{"id":6942,"date":"2020-11-27T02:23:32","date_gmt":"2020-11-27T06:23:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tailflyfishing.com\/?p=6942"},"modified":"2020-12-11T19:32:30","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T23:32:30","slug":"remembering-victor-castro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tailflyfishing.com\/remembering-victor-castro\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Victor Castro"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victor Castro (1962 – 2020)<\/span><\/p>\n

Victor Manuel Castro Gutierres was my fishing guide when we met in 2007. Over the next 13 years he became much more than that.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was a mentor, sharing his knowledge of saltwater fly fishing and the coastal ecosystem of Mexico\u2019s southern Yucatan Peninsula, as well as a dear friend. Even though we lived nearly 1,200 miles apart, we stayed in touch with regular messages and social media. He guided me to my first bonefish in 2007 and my first permit last March (see \u201cJourney to Xcalak,\u201d issue 48, July\/August).<\/span><\/p>\n

A saltwater fly fishing trailblazer on Mexico\u2019s southern Caribbean coast, Castro died August 8 in Chetumal, Mexico, after a brief battle with COVID-19. He was 57.<\/span><\/p>\n

Judging by the outpouring of grief and sympathy for Castro\u2019s family, my experience wasn\u2019t unique. He touched the lives of thousands of traveling fly anglers from across the world over 25 years of guiding the waters around the small fishing village of Xcalak, Mexico. With infinite patience, a sly sense of humor, and unflinching integrity, he altered the fly fishing landscape on Mexico\u2019s Caribbean coastline, playing an integral part in the development of a low-impact, ecologically friendly tourism industry centered on Chetumal Bay flats fishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Born December 14, 1962 in Xcalak, Castro grew up fishing with his father and started his career as a commercial fisherman. Twenty-five years ago he took an English course, traded his speargun for a fly rod, and dedicated himself to ecological tourism and fly fishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad was a commercial fisherman for many years, and he struggled a lot to bring the daily bread to our table, with many limitations,\u201d said his son, Victor Manuel Castro Arreola. \u201cOver the years he founded his business, Osprey Tours.\u2026 He became passionate about the flats. He was a fighter. His life changed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"flyCastro hosted anglers from the US, Canada, Mexico, South America, and Europe, contributing to Xcalak\u2019s development as a fly fishing destination that filled a gap between Ascension and Espiritu Santo bays to the north and Ambergris Caye, Belize, to the south.<\/span><\/p>\n

He led countless anglers to their first bonefish, permit, and tarpon over the years, poling his pangas Lizbeth, Yamily<\/i> and Brianna<\/i> across Chetumal Bay, but he was especially fond of wading the flats in search of bonefish.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWalk like a cat,\u201d he often advised. \u201cThe bonefish is very spooky.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Castro exhibited unyielding patience and had a knack for connecting novices with the bay\u2019s wary denizens. He used a combination of warmhearted encouragement and the skill acquired through years of guiding to find success for his clients. He had a profound generosity of spirit that manifested in an easy smile and lively eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

He loved his family and enjoyed talking about them as much as fishing. He\u2019s survived by his wife, Flora; sons Victor, Andres, and Jesiel; daughters Lizbeth and Yamily; and grandchildren Josmar, Cindy, Melanie, Brianna, Victor Alonso, and Samuel. He also left behind many friends and extended family members in Xcalak. When word of Castro\u2019s death spread on social media, friends from around the globe shared scores of thoughts and condolences on his and family members\u2019 Facebook pages.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both of Castro\u2019s parents and his sister also died from COVID-19 in a span of just a few weeks, and with few clients visiting Xcalak because of coronavirus travel restrictions, the family\u2019s finances were strained. A GoFundMe page to help defray the family\u2019s medical bills doubled its fundraising target in two days.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe GoFundMe was a success because Victor had so many friends,\u201d said Rob Mukai, an American hotel owner who called Castro his closest friend in Xcalak. \u201cHe made a huge impact on a lot of people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Castro\u2019s son, Andres Isai Castro Arreola, will carry on his father\u2019s legacy with Osprey Tours.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very strange and he will be missed,\u201d he said. \u201cBut we will continue on because my father was a great man.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The first time I fished with Castro, in 2007, he returned my tip because he thought it was too much compensation for the number of fish we saw. He went inside his home and returned with a plate full of his wife Flora\u2019s homemade banana-leaf chicken tamales. It sparked a friendship that carried on despite infrequent face-to-face meetings. During the the last few months of Castro\u2019s life, we communicated often about the state of the pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have great weather for fishing, but now we don\u2019t have fishermen,\u201d he said. \u201cSuch is life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

When a tornado ripped through the busy commercial area of a city not far from my home last spring, he sent a message to make sure my family and I were okay. We routinely swapped fishing pictures, and shortly after I submitted \u201cJourney to Xcalak\u201d to our editors, with my friend on my mind, I was inspired to make my own homemade banana-leaf tamales. They weren\u2019t nearly as good as Flora\u2019s, and I told him so when I shared a photo.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThose tamales look delicious,\u201d he replied. \u201cIt\u2019s always good to try.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our last day together in a boat was special because we caught a permit, but it has become even more meaningful since Castro\u2019s death. A friend and I were supposed to go out with Castro\u2019s nephew Felipe Miravete that day, but a scheduling conflict meant the jefe<\/i> himself would guide us. Any time you catch a permit is a great day, but catching it with my old friend took it to another level. I expect to catch more permit, but I\u2019ll never again sit in the panga with my friend and talk about it. I feel cheated, although I take comfort in the memory of sitting there with him, eating a sandwich and sipping a Dos Equis, talking about his life on the water, and about living his dream in a tropical paradise with his family.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a good life,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019d call it great.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Trey Reid<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

TAIL FLY\u00a0 FISHING MAGAZINE = SALTWATER FLY FISHING<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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