FISHING REPORT

November 13th through 20th, 2010

Weather Conditions: The week started out clear with Trade Winds easterly, then a low pressure system moved in bringing some rain and wind.

Winds: Easterly Trade Winds at 5 knots, moved to ESE, then SE, moving back to a strong NE at 10-20 knots.

Air Temperature: High: low 80's, Low: low 60's

Water Temperature: Low 70's.

Moonphase: First Quarter on the 13th.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONEFISH: Everyone loves a confidence booster, especially as adult learners in a new sport. Our bonefish are a stellar act, and have given our anglers a great invitation to salt water fly fishing. "The newlyweds", Sara and Shawn, came back with double digit numbers most days. But just as soon as you think bonefish are a "gimmie," a whole new scene presents itself during low tide conditions. Travis and Kristen our other newlyweds this week had amazing fishing….Travis had permit and tarpon on fly in the first hour, but the bonefish eluded them when the tide went low, keeping him from his grand slam!

PERMIT: Just a crazy permit week. Emir had my long time fishing buddy, Kim Keeley and me out for a day. In the first hour we hooked 4 permit and landed two. Kim's was bigger, I'll admit. A nice 19 lbs. The first quarter moon is a great time for permit fishing from our beach as well. Three hooked, none landed. Jim and Matt landed 3 on fly with Nesto their first day out!

TARPON: Wow. Our migratory tarpon are still down by Long Caye, and Savannah has been on fire. Before the low pressure system came in, slick calm conditions with happy floating poons…..Kim and I each came sooooo close to a grand slam, but Mr. Tarpon won with a jump, and angler error! Ouch. Thank you to our El Pescador Guide Team for loving the chase and the glory of tarpon.

SNOOK:  Some large 20 lb snook were seen and cast to, but no bite. I'm expecting one to show up on the dock today for dinner. (No change from last week, and no snook on the dock, yet!)

JACKS: A few jacks nice 15 - 18lb jacks landed this week on spin and fly.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it.

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary
Having my long time great gal pal and fishing buddy with me here this week brought back a ton of funny memories. Kim Keeley is one of the best female anglers I know, and having her down here at El Pescador this week was a treat not only for me, but for the guides. On her third cast, she had a 19 lb permit on fly. Captain Emir kissed that fish so much I thought, "Emir's wife has nothing to worry about, these permit are his girlfriends!" We reminded each other of crazy times as we learned about salt water fly fishing twenty years ago. We are still learning, still making mistakes, still taking brag photos when possible, still loving it. We are very blessed to know this kind of fun.

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

Fishing photo of the week:

MONSTER PERMIT! 24 pounder caught by El Pescador guest Freeman H.

FISHING REPORT

February 12th - February 19th, 2011

Weather Conditions: The cold front moved through, but left the wind. The wind has been a steady 10 - 20 knots, switching up a bit, but it didn't lay down. Mostly sunny skies shared with some isolated rain showers. Pleasant temps, low 80's.

Winds: Started NW then moved N, then NE, winding over to our prevailing E wind. 10 knots was considered calm for the week.

Air Temperature: High: mid 80's. Low: low 60's.

Water Temperature: Low 70's.

Moonphase: Full moon on the 18th .

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONEFISH: : We saw some really big schools of bonefish this week - like 500 fish schools. These fish, mostly small, averaging 1 to 2 lbs, provided huge fun for beginners in the salt. Nothing like blowing a shot but then have the opportunity for several more…..This is fun no matter what. The Crabtree Boyz all caught bonefish, and some for the first time on fly.

PERMIT: Still our stellar player. What can we say. Patrick had his first ever fly fishing in the salt experience - a guide from Ohio, he now has a new passion. He caught several bonefish, but he also caught permit fever. He now wears a bone carving of a permit around his neck to remind him of his next cast…..Then Rob goes and lands a permit with Captain Emir on his last day! Our buddy Bill the 3rd, also landed a permit with Captain Sinoe. Eric, from the Crabtree group, also landed a permit wade fishing with Captain Kachu. And me, I had the perfect shot and the wrong fly, and then the right fly and a bad shot. Ouch! Bottom line, there are a ton of permit around.

TARPON: Some nice shots, some bites, but none to the boat. Savannah had a few good days as well as the smaller lagoons.

SNOOK:  Not seen as much this time of year - they are closer to the mainland.

