A RISING TIDE FLOATS ALL BOATS 

 We just hosted our 11th Annual Palometa Club Tourney benefitting our non-profit charity, The Rising Tide Fund Inc.  This year’s event marked the conclusion of our first year of fundraising to benefit several projects and initiatives in the town of Punta Allen, on Ascension Bay, and in the Sian Ka’an Reserve.  On hand were some of our most loyal repeat guests as well as representatives of several key sponsors that make it all possible.  We had an incredible crew, the weather somehow cooperated (for the most part), the fishing was insane, and the Rising Tide Mission was on full display all throughout the magical week of laughs, camaraderie, generosity, and friendly competition.  

 While the tournament week does have a little competition involved (the guides like that part more than the anglers), our tourney week is a celebration of a year’s worth of fundraising efforts for the town.  It has also evolved into an emotional conclusion to another season.  We tip our hats to the whole Palometa Club team and try to let them know how much they are loved and appreciated.  From the drivers to the lodge staff and managers as well as the guides, the chain is only as strong as the weakest link.  Complete with an emerging rainbow as the mariachi fired it up on the last evening; I would like to think we hit it out of the park this year.  

THE NON-FISHING FESTIVITIES 

The first few days of the week were pre-fish days.  Lance Hill managed the fish of the week with a stunner permit that was unfortunately not eligible for points during pre-fish days.  Starting on a beautiful Sunday night we held the kick-off dinner with all staff and guides present.  Rules, regs, guide pairing drawings, introductions of all participants / sponsors, distribution of 2025 season guide and staff uniforms, and a review of the schedule, etc.  

Monday night included a town Fútbol match between our Palometa Club team and an out-of-town squad that managed to defeat the Palometas with some late final second heroics.  The town soccer games are the ideal format to expose first time Punta Allen visitors to the heartbeat of the town.  Punta Allen’s Park is crowded with spectators of all ages and stages including families, food vendors, festive music, and of course a few dozen gringos hanging onto the sidelines watching the action.  Long time friend of the Club and generous benefactor of the town, Jason Petty, found his way to commandeer the PA system and provide color commentary during the match!  Sponsors enjoyed seeing their logos newly painted and proudly displayed at the futbol field compliments of their donations to the Rising Tide Fund.  

On Tuesday night we programmed in a tour of the COMC community center…. our largest and most ambitious Rising Tide Fund project to date.  The local community center is located adjacent to the park.  A multi-phase renovation project is underway to restore this building to ultimately serve as the town’s public health, exercise, and educational facility.  Thanks in part to contributions from The Rising Tide Fund and the Yellow Dog Community Conservation Fund, we were able to contribute considerably to phase one of the COMC project – including the installation of a new roof, bathrooms, and more.  Guests were able to meet project manager, Habid Azael González Salazar, and witness Palometa Club Co-manager, Francois Botha, lead his bi-weekly boxing class with town kids and adults.  

Wednesday night was a bit more free & easy with the guides casting competition at happy hour (won by Coreano) and the Grand Slam Raffle drawing later that evening on an Instagram live feed.  The winner of our Grand Slam Raffle was Kenny Adkisson ( @tarpon_fly_expeditions ) who is walking away with a free trip to the Club next season along with a mountain of rods and reels. Congrats Kenny!

 Thursday night proved to be an emotional and magical evening.  Following an afternoon rainstorm the entire crew assembled for the group photo.  As the surprise mariachi band began playing (nice touch Dasha), a massive full rainbow emerged right on time to officially kick off the prize and awards dinner.  Outdoor buffet, dancing, lots of laughs, and 25,000 cervezas were consumed.  Manny, Clemente and Ivan showed up to celebrate our Talladega Nights homage on the tourney poster, and Petty dragged every member of our staff up for an awkward dance.  Another tourney was in the books as late night breaking down of gear and packing bags for the sleepy journey home the following day.  

TOURNEY FORMAT & FISHING REPORT 

The new format for our tournament was conceived by our co-manager, Francois Botha.  Instead of focusing on beating up the local permit population exclusively, the event included points earned for targeting several species that make Ascension Bay such a diverse and complete fishery.  The genius move ensured that anglers spent time in all corners of the bay and back country hunting the highly underrated and often ignored tarpon, snook, triggerfish and bonefish.  Not only does this format alleviate pressure from the permit flats, but also exposes anglers to differing habitats, Mayan ruins, manatees, all kinds of bird life including flamingos, mangrove forests, hidden beaches & lagoons, and much more. 

Francois has been instrumental in leading the charge to further enhance the conservation ethics with the local guide community in Punta Allen – and distributing the energy and pressure across multiple species and locations around the bay speaks to this long overdue effort.  We are deploying landing nets in all boats for next season, and Francois will continue to lead the charge with both guides and guests to ensure a 'keep-em wet' ethos with proper fish handling. Francois' leadership will help to ensure a vibrant and healthy fishery and expose our guests to the complete Ascension Bay experience.

