Ascension Bay - Days 3 - 6

March 8 - 11, 2017

OK, a really late catch up post, but the incompleteness was bothering me. Finishing out the week in Ascension Bay, we continued to have challenging weather (windy, cloudy), but still found a good number of fish, though it tended to be spotty, with most of the action coming in spurts.

Wednesday, I fished with Tom in Santa Rosa. True to form, within minutes Tom spotted the first bonefish without the help of the guide and promptly landed the first bonefish of the day.

Always kiss the fish

Proud catcher of bonefish

Then things slowed down. No more good opportunities for some time. Later in the morning, I hopped out with a guide to walk a lagoon, while Tom stayed in the boat to prowl the adjacent lagoon. After 30 to 45 minutes of not seeing a fish (but enjoying the warm water), we encountered a comedero (a.k.a., dining room). The water ahead was a little deeper and slightly turbid from the silt stirred up by the feeding bonefish (they stir up the mud to get at the shrimp), and though I could only see an occasional flash, the guide knew better and started directing me to cast ahead, to the side, at an angle. And nearly every other cast found a bonefish. I was fishing a fly of my own creation, and they loved it. They were nearly swallowing it, and the 11th fish did - completely! It could not even be seen, so we cut it off. Luckily, I had tied one more, and promptly tied it on and caught a few more before the cafeteria emptied.

Swallowing the fly

Nice bonefish

My own creation

Tom cast to a few in the other lagoon, but saw limited action. After lunch, we encountered a couple large Tarpon (3 to 4 ft?), which immediately distracted the guides. Tom had a number of opportunities casting to them as we followed them around the lagoon, and even a couple of strikes, but was unable to get a hook into one. The hour and a half in the comedero made my day today.

Thursday, I was back with Hollis, fishing in the south end of the bay. The morning was very difficult, windy with lots of broken clouds hampering visibility. In one of the lagoons, Hollis had a couple chances to cast to some fish, but barely given they were backhand casts into a strong, gusty wind. When I was up, we chased one school across and out of a lagoon, without a good casting opportunity. So things were pretty slow.

After lunch continued slow. The guides relocated and took to a submerged cenote (blue hole) where we again found little action. As we drifted along this inlet, we encountered another comedero. The guides really don't like fishing these, because it is more or less blind casting, but on a day with strong winds and poor lighting (and fisherman with limited abilities), they must have decided it was OK. We parked the boat and for a couple hours had fairly continuous action for small bonefish, lady fish, and jack crevalles. No size, but the action was great. Hollis had a great time and learned the tradition of kissing the fish.

Hollis in action

Pucker up!

On the way back, we stopped to see the frigate birds that swarm a couple small islands at Isla Culebra. They bring tourists here to see the birds, which only hang around the few small islands, not the big one.

Male frigate bird looking for some action

Frigate birds flocking the small islands

Tom and Rob spent the day in Santa Rosa, and had some good action for large bones. They will have to add more if they choose to share, but here is one nice one that Rob landed.

Friday, I was back with Tom. The weather was supposed to be pretty good, and we told the guides we wanted to go to the Blue Hole, a large cenote offshore where Rob in the past had caught a wide variety of fish including sharks. Instead, they took us to the middle of the bay looking for permit (to be fair, I'm sure they were locations where there were cenotes you couldn't see in the deeper water since they used their GPS to try several locations. But they played the I don't understand card when we tried to talk to them. Saw a shark, but not much else, and after an hour or two casting blind into the deeper water, we relocated to a lagoon in the south of the bay. Still less than ideal weather with clouds continually moving through and ruining the visibility by blocking the sun, we entered a lagoon with lots of huecos (holes) in the mud where bonefish had been feeding, but found the bonefish had pretty much left for other parts (something that makes bonefishing more of a hunt sometimes). I found a couple small schools while walking and caught a couple, Tom didn't find much of anything from the boat.

Tom poleing through the lagoon

Later in the afternoon, we made a quick trip into Santa Rosa, where we found a little more action. At the entrance to one lagoon we had some quick and wild action. One bonefish ran through some small mangroves, and the guide had to hop out and pull the line clear, after which the fish was landed. I had a nice big bone hit the fly dry as soon as it hit the water in front of it. And we found a few more to keep it interesting before heading home.

Nice size bonefish

Hunting bones

Saturday, I was again fishing with Tom as we fished our way up the inlet at the north of the bay to where we would meet the vehicles to take us to the airport. Finally, a clear day without wind, on the day we were leaving! That is fishing. We decided to go to the tarpon channels, where some of the guides had done well earlier in the week. These channels are narrow, shallow channels that wind their way through an expanse of mangroves, the size of a small creek back home. They slowly pole the boat (and sometimes pull the boat) up the channels, looking for the "baby" tarpon that feed here. Short, quick casts. The guides getting mad at you for casting in the mangroves, casting on top of the fish, not stripping fast enough, etc. But finally Tom was rewarded with a nice tarpon at a wide spot in one of the channels. A little later, I also hooked one "dry" in a part of the canal no wider than the boat. We were squeezed between mangroves, and my cast went over an overhanging branch above the water. Flipping the line to try and get it off caused the fly dangling at the surface of the water to dance around, which enticed one of the formerly uninterested tarpon to hit. I briefly fought the small tarpon at the front of the boat, thought about just lifting in up and in (it was literally at the boat) but was worried the guides would yell at me for not keeping my tip down towards the water (the way you fight tarpon). Before the guide could get up front, the fish was off. But exciting nonetheless. We left the channels and cast to some snook and bonefish before meeting the rest of the group at the vehicles. A nice end to a great week of fishing.

