December 23, 2012 - December 29, 2012 Fishing Report

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

GRAND SLAM: JB with Captain Emir pulled it out the hat on Wednesday.. way to go guys! It took 2 tarpon to get the one that stuck!

BONES: Hundreds of bonefish again this week. Gary and Catherine picked up where they left off last year with plenty of bonefish their first day out with Captain Kechu. Adam, Carson, Max, and Susan had no problem adding bonefish to their boat with Capt. Cesar and Captain Gilberto. A bunch of first bonefish for Rob, Steve, Elizabeth, Trevor, Melissa, Blake, and Mark, Andrew, Lauren, Pamela, Gary. An exceptional bonefish in the 5 pound range for Rob and his Captain Alex. Both thought it may have been a permit based on how much muscle it had. Way into the backing several times. The question is always asked, “Is it possible to catch bonefish on a fly if you have never fly fished?” And the answer is always, YES! The thrill is amazing.

PERMIT: The saga continued with Jeremy and his permit powers - another 3 permit over his last 2 days stretching his streak to 7 days in a row with at least one permit per day. The permit have asked Jeremy to go back to Great Britain. His guide, Sinoe will finally get a day off as well. Hats off to JB for a nice permit on Tuesday that was the start of his grand slam with Capt. Emir. Andrew landed his first permit on fly with Captain Sinoe and he can’t stop grinning.

TARPON: Roger, also from the UK , landed a 25 pound tarpon with Captain Kechu on his first day of fishing. Captain Vince and Ed landed another 25 pound fish, CJ topped that with a 30 pounder as part of his grand slam with his guide Emir.

OTHER SPECIES: A few jacks, cudas, snappers, groupers, and some snook for Rob and Captain Alex!

FLIES THAT WORKED

Bonefish: Gotcha, Crazy Charlie’s in tan or white, just about anything would work – mostly size 8 and 6, some with weedguards.
Permit: Jeremy will never use anything but an Avalon ever again. JB and Andrew changed a few times, but it was the Orange Christmas Island Special in size 4 on 16 lb that got the job done. More and more we are talking about the “retrieve” having just as much importance as the fly itself. For permit – you want a long strip, from the rod to behind you – moving the fly through the water with long fast pulls. If you stop, or make it to fast or short strips, they will leave.
Tarpon: Chartreuse toad, slow easy twitchy retrieve, ???, ??? On Savannah we are using 40 and 50 lb shock. Let the fly settle, then move it. White, tan, pink, bunnies and deceivers on 3/0. (mostly J-hooks, we usually use circle hooks for our migratory tarpon which will be back around mid May 2013).

GUIDE OF THE WEEK

It’s a tie! Emir for his grand slam with JB and Sinoe for guiding Jeremy to permit heaven.

REPORT SUMMARY:

Permit continued to be cooperative to those who pursued them, some exceptional bonefishing, and a few tarpon were brought to the boat. During the week anglers worked on their casting, swapped flies and truly had some stories to brag about. Jeremy ended up with 13 permit hooked on fly and 11 landed. He was so excited he called his friends and told them to come over from the UK. They showed up yesterday! We had a big family week, and it was fun to see anglers create their dream fishing experiences. The weather has been cooperating and so have the fish! Both flats fishing and reef fishing this week was fantastic. Ed Blank was here and we all thank Ed for being such an active member of our team at El Pescador. Sharing the Director of Fishing position with such an enthusiastic and experienced angler/guide is something I treasure. We have big plans this year at El Pescador. We hope to see you soon.

Don’t forget our Annual Grand Slam Tagging Invitational to Benefit Bonefish & Tarpon Trust at El Pescador Wednesday, Jan 23 – Sunday, Jan 27, 2013. Contact us for more information. Thank you! - Lori-Ann and Ed

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email us at [email protected]. Happy fishing!