playa del carmen trip

[bc roller]

my wife had this erisistable earge to go to mexico and has finally gone ahead and booked it , now i am sure its nice and all, but i have allways been a stay home type guy, and home is vancouver bc. i have done a lot of what some of people conciter world class fishing right here close to home in vancouver.(spoiled by right of birth) i figgure if i am going to the carribean that i may as well spend some time fishing .

i have read through most of these threads and am trying to deturmine what kind of gear i might be able to bring from home that would work.

would a 5 foot ultralight trout spinning rod do. what kind of spinners, lures, baits , ect should i be thinking of using?

thanks for ANY info dennis

[andyr]

hi bc ive just got back myself, i was a bit further down from player at the gran bahia. personly i didnt like it there at all 11 hour flight and all. i went armed with 3 rods 1 fly and 2 spin loads of plugs etc. didnt catch anything and it wasnt for the want of trying. was out at 5 most mornings, i did watch a very large ray on one morning cruising around which was nice. cost me a fortune to go there , wouldnt do mexico again. if you are after first class long range fishing get to ireland!! its awsome! andy.

[PanamaJack]

Hi Dennis
And firstly welcome to the forum. Well it's a hard life getting dragged to the Yucatan for a holiday!

I recall there were several previous threads relating to that area of the Yucatan in this forum that might be worth viewing. You'll find that individuals who have visited there though are not necessarily viewing this forum 'every day', so one approach might be to send them a Private Message requesting specific information on marks, etc. Just click on the individual's nom de plume to the left of their post and you'll be presented with a menu, private messaging is one of the options.

There is of course a wealth of information regarding Bonefishing techniques on the Web. Here's one - http://reel-time.com/feature/venek/gvbones/default.asp - as a starting point. And in fact the forum on that site covering the Caribbean and South America is a really good source of information - http://www.reel-time.com.

Right, tackle? Well that site focuses on fly fishing. Have you got any fly fishing gear? If so a 9' 7 or 8 weight will do. There's information on there on fly patterns BUT you'd, I would suggest, need to change your fly line to a tropical rated one. Coventional lines tend to collapse in that heat.

As to spin gear that ultra light rod sounds a tad light. I use a 7' (travel) rod rated for 6 to 12lb line, normally fishing 8 with a 'long spooled' Daiwa reel. Match that with small, light weight jigs. You should be able to source those through somewhere like http://www.basspro.com or http://www.captharry.com/ in Miami. But there would be loads of other sources your side of the 'Pond'.
Dave

[bc roller]

if one had to be dragged on vacation, i guess mexico is not a bad choice. i 've not done any world travel except down to california once as a kid and once as an adult.

i have a tonne of fishing gear from 3 wt fly rod to a 12 foot sturgeon pole ,the reason i asked about the light weight spinner is because it is short enough to fit in my bag. a buddy from work said he had a 4piece 6.5 foot pack spinning rod he would loan, that may be a better option. i wasn't aware of the different fly lines needed , cant justify that cost

i plan to hire a local for a trip, i don't really want to go deep sea or trolling. sight fishing for bones or anything on the reefs or flatts would be ideal on the fly or spinners.

my wife likes to do nothing and relax .she is looking forward to the swim up bar and reading at the beach . i cant sit still , so its normal for me to be off doing something. it looks like the resort i am at is next to 4km of undeveloped beach so that is a big plus for fishing and exploring

i will look up the jigs you speak of, maybe i can tie up some of my own.

thanks dennis

[PanamaJack]

Dennis
As you've a deserted beach to wander as well it might be worth taking along a slightly heavier spin rod as well, something to fish say 12lb line on. Other species you're likely to encounter are Jacks and Barracuda. They all respond well to fast cranked lures. Poppers work well with Jacks and Tube lures for the Barracuda.

I suspect you're likely to fly direct from the West coast to Mexico BUT if you're going to transit through a 'Stateside airport it might well be worth reading this sticky - http://www.worldseafishing.com/forums/showthread.php?t=28611 - about locking luggage.

Any rate you have a good trip and please, when you get back, post a note of your experiences.
Thanks
Dave

[bc roller]

well i got together a box of various rapalas , wire leads , bait rigs, jig heads and rubber curly tail worms.(mostly bass gear) i made a couple tube lures , blue and green tube was all i could find . i borrowed a 4 piece pack spin rod. i have long stroke spin reel. what strength of mainline should i use, the rod maxes at 15 lb , or should i go lighter for finesse?

i looks like where i am staying is mostly sandy beach. is there likely fish cruising on the sand , or should i search out the places that are more rocky?

generally speaking i am guessing that most of the fishing in the carrabean is simmilar, say, cuba vs mexico vs florida, ect

i was planning on bringing some hooks or something to give away to the guides as kind of a tip. is there anything specific that would be more appreciated , size or style?

thanks again dennis

[PanamaJack]

Hi Dennis
It's really only if you're going to target the Bonefish that I would suggest you need any form of finesse - 12 or 15lb test will make no difference at all to the other species.

