Fly fishing the Mayan Riviera area..help!

[heathlight]

My friend and I will be heading down to the Mayan late February, and I was hoping to find out what type of flies are good to use down there. We have gone deep sea fishing and want a change of scenery, and want more of a "hands on" experience. We will be hiring a guide, but they do not provide leaders or flies....weird! (You have to buy them at $5 a pc) Any suggestions on which guiding company to use and the names of the flies to get would be great!
We will be staying at he the Barcelo, which is between Playe del Carmen and Tulum.
Thank you in advance!

[Neil Waugh]

There is world class bone/permit fishing on Ascension Bay - about an hour or so south of Tullum on a jungle road that makes the FTR look tame.
It's in kind of a national park so it's pretty unspoiled.
There are several small lodges and guide services at Punta Allen. A local guy with Punta Allen experience and connections is RDR guide Garry Pierce from Tailwater Drifters out of Penhold. Check out his website.
The permit, as always, can be a little testy but if you can hit your shots 20-fish bonefish days are not an exception. Both wading and lagoon fishing from a panga. Two guides to the boat.
Garry also developed some unique bonefish flies that beat the heck out of the standard Crazy Charlies and Gotchas.
You can day trip it from your resort but overnighting is probably better. Couple of nice beach restaurants and a real gem of a village.
There are also apparently some bonefish flats on Cozumel but it looks pretty developed and chaotic.

[Okotokian]

Congrats on selecting the Barcello. That's our regular hotel down there. Been there three or four times. There's a reef right off the dock and both it and the dock attract massive amounts of fish. Throw in some bread and you have 50 fish. Wonder if they let you fish off the dock? hmmmmmmm

If you haven't been there before pm me with any questions you may have. Unfortunately I've only fished on the west coast of Mexico so can't help much with that.

[DuckBrat]

Posted this in another thread...

If your looking for flats fishing (Permit, Bonefish, Tarpon, Snook) try Ascencion Bay Bonefish club (ABBC), Pesca Maya, and Casa Blanca. 3 hours drive south of Cancun. Be sure to keep your guides motivated and well aware of what you want out of your day. If not you may experience a lot of downtime during your fishing trip. Rent a car cheap, drive to Tulum and go south onto the peninsula towards Punta Allan. All of the above outfits are located on the drive to Punta Allan. Do not be afraid to explore the beaches along the peninsula with your flyrod. Bonefish skim the incoming waves looking for washed up crab. Heck I was even catching them out front of the resort.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=101&pictureid=374

[Okotokian]

Posted this in another thread...

If your looking for flats fishing (Permit, Bonefish, Tarpon, Snook) try Ascencion Bay Bonefish club (ABBC), Pesca Maya, and Casa Blanca. 3 hours drive south of Cancun. Be sure to keep your guides motivated and well aware of what you want out of your day. If not you may experience a lot of downtime during your fishing trip. Rent a car cheap, drive to Tulum and go south onto the peninsula towards Punta Allan. All of the above outfits are located on the drive to Punta Allan. Do not be afraid to explore the beaches along the peninsula with your flyrod. Bonefish skim the incoming waves looking for washed up crab. Heck I was even catching them out front of the resort.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=101&pictureid=374

What weight rod you got there smiley? :)

[DuckBrat]

7 weight for bonefish

#9 for permit, Tarpon, & snook.

Buy specific tropical lines for the hot weather, our trout lines turn to gum in the heat.

[heathlight]

Thanks for the pointers! Didnt know you could get specific leaders for the humidity levels in tropical areas. Thanks!

[CDC]

I will be at The Barcelo at the end of FEB/12 and the first week of Mar/12 I head north from the resorts to a lagoon for Bone Cuda and Yellow tails some tarps mostly at dark
There is a activity centre at the resort dock which could direct you to flats guides
I go to The Barcllo quite a bit
You will need Gotcha's, Crazy Charlies, Crab patterns, in Tan, Silver, Chart. White or Pearl, Yellow at times in sizes 4 & 6
are my goto colours and patterns most fly shop carry bone fish patterns. Try Clousers for yellow tails in white Olive, all chart, and blue white
You will also need tropical line our cold water line will wilt in the heat and is like casting cooked noodles

[jessedm]

I will be in south of playa for the last week of feb and between playa and cancun for the first week of march, I was hoping to surf fish. I'm not too sure what I did wrong last year on the other side by mazatlan, but I caught none there so I hope to have better luck this year. I used shrimp and tried at the first light just about every day and nothing, I seen a guy catch a tiny fish down the beach though. We wound up taking out a big diesel fishing boat to catch sea perch. This year I'm not sure if i want to rent a panga and hit lagoons or go out to sea again but I want action. Does anyone have insight on the surf fishing aspect of that area or inshore type fishing In a small boat??? Thanks in advance!

[Kingfisher]

These are some of my favorite flies that I have tied for down in the Mayan Riviera.

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/attachment.php?attachmentid=45943&stc=1&d=1326939481

The top right one is one that I have the best luck with. It is just on a size 10 or 8 Gamakatsu bone fish hook. The middle is red squirel tail and on either side is a grizzly hackle tip. The eye's are just small bead chain eyes. The other flies worked well also. But that one stood out as the best of the bunch.

Rob