Having just come back from the wonderful sun and sand of Ascension Bay, Mexico to Calgary and -20C winter is still a shock to the system.
Our group of 7 anglers arrived at La Pescadora Lodge as first time clients/guests and left after a week feeling like part of the family. Lily and Jose are running one of the most comfortable, relaxing, and enjoyable places I’ve been.
The lodge had, for my preferences, the right combination of comfort, traditional-style Mexican food and great mealtime conversations that welcomed us to become part of their family. The accommodation including beds, places to unpack and hang things, rod storage, AC, meal schedule, boat lunches, etc was all top notch.
The staff were exceptional. Never have I had my fishing gear so well looked after during a stay. Rinsed and wiped down daily and twice during the week the line was pulled from the reel to make sure all was well and straight.
It’s not high end fancy meals or accommodations but again just right for what I look for in a fishing lodge.
Now to the fishing, I always wonder about fishing reports that don’t start out with the fishing!! We arrived to weather that was just starting to settle down. The previous weeks had been cold and extremely windy so our thoughts were that with the improvement in the weather the fish would react very positively and “rush” back onto the flats. Not quite so! The wind kept shifting but we did end up with decent conditions most of the time.
When, we as anglers, were not seduced by the lure of the black-tailed devil (permit) we had windows of excellent bonefishing with some fish surprising us with a larger size than we were expecting.
The end of February is not know as prime tarpon or snook time in the area and that played out. There were some chances when the time was put in. One beautiful juvenile tarpon was landed and many mangroves were well-trimmed while trying for snook back in their houses.
As for those pesky (we mostly use different words) permit there were three “hookups” in the week but none brought to hand. Some of us spent considerable time on deck hunting but to no avail. That is the nature of permit fishing, even in the most productive permit place in the world.
I did manage to witness two windows of my boat mate getting some excellent and multiple shots in a relatively short time and got a glimpse of the possibilities of the world-class permit fishery Ascension Bay is. The day I spent fishing with Nancy (my wife) was a lot of fun. Especially during the afternoon when I watched her jump in and out of the boat chasing multiple schools of permit around one flat. At one point the assistant guide and I watching from the boat saw Nancy make a great cast directly in front of a group of about 10 Permit. She made two strips and we saw a beautiful permit porpoise aggressively on the fly and the line came tight. We both raised our hands and gave a shout of jubilation that lasted 5 seconds then a “fn jack” came flying out of the water toward Nancy - and that's the nature of Permit fishing!
The guides were excellent and not so focused on Permit that they were happy to ask what we wanted to fish for each day. They were good with beginners and experienced flats anglers alike and we had a great fun evening with them when we went to the local soccer finals (that two of them were playing in) in Punta Allen. A great cultural experience.
Overall I had a wonderful time and look forward to returning to La Pescadora Lodge.
DB
