Campeche advice

605 Views 11 Replies 7 Participants Last post by JLT-SEA, 3 mo ago

JLT-SEA

Discussion Starter · 3 mo ago

Hey all,

I've been lurking for a while now. I am a fly angler from Seattle and very active on Speypages/WFF and PNWFF forums where we talk steelhead and trout most of the time. However, I get to the warm salt from time to time and have a trip to Campeche, Mexico the first week of May to chase some baby tarpon and would love some advice.

I have a guide through Enrico Puglisi for a few days but wanted to know if DIY is at all possible? It looks like without a boat one is pretty SOL. Any advice to get a few more shots in on my own?

Any great restaurant recommendations?
Other things not to be missed that arent fishing in the city?

I'm bringing a Sage R8 Salt 890 and a back up 8wt, will/should I bring any other rods? From what I hear I could get away with a 6wt for most of the fish, but a 8wt will leave me ready for the occasional shot at bigger fish and pushing through wind.

For my reel, I'm am bringing a direct drive Billy Pate Bonefish, but I'm lusting after a Nautilus CCF-X2 8/10-10/12 if a used one is floating around out there hit me up...

Thanks for the forum. I aspire to have all the knowledge here be more applicable to my angling pursuits someday. For the meantime ill be freezing in my waders chasing steelhead with a two hand rod and loving every minute.

JLT

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timogleason

· #2 · 3 mo ago

I have no Campeche experience but I know smaller tarpon like they have down there well. If you have a 7 wt, I would definitely bring it. You'll be happy if you are making a lot of casts. A good specialty rod would be a short 8 weight. I throw those a lot in tight mangrove areas like they have there. Swing weight is real light and a bit easier to fish in tight quarters. Have fun....

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Drifter

· #3 · 3 mo ago

There’s not much to fish without a boat and the out of town areas like on the fringes are sketchy. There’s tarpon at the marina by the riprap late in the day, but there’s a security guard you have to talk into letting you in. I walked the wall there in town quit a bit as well and got no shots there. But you could see tarpon rolling in the distance.

the food is good enough I just walked around old town and ate when we weren’t fishing. there’s also a large Outdoor market that’s cool. Also we basically met no english speaking people for weeks.

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DBStoots

· #4 · 3 mo ago

@Loogie just got back. His recent post included some good insight that might be helpful, but if you contact him, I'm sure he'd be able to answer any questions.

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fatman

· #5 · 3 mo ago

JLT-SEA said:
Hey all,

I've been lurking for a while now. I am a fly angler from Seattle and very active on Speypages/WFF and PNWFF forums where we talk steelhead and trout most of the time. However, I get to the warm salt from time to time and have a trip to Campeche, Mexico the first week of May to chase some baby tarpon and would love some advice.

I have a guide through Enrico Puglisi for a few days but wanted to know if DIY is at all possible? It looks like without a boat one is pretty SOL. Any advice to get a few more shots in on my own?

Any great restaurant recommendations?
Other things not to be missed that arent fishing in the city?

I'm bringing a Sage R8 Salt 890 and a back up 8wt, will/should I bring any other rods? From what I hear I could get away with a 6wt for most of the fish, but a 8wt will leave me ready for the occasional shot at bigger fish and pushing through wind.

For my reel, I'm am bringing a direct drive Billy Pate Bonefish, but I'm lusting after a Nautilus CCF-X2 8/10-10/12 if a used one is floating around out there hit me up...

Thanks for the forum. I aspire to have all the knowledge here be more applicable to my angling pursuits someday. For the meantime ill be freezing in my waders chasing steelhead with a two hand rod and loving every minute.

JLT

what flight arrangements did you make?

after seeing @Loogie 's trip report, I started to do some investigating. Looks like everything connected through Mexico City, and took 24hrs+ of travel time....

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Loogie

· #6 · 3 mo ago

fatman said:
what flight arrangements did you make?

after seeing @Loogie 's trip report, I started to do some investigating. Looks like everything connected through Mexico City, and took 24hrs+ of travel time....

The best way to get to Campeche is through Miami on AA. A quick flight from MIA to MID (Merida). Travel to MIA is simple enough from anywhere.

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Reactions: 2

Loogie

· #7 · 3 mo ago

JLT-SEA said:
Hey all,

I've been lurking for a while now. I am a fly angler from Seattle and very active on Speypages/WFF and PNWFF forums where we talk steelhead and trout most of the time. However, I get to the warm salt from time to time and have a trip to Campeche, Mexico the first week of May to chase some baby tarpon and would love some advice.

I have a guide through Enrico Puglisi for a few days but wanted to know if DIY is at all possible? It looks like without a boat one is pretty SOL. Any advice to get a few more shots in on my own?

Any great restaurant recommendations?
Other things not to be missed that arent fishing in the city?