JACKS: Bill the 3rd landed some nice jacks - nearly spooled a few times.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
Full moon week. We all noticed "full moon wind," but it made for some fun stories. Mike has lived a fishing life and this was his first time fly fishing for the big three. His double haul improved but he hauled the fly into himself a few times. All on video of course. "Buccaneers and Bones" took on a whole new narration as Bill the 3rd and Mike made up their own stories. Fun stuff. Anyway, it really is permit fever around here. We are seeing schools, pairs, singles, 5 to 35 lbs. Long casts into the wind, sometimes it is an easy shot, whatever you get, we all know it is magic when it comes together. Lori-Ann.

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

Fishing photo of the week:

El Pescador guest Rob and Permit!

FISHING REPORT

February 26th - March 5th, 2011

Weather Conditions: It was a windy week, and it pretty much blew 20 knots up to 35 somedays…..and then the wind died way down to 5 to 15 east, which is perfect. Mostly sunny skies. Pleasant temp's, low 80's during the day.

Winds: The good news is that the wind was primarily east, sometimes ESE - and even though it blew a solid 20, at least it was consistant, and the fish like that.

Air Temperature: High: low 80's. Low: low 60's.

Water Temperature: Low 70's.

Moonphase: New moon on the 4th .

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: Really good tides this week for bonefish tailing in the mornings and then late in the afternoon. And yes, due to the wind, it was all about getting out and wading and hunting those bones. Nice fish landed both from guide boats as well as independent angling in the lagoon. Oops, well we give away a few spots in the lagoon, and then it's up to the adventurous angler to find his/her own surprises. Ali, Alonzo and the children all went off to Bonefish Island for a Friday overnight adventure. Perfect camping conditions as the wind has died, and those fish will be wagging their tales to Andie, who landed her first bonefish there on Christmas Day. She is seven years old.

PERMIT: It's just plain silly right now for permit. Pretty much daily we are having permit landed on fly. For spin, live crab is a gimmie if you get it there….Some over 15 lbs, and most 5 to 10 lbs. But HUGE CONGRATULATIONS SO LINDA SOUCIE FOR HER 20 LB PERMIT ON FLY with Captain Emir! Check out the photos. And ED, wow, did you have a week. Congratulations on Mr. Permit to you - Captain Kachu had a great time teaming up with you this week.

TARPON: Congratulations to REID for his 50 lb tarpon of fly with Captain Erlindo. Six jumps - a sensational bite on Savannah Flats. And the story goes……Reid says to Erlindo, "Do you think we should leave because we aren't seeing anything? Erlindo, " they will come." And did they. Several shots……

SNOOK: Captain Luis will not give up his secret spot for snook and tarpon! Something about "working their way through mangrove creeks…." That's all I got. Way to go Jerry who landed a 20 lb snook on fly, and had several shots to tarpon 40 to 50 lbs. The week is not over for you…so we are planning on big things. This is the only snook I think anyone has seen. Secret spots!

JACKS: Dave landed a nice jack, and so did Sarah. So did I for that matter….I thought for sure it was a permit. Not that jacks aren't wonderful by themselves, but when you are targeting permit, you want permit. This is a good fish to practice your skills at managing tippet strength and "putting the wood to the fish."

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
I have been having so much fun hearing all the great stories this week! The El Pescador Guide Team is on fire right now! I feel so honored to work with these guys who go out everyday and make it happen for our guests. I brag about them all the time; but really, they take beginners and experienced anglers alike, and with their own independent style, they show people stuff that is truly amazing for fly fishing in the salt. And for those who are spin fishing, there is no lack of adventure. Fishing 400 square miles of flats inside the Barrier Reef. Anything can go on! The best part of being Director of Fishing here at El Pescador is witnessing all the smiles. Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

Fishing photo of the week:

El Pescador guest Linda and Captain Emir with monster Permit!!

FISHING REPORT

April 2nd - April 9th, 2011. PERMIT CENTRAL!!

Weather Conditions: Mostly sunny skies with occasional rain showers. Wind moved all around changing fishing conditions, some days it worked and others it caused spooky fishing conditions. Mid week was really pretty.

Winds: 15 - 25 knots, SE, East and then moved NE.

Air Temperature: High: low to high 90's.  Low: low 70's.

Water Temperature: mid  70's. 

