Ixcalak Hurricane Fishing
Posted on Monday, June 30th, 2008
As a rocky mountain trout guy, born and bred, my first foray into fly fishing in salt waters came through Cloudveil’s Angling product manager Ned Hutchinson. He’d set up a trip through Brian Hodges, local friend and destination fishing maestro. There are a lot of cliques in fishing, probably worse than the snowboarder/skier/telemarker rift that I think has finally been resolved, one love. But in fishing, that rift is still solid, it’s a war of latitude.
In fly fishing, if you’re a trout only angler, the saltwater crowd looks at you like, well, like you’re still riding with the training wheels on. In salt water it’s all about throwing big lines big distances, battling big fish who will take you into your backing big time. Us trout guys horse 16” cuts into the boat all day and if it starts to get breezy, we chill out for awhile and drink a beer in the drift boat and watch the scenery. In salt water, if you don’t look like a flats gangster and think wind isn’t wind until it’s tropical storm strength, you’re in the wrong latitude.
So, it was with this in mind that I headed down to Ixcalak Mexico with Ned, Dirk Collins, and Jed Mixter, all from Jackson. I’d been standing in my lawn for a couple of weeks practicing the 70’ cast and was ready to show it off. We arrived in Cancun and spent an evening walking to anyplace that served beer, and trying to take advantage of the free drinks at the all inclusive resorts, claiming we’d left our bracelet up in our room. No takers, we figured any gringo walking into a beachside resort would be welcomed, guess again.
That night it started to rain, no problem we said, just normal showers for this time of year. The next morning, our driver showed up and we climbed in the van for the six hour car ride to the tip of the Yucatan. It was really raining now. After a brief stop in Playa Del Carmen to pick up Dirk, another short stop to eat, another to find matchsticks to use as currency for our dice games, another to find computer speakers to plug our iPod into, another to buy some roadside shrimp, another to buy beer, countless piss stops, and the military check point, we finally made it to our destination, Costa de Cocos. By this time, the rain was coming down in sheets. It’s bound to let up in the morning.
We started rigging 8 weights, 10 weights, and 12 weights with their respective leaders and flies, excited for the 6 days of fishing that awaited us. It wasn’t until we walked across the compound, bracing ourselves against the wind and now torrents of rain, met our hosts, Ilana and Dave, and they showed us the satellite imagery on their laptop that we realized we might be in for a storm. It was June 1st, hurricane season starts…June 1st. What are the odds that old man weather is watching his calendar that closely we thought. Turns out, old man weather is a Dayologist. We were right in the eye of the first tropical storm of the season. El Tormenta came in strong with gusts to 70mph and unrelenting rain. Now we were starting to think that the owners might have to rethink their alcoholic beverages included in our trip cost policy.
We got shut down for two days, played dice, drank, looked at our rods, visited some Mayan ruins, tried to play horseshoes, moved Palapas when the storm blew a hole in the roof, played more dice, drank more, and generally amused the local residents. On the third day the storm abated a bit, and we went out with our guides, Alberto and Ignacio (Nacho Libre). The normally crystal clear water had turned a murky brown, and the wind was still tight, but we were able to throw some lines and see some fish.
The next three days treated us to some nice fishing considering the conditions, with many opportunities for bones and permit, and Ned grabbing the fish of the trip, a 25lb permit that played him for all he was worth. As for my first trip to the flats, 4 bones, a tiny Jack caught while trolling for Barracuda, and a large dose of humble pie. That 70’ cast looked a lot better standing on my lawn than it did in the boat. Until the day I die, I’ll never forget the words Ignacio kept repeating over and over – “oh amigo, you slapped the water, they’re gone”.
