I've been counting down the days Just like anyone would be when they have an upcoming fishing trip... Five days left, I have tied as many gotchas and black deaths as possible. I have read as many DIY flats fishing and yucatan fly fishing articles I could in preparation for my first saltwater trip.
My phone rings, Its a phone number I don't recognize so I let it go to voicemail, They leave a message... "Kayla this is so and so in regards to your upcoming trip to Mexico, the hotel you had booked has overbooked and cannot accommodate your stay" ... I anxiously call them back and after several minutes of frustrating conversation we settle on getting a refund back instead of the bullshit other options they offered. I now have to try and re-book a place to stay for a trip that is in five days, of course nothing is available for the complete dates - I resulted in staying part of the trip in Tulum and part in Punta Allen .
After a bit of panic I'm back to the feeling of excitement and anticipation for the trip, it's the night before we fly out, and coincidentally, it’s the one night of the year that it has decided to snow in Portland. - the Flight is at 5am, I don't think I'll be able to sleep! 10pm comes by and as the snow outside begins to accumulate, I get a text..."American Airlines Flight from PDX to Cancun has been Delayed by 24 hours " - I devastatingly call the airline and after more frustrating conversations with customer service reps we came to a plan to get to the airport at 3am, right when they open and try and get on stand-by on another flight to cancun so we don't lose a whole day in the trip. We don't sleep at all and grab all of gear, three bags with six fly rod tubes, we are first in line at the ticketing counter. I approach the counter, hand the agent our passports and quickly explain our situation, She doesn't say anything and takes KC's passport and walks into the back room, my anxiety kicks in and I know that this can't be good. Moments later she walks back, still silent... I anxiously ask her, "is there something wrong?" Her reply "Yes, I can't accept this passport ... the cover is frayed at the top" ... My jaw drops, I am stunned in disbelief. KC's passport is due to renew this year and he has put a lot of miles on it and we have never had any issue with it before, a small tear on the leather cover can't be what stops us from getting to Mexico!!
She then states "You will not be able to fly with this and your flight is non-refundable" this is when my eyes start to swell up with tears. KC, somehow, calmly asks what our options are, if there are any... The agent says that we can try and get his passport expedited for the same day, but... the closest office is in seattle, over three hours away. After battles of tears and begging we end up getting the agent to change our outgoing flight that got delayed by 24 hours, to a flight out of seattle instead, knowing we have to go to seattle to get KC a new passport. Without having any other options and with some determination left within us that we will still make it to Mexico, we grab our bags and book the next available tickets on the bolt bus to seattle.
We get to Seattle by 9:30am, we walk the four blocks from the bus stop to the passport agency with our 3 bags, and six rod tubes. As we walk I felt like I was walking in someone else's shoes. People passing us by gave us quick stares of judgement - we looked homeless, you could see the lack of sleep and stress on our faces as we lug all of our bags and fishing rods down this sidewalk to the passport building.
Upon walking into the passport agency, there is a small bodega attached to the agency where you can get passport photos.
This place made me feel like I was in Mexico already, a small market where you can get passport photos taken right out in the open, was a funny little spot and I sat anxiously while KC got his new passport photo taken and then headed upstairs to complete the expedited passport process. Five unsettling hours and $200 later, KC gets his new passport! I couldn't believe it, the same day!
We head straight to a shitty airport hotel to try and catch whatever bit of sleep we can before we go back to the seattle airport at 3am the next day. Once again and it seems like the trip is back on track!
In Seattle, with new KC new passport in hand, We Check in with no issues and fly from Seattle to Phoenix, but just as we thought our problems were behind us, there is a "hiccup" at the gate to board the flight to Mexico. The agent snickers to me that I can't fly with the rod tubes that are perfectly strapped to my backpack, rod tubes in which I just flown with in the exact same way, on the exact same airline. I argue back and forth but go nowhere. we remove the camera that we borrowed from a friend to ensure that it won't get lost, pay the $25 and check the rod tubes at the gate with knots in our stomach knowing that the trip revolves around these rods and if they were to get lost in baggage we would be screwed. A few hours later we finally make it! Mexico finally! The immigration line is more of a mosh pit of people not moving, you can barely make out where the lines starts and ends. After an hour of slowly moving closer I look at KC and think to myself, He should be carrying something? why am I the only one carrying something? ... "KC, Where's the Camera" ... His face turns ghost white... He just starts running out of line in the direction of where our gate was without saying anything, and I instantly knew that he had left the camera on the plane. I shake my head with disbelief. After 30 minutes go by he returns empty handed but doesn't seem stressed... he states "they have the camera, but its with a security guard and we have to get it from the baggage lost and found after immigration". We go through Immigration and four hours later, of sitting anxiously in a back room hallway we finally get the camera.
