TRIP REPORT TARPON BUM
July 10-28, 2025
Location: Isla Holbox is a great place to vacation and fish. I only met (other than our group), two other people from the United States. The tourists were predominately Mexican, and a small scattering from Europe. Everyone we met were some of the nicest people I have encountered on my many travels overseas. The white beaches and warm ocean waters are most inviting. I enjoyed my frequent swims in the ocean near the accommodations. Dan and I added on two extra nights and stayed at the Casa Iguana, which was central to great restaurants, bars, beautiful beaches, and close to the city center. Logistics both international and local (thank you Roge) were perfect.
2. Accommodations: Choby’s Place was a perfectly adequate place for Tarpon Bum. It was comfortable and had good air conditioning. The “bar” was on the “honor system”. A pool would have been a nice extra. There was a nice beach just a block or so from Choby’s. The meals were good and plentiful. I would have preferred to have a more local menu. as the menu was catered to folks from the USA. The ceviche was excellent. The selection of beer and other drinks was excellent. No desserts were served, but I really did not miss them. Given the cost and availability of restaurants, I would suggest reducing the dinners at Choby’s and letting guests enjoy off-site dining. Maybe two nights off-site. Tarpon Bum included essentially four meals a day. The simple, but tasty lunches provided by the guides were enough for me. The service was excellent. The second lunch at 2 p.m. was an extra.
3. As I recall, the other guests, Steve and Jim, fished exclusively for open ocean, large migratory tarpon, and they had some success. Dan and I fished one day for the big fish and had several chances. I did have two fish on and a strike from a third. Nothing easy about going after these fish. The search to find them can be lengthy, as they are fast-moving; getting to position and placing the fly to where they will see and “eat” it is challenging for novices (experts too) like us. The strip set and setting the hook is also difficult. These migratory tarpon are traveling at about 20 mph. Strip set is even more challenging on fish moving toward you.
We also fished one day open-ocean for Jack Trevally. We did land two fish; the larger was 16# and took 25 minutes to land. How can a 16# fish totally bend over a 12 wt fly rod?
These fish are so strong for their size. Stronger than the tarpon but fight more like a yellowfin tuna. We saw lots of Jacks, and so did the dolphins that were feeding on the pods. We asked “Grasshopper” what kind of porpoises there were. He said they were “F…..king Dolphins”. They made his guide job even more challenging. The four other days were fished and with good success for baby tarpon. 4-15#. The mangroves are a truly special place of nature’s bounty and beauty.
Those who only want a trophy fish are missing the full “journey” and the experience of Isla Holbux. The 8-wt rods were perfect. Hooking these fish too was challenging, but success improved with practice. Roge (Rocky) took photos and fished with us for two days and helped immensely with our casts to where Grasshopper was saying “Master” instead of longer! We did see an occasional snook but really never got close to a fish as they were very spooky. We also saw two crocs. That was the day after I had been wade fishing!
5. Post Fly-Fishing R&R: Brother Dan and I spent two nights at Casa Iguana, located on the prime beach real estate. Quite upscale from Choby’s with its own beach. Our beach caretaker, Jeffery, was most accommodating. Great beach and service. Our first dinner out was at “Roots”. Roots is famous for its lobster pizza. A beautiful setting with live music, but the famous pizza did not impress. On our last night, we asked Jeffery, our beach waiter, for a recommendation for dinner. He suggested “El Capitan,”and it was superb. Great dinner, cervezas, cocktails, live music, scenery, and right on the beach. Sandflea’s (the famous Tarpon guide) operations and fleet of 10 pangas were adjacent to our beach. What we like about Holbux was that it was Mexico. No Americans except our group and two fly fishers I met. The locals were so friendly and accommodating. Two quick stories. First, my prescription eyeglasses lost a screw and needed a repair. I found a small pharmacy, and an older gent (older than me) made the repair. He spoke no English but worked on my glasses for an hour. He would not take any money for his effort, but I did convince him that he needed some of my pesos for cervezas. Such a nice gent. Second, “swimming” reminded me of the Adriatic, where you “join” strangers and begin a multinational conversation. Here, a young lady, maybe 23 years old, started the conversation. Her name was Alexandria, and she just graduated from college with a degree in Psychology. Her English was better than my Spanish, maybe a level two with my Spanish a level one. Her grandparents took her to Holbux as a graduation present. Oscar and Maria were about my age. Anyhow, between English and Spanish, we had a great conversation. They live near Nogales. I think adding a couple of extra days really helps complete the journey. Holbux has yet to be discovered by Americans, and that makes for the experience we so enjoyed. How does this fit into Tarpon Bum and some easy changes? Maybe have a couple of nights for dinner out on the economy. Add in an extension at another hotel nearer the “center of activities”. At this price-point, Tarpon Bum is a very good value for the fly-fisher person who enjoys fishing in the salt water. Airfare from Seattle to Cancun is very reasonable.
Overall, well-done by Roge and Hemispheres Unlimited.
QUICK POSTSCRIPT by JUSTIN WITT:
While Roger and Dan stuck to the mangroves for the most part, other guests and boats were out on the open water chasing the big guys. Here's just a couple of photos that should give a picture of what that pursuit is like.
