This feedback from a longstanding client following a fishing holiday at Isla Holbox in Mexico made us laugh. General ineptitude, near misses and a lot of fun. Think Mortimer and Whitehouse of ‘Gone Fishing’ fame and you get the picture!
Dear Peter,
Baldrick (AKA my fishing companion Julian) and I have just returned from our mini break on Holbox Island in Mexico. Thank you for arranging this for us. Twenty years of Aardvark McLeod tours all over the world and this ranked as one of the best.
We had set out to specifically target tarpon and, given a lack of experience, advancing age and general incompetence, we were keen to have multiple shots at the smaller residents rather than go offshore to wrestle with their larger cousins who, if unlucky enough to become attached to our line, would almost certainly have placed undue pressure on my heart. The excitement of a 150lb tarpon would have been far too much for Baldrick.
On arrival in Cancun we were met by your driver, a vast improvement on my last trip (apologies, but this was through another operator). My bad-tempered attempts to secure a taxi on arrival came close to causing an international incident. Luckily Baldrick intervened and restored order. No such problems on this trip and the following morning the two-hour transfer to Chiquila to take the ferry to Holbox was efficient and on time, as indeed was the return.
It became apparent once we were on the ferry for the short crossing that the other holiday makers going to the island were mainly Mexican, European or American. They were, without exception, younger and a lot better looking than us. We were, rather bizarrely, serenaded on the short crossing by a saxophone player who emerged suddenly from what was supposed to be the snack bar. Baldrick, who hadn’t eaten for over two hours, had been hoping for a few tacos rather than a Charlie Parker tribute act.
Of all the many fishing spots that I have visited over the years, I would argue that Holbox is perhaps the place best suited to taking a non-fishing partner. Whilst on the water enjoying some well-earned me-time, a partner could enjoy the beaches, the comfortable hotels, the boutiques and the multitude of fun and interesting places to eat and drink. It has a young and lively vibe. Perhaps the the one exception to this may be my own wife, her Ladyship, who it is very difficult to take anywhere these days. She rarely leaves the estate or her beloved Labradors for more than a few hours.
To be honest, Baldrick and I didn’t eat in our hotel once. We were gone by the time breakfast was served, had brunch on the boat and had a cocktail (or two) in a beach bar admiring the view of the sun setting before wandering to a restaurant.
We were at the boats each morning at 6am, a short walk along the beach as the sun was rising. You may recall that we requested a boat with a lean-bar as I have become a little unsteady on my pins. Of the five boats moored in the bay, only one didn’t have this optional extra………..ours! It didn’t matter because the Mexican style of boat is fairly stable and the conditions were relatively calm.
We had a father and son pair to guide us, one at the stern poling us and shouting, the other at the bow repeating these instructions right into our ears, issuing his own instructions and managing our trailing line. Both were spotting. I can’t remember either of their names, but this is Baldrick’s special, and perhaps only, talent.
Suffice it to say that the guides’ excitement rapidly turned to frustration at our inexpert efforts, inability to follow simple directions with or without hearing aids, inability to cast when excited, failure to set the hook properly, failure to “bow to the king” and the loss of the ability to tell our left from right.
The challenge with tarpon fishing is that, not unlike her Ladyship’s labradors, they have very hard mouths. You thus have to strip-set the hook. The moment that they feel the hook they leap into the air at which point you are supposed to be bowing to them. It is rather difficult for the inexperienced to identify effectively the timing of this transition from strip set to slack line without unbalancing and falling in.
As each day progressed, we got a little better. As each new day dawned, we had to relearn everything. At times we may have suffered from “Glass Cockpit syndrome”. This syndrome was apparently defined as a problem for fighter pilots in the Vietnam War who became overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that their brains were being subjected to. As you know, Baldrick’s brain capacity is somewhat constrained at the best of times and on this trip was further impaired by the margarita and mojito frenzy we habitually engaged in the previous night.
We normally spent part of the day on the flats and part “bushwacking” in the mangroves. There were few if any long periods of inaction and between us we would cast to probably 20 to 30 fish or shoals of fish in a day, hook possibly a dozen and land half that number. Quite unusually, the fishing experience was pretty much exactly what we had hoped that it would be!
On the Sunday of our trip, the son decided to take the day off and go fishing himself. We had what we regarded as a very satisfactory morning with his father and hooked half a dozen fish and landed a couple of them. In the same period, his son, fishing the same area, hooked 30 fish! I would like to attribute the difference in his performance to luck, but I suspect skill and experience may have played their parts.
The pre-trip information pack that you provided was very comprehensive and accurate. We arrived fully equipped and having gone to some lengths to obtain the perfect fly selection. As is customary, the guides took one look at our fly box and promptly tied on one of their own. Apparently, ours were a bit “splashy” but I never found out whether this was a weight issue with the flies themselves or that the guide discerned, correctly, that his charges lacked the requisite skills to effect a delicate presentation of said flies. No harm done. I have added them to my growing collection of utterly useless flies. We took four rods and five reels but only used one between us the whole trip. Personally, I have always enjoyed a hobby that allows the steady accumulation of unnecessary and expensive gear. Packing a large part of this for each trip is part of the pre-match ritual and excitement.
Actually, there are some advantages to staying in a hotel rather than a lodge. Much as I enjoy the company of fellow anglers and the lodge environment, I dread the “return from fishing post-mortem” when everyone seems to have caught more and better fish that me and of course there is always one person who says nothing leaving you wondering if he has triumphed or struck out. Perhaps one day I too will be able to wear the “smug angler” T shirt?
Congratulations on a great recommendation and many thanks. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Farquhar (AKA Philip)
For further information on Isla Holbox of fishing in Mexico in general, please contact Peter McLeod or Olly Thompson or call us on 01980 847389.