Fishing Report
August 13 – 20 2023 #24
Welcome to the Caribbean!
Emulating the originality of Aretha Franklin, Glenn Miller, Demi Lovato or Ray Charles when they decided to title their songs “Here we go again” we are also back, ready to continue our efforts to make your experience with us as close as possible to your dreams.
We finish the first week, after a summer break where we have worked hard and rested little, looking, as always, to improve in those little details that at the end of the week make the difference.
We have had an excellent week with weather more than conducive to outdoor activities, little wind, some clouds the first days followed by lots of sun and high temperatures, perfect representation of what we imagine when we are named the Caribbean.
We received the long-awaited visit of Chet Wood, Glen Store, Troy Short, Mike Griffin, John Albright, Kevin Taylor, Marc MacDonald and Todd Copper, all excellent fishermen, but more importantly, possessing unique personalities that together form the perfect recipe for a week where jokes, anecdotes and laugh out loud laughter are constant since we picked them up at the “El Chapo International Airport”.
FISHING
The weather forecast for Monday was a bit gloomy, but it turned out to be an excellent day, somewhat cloudy, with light easterly winds that always make life easier. With no other goal for the week than to have a good time and enjoy all the flats and river systems the Bay has to offer, the anglers put themselves in the expert hands of our guides who took them in search of adventure. As if it were the first day of high school, where you go to a place you already know, but where all that wisdom and experience tinges with some doubt, I was particularly interested to hear about their day. Troy and Chet wasted no time in breaking the ice with two beautiful permit, almost everyone had a better chance with this species, but luck eluded them, not so with snook, baby tarpons and some bonefish that completed the day’s menu for our anglers. At happy hour they had trouble drinking their margaritas because of the size of their smiles that practically didn’t fit on their faces.
Tuesday was a little cloudier than the previous day, but with the same light easterly winds. The plans of anglers and guides came together as if in a planetary alignment and everyone went in search of the big silver torpedoes that ply the deep waters of the bay and not only did they find them, but they had an action packed morning and miles of baking cut through the surface of the water as two or three silver grunts hooked up at the same time jumped and emptied the reels of our anglers, a real madness. Troy, Todd, Marc and Kevin, who developed a new and almost infallible technique to stimulate the attack of this species, which I will not divulge because it is under professional secrecy, managed to declare victory in some of the many battles they fought with these titans of the deep. For his part Mike inaugurated his permit marker and again drinking the happy hour margaritas was a desired problem.
Fortunately, on Wednesday the clouds began to disappear and the light winds increased slightly, which frustrated the plans to repeat the previous day’s battles with the Bay giants, but “if life gives you lemons, make lemonade” or as we say in Argentina in a not at all politically correct way, “if life turns its back on you, pat its ass”, snook were the stars showing themselves to be very active and willing to test the resistance of the tippet. Todd took advantage of his opportunities and added a few more permit to his personal score. Halfway through the week, together with Isabel, we started to give out straws with the margaritas because trying to wipe off their smiles would be impossible, and we didn’t want to do that either.
At the halfway point of the week our guests usually show signs of accumulated fatigue after giving their maximum effort in the previous days and this week was no exception, but the mantra that everyone repeated from the beginning, “today is day one!” began to take effect, and as if by magic their energies were recharged and with the highest spirit, they faced the rest of the days.
The clouds became thinner and thinner, the winds dropped their almost null intensity and once again the bay showed its best side, giving them battles with bonefish, snook, tarpon and letting Troy, Chet and Mike keep adding permit to their cards.
I would like to tell you something that, although it may belong to the intimacy of the group, those who follow these weekly reports will understand very well why I would like to share it with you. The afternoon of their arrival day, in the palapa, with all their gear ready for the next day and with a few beers in their hands, they were talking about the flies and techniques they had researched to try in the following days, and that was when Chet told them that he had brought some Egg Sucking Leeches and that he was convinced that they would work. I told them about the Woolly Bugger Challenge that I had cast in the first part of our season and that this fly had proven to be very effective with bonefish. After joking and laughing a lot, Chet accepted the challenge and Thursday was the day he chose to tempt a group of good-sized bonefish with his fly and caught a beautiful four-pound specimen with it. Today I can think of many other freshwater flies that could work perfectly in these waters, in fact, I would love to try a 100% Patagonian fly like the Leonis Barbarous, as soon as I can tie some of them, I will try them, and I will share the results with you.
Friday was totally cloudless, with light winds and high temperatures throughout the area, but this did not dampen the unbreakable spirit of the group who repeated their mantra “Today is day one” every morning. A clear sign of their effectiveness was the Grand Slam obtained by John and Todd, as well as the permit caught by Chet or the snook caught by Kevin or the bonefish and tarpons that the group added to the week’s catches.
The last fishing day had the same weather as the previous day, no clouds, very light winds and high temperatures. In terms of fishing, it was another excellent day where Marc added one more permit to his tally and the catches of barracuda, bonefish, snook, snappers, etc. had already become a constant of the week.
I can’t imagine a better way to start our second part of the season, a wonderful group, good weather and active fish, what more could you ask for?
WEATHER
Gentle easterly winds that on some afternoons rotated slightly to the southeast were the constant of the week.
Although we started the week with thick clouds, they dissipated as the days went by.
The tides were very pronounced, which made it easier to foresee fishing strategies.
Low pressure points, disturbances and some tropical storms in the Atlantic Ocean are responsible for this weather stability in the region, but they also make weather predictions with constant changes ineffective.
FLIES
Permit were absolutely receptive to the classics, Casa Blanca and ESB Raghead Crab. So, my reader friend, bring whatever fly patterns you like, but these two are a must in your box. I don’t know if these fish have also fallen under the effects of the Barbie movie release, but they seem to like the pink color a little more than usual. We will see if it becomes a constant or if it was just an occasional thing.
The tarpon have read the manual on how to catch them and have accepted very willingly the classic streamers in black and red, black and purple or the natural colors of their prey. If you are coming to visit us, and your intention is to go after these beautiful creatures please don’t forget to bring 80 and 100 pound fluorocarbon, it looks like they have been going to the gym during our break.
For the ghosts of the bay, I invite you to not only use the classic shrimp and crab imitations on #6 and #8 hooks, join the “reinvent the warm water” movement and let’s see what other imitations we can fool this species with.
I want to publicly thank all our staff and guides for the incredible effort they made at the end of their vacations to be able to get ESB Lodge back to work one hundred percent from day one, I’m not going to lie to you, we had our problems and our battles against an environment that does not rest in its attempts to destroy everything, you may not imagine the effects of a marine and jungle environment at the same time on the mirrors, for example.
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 Lodge family.
