Mexico’s Chetumal Bay has the best saltwater fly fishing you’ve never heard of—a guide for Canadian anglers

Editor’s note: Chetumal is about as distant from Puerto Vallarta as you can get in Mexico—2,000 kilometres away and on the other ocean. And while that city is making headlines for the wrong reasons, the laid-back Caribbean port of Chetumal is quietly going about its business, putting anglers on world-class tropical flats fishing.

The rhythmic slap of waves against the panga’s hull fades as our guide, Carlos Godoy, cuts the motor and begins to pole the boat along, his eyes fixed on the water. He’s watching intently for the flash or tail of a bonefish, tarpon or permit as we ghost across the shallow flat. So begins another morning at one of sportfishing’s best-kept secrets—a remote corner of Mexico’s Caribbean coast, where the crystalline waters of Chetumal Bay meet the lush mangrove jungles of Quintana Roo.

Unlike the busier waters to the north, Chetumal Bay offers anglers the pursuit of prime tropical gamefish in relative solitude. Here, where Mexico meets Belize, the ancient Maya once plied the waters in dugout canoes. Today, modern adventurers armed with fly rods can discover saltwater flats fishing that rivals any destination in the Caribbean basin. It also has a few advantages you won’t find at better-known fishing destinations…