After many years of running around the world chasing freshwater species, I was regularly told enough was enough, it was about time I sampled ‘A salty trip’. So many people rave about experiences they have had and fish that they have caught, however, it is not until you have seen this first hand, you can get a grasp of what they on about. A week in the sun targeting elusive salt water species around the flats sounded pretty good to me. My chosen destination was Ascension Bay, Mexico, part of the southern Yucatan Peninsula. I had my kit which essentially broke down to an 8#, two 10#’s and a 12# (optional) and a spinning rod, just in case the conditions are against you. This trip was arranged through Fly Odyssey who is one of our Travel Partners here at Sportfish.
I had been told so much about this area by a colleague at work and what to expect it was difficult for me not to be full of expectation once we had landed. We finally got to our final destination, Punta Allen having travelled for around 30 hrs, somehow that did not matter.
Paul Procter greeted us the next morning after just a few hrs sleep, he was our host for the week. The lucky swine had been down in Punta Allen for the previous two weeks, which must have been a real pain.
After an extremely hearty breakfast, cooked by our chef for the week Pepe, we were all allocated our guides, these changed day to day through the week. You shared the boat with your boat partner and two guides. A nice touch was that Casa Viejo Chac only employed guides who lived in Punta Allen, these guides then owned their boats through a cooperative of which Manuel who owns Casa Viejo was the Chairman.
The main benefit of travelling to Punta Allen for my first salty trip seemed to me, to be the variety and density of various species which included, Bonefish (Macabe), Permit (Palameta), Tarpon (Sabalo), Snook (Robalo) and Barracuda. This was maybe down to the guides, each and every one knew the vast area of Ascension Bay down to the last mangrove stem. These guides loved what they did, it was obvious.
I won’t bore you with the detail of each day, all I can say each evening was full of different stories from the funny to the more serious chat about the amounts and sizes of fish. I was amazed by not only the quantity of fish but the nature around you whilst you fished, from Eagles and Ospreys to Turtles and Iguana’s, (the occasional mangrove frog would also show up, for those of you who were on any of the trips) The Sian Kaan Bio sphere seems to have most of what you want from a trip abroad.
Something that was evident was in order to enjoy the quality of the fishing and the guides you needed to be able to make casts into the wind off both shoulder’s to 40-50 feet, sounds easy but when you have a Permit travelling fast from left to right and the wind is blowing, you only get one shot. It needs to be a good one!!
So, to summarise a 8#(Bonefish), a couple of 10#’s(Permit and Snook/Tarpon) and a 12 (Barracuda/Tarpon) on the boat would be sufficient for this destination. The organisation from Fly Odyssey was excellent, Manuel’s detail on the day to day organisation around Casa Viejo Chac was finely tuned, including his ability to spot and follow a Permit at 80 yards. This is a must for anyone who enjoys their fly fishing.
