Christmas @ Tarpon Town 2009 - Unforgettable

OK, so Iʼm the new kid here, not new to Mexico, but to fly fishing. Over the last year and
a half, Iʻve been learning all the necessary skills to be a good fly fisherman. Learning
how to double haul trying to remember that all important pause while casting to let the
rod load up before that final false cast to present the fly to the fish. Having grown up in
Florida, some of my earliest memories were of my dad taking me fishing. I had my own
custom rod that he spray painted red for me so during the summer months in central
Florida living on the canal Iʼd hop in my little john boat, crank up the outboard and go
fishing or run down the canal to the little convenience store for groceries. Some days
he and I would paddle around the lake, he with his fly rod and popping bugs for bass
and bluegill and I learning how to skull the boat so I could paddle him around while he
cast next to the bank, under the bushes. Recently, as a result of a series of life 
transitions, Iʼve decided to learn how to fly fish. This past year, Iʼve had the opportunity
to fly fish some of Tennesseeʼs best tail waters for rainbow and brown trout using size
20 hareʼs ear nymphs which rewarded me with many of those beautiful fish. A trip to the
Florida Keys in search of bonefish and tarpon opened my eyes to some of the most
beautiful water I had ever seen with the help of Captain Jim Weber. Only recently was I
ready for my first major trip.
Iʼve been hanging out in Mexico for quite some time owning a home in San Miguel
Allende, visiting villages, shopping Mexico City markets, but fly fishing in Mexico was a
whole new experience for me. With the help of Scott Heywood at Angling Destinations,
he assisted my friend, Jim Fowler and I to figure out where to spend Christmas week, to
thaw out from the cold of winter and have a wonderful week of salt water fly fishing in
the Yucatan. Jim is a master fly fisherman whoʼs fished around the world and also
photographer for Atlantic Salmon Journal. On Christmas Eve, we arrived in the lovely
colonial town of Campeche. All the vintage Christmas lights welcomed us as we arrived
at our hotel located in the historic center. And what history there is. This town is full and
running over with stories of pirates and their rampages. It is encircled with 500 year old
stone walls that Spain helped to finance because pirates from the Netherlands kept
invading and ransacking this lovely little town.
Raul Castaneda, owner of Tarpon Town Anglers met us early in the morning and took us
down to the pier where we met our soft spoken guide, Juan. His English vocabulary
was limited, but his talent for scouting tarpon and sweet spirit was large. Oh my Lord, it
was so COLD that morning as we motored pretty far out to our first creek among the
mangrove trees. A cold front had moved in and the wind blowing in off the water was
freezing and we were a little afraid the tarpon might have moved on to warmer waters.
Once we arrived at our first creek and looked at the jungle surrounded by mangrove
trees, it reminded me of the movie, “African Queen” minus Kathryn Hepburn and the
waterfall scene. We were in a protected biosphere called Los PETENES, an area that until only recently had never been fished. After a couple of hours of overcast skies the sun
came out and it was wonderfully warm with a slight breeze. We were soon rewarded
with the site of bubbles and rolling fins of the tarpon as they would swim by us going
toward the mouth of the Gulf. And boy when hooked they would put up a fight and
ended up being in the air more than in the water. Iʼm still figuring out the finesse of
“stripping” and somehow clumsily managed to get my first tarpon in the boat. Silvery
Campeche Christmas Get-Away
and beautiful; because it being my first tarpon ever, Juan had me give it a kiss before
releasing it. Those tarpon even forgave my casting weaknesses and kindly came and
took my fly again and again. Once, (ok more than once) I accidently landed the fly in
the tree and as it dangled a foot above water, an ambitious tarpon came and took a shot
at it. Kind of glad he missed because I donʼt know what I would have done.
