Smokin' Deals On "Bucket List" Summer Permit Trips

***HUGE SUMMER SPECIAL - PALOMETA CLUB***

Summer can offer some of the most insanely good Permit fishing there is. This August, we have a couple weeks available with smoking deals to make it easier for you to sample this great fishery.

August 4-11 or 11-18, 2017

7 NIGHTS / 6 DAYS = $3240 (Normally $4050)

6 NIGHTS / 5 DAYS = $2880 (Normally $3600)

5 NIGHTS / 4 DAYS = $2440 (Normally $3050)

Call (403) 271-1016 or mail info@countrypleasures.com
 

Tuesdays Tips - Picking Your Target

Time and again I see clients who are, at very least, decent casters bonk fish right on the noggin. One of the biggest reasons (I think) for this is where we focus our eyes. Once a fish is spotted, the anglers recognizes direction of movement, distance, etc. anglers should focus on where the fly should land, not solely the fish.

If their eye is focused on the fish then that's what they're going to hit. Focus on where the fly should land and make the cast! (this is that split second where that couple hours worth of practice before the trip goes a long way).

So, that's fine and dandy, but where in tarnation should one put the fly? Well, as it was put to me a long time ago "you might start by throwing at the end that eats"
After that you might want to get a tad more technical, but not much. To present the fly to Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, etc., there are a few things I think are a must.
**note: everything here is general, the nuances of migratory Tarpon fishing with regard to angles, etc. is much more complex. We'll save that for another day.
1-  I always want the fly in front of the fish. The fish swims into the fly.
2 - wherever possible I want the fly to cross the fishes direction of travel when it is retrieved.
The best way I have found (for me, and others seem to get it as well) to achieve these are to throw at a box, not at the fish.

To try and make sense for you, once you spot the fish, picture a 2 foot square box in front of the fish. (**this 2 foot box doesn't work for deep water, over 4 feet deep,  you need to increase the box size. This will get the fly deeper and to the fish) 
Always focus, and try to land the fly on the forward, far side corner of that box from the fish. If you do this, and the fly goes where you focus, the fly will be in the perfect spot. 
If you focus on the fish, you'll probably hit the fish.

Here are some examples to outline what we're talking about:

Crossing shot: fly line lands front, far side of box. Fish always sees fly. This shows left to right cross, for right to left same principle...far front of box.

Approaching Shot: fly lands forward corner of box, whichever side fish is traveling (fish going left, throw left corner, going right, right corner). **Even if a fish is coming straight at you throw to one side of the box. This will cross the fish with the fly. If you are right handed, throw to the left corner, opposite for left handed caster.

Going Away Shot: You're probably screwed, but you never know. Think of the box ahead and to the side of the fish. The fly should land in the farthest corner of the box from the fish and direction of travel. Drawings show both left to right and right to left scenarios. **If you take this shot, don't move the fly when it lands. Let the fish turn and react to the fly and then retrieve as appropriate. If you strip immediately you will likely spook the fish.
If the fish doesn't react to the fly then you chalk it up to a low percentage shot anyway and move on.

Tuesdays Tips - Playing Fish Close to the Boat/Skiff

When playing a fish, once you get it within about 40 feet of the boat, always stay on the front of the deck until the fish is landed. If you stay forward and the fish runs under the boat you can quickly and smoothly take the rod tip around the bow, following the fish to the other side.

This will also keep you in a better position and height to maximize angles of pressure at the end of the battle. It's way easier for your guide or fishing partner to subdue the fish if you're up and forward, not standing right next to him or her

If you step back into the center of the boat and a fish runs under and out the other side you're running a pretty high likelihood that you'll lose the fish or break your rod or both.

This applies for Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, Jacks, etc.

Hard to get spots open at The Palometa Club

So Many Pretty Buffs

Between Orvis, Blackstrap, and Flood Tide Co., we have some very nice sun protection for the tropics or closer to home.

 

Assorted Fishing Tips - Bonefish in the Mangroves

So, you've made the cast of the month to a really nice Bonefish right in the middle of a mess of mangroves. The fish eats your fly, you strip set perfectly, and the fish proceeds to leave the country. As usual, the fish goes around as many mangrove roots as possible at somewhere around Mach 2.

What do you do? Most of us will just exert as much pressure as possible, trying to stop the Bonefish. Not going to happen...ever! Often the fish will go around enough roots, in enough different directions, until he just breaks off. 

When this happens next time try this:

1) immediately drop the rod tip

2) if the fish isn't on the reel yet let it go slack, if it is on the reel quickly strip off two or three pulls of line.

3) let the fish swim with no pull on the line. 

More often than not the Bonefish will immediately settle down and stop. This will allow you to move on foot, or position the skiff so that you can untangle your fly line from the mangrove roots and slowly reel in your line as you get closer to the fish. Once you get close to the fish you can resume pressure and maybe land the fish. Sometimes you may even have to repeat giving the fish slack a couple of times before you can land the fish.

