I've been an angler for as long as I can remember, but saltwater fly-fishing was injected into my blood when I moved out to Washington state a few years back. The cold, fertile waters of Puget Sound were my playground, and I chased the trout and salmon with wild abandon. The climate up in the PacNW, while mild, was only warm for about three months out of the year, and the saltwater was always pretty chilly. That was the extent of my experience with saltwater fly-fishing until this December, when my family decided to take a little trip to Sayulita, Mexico.
Sayulita is a little town about 45 minutes north of Puerta Vallarta. It's more popular for its surfing and yoga than its fishing, but that wasn't going to stop me from trying! Our first full day in Sayulita, we went swimming at Playa de los Muertos, a smaller, less crowded beach on the South side of town. As we were floating in the surf, we noticed bait busting around us. I waited until I couldn't stand it anymore and broke the fly rod out.
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| Sign to the beach. |
Since there were a lot of swimmers, I climbed out on a rocky outcropping away from the activity. After blind casting for a little while, something from the depths slammed my clouser. A silver streak shot away from the rocks and jumped, and jumped again. A Pacific Ladyfish, or the poor man's tarpon, was my first fish from the warm Mexican saltwater, and I was stoked, to say the least.
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| Ladyfish! |
My dad and I fished for a little while longer; I lost another ladyfish, and something more substantial shook me off after heading straight for the bottom. We decided to call it quits and head in to eat; the fish would be there tomorrow, right?
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| Dad, putting the 8 wt to work. |
Wrong. A cold front swept in and brought two days of rain. Clawing out on the rain-slick rocks and flailing away in the downpour brought no bites. We resigned ourselves to drinking good Mexican coffee and relaxing, which was fine with me. Sayulita during a rainstorm is a very peaceful place, perfect for naps and food, so that's what we entertained ourselves with. It was fantastic!
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| Is there anything better than shrimp tacos and a corona? |
The rain finally ended, and the family decided it was time to swim again, so down to the beach we went. The instant we stepped in, I knew the fishing would be tougher. The water temperature had dropped significantly, and, while we could still swim, the fish would be tough in such a cold little bay.
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| Rocks and ladyfish can wreck a clouser. |
We had to try of course, but it was pretty brutal. Dad got one little yellow-striped thing to hand, but that was it for fish caught the rest of the trip. A snook followed my fly right to the rocks, then broke my heart when it refused. When I was experimenting with top-waters, there was a BIG flash of bronze under my popper that didn't connect, but it got my blood pumping.
Even though the fishing went downhill, there are always cool things to see when you're on the Pacific. There were bright red hermit crabs, big spotted crabs, frigate birds, parrots, even a puffer fish swam by! The scenery was beautiful as well, and it never hurts knowing there are fresh shrimp tacos, good tequila and better company to come home to.
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| Big whoppin' puffer, eating things off the rocks. |
All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend a week in December. I messed up by not bringing any crab flies, and next time my clousers will be tied with synthetics and brass eyes that stand up to teeth and rocks a little better. I might also save the money and rent a panga for a morning and go chase those offshore fish. For my first Mexico experience, however, I couldn't be happier, and I'm looking forward to going back.
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| It's not an ugly place. |
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| Some rocks. |
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| Until next time, you big beautiful body of water. |
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