Over the last nine years I have fished the Southern Yucatan many times. In fact I had a regular trip for six years in a row. Those years were focused in the Mahahual to Xcalak area but I’ve also spent time fishing Boca Paila and the Biosphere. When you mention The Southern Yucatan, Ascension Bay and its lodge fishing get most of the press (rightly so, it can be fantastic) but there are a variety of independent guides and DIY options up and down the coast that are fantastic in their own right. My next book, Fly Fishing The Southern Yucatan is now in the “drafting” stage with a final two weeks of research to do in May. A good friend and great fishing buddy, Nick Denbow makes his living as a full time guide, headquartered in Mahahual. This is one of the few places I know of in the world where you have a legitimate chance of landing a permit, bone, snook and big jack off the beach in the morning and jumping back into one of the many lagoons to finish the day off with a tarpon. Nick is going to help write the Mahahual south to Belize section of the book and what follows is a small sampling of the fishing that can be expected in the area. Nick Denbow, The Western Caribbean Fly Fishing School, says: “March 10th, Mahahual, Southern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Really tough week from a guides point of view. The cold north wind 10 days ago pushed the Permit further off shore and rapidly dropped the lake temp 10 degrees significantly decreasing the Tarpons aggression. Following this the strong winds and wave height have made the wade and walk fishing for Bones on the ocean side difficult to impossible based on casting ability. This with the addition of a bumper year for floating Sargassum weed and it all amounted to a guides nightmare. We usually say that when the going gets tough we can still achieve 10 grabs a day on the lakes and always show you Permit off the beach. These last few days have really made me work hard! Alex Beck and Ryan Henderson from Colorado with Duncan Matthews from England fished with me last week. First day we were on a rocky point surrounded by bait, diving birds and lots of floating weed but we managed to get a good sized Horse Eye from an aggressive gang who charged around us trying to corner the baitfish. Every wave showed us Permit who were apparently surfing in to feed on the fry. Every cast was a shot and shot after shot we had no follows, this lasted a good 5 minutes until the school left us and moved on. Back in the lakes and we scored heavily on young Snook and a few small Tarpon. After a couple of hours we were all still thinking about the Permit in the waves, so we returned to the beach (as always trying to complete the super slam). Walking in on a rocky point mid-afternoon with the sun behind us and Alex spots a Permit in the waves, 3rd cast and it rushes the Shrimp. Alex’s 43rd Permit might not have been his biggest but it was as emotional as the 42 before it. We celebrated momentarily and the sent Alex off to look for the Bone to seal the deal as we were against the clock. Tough days fishing the Yucatan repeatedly offer more options than other locations. The variety Mexico has to offer is still really hard to beat.” Thanks Nick
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