Category: Experience Xcalak

There’s a certain type of angler who hears “guided trip” and thinks “training wheels.” Something you use until you know better, then leave behind. Fish Xcalak for a day and that idea gets buried out on the flats. This isn’t water you figure out by feel. It’s remote, it’s tide-driven, and it doesn’t give up…

When people think of saltwater fly fishing, the Bahamas, the Florida Keys, Belize, the Yucatán, and the South Pacific often come to mind. Anglers travel the world for a chance to catch permit, bonefish, or tarpon on the fly. All of these places are excellent, and each offers different fish and experiences, but the Caribbean…

You pole across them in the early morning light, water so clear you can count the blades of seagrass beneath the hull, and everything about the scene feels permanent, like it’s always been here and always will be. These flats don’t feel fragile at all; they feel like a never-changing force of nature. That feeling…

Can beginners and experienced anglers both enjoy fly fishing in Xcalak? Going on a guided trip, there tends to be a little hesitation for some folks about whether these trips are designed for beginners or for more experienced anglers who have already spent years chasing fish around the world. The interesting thing is that both…

Why do remote fly fishing destinations fish differently? There’s a version of fly fishing that looks good in photos and a version that actually feels like something. They are not always the same thing. The Instagram-famous permit flat. The bonefish destination with its own hashtag. The lodge that has been written up in every major…

What makes Xcalak such a productive fishery for bonefish, permit, and tarpon? You cannot go on a fly fishing trip without fish to cast at, that is a fact. We as anglers, especially those who like to travel for opportunities, want to fish for amazing species, and that is only possible in a place where…

Flat fishing can be tough, no matter how you cut it. In the gin-clear shallows around Xcalak, Mexico, a perfect 70-foot cast means nothing if you never see the fish. Permit fishing in Xcalak, bonefish on the flats, and tarpon fly fishing in Mexico all demand eyes as sharp as your loop. At Xcalak on…

One of the things that makes fishing in Xcalak, Mexico so unique is the sheer variety of water you can fish in a single day. Many flats destinations are known for just one type of habitat. Some have endless turtle grass flats while others are dominated by mangrove shorelines. Xcalak is different. Here, the fishery…

In the world of saltwater fly fishing, there are places that get talked about constantly, and then there are places that quietly build a reputation over time. Xcalak, Mexico is one of those places. Tucked along the southern end of Mexico’s Caribbean coast, just a few miles north of the Belize border, Xcalak still feels…

Why is permit considered the hardest fish to catch on the flats? There are easier fish to chase. There are fish that will eat almost anything on the right day. But then there are fish like the permit, the true test of saltwater fly fishing, especially on the clear Caribbean flats of Xcalak, Mexico. One…