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- Casa Blanca - Playa Blanca
Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula - Condition of Equipment:
Good - Quality of Accommodation:
Excellent - Quality of Food:
Excellent - General Fishing Knowledge:
Good - Quality of Service:
Excellent - Highlights of the Trip:
There were 8 of us in this group, and most of us fished hard all day long. I have no doubt we would have done very well there but for the wind and overcast skies. There were 8 permit caught the week before, with rainy conditions, but w/o the wind. Yes, "should a been here last week". Small bones were numerous here, and I managed to land one Snook, and one Tarpon that were about 7 lbs. each. I lost three other snook; one 12-15 lb. snook broke my 18lb. Tippet when I tried to snub him to stop a headlong rush to the mangrove roots. Another was lost when he jumped and spit the hook, and yet another jumped and SAWED THROUGH my 40lb. Fluorocarbon tippet. My guide explained that, although snook don't have razor sharp teeth, their sandpaper lips can do the job when they jump while clamping down on the tippet. Lesson learned? Drop the rod tip to allow some slack when they take to the air. The same can be said for tarpon, one of which I lost when he spit while jumping. We also fished in the brackish water of the mangroves, and saw many birds, and a fair number of tarpon. My personal highlight came when first arriving at the lodge on Sunday afternoon, I grabbed my 8 weight, and a few bonefish flies and hit the beach heading south. I caught one fair sized bone after walking about a mile in the SMALL surf (no winds yet), then walked two more miles in order to reach a small point that I could see from a distance. My freshwater lake fishing experiences in fishing points paid dividends with this effort as I was able to wade out to my waist, and get ahead of the breaking small waves. After a few minutes I witnessed a big school of 1-2 lb. saltwater ruffians ripping into bait fish within easy casting distance. I caught 5 of those guys in short order. I don't know the species, but they fought hard, jumped like mad, and were scale less, and silvery with that sickle like permit tail, but not rounded like a permit. They were a kick in the butt on my 8 weight. OK, now for my "believe it or not" big fish story. As I was preparing to load up again for another cast to the school, I saw to my right a very large brown fish swimming slowly in my direction, but parallel to the beach. After weighing not so carefully my chances of landing a brute this size, I shot a 50 foot cast to my 12 o'clock, and began my strip. After two strips, while watching the pug ugly brute moving closer to the area I had just cast to, I felt another of those school fish jump my shrimp pattern. By now the large ugly brute began to show interest in what was going on immediately in front of him. I should interject, that up until this very moment, I had no idea what species of fish that Mr. Pug ugly brute might be. However, when the school fish on my line made a beeline for protective cover of yours truly, I saw the huge undershot jaw, and musky like shape of a 5 to 6 ft. barracuda heading right at me! As God is my judge, that monster barracuda was a thick as a 40 lb. trophy musky, and I was suddenly looking at that beast, floating motionless on the surface, just two feet from my crotch. To my great and everlasting relief, he vanished two seconds later to grab that school fish behind me, popped my tippet like it was thread, and was gone like a bad dream. When I managed to swallow my heart back to its proper place in my chest, I slowly backed out of the water, and called it a very productive, albeit dramatic, and fortunate afternoon. I'd like to add that I was very curious to see if my unguided beach fishing efforts would pay off, and was gratified for my sole successful effort. It would have been a blast to take the sea kayak available at the lodge to fish within the protective confines of the barrier coral reef that extends for a great distance along the shore there, but for the 20-30 mph winds existing for the entire week of my stay. I would greatly appreciate any info or experience any readers might be willing to share regarding their do-it-yourself wade or kayaking efforts in that - Would you recommend this trip to a friend?:
Yes