Isla Blanca 2004

Since the group was flying in from all parts of the west, we didn’t all meet up until we arrived at our hotel in Cancun.  It would be the first time that I met Ron L. from Reno.  I remember Dave D. from Oakland from many years ago.  I insist on having a pre-trip meeting before I go on a trip, in that way, I can answer any questions regarding equipment, tackle and what to expect while out fishing for the day.  This was one time when I couldn’t get some of the group to a meeting, so that night after dinner, “Mr. Tarpon”, Leo G. and I walked them through a day of fishing and worked on leaders and knots.

The first day I gave the new anglers their choice of guides, not that they knew of them personally but they were watching them getting the boats ready in the morning so they had already formed an opinion as to who they wanted to fish with that day.  Now that it was settled, we were off.  I didn’t expect to see another boat during the day after we left the permit flat and I was not disappointed.  My partner for the day was Dave D.; he had some good shots at permit but no connection.  He also had several grabs from tarpon but did not get a good hook set.  Leo managed to farm two tarpon and no permit.  Ron and Dave from Reno, had a horrible day with their guide and came back early.  They were waiting for me when Dave and I returned.  Boy did I get an ear full from them.  I called Armando and got a replacement guide for them the next day.  This is just another reason that you should always have a pre-trip meeting.

Day Two – We switched partners and I had Ron and Leo had Dave O. in his boat.  We wanted to show them what flats fishing was all about and had hoped to get into a few fish especially after the day that they had yesterday.  Again it was very windy, making it tough fly casting to the permit on the flats.  After some frustration we headed back into the mangroves for tarpon.  Within ten minutes he had his fly in front of two good schools of tarpon; he had several grabs but did not get a hook set.  It was about mid day and we had spotted a nice school of tarpon, the only trouble was we had to get through some very thin water to get into casting position.  Ron was sitting down in the front of the boat; I had put the ice chest on the deck so he could sit down while we looked for tarpon.  As our guide pushed the boat into the thin water, we got stuck, he was pushing very hard to get the boat through and I was hanging off of the side pushing with my feet in the deep mud.  All of a sudden we heard kerplunk; Ron had fallen over board in the thin water and deep mud.  He was soaked from head to toe.  I have to say one thing about Ron he was well prepared, he had a complete change of cloths in his dry bag.  The tarpon were still working the same spot.  He hooked two more fish and finally landed his first tarpon.  Good going Ron.  Leo’s partner Dave O. had some good shots at permit but the wind really affected his ability to get the fly in front of the fish.  Dave D. and Dan M. took turns casting too many schools of permit of which Dave D. landed his first. 

Day Three – I had promised Dan M that I would fish with him the next day so off we went.  We passed up the permit flats because the wind was blowing too hard.  It was Dan’s day; he hooked seven (7) tarpon, landing two for the day.  Leo landed one fish about 35 pounds and Dave D. broke two off.  The team of Ron and Dave O didn’t catch a fish.

Day Four – Dave O and I fished together today.  He hooked one very nice permit but it broke him off.  We saw some tarpon but never got a fly in front of them.  Ron hooked a permit but he too lost it.  Dan managed to pick up a few more tarpon today.

Day Five – Dave D had to leave early so we went right out after tarpon.  He managed to hook seven (7) tarpon but didn’t land any of them.  Ron landed one more tarpon and his partner; keeping up with his tradition didn’t hook a fish.  Leo landed four (4) tarpon and one permit but could buy a bonefish.  That would have been his “Grand Slam”.

Day Six – Dave O decided not to go out fishing guess he couldn’t take that much fun in one week.  So I went with Ron.  Ron didn’t like fishing in the mangroves so we headed to the open water bay.  We had good success every day we fish here, but it was very windy.  Ron was having trouble casting but he still managed to get his fly in front of many schools of tarpon and hooked one but didn’t land it.  Leo managed to hook two good tarpon but he didn’t land either one. 

That’s pretty typical for tarpon fishing, not only is you’re casting ability very important but also you need to remember to set the hook!

The windy conditions every day definitely had an effect on our ability to site and cast to tarpon and permit at Isla Blanca.  The wind also had an adverse effect on the angler’s ability to cope with the conditions.  All of the anglers on this trip tried very hard to achieve success but maybe the greatest reward was just being there!


 

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