Don't loosen your drag to try and accomplish this. First of all you can't mess with your drag near quick enough. Just quickly tug a couple arm lengths of line off the reel to give slack. If that isn't enough to get the fish to stop then it just wasn't meant to be. Second, if you kick the drag off and then the fish, or you, pull any line off quickly you're going to have a major birds nest on your reel.

This doesn't work every time. But it does work fairly often. It may mean having some chance where there was no chance before.

Get Ready.....

That brief period when you wish your eyes were better, you hit what you aim at, and the rubber lipped SOB is a little dumb.

Welcome to the Jungle

Couple of Arapaima from Mike S. and Dave A. 

trip to Brazil recently.

The bottom fish was 2.3 meters long and weighed over 300 pounds!

Yikes!

Special Rates at Palometa Club

It’s hard to believe that the start of the 2017 season at the Palometa Club is right around the corner. Now that El Niño is long gone and a very mild winter appears to be in our future, we anticipate excellent spring-like conditions and awesome fishing during the early season.
We’re once again going to have a busy year, but we still have two weeks in January with openings. While discounts are rare for us, we’re excited to offer significantly reduced rates during the weeks of January 13-20 and January 20-27. This is a chance to jump on an $850 discount for a full week at Palometa Club. Shorter stay discounts are also an option as follows:

January Discount Recap

Eligible Weeks:
January 13-20 & January 20-27, 2017
Pricing (Based on Shared Room / Boat):
7 Nights / 6 Days – $4050 —> $3200 ($850 Discount)
6 Nights / 5 Days – $3600 —> $2950 ($650 Discount)
5 Nights / 4 Days – $3050 —> $2500 ($550 Discount)
4 Nights / 3 Days – $2500 —> $1950 ($550 Discount)
*** Short week discounts do not include cost of additional ground transfers to / from Cancun (CUN).

NEW PALOMETA CLUB VIDEO

Check out a new Palometa Club video featuring some highlights from last season pulled together by TwoFisted Heart Productions.


Tailwaters - Palometa Club - 2016 promo from TwoFisted Heart Productions on Vimeo.

Saltwater Flies

Lots of patterns in stock for your winter saltwater trip.

We have flies for Tarpon, Snook, Bonefish, Permit (both Carribean and Indian Ocean), Jacks, Cuda, Trevally, etc.

Summer Permit Fishing

For a long time now, I've wanted to get away and do some summer (July or August) Permit fishing. Until this year it just never came together given that it's our busiest season in the shop and it's pretty tough to get away.


This year, an old friend asked if I would join him for a week he had booked from August 27 to September 5 at The Palometa Club and I couldn't help myself. This wasn't an option until 2015, when Dick and Kaye Cameron, owners of the Palometa Club, opened their first ever short summer season. The first year was very well received and the many stories told by guides of massive schools of Permit on the flats during the summer proved to be true. The success of this first season led to what I'm sure will be a permanent mid-July to end of August summer season at P.C.

In the past, we have never done any shop trips to the Caribbean region for a few reasons: As we live in an area where we only get about 100 days of reasonably nice weather to trout fish most of us want to take advantage of it, a lot of people are a little (or a lot) hesitant about the heat during July and August, and weather can certainly affect you. Should an organized storm like a tropical depression or hurricane occur just before or during your trip it can make for pretty tough fishing. 

Anyways, for those who are somewhat afflicted with Permititus, the summer offers the possibility of Permit Shangri La so off we headed this past August. Our arrival presented just what was expected, high 30 Celsius temperatures without the ever present trade winds of the fall and winter months. In fact, for the first four days, it was so calm you could not tell where the water ended and the horizon began.

The stories turned out to be true. Our first four days offered up an incredible number of shots. With the mirror calm conditions it made for pretty high test fishing to very spooky fish. I saw fish that were led by about 10 feet slowly swim toward the fly and then, when they reached the tiny rings caused by the fly landing, left much more quickly than they came.
Even with the tricky conditions, between two of us we landed 13 Permit in our first two days. Pretty amazing Permit fishing!
And what's really cool is that most days we were the only angling boat on the entire bay. We have it all to ourselves, except for a couple lobster fisherman here and there. really cool!

As for the elements, it's kinda hot. If the weather is stable you won't have much wind so you better have really good breathable clothing and you'll drink water like you never thought possible.

Our final four days were a little more challenging. What became Hurricane Hermine traveled out of the Atlantic, making landfall in Florida. Even though it was a long ways away, a low of that magnitude affects the weather for great distances around it. Our weather wasn't that bad, just unstable. Wind speeds went from almost zero to around 12-15 knots (actually perfect for Permit fishing). Unfortunately, the wind direction became highly unstable, switching directions as many as three times a day and there was a lot more cloud (the enemy of any flats angler). This made for some somewhat unhappy Permit. In the span of a day, it went from fish everywhere on the flats to pretty slim pickings.
We still caught fish, but it certainly wasn't the "gong show" of the first four days. When it was all said and done, the pair of us landed 18 Permit. With the usual oopsies and at least one hooked fish cut off on something, it should have been more.

