Fish and Cervesa in Cancun Mexico
A couple weeks ago, Andrea and I took our first trip away from the baby. We were invited to join our friends Mike and Barbara for a week of warm weather and cold drinks south of the border in Cancun. Cancun is pretty well known for its wild night life during spring break. I did a little research before we headed down there and found out that the fishing can be pretty good as well.
Cancun sits on the north eastern tip of the Yucatan peninsula. A coral reef and the clear blue waters of the Caribbean draw most people and anglers to the area. Marlin, Sailfish, Dolphin and many other species of offshore fish are targeted by a plethora of charter boats. A slightly less advertised option for visiting anglers is inshore species such as Snook, Bones, Permit, baby Tarpon and a myriad of others. this type of fishing is often times a little more affordable and can provide more action than a day spent trolling for the big game species.
Mike and I decided we wanted to spend a morning fishing. We have both gone out for big game in the past and both found it a bit on the boring side. Sure you can drink the "free" beer all day, but for the price of a charter boat, you may as well be drinking top shelf margaritas in the hotel bar. Instead we hooked up with Uno Mas Sport Fishing for a 4 hour trip into the mangrove lagoon in the heart of Cancun. The girls would sleep in and hook up with us later.
Our guide Roman picked us up at the dock in front of our resort. Literally we sat on the deck with a cup of coffee until we saw him pull up and then walked the 10 yards to the dock and jumped in. Sunrise was at least 30 minutes away so the ride to the first spot was in the dark. Our well used but sturdy 24 foot flats boat had no running lights. Roman simply put a small LED strobe light on his hat as he stood behind the steering council and navigated through channels in the mangroves. It reminded me of many mornings as a child holding the flashlight in the front of the boat while looking for a duck blind in the darkness.
Fishing was slow at first. We were all swimming grubs on jig heads, using 7 foot medium action rods and good old Penn reels spooled with 8 lb line. Kind of light but I kept my opinion to myself. "This should make it sporty" I thought. About 30 minutes into our day and 7 or 8 drifts past different stretches of mangrove shoreline and fresh water springs, Roman finally hooks up. A small tarpon swims towards the boat for a moment but then rockets out of the water and throws the jig back toward the boat. We all missed several strikes over the next couple hours but were never able to get solid hook ups. Roman was not impressed with my Bass fishing hook sets. "You can set however you like but it wont work if you set that hard" he said to us more than once. I am still not sure why a gentle hook set would be more effective but he was convinced that was the case. Who was I to argue with his 30 years of experience on that water.
We eventually made a move and started to fish deeper water out in the middle of the lagoon away from the mangroves. We missed a few fish on the first drift but then started to hook up. First Roman landed a nice Bone fish. Yes a bone fish in 14 feet of water. Mike landed one as well while I lost a fish halfway to the boat. "Take it easy" Roman urged us. Still concerned about my tendency to pull a little harder than he liked. For the next hour we would drift over the spot and catch a couple fish before starting up the motor, getting back up wind and making another drift. Every time we caught different fish. Bone on one drift, Snapper the next, African Pompano on another. When the time had come to head back to the resort, Mike and I both wished we had booked for 6 hours. The girls would be waiting for us though so we opened a cold beer and packed it in for the morning.
Below are a few pics form the trip. We had a good time and would do it again in a heart beat. If you are ever in Cancun and looking for a way to spend a day. Give the inshore fishing a try. Leave the Marlin and Sail fish to the drunken college kids with mom and dads credit card.
Cancun sits on the north eastern tip of the Yucatan peninsula. A coral reef and the clear blue waters of the Caribbean draw most people and anglers to the area. Marlin, Sailfish, Dolphin and many other species of offshore fish are targeted by a plethora of charter boats. A slightly less advertised option for visiting anglers is inshore species such as Snook, Bones, Permit, baby Tarpon and a myriad of others. this type of fishing is often times a little more affordable and can provide more action than a day spent trolling for the big game species.
Mike and I decided we wanted to spend a morning fishing. We have both gone out for big game in the past and both found it a bit on the boring side. Sure you can drink the "free" beer all day, but for the price of a charter boat, you may as well be drinking top shelf margaritas in the hotel bar. Instead we hooked up with Uno Mas Sport Fishing for a 4 hour trip into the mangrove lagoon in the heart of Cancun. The girls would sleep in and hook up with us later.
Our guide Roman picked us up at the dock in front of our resort. Literally we sat on the deck with a cup of coffee until we saw him pull up and then walked the 10 yards to the dock and jumped in. Sunrise was at least 30 minutes away so the ride to the first spot was in the dark. Our well used but sturdy 24 foot flats boat had no running lights. Roman simply put a small LED strobe light on his hat as he stood behind the steering council and navigated through channels in the mangroves. It reminded me of many mornings as a child holding the flashlight in the front of the boat while looking for a duck blind in the darkness.
Fishing was slow at first. We were all swimming grubs on jig heads, using 7 foot medium action rods and good old Penn reels spooled with 8 lb line. Kind of light but I kept my opinion to myself. "This should make it sporty" I thought. About 30 minutes into our day and 7 or 8 drifts past different stretches of mangrove shoreline and fresh water springs, Roman finally hooks up. A small tarpon swims towards the boat for a moment but then rockets out of the water and throws the jig back toward the boat. We all missed several strikes over the next couple hours but were never able to get solid hook ups. Roman was not impressed with my Bass fishing hook sets. "You can set however you like but it wont work if you set that hard" he said to us more than once. I am still not sure why a gentle hook set would be more effective but he was convinced that was the case. Who was I to argue with his 30 years of experience on that water.
We eventually made a move and started to fish deeper water out in the middle of the lagoon away from the mangroves. We missed a few fish on the first drift but then started to hook up. First Roman landed a nice Bone fish. Yes a bone fish in 14 feet of water. Mike landed one as well while I lost a fish halfway to the boat. "Take it easy" Roman urged us. Still concerned about my tendency to pull a little harder than he liked. For the next hour we would drift over the spot and catch a couple fish before starting up the motor, getting back up wind and making another drift. Every time we caught different fish. Bone on one drift, Snapper the next, African Pompano on another. When the time had come to head back to the resort, Mike and I both wished we had booked for 6 hours. The girls would be waiting for us though so we opened a cold beer and packed it in for the morning.
Below are a few pics form the trip. We had a good time and would do it again in a heart beat. If you are ever in Cancun and looking for a way to spend a day. Give the inshore fishing a try. Leave the Marlin and Sail fish to the drunken college kids with mom and dads credit card.
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