Fly Fishing in the Surf 101, Pacific Coast, Mexico

If you find yourself in a tropical destination on a trip not planned specifically for fishing, there are still some incredibly fun opportunities to be had. My last two trips to Mexico were family trips, and both times going prepared resulted in some great experiences. Here are my tips:

Gear:

Fast action 4 piece 8 wt

Anodized, large arbor reel

Ttropical floating line

Tapered leader

Tippet

Fly box full of weighted white, olive/white, chartreuse/white streamers

Medical tape (for casting and/or stripping blisters)

Bikini or swim trunks

Suntan lotion

Do NOT wear a hat or sunglasses, you will lose them, wear goggles if you want eye protection

Location:

Any beach, preferably near rocky outcroppings/jetties where you can stand at least some of the time JUST past (or sometimes exactly where) the waves are breaking

Time of day:

Doesn't seem to matter too much

Waves and wind can sometimes be worse in the afternoons

Tides:

Doesn't seem to matter too much, as long as you can cast your fly into the clean water if the waves are stirring up the sand

Prerequisites:

Ability to tread water

The guts to dive through waves

Enough endurance to cast and strip flies like a maniac

Power to cast into the wind

Procedure:

Find beach

Walk into water until you reach the point just barely beyond where the waves are breaking

Start casting

Allow the fly to sink for just a moment

Retrieve fly in 6-12 inch strips at a rapid pace right up to the leader

Cast and repeat

Dangers:

Waves - all waves will not break at the same point; often bigger waves will break out further, meaning you may have to run and dive into said wave (make sure your rod goes into the wave butt end first); after riding over or diving through waves, the water usually gets deeper, sometimes requiring you to tread water momentarily (or requiring you to make a cast with your head under water: yes, it happened)

Wind - for some crazy reason, the wind is rarely at your back, so be careful not to hook yourself while casting into the head winds

Fish - after being nearly run over by a puffer fish, it came to my attention that some fish may have the ability to cause you harm, and became much more attentive to the water directly around me

Ocean floor - especially if the water clarity is bad due to sand, there are all sorts of shells, rocks, fish, and other sharp, pointy, poisonous things that roll around down there; not much you can do about it, so good luck;

Sun - wear suntan lotion and don't stay out all day, nuff said

Action:

All over the map, but generally can count on at least a few grabs, if nothing else

At times some incredibly fast fishing

Size of fish:

Generally very small, but pound for pound they usually fight great

Other notes:

For every fish you hook, you will probably have at least 5 times that many follow and grab the fly 

Hooking to landing ratio is about the same

Find your fly during the retrieve, the fish sit very close to the surface and will follow the fly almost right to your belly button

If they turn away because they see you, throw another cast at them they'll often turn and chase it again
Always always watch the waves, the last thing you want to happen is to get tossed upside down in churning water, end up with your head buried in the sand and then realize you broke the one rod you were able to squeeze into your luggage
The fish tend to travel in schools, so the action may be fast and furious for a little while and then die off only to pick up again fifteen minutes or half an hour later, so tough it out

Eenjoy the full body workout, and give yourself time for a siesta afterwards