FISHING REPORT

June 7th - June 14th, 2014

Weather Conditions: Windy! Cloudy skies with some showers and isolated thunder storms early in the week. The wind stayed steady at 10 - 25. Sunnier skies toward the end of the week were welcomed.

Winds: ESE 10 - 20, choppy seas.

Air Temperature: 78-86 degree Fahrenheit; 23.3 C - 28.8C

Water Temperature: 75-80 degrees

Moonphase: The "Honey" Full Moon was on Friday the 13th.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONEFISH (Macabi): I'm loving these women who are arranging fly fishing vacations for their families. Cheryl showed up with her husband Jack and their two sons, Austin and Holden. They all had their first experience with Mr. Bonefish on fly and had a blast. I showed Austsin and Holden how to double haul and they returned the demonstration with the first cast. We are pretty proud of how fast we can teach our anglers to double haul - usually less than 5 minutes, but this was literally, the first cast. Laura also arranged a trip for her husband Dave and especially their son Mike who graduated high school. Mike has the best smile on the planet and he too needed little instruction before his fly line was extended to 80 ft. Mike landed some really nice bonefish with Captain Erlindo. John went out with them one day and he landed some bones but all he could do was brag about his fishing partner that day. Mike won the hearts of many of us here at EP. Rob brought his family for some fun fly fishing and just a good "hang out" time. Rob and his son Robert landed bonefish on the fly. Eddie and his buddy Lee showed up wide eyed and ready to jump in the game. Congratulations to both of you for landing your first bonefish on the fly. Chad said he is coming back next year, same time, same station. Congratulations Chad for landing some really nice bonefish with Captain Luis. Holger and Franks wanted tarpon on fly, but they kept their personalities in check by landing some nice 3 to 4 lb bones - sighted in skinny water. Natasha and Jeb - congratulations on your bonefish. Captain David Cargile was here. He is a FFF Master Caster and his skills helped him with our big wind this week. David and "Ernie," way to go. And then we had our group of 8 guys that have been working and fishing together for twenty five years. They really had a great time. Congratulations to Don and Paul, George, Steven, Mal, Rich, Rob and David. Nice job on your bonefishing. And the Grassedonio family grew as Wade's beautiful wife and three children all showed up after his father and brother took off last week. Eleven year old Matt landed his first bonefish on fly. See the photo, it says it all! Rob, Pat, Brain and Molly - another great fly fishing family. Molly, your dad was so proud of you casting to and landing those nice plump bonefish from skinny, "sighted" conditions. Sandi, way to go on your bonefish on the fly! That is the heart and soul of flats fishing right there!

PERMIT (Palometta): Good news for those of us who have a permit personality problem. The permit are showing up on the flats after being scarce the past couple of weeks. Congratulations to Natasha who landed a permit with Captain Kechu. And way to go Gregg who landed a nice 8 pounder on fly with Captain Kechu later in the week. There were some solid shots but the conditions were tough. Nice try for many of you who kept your optimism during the big wind and still found some shots.

TARPON (Sabalo): Yahooo. The picture of our Captain Alex kissing Mark's landed tarpon kinda shows you how excited everybody was on the boat. Sandi took some amazing photos with her i phone as Mark was able to land two tarpon on fly this week with Captain Alex. And Milton showed up with fly boxes we all wanted to steal. He decided to start tying flies recently and it looks like he is a pro to me. The one Captain Cesar chose had tarpon bumping each other out of the way for that fly! And yes, he put one to the boat. What makes this story even sweeter is that Milton told me that first morning as I was drooling over his fly boxes, that Aaron Adams is his main inspiration. He has shredded three of Aaron's books on baitfish and their patterns. Aaron happens to be the Executive Director of Bonefish Tarpon and Trust. He also showed up here to EP that very same day. How's that for serendipity! Congratulations to Mark (see photos on our facebook page) and to Milton. Nice tarpon fishing in not so easy conditions! Paul and Don - you turn is next! We had some good eats and runs, and remember it's all part of the story! Franks and Holger were here with tarpon on fly as their main mission. Well, they are returning to Germany with some big stories. Like the one where the huge tarpon missed the fly down by Long Caye, Captain Tomas yelled, "he is coming back!" and then the tarpon ate again! Franks set and then the fish ran. It ran until the knot between his flyline and backing broke. The fish went running away and he was left with backing - and a good story! Holger was ready to change his name to Franks because every time Franks was up - they had shots. Holger, you too have tarpon credit stored. Nice fishing you guys.

BARRACUDA: Some really fun barracuda fishing this week. We had some big wind, and so several of the boats put spin rods rigged for cuddas. Great stories of aggressive takes and fish getting big air.

OTHER SPECIES: Lori Lee said she almost died landing her large jack! After a 45 minute fight, she got it to the boat and the fish took one last run which broke the line. She took the next day off. (And she also landed some nice bones on fly the day before, so she's no slacker).

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONEFISH - Crazy Charlie, Gotcha, Bunny Gotcha's, CI Special's (orange, pink and pearl), small crabs.

FOR PERMIT - Turneffe Crab, Avalon, Big Squimps!, Mantas shrimp patterns - size 4.

FOR TARPON - Black Death, Chartreuse toad, White toads and bait fish patterns.

Guide of the week: It is my honor to award Captain Alex our Guide of the Week! Yay Alex! The tough conditions weren't tough enough for Alex. Alex guided his angler Mark into two landed tarpon on fly this week! Congratulations Alex. Nice work.

This Week's Summary:

So, let's talk about the weather. While we would love to see perfect sunny skies and an East 5 - 10 wind for all of anglers, it just doesn't happen. We have had some big wind for a few weeks now, so yes, we are talking about the weather. After long discussions, we have come up with the fact that challenging conditions in the end do make you a better angler. Sad, but true. All of your fishing experiences make you a better angler. You take that collective story and apply it to your next adventure. And then, one day, you are able to tell the story of your great fish, and how it all happened. Thank you to all of our friends who return here to El Pescador to make your fishing dreams continue. We love to be part of that story.

Cast to your dreams!
Lori-Ann: [email protected].

Fishing photo of the week:


El Pescador guest Matt with his first Bonefish!