Moonphase: New Moon April 2nd.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: Really nice bonefishing from the lodge along the beachside of El Pescador this week. These fish are really smart, but this week with the new moon going to first quarter, the fish were participating with anglers testing their skills. Lot of "firsts" for bonefish this week. Beginners usually start by "mudding" fish, and then move to "sighted" fish. Having brown polarized lenses really helps to see the "ghost of the flats." And then, you want to hunt with the guide….Great to see Barry and Michael again - they had some nice bonefishing. Congratulations David and Jackie….they came here not knowing they would leave knowing how to double haul to bonefish with a fly rod! Yeah.

PERMIT: Silly permit fishing this week. Ed fishing with Capt. Emir landed the permit first…..for the grand slam on fly. Brett knocked it out of the park with Capt. Luis, 3 permit on fly in one day. John landed his first permit on fly as well! It was a great return trip, especially for those looking for permit. Permit shots are anywhere from 40 to 80 feet - usually a fast shot, casting with a Christmas Island Special, size 4 or 6, orange or green, stripped fast. I got to go out with Capt. Carlos for my birthday on the 5th. As soon as I changed my strip a mini second, he ate.  A Permit for my birthday!

TARPON: We had two days mid week where Savannah was just flat out beautiful. Quietly going for the GS, Capt. Carlos and I headed over to Savannah after the permit was landed. I was setting the fish when my rod broke at the butt section (I think the feral was loose) in any cast, I had the tarpon by my hand …line running out, he jumped and I forgot to bow my arm! It felt like a hand shake from God. Lots of eats, jumps and then Ed landed his for his 4th grand slam in his life! 

SNOOK: No one really went after snook this week. It isn't our season for snook, but sometimes the guides find them tucked way up in the lagoon system.

JACKS: Some nice jacks around 15 lbs landed on fly and spin.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it.

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple!  Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast.  Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test.  Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
It's April and fishing is good. It has been windy, but then when it gets good, it's good. Really fun for me to see so many guests from the Jackson Hole area. Nice to get caught up! Happy birthday John! Awesome that we both caught permit for our birthday! How lucky are we? Glenn, it was a pleasure once again. Thank you so much for leading another successful Orvis seminar. Your students left here with a life long passion in fly fishing. Thanks to my El Pescador family for another great birthday greeting. I mean the day started with Steve leading the staff to my house with a beautiful cake at 6 am. All those beautiful faces wishing me the best! How's that for wonderful? Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

Fishing photo of the week:

El Pescador's Lori-Ann and her Birthday Permit!

FISHING REPORT

Week of: April 9th - April 16th , 2011.

Weather Conditions: Sunny skies and windy most days.

Winds: 15 - 25 knots, SE, East and then moved NE.

Air Temperature: High: High: low to high 90's. Low: low 70's.

Water Temperature: mid  70's. 

Moonphase: First quarter April 11th.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: Aaron Adams, the executive director for Bonefish Tarpon Trust was here a month ago and re-energized our tagging efforts. The guides have tagged hundreds of bonefish in the last month! Amazing that El Pescador guides have tagged close 1000 bonefish over the past year, and we have not found a single fish with a tag yet! So, the good news is that our bonefish population continues to be large and healthy. Orvis student Ernie was wondering if he was going to be lucky enough to land a bonefish his first trip. He lost count. Congratulations Ernie, you really soared this week!

PERMIT: Well, we sure tried.

TARPON: Way to go Dave D! Sorry I missed the picture, please send it to me asap! And Walt, that was a beauty. You both pulled these fish from not the easiest conditions! Floating lines, 10 wt outfits, and the big grab.

SNOOK: No one really went after snook this week. It isn't our season for snook, but sometimes the guides find them tucked way up in the lagoon system.

JACKS: I wore myself out with a 20 plus jack! I forgot how powerful these fish are! I love it when a bunch of them just try to attack the fly. Believe me, the jack pulled the panga around for awhile while I tried to get the flyline within sight.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
OK, Easter Winds have prevailed, but today as I write this, it is flat calm and beautiful! It's Easter Week, so maybe, just maybe, we have seen the last of our windy days for the season. I can't wait to hear how the fishing was from guests and guides today. And the sooner I tell you how wonderful it is here, I'm headed out myself. Full moon tomorrow….and we have early morning and late evening tides. Our tide is max. 2 feet. Anyway, I was away for a couple of days this week traveling in this beautiful country Belize. When I returned home to El Pescador, I noticed a huge difference in the faces of the people I met right before I left. Once again, fly fishing the salt has taken people and put life back into them. And lucky me for getting to see it all happen. Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

I hope we are not posting one year old fishing reports are we? The dates read 2010 and not 2011. What gives?

