F6 EZ EE K THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, APRIL 3 , 2022
air-conditioned and featured hot
complimentary breakfasts and a
pleasing pool area. It’s also in
walking distance — at least dur-
ing the slightly cooler late after-
noons — from Campeche’s walled
city.
Campeche was colonized by
Spain in the 16th century; over
the next 100 years, as trade in
logwood dye created wealth, it
was under constant attack by
pirates, many hailing from
Spain’s arch enemy, England. A
hexagonal wall was built between
1686 and 1704 to repel the pi-
rates; much of the wall remains
today. With its checkerboard
streets and well-preserved cen-tral square (including the
Campeche Cathedral, built be-
tween 1540 and 1760), Campeche
is a fine example of a Spanish
colonial town.
A stroll up Calle 59 highlights
Campeche’s cheerful, pastel-
painted architecture. Adorned
with bright lights, it’s also home
to a number of cantinas and
restaurants. The Yucatán is
emerging as one of Mexico’s new-
est culinary hot spots. The menus
lean toward seafood, which is
no surprise, given the proximity
of the Gulf; a specialty in
Campeche is pan de cazon, a
combination of corn tortillas, ha-
banero sauce and bonnetheadshark. My group enjoyed several
wonderful meals at the more
upscale Recova Cincuenta &
Nueve. One night we ventured to
the San Francisco neighborhood
and enjoyed more casual (but
equally delicious) fare at Cena-
duría Portales de San Francisco.
(English is not widely spoken in
Campeche, but with our high
school Spanish and the patience
of locals, we could always com-
municate.)
“Unlike many saltwater fly-
fishing destinations, Campeche
has a lot to offer non-anglers,”
Lawson from Yellow Dog said.
“You can tour the historic dis-
tricts, participate in cookingclasses and visit Mayan ruins
that don’t see many visitors.”
On our final day of sched-
uled fishing, a front blew in from
the west, bringing gale winds.
With fishing canceled, Castaneda
suggested we visit the Mayan
ruins at Edzná, a 40-minute
drive. I was expecting smaller
edifices like those I’d visited
south of Tulum, but this settle-
ment was more on par with a
smaller version of Tikal in Guate-
mala or Chichén Itzá. At the
entrance, we retained a guide,
Elvis Herrera, who illuminated
the traditions and meanings be-
hind the stone structures before
us, some of which dated from
A.D. 400.
At one circular rock monu-
ment, Herrera explained that
this was the site where communi-
ty nobles would perform blood-
letting rituals to appease the
gods and communicate with an-
cestors. Obsidian blades or sting-
ray spines would be used to cut
women’s tongues or men’s penis-
es to collect blood.
This put the pain of losing a
leaping tarpon somewhat in per-
spective.Santella is a writer based in
Portland, Ore. His website is
steelhead-communications.com.southwest Florida in the late
1800s, thanks to their size, power
and proclivity for acrobatic
jumps. In the warmer regions of
the Atlantic and throughout the
Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico,
“silver kings” are readily recog-
nizable by their aforementioned
silver scales and basketball-size
mouths. Though members of the
herring family, tarpon can grow
to more than 300 pounds; adult
fish in the 60- to 150-pound class
are more common. (The world
record on a fly rod is 202.5
pounds.)
Catching a fish the size of a
small person with a willowy fly
rod and a fly the size of your
thumb is no easy matter. The
accepted wisdom is that fly an-
glers will land 1 in 10 adult fish
hooked. One’s odds are better
with juvenile tarpon. “The baby
tarpon are a great introduction
to the species,” said Shaun Law-
son, a program director with
Yellow Dog Flyfishing Adven-
tures, a travel agency based in
Bozeman, Mont. “You experience
the take, the explosive, acrobatic
nature of the fight. And the
smaller tarpon really like to eat
flies. Though they can be difficult
to keep on, you’ll get more
chances than when you’re trying
for adult fish.”
If you’re used to hooking 15-
inch trout, even a “baby” tarpon
of 15 or 20 pounds seems pretty
darn big.
Although Matsumoto’s first
encounter of the morning ended
quickly, pods of fish remained in
view, some porpoising, some
clearing the water as they gorged
on bait fish. Chay moved us in
casting range; when a tarpon
broke the surface, Matsumoto
cast his fly, a white EP Baitfish, a
few feet in front, hoping to inter-
cept the fish. A few casts fell
slightly off target; a few good
presentations were ignored. But
soon he had a taker, and this
time, his execution was flawless.
