Mayan Riveria - one day fishing friend

[ADIDAFish]

Is anyone headed to the Cancun area between Nov. 30th and December 5th? I'd like to split the one day fishing fee with another fisherperson if possible. I'll be going down to Ascension Bay from Playa del Carmen.

Thanks!

[Okotokian]

Who are you going with? Pesca Maya runs flats fishing trips at Ascencion. They will put someone in a boat with you. Actually, I got a boat to myself with two guides for the same price.

[ADIDAFish]

Originally Posted by Okotokian

Who are you going with? Pesca Maya runs flats fishing trips at Ascencion. They will put someone in a boat with you. Actually, I got a boat to myself with two guides for the same price.

There are a couple of companies still available that I'm looking at but I did contact Pesca Maya first and they are all booked up. Ed Blank's Adventures on the fly is still available. The other one would be to Cozumel for bonefish fishing. I've asked them to contact me if another person is in the same situation but they both said it's really rare. That's why I thought I'd post. It's a long shot but worth a try.

I'll walking around the resort asking everyone if they fly fish.

[Bhflyfisher]

Cozumel is where you want to be. Its even possible to do a day DIY there. However if you feels thats a little intimidating, a guide is the better option.

[ADIDAFish]

Originally Posted by Bhflyfisher

Cozumel is where you want to be. Its even possible to do a day DIY there. However if you feels thats a little intimidating, a guide is the better option.

Have you fished there before?

[Moefoe]

Myself and a buddy took the ferry from Playa and spent 2 nights 3 days fishing the north end of the island, no guide no boat no problem! Lots of small Bones, 6 or so big Trigger fish, Pompano, small Cuda and had a cast at an enormous Permit, which would have been interesting on a 7wt...pretty easy fishing and it was the second week of December. The Bonefish really school up and you can see them pretty easily!

[ADIDAFish]

Originally Posted by Moefoe

Myself and a buddy took the ferry from Playa and spent 2 nights 3 days fishing the north end of the island, no guide no boat no problem! Lots of small Bones, 6 or so big Trigger fish, Pompano, small Cuda and had a cast at an enormous Permit, which would have been interesting on a 7wt...pretty easy fishing and it was the second week of December. The Bonefish really school up and you can see them pretty easily!

Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll save the money and put it towards an 8 wt rod and just do it myself.

[Kingfisher]

If you want to use a guide over on Cozumel. I have used Aldofo Castillo.
Great guy. I went with both Adolfo Sr. (approx 130 years old) and Adolfo Jr. (approx 30 years old). Both were great. I fished with Sr. and the guy I brought with me went with Jr.

You can see my full report at this link. http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...hlight=cozumel

Adolfo Vazquez Castillo
GUIA ESPECIALIZADO EN LAGUNAS
BONE FISH VIAJES ROBINSON CRUSOE

65 Av. Bis No. 632 X Hidalgo y privada Hidalgo
Fracc. Cuzamil Cozumel, Q. Roo, Mex. 77624
Tel. 872-5622 evenings
Cel. 044 987 87 64 053

Have a great trip. I wouldn't mind going back again. If I do I would use the Castillo's again in a heartbeat. I gave them a good sized tip plus a bunch of my bone flies. So there is a good chance if your using flies they supply they will be mine. LOL.

[ADIDAFish]

Originally Posted by Kingfisher

If you want to use a guide over on Cozumel. I have used Aldofo Castillo.
Great guy. I went with both Adolfo Sr. (approx 130 years old) and Adolfo Jr. (approx 30 years old). Both were great. I fished with Sr. and the guy I brought with me went with Jr.

You can see my full report at this link. http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/showt...hlight=cozumel

Adolfo Vazquez Castillo
GUIA ESPECIALIZADO EN LAGUNAS
BONE FISH VIAJES ROBINSON CRUSOE

65 Av. Bis No. 632 X Hidalgo y privada Hidalgo
Fracc. Cuzamil Cozumel, Q. Roo, Mex. 77624
Tel. 872-5622 evenings
Cel. 044 987 87 64 053

Have a great trip. I wouldn't mind going back again. If I do I would use the Castillo's again in a heartbeat. I gave them a good sized tip plus a bunch of my bone flies. So there is a good chance if your using flies they supply they will be mine. LOL.

Thanks, I'll see if I do it DIY style or go with a guide but I have decided to fish Cozumel now. I'll post some pics when I return.

[Bhflyfisher]

Originally Posted by ADIDAFish

Have you fished there before?

Sorry, i didn't notice you asked!

