Campeche tarpon club

Located on the western Yucatan Peninsula, the quaint historic city of Campeche offers incredible fly fishing access to more than 80 miles of mangrove coast, hundreds of inlet creeks, and numerous channels rich with baby tarpon. Offering skilled and kind-hearted fly fishing guides, a beautiful city with Mayan and Spanish history and flats-style sight fishing for feisty tarpon in the 5 to 30 pound class, Campeche is a favorite for saltwater anglers of all skills. Standard day trip packages are offered for this location.

Fisheries:
The fertile mangrove-lined waters of Mexico’s northern Yucatan Peninsula represent the most prolific juvenile tarpon fishery in the world. Easy to get to, inexpensive, and well-suited to light tackle, this region is ideal for short trips or for longer adventures that combine two or more destinations.

The Region:
Located on the Western Yucatan, looking toward the Gulf of Mexico sits the town of Campeche. Currently a virtually unknown destination to the world of global angling, this region features more than 80 miles of mangrove coast, hundreds of inlet creeks, and numerous channels, making the region Mexico’s most prolific baby tarpon fishery. With flats style sight fishing for high numbers of feisty tarpon in the 5 to 30 pound class, skilled kind hearted guides, and a wonderfully quaint town with Mayan and Spanish history, Campeche is bound to become a staple for avid saltwater anglers.

The town of Campeche has a population of 400,000 and because of its rich Mayan culture and Spanish conquest it has been labeled a UNESCO world heritage site. Three blocks in from the bay the 17th century colonial city was constructed behind stone walls built to protect it from attack. Once completed, there was never another attack on the city and accordingly, it has been well preserved.

Fishing Program:

The fly fishing takes place in the biosphere reserve of Los Petenes. Each day anglers depart their elected accommodations at approximately 5:30AM and meet guides who motor the Mexican pangas in the pre-sunrise light from 15 min to 1.5 hours to start the fly fishing day. Once the day’s fly fishing grounds are reached the guide will cut the motor to reveal the spectacular sounds of hundreds of species of birds coming from the mangroves. Anglers and guides will then start looking for rolling tarpon while the guide poles the boat. The first sight of feeding tarpon breaking the surface of the mirror like water with the sun just peaking over the mangrove coast will have even the most seasoned angler’s heart pounding. Although the tarpon are always present, sightings range from seeing just a few to potentially thousands per day. The most significant factor that will determine success in finding the tarpon will be the wind or the lack there of. Typical days will have anglers seeing hundreds of tarpon that range in size from five to thirty pounds with opportunities to cast to 20 or more. If ten of these tarpon are jumped and 2 or 3 are landed it should considered a good day of Yucatan fly fishing. Depending on wind and tide conditions anglers will either fly fish for tarpon out on the open flats, along the edges of the mangroves, or in the creeks. In all the areas the experience is very visual. Whether the tarpon are rolling out in the open or cruising the mangroves and creeks you will see them. The hardest part of the experience is to keep from pulling the fly out of the tarpon’s mouth as it rushes the fly in the clear water.

Meals & Accommodations:

Guests stay at their elected accommodations in the city. Lunches are provided on the boat each day. Guests have breakfast and dinner meals on their own at any one of many fantastic restaurants located throughout the charming historical city. A visit to the Campeche Tarpon Club perfectly blends a rich and varied travel experience with some out-of-this-world fishing opportunities for juvenile tarpon.

Travel Logistics:
To get to Campeche, you will need to make flight and hotel arrangements for your stay in Campeche. You will fly into either Campeche International Airport (CPE) or Merida (MID). From the Campeche airport it is only about a 15 minutes drive to the hotel. After clearing Customs and Immigration, you will need to hail a taxi or make arrangements to elected accommodations .