john
03-23-2006, 09:20 AM
I'm a reluctant reporter here. It's not only my first trip report, but it was also my first Pacific adventure. My only saltwater fishing has been the keys and Belize, places where you see the bottom and a full moon doesn't create sea swells. But, this year my graduating daughter and classmates chose Ixtapa for spring break, and I was off with 20 or so of my closest new friends. So, with apologies to all the experienced baja and Zihua fishers on the board, here goes. Fished 4 days with Martin, a wonderful panga captain, who understood the needs and limits of a flyrod. I left Ixtapa each morning at 6:00($5 taxi), picked at water at the head of the pier in Zihua and was on the water by 6:30, stringing rods. I'd gotten some helpful advice before going, but really wasn't expecting the descriptions to be so accurate. If you have an early spring Orvis FF catalog, see the cool pic of blitzing albacore. 20 minutes out the birds are flocking and the waters erupting with jacks and blackfin tuna. Matin turns the boat, I crawl out on the front deck,( boats mid-section is covered-"watch your head,senor") he cuts the engine and I start firing at boiling 8-10lb fish 'til I hook up or the fish go down. Same drill, all day, everyday. I averaged about 8 bonitas per day, and couldn't and can't get 2 things out of my head. The first was someone's pretrip description to me of the fishing as "combat fishing". The other was Jimmy Buffett's "shark" song(i.e.fins to the left, fins to the right, and you're the only bait in town). The last day was especially incredibly. The numbers were declining during the week, so we ran the 20+ miles north to Troncones. For a solid 2 hours, any time you looked up there were 10 schools erupting. The boat run between them wasn't 5 minutes. I also managed a 15lb crevalle that day, which absolutely outfought the 20lb belizean version I caught last year. A couple of tackle observations: the first day out I'd set up a 8wt XP, and a 10wt Xi2. The 10wt came out first, and stayed out all week. The 8 just wouldn't have done it, at least not in my hands. No fly over 2" was worth tying on. The baitfish were just too small. There were days the boats dragging rapala-like lures couldn't buy a fish. Kudos to Gamakatsu's SL45 bonefish hook. I had most flies tied on their #4 and even after 3-4 fish the hooks were perfect and still sharp. Leaving the midwest for anywhere in March is a treat and this place was special. It won't replace Belize, but for a real interesting new experience it was the best.