FLATS FLY FISHING PRODUCES TARPON AND SNOOK

July 14, 2006, Rodman Hunter, Cancun Light Tackle & Fly Fishing, Excellent Cancun action for tarpon and snook:

I've been pretty busy guiding on the Cancun flats. No more fishing offshore until next year. It was a hell of a year offshore. I managed to release a total of 312 sailfish on flies, 82 white marlin, and 7 blue marlin, through the season which is from February through June. My best day was 23 sails on flies released by 3 rods.

On the flats fishing, I have been guiding for the past 26 days at Cancun.

I had a client for 3 days fishing the flats with flies. We managed to get 112 shots on tarpon in the 20-40 pound class, 63 strikes, and 39 boated, 4 permits, 11 bonefish, and 17 snook.

Today with another client the fishing day was excellent. We left the dock at 6 a.m. with a light wind, 3 knots, almost dead calm, which held for at least 70 percent of our fishing time which was 8 hours.

We started on permits and bonefish on a flat just 10 minutes away from the dock. Almost able to pole towards it! We started spotting permits, some waking on the deep edges and others tailing on the upper flat. The client got 13-plus shots on them and hooked 2, and landed 1 with the other broken off.

The snook were up in their grounds and took over, snooks in 1 foot of water. We caught 4 of them. They were slightly spooky and time on them was like an eye blink. The window was narrow and the client was not awake yet. His timing was not matching with them.

We then headed towards another area close by Cancun fly fishing area, a 20 minute ride, in search of our main target, tarpon.

Ten minutes after getting there we started spotting fish all over the place, schools up to 40 fish. We managed to get at least 50-plus shots on them, hooked 31. We hooked a nice 60 pounder that was lost when he frayed the leader 30 minutes later.

This is my prime time for tarpon and snook. Our slowest fly fishing day has been 30-plus shots and some days up to 100-plus. At Cancun, when they come into the flats from the deep to feed on the pilchards, you can see them for miles.

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