Chasing Bonefish, Tarpon, and Permit, in belize.
We spent the first half of our trip in Belize in Placencia. Placencia was amazing, but we wanted to see as much of the country as we could while we were there. We spent the second half of our trip about 7 miles north of San Pedro on Ambergris Caye at Sapphire Beach Resort. Traveling to Ambergris Caye from Placencia was relatively easy, especially compared to how difficult travel had been so far on the trip. We took a gorgeous private shuttle to the San Pedro Belize Express Water Taxi, and then took the water taxi to San Pedro. If I ever make the trip again, I will definitely arrive at the water taxi at least an hour early; the admission line moved at a snail’s pace, and frequently the water taxi sold more tickets than it had seats. Thankfully, they honored our tickets and put us onto a smaller boat—no complaints despite the disorganization. Upon arriving at San Pedro, you’ll likely be greeted at the dock by a variety of mostly honest hustlers. If you’ve arranged accommodations before hand—just keep walking past the hustlers. If not, haggle for prices a bit and see if you can get an compete with online prices.
We wanted to drop our bags off before anything else, so we got our our golf cart (the universal form of travel in the area) and made our way north. At first I thought we lucked out with the golf cart, as it seemed like the limiter must have been removed, easily reaching 20 mph; we would make quick work of the 7 mile drive to our hotel. The golf cart had dim headlights, but with how well lit the streets were we weren’t concerned—that is until we went into thicker forest without streetlights and we realized how dim they really were. The windy road was dusty, covered with rocks and giant potholes, and we could barely see 3 feet in front of us. Somehow the flashlight of a cell phone provided more light. It was one of the most stressful drives of my life, but after 40 minutes we made it to our hotel safe.
Despite the rough journey over, I can’t say enough good things about Sapphire Beach Resort. It’s further from town than some of the other hotels, which can be good or bad depending on what kind of trip you’re looking for. I appreciated being a little bit away from the hustle and bustle of San Pedro, and the remote location of the hotel gives you a chance at seeing some really amazing wildlife. Upon arrival you are instantly greeted by the security team, provided a complimentary drink, and treated like family throughout the entirety of your stay. The staff is small, but have a great relationship with each other and are very competent, I cannot think of a single complaint I had about the premise. If you decide to stay there, make sure you order the Belizean colada after a long day of fishing. I promise it’s one of the best drinks you’ll have in your life.
Now time to focus on fishing. If you want to fish right from the hotel, there are three different dock areas you can fish off of, with chances at bonefish, permit, tarpon, barracuda, mangrove snapper, and more. The wire providing power to the dock lights had recently corroded while I was there, but I was told that normally it shines into the water at night to attract fish. You can easily imitate this effect with a headlamp on any of the docks along the coast of Belize. Simply point the light into the water, cut up some frozen shrimp, and chum them into the water over 15-30 minutes. The small snapper show up within seconds, while the larger snapper can take up to half an hour. Once you see fish feeding on the shrimp pieces, sight cast to the fish using a shrimp pattern, and retrieve with periodic twitches to keep the fly suspended in the water column. It may not be the most traditional fly fishing practice, but it’s really fun. Before I talk too much more about the actual fishing, I will list some of the gear I brought, and some of the gear I wish I brought.
What I Brought.
RIO MainStream Saltwater Fly Line Rio makes great products, and there’s nothing wrong with this line, but I’m personally not a huge fan for flats fishing. For schooling bonefish it worked great, when you can slow down and load the line properly its a fine line, however often on the flats you need to be able to fire an accurate cast in the blink of an eye, and with the short front taper on this line I struggled to do that.
OKUMA SLV-8-90-4 Similar to an entry level 5 wt for trout. Not a very specialized tool, but able to do pretty much everything. Threw tiny crazy charlies to bonefish, and big poppers to snook and had no issues with either.
Polarized sunglasses
What I wish I brought.
Polarized sunglasses optimized for Fishing/flats fishing.
A 10-12 weight. Planning for Juvenile tarpon, I thought my 8wt would only be a little under matched for the fish, but some of the resident tarpon are easily 60+ lbs.
More Fly Line variety. Weather can change conditions, and where you’re forced to fish quickly. There’s always somewhere to fish in Belize no matter the weather, as long as you have the gear to do it.
More leader variety. You may be fully prepared for how you plan to fish, but what about how your guide plans to fish?
Stripping Basket. Many of the docks are older wooden docks, with rusted nails and other fly line hazards everywhere.
More clousers, deceivers, poppers, etc. When preparing for bonefish, permit, and tarpon, its easy to forget about snook, jacks, and some of the other bruising species you’re prone to run into on the flats.
Different sized forceps. There’s a lot of toothy bastards on the flats. You need to be prepared to deal with them without slicing a finger.
Inflatable Kayak. Some parts of the lagoon have extraordinary fishing, but the bottom is much too soft to wade.
A Credit Card. Many guides only take cash, and the ATM’s don’t work with certain debit cards.
Over and over again I was recommended local guide Omar Arceo, known as the Doctor of the flats. Whether it was a random hustler in town, or a renowned local guide like “the king of permit” Darrel Smith, everyone knew and recommended Omar.
Luckily he was just returning to the area from a trip when I reached out to him, so he had a last minute availability I was able to schedule. I knew Omar came in high regard, and it was obvious spending time on the water with him that he was very knowledgeable, though I must admit I didn’t grasp just how impressive he was till I did some research after our trip.