We joke to ourselves, "Alright, So now we really can't have anything else go wrong right?!" It’s the first day in and it seems like we have had a week of stress already but we are happy to have made it and start our vacation.
We spend the first 3 days (with one of them rainy and overcast-ed) DIY Fishing in Boca Paila on the flats and surf
Our first day of vacation we drive from tulum to Boca Paila where we read of a flats area that we can walk and fish. I start walking the flats slowly and scanning around me to find these flats ghosts. About 30-40 minutes later I see my first bonefish ever and my adrenaline kicks in, He is alone and swimming right to left in front of me and only about 15ft out. I cast and land the fly practically on his head "F#$%" - and within seconds the shot was over and the fish was gone. I am quickly humbled at the stealth that is involved with these fish. The water was shallow and clear and these flats get pressure and these fish are spooky and smart.
The entire day goes by and neither KC or I have landed a bonefish... KC starts fishing the mangroves hoping to catch some bonefish moving in at sundown and after a few minutes of fishing the mangroves he turns around ready to head back and as he turns he sees a small school of bonefish...he makes a cast and leads and meets his fly to the bonefish and one of them out of the school speeds up, turns and slams his fly, He’s on!! First bonefish of the trip! I’m so excited for him as he fights this bone that is running all over the open flat. It was such an incredible experience for me seeing how powerful these fish can be, such a great way to end a long first day of not any fish.
Two more days of us trying hard at the DIY fishing in Boca Paila on the flats and in the surf with one of those days with rain and overcast and we catch small jacks, a small barracuda and some needlefish but no more bonefish. . No matter how much we read and prepared ourselves for fishing in this area we only landed one bonefish, one barracuda, couple small jacks and needlefish.
We finally come to the time in our trip where we make the anticipated drive down to Ascension bay / Punta Allen, the self proclaimed "permit capital of the world". The drive from Tulum to Punta Allen is only about 20 miles but it takes us about 3 1/2 hours to get there because of the pot holed, windy, overgrown, dirt road, scattered with the unforgettable giant "topes" (translated = speed bump) small mountains might be a more fitting term.
We finally Arrive to this charming house right on the beach and meet the owner Danny and his wife Mari, we settle in and a couple margaritas later Danny leads us to the flats in front of the property and we try our luck at catching some bonefish, on the beach right in front of the lodge. The water was a bit murky but we can still see a bit. Danny tells us that it is a little easier when the water has some color because the bonefish are less spooky. As we walk, within minutes we spot a school of bonefish. The fish are right in front of me practically and my adrenaline starts rushing, I go to flip my fly in front of me casting only a few feet away from me, To my surprise, of the many previous bonefish spooks, I don't spook the fish and I begin to strip my fly. A couple strips in and one of the bonefish from the school start to break away and follow my fly, I keep stripping and have my eyes glued onto this fish, eagerly waiting to see the strike of the fish to my fly. I am stripping into my leader and I begin to worry with the knot knicking through the guides, I'm worried that if the fish eats and runs that It could snap off. I keep stripping now almost to my tippet, just feet away from my feet, the bonefish opens his small circular mouth, and my eyes burst wide open, I see him finally making the commitment and suck my fly in, as I see his mouth shut on my fly I make one more good strip to set the hook.
The bonefish realizes that my fly was not a real shrimp immediately and takes off, my rod shakes and ticks as the tippet to leader knot and the leader to fly line knot fly out of my rod guides, I use my left hand and pull the fly line away from the rod in hopes to avoid any tangles - it was only a matter of seconds until all my line was out of the guides and the fish was dozens of feet away. I let the fish continue to make his run and wait for the moment that I can begin to reel in. Many runs and reel ins later I finally land my very first bonefish!, a truly unforgettable experience. I release the fish back into the warm salty water and reflect with a giant grin on my face and stare at the remnants of bonefish slime left behind on my shirt and continue to walk the entire point and catch more. We could not of had a better DIY bonefishing experience in Ascension bay!
