Pickled Carp Adventures The Pickled Carpers Web site

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Playa Del Carmen, Yucatan Peninsula June 2004

Arrived late Monday night to temperatures in the high 20°c’s (mid 80°f’s) and a beautifully blue and clear Caribbean J

Awoke Tuesday to fantastic views of clear skies and a turquoise ocean – today was a day for relaxation and acclimatization – I slept most of it!! The day-time temperature was in the mid-thirties (med to high 90°f’s) but there was a fresh on shore breeze that was very welcome.

Wednesday was my first day fishing and I had booked a guide for a day’s bonefishing on the Island of Cozumel. A 5am start got me to my meeting point at the ferry terminal on the Island for about 6:30am. My guide Alex was waiting for me and we took the short (but timely) drive to the North end of the Island and to Alex’s boat. Alex was recommended to me by various people on the “reel-time” forum for which I am very grateful.

I was glad to see that the boat had been modified in such a way that the casting platform had absolutely no catch points – all eyelets and other fly line traps had been carefully removed and smoothed over – it was ideal.

By the time we had traveled to our fishing grounds just into the mangroves from the ocean it was about 7:30am. Within minutes we located the first bonefish and although easily within reach my casting let me down – a mild case of panic, inexperience and a gusty windL This happened a few times before I got my fist decent cast off. The first good cast got the bonefish following my fly which was retrieved in short sharp pulls – there was a tug on the fly and milliseconds later I was into my first ……..………….. jack – a baby one at that. At least I hadn’t blankedJ

We continued to pole through the mangroves and we saw more bonefish than I had seen in the last 2 years in total. I started to improve my casting but some of the fishing areas were difficult due to the surrounding mangroves (restricted back-cast) and the strong winds. However, after about 2 hours I managed a perfect cast in front of a fish of about 5 or 6 pounds – he took the fly as soon as I started stripping (the fly-line that is!!). The power and acceleration was incredible – 100 yards or more in only a few seconds!! By the time I had stopped the fish and recomposed myself I was about 150 yards from the fish with several bits of mangrove between us. I jumped out of the boat into 18” of water and started towards the fish at the same time as regaining line but all too soon the line went limp and I reeled in my line with a broken tippet (10lb fluorocarbon)L

I was left shaking and in need of a drink so I waded back to the boat and Alex consoled me with the promise of more chances. We continued to pole through the mangroves and we did have several more shots at bones but again, my poor casting let me down. What did surprise me was the average size of the fish – I had read prior to my vacation that Yucatan bones averaged 2 or 3 pounds and that bigger fish were rare. This is certainly not the case as the average fish is probably over 3lb and there were many in the 5 to 6lb class with a smattering of 7lb+ fish.

Around lunch-time I eventually hooked another bone and, although only about 2lb I did manage to land this oneJ This fish was still able to strip 60 or 70 yards of line from my reel but thankfully we were in a fairly open area and I was able to keep the fish away from the mangroves. Photo’s completed and the fish returned I was in seventh heaven – I was now more relaxed and it was surprising how this improved my casting and reduced my panic.

I had several more chances during the afternoon but lost a further 4 fish due to hook pulls and mangrovesL All part of the learning process I guess. Most of these losses were my own fault for striking to early or not striking at all – the mangroves I could do nothing about!!

I did have a chance at a fish of about 7lb but when it followed the fly and took it the line didn’t tighten – I continued to strip the fly and the fish tried 3 or 4 times to eat it but for some reason I couldn’t get it hooked. When I eventually got the fly to hand I found it had turned 180° and caught in the loop knot that I had attached it to the tippet withL - another lesson learnt!!

Just before we finished at 2:30pm we did see a nice permit of about 10lb but it ignored my poorly presented fly.

We retuned to base and Alex dropped me at the ferry terminal to return to Playa Del Carmen (PDC) on the 4:00pm ferry. We made arrangements for another day out and I promised to practice my casting!!

Thursday was a day for R & R after the previous days exertions and also to keep the wife happy of course!! I did plan to walk the beach with ‘rod-in-hand’ on this evening but the weather had different ideas as mid-afternoon it started to blow harder and eventually the rain came.

Thursday night I was woken several times by the torrential rain on the window and come Friday the view from the room was a little different from the first couple of days.

Friday was a day of torrential rain with rough seas that I could barely see from our room even though we were only 100 yards from itL With nothing else to do we congregated around the beach bar with a few others and succeeded in getting very, very drunkJ At one point we were all in the hot tub drinking tequilas although I don’t remember it that much!! As an example of the “rate of rain”, a 3” high empty tequila glass was filled with rain in approximately 20 minutes!!

