Cancun saltwater fly fishing

The purpose of this article is to introduce the angler to the sport of saltwater fly fishing, as currently practiced here in the inshore waters of Cancun, Isla Blanca and Riviera Maya fishing area. The content is aimed primarily at novice fishermen, at experienced saltwater fishermen who have not yet succumbed to the joys of fly fishing, and at freshwater fly fishermen who would like to transfer their acquired skills to our resident saltwater fish.

Cancun fly fishing and light tackle fishing in Cancun, Mexico ~ All about the enjoyment, thrill and excitement of Cancun inshore fishing.

As all of you fly fishermen know, salt water fly fishing is the fastest growing sport in the world, so if you are interested in catching fish "on the fly" in a new location, come and join us in Cancun for an excitement filled fly fishing charter. Let our professional guides take you to the numerous un-fished flats, lagoons and reefs teeming with Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon.

There is something exciting about cancun salt water fish!

The will to survive gives them their ferocity and tenacity. A 16" bonefish has three times the strength and stamina of a 20" rainbow trout. Pike are like kittens compared to tarpons in Cancun and Isla Blanca. Catching them "on the fly" is one of the most rewarding fishing experiences imaginable. Add our guides, locale and state of the art equipment and you have the most satisfying fishing trip of your life!

I'll attempt to take some of the mystique out of fly fishing by describing the in shore waters we fish, the tackle with which we fish and the basic techniques that we use to fool our formidable prey. Accordingly, this is sort of a beginner's school, hopefully giving you enough information to go out and buy the basic required equipment and to begin to develop your fly fishing skills. Much of this continuing learning comes from the stream of books and magazines that are being published.

If you want to improve your success on the water, subscribe to a few of these magazines and read some of these books; There's literally "gold in them thar hills".

A little bit of history

Although the earliest historical records show that fly fishing was practiced as early as the third century AD in Macedonia, the basis for most of our heritage came from England. Particularly noteworthy was Dame Juliana Berner's "Treatyse of Fysshing Wyth an Angle" (1496) and Isaak Walton's famous "The Compleat Angler" (1653). A century later, North American fly fishing began to take hold and by 1900 it had become fairly popular. Saltwater fly fishing seems to have started in the mid-1800's and James Henshall's book "Camping and Cruising in Florida" (1878), was the first to document fly fishing for Jack Crevalle, Snook, Redfish, Ladyfish, Bluefish and Tarpon. Inshore fly fishing is enjoying a tremendous boom in popularity, and the tackle shops are bursting with fly fishing gear.

Fishing vs. Fly Fishing

Originally, the "business" end of a fly fishing outfit consisted of a hook, suitably dressed with animal fur and feathers to imitate aquatic insects such as mayflies, caddisflies, stoneflies, etc. Nowadays, our "flies" also imitate terrestrial insects, baitfish, crustaceans etc and are constructed from all kinds of natural as well as man-made materials. Sometimes, flies are lightly weighted in order to make sure that they sink down to the depth of the targeted fish, but generally, flies are very light and as such cannot be "cast" or thrown with conventional spinning or casting equipment.

Fly fishing is thus differentiated from other types of fishing in that the fly rod actually casts a relatively heavy line, which in turn pulls the fly out to its destination. Twenty to thirty feet of fly line extended beyond the tip of the rod weighs as much if not more than most spinning lures and because this weight is distributed along its extended length, fly rod design and fly casting technique are quite different than their spinning counterparts. And so, fly fishing differs from other fishing forms in two distinct ways: 1) the lure is very light and is not (and never was) alive and 2) the lure is cast to its destination via a weighted line.

Why do we fly fish in the inshore waters of Cancun and Isla Blanca?

That's a difficult question to answer. Each fly fisher probably has his or her own set of reasons, but let me try to answer from my perspective. First of all, I fish because I love the outdoors, the water and all that nature's cornucopia has to offer. In addition, if I can also be skillful, determined, patient and lucky enough to hook and land a fish in his natural environment, I'm doubly rewarded.

I find fly fishing to be more enjoyable than other techniques, because I don't have to be burdened with bait and buckets, nor pounds of spinning lures. Hundreds of different kinds of flies can be carried in two or three boxes, to cover nearly all of your fishing needs. In shallow waters, where I do nearly all of my fishing, the fly can be cast where you want it with a minimum disturbance when it hits the water. Heavier lures scare nearby fish when they hit the water and make them nervous for future casts.

Fishing with flies often leads one to fly tying, which I find almost as much fun as fishing. And with fly tying you have the ability to be quite creative in your attempts at imitating the various prey of fish. Fishing with a fly also keeps your mind awake.The fly is always moving and you must pay attention to what you're doing during casting and retrieval, to place the fly where you want it and to manipulate it so that its components behave like a tail, fins, claws or whatever. Finally, fly fishing makes it easier to remove the hook from a caught fish, compared to spin or bait fishing. Fly-caught fish are usually hooked in or near the mouth whereas fish will often swallow bait on a hook, mortally wounding it during removal. The treble hooks of spinning lures can be similarly damaging if you wish to release the fish unharmed.

Of course, there's nothing that's more productive in catching fish than using live bait! And if the wind is really blowing, casting a lure with a spinning rod will often get to the better places with ease. Nevertheless, I prefer Cancun inshore fly fishing above all other forms of angling, and once it gets in your blood you're literally hooked for life!