# Ascension Bay Fly Guide?



## hoosierplugger (May 24, 2004)

Heading to Playa del Carmen in June. 

Any recommendations for fly guides for Ascension Bay?


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

The closest lodge to Playa del Carmen, will be Boca Paila and there are plenty of guides there. But that is not really Ascension Bay. Punta Allen is on the bay itself, but is at least 20 miles further down the road. And that road is so bad at times, I think Boca gets a lot of business from anglers headed to Punta Allen, who just can't take it any more.

Sorry I don't know any guides in Punta Allen anymore....the ones I knew are gone to Isla Blanca.

It's been a few years, but I started hearing bad reports about Boca Paila, in that the anglers saw bonefish but they would not eat anything, unless they were those little ones in a big school. Keep in mind that Mexican bonefish are small to begin with. They advertise an average of about 4 lbs. but I think 3 would be more accurate and the "smaller" fish in the big schools I think are about 1-11/2 lbs. Just a heads up for ya....good luck.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

How much time do you have? One day or several? 

If you are looking at one day, I would recommend taking the ferry across to Cozumel and hiring Nacho Euan (or his son) for a guide for fishing the flats on the north end of the Island. Cozumel is much more interesting, to me, than Playa anyway. 

The guides I'm aware of on Ascension are locked up by the lodges there...and generally those require several days stay. 

Agree with Rat on expectations for the bonefish there...small, more typically about 2 pounds or less, and becoming somewhat educated due to the fishing pressure. On the plus side, you have a very legitimate shot at a grand slam there. 

Tight lines.


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## BRH (May 11, 2011)

The guys at Pesca Maya provide exactly what you're looking for. They pick you up from your resort, drive you to the dock at the north end of Ascension, then ferry you to the lodge. You fish for -+ 8 hours before you begin your journey back. It's a lot of travel in one day for that much fishing, but for us it was part of the adventure. We did two days in a row back in June of '15. Permit are tough that time of year, but there are plenty of bones and a handful of tarpon. There should be plenty of boats available that time of year too since it's their off season.

http://www.pescamaya.com/en/daytrips.html


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

BRH......How was the road to Pesca Maya?

That and I can't imagine any time of the year when permit are "tough"......or did you mean "to catch"?? 

If the latter, I hope you saw some and I am betting they were real permit (5+ lbs.) and not dinnerplates. Real permit are usually always tough to catch on fly. Dinnerplates generally run in schools and eat anything put in front of them.
If possible, could you give a little more detailed report as to your fishing and that of any other parties that may have been staying at the lodge? Ascension Bay is one area of Mexico I have not fished. I would hope that $610/day included the room and meals....especially in June.


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## hoosierplugger (May 24, 2004)

Thanks for the help guys!

I'm going with a group of friends who play tennis and since I don't play (well) I can probably sneak away for 2 full days. I don't mind long days/rides if that's what it takes. Pesca Maya sounds like a great place to start.

Thanks again!


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## BRH (May 11, 2011)

Couldn't speak much to the road as we didn't take it, though they say it's terrible. It's supposed to take 2-3 times longer than the boat ride. The van that picks you up from your resort drops you off about 4-5 miles south of Tulum. Somewhere around here... 20.088417, -87.477064 

The boat ride is right at an hour. Evidently this is the way all the lodges down there ferry their guests to Punta Allen, as we passed several pangas each way. The travel each way was 2:15-2:30. The first day we tipped our bus driver about $40, and the second he had a cooler LOADED with beer for us.

We had two boats each day. It was $610 per boat, in our case $305 per person, which included transportation to and from. They picked us up in Playa right about 5:45, had us at the north dock by 7:00 and underway by 7:15, and at the lodge dock by 8:15. They had a nice breakfast ready for us when we arrived, and we were going over tackle and flies with our guides by 8:35-8:45. By 9:00 we were all loaded in the boats and headed south across the bay. 2 fisherman, 1 guide, and 1 apprentice in each 23' panga. Doing the math I realize it was more like 7 hours of fishing, but we were back at the lodge around 4-4:30. A couple cocktails and a few fishermen's lies and we were back on the ferry boat headed north.

"Tough" maybe not be the right word... Frustrating... Yeah, frustrating is probably better. We didn't see the large numbers they do other times of the year. We saw maybe a dozen fish, and of those I had "shots" at maybe 4. All 60'+ quartering upwind. But all the fish were absolute SLABS. 

Bonefish were practically everywhere. You'd be disappointed about spooking a permit that never gave you a chance, only to have the guide call bonefish, 6:00, 30 feet. The guys with us that weren't fly fishermen caught bones on the fly... multiple. Not much size to them though... biggest was 3.5-4 lbs, with most in the 1-2lb range. I caught one fish on the 8WT before switching to a 5WT. Had I brought my 3WT I would have eventually gone to it. Tarpon were mostly in the 40-60lb range, and the ones we saw were in and around the mangroves of the islands. 

Managed a few bites on the tarpon, nothing on permit, countless bonefish, and a handful of other reef species.

The other boat managed a slam before lunch on the first day, though they did it on spinning gear with live coconut crab and dead shad. The permit was a tank... somewhere in the 25-30lb range, and the tarpon was about 45.

If you're going to one of the resorts with a large group of people and want to sneak away, this is definitely a good route. I wouldn't hesitate to spend the money to do it again.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Thanks so much BRH....great report. Interesting about the ferry service, in order to avoid the roads. Yeah, when you think about what the lodge goes through, to get you there, plus the perks....$610 doesn't sound so bad.

Your fishing experience is exactly what I surmised. Ascension Bay has much larger permit. The boats at Boca Paila are almost 20 miles from the bay and I think sometimes they make the run, but it's not a gimme, if you know what I mean.

BTW....there is also a lodge on the South side of Ascension - the name escapes me now.....but here I have been told there are monster permit, some exceeding 40 lbs. Trouble is, this lodge faces the ocean and at times that leg of the run to the bay can be a wet one if the wind is up. Driving there would almost be out of the question (long way around) but there is an airstrip.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Permit Rat said:


> ...
> BTW....there is also a lodge on the South side of Ascension - the name escapes me now.....but here I have been told there are monster permit, some exceeding 40 lbs. Trouble is, this lodge faces the ocean and at times that leg of the run to the bay can be a wet one if the wind is up. Driving there would almost be out of the question (long way around) but there is an airstrip.


PR,

Would that be Casa Blanca Lodge? Casa Blanca is located on the south side of Ascension Bay at Punta Pajaros, the northern tip of Isla Casa Blanca in the Mexican province of Quintana Roo and shares its borders with Belize and Guatemala. Its a 45 minute flight from Cancun to Punta Pajaros which is within site of the lodge.

I agree with you the larger Permit are further south....even further south than Ascension, IMO. Chetumal Bay has some really huge Permit...I've seen them.... but very, very difficult to catch.


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## Permit Rat (May 13, 2014)

Meadowlark said:


> PR,
> 
> Would that be Casa Blanca Lodge? Casa Blanca is located on the south side of Ascension Bay at Punta Pajaros, the northern tip of Isla Casa Blanca in the Mexican province of Quintana Roo and shares its borders with Belize and Guatemala. Its a 45 minute flight from Cancun to Punta Pajaros which is within site of the lodge.


YES!!! (There are so many "casas" and "blancas" in Mexico, I at least, get confused at times.) I'm going to see if they have a website and what the deal is that they have to offer. I am fully prepared to fish a "fishless" week and just look for monster permit and nothing else. Trouble would be finding a fishing partner with those same aspirations.


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