About the Palometa Club
The Palometa Club is an exclusive fly fishing lodge on the northeastern edge of the famed permit and bonefish flats of Ascension Bay in Yucatan, Mexico. Founded in December 2005, the Club is one of the most respected fly fishing lodges in the Caribbean for serious flats anglers. The Palometa Club is the definition of an old school lodge operation with tremendous hospitality, comfortable accommodations, incredible food, and an all-star staff. We also hang our hats on a unique fishing program founded on the most experienced and professional team of English speaking guides in the region.
We operate out of a comfortable (recently renovated) six-bedroom lodge located on the picturesque ocean-side beach of the unique lobster fishing village of Punta Allen, Mexico. Anglers can book fully-inclusive, week-long fishing packages (which include transportation from Cancun) in their quest for permit, bonefish, tarpon, snook and more. Non-anglers can enjoy snorkeling, guided eco tours and archeological trips as the Palometa Club is situated within the famed Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve, a 1.3 million acre World Heritage Site known for its rich marine environment, exotic birds and tropical wildlife, and vast array of Mayan ruins.
The Permit Experts
The Palometa Club is tailor made for anglers in search of a specialized fishing trip targeting the most elusive and glorified of all saltwater species – the permit. Of course we don’t neglect the other species of Ascension Bay that make the fishery so diverse; however as the name implies, Palometa (Spanish word for Permit) Club, has built a program that caters to dedicated permit enthusiasts.
The Palometa Club is anything but a “fishing motel”, rather a boutique, old school fishing lodge in the purist form. The Palometa Club focuses on the aspects of what make a good fishing trip and excellent fishing trip. A destination you will migrate back to year after year.
Managers
Our local management team consists of Gerardo Velazquez and husband-wife couple, Francois Botha and Dasha Uspenskaya. Everyone who has visited the Palometa Club knows our head guide and co-manager, Gerardo. “Jerry” was born and raised in Punta Allen and is a prideful leader in the community. It is hard to find a better guide, more loyal, or harder working gentleman. We are so fortunate to have him in a mission critical leadership position – and our guests should feel privileged to spend a day on the water with Jerry.
At the front of the house, you will find Francois and Dasha. Francois is a Cape Town, South Africa native while Dasha hails from Murmansk, Russia. Francois and Dasha have a lengthy resume of fishing, guiding, and managing fishing programs around the world from Africa to Argentina, Russia, Seychelles, Alaska, and many other exotic fisheries. In addition to having many skins on the wall, Francois and Dasha bring gregarious, fun, entertaining and professional personalities to our hosting and leadership team at the Club.
Owners
The Club is owned by Paul Comer, David Leake & Alan Steele. Paul and Alan were longtime repeat guests before the owner partnership was formed in January 2022. David Leake is owner and director of the travel department at Tailwaters Fly Fishing Company in Dallas, TX. Tailwaters Travel has acted as the Club’s exclusive sales and marketing booking agent since 2010. We are confident that our ringside seat over the last dozen+ years has provided the ownership group with the experience and familiarity with the fishery, the town, the people, and the business itself to continue taking the program to the next level.
Since taking over in early 2022, owners have strived to implement noteworthy changes to the social fabric of the business – including incorporating more meaningful involvement from the locals in Punta Allen in operations and management. Since it was of founded by Dick and Kaye Cameron in 2005, the Palometa Club has always had a laid back and boutique vibe with a cult-like following amongst our loyal repeat clients. Our goal is to remain true and sincere to this legacy, while combining the strongest fishing program on the Yucatan with an elevated guest experience off the water as well.
