GRANDE RONDE ANGLER
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meeting Lori Ann Murphy and tarpon on a crab ?

3/3/2014

 
Picture
This is so frustrating...I have been casting flies at juvenile tarpon for over two and a half hours. Nothing...not a single look, sniff towards the multitudes of Tarpon flies we have put right across there wheelhouse.  Between myself, Rick my buddy from Everett Wa and our guide Aberisto about twenty five different flies, different colors and sizes have been thrown at the fish rolling around the boat and cruising the shallow flat we have been parked on for most of the morning. We are in a Tarpon trance, time seems to not have passed, sun beating own on us, we are changing flies, lines and retrieves as fast as we get rejected time and time again.  WTF...Rick yells out...he clears the bow and asks for lunch. Feeling the primal instinct to hunt I jump up on the vacant skiffs bow and begin one more cast, but this time I have come to the conclusion that the tarpon might eat considering the location, size and lack of interest of all "classic tarpon flies"   my little crab fly.
After exactly five casts at several small schools of cruising fish, my fly gets a follow. I watch the Tarpon following inhale and spit the fly all faster than i can react or maybe its just that I am still in some kind of state of disbelief it just ate my crab. Lunch goes on hold, and as I cast to more fish I am followed and eaten again , this time if feel the hard and slight tug on the fly but can,t drive my point into the rock hard lower jaw of this fish. The boat erupts in a single cheer...Holy shit he ate it". Barely able to cast from shaking hands and knees I manage to deliver a 30ft cast that falls to the right side of two nice fish , the later fish sees the crab and in classic form follows , opens its mouth and terns away , fly in the side of his mouth, two huge leaps into the air and we part ways... crab fly sailing past my right ear and spraying a comet tail of misty salt water on my neck. It does'nt matter that I can barely stand or speak, I am off the bow and Rick is casting a small crab the guide had tied on while I was cracking the code...
This week of flats style fishing was not only a fun and productive week for the entire group but I got a special visit from an amazing friend Lori Ann Murphy.  L.A. came up from El Pescador lodge that she manages just down the way from our little town of Excalak Mexico. A great couple of days and she was back at the helm in San Pedro, Belize.
I love this sleepy small town of Excalak and the amazing people that call it home. laid back, friendly, and still undiscovered as a Great flats destination in the Yucatan. The biggest Bones I have caught are here, Permit, Jacks, Cuda and Tarpon all can be cast to each and every day while you enjoy the warmth of the tropics and the solitude Chetumal bay. I host trips here in Nov. and Feb. March each season, 2400.00 is everything but airfare to and from Cancun.  

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    Troy Dettman

    Gus Julian

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