Our transport van arrived, and we began our journey down Quintana Roo Route 15. Our destination was the disused Ultimo Maya dock near Boca Paila where we then boarded Pangas to continue our 1 1/2 hour journey down the inner lagoon to the Seaport Punta Allen where we hopped into trucks for a short drive through the village to Nervous Waters' Maya Azul Lodge, which operates completely off the grid, and does so quite well.
Headed to fish Ascension Bay, Cody and I headed out a day early just in case of bad weather or lost luggage. We stayed at the Motto by Hilton Tulum after landing at the new Tulum International Airport. We enjoyed walking around the town, found a pharmacy and our friend Ricky interpreted for us, so I could get my much-needed insulin. We ate at a restaurant that cooked their meats on open smoker grills and had live entertainment. We enjoyed the area around our hotel enjoying live music, finding a podcasting studio called Huddle Puddle, a gelato shop, an Apple Store, and a rather large agave art of a Jumping Bean.
Before our shuttle to Punta Allen arrived, we rented a scooter and visited the Tulum Mayan Ruins at the Tulum National Park. Cody bought a Lucha Libre mask for a funny fishing bit. We shopped at a Sam's-style store for Coke Zero or Sin Azcura, and we had to have a parking ticket which was validated, if we spent a $110 Pesos or more. We also stocked up on nutrition for Montezuma's Revenge. It was a good start to our adventure.
I absolutely despise and loathe trotlines/juglines/throwlines. I don't think it's really fishing; people forget where they put these unmanned lines spanning creeks, rivers, and other water body areas, not to mention a line may not be longer than 600 feet, have no more than 50 hooks, and spacing must be 3 feet or greater per hook. Whoopie! some restrictions there.
In early 2020, Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission did change the regulations requiring anglers to check their unmanned lines every six days instead of every 10 days, so that's something, and in 2024, 15 specific water bodies and all community lakes cannot have trotlines. There is so much bycatch entrapped in these lines, that this method of catching should be outlawed. Pick up a rod and go fish for goodness sakes.
Being outside and on the water, fly fishers are invariably conservationists, as well, which also means, knowing how to reach a Game Warden when needed. Fortunately, TPWD publishes its Game Wardens and their contacts by county. Skip 911; skip the state park; skip the operator; instead, access the Game Wardens by County webpage before heading out for a day's fly fishing excursion, and take a screenshot of the warden(s) in the county with their contact phone number. That list is available here: Game Warden Contact Info by County.
Regrettably, we needed a Game Warden recently, as we discovered an injured Great Blue Heron who had become entangled in an abandoned trotline or throwline. We were able to free the bird, who did move to land on its own, and contacted a Game Warden, after phoning and leaving messages with three others, who did not return our call. We do not know the status of the bird, who was in definite need of human assistance, as we had no idea how long it had been entangled. We never saw a Game Warden arrive, though we had been told it would be awhile before he could make it to the area, but that he would come that date. Even with the "improved" six-day maintenance, I don't think the Heron would have survived. This line was old; the hooks were rusted; the bird was a victim of inane fishing practices that offer zero accountability.
The Dodo YouTube Channel posts stories like these often across social media channels, and though we have seen many, this was the first encounter we have ever had. Hopefully, we did some good by freeing the majestic bird, who suffered a wounded left wing, a wound to its neck, and hopefully by freeing its left foot, which it did start moving in the water, it did not lose the use of it.
Every year, I ask to go fishing around my birthday, and this year was no different. After much prepping, a new trolling motor battery, and several dry runs, the boat was ready. We loaded our fly rods, boat bags, fly boxes, and planned a day of catching.
Not long after we got out on the lake, we began to experience a engine problems. Being the handy person that he is, Cody had our engine problems solved, and off we continued. Seeing and casting to fish, and then having them chase the fly is oh so much fun. Cody had more fun, as he caught fish; first of the day, a Gasper Goo. I had followers but no takers. Then, Cody caught a rather nice Bluegill.
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| Gasper Goo |
Having targeted all the fishy spots and shady spots, we moved locales. I missed much of the trip as I needed to change from floating reel to sinking spool, and make a better fly choice. Cody continued catching, adding a Blue Catfish to his list. Finally, I was able to add a Largemouth Bass, not big, but I was thrilled I wasn't skunked.
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| Penguin Photobomber |
Moving locales, we found our attention was needed. We then set out to purposefully catch very small Sunfish, which Cody succeeded. My job was to keep them from escaping the net, I almost executed my duties completely, but Cody added Green Sunfish and Bluegill.
