Cancun Jigging Trip Report

[shoefish]

Hey everybody, I just got back from a trip to Cancun Mexico and thought that I'd post up a report. As some of you may remember, I went down there about a year ago on business, and decided to see if any good jigging existed. At that point I contacted Alex at Kianah Sportfishing (http://www.deepseafishingcancun.com/) and he told me that they were just starting to introduce jigging to Cancun. The charter fleet down there all fish 30s to 50s with live bait and drift the many reefs, but they were trying their hands at jigs, with some pretty good early results. Well a year later I called Alex again, and he said that they have come a long way- while the rest of the charter fleet hasn't picked it up, there is now a small and growing jigging following- in fact they just had their first jigging tournament this year. I booked two days on the Kianah.

Both days were very similar with nonstop action on the jig. AJs ranged from 20-60 pounds, and we had some other randoms mixed in like gouper, Jurel, and a couple of wahoo bite-offs. The captain worked hard, and if there was a few moments without a bite, we would reel up and he would try another spot- he was dedicated to putting us on fish. I brought down two set ups- Stella 20000 on a Wei World XXH, and my Saltiga 40 on a Spinal 250g. We fished depths from 200-280, and spent most of our time in 240' of water. The current rips down there, and mixed with the wind you have to use jigs that fall quickly. I found the Andamans, Jack Knife, and the good old Shimano flat side jigs to be best. I tried some other longer jigs as well as heavier more compact, and none of the others seemed to have the combination of weight and action that I was looking for. The one that produced the best was an Andamans- in fact I used this for the entire second day and had a fish on just about every drop.

Well enough of the words- here are the pics!

Here is the boat, Kianah. On my right is Gustavo- he has opened a jigging tackle shop in Playa Del Carmen (http://www.elsabalocancun.com/) and is helping to lead the charge with jigging. On my left is my brother in law Noel- he had never been fishing before.


Here are some pics of the gear that I used








Of course we have a bunch of bendo pics















This was his first AJ!


He was exhausted…and hooked


Some Jig/Fish pics









Doubles, triples, quads were the norm for both days- it made for some great cockpit shuffling





Some other fish pics









Here is a beautiful "Fondo" fish








And then some other random pictures







The mates




The sunrises were incredible






And fish tacos for dinner!




So, it was a great trip. For anyone who is thinking of going down, I was told that the best jigging is from November through March. We stayed at a condominium complex on the south end of the Hotel Zone called Lahia and it was perfect- there were rocks to cast from within walking distance (caught some nice sierras for ceviche there one morning), and the building was very secure.

Anyway, it was good to get out again to do some jigging. I hope everyone is well! Happy Holidays!

Shoe

[paul708]

nice report shoe.
great pics.


hope jigging catches on down there, i have a few guys headed that way.

should be fun.
they are Billl fishing , but love jigging.

[fish520]

Congrats for another great trip Shoe

[Agitated88]

Excellent report and amazing pictures Shoe...hoping to get down that way in the spring and try it myself.

[Jared D]

Great report and pics Shoefish. I loved it. I really liked the AJ pic from looking down on top its head.

Also, what kind of jack is the one that looks like a Crevelle and AJ mixed?

Shoe, thanks for the post. I haven't fished offshore in so long, it takes these reports to keep my pulse going!

[shoefish]

Thanks for the kind words everybody!

Jared, you nailed it- it's a Crevalle, it just looks a little funny from that angle. Down there they call them Jurel, Furele, and sometimes Toro.

[Robja]

Nice report Shoe. Glad to see your still around.

[Captain Rich Adler]

Shoe- A little bit of history....the first time I went to Cancun was 1978, I was down there for the diving. At that time there were only 2 hotels on the island, one on each end, and the entire island in between was covered in jungle scrub. Diving one day in about 60 feet of water I turned to view my dive buddies and realized they weren't human. We were being followed by a school of 5 to 6 foot long black grouper. They had no fear of humans back then, before the developement of the island there wasn't a large population of people, only a small village of people of mayan extraction.It was truly a virgin area. Over the next couple of years the island was stripped of jungle, overdeveloped, and the fish population took a pounding. Great photos, love the jigging--Rich

[Osprey Rods]

Great report, good photos. Jigging is a blast !!!

[edge]

Shoe- A little bit of history....the first time I went to Cancun was 1978, I was down there for the diving. At that time there were only 2 hotels on the island, one on each end, and the entire island in between was covered in jungle scrub. Diving one day in about 60 feet of water I turned to view my dive buddies and realized they weren't human. We were being followed by a school of 5 to 6 foot long black grouper. They had no fear of humans back then, before the developement of the island there wasn't a large population of people, only a small village of people of mayan extraction.It was truly a virgin area. Over the next couple of years the island was stripped of jungle, overdeveloped, and the fish population took a pounding. Great photos, love the jigging--Rich

That was a very long time ago. Since then things have changed. The 1st 7 to 10 miles in some areas are completely off limits for any sportfishing vessel they have to get out any shallow reef or structure. Most of the fishing is done 10 to 25 miles to the east. during the sailfish run is few miles north of
the island. I guess you never imagined the incredible fishery just a little further away from the diving sites as they are now..just 13 years ago it was
discovered in so called non productive areas..



Now they are prime fishing areas for sailfish, things do change, the city is enormous but there is a lot of control from environmental agencies and now you can find nice groupers on the reefs again!!