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Magnificent Mexican Species Hunt

Having looked at a number of other destinations for our Easter holidays with the kids, the lure of the fishing possibilities of Mexico's Mayan Riviera proved too great once again. We had spent two weeks in this beautiful location last year where I had sampled some of the local big game fishing and found my novice skills were not quite up to the task! This year I wanted to go back and try some lighter tackle approaches for the many varieties of reef fish that populate these very rich waters.

The Cozumel Ferry At Sunrise

"Fishing With Ivan"

I started my research back in November and stumbled across a web site advertising an operation called "Fishing with Ivan". It is a very professional site with lots of useful information and what caught my eye was the promise of "customized" fishing charters. I have struggled in the past to find charter operators who will deviate from the standard trolling tactics but this sounded just what I needed.

I sent a mail to the contact address to enquire whether it would be possible to do some bottom fishing on the reef, whether I could experiment with some UK Tackle and if so what would be the rates and booking procedure. I received a very prompt and thorough response from a lady called Vivian who assured me that the skipper (Ivan - Vivian's husband) would be more than happy to sort out an itinerary with me where I could try a number of different techniques. Vivian also mentioned some other ideas that other anglers had discussed which I may want to consider.

Ivan and Vivian are the owners of their boat (which is not necessarily typical of all the operators in the area) and I was very encouraged that they have a link direct to "Trip Advisor" so you can read unbiased reviews from other clients - unanimously good. I didn't need to look any further and booked three trips during my stay. I asked to pay by credit card and Vivian sent me Pay Pal links for each of my trips to make the payment securely and to avoid the need for me to carry too much cash. It is worth noting that I booked three months in advance. My father visited Mexico in February 2011 and also tried to book with Ivan when he arrived but the boat was booked solidly for the whole of his two week stay. Ivan told me during one of the trips that he has some bookings as far out as December 2011 so it is definitely worth booking in advance.

Trip Number 1 - "A bit of this and that"

It is always a bit of a concern when travelling half way round the world that even the best laid plans will go awry and so it was with some nervousness I set out to navigate my way to my allotted meeting point with the skipper close to the Beach in down town Playa Del Carmen (about 40 minutes south of Cancun). As I arrived at the rendezvous point however, there was Ivan coming from the beach. After a brief introduction we walked a few short yards to the water's edge from where you wade out to access the boat via the bathing platform at the rear. There can be few, if any, more beautiful moorings for a fishing boat!

Catch the boat here!

Ivan's boat is named "Papa Kees" after his father-in-law. It stands out from the other boats on the beach as it is larger and has a raised tower platform for the skipper so he can observe the activity of birds and bait fish better when trolling. It has a heads compartment, fighting chair, plenty of seating and a large ice box for water, sodas etc. It is a very stable and comfortable fishing platform.

Once on board I showed Ivan the equipment I had brought with me (and 8lb and a 12lb class 7' boat rod and small multiplier reels) and explained that I would like to fish some cut baits on the reef but that I would also like to try some UK style wrecking tactics with soft plastic lures on "flying collar" rigs. I had been worried that there may not be enough tidal movement for this but Ivan explained that there is a very strong current that runs south to north between the mainland and the island of Cozumel so this shouldn't be a problem. Ivan suggested that we set up to take a two hour troll south of Playa Del Carmen to the site of a ship wreck lying in about 75 feet of water. This would also be close to the coral reef that runs the length of this coast and would afford us the opportunity to cover a number of marks.

Ivan is supported by a first class deck hand called Pedro who quickly set up the boat's own rods for trolling whilst Ivan navigated us the short distance (under half a mile) to the drop off where the big fish live. The trolling set up consisted of two heavy rods with lures and whole Ballyhoo baits fished wide from outriggers. A third rod was fished with the use of a downrigger putting a similar bait at depths of up to 100 feet or more. A fourth rod was fished closer in to the boat. In addition to this gear (50-80lb IGFA rated rods), Ivan set up a light spinning outfit which skipped a smaller hook across the surface, weighted with a drilled bullet and adorned with a black muppet. Ivan explained that this was good for catching small Tuna which would be good sport on the lighter outfit.