Jeff Wogoman. I wonder if we are related. My grandfather was John Wogoman from Cody Wyoming. I know he was a famous bear tracker and guide in Wyoming. He had a sister Molly who was a “sharp-shooter” with Annie Oakley. Molly had a twin brother Mun. My grandmother Caroline Patten moved to Wyoming with her best friend Alice when they were 18 in order to be “cowgirls”. Alice married John Ross of Tensleep Wyoming and although John died several years ago, Alice still lives there on thier ranch. John died when I was two years old so I never knew him. I think often that I have all these aunts and uncles that I never knew and therefore cousins too. I have also heard that it was rumored that John Wogoman was 1/4 Chippawah indian. Write back and tell me if you knew him. Lisa
Wow, you know a lot more about the Wogoman’s than I do. I had to call my Dad on this one. I am from Cody originally, as is my Dad, Gary, and my Grandfather Charles (Chuck Wogoman) who died in ‘76, as was our great grandfather, Harrison. John was Chuck’s brother. There were 9 kids from Esther (King) and Harrison Wogoman – Mabel, Brian, Emma, Monroe (Mun), Molly, John, Chuck, Bessie, Ezra (Gus). John was a hunting guide and guided some famous americans, Ernest Hemingway, and Ty Cobb that my dad knew of in the Thorougfare wildnerness up the North Fork of the Shoshone near Yellowstone. But, as far as he knew, had no Indian blood. Either Timmy or Patty must be one of your parents. My Dad thought they might have grown up in the Tacoma WA area. Molly did travel through Europe with a latter day version of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show I think called Stampede. She ultimately died of an accidental gun shot wound. So, nice to meet you cousin. You can find me on Facebook if you use that or you can call Cloudveil at 307-734-3880.
Jeff,
Great report. Sorry the weather was tough on ya.. but that’s fishin, right!
I am going to Costa de Coco’s next month and have a couple questions if you don’t mind sharing.
Were there any flies out of the ordinary that you really needed?? I’ve been tying the staples, but just want to make sure I have a full quiver.
I’m taking a 6wt, 2 8wts, a 10wt and a 12wt – And all my lines from floating to intermediates to full sinkers. Other than the suggested gear list, is there any additional gear you would suggest? And just any words to the wise?
Any info appreciated.
Regards,
Brad – Fort Mill, SC
Ok, so I trolled through my notes preparing for Costa, and queried Ned Hutchinson who is our Angling business manager, and here’s the info you’ll need.
I noticed you were taking a 6wt, which you probably won’t need, but if it’s easy enough to pack, you can take it. For this trip I would bring at least two rods. One 9’ 8wt for bonefish and one 9’ 10 wt for Permit and baby tarpon. This way you can keep both rods rigged up for each species and be ready to cast at a moments notice. Additionally having a larger 10-12 weight rod between two people is not a bad idea. For lines I recommend a WF 8 F bonefish line or tropical line for the 8 wt rod and WF 10 F/I (clear, intermediate sink tip approximately 10 ft long). I have been very pleased with the Rio Bonefish line and the Rio Saltwater Tropical F/I line. Be sure to have these professionally rigged on stout reels ( I use reels from Abel and Waterworks/Lamson.
For leaders you will need an assortment of 9-10 foot leaders. I prefer extruded monofilament but many anglers use fluorocarbon. For bonefish these leaders should have an 8-10 # breaking strength and for Permit the leaders should have a breaking strength of 15-25 #’s. For baby tarpon in the lagoons (ask your guides to run you into the lagoons behind Dave and Illana’s house) the permit leaders would work but you may want to have some shock tippets in the 60# range incase you encounter larger baby tarpon. I also like to bring along a few wire leaders in case the opportunity to chase Barracuda presents itself. We caught a few Barracuda trolling through the channel and it can be a fun 10 minutes. Tippets for the Bonefish and Permit leaders are also important to have. It is never a bad idea to have a few extra lines for your party in case one gets torn up in coral but we found little coral in the flats near Costa De Cocos.
For flies I recommend bringing plenty. Some of my favorites include:
Bonefish:
# 6 and #8 Crazy Charlies in white, tan and pink
#6 and #8 Gotchas
#6 and #8 Pink Puffs.
I also like to have some flies either with chain eyes or no weight at all for shallow flats.
Permit:
Raghed Crabs in sizes 2-6
Large shirmp patterns in sizes 2-4
Small yellow and tan Enrico Puglisi crabs in sizes 6-8
Spawning Shrimp patterns in sizes 4-6
It is a good idea to bring a stout pair of pliers to remove lead eyes if needed, again for shallow flats where lead eyes make too much noise hitting the water.
Tarpon:
Classic tarpon patterns in purple/white, red/white and cockroach. I especially like the Puglisi Tarpon Streamer in RAT in 2-1/0 for the tarpon lagoons.
Barracuda:
Just about any chartreuse barracuda fly will work. Here the action of the fly is paramount. Poppers, yellow, white and red. If you’re not comfortable yet tying a Duncan loop, I’d practice on that before you left. A traditional hitch will work most of the time, but for Permit, nice to have the more bomber knot.
You’re set.
mmmmmmm pues quiero que se comuniquen conmigo alex