Omar has spent most of his life advocating for conservation. With a lifetime of grassroots experience, Omar recently started working with the Coastal Zone Management Authority & Institute and Sarteneja Alliance for Conservation and Development - Belize as a facilitator in their project to promote sustainable development and fishing practices. Every year he gives fly fishing training to local youth from Punta Gorda all the way to Sarteneja to help form next generation of guides in Belize. Omar is also an associate of the Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT), and has been invited and spoke at their annual symposium as a panelist.
When I met up with Omar he was accompanied by one of his students Roman. When Omar told me that Roman would be poling the boat I was a little nervous that this young guide was potentially inexperienced and wouldn’t put me in the right position to catch fish, but was reassured by the fact that Omar was going to be coming along as well. It became obvious very quickly that having Roman on the boat as a second set of eyes and hands was far more of a benefit than a hindrance, allowing us to change terminal tackle and flies without taking our eyes of the water, and spot twice as many fish with an extra set of eyes. While I was fighting and landing bonefish, Roman went above and beyond and intuitively picked up my camera and got some awesome pictures of me.
When we got to the first fishing spot of the day we spotted a few sporadic bonefish hovering near weedy edges and deeper pools. Omar and Roman put me in a good position, but I couldn’t get the fish to eat, and the few fish quickly swam into hiding into the deeper water and weeds. As we left the first fishing spot we saw a massive school of horse eye jacks, but attempting to catch big horse eye jacks on 12 lb tippet on an 8wt rod is asking for trouble. We tried to tie on a fly on the tarpon rod, but as quick as they came, the jacks were gone. We quickly poled to the next spot, and found a few small bonefish willing to cooperate. The fish were small even by Beliziean bonefish standards, but I was ecstatic to get the first one boat side. I got a shot at a few more bonefish, and ended up getting 3 smaller bones to the boat before we decided to move to some new water.
While we were poling around we saw a permit, but after one misfired cast it was long gone. We decided to hang around the area for a bit to see if we could find any more straggling permit, and in that time Omar decided to troubleshoot my cast. Most of the day my biggest issue had been spooking the fish, and while Omar had a few tips, one stood out over all the rest. “Stop casting like you’re wading, you’re in a skiff. Don’t cast down at the water, cast at your eye level in front of you.” Within just a few casts I understood what he meant, and my weighted bonefish flies were no longer splashing into the water spooking nearby fish. When I was casting at the water one of two things would happen—my fly line smacking the water before my fly, or my fly slapping down into the water with the full energy of my casting loop. Once I began listening to Omars advice, my loop was gently unraveling above the water surface with my weighted bonefish fly falling to the water with nothing more than the weight of the fly. Another benefit to casting like this is an improved ability to judge how much line is out, and an extra second or two to adjust or abort a bad cast.
As the sun rose and tide went out opportunities became less and less frequent, but right before we began to head back, we found a school of bonefish with at least 100 fish. After observing the fish to try to pattern them for a few minutes, I made my cast in front of the bigger bonefish leading the school. After the first strip, a big bonefish slurped up the fly and instantly headed towards the pylon of a dock. My drag was already pretty tight for 12lb tippet, and I couldn’t seem to turn the bonefish’s head. As the bonefish was just feet from the dock I finally tightened my drag to avoid it tangling in the dock, I was momentarily able to turn the fish’s head, and it splashed on the surface for a brief second before bursting through my tippet. Omar told me there wasn’t anything I could have done, and described how the area used to be before every mansion and hotel had its own personal private dock. You could see the slight sadness in his eyes as he talked about how the rapid overdevelopment of Ambergris Caye has “defeated the flats,” destroying sea grass and mangrove habitats.
We decided to back off the fish and allow them to move away from the docks. Thankfully, within just a few minutes, the fish had worked their way onto the open flats, and we began casting again. Within a few casts, I hooked up again and landed the biggest bonefish of the day, though it paled in comparison to the one that had broken off earlier. It was hard to tell if the fish were just being more cooperative, or if it was just the tips Omar gave me paying off, but suddenly it seemed like everything clicked. Within minutes we managed to pull four average-sized (by Belize standards) bonefish out of the school. It seemed like every other cast was producing a fish. Yet I couldn’t help but notice the larger bonefish seemed indifferent to all my presentations.
Eventually, the sun rose, the tide dropped, adschool began to scatter into deeper water, and we decided to head back to the dock.
Part of me felt great—I caught my first bonefish and six more by the end of the day—but I couldn’t stop thinking about the permit and tarpon I missed, and the bonefish I lost. Deep down, I knew I was hooked. Part of me had hoped I wouldn’t love the experience and it would be a one-and-done deal, but I knew I wouldn’t feel satisfied until I got some vindication on those fish I missed. When we got back to the dock, I paid Omar and Roman, thanked them, and made my way back to the hotel to tell my girlfriend about the trip, coat myself in aloe vera, and pass out.
Omar represents everything a great fly fishing guide should. To him, the fishery is far more than merely a resource to exploit; it is one to promote and conserve. This was constantly evident in Omar's dedication to stewardship on the water. Every area we fished, Omar taught me about how things have changed and helped me form a mental image of the Belize he grew up loving. Omar helped me understand not only what’s been lost but also everything that’s left to protect. Deep down, I know I’ll be back, and the natural wonder I experienced with Omar is a huge part of the reason why.
