Cancun: the land of sunburnt americans, and overpriced sunscreen. I’m sure Cancun has its own vibe for locals, but when your vacation is paid for by some Real Estate colleagues who bring you along, you immerse yourself in the culture of all inclusive. A morning walk solidifies the intensity of the infrastructure, massive hotel after hotel lining the white sand beach which is packed with tourists from all over. Not a small business in sight (I could really go for a taco stand right about now). The locals are working hard, taking photos of people on the beach, working for the resorts serving drinks to the extremely thirsty guests, and speaking in English as no one even attempts to speak Spanish. The days are spent lounging by the pool or beach, ordering too many margaritas along with everyone else.
On the last day we book a fly fishing adventure to get out of the resort and to try to find some Tarpon, a notoriously fun fish to catch. I’ve done basically no fishing in my lifetime, but my husband, Kyle, has been obsessed with fly fishing ever since picking up a rod last year. I figured I’d tag along to take some photos and get out on the water. We get picked up around 6am, and before the sun is even up, our guide Daniel is speeding out to sea, and driving us through the mangrove trees in a skiff. He knows exactly where he’s going and as the sun starts to make it’s appearance Kyle is on the casting platform in the bow. Daniel pulls out an extremely long pole (20ish feet), and then climbs to the top of the poling platform at the back of the boat where he slowly moves and steers us around the shallow water. From up there, he has a better view of the water and is able to tell Kyle where to cast.
“Cast one o’clock, thirty feet” he says in broken English.
“Nine o’clock, 50 feet”.
I haven’t actually seen Kyle cast to this extent, big, long swings of the rod casting the fly to the location Daniel is directing him to. It’s quite beautiful to watch, and every once in a while Daniel says “good cast”. At one point we see a crocodile- or cocodrilo, as they say in Spanish- swimming off the in distance.
Hours go by and the sun gets higher in the sky. We have seen the Tarpon “rolling” near the top of the water, but no bites on the fly rod. We’ve moved around a couple of times, and find ourselves anchored out in a deeper section of water. Kyle is still casting off of the front of the boat when Daniel asks if I want to try the spinner rod. He shows me how to use it and I start casting off the side of the boat. It’s quite fun to try to throw the fly as far as I can, and then reel it back using the technique Daniel showed me.
Finally, from the front of the boat Kyle gets his first bite but loses it. Soon after, another bite, but this time he has a fish on the line! As he’s reeling his fish in, and the Tarpon flings itself multiple feet out of the water and spits out the hook. Dang it.
“That’s Tarpon fishing,” Daniel keeps saying.
Now I am feeling motivated, throwing cast after cast on the spinner rod. I feel a bite but nothing sticks, I know they are out there… Finally! I feel a tug in the line, I keep my rod low and set the hook by flicking my rod away from the fish and start reeling. Daniel says “you got em!”. I keep reeling and finally pull the beautiful silver fish into the boat. Not only is this the first real fish I’ve ever caught- it’s a Tarpon! It’s scales are almost blinding in the sunlight. Daniel hands me the fish, takes a photo. I give the shiny scales one last appreciative look, and let it slip back into the water (tarpon are a protected fish, so you can’t keep them).
Hours later, the excitement has worn off and I find myself rather bored and hot in the heat of the day. Kyle is doing his best with the fly line, but it’s tough going. At the end of the day Daniel maneuvers the boat back into the mangroves, this time into a tight tunnel where we have to duck and dodge branches as we move about.
It’s next to impossible to use the fly line in here so we each use a spinner rod, trying our best to make small casts into the shallow water. Frustration creeps in as both of us keep hooking branches and debris and we spend more time trying to retrieve hooks than we do fishing. As a last ditch effort, Daniel casts for me and hands me the rod. I start to reel and soon feel that familiar tug! Another Tarpon on the line, and this one feels bigger than the last. Daniel uses the net to get it into the boat, and again we admire the fish. They really are neat looking animals: big mouths with no teeth and sleek silver-grey bodies. It’s slippery in my hands and kind of stinky. I say goodbye again and send him back into the green water. Daniel turns to Kyle and says “sorry my friend”. We get the boat turned around and speed across the lagoon back to our hotel.
I feel slightly guilty that I’m not a fisherman and I caught two fish, while Kyle didn’t catch any. But he didn’t seem to mind. I guess what he’s said from the beginning is true, it’s not all about catching fish. Especially for Kyle.
Blog. 
Leave a comment