Fishing Report
June 12 – 19, 2022

Man with ESB Barracuda

Welcome to the Caribbean

We had an excellent week with guests who not only appreciated the possibilities that the bay has to offer, but also enjoyed the ESB Lodge experience!

This week the weather was once again an influencing factor in day-to-day fishing strategies, we started with some not very encouraging forecasts, but as the days went by, they improved.

These drastic changes in the weather forecasts corresponded to the evolution of two low pressure systems that are affecting the area off ​​Honduras and Nicaragua, on the Atlantic side, and southern Mexico on the Pacific side. Finally, the systems ended up dissipating, greatly improving the initial forecasts and making fishing conditions much more favorable than expected.

This week we had a visit from John Telfer, who has visited us in previous years, Nick Kocelj, Shiloh Kocelj, Dodd Russell, Dee Todd and Bill Todd all of whom chose us for the first time.

All of our anglers arrived with one goal in mind, Permit, which required our guides to redouble their efforts every day to provide the greatest number of chances to all our guests.

For example, John managed to hook 7 permits this week and put up a fight, but fate only rewarded him with 2 landed fish, one with our guide Fernando and one with Alex. However, he jumped at the chance and landed bonefish, tarpon and a 30+ pound monster barracuda!

Man with ESB Barracuda

Dodd, who started his fishing days on Wednesday, focused 100% on the elusive permit spotting many, managing to feel a few on his line, but the gods of fortune didn’t let him touch a fish this time. The powers of concentration that he demonstrated this week by focusing on a single species really was something to behold.

Nick and Shiloh, father and son, made the perfect fishing duo assisting each other with line handling while one of them stood on the platform and both managed to land a permit under Alex’s unblinking gaze. Both did not hesitate to highlight that regardless of the catches, the best thing of the week for them was the instructions and lessons that our guides gave them during their fishing days to achieve shots and presentations that even before visiting us they did not think they were prepared to do. Today they said goodbye to us being better fishermen, more experienced and ready to face new challenges.

I don’t know what you think, but for me that is the definition of an excellent fishing trip, both in my fishing trips and in my experience as a guide, getting a guest to leave with a smile that fills their face, whether they have or have not achieved their fishing goals.

The fishing companions, and in life, Dee and Bill, we could name them the Queen and the King of the week, for their positive attitude and always happy outlook.

Dee is the undisputed queen of Bonefish catching 22 in one day! Bill for his part managed to land two permits on his second day of fishing under the instruction of Marcos Neri.

Man with ESB Permit

We closed the week with a total of 6 permit for 6 anglers, which brings our season numbers to 313 permits with 144 guests!

FLIES
Although all our guests had shooting chances every day there was no marked pattern to what the permit preferred. Permit ate classic Flexo, ESB spawning shrimp, Casa Blanca, Esb Yellow Eyes Raghead Crab, Tequila twister and also some flies tied by some of our guests.

The bonefish, always predictable and much less erratic in terms of their fly preferences, did refuse well-presented shrimp or crab patterns in the usual sizes, #4 & #6.

WEATHER
As I mentioned at the beginning of this report, the weather predictions at the beginning of the week did not look very good. Being under the influence area of ​​two low pressure areas, the changes in wind speed were constant and luckily always with less intensity than expected, which caused us to have winds between 9 and 18 mph, some moderate rains (mostly at night) and days with completely or partially overcast skies.

The tides became erratic again due to the action of the wind, since the variations of the tide are not usually greater than a foot or a foot and a half. The wind stops the water, from draining to bay at low tide. It’s almost as if we did not have any tide change.

We begin the final stretch of our first part of the season, as always, our staff, Freddy, Pancho, Emanuel and our chef Luis continue to give 110% to make everything work.

Isabel and Carlo continue to do an exceptional job managing to “get water out of the stones” as we say in Argentina.

Man with ESB Permit

I’ll be in touch with you next week with a new report and the adventures of our next seven guests and their exciting adventures, that’s what the ESB experience is all about, because, as my grandfather said “fishing is not just catching fish”.

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 Maya 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 Lodge Family.

ESB Group Shot