Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Jonathan Tomlinson's Ascension Bay fly fishing report

Jonathan Tomlinson from Sportfish Reading has just sent through his fly fishing report from Ascension Bay, Mexico. Jonathan has now done over 10 weeks down in Ascension Bay so for expert advice on saltwater fly fishing tackle and the 'must' flies to have drop into Sportfish Reading....

Well it was that time of year again for our regular trip back to casa viejo Chac and ascension bay and what a trip we had. It has become the norm for us to take at least a 2 week trip as the lodge offers such good value for money and great service. The food is excellent and the portions are big, a great bar on hand and one of the best opportunities in the world to not only grand slam but super slam. In my opinion previous trips have highlighted that this part of Mexico offers the best Permit fishing in the world and this latest visit didn't fail to produce. The first of our 2 weeks saw 10 anglers hit the flats, the first 2 days gave us excellent conditions with cloud rolling in and out throughout the rest of the week making things tough at times. With such a variety of species to chase it was at times difficult to decide which rod to reach for but many opted for the 10 weights and permit flies. Tarpon, snook, bonefish and jacks to name a few all made big appearances.

Final figures on permit for the first weeks saw 7 permit landed with bones to 61/2lb with a sprinkling of tarpon and snook along with the obligatory barracuda!

The second weeks saw 4 go and 4 join the group keeping us at 10 and what a week we were set for. Excellent conditions with bright sunshine and little wind meant that even more time being spent chasing permit which turned out to be the the best decision. Permit we're seen all over the bay and shots were had almost at will at times. Several days anglers returned with more than one fish to the boat including a 3, 4 on 2 occasions and a gob smacking 7! The last day of the trip and a staggering 13 permit were landed with a grand slam for Geoff and a double grand slam for Mark.

Shark, triggerfish, ladyfish and Spanish makeral with a whole variety of jacks and snapper added to the list.

A massive total of 30 permit (to 28lb with 2 over 20lb), 12 tarpon, 15 snook (to 18lb) and some great bones of much bigger than average size than we would normally expect topping out at close to 8lbs.

If all the permit hooked or that ate had been landed god only knows how many we would have had, perhaps even as many as 50!

This trip once again has shown that if you want to catch a permit on the fly and are prepared to put the time in then there is NO place better in the world to go than Mexico's ascension bay. Grab your 10 weights and a box of creole crabs, Bubba Gump shimp's and Homer Shrimpson's and get your self on a plane!

Already Looking forward to our annually trip next year - get it booked Mat!!

All the best
Tomo

FOR INFORMATION ON OUR UPCOMING TRIPS TO MEXICO PLEASE CALL US ON +44 (0) 1621 743711, VISIT OUR WEBSITE or email us.

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