The next day we wake up at 7am to breakfast and coffee, and we are especially excited, not only because it is my Birthday, but today is the first day we get to experience this special place on a boat, with a guide. We set out with our guide "Fily" and we run south for about an hour until we get to a small cluster of mangrove lined islands. The water is as turquoise as the stone on my ring, I have never seen water like this before, the caribbean is such a beautiful place, it's like living inside of a postcard. Fily pulls us around the flatter part of water and we all have our eyes peeled knowing that we have a rod set up for any species we should encounter. We tuck into some narrower parts of water into the mangroves, looking for any tarpon hiding out. Fily tells me to blind cast into the mangroves to see if we can get anything out, I make a cast and start stripping my fly back to me and as i am stripping and getting the fly closer and closer I see nothing following to I turn my rod tip in towards the right and as I pull the fly away out of nowhere (to me) a 4ft baracuda goes to eat the fly. The exact moment I pull the fly away, a cuda does to eat it. KC and Fily both yell with excitement, I had no idea what was even happening but upon realizing it shake my head into my hands. Filly yells "that's Fishing".
We progress on and Fily is becoming just as determined as I am to get my first Tarpon. Still on the hunt for Tarpon, We pull into one mangrove lined creek channel and I hear Fily yell " snook, 9 o’clock!, KC jumps up on the deck makes 2 casts, and the lead snook inhales his fly, a couple quick jumps and KC lands the fish, takes a quick photo and back to the mangroves it goes. Now it’s my turn, as the Snook are still around. It only took about 5 minutes before I took my shot, a couple quick casts to lead the pack of snook that we spotted cruising in and out of the mangroves, " slow strip, slow strip" guides Filly, " its turning, keep stripping!" and finally as I see the snooks mouth open as wide as a grapefruit and suck my fly in, " SET" as soon as I set, the snook went apeshit, numerous jumps, one of which resulted in a headplant in about 6" of water. The fish literally looked like an ostrich with its head buried in the sand. A few more quick runs and we boated my first snook. A quick stop for lunch and to let the tides switch. Filly has one last spot up his sleeve, but on the way we spot a few schools of bonefish, it's funny because just 2 days ago bonefish seemed like the hardest fish to catch, and now they are mere afterthoughts.
KC and I both make quick work of a few small bonefish, and its back on the Tarpon hunt. It's now about 2pm and fily brings us into this small island covered with mangroves. The tides have lowered and we know that the low tide is going to push the Tarpon out of the mangroves and we are hoping to find a few cruising the flats now. As we pull up to this small island fily immediately spots a school of tarpon, My hands start shaking as I make the cast in their direction, attempting to lead the school into my fly... it worked! I strip short and fast as fily told me to do and we all watch as the tarpon become competitive over my fly and chase after it. The one in the front is getting closer and closer, we see it's giant mount open and go to eat my fly twice and miss, the third time he is really on it, he goes to eat it and I strip one long hard strip knowing that there mouths are hard to set on, hoping to feel tension on that last hard strip,instead I feel nothing. I stripped the fly right out of the tarpons mouth and before I could even think twice about it the fish got too close to the boat and dropped off. Lesson number one learned.
We push on circling around the island, we are seeing tarpon everywhere! I make another cast at a lone tarpon, he follows my fly like a musky or pike would, and follows it all the way to the boat just hanging a few inches off the back of my fly, when I stripped, he moved with the fly, almost mimicking it. I tried stripping differently to entice him but he lost interest drops off. Minutes later We run into another school and Fily yells to me 9:00! 60ft Cast! Cast!, I make as long as a cast as I could and wait a second, Fily gives me the go ahead to start stripping, I strip short and fast and the fish are all over it, Determined to not mess up this time I keep my eyes on the fish watching their behavior. I see one going in and speeding up, I can't tell he is going for it and all within seconds his mouth is closing in over my fly. As soon as I see that mouth shut I set long and hard, He's On!! I feel the fish pull the line out of my left had and then charge towards me and I strip in as fast as I can, He make one small jump and then immediately goes into one huge jump, my eyes not able to blink, I stare at how amazing these creatures are and Just as I am staring at this incredible fish I see the fish toss its head back and forth rapidly in the air and spit my fly out. It was like it was in slow motion as I watched my fly go flying in the air, out of its mouth. SHIT