With the baits set we started our journey. The signs were very good as I saw a Sailfish jump a couple of hundred yards away and within sight of all the upscale resort hotels. It was only a few minutes later that we had a run on the spinning rod. Ivan struck the rod from the bridge and handed it to Pedro who struck again before passing the rod to me. It staggers me how strong a relatively small fish can be but on this light outfit my first contest of the holiday was fabulous fun. The result was a Bonito Tuna - one for the ice box and the crew's dinner!

Light Tackle Bonito

Pedro reset the baits and we continued our trolling journey south. It was only about another 20 minutes and we had another run on the spinning gear. This time Ivan handed me the rod directly from the tower and I had completely misjudged how much wrist strength I should be applying to hold this rod firm. It whipped over and caught Pedro on the shoulder. Fortunately Pedro was ok but not a good way for me to make new friends! Even more fortunately the fish stayed on and the result was an identically sized Bonito to the first. Things were definitely going well.

We reached the ship wreck without further incident but there were a large number of dive boats taking advantage of the very calm conditions in the area so Ivan suggested we try drifting the reef to start with and then come back when the dive boats had cleared.

I decided to try working a 'Mackerel pattern' weighted shad on a 6ft flying collar rig. I had a number of drops and retrieves with no effect. Ivan fixed up a two hook rig that was very similar to a "flapper" rig with two hooks up, each with a small fish bait. I lost patience with my shad and decided to use a Wessex rig with size 1/0 hooks which was the nearest I had to Ivan's rig. The water was fairly deep at this mark so I used an 8oz weight to get to the bottom quickly. I didn't have to wait long as I received a rattling bite and leaned in to a reasonable weight of fish. For me it was the fish that I think typifies what I was after - a brace of Red Snapper, the best one probably in the region of 2.5lbs or so. I was delighted and the crew's supper had just got larger!

Red Snapper for tea!

Whilst drifting this part of the reef I managed another Red Snapper and also a Banana Fish, which is an 'almost' eel like fish with yellowish colouration and startling pale eyes.

Ivan managed another species for our tally. I think the fish was called a Red Kine but I suspect my spelling may be wrong.

Ivan bags another species

Ivan then called for lines up and we made a move to the ship wreck. As we approached the area I asked how Ivan would know if we were positioned near the wreck or not (in the UK the skippers use a whole range of chart plotters, echo sounders etc for this)? Ivan said he would get Pedro to take a look. I was wondering how you could triangulate your position from marks on such a flat and uniform coast line when Pedro emerged from one of the lockers wearing a mask and snorkel. He went over the back of the boat on to the bathing platform and used hand signals to fine tune the position of the boat. I was so astonished that Pedro let me borrow the mask and have a look for myself. Whilst we had drifted off the wreck a little I could clearly see all the way to the sea bed and could also see a large shoal of fish. I smiled to myself as I thought how unpopular this method would be with UK deck hands in February when the water temperature is 8 degrees in the English Channel and visibility probably less than 10 feet!

I switched back to soft plastic lures for the wreck but to no apparent success. I retrieved my lure and noticed that the tail had been severed. Closer inspection showed deep bite marks all over it and the lure I had used immediately before. Ivan suggested we put one on the downrigger and see if we could induce a better take trolling as I had not even felt the bites I was getting on the drift. The troll didn't register any takes but when we retrieved the lure it had been dissected by something with razors for teeth!

Anihilated

All of the takes on these soft lures had come from below and failed to engage the hook. I kicked myself for not buying the type that has a second treble hook suspended from the underside for just such an event.

We headed off back towards Playa Del Carmen trolling some big fish baits and the light tuna rod but with no bites. Ivan stopped for a spot more bottom fishing not far from the beach. I managed to catch a succession of Banana Fish but was delighted when I hooked this beautiful looking Queen Trigger fish.

Queen Trigger Fish

A fine end to a great first day. I am guessing I had 12 to 15 fish and we had five species to the boat. I would find it difficult to wait the four days for my next trip!

Trip Number 2 - 'It's all about Polly!'

For my second trip with Ivan I was joined by my 11 year old daughter, Polly. We met Ivan at the beach and Ivan explained that the 'bite' for the larger fish had been excellent the previous day with three Sailfish landed and a Blue Marlin fought and lost by the charter party. I thought briefly about whether Polly would find trolling a bit boring but the opportunity to have another go at a large predator was too tempting.

