TimHa
02-02-2006, 08:57 AM
Needing to get away from the endless rain and gloom around here I took off for a week in Zihuatanejo, Mexico to fish, snorkel, and just see the sun for a change. Unfortunately the sailfish action had just slowed that week, probably due to the annual Zihuatanejo Sailfest that had been going on and the two fly clubs that had pulled into town to fish but also due to the water getting colder a bit earlier than usual this year but the inshore action was pretty red hot. I went out two days for sailfish and one day for inshore fish.
Sailfish wise we got 6 fish up on teasers in two days which was way down from the 10-fish/day average a week or two before. Three of those fish got in close enough to cast to and two of them wanted nothing to do with the fly but after 3-4 decent casts at them we tossed bait and they hooked up so I landed two on gear, one each day and each about 80 lbs. The last fish that we got up to the boat did take the fly and the next few minutes were the most exciting fishing experience I’ve had as about 150 yards of line and backing immediately vanished from the reel and then the fish went airborne – greyhounding, tailwalking, and leaping another 100 yards or so until on a big leap the fly was thrown.
The inshore day I did was very fun and involved a lot more action. I landed at least 2 dozen fish with 6 different species. I got quite a few groupers/cabrilla in the 2-6 lbs range that put up a pretty good struggle as they headed into the rocks, three to four nice Green Jacks (Cocineros), a Jack Crevalle, a big Needlefish, and a few Black Skipjack Tuna (Barrilete or Bonito) all on my 9-weight and a #2 Chartreuse Clousers.
You can check out the full trip-report with photos at www.dharmaworks.net/Tim/FlyFish/Zihua06 (http://www.dharmaworks.net/Tim/FlyFish/Zihua06) Not a ton of fish photos since the guy I went with was diving on my fishing days so I was kind of on my own with the boat captains and mates.
Tim
Sailfish wise we got 6 fish up on teasers in two days which was way down from the 10-fish/day average a week or two before. Three of those fish got in close enough to cast to and two of them wanted nothing to do with the fly but after 3-4 decent casts at them we tossed bait and they hooked up so I landed two on gear, one each day and each about 80 lbs. The last fish that we got up to the boat did take the fly and the next few minutes were the most exciting fishing experience I’ve had as about 150 yards of line and backing immediately vanished from the reel and then the fish went airborne – greyhounding, tailwalking, and leaping another 100 yards or so until on a big leap the fly was thrown.
The inshore day I did was very fun and involved a lot more action. I landed at least 2 dozen fish with 6 different species. I got quite a few groupers/cabrilla in the 2-6 lbs range that put up a pretty good struggle as they headed into the rocks, three to four nice Green Jacks (Cocineros), a Jack Crevalle, a big Needlefish, and a few Black Skipjack Tuna (Barrilete or Bonito) all on my 9-weight and a #2 Chartreuse Clousers.
You can check out the full trip-report with photos at www.dharmaworks.net/Tim/FlyFish/Zihua06 (http://www.dharmaworks.net/Tim/FlyFish/Zihua06) Not a ton of fish photos since the guy I went with was diving on my fishing days so I was kind of on my own with the boat captains and mates.
Tim