While the weather forecast looked ominous and we did experience our fair share of rain, for the most part the skies parted when it mattered, and the group enjoyed great conditions during fishing hours.  All five species were caught including a half dozen grand slams, Dex’s beautiful triggerfish,  and one special 10-permit day.  Here is the points / scoring system:  

Bonefish = 1 (over 20” double points)

Triggerfish = 1 (over 16” double points) 

Tarpon = 2 (over 40” double points)

Snook = 2 (over 25” double points)

Permit = 4 (over 20” double points) 

       *all fork length measurements  

GRAND SLAM: = 3 extra points (must contain a permit and two other species).  

REGISTERING POINTS:  Each team can only register a maximum of two (2) of each species daily. 

TIE BREAKERS:  1st)  Most Permit Caught    2) Longest Permit Caught

LEADERED FISH:   Any fish broken off or lost after guide touching a leader but not caught and properly measured is awarded base points; however double points are not eligible. 

Podium Prize Winners

First Place Angler Team: Paul Comer & Alan Steele 

Runner Up Angler Team:  Jacob Cervantes & Alex O’Shaughnessy (@ponchooutdoors @jacobcervantes @alexoshaugnessy 

Third Place Angler Team:  Lance Hill & Hunter Ferguson (@pike1452 @brooksferguson)

Largest Permit Angler:  Hunter Ferguson 

First Place Guide Team: Veudy & Jafet  ( vazquezchoc   

Runner Up Guide Team:  Charly & Johnny ( @charly_rendon_    @curieljhonny  )

Third Place Guide Team: Coreano & Luis M.  ( @eleazar_ucan   @luismoocarrillo )

Largest Permit Guide Team:   ( @charly_rendon_    @curieljhonny  )

Guide Casting Competition Winner:  Coreano 

OUR AMAZING SPONSORS 

In addition to nearly 500 folks who purchased raffle tickets and several incredibly generous donors, our annual tourney and The Rising Tide Fund does not function without participation from our key sponsors.  

SAGE & RIO:  Since Day #1, Alex Blouin from Sage has been instrumental in spreading the word out our mission and providing the Palometa Club with industry leading rods, reels and fly lines for our guest rental rods and prizes.  Alex is the quintessential ‘yes man”, always in high spirits, and is genuinely one of the most energetic, fun, and professional young guns in the fly-fishing industry today.  His imagery is stunning, and you can always count on him to deliver on a promise and a good laugh.  His wingman this year was Rio’s Chris Walker who also brought positive vibes, a huge smile, loads of gratitude, and a lethal south-paw casting stroke.  

PONCHO OUTDOORS:  A first-year participant, Poncho made a tremendous commitment to outfitting our staff and guides, properly stocking our shop at the Club, and making a sizable donation to the Fund.  Representatives for Team Poncho were Jacob Cervantes & Alex O’Shaughnessy  --- a couple of Mr. Octobers with ice cold fishing skills, perfect manners, and absolutely crushed it on the flats.  It has been a fun year working with these guys, and we look forward to offering their awesome shirts at the Club.  Nacho and I are also trying to figure out how to head hunt Jacob and Alex to work at Tailwaters.  

FISHPOND: While they were also missed this year, a huge shout out to Fishpond (specially Ben Kurtz and Jack Reis) for believing in our mission and supporting the Palometa Club and Rising Tide Fund since conception.  Our guides and staff are styling with their new backpacks and dry bags – and we very much look forward to deploying our new landing nets to more ethically handle fish of all species next season.  

SMITH OPTICS:  Thank you to David Jacopetti & Jacob Depriest from Smith Optics for their contributions to the RTF and providing the team with a steady stream of new shades year after year.  

THE RISING TIDE FUND 

The real winners are all our amazing benefactors, clients, sponsors, and friends who passed the hat all year to raise over $90,000 for the Rising Tide Fund!  THANK YOU!   This more than doubles our goal of $35,000 set forth at the beginning of the year and is a testament to the incredible generosity of our friends, guests, vendor partners, and sponsors.  

The Rising Tide Fund is a 501c3 entity that provides a tax-deductible vehicle for guests and key sponsors to contribute financially to the cause.  Our goal has always been to enhance the fundraising efforts for the benefit of Punta Allen, Mexico and its residents; as well as lead conservation initiatives in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere to protect this incredible natural resource forever. 

We are still pulling together an annual report to share with our donors recapping the 2023-2024 fundraising campaign and will share that soon! 

Meantime, to learn more about the Rising Tide Fund and our 2023-2024 goals and projects; or to make a donation click on one of the links below.  

• About the Rising Tide Fund

• Donate to the rising tide fund

THE 12th ANNUAL RISING TIDE TOURNEY | OCTOBER 3-10, 2025

If you are interested in joining our 12th annual event next year let us know!  Space is very limited.