Oh how these trips go by fast. Today was Jerry’s and my last day here in Ascension Bay at Casa Blanca Lodge in Mexico. We haven’t caught a tarpon yet so we headed to the backcountry of Santa Rosa with hopes to get one.
It was a long winding boat ride to get to Santa Rosa. We motored through tunnels of mangroves followed by lagoons and channels. It was nice scenery. We saw plenty of birds and a few crocodiles too. After 45 minutes Pato cut the engine and Jerry hopped up on the bow.
This time of year most the tarpon around are baby tarpon. These are my favorites because babies are 15-35lbs. I use a floating Tarpon taper line and my 9-weight Winston Air. The best flies in the mangrove waters are dark. Today I went with this red and black Puglisi fly. It’s not too big but rather a size 2/0.
I’ve had a great week so I kicked back and watched Jerry go for a while. It was nice. Sometimes I just like to chill out. Tomorrow it’s a day of flying then who knows at home. It could be snowing and cold. I know for sure I’ll be working my butt off painting and organizing my presentations for the shows this winter. Relaxing with my feet up on the cooler was a perfect for me.
Eventually Jerry needed a rest. Standing in place for a solid hour gets uncomfortable. Jerry got only one cast and the tarpon tucked into the mangroves before he had a legit shot. I on the other hand had the tarpon luck today, within minutes I had fish to cast at.
I convinced the first tarpon I saw to eat my fly. It was a tiny 10lber and he thrashed on the surface and spit my fly quick. The smaller they are the harder they are to hook. Then I did the same thing again a half hour later so I made Jerry jump back up.
Jerry and I went back and forth throughout the morning. We each had babies chase and nip at our flies. At 11 I switched to my 7-weight. My tennis elbow was throbbing from making quick casts with the 9 so I needed to lighten things. Sure enough a tarpon of 20 plus pounds came charging my fly and I hooked him. It’s almost like he knew I went to a smaller rod.
20lb fish on a 7-weight takes some tricks of the trade to land and maneuver. I like to fight the fish using the lower butt of my rod. I was using 7 feet of straight 40lb test so I cranked my drag. I needed two hands on the rod because my right elbow was literally giving out. It hurt like heck but you deal with it.
After about five jumps and several surges I broke the little tarpons spirit. Soon I had him at boat side and I hopped over. This is the first tarpon I’ve landed in a few years. It was nice to get my hands on him!
When you admire a tarpon up close you see they aren’t like other fish. They are almost prehistoric. The huge scales, boney heads and the large eyes are peculiar. They’re cool looking for sure. After a few photos the beauty snapped his tail and was gone. Outstanding!
We played with the tarpon more but it was a snook that took the stage in the afternoon. I was back in the bow around 2 PM and the tarpon weren’t as common. This led me to blind cast at fishy looking spots and at things that resembled fish sleeping on bottom. Honestly, I was hoping for snook.
I hit one of those things on bottom and it was a snook – a snook of huge proportions. He ate the fly and jumped straight out of the water. I suspected this was a fish before I cast but for Jerry and Pato it surprised the heck out of them. This snook was upwards of 20lbs!
This wasn’t a 7-weight fish so I had to be careful – careful not to end up with a shattered Winston and careful not to lose the battle. It was a struggle but three times in a row I survived erratic head thrashing jumps and stopped him from attempts at the mangroves. At last I had him next to the boat.
I was just about to jump in with my monster for photos when off he went again straight for the mangroves. I wasn’t in battle position and he got a head start on his run. Once I got a grip it was too late. The momentum of this beast was unstoppable with the 7-weight. As my rod crackled like it was going to break I had to point it to the fish and trust my 40lb leader. No dice. Snap went my leader. Dang it!
The fish played possum on me and caught me with my guard down. A lesson to be learned and a painful one at that. I caught big snook back in my early days in Belize but this one might have topped all. Not my usual “last day performance”.
We banged up a few bonefish on the way back to the lodge. Jerry also got this colorful bar jack. It’s been a great trip all week. I’m super thankful to Jerry for inviting me to join him and also to Pato and Casa Blanca Lodge for giving us such an enjoyable experience.
We fly home tomorrow and it will be back to the grind. I suspect my webstore will be busy selling mugs and I’ll also have some art orders to take care of. I’m ready for all of it. Oh, and I also head to Missoula Wednesday to speak to the Westslope Chapter of Trout Unlimited. That will be fun.
There won’t be much fishing posting for a couple weeks. BUT, next in line should be insane! I am hosting a Yellow Dog trip to Providence Atoll in the Seychelles starting the day after Thanksgiving. Then on the way home I’ll hit Dubai with my friend Nick Bowles and then back to Oman for a rematch with an Africanus. I should mention too that I booked a Yellow Dog hosted trip to Cosmoledo Atoll in the Seychelles December 2-9 2021. It’s selling fast so if you want to go Contact me ASAP.
Be sure to visit my Instagram page and Facebook for more photos from this adventure and others!
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