Hello All, I just returned from a week in Cancun where I had the pleasure of fishing with my friend Martin van der Does. The first day was spent in the lagoon where I managed a small tarpon and a couple of small snook using an EP fly.
[/img] There were many larger tarpon 15-20 lbs. around but they would not bite anything that I threw. Sunday, Martin called me to say that the sails were on fire! Monday AM we were off with Martin’s friend Capt. Orlando and his crew to chase the sails. After an approximate 1 hr. ride we were north of Isla Mujeres and in the middle of acres and acres of sardine bait balls being corraled by as many as a dozen sailfish.This is truly something that has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Orlando did a great job positioning the boat for us to cast poppers into the bait ball and strip it out of the school for the strike. We had 5 hookups and landed 2. This was my first attempt at billfish on the fly but definately won’t be the last. It is hard to describe the sight of 2 or 3 lit up sails swarming a baitball and breaking off to chase a fly! I used a Cam Sigler blue and white popper on a 12wt. rod. The first sail was caught on a tandem hook popper, but I changed to a single hook because it was much easier to cast in the windy conditions.
[/img]Next year I will take an assortment of smaller single hook flies. These crews are very good about bringing the fish in quickly for a photo and prompt! return to the water for revival and release. The 12wt set up was good in that it kept the fight limited to 5-10 minutes. These fish swam away in good shape. I stayed at the Le Blanc hotel which is a very nice all inclusive in the hotel zone. There is plenty for non-fishing spouses to do there. Cheers, Mike
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