I just wrapped up a 7 day trip to Belize. It was our first trip here and we really enjoyed it. Over the 7 days, I spent 3 days fishing. I’ve been fishing since I can remember and fly fishing for 20+ years but this was my first time doing any type of flats type fishing. It was a great experience and I can definitely see more of it in my future.
The night before my first day out, my guide Alex stopped by dinner to talk about logistics, get a sense for my experience level and ask if I had anything in particular I wanted to accomplish over the three days. We were in Punta Gorda so I think he assumed Permit would be my quarry of choice. I told him Permit would be great but in the end, I’ve caught none of the flats fish folks target so I was open to anything. I think that put him at ease a bit. The time of year and weather conditions were not ideal for permit and that combined with my experience level made it unlikely I’d have a ton of success catching targeting permit only. Ok, let’s target what’s available. Sounds good to me.
Day one we met at the marina and motored out to a big lagoon that holds permit, juvenile tarpon and some bonefish. Based on tides and weather conditions, Alex decided we’d target the tarpon first. We motored around to a number of likely spots but did not spot any fish. We also made some blind casts to likely holding water with no success so continued our search. Around mid morning, we spotted a small group of fish surface and the chase was on. The fish were moving around a bit so getting the boat in the right position to cast in the deep channel leading into the lagoon took a little time but eventually we did and started making casts. First a floater with a heavy fly. No bueno. The fly was not getting deep enough. Did you happen to bring an intermediate or sinking head line? Yep, both. We switched to the type 7 head and first cast were into a fish the promptly spit me. A couple casts later and I was able to land my first juvenile tarpon. Tons of fun on a fly rod.
Shortly thereafter, I got another quick bump then the fish disappeared so it was onto permit. First we searched the lagoon and never found any. Then we went out to the flats as the sun got higher in the sky and over the course of the afternoon we saw two nice fish, both of which I got legit shots at. Neither of which resulted in hookups. One fish just ignored my fly. The other moved towards it but spooked as it got hung up in a bit of turtle grass. Boo. On to day two.
Day 2 Alex decided we would fully concentrate on permit in the lagoons. It was intermittently cloudy with some rain showers moving through which I was told is not great for flats fishing for permit. It was a tough day though I think fairly normal for those who target permit regularly. We laid eyes on 6-7 permit through the day and had legit shots at 4 of them. No hookups though. Of the 4 shots, I had 2 refusals, one horrible cast that landed on the fishes head and spooked him and one solid (but long) cast but the fish turned last second and headed into the mangroves without seeing the fly. I also had a random shot at a larger bonefish and was rewarded with my first ever bonefish hookup but he promptly spit me leaving me skunked for the day. Bummer! As a side note, it’s crazy how deep they can maneuver those boats into the mangroves. Hard work for the folks doing the polling.
Day three Alex decided it was time to get me a tug or too and made the decision to take me out to the reef about 6 miles offshore to target bonefish. Fine by me! I can see the appeal of targeting permit and will definitely do more of it in the future but I had never caught a bonefish either. I was ready to knock that species off the list. As we approached the first spot, Alex quickly spotted a group of small bones and had me make a cast. Fish on…and off. The old trout set special. Not to worry, the bones were small, numerous and not easily spooked. Great for a newb like me
. A couple more casts later and I had landed my first ever bonefish. Small but my first so we snapped a quick pic. I believe the buildings in back of me are an outpost for the Belize Coast Guard.
The rest of the day we had tons of shots at bones ranging in size from the one in the pic to double that. Overall, I landed 14 or 15 and lost a handful of others. We fished for them in sandy flats, over hard coral bottoms and even in deeper water in the channels when Alex saw signs of them mudding. We also had a shot at a couple of trigger fish who seems to have no interest in my offering. We did spend a little time looking for permit but never found any. I was a really fun day overall. A great fishery for a new flats fisherman like myself to get his feet wet.
So, over 3 days of fishing we targeted juvenile tarpon for 1/2 day and landed one, permit for 1 1/2 day, got 6 legit shots and landed none and bonefish for a day and landed a bunch. Overall, a great trip but more importantly a great learning experience. I learned a lot. Sometimes when I did things right but more often when I got comments like “nice but that cast won’t work on big bones when you get a chance to target them”.
