UPDATE!
Just got back from Playa Del Carmen. Had a great time. Tried casting for bones for the first time in my life, in fact, it was the first time I had casted a fly line in saltwater. What a blast! I just walked in from shore on the coral up to my waist. After casting about 15 min and getting the hang of the wind and timing I had my first hit. WHOAH! Man when they hit, they HIT. I really didn't know what to expect so I was a bit startled when my line started to peel off! I fought it for about 7 minutes or so letting the fish pull drag as needed. The fish was jumping out of the water as ever minute went by! It did hit the backing but only about 10% of it. I thought I would be able to land the fish in the water but I was mistaken. I got it up to my waist and sure enough it was a Bone. Between the waves, and it darting all around, not to mention the strength those things have, my first strike ended up in a bite off. Oh well, I lost my Pink Crazy Charlie but I had more of them and now my adrenaline and interest was at its peak!
I headed in to shore to replace my fly thinking that next time, I had to do a shore landing. I headed back out and went at it again. Over the next hour, I had managed to land two Ladyfish (I think) and a bite off. The ladyfish as I will call it, was kind of a bit narrower and all silver with the fins being a bit pointier and about the same size as the bone about 2#. The Ladyfish fought as hard as the bones, sometimes even harder as they tended to dive more. The second one I had on peeled almost all of my backing off. I was able to land them by working my way to shore.
After about 4 hours of fishing on my own, I had landed 2 bones, 2 Ladyfish, 2 bite offs, and 2 missed strikes.
Then my last bite of the day happened. It was about 45 min to sunset, I got a good hit, set my rod up high and snap! there went my rod. A 7 WT. Cabelas Stowaway 7 cracked midway up the right at one of the eyelets. Fish was off (luckily!). I retrieved my parts packed up and went back to my resort. Regardless of the final outcome, I had a blast, it was fun, exciting, and I was able to do it all on my own with absolutely no knowledge except what I have learned talking with all of you folks! I can not thank you all enough for the tips, advice, and guidance. I will definitely be back there doing it again next year. I am going to upgrade the rod though!
I also wanted to note: I called the San Diego Dept. of Fisheries 4 times throughout the past few months to ask if I needed a license. Every time it was NO as long as I was wading out from the shore and not using any sort of flotation or boat. I asked my resort concierge and she also told me the same thing. I never encountered any hostility or negative feedback from anyone regarding my fishing there. although, I was careful to fish away from swimmers and other guests. In fact, there were many walkers on the beach that would stop and watch at times.
I have no doubt that the guided services would be fun too. In fact, this outing has peaked my interest enough that I am going to book a guided trip as well for next year. There is something about going at it once on your own though, especially when you are successful. Isn't that why we all fly fish to begin with?!?
Feel free to write me if you have any questions. I received a lot of help from all of you, and I will certainly return the favor if I can somehow.
Thanks again!
EJE
P.S. Sorry I don't have photos. I was doing it on my own and didnt want to get my camera ruined in the surf! NEXT TIME FOR SURE!