Yes, obviously structure can help but as can a deeply shelving beach, just somewhere that predators can trap bait fish against. (In terms of the Bones though scrubby ground works, somewhere they can find Shrimp, Crab or small fish fry.)

As to similarities with other Caribbean areas, yes it will be very similar. And you may wish to view some of the articles on http://www.reel-time.com. The site's devoted to 'long rodders' but a lot of the information you glean will similarly work with lures.

Um ... as to tipping I suspect that those south of you, south of the 49th parallel will have 'corrupted' the locals and they'll be looking for 'greenbacks'.

Have a good trip and please report back on what you find.
Dave

[jsflyfisher]

Hi Dennis
Just checking that you saw my thread re partner for "bone" fishing in Mexico, should you happen to be staying similar dates.
Good luck anyway.

[bc roller]

well i am back from Mexico , and i am sorry to say that i didn't catch any fish. the south end of playacar has large white sand beaches and while i was there there was a constant on-shore wind , pushing 3 to 8 foot waves in. when i cast, the wind would throw huge line loops then the waves would push the lures back at me. it seemed pretty futile. i hiked to where there was no sand , but again the surf action and wind was too much for my lightweight rig.

to book a boat from the hotel was $500USD but that was for trolling up marlins and such, not what i wanted to do.

i took a cab to puerto adventuras in hopes to hire a local topanga or something but here i only found big off-shore type boats, lots of them. i was quoted $200 USD for 4 hours with 6 guys on a boat rotating on the rod , so that's 40 minutes for $200 with no guaranty of even hooking a fish, and again trolling.
i fished here off a large rock jettie that was one side of the channel into the marina, but did not hook anything . i did see small fish by the rocks i was standing on.
a fellow told me about schools of fish in one of the lagoons so i also fished there for a bit . there was schools of fish cruising around that were 12 to 18 inches but were not interested in my lures.

i did SEE a grad slam if you will. while snorkeling at xel ha i saw bone fish , tarpon, and when snorkeling on the reef one day i saw a large perma . that is the slam isn't it , bone , tarpon, perma?
i also saw a 5 foot barracuda up close while in the water .probably a 50 or 60 pound grouper type fish . a lime green eel that was about 5 feet. some kind of ray that had 6 or more feet of tail and numerous other fish, all would have been a little better at the end of my line haha

Mexico was awesome next time i will try and get the Caribbean flatts fishing type experience of my list.

OH YA next time.

[PanamaJack]

i did SEE a grad slam if you will. while snorkeling at xel ha i saw bone fish , tarpon, and when snorkeling on the reef one day i saw a large perma . that is the slam isn't it , bone , tarpon, perma?

Mexico was awesome next time i will try and get the Caribbean flatts fishing type experience of my list.

OH YA next time.

Hi Dennis
On the one hand sorry to hear you had nothing to 'pull your string', but at least the trip gave you a taste for Mexico.

The third member of the Inshore Grand Slam is a Permit although, in Florida waters, they'll also include a Snook in the mix. Although what you might have seen on the reef was a Jack Crevalle or even an African Pompano - with their flat silver sides they look somewhat similar. The 'give-away' with a Permit is the distinctive Yellow spot near their anal fin. (BTW that's a Permit in the image by my Nom de Plume on the left of the post.)
Dave

[bc roller]

ahhh permit not perma . ya your right , it could have been a similar looking fish , i am no marine biologist(or pro flats fisherman). when i saw the shape and colour , perma or i mean permit immediately registered in my head. i did not notice the yellow spot , i wasn't looking for it either

[mayhap20]

[hi ther went to playacar this year jan 2008 fished from beach behind hotel at night and had some good sport.Took all my own gear was fishing with a bones bass rod and using 15lb line with a small multiplier and 4oz lead with a one up one down rig using fresh calamari scrounged from the chef.The session went like this first couple of casts smallish bonefish about 8oz to 1lb then had a couple of jacks then had good size snapper .Then all hell let loose as my rod took off to cuba i knew it was good fish as soon as i hooked it as it took several yards of line off the reel.After about 20mins i landed a superb fish which i found out later was permit which weighed 11lb 12oz a good fish from the beach=

thanks for ANY info dennis[/QUOTE]

[jsflyfisher]

Hi Dennis
Sorry to hear that your fishing was disappointing in Mexico but at least you tried! Just back myself after deciding not to pack a rod and in the event I think it may have been the best decision. All the while I was away there was a strong wind. I am told that this would have severely hampered our ability to spot bonefish in Ascension Bay. :fishing1:This was where I was hoping we may get together and cast a fly. Tight lines for the future.
Regards, John.