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| Sacrificial food source |
We moved again, and though the area looked incredibly fishy and fish lit up the fish finder, we both left the area with no catches. Cody let me pick the next area, and Voila! it was teeming with some of the biggest Sunfish I've ever seen in our boat. I kept getting hits, while Cody was catching...and weighing, yes, weighing Sunfish. Upon examining my well-fished GirlieBugger, it had NO HOOK! Yes, that's right, all the teasing hits, and the well placed casts with a 350 grain sinking line was for naught. Somewhere in the evening, I had a particularly enthusiastic hit that blew up my fly. Mollified that I wasn't as bad an angler as I had believed because I couldn't set the hook, I was disheartened because I waited so long to inspect the fly. Meanwhile, Cody continued catching a weighing Sunfish, all of which exceeded 3/4 of a pound, with one being an ounce away from weighing a pound. These were P-I-G hogs!
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| 1 oz. shy of a pound! |
It was a brutal day fly fishing South Carolina, as the 35 mph winds blew in from the north-northeast, and muddied the waters. There was not much sightcasting, but we did get to target some fish. We had told Fab #5 to practice in windy conditions, which he did, but as this was his first saltwater outing, casting in winds that destroy a backcast was a first. Pat, of Redfin Charters, did a great job of offering tips and pointers and even came off the polling platform and demonstrated a way to cast to help protect the backcast. I enjoyed getting to spend the day fishing new-to-me-waters with family members, even going tight on a small Bullhead Shark, and I appreciated the efforts and energy Pat gave to a first-time saltwater fisher. Our Near Shore excursion scheduled for the next day was canceled, as the winds kept gusting over the next several days. We hope to make it back to Charleston before its time for Fab #5 to return to college, but if not, we do plan on making some Gulf Coast trips together.
I happened to be at a Sisters on the Fly Outing this weekend, and though it was one dedicated to playing games, I headed to the river after getting booted from L-R-C quickly. The rains have filled the area's rivers, which is great to see, but I did not recognize many spots, due to a full flow. There was much Carp Love going on, but none liked what I was offering. I did manage to hook some Sunfish and Catfish, so it was a good day. I hiked about 1 river mile and had to work hard for each catch.
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| Channel Catfish |
When Fabs #4 and #5 were young, we gave each one of those Sage rods (I do not nor will I ever again fish Sage) for kids; one was bubblegum pink and the other was bright blue. They would fish with us, but finding areas to fish where they could safely backcast was not an easy endeavor. Fab #5 liked fishing but just decided he wanted to do conventional tackle. We've taken him many places to fish, but we were so surprised a few weeks before Thanksgiving when Fab #5 texted and asked for a fly rod. We actually thought he was joking and called his sister to ask if this was something he really wanted, or it was just a funny, Ha Ha text. Evidently, he really wanted it, because Sister begged us to get it for him, so he would stop talking about wanting one.
When you gift someone a fly set-up, we think you need to take them fishing, so we booked a guide trip with KC Williams out of Living Waters Fly Shop and headed to the Texas Hill Country. We told KC to focus on Fab #5, and that for the most part, Cody and I could fend for ourselves; this trip was all about teaching him to catch fish today, but to also transfer what he learned so he could fish wherever he could find places near college and fish on his own successfully.
KC was great; the Hill Country was great; the weather was great; and Cody and I were outfished by the lad! Couldn't ask for a better day topped off with a BBQ dinner at Cooper's. When we got back to the ranch, he headed off to fish the Catfish Pond and caught three catfish on his own. We didn't even know he had gone.
The other item to note, is that I fished a new-to-me rod that I won at the Dallas Fly Fishers' 2024 Auction. Due to the generous Legacy gifting, I got to bid on and win a rod from Tom Klaasen, a beloved member who passed away in 2023. I had sat with Tom at the 2022 Holiday Party and heard Tom talk of this particular 3# rod, so my bidding was one of sentimentality, as well as needing to add a 3# rod to my arsenal. As with all my rods, it needed its new name, and thus, I named Tom's Orvis rod "TKO" which stands for Tom Klaasen's Ovation. I loved this 2 piece little jewel that was a definite knock-out with the fish.
UPDATE: It absolutely makes my heart happy when we receive texts letting us know he's been out casting and fishing and catching, and we are going on a saltwater Redfish outing before he begins his summer internship!
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| One of many species for the day--White Bass, Guadalupe Bass, Channel Catfish, and Sunfish |
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Guadalupe Bass   11 May Text |