Fighting the tarpon

First tarpon

Ascension Bay, Day 2

March 7, 2017

Tuesday morning at breakfast the group was full of energy and ready to go again, as if the challenges of the previous day never happened. Fisherman are an optimistic lot. The wind was blowing strongly, with clouds on the horizon, but no immediate threat of rain.

As is typical of a day fishing here, we gathered our things and headed to the boats right after breakfast, preparing for the Masaje Maya (Mayan Massage). What is that, you wonder? When you head south across the opening of Ascension Bay, you cross five miles of open water that gets a little choppy with the wind that nearly always blows from the east. Add the swells that make it through the reef, and you have a fun ride. Imagine riding a slowly gyrating mechanical bull. Add to that every 10 to 20 seconds something like sitting on a chair that drops abruptly 3 to 6 inches onto an unyielding concrete surface with a bone-jarring thud. Then every 30 to 60 seconds, somebody throw a cup or two of water in your face while the other two are happening. By the time you get across the bay, you are totally relaxed and ready to fish!

The wind was a little less today (but still stronger than we would like), so Rob and Rick went south across the bay. Tom and Hollis went north again. It was a tough day again, but only because of the wind and clouds, which make it difficult to find the fish. Rob and Rick were fishing the flats for bonefish. Before lunch, Rob found one walking and missed a couple others. Rick fished from the boat, and did not encounter anything.

Rob walking the flats with the guide

My guide with the boat (the fisherman in the boat stands in the front)

 After lunch, it was more of the same for a while, Rob taking a turn in the boat, when the guides spotted signs of a school of bonefish feeding. In the next hour or so, we caught about 20 bonefish between the two of us. The remainder of the day was slow again, but that one hour made the day. 

Rob is much happier after catching a few bonefish

 Meanwhile, Tom and Hollis headed further north into some tarpon canals. Tom had a tarpon on for a couple jumps, after which it threw the hook. They found a couple bones and a very large crocodile. The wind makes it hard, but at least the rain stayed away. Tomorrow is forecast to be better through the end of the week. Good news,

Tom and his first bonefish

Hollis really needs some work on his long-arm technique

Crocodile alongside the channel eyeing Tom and Hollis; I think I prefer fishing with mammals (bears) 

Hollis loves his perch

Ascension Bay, Day 1

March 6, 2017

Tom and I arrived in Cancun last night, made it to the Casa Viejo Chac in Punta Allen about 4 hours later, where we met Rob and Hollis, who flew down the previous day. Drove through heavy rain a good part of the way, which would presage the weather today...

We got on the water at 8 after a nice breakfast, blue sky above, but dark squalls building to the west and lots of wind. We went north rather than across the bay as it is more protected from the wind. Started out casting to the mangroves for snook, which is a lot like casting dries to the bank on the Yakima for rainbows. Seven minutes in, Tom hooked a snook after seeing it follow and strike the fly. A great start to the trip, but things slowed down from there.

Tom and snook

Pink Spoonbill

While Tom was casting to snook, I caught a nice photo of a pink spoonbill. Hollis and Rob saw a flock of these beautiful birds. After Tom took over, it started pouring down rain. We pulled over close to a mangrove island and found a little shelter, then back to searching from snook. Without success. Tom cast to a couple bonefish, I cast to one snook, the rest of the time was blind fishing, casting as close as you could to the magroves, then stripping the baitfish fly away from the shore.

It stopped raining enough to eat lunch, where Tom and I handlined for puffer fish that we saw in the mangrove roots right next to the boat. 

Tom and the expanded puffer fish

Ricks puffer didn't puff up

After more rain, we headed west to look for snook and bonefish or whatever we could find. While casting to snook in some larger channels, we found several small barracuda.

Baby barracuda

 In this same channel, we also saw a baby manatee (sorry, no polarizing filter on the camera).

Shortly after, we saw the coolest thing. An entire school of 50 or so silvery fish (roundish, about 12" long) ran away from us (or something), jumping as an entire school in synchrony. An arc of fish flying out and back into the water, then ten yards further along, again, and again, until the fleeing school disappeared around a corner. Rick caught a small bonefish, and that ended the fish for the day. Another rain squall, lots of wind, and back to the lodge for a great meal and good company.

Rob and Hollis went west and south to a large inlet. They found a few more fish, but still fought with the wind. Hollis had a good sized tarpon on, but it threw the hook. They also cast to snook, with little success, but at the end of the day found a few Jack Crevalle casting blind into the current from the outgoing tide. Hollis caught a nice one below. At first he was reluctant to get out of the boat because they had seen a crocodile earlier. Don't go to Alaska, Hollis! You practically fish side-by-side with the bears there!

Hollis and his Jack Crevalle

Forecast for tomorrow is more of the same, then nicer weather for the rest of the week. So one more tough day of fishing, then hopefully we can really get into the remainder of the days. But a warm, 75 degree rain isn't that bad, especially when compared to work...