the winds during hurricanes, according to Cuban archaeologist Fernando Ortiz in 1947.
The ancient inhabitants of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mayan area shared Caribbean cultural elements that spread throughout Mesoamerica. Thus, Hurakan is known in other regions of the country with different names. The peninsular Maya call it Chaac; in the Mexican highlands, it is Tlaloc; for the Totonacs, it is Tajin; and in Oaxaca, it is known as Coci-joo.
Hurakan gave its name to the most powerful weather phenomena, known as tropical cyclones. T
hese are divided into tropical disturbances, tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes. Hurricanes, in turn, are classified into five categories according to the Saffir-Simpson scale, depending on the strength of their winds.
From the clouds, Hurakan always observed the behavior of men. If they disobeyed, he would punish them. This is how the “Heart of Heaven” provoked the great Mayan flood, putting an end to those who insulted the deities.
Once upon a time, in a small fishing village on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, there was a group of brave men who depended on the sea for their survival. Every morning at dawn, they would set out in their small boats, offering prayers to Hurakan to allow them a safe passage and an abundant catch.
One day, two young fishermen, Ixchel and Kanek, decided to defy the warnings of their elders. They had heard rumors that offshore, where the waves were highest and the wind fiercest, the largest and most valuable fish were to be found. Ignoring the signs of an impending storm, they set out into the depths of the ocean.
Meanwhile, in his cloud kingdom, Hurakan watched. The winds began to pick up and the sky darkened. The waves became mountains of water, and the two young fishermen found themselves fighting for their lives. Remembering the stories of the wind god’s wrath, they begged Hurakan to spare them.
Hurakan, moved by their sincere repentance, decided to give them a chance. With a gesture, he calmed the waters and allowed a ray of sunshine to filter through the clouds. The fishermen gratefully returned to their village with a new understanding of t
he god’s power. From that day on, they taught their children and their children’s children to always respect Hurakan’s strength and not to defy the gods’ designs.
Thus, the tale of Hurakan and the fishermen was passed down from generation to generation, reminding everyone that respect and humility are essential in the face of the forces of nature.
The descendants of the first corn beings who visited us this week were Richard “Ricardo”, Larry “Lorenzo”, Josh “Dude” and Chris, Fred, Allen, Sabrina and Jeff Sellmeyer, excellent people who faced the bad mood of the Mayan god with an unwavering spirit.
FISHING
I could appeal to my overflowing imagination and tell you fantastic tales of the adventures and misadventures our amazing fishermen faced this week. And while no one enjoys a good story more than I do, I think it would be best to build on the respect and humility that the Mayan teachings have passed down to us for thousands of years.
This week, God Hurakan battered us quite badly, with totally or partially cloudy days and southeasterly winds that only briefly dropped below twenty miles per hour, making each of the six fishing days quite uncomfortable, both for the anglers and for our staff of guides, who were seriously limited in terms of fishing areas, looking for those that offered some protection from the wind.
Although all our guests had opportunities to tempt their target species this week, the permit, only Lorenzo managed to beat them. Some other guests managed to duel with them, but with unfavorable results for the anglers. For the most part, the permit showed absolute indifference to the careful casts presented by the flies in front of them.
Tarpon, snook, bonefish, snapper, blue runners and barracudas were the ones who showed themselves the most, although they also showed some reluctance in some cases when it came to being seduced by the beautiful lures that our anglers presented before them.
This excellent group faced each day with the best of spirits, and the slightest hint of improvement in the weather forecast encouraged hope. But reality showed us that the results of each day were always the same: elusive fish, hard to see and complicated to fool.
We are a lodge that offers the best experience we are capable of creating for our guests, and perhaps God Hurakan this week wanted to remind us that, no matter how hard we try to make your stay with us a memorable experience, weather and fishing are beyond our control. Now I say to you, Mr. God Hurakan, we get your message, we accept your omnipresence and that your divine capabilities are infinitely superior to our strenuous and mortal efforts, we have even liked all your posts on Instagram, but please, STOP BLOWING!WEATHER
Moderate southeasterly winds all week which, within the bay remained in the 18 to 23 mph range, but in the reef areas it reached 34 mph.
Different cloud layers moved daily across the bay, with thick, scattered clouds in the lower layer, while the upper layer was uniform and thin, denying at times the contrast needed to spot the fish.
The tides were totally unpredictable due to the effect of the wind, which prevented the waters from executing their natural movement.
FLIES
The permit were tempted with all the arsenal that our guests had in their boxes, but without being able to establish a definite pattern to capture their attention. So, applying the maxim “The right fly is the one you have confidence in”, be sure to bring that rusty and almost hairless fly that has given you so much joy as well as some Flexo Crab, ESB Spawning Shrimp, Casa Bla
nca and ESB Yellow Eyes Rag Head Crab.
For tarpon and snook we chose, as usual, medium size flies, type EP, in all the wide range of colors that this type of patterns usually present.
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