I have not personally. My father has, but i have done redfish, and its very similar in approach and technique. My dad does it every time they go to playa. I've been on conzumel, and if I were to go back, I would definitely DIY. I've seen the flats, and from what i've heard its fairly easy fishing, the only thing that will make or break you is your casting ability. Ideally you need to be able to cast 60-70' into 15-20km/hr wind coming from whichever direction to be able to have good success. That and being able to land your fly near the fish. Fishing from foot is easier to get closer to the schools then from a boat, but make sure to have proper shoes/sneakers that you dont mind being ruined or proper flats sneakers, and walk slowly and carefully. After the first bit, you'll be able to recognize just how close you can get to the schools, before they spook, and that distance varies day to day with conditions.

As far as a rig goes, 7-8wt is standard, realistically you could fish a 5-6wt with the proper reel, but you need something to punch through the wind. Coupled with either a full floating bonefish saltwater line, or my personal favourite a Floating with an integrated intermediate tip. RIO's general purpose saltwater line is a good choice, can be bought in floating or floating/int but if you're more interested in buying a Bonefish exclusive line... just cause it has a bonefish on the packaging.... Then their bonefish line is an excellent choice too. However, the Reel is the most important part of your set up. Its ridiculous how quick bonefish can tear line off your reel.

I have taken a charter boat out from the beach in front of the hotel that I had stayed at. Had multiple shots at tuna off the breakwater, but at the time wasn't a proficient caster, or even had the right flies for them. Charter is usually set up for gear, and all they told me in broken english was "white deceivers" for tuna. I had nothing remotely close to a white 2/0 deceiver, and could barely haul a 8wt through the spring winds. Aside from those shots at tuna, we caught nothing on gear.

hope that helps.

Fly selection is fairly straight forward. If you need any tips on that, google is a great source!

[Kingfisher]

These are my flies that I generally take for bone fishing. The top right one was magical in Cozumel. It is as simple as they come.

Size 10 bonefish hook. Bead chain eyes. Squirrel tail for center. Tip of grizzly hackle on each side of squirrel tail. That's it. Plain and simple.

Good luck out there.
Tight lines.

[Heron]

Nice flys. I am going at Christmas and have a few questions. Can you be more specific about the hook? Size 10, black. Is is it stainless steel? What brand? Also what knot to the fly? Duncan loop? I really need to master that knot.

[Chief16]

Originally Posted by Heron

Nice flys. I am going at Christmas and have a few questions. Can you be more specific about the hook? Size 10, black. Is is it stainless steel? What brand? Also what knot to the fly? Duncan loop? I really need to master that knot.

I can't help you out with the specific hook he used, but I'm assuming it is a saltwater hook made to resist rusting from the salt. As for knots, you can never go wrong with a loop knot

[zewks]

Let me know what you did. I am heading down there on Saturday and would love to get a day of fishing in.

[Battery]

Heading down near Akumal tomorrow, wish I had time to fish! I'd be right there with you, but the wedding is stealing my time

[twispi]

dammit i leave to there on the 5th. would have joined you for sure

[ADIDAFish]

Hi All,

I just wanted to report back. Thanks for the tips everyone. Since I'm a rookie saltwater fly fisherman, I decided to go with a guide instead of DIY. Kingfisher, I tried to call Adolfo Vazquez Castillo but the lady (wife?) on the other end didn't know English. I ended up getting a guy who called himself "Mosquito" possibly the same guy since he had a son there as well?

It was a rough day with the winds howling. He said it was a bad day for fishing and normally the winds don't come from the North. You should have seen the swells on the Ferry ride with the water splashing on the roof. The ride out there was long and rough but we eventually got to the flats. He said with the winds on the flats it made it hard to spot the schools. We did run into four schools throughout the day. My casting was horrific (I obviously have to practice on hauling into the wind) and I spooked two of the four schools. I hooked up on the other two. One of them I tried to shoot the line to the school and it wasn't working so I sneaked around to the side and was able to make a good cast. It was a big one and went for two long runs on my friend's 8 wgt. The second run it went for some rocks and I'm not sure if it broke me off from the rocks or from the pressure I put on it to try turn it away from the rocks. Anyway, I got to feel the power of these bonefish which was cool. The other one I did land. It was much smaller, probably 3lbs, but it went for a nice run. I gave the camera to "Mosquito" but when I was trying to show him the button to push, my fish slipped out of my fingers.

I can see why people like it. They are definitely sporting fish. I'm not sure if I'll get geared up for it though. That constant wind without having cover is tiring. I know I probably had an off day for weather. I was definitely glad to have the experience and get a taste for it though.

[Kingfisher]

Glad you got out there. You could have given the phone number to one of the cab drivers. They would have translated for you. I have done that quite often in Mexico as the cabbies do usually speak fairly good english.

Anyway you got out and got into a few bones. The wind usually comes up in the afternoon. But it sounds like you had some exceptionaly big wind. That ferry ride over is usually calm and an easy ride over. I can imagine with a wind it might not be so fun.

[ADIDAFish]

There were quite a few people vomiting on the way there. In the afternoon it calmed down to probably 30-35 km/hr winds so it was more manageable.