The rods were set and we headed south once more. The signs were good again and I quickly spotted a Sailfish jumping. I was worried that Polly hadn't seen him but the fish was up for a performance and jumped seven or eight times consecutively. We also saw flying fish, a first for Polly. The Sailfish did not take our baits however and we set off on a long troll, beam on to a reasonable swell.

Polly went very quiet.

"Are you OK" I enquired?

"I'm fine" was the response.

Polly went pale.

"Are you sure you are OK" I asked again.

"I'm fine" came the answer again.

Two minutes later......."I think I'll have one of those motion sickness tablets Dad". This had all the signs of being a disaster. I was pretty sure that if she hadn't taken the tablet a good while before we went to sea it wouldn't work now. I thought it might have a psychological benefit though so she took the tablet.

One minute later and Polly was sick.

Now I have been fishing from boats for 34 years and have never seen anyone recover from sea sickness until they are sitting under a tree. I was convinced this would be the most expensive one hour fishing trip I had ever undertaken, but then the miracle happened. The colour returned to Polly's cheeks and she announced she felt a little better. In fact she recovered so quickly it was astonishing, and she remained fine for the rest of the day.

Sadly, despite our persistence, the trolling did not produce any runs. The advantage was however that we had travelled much further south than the previous day and were at a good spot to try some more bottom fishing. This time Ivan anchored us on the reef rather than drifting which would prove easier for Polly to manage.

Because of the interest we had in pink lures on trip one, and because Pedro had said that pink was a good colour for snapper, I had re-tied my two hook rigs with pink beads and muppets on the snoods as attractors.

I set Polly up first and lowered her baits to the bottom to make sure she had enough weight. As I passed her the rod she received a bite and was on it quickly. A quick turn of the handle and she was in to a very lively fish. the result was this beautifully marked Trigger Fish. A different species to the one I had taken earlier in the week. The fish fought very hard and destroyed the hook in what are frighteningly strong jaws for a small fish.

Quick on the trigger

I replaced Polly's mangled hook and set her up again. I didn't even get near my rod before she had another fish to the boat. This time it was a 'Grunt'. The reason for the name became obvious when this spirited little fish started to grunt at us. We would go on to catch loads of these and so I stopped counting. Having snapped the fish with my camera Pedro stepped in to help Polly so that I could get my own rod set up.

The first of many Grunts

Next it was my turn with a fish that gave my 8lb Sonik boat rod a real work out. I was very pleased to land another Queen Trigger as it was a good bit bigger than the one I had landed on day one. Pollly was the photographer and go the best picture of the day I think!

On the scoreboard

A couple more Grunts and Banana Fish were all that this mark would yield so Ivan moved us out in to deeper water but on the same reef. The impact was instant with Polly and I catching lots of Grunts, plenty of Banana Fish (gave up counting these as well) and one or two small Grouper.

I managed another Trigger Fish which I thought was the same species as Polly caught however it had very striking pale blue eyes and I now regret not photographing it.

Whilst I continued to catch plenty of smaller fish it was Polly who found the new species and the better specimens.

Polly first captured a small Parrot Fish which she and I followed up with plenty more. These are very like our own Wrasse species in the UK and fight in a similar way.

Polly finds a Parrot Fish

Polly then wound in to what we could all see was a better fish that gave her a real run around. The result was this fish from the snapper family that was probably in the region of 3lbs.

Polly lands a nice Snapper

Polly was now in unstoppable form. She followed up her snapper with another culinary delight - a Grouper about the same size as the Snapper.

Polly grabs a Grouper

Polly crowned her day at the end with her best fish of the holiday, a superb bright blue Parrot Fish that was probably approaching four pounds in weight. No signs of sea sickness on the way home, just lots of references to ho she had whipped her old man all day!

Big Blue Parrot Fish

Trip Number 3 - 'Ifs, buts and maybes'

I was fortunate to get out at all for my third trip as the weather forecast was predicting stronger and stronger winds towards the end of my stay in Mexico. I was delighted when a call to Vivian confirmed the trip was on and headed off to the beach to meet Ivan.