=========
no old reports. check the dates. they are all accurate.... Marty

The last four reports are from 2011 and posted in 2011 previous to that the reports are dated 2010 and posted in 2010.

Ollie

FISHING REPORT

Week of: April 9th - April 16th , 2011.

Weather Conditions: Sunny skies and windy most days.

Winds: 15 - 25 knots, SE, East and then moved NE.

Air Temperature: High: High: low to high 90's. Low: low 70's.

Water Temperature: mid  70's. 

Moonphase: First quarter April 11th.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: Aaron Adams, the executive director for Bonefish Tarpon Trust was here a month ago and re-energized our tagging efforts. The guides have tagged hundreds of bonefish in the last month! Amazing that El Pescador guides have tagged close 1000 bonefish over the past year, and we have not found a single fish with a tag yet! So, the good news is that our bonefish population continues to be large and healthy. Orvis student Ernie was wondering if he was going to be lucky enough to land a bonefish his first trip. He lost count. Congratulations Ernie, you really soared this week!

PERMIT: Well, we sure tried.

TARPON: Way to go Dave D! Sorry I missed the picture, please send it to me asap! And Walt, that was a beauty. You both pulled these fish from not the easiest conditions! Floating lines, 10 wt outfits, and the big grab.

SNOOK: No one really went after snook this week. It isn't our season for snook, but sometimes the guides find them tucked way up in the lagoon system.

JACKS: I wore myself out with a 20 plus jack! I forgot how powerful these fish are! I love it when a bunch of them just try to attack the fly. Believe me, the jack pulled the panga around for awhile while I tried to get the flyline within sight.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
OK, Easter Winds have prevailed, but today as I write this, it is flat calm and beautiful! It's Easter Week, so maybe, just maybe, we have seen the last of our windy days for the season. I can't wait to hear how the fishing was from guests and guides today. And the sooner I tell you how wonderful it is here, I'm headed out myself. Full moon tomorrow….and we have early morning and late evening tides. Our tide is max. 2 feet. Anyway, I was away for a couple of days this week traveling in this beautiful country Belize. When I returned home to El Pescador, I noticed a huge difference in the faces of the people I met right before I left. Once again, fly fishing the salt has taken people and put life back into them. And lucky me for getting to see it all happen. Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com

Lori-Ann - fish@elpescador.com.

Fishing photo of the week:

El Pescador guest Bill Kelton gets a Grand Slam!

FISHING REPORT

Week of: April 30th - May 7th, 2011.

Weather Conditions: Sunny skies, some wind, some rain, and pretty wonderful.

Winds: 5 - 15 knots, E, NE - then back to prevailing E. YES!

Air Temperature: High: low to high 90's. Low: low 70's.

Water Temperature: mid  70's. 

Moonphase: New moon on the 3rd.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: When someone catches their bonefish, permit or tarpon here at El Pescador, they are awarded a pin. I passed out 20 bonefish pins last night! We had some epic bonefishing this week. It was especially fun for me to see my fishing buddies here - Penny, Betsy and Ann - all doing well hunting bones. The fish were a bit skittish at times this week - making for some really fun and challenging bonfishing.

PERMIT: Friend and fishing buddy Diana Rudolph also showed up this week to fish with me. She had an agenda, and her agenda was permit. That she did! Diana landed 5 permit this week, and one contributed to her grand slam.

Both Jeff's landed permit, Gary landed permit, Dick had permit on….do you get the picture? It was all about the permit this week! All on stripped flies, mostly CIS.

TARPON: Well, the really big news this week is that I finally landed my first Belize tarpon this week! Thank you Captain Emir, and thank you Diana for being such a great coach and mentor. It got really pretty over on Mosquito Caye, just like you read about. Twenty or so fish, high and happy, each at twenty to forty pounds. It was a flat calm day, and you could see them coming from across the flat. Beautiful. And how about my gal, Diana? Her tarpon added to her first grand slam! Awesome.

SNOOK: No one really went after snook this week. It isn't our season for snook, but sometimes the guides find them tucked way up in the lagoon system.

JACKS: We had some huge jacks landed this week! All on fly, and wearing our anglers out as they put up a great fight! Twenty plus jacks on fly - you are looking at thirty minutes at least. Really fun.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it.

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
Seeing my friends this week has really been a gift. And as I said good bye today, I know they will be back soon. Having Diana show up and land her first grand slam here at El Pescador with Captain Emir was the icing on the cake! Diana holds all the women's records for tarpon, bonefish and permit, and has her own TV show, "Breaking the Surface." Most of all, she is my fishing buddy.

