Bone Fishing in Cozumel 12/29/16

[snagged in outlet 3]

I'll start this report and add to it as I have time.  I stayed in Play Car for 4 days between Xmas and New Years.  I always fish on vacations wherever I go if possible.  This time I booked with Aquarius Fly Fishing after a bunch of internet research.  I've tarpon fished in the lagoon behind Cancun a bunch of times but this time I wanted to check out the bone fishing on Cozumel.  The trip down to Bocapaila just looked too long for a day trip.  I'm glad I didn't go there because I talked to a guy on the Cozumel Ferry that did the trip a couple days before and he said it sucked.  The Lodge down there closed a couple years ago and he said it's a cluster of part time guides now.

I took a cab to Playa Del Carmen at 5 AM to get on the ferry.  I had walked down there the day before to scout it out but the cab driver let me off past where I had been and said walk down there 4 blocks.  There aren't street lights in Playa and the crowd consisted of drunk people leaving the bars, cabbies and assorted locals hanging out and two bums that followed me all the way to the ferry.  It wasn't until I got into the light of the Ferry terminal before they quit following me.

I bought my ticket and waited among o bunch of passed out people on the benches.  I started feeling like this might not be the best idea since I was carrying a few hundred bucks to pay the guide.  But after a while the crowd got bigger with people going over to dive.  The bar opened on the Ferry right at 7AM.

 

 

After a 45 minute ferry ride I got to Cozumel and a lady was holding a sign with my name on it and we hopped in her Izuzu Rodeo for hair raising ride to another marina.  No habla and she doesn't look happy about this.

 

So we drive to the marina and walk down behind some buildings where I figured I was finally going to get rolled for my cash and phone.  Nope, two dudes waiting in a panga that looked pretty old.  The driver's seat was a tree stump glued to the floor.  Both guys, no habla of course.  Except where's the money.  I paid the lady. hopped in and we took off out of this back water marina.

 

Off we ant with Ernesto ands Mike.  It was a longer boat ride than I expected and it took a solid 45 minutes of back breaking wave hopping in the open ocean.  We rounded the northeastern tip of the island and passed a grounded ship.  It was all rusted out and listing to one side.  Boy I still didn't feel quite good about this.  We beached the boat and Ernesto grabbed my Loomis to rig it up and check it out.  I had a standard bone fish leader on a fly line I got for free from Patfish on the site .  Thanks Pat!!  

He shook his head and looked at Mike and then they are both saying no.  I said what's the deal?  Tippet too light was what I got from it but he tied on the first fly anyway.  Then they start pushing the boat off the beach and I'm trying to figure what's going on.  He motions that Mike will meet us later and he takes off with my backpack in the boat.  Phone wallet and cash all motoring away and I'm two thousand miles from home.

We walk over the beach into a mangrove jungle and I still don't see any water.  Then we pop out into the flats.  It was real nice!!  We were wading and the bottom is thick deep silt and sand that you sink into.  We walked maybe 50 yards and I see a big school of tailing bones and Ernesto says there they are.  I am already false casting and lay one down about 45 feet out right on front of them.  Boom, he nails it.  I turn around to see Ernesto is still looking at the bones he spotted not even knowing I had already hooked one from the ones I saw.  He was looking left and I hooked one to the right.  The place erupted in bone fish scattering everywhere and I couldn't believe how many there were.   There must have 50 bones between the two schools.  He bolts out into the open water and makes right turn at a stump sticking out.  Then snap, the line breaks and he's gone.  Ernesto shakes his head and I said put on the 20 pound tippett he had in his shirt pocket that I saw him put in there.  I tapped his pocket and he just smiled and said 10  pound no good.  I patted him on the back and said this place is loaded with fish.  He just kept smiling and I'm smiling and then I noticed I finally felt somewhat safe even without phone or wallet....

 

[fishinwrench]

Something tells me this is about to get epic. ?

That old broad that picked you up looks meaner than a snake.  Yikes !

[Plastic_worm]

Time is up.  Ready for the next session....

[Quillback]

The things we do to catch fish, well I'll amend that to the things we do to go fishing, as SIO hasn't actually caught one yet...

