Once again, we awoke to high winds but the sky was blue at least. Bobby Settles and I decided to make the long run into Ascension Bay to look for permit. After about a 45 minute run, we were being poled along the flats by our guide Tony Ramirez, a 20 your old Punta Allen resident. Ramirez had impressed me the day before by spotting several permit that I never would have seen without his help. This morning however, there weren’t any directions given by the young guide. We poked around in some narrow canals for snook and hooked a couple nice fish but didn’t get any to the boat. After lunch, Settles said “let’s get a fish to the boat – let’s go get a bonefish”. He staked the boat up and the three of us hopped out of the boat and began a march across the flats I’ll never forget. We trudged along to no avail and Settles requested that Ramirez walk back to the boat to pick us up. As he approached he yelled “palometa, palometa, grande!!” So once again, he hopped out of the boat and that’s where the adventure began. Settles made several cast to the fish but couldn’t connect. The fish would change directions and we changed accordingly, all the while, casting. After about a half hour of chasing this one fish, several more appeared. Settles made several cast at them but they all spooked. The one fish (which was the biggest) remained in striking distance and we continued the chase. Another half hour passed by and I think the three of us were ready to call it quits. Settles presented the fly every possible way imaginable and finally he said “the only option we have left is for me to cast right on its head”. With one haul, he made a long cast that dropped right on the fish’s head and all of the sudden I looked over at Settles making a quick strip set and watched the fly line zip onto the reel. Finally, after an hour chase, our finicky friend decided to eat. After a 45 minute fight, Ramirez tailed the 20-pound fish. After photos and high-fives, we released the fish and looked back at our boat – it was every bit of two miles away – and that’s not an exaggeration. So, even though we only landed one fish today, it was a great day that the three of us will always remember from Grand Slam Lodge in Punta Allen, Mexico. www.grandslamflyfishinglodge.com