I'm bringing a Sage R8 Salt 890 and a back up 8wt, will/should I bring any other rods? From what I hear I could get away with a 6wt for most of the fish, but a 8wt will leave me ready for the occasional shot at bigger fish and pushing through wind.

For my reel, I'm am bringing a direct drive Billy Pate Bonefish, but I'm lusting after a Nautilus CCF-X2 8/10-10/12 if a used one is floating around out there hit me up...

Thanks for the forum. I aspire to have all the knowledge here be more applicable to my angling pursuits someday. For the meantime ill be freezing in my waders chasing steelhead with a two hand rod and loving every minute.

JLT

Not much DIY tarpon, restaurants downtown are great, there is a famous seafood restaurant, just ask Alejandro he owns the guide business there and speaks great English. I brought a 9wt and a 8wt, both with floating lines, fished the 8wt 100% of the time. Btw after catching multiple 25lb plus tarpon, check your fly line to leader loop! Those larger fish are savage fighters and will test your gear since you have to pull them away from mangroves! the factory loop just about failed! I’ll get a pic of the one about to break later.

I would not fish with anything less than an 8 because you have to pull hard on the fish when caught in narrow mangrove areas. And if you hook a 30 lbr you are going to get beat with a 7 or lighter. Outside the groves fish whatever, but in The trenches you need back bone. Below is an open mangrove, however a 25 or 30 lbr will get you into that grove unless you lock that fly line and horse him away. The small ones are fun but always be ready for the hoss’ they are all over the place.

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Loogie

· #8 · 3 mo ago

I’ll add that this fly is eaten by Tarpon and Snook, it’s a Mud Minnow 1/0 and 2/0 SL15S black.

Wood Artificial fly Audio equipment Fish Fishing bait

Spoon lure Fish Wood Body jewelry Seafood

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Drifter

· #9 · 3 mo ago

Everything @Loogie said, At one point we caught 20 something tarpon in 3 days. The town is really worth checking out. I don't know about Loogie, but Alejandro is the only English speaking person we met. He picked us up from the hotel a few days at about 330-4am for the "Lejos" trip. If you haven't done it I recommend drinking a couple beers and riding around in a taxi, they drive like insane people.

I also went through Merida and Pepe gave us a ride to Campeche. I highly recommend taking a piss before you go and go the whole way without stopping.

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Reactions: 3

richarde206

· #10 · 3 mo ago

JLT-SEA said:
Hey all,

I've been lurking for a while now. I am a fly angler from Seattle and very active on Speypages/WFF and PNWFF forums where we talk steelhead and trout most of the time. However, I get to the warm salt from time to time and have a trip to Campeche, Mexico the first week of May to chase some baby tarpon and would love some advice.

I have a guide through Enrico Puglisi for a few days but wanted to know if DIY is at all possible? It looks like without a boat one is pretty SOL. Any advice to get a few more shots in on my own?

Any great restaurant recommendations?
Other things not to be missed that arent fishing in the city?

I'm bringing a Sage R8 Salt 890 and a back up 8wt, will/should I bring any other rods? From what I hear I could get away with a 6wt for most of the fish, but a 8wt will leave me ready for the occasional shot at bigger fish and pushing through wind.

For my reel, I'm am bringing a direct drive Billy Pate Bonefish, but I'm lusting after a Nautilus CCF-X2 8/10-10/12 if a used one is floating around out there hit me up...

Thanks for the forum. I aspire to have all the knowledge here be more applicable to my angling pursuits someday. For the meantime ill be freezing in my waders chasing steelhead with a two hand rod and loving every minute.

JLT

This Seattleite fished that area a few years ago (at nearby San Felipe and then north of Cancun), and you are indeed SOL without a boat. DIY is pretty much impossible. Sorry, but it's pretty much just as simple as that. No boat, no fishing.

Your 8 weigh is just right. A 6 weight is folly, and a 9 is probably over-gunned most of the time. The 8 weight hits that sweet spot of not too big, not too small. You might hook into a snook and yank hard on it to keep it from retreating into the mangroves, and the 6 won't have enough backbone. And, many of your flies will be probably a size 2 or so, on the larger size for a 6, particularly if a longer cast distance is needed.

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JLT-SEA

Discussion Starter · #11 · 3 mo ago

This is fantastic thank you all.

Flying SEA-MEX overnight layover for short exploration and taco fest - Campeche
The flights suck but what are you gonna do?

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JLT-SEA

Discussion Starter · #12 · 3 mo ago

Drifter said:
Everything @Loogie said, At one point we caught 20 something tarpon in 3 days. The town is really worth checking out. I don't know about Loogie, but Alejandro is the only English speaking person we met. He picked us up from the hotel a few days at about 330-4am for the "Lejos" trip. If you haven't done it I recommend drinking a couple beers and riding around in a taxi, they drive like insane people.

I also went through Merida and Pepe gave us a ride to Campeche. I highly recommend taking a piss before you go and go the whole way without stopping.

Priceless! Thank you

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