I also just really enjoyed Belize overall. Great people, good food, fishing, wildlife, etc. I’ll definitely be headed back.
The night before my first day out, my guide Alex stopped by dinner to talk about logistics, get a sense for my experience level and ask if I had anything in particular I wanted to accomplish over the three days. We were in Punta Gorda so I think he assumed Permit would be my quarry of choice. I told him Permit would be great but in the end, I’ve caught none of the flats fish folks target so I was open to anything. I think that put him at ease a bit. The time of year and weather conditions were not ideal for permit and that combined with my experience level made it unlikely I’d have a ton of success catching targeting permit only. Ok, let’s target what’s available. Sounds good to me.
Day one we met at the marina and motored out to a big lagoon that holds permit, juvenile tarpon and some bonefish. Based on tides and weather conditions, Alex decided we’d target the tarpon first. We motored around to a number of likely spots but did not spot any fish. We also made some blind casts to likely holding water with no success so continued our search. Around mid morning, we spotted a small group of fish surface and the chase was on. The fish were moving around a bit so getting the boat in the right position to cast in the deep channel leading into the lagoon took a little time but eventually we did and started making casts. First a floater with a heavy fly. No bueno. The fly was not getting deep enough. Did you happen to bring an intermediate or sinking head line? Yep, both. We switched to the type 7 head and first cast were into a fish the promptly spit me. A couple casts later and I was able to land my first juvenile tarpon. Tons of fun on a fly rod.
Shortly thereafter, I got another quick bump then the fish disappeared so it was onto permit. First we searched the lagoon and never found any. Then we went out to the flats as the sun got higher in the sky and over the course of the afternoon we saw two nice fish, both of which I got legit shots at. Neither of which resulted in hookups. One fish just ignored my fly. The other moved towards it but spooked as it got hung up in a bit of turtle grass. Boo. On to day two.
Day 2 Alex decided we would fully concentrate on permit in the lagoons. It was intermittently cloudy with some rain showers moving through which I was told is not great for flats fishing for permit. It was a tough day though I think fairly normal for those who target permit regularly. We laid eyes on 6-7 permit through the day and had legit shots at 4 of them. No hookups though. Of the 4 shots, I had 2 refusals, one horrible cast that landed on the fishes head and spooked him and one solid (but long) cast but the fish turned last second and headed into the mangroves without seeing the fly. I also had a random shot at a larger bonefish and was rewarded with my first ever bonefish hookup but he promptly spit me leaving me skunked for the day. Bummer! As a side note, it’s crazy how deep they can maneuver those boats into the mangroves. Hard work for the folks doing the polling.
Day three Alex decided it was time to get me a tug or too and made the decision to take me out to the reef about 6 miles offshore to target bonefish. Fine by me! I can see the appeal of targeting permit and will definitely do more of it in the future but I had never caught a bonefish either. I was ready to knock that species off the list. As we approached the first spot, Alex quickly spotted a group of small bones and had me make a cast. Fish on…and off. The old trout set special. Not to worry, the bones were small, numerous and not easily spooked. Great for a newb like me
. A couple more casts later and I had landed my first ever bonefish. Small but my first so we snapped a quick pic. I believe the buildings in back of me are an outpost for the Belize Coast Guard.The rest of the day we had tons of shots at bones ranging in size from the one in the pic to double that. Overall, I landed 14 or 15 and lost a handful of others. We fished for them in sandy flats, over hard coral bottoms and even in deeper water in the channels when Alex saw signs of them mudding. We also had a shot at a couple of trigger fish who seems to have no interest in my offering. We did spend a little time looking for permit but never found any. I was a really fun day overall. A great fishery for a new flats fisherman like myself to get his feet wet.
So, over 3 days of fishing we targeted juvenile tarpon for 1/2 day and landed one, permit for 1 1/2 day, got 6 legit shots and landed none and bonefish for a day and landed a bunch. Overall, a great trip but more importantly a great learning experience. I learned a lot. Sometimes when I did things right but more often when I got comments like “nice but that cast won’t work on big bones when you get a chance to target them”.
I also just really enjoyed Belize overall. Great people, good food, fishing, wildlife, etc. I’ll definitely be headed back.
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