Permit, with a side of Corona
Many of you know that I was lucky enough to to take some time off, late summer, for some not so relaxing fishing. Here’s (what I remember of) the story.
As most summers go, I always am talking to clients and friends about Xcalak, Mexico. Most people don’t understand what that little town means to myself and a select few of my friends. Xcalak is a town of ~350 people as far south as you can go on the border of the Mexican Yucatán and Belize. Down there, sits one of my best friends’ lodge, The Xflats. The story on the inception of the lodge is for another time, but here I am, lucky enough to be able to go down there at a moment’s notice.
Anyways, we are planning a trip with the boys, as usual and things fall apart. When you get a group of 6-8 fishing guides and other fishing-addicted degenerates together to plan a trip… that’s just how it goes a lot of times. So the original trip falls apart, slowly but surely. A few weeks later, I get word of something else brewing up… another opportunity with some of my npeople of the industry and who now I can call some of my greatest friends.
<<<<HERE COMES THE NAME DROP>>>>
Fast forward through some time and planning and the day before we all meet up is here. Let me first introduce the most EPIC group to ever spend a week at the lodge:
Patrick Duke (PeePaw) - @artandangling
Jesse Colten, owner - @thexflats
Heather Harkavy - @heatherharkavy
Shyanne Orvis - @shyanneorvis
Meris Mchaney (check out the video link below) - @merismchaney
and of course myself, @guidenotgod // @riffletrip_outfitters
I am not going to lie, this was a week to remember. 6 of the fishiest people I know (including myself, duh) getting together to chase one of the most elusive and toughest fish to catch on a fly rod.
Each person added something so special to an already special trip. I’m not going to go through each name and say why, so click their linked instagrams above and find out for yourself.
I want to say that we were extremely careful in a small Mexican village due to the “global pandemic” amongst us. We stayed in the lodge at all times and did not interact with any local besides lodge staff. Traveling to Mexico was very easy and all Corona precautions are being taken.
Let’s talk about the fishing.
Day 1 I was lucky enough to spend the day with PeePaw aka Patrick Duke,. Pat has been (hope he’s not reading, probably not) somewhat of a mentor as Ive known him over the years. He always has the freshest gear and what he thinks is Godly advice… In all seriousness, this day-uno-duo set the pace for the remainder of the week for me. He is somewhat of a permit veteran with a world of knowledge is these fish, and many others too. The biggest thing is his ability to share tips, see fish, and remember what to do the next time to hopefully get tight. Pat’s got his music blaring, michelada in hand, taking photos…. a complete 180 of how I have permit fished in the past. Permit fishing *WAS* hard; now its just another fish that’s either going to eat or not. And Ive got Pat to thank for that. Anyways, multiple shots early for the both of us turn into an eat and photo session for him around 1130am. Great fish, awesome eat, will remember. Now, the pressure is on… If I don’t get one I will hear about it for the rest of my friendship with Patrick. A few hours go by and on the way to a new spot, Evaristo spots a GRANDE moving through some white sand. We shut the motor off. I take my shot… chase no follow. A second one shows up shortly behind… take my shot…. follow, follow, follow, I pause. The fish lost it as he buries and creates a sandy cloud on the bottom. I pick up and drop it into the cloud…. BOOM fish on! Photo session, wet kiss to the fish, say goodbye. Highfives, hugs, and beer! Hooray!
The next few days I got to fish with my best friend Jesse, then Heather, then Shyanne. All days were so much fun with many many shots, and Jesse got to land his 20th permit with me! Even though I was only managed to hook-n-lose those days, the pleasure of spending 8 hours with friends on the hunt is enough to make a trip itself.
The last 2 days I fished with our token video queen, Meris. She’s the young’n of the group but a hell of a fisherlady. The coolest part about fishing with Meris (aside from my own personal photographer) was our fluidity. The boat was so chill, relaxed, and fishy… just the way it should be. BUT THE ABSOLUTE COOLEST THING ABOUT FISHING WITH MERIS ON THIS TRIP is that WE BOTH LANDED PERMIT on BOTH DAYS!!!! Yep, that’s right… 2 days, 4 permit. Now that’s what’s up. The first permit on my Meris days was mine. I don’t remember a whole lot because I ended up blacking out (per usual when casting to perm) but she captured some epic photos and videos of the fight, fish, and release. We worked hard after that. I had my permit of the day so I was getting on her to stay on the bow. And then it happened! She got hers for that day too.
On the second day with her, I was a strugglefest. I could not set the damn hook to save my life. This was an ongoing joke because I may or may not have fed multiple permit on the days before but my stupid TROUT SET ruined me. Anyways, the weather was looking grim and we were all exhausted. The morning was beautiful, aside from no sun, we saw lots of tails. Meris worked a school of probably 100 fish for what I would guess about an hour or more. She finally sticks one for that day! Now its my turn. We stay in the same area because we had seen a ton of fish this morning. One of my opportunities is a fastball down the middle.. I’m talking 8-10 TAILING fish. Happy fish. Eating fish. I blow it. We end up finding the school, of what I think were Meris’s group, mudding again. I make a few casts, nothing. I make a few more, an Boom!!! Starts running… but short lived. Damn Bonefish. I try again after the school comes back around and Boom!! Runs harder, but not putting a bend in my 9wt Sector like it should…. bigger bone. FUCK! At this point I had maybe given up. I accepted the fact that it just wasn’t going to happen today. But, Meris lets me have one more shot…. BOOM!!! The permit dance! It was a little guy, but hey, a permit is a permit! And that’s a very quick and sporadic story of how Meris and I each landed a permit on the 2 days we fished together, back to back.
I know this blog is all over the place, but I’m not in the tub this time. I’m still in Colorado eating a brisket sandwich at Riverwalk Theater just reminiscing of this epic trip. I do go back to Arkansas to guide here starting November 1.. but the reason its not next week is because…….. IM GOING PERMIT FISHING AGAIN!!!! Leave Oct 16!
The group we were with in August will be hard to top. 3 fishy dude, and 3 fishy chicks. All different. All love the sport. And ALL CAUGHT PERMIT! Go check out the instagrams above and enjoy the stories told by photos.
To end, I want to thank the people on this trip. Old best friends, and safely can say some New ones too. Truly a trip to remember. Thanks to Jesse for facilitating this trip and being the ultimate host any fly fishing lodge has ever seen.
Before I go, go look at the edit Meris made! Between fishing and boozin’, she was able to take enough photos and videos to put together one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen! Well done, chicka!
Day 1 permit. Photo by Patrick Duke
Day 5 permit, numero uno with Meris. Photo by Meris Mchaney
Final day permit, dia dos fishing with Meris. Photo by Meris Mchaney