Repeat guest Steve C. commented on how it really does feel like a family here. I said, "Well, I always tell you that at orientation!" He said, "I know, but you don't really understand until you spent time here and experience it!" True.

Fishing is getting prime right now. Our big migratory tarpon should be here any day, and the days are flat out beautiful. Penny, Ann, Betsy, it was a pleasure. Great to see so many return guests. Thank you and make sure you go fishing soon!

Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com

FISHING REPORT

Week of: May 7th - May 14th, 2011.

Weather Conditions: Sunny skies, windy most days, but then it calmed down by the weekend. A lot of humidity - it felt like it wanted to rain, but didn't. We must be getting close to our summer season!

Winds: 10 - 20 knots, E, SE, E; 5 - 10 by the weekend @ E.

Air Temperature: High: low to high 90's. Low: low 70's.

Water Temperature: mid to high 70's. 

Moonphase: First quarter on the 10th.

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: The bonefishing was not "a gimmie" this week. We had the perfect moon phase, but he tides were against us. High tide was early in the morning, so the tide was falling during fishing hours. All the fish respond to the tide changes, but bonefish will really show you what's going on. Our bartender and now fished-crazed Antonio, has been showing guests some stellar bonefishing in the lagoon. He and his guests were rewarded when they waited for the bonefish right when the tide switched to low - and there they came - following the tide out from way up in the mangroves. A few got intercepted!

PERMIT: Did I tell you people like to count permit? Funny, I have never been a counter, but I've started with permit. Why not? Permit fishing is an intense game, and that is the challenge. All of sudden they are there - and most of the time you will hear, "SHORT!" I'm starting to hate that word. Anyway, I saw schools of permit up by Rosario and Blackadore that amazed me. Hundreds of permit. I had one eat the Avolon fly ( the Cuba craze right now) while wading. My first permit wade fishing. Congratulations to Bernd! He really wanted a permit on fly and was rewarded his last day! He ate a CIS, an orange one. Ron had his first permit….everything was going well until Mr. Barracuda took over. I'm glad that is a rare event, but congratulations on getting the fish on!

TARPON: I posted pictures of Ron and Tim's day out by Savannah with Captain Cesar on our Facebook page. Wow. Really nice fish guys! We had guests who really wanted tarpon this week, but the wind did not work with us until the end of the week. So it was basically Monday, and then Friday we started seeing fish. We will be checking out Long Caye for our migratory tarpon. Some have arrived, but not the numbers we are expecting….soon!

SNOOK: No one really went after snook this week. It isn't our season for snook, but sometimes the guides find them tucked way up in the lagoon system.

JACKS: We had some huge jacks landed this week! All on fly, and wearing our anglers out as they put up a great fight! Twenty plus jacks on fly - you are looking at thirty minutes at least. Really fun.

FLIES THAT WORKED

FOR BONES - Christmas Island Specials size 8 and 6, Charlies and Gotchas. Tan, gold, sexy patterns. Sexy patterns are flies that move so great in the water you just to have it

FOR TARPON - 3/0 yellow toads, green Toads, Black Death cockroach, and look out with purple! Your choice, circle hooks will help people who have not had experience setting tarpon, while the standard is still with J-hooks, or set hooks.

FOR PERMIT - Orange and pink Christmas Island Specials size 6 stripped fast. Tan and green crabs, size 6, when they are tailing. We strip a lot of flies for permit. It is the way the San Pedro guides do it, and it works! Shrimp patterns, size 6, on long 14 - 16 ft leaders down to 16lb test. Glass minnow patterns work as well. You just have to be brave enough to try.

This Week's Summary:
It's still our busy season. We have been running ten to twelve boats a day….anglers getting up and leaving by 4am to catch the tide…a lot of dedication this week. We welcome our leaders and long time guests to El Pescador, George and Judy! Their dedication to tarpon fishing with Captain Nesto for twenty five years is remarkable. They are in their 80's and George still stands all day on the deck waiting for the shot! Dedication for a reward that is unforgettable. It was a pleasure out on the casting platform this week. Way to go John for mastering your double haul! The biggest part of upping your game is to continue learning and trying new things in your casting and fishing. We'll keep you posted on our tarpon as they come in, and you better be looking at finding dates to chase the silver soon!

Lori-Ann. fish@elpescador.com