Would I go back during the summer? Hell Yes!, even if you get a couple days of stable weather you're going to see Permit shots like you've never seen before. Ascension Bay is the most prolific Permit fishery I'm aware of year round, but summer is another game entirely. And when you factor in the most dialed in Permit guides I've run across, it's P.A.P. (Permit Affliction Paradise).

Should you try it? If Permit fishing turns your crank you really should do this. The only downside I know of would be for those who can't handle heat. You're going to have to be prepared for about two hours every afternoon where you're going to be a little warm. But it's really not that bad. Plus all of the reason why I would go back in July or August in a second. 

The only thing with this summer program is that it's kind of a limited edition thing. They only run 3 boats a week (instead of the core season 6) and it's very well subscribed (full). If you want in on it I would get it booked sooner rather than later.
 
 

 

Palometa Club Promo Video from 2013

Fishing In The Land of Genghis Khan

 Join us in the Land of the Khans (Northern Mongolia), chasing the spectacular Taimen.
September 18-25,2017
Maximum 8 anglers, 3 spots left.

Cuba Permit

Our biggest friend, Dave, with a slab of 

Cuban Permit from last week.

Join us in Mongolia!

We're going back to Mongolia in September of 2017. 

8 anglers in one of the most remote places on earth, chasing one of the coolest fish on earth.

Drop us a note for more details.

 

Mongolia offers the best opportunity to catch taimen anywhere in the world. Historically, taimen have one of the largest ranges of any of the salmonids with their distribution stretching from Bavaria to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia. However, due to human pressures, healthy populations of this magnificent fish only remain in pristine sections of Russia and Mongolia.

Firsties! The Loss of Permit Virginity

Just arrived back from our last hosted trip to 

The Palometa Club this past weekend.

As always, we love it when people get their first Permit.

Rob O. with his first, on his first trip ever!

Dave P, who, after and endless amount of patience, finally gets his first Permit.

And then gets his second the next day.

 The group managed a decent number of Permit, even with unstable weather. We'll just post these great first timers though.

4th Annual Palometa Club Permit Tourney Report

Click on the link.

4th Annual Palometa Club Permit Tourney Report

Simms Bounty Hunter 100 Rollers

New for 2016 from Simms. 

Huge volume, great features, low weight.

Palometa Club 4th Annual Permit Tournament Recap

Headed off to the P.C. Permit Tournament, their 4th annual, during the first week of April. This is a non-serious event to raise funds for the Punta Allen school as well as Bonefish Tarpon Trust.

This year saw a few new faces. We finally got John and Danny from Hatch Reels to join us this year. Overall, the general consensus was that this year saw the highest level of angler ability of any of the tourneys. Heck, we even had a Permit guide from Placencia, Belize who was paired up with a fellow from California who fishes for Permit somewhere around 70 days a year. To flange up with this great group, we once again had 16 of the best Permit guides I know of.

 As usual, the first two days of the week are "fun' days where we partner up with different people who aren't our tournament partners. Got to fish with a couple really good guys, Will and Schuyler.
For the four tournament days, David Leake, from Tailwaters in Dallas was once again stuck with me as none of his better choices were able to make it. In between Permit fishing, I provide David with a non-stop stream of Canadian style humor and general babble.

The guy in the photo to the right, Schuyler Marshall, took home big fish honors with a 30 pound Permit (he says 29.6 or something, it's 30!)

 Possibly due to the fact that there were some seriously good anglers this year, there were a lot more Permit landed at this years tournament. One day saw 11 landed, with 24 total for the week. And there were a number of fish lost as well. I accounted for three of those lost fish. Seemed to be going through some sort of "thing". I don't think I had lost three Permit in the last 2 or 3 years. Oh well.

The sponsors made this years tournament the best ever for the amount, and quality of prizes. Hatch reels all over the place, rods, bags, artwork by Paul Puckett, lots of very cool stuff.
You could buy a bunch of Punta Allen with what the reels that Hatch donates are worth. And the rest of the sponsors are just as generous. Thanks to you all!

Of course, none of this stuff would happen, including raising the funds for the town school and B.T.T., without the efforts of Dick and Kaye Cameron, David Leake, Fina, Rosie, Maribel, Gloria, Carlos, Coli, Manny, Luis, and all 16 of the best bunch of Permit hunting devils (no, not the fishermen, the guides!) ever to haunt the Caribbean. Thanks to all of you.
Make sure to watch in the coming weeks for video and photos from Matt Jones Photography, who did some really cool stuff that should be great to see.

Palometa Club 4th Annual Permit Tournament

We're off to the Palometa Club on Thursday. Stay tuned to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for some photos.