Ivan explained that the choppier conditions were particularly suited to fishing for Mahi Mahi, not only an athletic fish but a delicious one too. We set off North to chase these prey with high hopes as the previous day the party had taken one Mahi Mahi and a Sailfish. We saw loads of flying fish, a good indicator of predators, but after a couple of hours had again not had any runs on the trolling gear. Ivan asked if I wanted to go bottom fishing and being an impatient sort I said I'd like to give it a go.

We headed on to the reef outside of Punta Maroma and Pedro set the anchor. The Grunts were on to my baits instantly as well as the odd small Grouper and another Trigger Fish. After half an hour or so I had another rattling bite - a Grunt I assumed. As I reeled in to the fish it became clear if was much heavier. I made good progress for a while and then the fish turned and headed back to the reef. I started to gain back some more line and was just considering whether I should back my drag off a little when - 'Ping!' - the hook pulled out. This wasn't a monster by any means but I suspect was a 5 to 6 lb fish that would have been my best of the holiday and would have made a good photo. I am still kicking myself as I write this.

The bites dried up at this mark so we moved and had more Grunts as before. Ivan then called for lnes up and suggested we take another troll back to the mooring as a last chance for a bigger fish. Well although I didn't get a bigger fish the next half an hour was certainly adrenaline filled.

First a Sailfish swam close by the starboard side of the boat and out past our lures without giving them a second look.

Next, Ivan spotted some floating debris and bird activity. A troll through this area saw two Mahi Mahi follow the baits, switching attention from one to another but without taking any of them.

Finally we had a Blue Marlin casually approach the boat from the port side before shearing away. Despite giving chase we were not able to attract a bite and had to call the fishing to an end for another holiday. I had never seen a live Marlin before and this was tremendously exciting knowing that any minute I might be attached to a heavy weight torpedo

I didn't leave without a trophy though. Having noted that I liked the 'Papa Kees' crew shirts, Ivan and Vivian made me a very generous gift of one of these which I will wear on many more fishing trips and hopefully on Ivan's boat again one day! The whole experience of fishing with Ivan was excellent through from booking to actually being on the water.

My Trophy

Considerations and contact details

I have spoken to a lot of UK based anglers who would like to fish when on holiday in the Caribbean but are put off standard trolling trips as it does not necessarily require any participation from the angler and can be very expensive if you charter a boat for yourself. If you take a trip on a party boat you may well be a spectator all day and this is very different to the fishing we enjoy in the UK. Ivan offers a real opportunity to try out a variety of tactics and be very active in the way you fish. He can take 6 passengers although I think 4 bottom fishing, particularly in a strong current, would be more comfortable. Sharing the costs between four people makes this similar in costs to the UK for a day's charter fishing plus you have a much shorter travel time to be amongst the fish. It is well worth mixing the day up with a bit of trolling and a bit of bottom fishing as it would be a shame not to give yourself a chance of a big one if you've travelled all that way!

As I travelled back to the UK on an overnight flight I considered what else I would like to try if I go again;

I would like to try drifting a large cut bait over the wreck with a strong pennel rig or a wire trace with a wire mounted "stinger" to try for the barracuda.
I would like to fish the shallow reef I went to on trip 3 with a sliding float rig as it was only about 15 to 20 feet deep. I had real success when casting away from the boat but amongst the coral this is a recipe for tackle loss - the float rig may be a solution to this and would allow you to cover much more ground.
On the shallow reefs even my light boat rods were probably heavier than I requried - I would take a medium weight spinning outfit capable of casting a couple of ounces (as Ivan suggested).
I would like to try some different baits. We used Ballyhoo fillets but I would imagine that the Bonito could be an excellent bait given it is very like our mackerel. It would also be interesting to see if squid was effective.
I would try to be braver and fish bigger hooks and bait, forsaking my chances of hooking a smaller fish in he hope of attracting the larger specimens.

That's quite a growing list so I'll have to go back and try again I think!

If you are intrested in fishing in this part of Mexico you can find Ivan's web site with contact details, rates and a fishing calendar via this link -

http://www.sportfishingplayadelcarmen.com/Home.html

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In Mexico!