The next day our guide took us out in the middle of the Gulf where we were encircled by
huge sea turtles. They were the same size as the Loggerhead turtles you see in
Florida, but instead of being brown these were a true chartreuse color. Their 10”
diameter heads would pop up out of the water and hiss at us as we motored by to one
of Juanʼs secret spots. He had us anchored close by a white hole that was in the
middle of a grass flat in about 8 feet of water. We would cast upstream over the top of a
large rock that was almost black as it was covered with fish. Every cast netted a
different species of grouper, snapper, etc. I was able to hook a 20 pounder and
struggled to land him. I found myself constantly repeating, “voy a ganar, voy a
ganar” (Iʼm going to win)!!!!. After a 15 minute fight as the grouper repeatedly tried to
get back to the safety of his coral head, Juan helped pull him into the boat to introduce
my grouper and I. My right bicep grew a little larger that day as did my ego.
Later in the day we found tarpon in small schools along the coast line in gin clear water
when the tide was low and the water was out of the creeks. This beautiful mangrove
lined shore reminded me very much of the one in Florida where I grew up as a child
spending time with my father. On the trip we also looked for tarpon on the outside grass
flats and we heard from Juan that at times they can run up to 40 plus pounds. Also, in
June there are supposed to be a migration of tarpon that move thru the area in the 80 to
150 pound range. One thing we can confirm is even in Campecheʼs coldest weather
the resident tarpon do not leave. They stayed right in the same areas they were known
to reside and as a matter of fact, one day it seemed like we were in tarpon all day both
in the creeks and outside along the coastline.
Juan kept us informed as to the different species of birds and mangrove trees. It was
as if there were colonies of birds tucked inside the trees, such as spoon bills, 2 kinds of
herons and pelicans. We kept seeing things that looked like apes or giant monkeys in
the trees but were actually giant termite nests - they were huge! Some as large as 4
feet long by 2 feet wide. One day on the way back to town, Juan pulled the boat up to a
tiny island called Isla Jaina. He explained his friend lived there in the thatch covered
shack and asked if weʼd like to see the “rooms”. Well, as far as I could tell there werenʼt
any rooms plural, just a shack. As he walked us behind a huge stand of trees, there lie
the most magnificent “RUINS” (so he has a little work to do on his English). It was an
entire village complete with 2 pyramids, a ceremonial center and amphitheater. Iʼve
since researched to learn that it holds the largest Mayan burial grounds in the Yucatan
Peninsula and was discovered in the 1940ʼs. It dates back to 652 AD and is where they
would carry the bodies of the elite from Campeche in long processionals to place there
in burial jars. No one was even around as this ruin is so remote and pretty much only
accessible by boat. There were all kinds of pottery shards lying around, as if it were
only a short time ago that this was an active thriving community.
Campeche Christmas Get-Away
I canʼt say enough about Raul and his crew at Tarpon Town Anglers. His English is
flawless (self taught from listening to Michael Jackson albums). Lunches on board were
delicious with all our needs attended to. Raul was very kind assisting us with tours in
addition to fishing while juggling our schedule with others he had coming in for eco
tours. Heʼs very committed to being a tarpon outfitter as he has 4 tarpon skiffs all set up
for tarpon fishing with 4 full time guides that know the water extremely well. His guides
also know all the knots, tie their own flies, and can cast as well as any expert. For this
trip, one only needs to bring a few 7 to 9 weight fly rods, with floating fly lines. The
bunny strip toads in yellow and white, purple or chartreuse with a white collar; standard
Keys tarpon flies also work well in size 2/0. For the grouper one should use a 9 to 10
weight rod with an intermediate fly line and Closer minnows with plenty of silver flash
trailing out of the tail section in size 2/0 and 3/0. We found that the heavy Keys tarpon
leaders were not necessary, one just needs a 4 foot section of 40 pound for your butt
section, a foot and a half of 30 pound, a foot and a half of 20 pound and 2 feet of 40
pound to act as the shock tippet for a total of 9 feet. Bring some good bug dope for the
noseums which are up in the creeks and some 30 to 50 SPF sun block, as well as some
strong sun protection for your lips.
After 4 days fishing and lots of patience from Jim and our guide, it proved to be a
wonderful adventure. We arrived back home in the middle of snow flurries a little more
tan than when we left and a lot more enlightened about another culture and their
sustenance now and thousands of years past.
Evy McPherson