[Jerry Rapp]

We went to somewhere down there a few years ago.  Cancun, Cozumel, or somewhere like that.  River something I think. All inclusive which was ok.  But when we left the airport on the bus to where I hope we were suppose to go, all I saw was guys in camo along the road holding guns.  Nice place, and I said to myself, never again for this amigo.  Finally got to the resort and it was o.k., sort of nice really I guess.  A week of fun and no worries for the most part.  Took a taxi one morning "sight seeing", and I gave the driver a $50 tip when he got us back safely to the resort.  I was glad.  The best part of the trip was Thursday on the beach.  They always had a drink special of the day which the wife enjoyed.  I always drank some kind of beer, hey it was all free.  About 4 pm after her 4th or 5th drink of the day on the beach, she said I am not feeling anything.  The next time the waiter came by she ordered a "double" of the drink of the day.  The little guy, not knowing much englisho, knew enough to point out that the drink of the day was a non alcohol mojito so people could sober up for their return home on Friday.  I fell out of my beach chair laughing!  Bottom line, after experiencing that depressing country and what I saw outside the resort, I would never, ever do what Pete did.  But that is me.

[snagged in outlet 3]

I'm headed back in March.  You are correct about leaving the resorts.  Lots of automatic weapons.  They were unloading troops at the ferry when I got back.  No pictures señor!!

I was up in old cancun a few years ago headed to meet a guide.  There were 2 12 year old or so kids busting up a concrete sidewalk in front of a bank.  One held the spike while the other hit it with a sledge hammer.  Mexican OSHA rules had them turn their head away when the hammer hit the spike.  

[snagged in outlet 3]

Sorry for the delay I'm downloading pictures from a disposable camera.  I could't risk wading with my phone.

[patfish]

That fly line hasn't dry rotted by now?!?!?  

 

Keep the report going SIO3.  I need something to do while I wait for Roto-rooter.  It's a fecal matter. 

[snagged in outlet 3]

It wasn't 10 minutes later and I saw another group of fish tailing.  There must've been 30 of them and I laid a cast just short of them and one darted out and grabbed it. 
The fly pulled out after a short blistering run and this happened twice more in the next hour.  Fly was fine just pulled out. 
Then I got on a run of lining fish after fish.  We would see tailing fish but not the ones between us and the tailers. Once the line hit them they would scatter. Me and Ernesto looked at each other with palms up saying what you gonna do, we didn't see those. 
 

So I'm 2.5 hours into seeing the most tailing fish ever without catching one. I mean there were fish everywhere.  I've bone fishing in the Bahama's and didn't see that many fish in 3 days. I just kept slapping Ernesto on the back, smiling and thanking him.  as all I ask for is put around the fish and that he did.  That guy put me on a ton of fish. 
Finally we stalked a pod of tailers and this time I started laying down casts well short of them and I think the third time one grabbed it. After a great fight I finally had one in hand.

 

By then we had caught up to Mike in the panga. Mike and Ernesto talked for a bit while I pounded water.   Mike turns to me and says how'd that 10 pound tippet work for you. I cracked up laughing and said what about no nabla english? He just kept grinning. 
 

He said Ernesto told him I could cast pretty well and wanted to know if was up for a surprise.  I said yeah what the heck I've come this far. 
I watched him switch out leader and tie on a surface popper. I blurted out TARPON!!!
Mike just kept grinning and hopped out the boat and pulled us into a narrow path in the mangroves.

 

It opened into a small pool and I jump out into wast deep water. We round the corner and I see two Tarpon to our right right off the bat.  They went around a mangrove shrub and I went around the other side to head them off. Mike and Ernesto stated about ten feet behind me,  I look down the path and see the tarpon and I flopped that popper right down the path where they headed and stripped it twice. I saw the tarpon turn about 10 feet behind it and it's at least 4 feet long. By the time i even registered how big it was it had covered that 10 feet and attacks the popper in huge swirl. Scared the crap of me but I kept stripping and never felt any tension. 
The thing then turns and swims right at me nearly brushed my leg going by. 
We were all three smiling and Mike says "surprise!".

The trip was over and we pushed the boat back out and motored out into the channel.  I got back to the marina and hooked up with the angry Mayan and she took me back to the ferry.  I was at the sim up bar drinking a beer by happy hour.  I talked to Mike quite a bit and he said March is prime time and I already have another trip booked and be going again with Mike and Ernesto. 

 

[snagged in outlet 3]

I caught this dink snook on a popper too.