Fishing Report #35
October 20 – 27, 2024
We’ve enjoyed another wonderful week here at ESB. Familiar faces, returning guests were welcomed back into the familiar fold that so many of our guests have grown to love and anticipate. Great food, wonderful conversations all accented with a perfect dosage of fresh margs. Chiara and I are excited to be back in the swing of things and will be holding down the joint for the remainder of the season. We’ve been moving around behind the scenes doing touch ups and anticipating upcoming projects we have set in the coming months. I was here a few weeks ago for a quick trip and it feels good to be back with the onsite swing of things. One of the enjoyments for me is the comradery and connections we have with our guests. Old friends catching up, reminiscing about past seasons, and welcoming any newcomers that are lucky enough to enjoy this special place. We’ve also been busy with our budding operation in Patagonia, Chile that’s set to kick off with guests Dec. 28. Busy is an understatement for the two of us but we welcome the challenge.
FISHING:
Initial forecast for the past week was looking pretty rough due to the passing of tropical storm Nadine. The storm came through Belize city died a little and the vamped back up with a smaller hurricane popping up in the pacific. Aftermath on the Caribbean front left us facing the dirty side. I chatted with some close friends out of Ambergris Caye and they got the brunt of it. Between Chetumal and Cancun we had serious winds and an impressive amount of rain. Freshwater continues to stack in our local system which causes fish to seek deeper water where they’ll settle until salinity levels return.
It’s October folks, a rollercoaster of weather patterns that bounce around and drop serious rain and wind. A saving grace is the start of much needed north winds. These winds play out the normal tug of war as we transition into late fall and early winter. Northern shorelines become clean of Sargasso and the mangroves become home to pushes to migrations of baitfish. When you dig deep and look past forecasts, you’ll see this fishery still produce plenty of opportunities and you must be content with what’s handed to you.
We filled most of our week chasing Snook, Tarpon and Bonefish. Permit fishing was tough, and visibility coupled with low tides added to the difficultly. Guides ran hard up the north coast, worked 100 yards or so off the bank and followed the line all the way south and wrapping into Ensenada. Midday saw more tidal movement and are chances were better. Guide Julio had a couple schools that ate a crab. Positioning of the boat along with stripping as the fish eats heading towards you is a tough go. Micro line slack is created, and the set isn’t sufficient to stick. We saw some other singles wrapped up on rays and a handful of nervous schools outside river one.
You can’t dedicate your time to only permit this time of year. There’s so much more out there to make a fun filled day on the boat. Tarpon fishing was excellent with river one working northeast along the shore. Tortuga, sunken boat, and north of Maria Alena held fish. They weren’t always in the same places, but guides had a general idea and could locate rolling fish consistently. I watched tarpon rolling north of the lodge and the point 400 yards south held rolling fish midday. I’ve noticed baitfish running which is a good sign and it seems the tarpon follow these glasslike baitfish. It’s interesting to see the mix of baitfish sizes. Four different sizes starting at an inch upwards to four inches. I have no idea if these are all just different age classes, or they are altogether different species. What I do know is Tarpon and Snook love them. Natural colored baitfish flies seem to work better this time of year, but we throw the standby purple and red to help separate from the crowd.
Snook have started rolling in following baitfish and the north winds. Northern shorelines see pushes of fresh fish. Now until the end of the season we’ll see more snook come through. ESB has a reputation for great resident snook, and we combine that with these fresh pushes it in turn creates one of the best snook fisheries in the Caribbean. My personal taste has me preferring these bigger migratory snook over chasing permit. Bulldog attitudes, explosiveness, and yet a well-manicured middle finger when they aren’t feeding. You can hook a mangrove casting, go and retrieve your fly, back away and cast again followed by an eat. It’s like a boxing match between rounds. Sometimes we will easily see 30 – 40 fish over a few hundred-yards all hunkered back in the mangroves. They simply ignore all offerings in the most exasperating manner you can think of. Our snook fishing is just as psychologically challenging as permit. Some days you can throw anything and other days you try every conceivable fly you have with no results. Your “tried and true” flies become an afterthought as you scrounge through your box of possible offerings. We have guests that are booked in the following weeks that come to hunt these apex predators and it’s the highlight for the weeks to come.
Plenty of Bonefish were landed with a couple that easily hit four/five pounds. The entire northern shoreline from river three to Ensenada holds plenty of fish. Outside the bay working past the village we see bigger singles and doubles mixed in with snook. Poor light sometimes led us to believe that we were watching snook and as they got closer it became apparent, they were big bones. It’s comical when they’re too close to change rods and you half heartedly flip your tarpon/snook fly out only to watch them accelerate and eat the 3-inch baitfish. Bone fishing along the northern shoreline should remain solid for the remainder of our season and I encourage all guests to be ready for great opportunities at solid 3 – 5-pound bonefish. Do yourself a favor and ditch your 8 weight, trade it for a 7 or even a fast 6 and you’ll see these silver missiles in a whole new light.
WEATHER/TIDES:
The weather for the week was mixed clouds and rain the first half with some decent sun Wednesday through Friday. Saturday was tough with harder winds and spitting rain. We had isolated rainsqualls throughout the week, and you could always see rainclouds off in the distance somewhere in the bay. Winds were mostly north for the first four days and shifted Northeast into Friday and Saturday.
Tides were extremely low all week. We had an incoming midday, but it wasn’t sufficient enough to consider “high tide”.
FLIES:
The few permit “eats” we had were on a white crab (Casa Blanca) #2
Tarpon and Snook flies were normal EP style baitfish with a sprinkling of gurglers and toads. For those of you coming in the weeks you must have a good selection EP Peanut Butters #2/0 in colors: red/black, purple/black, Everglades, chartreuse, chartreuse/white, white/grey, yellow/white, white/red.
I also love the tan laid up tarpon fly as well as EP boca grande in all colors. There’s really nothing that makes us know which particular color scheme will work at any given time but a nice variety will cover all scenarios.
Bonefish are gung-ho to eat any shrimp offering (or tarpon flies) sizes #8 – #2. Lighter weighted mantis shrimp are a sure bet in shallower water and weighted tumbell eyes help in deeper water.
Chef Luis is banging his way through the kitchen cooking up a storm per usual. I have been enjoying his ceviche’s, carnitas, pibil, and loaded desserts. His unwavering enthusiasm to put out consistent meals has been a highlight to every guest (and their waistline). The house crew kept the lodge up and running in an orderly fashion. We’ve had the pleasure of working with many staff crews over the years and Chiara and I were commenting the other night the current crew is the best we’ve had.
8 guests piled off our planes yesterday and we’re excited to have a full group of friends for the week. There are some variable weather patterns on the horizon, but I have faith in the fishery and resourcefulness of our hard-working guides. Good food and even better company are the cultural glue of ESB. If your curious about this special corner of the Yucatán or want up to date info/changes please connect with our friends over at The Fly Shop. I hope everyone has their pumpkins carved and trick or treat bags are at the ready. Remember to take a moment and get outdoors. Enjoy the cooling weather and embrace the last weeks of fall. We’ll see you all next week, same time, same place, with a fresh report!
Saludos desde el Caribe Mexicano,
Dane & Chiara, Lucia, Negri, Canela
800-669-3474 | 530-222-3555 | travel@theflyshop.com | ESB Lodge
