Steve and Betty MacKenzie just got back from another excellent fly fishing adventure in southern Mexico! I'll let Betty and Steve tell you all about it!
During the second week of December we travelled down to the Yucatan to a lodge called Pesca Maya which is a two hour drive south of Tulum on the east side of the Yucatan. Driving down you pass through the enormous Sian Ka"an Biosphere Reserve. The small operation is run out of a beautiful beach house owned by an absentee American whose wife decided she didn't want to stay there. There is room for 8 anglers in comfort. The first 4 days we were the only anglers until a father and son from Salt Lake arrived.
The experienced guides are fluent in English and drive their pangas to the lodge every morning from their homes in Punta Allen. You can fish the 1,300,000 acres of prime fishing flats of Ascension Bay for bonefish, snook, and barracuda or go ocean side to fish inside the reef for permit.
The wildlife viewing is great with flamingos, rosy spoonbills, ospreys, sea turtles, and rays of all sizes. We fished primarily from the pangas in skinny water of two feet or less. We fished barbless shrimp imitation flies tied by Betty on 8 wt. rods and caught lots of bonefish and three junior permit.
The most remarkable events were watching the guides grab onto the big barracudas with their bare hands and not get their fingers torn to shreds. We sent one home with the guides , released one and brought one back to the lodge to be turned into ceviche and breaded fish tacos. Delicious.
When it rains there it really pours and full rain gear is a must to have in the boat. The trip logistics were seamless from pick up in Cancun to the return to the airport at weeks end.
We can definitely recommend this place for everyone whether they are seasoned anglers or they are trying salt fishing for the first time.
