When I look back to some of the most “zen” moments of my life, it seems that two constants seem to be the sand and ocean. Although I am in no way unique for this (as who doesn’t love a day on the beach), the peace for me on the beach looks a little bit different than an umbrella, chair, and drink in hand. 99% of the time, it comes with a fly rod and a borderline unhealthy amount of optimism that there’s a fish within reach off the shore.

Over the past couple of years, it has seemed that the big man upstairs and mother nature have been blessing me with some great days on the beach…sunny skies, low wind, fish around. For a return trip to Mexico this year, my luck with the conditions and fishing were 5x more difficult than the year prior, but I still had an amazing time.

To get to it…I only saw ONE single Roosterfish in 5 days of searching the beach. A cold front + insane winds (30mph+) had the typical summer fishing season a little off balanced, and I absolutely had to work to find some action. In Mexico, the trick can be two things it seems: finding predatory fish cruising parallel to the shore on huge sandy stretches, or finding the rocks and looking for the ambush fish. I found during this trip that combining both of these elements led to some results. With a rigged up 8-weight with both floating and intermediate line, I was able to get into some small jacks in the surf. These fish really go under the radar…always shocked at what a couple of pound jack can do the bend in a rod. Although I only saw one very large jack this week (literally trying to eat a pufferfish…kid you not), there were some occassionos of small jacks popping minnows in calmer pockets of water behind rocks close to shore. Good fun during a tougher fishing outing.

Outside of the jacks, I was also able to get on a fan favorite Mexico beach fish…the Gafftopsail Pompano. These fish are a blast to catch, as they will swim right in the deeper troughs next to the shore, and I’ve found that they will aggressively hit flies in spurts. Almost like a bad attitude version of the Florida Pompano that I ran into earlier in the Spring. These fish put up an amazing fight…ripping drag, especially getting testy towards the landing areas in the surf. On the last morning of the trip, I was fortunate to catch a handful of these (and also break a hook off some type of a big/strong fish…never got eyes on it…next time!). Easier said than done, but below is a picture of the biggest one I caught and released to live on for the next run in. The trick for these fish was throwing larger bonefish type patterns…had been getting chases on smaller clousers and baitfish, but had to change it up to get the action.

I’ve said it before but want to keep reminding myself…even the hard days of fishing need to be cherished. If every single outing was “lights out”, the amazingly productive days wouldn’t get the appreciation they deserve, and we would literally never learn anything new on the water. This absolutely gets amplified during the DIY outings where it just is you, nature, and a rod. Sure…it might seem wild to walk 30k steps on the beach in the day and not find your target fish, but putting in the effort makes your odds all that better for the next time the universe lines up. Forever grateful for the beach days and all they bring to the table!

Tight lines,

Joe