Man, what a trip. Although I have been extremely fortunate to fly fish around the world in some of the coolest places imaginable, our third trip back to Isla Holbox will forever be one for the memory books. Known for being one of the best juvenile tarpon destinations in the world, Isla Holbox has become one of my favorite saltwater destinations to fish. On top of this, the people, town, and culture of the area also make this place more than about fishing: it is a true getaway.

We decided to fish for five days in Isla Holbox, and the conditions were excellent. Typical summer on the flats. Clear skies, relatively calm wind (except for in the afternoons), a multitude of aquatic life out on the flats, and juvenile tarpon rolling everywhere. Whether these were in pods of three, or eighty, it seemed like no matter where we were polling, tarpon were around every corner. Fortunately enough for us, the tarpon were also in a feeding mood for the most part. Extremely light and soft-landing tarpon toads were the trick, and black/purple seemed to be the best bet for the week. We also had some success with chartreuse in the late afternoon (we even landed one off of a dock in the middle of the night!). Every time we return to Holbox, seeing these baby silver kings fly in the air and gulp for your fly is a sight to behold. To this day, if someone said I could only do one type of fly fishing for an extended period of time, fly fishing for juvenile tarpon would be tough to pass up on (especially with fish in the 20-30 pound range – see below). A good amount of action with the stealth of the hunt involved.

However, it wasn’t just the tarpon that stole the show on this trip. We totally lucked out on the last day of fishing, in that we chose to take a risk and visit a flat in which permit and bonefish will sometimes reside. And sure enough, as soon as we arrive on the flat, we began to see huge tailing stingrays. Anyone who has fly fished for permit know that this is one of the best signs possible, in that permit are known to follow behind stingrays to eat the crabs and other critters that are scared up from the disruption of the sand. After about two hours of following stingray trails, we saw a ray about 60 feet out that was completely hunkered down and feeding. With little sun above us, it was tough to see if anything was accompanying the ray, but as we inched closer and closer, I finally saw that famous black tail. A nice permit horizontally feeding off the back of the ray. A brief moment of light presented itself, and I threw the best cast of my life… landed a crab pattern softly six inches in front of the permit…and boom. You would have thought a jack crevalle had taken the fly. But no, the permit was that hungry. After about a ten-minute fight, the permit was in the boat, and fist pounds and celebration ensued. Funny enough about 15-minutes later, we saw another permit tailing over a stingray about 75-feet out. We landed the fly two feet in front and waiting for it to swim by…and whack. Two permit in 15-minutes. You can’t even write that up.

With TWO permit in the boat, we soon had one thing on our minds: Flats Grand Slam. Let’s go for it. After a short boat ride to another flat, we began to search for bonefish (which are not that prevalent in Holbox. Similar to the permit). However, it was just one of those days where everything was lining up. After about a hour of hunting, we ran across a large school of about 25 bonefish. Cast after cast we kept trying to get these bonefish to eat, but they were being beyond difficult. Throwing the classic shrimp patterns, nothing was going on, so we decided to go back to our permit setup. We saw a pod of three permit and threw in a large crab pattern, and soon had a fish take off with the fly. As soon as I hooked it, I knew something was funny in that the run was totally different. I looked into the water about 40-feet out and soon noticed that we had no permit, but a BONEFISH! It must have been lurking below the permit. We are able to land it to get phase two of the Grand Slam complete.

After the bonefish, we only had 1/3 left of the slam to go; the silver king himself. We jetted the boat all the way back to mainland Holbox to get back and explore in the mangroves. But for the first time in the week, we couldn’t find the tarpon. Low tide, low light, no rollers. Things were not looking up. However, as this story has been going, we had one moment of fortune yet again. We stopped at one last go-to flat and saw a pod of about eight fish circling. Threw in a home-tied black and purple Skank fly…strip strip strip…set set set…let’s go! A juvenile tarpon was on and fought like no other. Jumping left and right, dodging the bow of the boat. Fortunately enough for us, the big man upstairs and mother nature decided to bless us with a day for the ages, and we were able to get the tarpon in. Grand Slam complete. A dream of mine accomplished. What a day.

Although the Grand Slam was hands down the highlight of the trip, we also ran into several other species. Snook (both Pacific and Atlantic), Jack Crevalle, Mayan Cichlid, Atlantic Spadefish, and the always difficult Sheepshead. This was actually the first time I had landed a Sheepshead on fly, and it was eerily similar to the take of a permit. I was also stunned by the strength of the Atlantic Spadefish: a fish that I have seen before, but never thrown at. It took me to my backing faster than any bonefish would! The variety of species not only kept us on our toes throughout the entire day, but it once again continued to show us that fly fishing should not be specific to just a few, key species.

Isla Holbox will forever be an extremely special place to me, and I already cannot wait for my next adventure down there. Yes, the tarpon are hands down the spectacle to behold. But, with permit, bonefish, and other unique species around ever corner, Holbox continues to show how much diversity that the saltwater flats provide.

Until next time, tight lines, and thanks as always.

Joe