In the mangrove swamp
Today we headed to the far south to try and find tarpon in the small channels of brackish water in the mangrove swamps. We spent the morning pushing the boat slowly up the narrow channel, Rick in front occasionally casting to tarpon that didn't appear very interested, occasionally pushing our way through tunnels of mangroves brambles. I guess this is the tropical equivalent of small stream fishing, without the fish....until near lunchtime, that is. At one corner in the canal, tarpon would occasionally swim down from around the corner, so Rick would toss the fly out, wait until they appeared, then start stripping. He had three takes, and fought a small one for a little bit before it came off. While waiting, Rob put on a small shrimp, and started to catch pinta, a brightly colored perch. Soon, sight fishing for the small pinta began to look more interesting than waiting for a larger tarpon to maybe have interest in the fly. After Rob had caught his fill, Rick took a turn around lunch time. He began to show the guides that a trout-set (lifting the rod) can be just as effective as the strip set, and with an 8-weight he could set the hook and fly the fish right to the guide all in one motion, explaining to the guides that this is what we called a "chester." We were laughing and joking - now this was like small stream fishing! I think the guides were amazed that their clients would be even interested in catching small fish, as they normally fish with people who will spend multiple trips trying to catch just one permit. We just want to catch fish! By the time we quit and went to look for bonefish, we had 50 pinta in the well for the guides to take home and eat with their families.
 |
| Rick and a pinta |
 |
| Luis catching a pinta while we were eating lunch |
We returned to the flats of the main bay to search for bonefish in the afternoon. Caught a few, had one cast to a tailing permit. Then at the close of the day, Rob got to cast to several schools of tailing bones in the very shallow flats. Hooked one, and spooked the rest. But it was fun to try. We had permit towels waiting for us in our room. One more day to go.
 |
| Rob and Luis looking for bonefish on the flats |
 |
| Carribean blue is beautiful |
 |
| The only permit we caught today |
 |
| An unfinished house in Punta Allen behind the hotel |
No comments:
Post a Comment