He stood sideways to the fish,
which gave his left arm a wider
range of motion to get a strong
hook set; he kept his rod tip high,
maintaining pressure as he
fought the fish, but when the fish
jumped out of the water, he tilted
the rod down to reduce tension
in the line and decrease odds of
the fly coming free — bowing the
rod, in fly-fishing parlance. Soon
he was clutching a fine specimen
for photos, before returning it to
the Gulf.
When I stepped to the casting
platform, I hooked (and lost)
several fish in rapid succession.
By the third grab, I was able to set
the hook firmly and remember to
bow when the fish leaped. Soon I
was also on the board. (The other
four members of our party — two
of whom had never fished for
tarpon — all landed fish, testimo-
ny to the fecundity of Campeche’s
waters.)
On our second day, we left the
malecón (the esplanade border-
ing the waterfront) at 5:45,
well before the sun had risen
above the low hills to the east.
Our guide, Roberto Pastrana,
opted to fish closer to the man-
groves, hoping to intercept the
tarpon as they sought cover dur-
ing the coming high tide. It
proved a successful strategy. An
almost constant stream of fish
presented themselves — some-
times in small groups, sometimes
swimming alone, all visible in the
YUCATÁN FROM F1
O≠ the Yucatán Peninsula, majestic tarpon reel in anglers
If You Go
WHAT TO EAT
La Recova Cincuenta & Nueve
Av. Resurgimiento s/n, Bosques
de Campeche
011-52-981-812- 4127
facebook.com/LaRecovaCampeche
A mix of steaks and seafood. Open
daily, 1 p.m. to 1 a.m. Entrees from
about $12.
Cenaduría Portales de San
Francisco Campeche
Calle 10 86
011-52-981-811- 1491
facebook.com/CenaduriaPortales
A casual outdoor eatery featuring
traditional Yucatán cuisine. Open
Tuesday to Sunday, 6:30 to 11:30
p.m.; closed Monday. Entrees from
about $5.WHAT TO DO
Tarpon Town Anglers
Campeche
011-52-981-133- 2135
tarpontown.com
This Campeche-based outfitter
provides comprehensive fishing
packages, including lodging,
guides, breakfast and lunch, and
transfers to and from Mérida.
Fishing is consistent throughout
the year. Package costs vary by
occupancy and duration; four-
night/three-day fishing packages
about $2,150 per person. Book
through Yellow Dog Flyfishing
Adventures (888-777-5060;
yellowdogflyfishing.com).
Chelita Travel
chelitatravel.com
This outfitter offers cultural tours,
such as a walking tour of
Campeche and an excursion to
see the ruins at Edzná. Tour prices
include tickets, guides, private
transport, beverages and
seasonal fruits. Tours from about
$40 per person.INFORMATION
visitmexico.com/enPHOTOS BY CHRIS SANTELLA FOR THE WASHINGTON POSTTOP: In the Gulf of Mexico near the Yucatán Peninsula, Ken Matsumoto fishes for tarpon, a fish
found in some warmer waters that is known for its silver scales, size, power and acrobatic jumps.
ABOVE: Lights hang above pastel-hued, open-air restaurants and cantinas on Calle 59 in coastal
Campeche, Mexico, about 300 miles from C ancún.clear water. While the sun was
low in the sky, we hooked fish
with surface flies, transforming
the already exciting take to a
splashing, heart-stopping adren-
aline rush. As the sun and tide
rose, we shifted to a purple Cock-
roach fly — a standby for tarponi-
stas.During one of my rotations on
the casting deck, Pastrana asked
me to cast between two stands of
mangroves. Naturally, I landed
my fly in the right stand’s upper
branches. As we poled over to
retrieve it, Pastrana pointed out a
good-size fish by the mangroves
to the left. I thought the fish
would be frightened by our pres-
ence. But as I retrieved my fly, I
saw that the fish had remained in
place. I flipped my Cockroach
over, and a few jumps later, the
fish was at the boat.
Sometimes being lucky is bet-
ter than being good.
Castaneda and his team at
Tarpon Town managed all of the
logistics of our adventure, includ-
ing conveyance from the airport
in Mérida, lodging and coordina-
tion of non-angling activities, in-
cluding dinner. Our accommoda-
tions were on the malecón at
Ocean View, which was clean,“The Campeche
area has such a
prolific juvenile
tarpon population
because the habitat
is intact.”
Aaron Adams, director of
science and conservation for
Bonefish & Tarpon TrustS0136-6x3.75“A leafy enclave”Discover great area
neighborhoods in
“Where We Live,”
Saturdays in
Real Estate.Take The Post for a run
Washington Post podcasts go with you everywhere
S0108 6x2Politics • History • Culture • More
wpost.com/podcasts