An hour later and I have had a few more eats and jumped 2 more Tarpon. Fily determined to get me my birthday tarpon he allows me another shot and is staying later than normal. We are seeing less and less tarpon now where we are at. After several minutes later of fily pulling us all over we run into another school of tarpon, Filly Yells at me 12:00 ! 12:00!, Do you see them? I reply no! I am short and have a glare on the water, He yells "Just cast!" I make one haul into my cast and let me line out... the fish start turning and fily maneuvers the boat as if it was effortless to get me into a good angle to recast, I water haul my line off the water and cast again into the fish's direction, this time being able to see them. Filly yells "Cast again, Farther!" I cast again and haul a bit more line out, this time I am in the zone, I await every demand from fily "wait, wait" "strip, slowww , slower, ok faster" "strip fast and short" "a little bit faster" "wait", "strip", "strip", I see the fish coming up to the fly rapidly, Fily tells me to get ready, and before he can finish his sentence I am already strip setting on to the tarpon's eat. I set that hook as hard as I F#$%ing could this time. "He's On!" I yell and kc and Fily yell with excitement, This fish is going nuts! jumping over and over again, running under the boat and then back to the other side of the boat. I keep good tension and keep my rod tip down the entire time as I fight this fish. I have never felt so focused and excited all in the same time before. After a few minutes go by the fish finally starts to wear out. Fily tell me to bring the fish into the boat. A few attempts of the fishing running back out from the boat and he finally admits his defeat. We stare at this beautiful chrome creature as it rests next to the boat! I finally yell with Excitement! I did it!! I got my first tarpon ever !!! Fily, not having a net grabs the leader of the line and the fish decides to make one last jump right at the boat. He shakes is head, his body is hitting the boat multiple times and with one last head shake from the tarpon we see the tippet snap. Fily looks at me with a devastated look. and says "i'm so sorry! no picture" I look at the fish as it rests only feet away with my fly still in its mouth. I laugh at Fily and reply, "Are you kidding me?!?! I F#$%ing landed that fish!, KC yells "Touched the leader, Counts!!" haha we all laugh and I pop open a bottle of champagne and celebrate not only an epic day of saltwater fishing and my birthday, but my first tarpon ever!!
We jet back to the lodge and can't keep the grins off our faces. This birthday will be hard to beat for sure. We get to the back patio of the lodge and as always, Danny asks how our day went and I can barely keep composure as I tell him of our incredible day on the water. Bonefish, Snook, and My Tarpon!
KC is already packing the car up, knowing we have to make the trek back into tulum on the sketchy dirt road. As KC is rushing things into the rental car, Danny's Wife Mari come out of the kitchen with a homemade, mayan birthday cake for me. Mari and her sister began singing happy birthday to me in mayan, I am overjoyed, but at the same time so bummed knowing that we have to leave this incredible place. The people in Punta allen and at Ascensions bay Lodge are some of the best people I have ever encountered, in our short 2 days here, we already felt like family. KC inhales his piece of cake, like my tarpon inhaled my fly, I barely have taken even a few bites, swallowing every moment of this as I can. I don't want to leave!! KC is now hounding on me to go, I roll my eyes, and slowing start to say my goodbyes, wishing I didn't have to go.
We get into the rental car and KC starts speeding off, I tell him we still have daylight, it'll be fine. Thinking to myself, what’s gotten into him?!
After cruising on the dirt road I stare out the window and reflect on how incredible the fishing was in ascension bay...KC starts to pull over the car to a small patch of sandy beach, He must have to pee i think to myself. He tells me to get out and we might be able to catch the sunset... I not really interested tell him alright.. I slowly get my shoes on and starting walking down the grassy hill that leads into a small sandy beach with the setting of the sun starting to make it's reflection onto the water. KC gestures me to come to him... I think what has gotten into him, he hates sunsets on the beach?!? and at that moment of my thoughts wondering on why he is being strange he grabs my shoulders and turns me towards him, He, I would say smoothly goes down to one knee but he doesn't move as good as he used to and he hobbles down to one knee, and hands me a fly box, The fly box has a clear case and as I gaze down onto the fly box I see a rose gold and diamond ring staring back at me. My brain is going nuts, My eyes start watering. Kc is quivering every word out to me, I can barely focus on what he is saying because I am so emotional. Then I hear the words that To be honest I wasn't sure I'd ever hear from him (haha) "Kayla Lockhart, Will you marry me"
There is a moment of awkward silence as I am marinating everything that has just happened in those last few moments, and we kiss and hug, and then KC says, "well is that a yes?" ....I eagerly, and emotionally reply with the most confidence yes I think I will ever say.
After everything we went through to make this trip happen, I felt that it truly put us, as a couple through the ringer with everything that was thrown our way. I knew Tarpon were not easy, but I never imagined having to work that hard for one, but I got it and we really had to work through every frustrating problem in the trip together and we powered threw it and stayed optimistic. We easily could have just not gotten the passport and not gone on the trip, But I am so glad we did it. it will be the most unforgettable trip to me of ours.
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