August and September are probably the most difficult months in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico for the fly fisher. It’s hot, humid, and you can’t drink enough water to stay cool and hydrated. If you plan to fly fish I would advise that you start early (before day break) and try to get off the water and out of the sun before noon. Load up on water before and after your time in the sun. Limit your sun exposure, and force yourself to drink one 20 ounce water after another until you get out of the sun. Five or six bottles of water for a four or five hour fishing trip is not too many. It might sound like a cool and refreshing idea, but avoid drinking beer and margarita’s while exerting yourself in the sun. It is easy to become dizzy and disoriented with extreme heat and a little alcohol.

The summer fishing can be quite good, but you need to be ready for extreme summer heat. You need a good light colored fishing hat, one with plenty of shade. Quick drying fishing shirts and shorts that keep you out of the sun and cool. Sun block and polarized sun glasses are a necessity. I have fished through the heat of the day, and not felt well enough to fish the following day. It’s OK to get out of the sun in the afternoon. I even recommend taking a siesta so I am ready to go the next morning. After the sun goes down I am ready for a light dinner, some cool drinks, and a trip to the Thrifty Ice Cream store, life is still good in Puerto Peñasco in the summer time.

During the summer we have more jelly fish in the water. If you see a translucent blue ping pong sized ball in the water, avoid it. If you get stung, rinse the area with saltwater and try to remove any jelly fish parts. Rinse the area with vinegar, or apply baking soda paste. A hot shower will help followed by an ice pack. Stingrays are another problem to avoid. The best thing to do while wading is to shuffle your feet, this will spook them into fleeing the area. If you do get stung, cover the wound in hot water, the pain will go away in about 30 minutes. Avoid any offer of putting urine on the wound, I believe this remedy has been perpetuated by my fraternity brothers who had too much beer to drink.

If you plan to fly fish Puerto Peñasco in the summer time you will need to bring all of your own gear, no one sells fly fishing gear in town. My gear suggestions would include the following items: Six to eight weight fly rods, bring all of your fly lines and you may need to add some sinking lines to your collection if you don’t have any. Saltwater is buoyant so your intermediate sink line becomes a floating line. You will find that a 200-400 grain sinking line is quite useful in getting down to where the fish live. My go to fly is a #4 Clouser, and a #4 Gotcha is a close second. I don’t always get a chance to fish a Popper, but they should be in your fly box also.

Going from the worst to the best. While summer in Puerto Peñasco can be hot and uncomfortable it won’t be long until the best time to fish will be here. My favorite time to fish Rocky Point is October and November. The days are more comfortable, the water is still warm and the fish are hungry. Plan your time in Puerto Peñasco when it’s nice. Vince Deadmond The Fly Fishing Hardware Guy can be reached at vince@ajbest.com Best Hardware 237 N Apache Trail, Apache Junction, AZ and at 480 982 7461.