Ascension Bay Super (Grand) Slam at A.B.B.C.

Ryan Hawks joins a very exclusive club with this nice Super Slam…

The first leg of any 'Slam'

Same Permit, different angle sans Buff.

Ryan lands a Bonefish

The Tarpon clinches a Grand Slam

Nice Snook to complete the Super Grand Slam

Grand Slam & Super Grand Slam — Same Day!

January 7th, 2009
After a heinously early start from Cancun, what felt like a few thousand speed bumps, a quick interrogation by a uniformed boy with a machine gun, and a beach road that was in better condition than I remembered, I arrived at the ABBC. Hyped up on coffee and twisting road.

In almost no time at all, Alejandro had me rigged and ready in the bow, scanning the first flat, and I barely had time to notice mostly clear skies, strong winds and an almost fully flooded tide before I settled into the gunners seat. We saw a few groups of permit that morning and I was lucky to get maybe 8 shots. I had 3 Permit follow my fly but no takers. The afternoon proved more difficult with few Permit seen and no shots. We did see a school of Tarpon but I had my heart set on a Palometa. I drowned my hard but thoroughly enjoyable first day in the gracious hospitality of your clubhouse, determined to sleep more and cast better.

Alejandro, Aaron and I left the dock extra early the next morning to take advantage of the morning flood. As we eased off the beach, the almost complete lack of wind had me secretly believing that this was going to be a different kind of day. As we poled down the first flat in about 5 feet of clear water, Alejandro spotted several schools of Permit feeding and cruising, and after a couple of poor attempts, I made an easy 65 foot cast to a small school moving across our path. One of the flankers came tight and I soon had a nice Permit to the boat.

Sander's first Permit of the day

As we continued our search for Permit, my guides spotted a school of Tarpon moving slowly across open water. After a quick team meeting, we found ourselves searching my gear for bits and pieces of mono suitable for building a makeshift Tarpon leader. We relocated the pod and I soon had a nice baby Tarpon to the boat.

A nice size 'baby' Tarpon

Next thing you know, there are fish everywhere. There are three rods rigged, each with 40 feet of line stripped out and hastily balanced in the corners of the skiff as I switched from one rod to the next depending on what species was most quickly approaching. Over the next couple of hours, I hooked and landed another Tarpon, a small Snook, and a few Bonefish (honestly, in the chaos, I’m not sure if it was 3 or 5, but the biggest was about 3 pounds).

The 'Super' Snook

Second baby Tarpon

Sander with Bonefish

Schoolie Bonefish landed during the frenzy.

As the tide bottomed out, Alejandro suggested we try one last flat before heading home, so around 2 pm, we snuck up on the flat where I had hooked the Permit that morning. Shifting winds had colored the previously clear water a milky green. As we poled softly down the flat, a pair of Permit suddenly appeared to our right, headed up the flat. At Alejandro’s request, I casted (through the boat) immediately ahead of the lead fish. He turned instantly and seconds later, I was tight to the second Permit of the day, and my first ever trophy Permit.

Sander's second Permit

Dave greeted me as a walked up the beach, asking me about my day. I told him, “I landed a Grand Slam and a Super Grand Slam today. I may as well stop fishing the flats. I’m not likely to ever have a better day than that!”

But of course I’ll be back.

Thanks — Sander