Saturday dawned with stinking hangovers and yet more torrential rainL I had to get some fresh air so I walked in t-shirt and shorts down the beach to The Captain Lafitte – I may as well have swam I was that wet!! It was about a 45-minute walk to this complex of beach-side villas/apartments but what interested me was that it was on a small coral peninsular. When I got there I was disappointed to see a school of small permit – disappointed because I didn’t have my rod with meL I obviously set out my plan to get up early and go back on Sunday morning but …..

Sunday morning it was still rainingL The rain wasn’t the main problem though – one look at the sea told me to get back into bed and write the day off. The sea was muddy brown for about 30 or 40 yards from the shore and with the rain and stiff on-shore breeze it was only going to get worseL

Monday was no better. The sea was still brown and it wasn’t going to clear for a good few days. During the afternoon the sun did finally make an appearance and the rain ceased.

I was booked to fish with Alex again on Tuesday but I thought the sensible thing to do with the colour of the water and an uncertain forecast was to postpone. I phoned Alex and he told me that roads in Cozumel were flooded (as were roads between Cancun and PDC) and that he didn’t mind waiting ‘till later in the week.

Tuesday was much better with sunshine and clear skies. The beach was almost non-existent, as most of it had been washed out to sea – hence the colour of the water. Therefore it was a day to dry off by the pool with a few beers and a good bookJ Another day with no fishingL

Wednesday and Thursday were “visiting days” – the usual tourist things. We had traveled all the way to Mexico and were going to see at least a little of the countryside and history. Both days were very interesting and well worth the time spent – however, again no fishing was managedL

Friday. The weather had been improving all week since Monday afternoon so I made the decision to phone Alex on Thursday evening and book a day’s bonefishing for Friday. Arrangements were as previous so Alex met me off the ferry at about 6:30am.

On reaching Alex’s boat I was really disappointed to see that the ocean to the north of Cozumel was the colour of strong tea (without the milk). At least it was better than at PDC as the sea there was the colour of mud with only 2 or 3 inches visibility. When we got out from the shore towards the mangroves the ocean cleared dramatically and we were back into turquoise watersJ Alex decided to fish ocean side of the mangroves as the water within the in-land waterways was still very coloured – this turned out to be a inspired piece of guidingJ

Within minutes of approaching the shore bonefish were witnessed in several places. Alex anchored the boat and we carefully jumped into crystal clear 18” deep water and went stalking (I don’t think that’s a criminal offence in the YucatanJ).

The area we fished was mainly pale sandy bottom with the occasional large expanse of grass and the odd stalk or two of mangrove – other than that it was open to the ocean. To cut a long story short, within an hour I had landed 4 bonefish all in the 3 to 4lb range and had cast at about 8 different fish. The main problem was the amount of ladyfish about – I hooked several of these that all decided to get airborne which, although exciting, did nothing for the temperament of the bonesL

We continued to fish this area until about 10:30am by which time I had been fishing for about 2½ hours and my arm was aching. I landed nearly every fish I hooked (including a ladyfish) with the exception of one bone that unfortunately got deep into the grassL All the fish were in the 4lb class and every one of them had me looking at the back-end of my backing!!

The decision was made at this time to go in search of permit as I had never caught one before and Alex thought that there maybe a chance. So we waded back to the boat where I was glad to sit down and have a drink while we motored for a couple of miles to a large expanse of coral and sand flat. While motoring I set up my 10# with a 13lb tippet and a crab fly.

Again, cutting a long story short, we never saw a permit in the 3½ hours that we searched but we did see plenty of other fish including some good-sized bones. There were many black tip sharks ranging from 2 foot to 5 foot long but I didn’t fancy fishing for them!! The most impressive fish that I saw were the ‘cudas. There were a number of these fish and one in particular must have been 25lb+. We also saw groups of three and four that were all in the 15lb+ class. I didn’t fish for these which is a regret now as it wouldn’t have taken 2 minutes to change my leader from fluorocarbon to steel. However, at the time my mind was concentrated purely on permit and I didn’t want to take the chance of missing out on one because of having the wrong set-up.

Friday was once again a day of R&R after the previous days efforts and I was glad to just lay back in the sun and reflect on a fantastic days fishing. The amount of times I looked through the digital photos on my camera I cannot begin to estimate!!

Saturday and Sunday just followed on from Friday with more R&R. I made sure that I thoroughly washed my rods, reels, etc by placing them in the bath with the shower running over them – it was nice of the hotel to provide an “en-suite tackle cleaning room”!!

Sunday was also the day to pack my gear in preparation for Monday’s departure. I would have fished on these days had the sea cleared but, as luck would have it, it wasn’t until Monday morning (our day of departure) that the sea decided to turn turquoiseL

In summary: Fantastic fishing in beautiful surroundings. Will I go back? Most definitelyJJJJ

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