R.A. Beattie’s film about the tarpon of Mexico’s Holbox (pronounced HOLE-bosh) Island is a lively feature on the legendary guide Sandflea, and it’s a pleasure to watch.
But sometimes, it’s the little things that get me interested in today’s fly fishing films. As mentioned in the trailer,
Holbox used to be a great fishery for not only it’s famous tarpon, but for bonefish and permit, too. But those fish are gone thanks to unsustainable netting.
As Sandflea notes, he caught his last bonefish on Holbox in 1998. Heartbreaking.
It’s a reminder that the rest of world doesn’t view the ocean through the lens of a fly fisher. Widespread netting of saltwater fly fishing’s most-prized game fish is a problem throughout the Caribbean, and there’s a market for these fish as table fare, particularly in remote locales where fishing equals living for many in the tropics.
Enjoy the film, but that statement about bonefish and permit sink in. In one of the most ideal places for prominent flats fishing, only tarpon have managed to escape the nets.
— Chris Hunt