First, a warning, this is not a post full to the brim with grip and grin shots featuring exotic fish and ear to ear smiles. If that is what you have come in search of, turn back now lest you be severely disappointed. Although at least in my mind it started out that way, in the end this trip was not mostly, barely even partly fishing related in the end. Consider yourself warned.



What follows in a trip report of sorts from a very recent trip to Belize that I had hoped would be at least partially full of successful fishing stories. The fishing gods were against me and the trip turned into much more of a travel and "new experience" sort of adventure as opposed to a highly successful angling affair. So it goes sometimes.

A bit of background before I get into it. This trip had been in the works in one form or another for going on 12 years or so. A good climbing partner of mine and I used to joke half sincerely about taking a beach vacation, usually as we were strapped to some high alpine wall and as the suffering was nearing it's peak. At that point in our lives, our adventures had all been pretty similar and more or less based in the hills and centered around climbing stuff and freezing our tits off if they hadn't fallen off from being scared yet. As you might guess, this sort of lifestyle wears on a guy after a while and so as each year went by and as our collective climbing resumes grew longer with progressively higher, steeper, and generally more difficult ascents, our discussion of this beach vacation seemed to grow more serious. Well, he got to it before I did and wound up marrying a Norwegian chick he met in Thailand. Until two weeks ago, I had yet to set foot on a real, warm water, tropical sorta beach.

APKD had been to Belize the winter before last and had good things to say. Naturally we started tossing the idea around of teaming up for a trip there this winter. Again, the gods were against us and a very last minute work fubar, literally the day before my booking travel deadline, kept my wife and I from being able to AP and his wife back in late Nov. Better late than never I suppose. My wife and I regrouped and headed out towards the end of Jan.

In a nutshell, I had been looking forward to Belize for quite a long time. I had done research, tied flies, read articles, searched high and low on the internet, and generally had high hopes for a successful fishing trip with some more typical beach sorta stuff mixed in.

A good friend of Stam's and seasoned angler (to say the least) spoke to me some wise words that I have taken to heart. Expectation management is key. He spoke them in the context of planning and carrying out fishing adventures, although I think the concept can be applied more broadly. Allow me a tangent. I have often have a hard time drawing a line between hope, and expectation. As near as I can come to separating the two is to say that hope is your ideal, your dream, what would happen if things went perfectly, whereas an expectation should be what is realistically most likely. Quite often the two switch places and perhaps that is where I often go astray. After all is it hard to consider “most likely” in a setting that one has no experience in. Back on track, perhaps my expectations for what I could achieve from the shore in a place like Belize were too high.

A brief summary of our trip to Belize before I quit boring you with words and get on with the photographic part of the report. Our general plan was to fly into Belize City, bump over to San Pedro and spend a few days putting around. For me that meant walking the beaches and casting to plentiful bonefish and the occasional cruising permit, even perhaps stumbling upon some unsuspecting baby tarpon milling about. From there we would catch a water taxi to Caye (key) Caulker and spend a day or two there before hopping on a sailboat for three days heading south to Placencia (island hopping snorkeling and of course fishing along the way) from where we would continue south to Punta Gorga before turning north on the mainland and checking out the jungle a bit before heading home.

As things turned out, we were delayed in Caye Caulker due to weather, which was not a bad thing in my book, and wound up having to cut out most of what we had hoped to do and see inland.

So, without further ado, some photos.



We got dropped off in the Seatac airport at midnight ish and caught a few rough hours before getting on the plane at 6am.













After arriving in Belize City, and as we were carefully cautioned, we caught a ride to the water taxi terminal and headed to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye as quickly as possible.














San Pedro was an interesting place for sure. It is located on the southern end of Ambergris Caye which is long and fairly skinny. From the reef side shore of the island to the lagoon side of the city is about three blocks. The three streets were chaotic and busy as was the beach side, but that made for some good people watching and entertainment.

From what I had heard about fishing around San Pedro, one could do quite well for bonefish especially just by walking the shore and picking them out of the sand and turtle grass. During our three day stay on Ambergis (Am-bear-griss), conditions for sight fishing were grim to say the least. The wind was pretty steady at about 15-20mph and it was more or less overcast. That having been said, I put in some hours and found bonefish off the docks and on a few mini-flats between the turtle grass, but had zero luck getting them to chase a fly. In speaking to locals, the tides were "too low" and the bonefish weren't coming in close. Not that it mattered, with the wind, I couldn't get my fly line much beyond the tip of my nose accurately anyhow.

A few shots from around San Pedro.





























more to come...

Great pics. Can't wait for the rest!

So, after stumbling about the beaches near San Pedro with not a whole lot to show for it besides wind chapped faces and a few close but rejected encounters with bonefish cruising the boat cuts, we hopped on the water taxi again and headed for Caye Caulker.




On Caye Caulker the motto or mantra is "go slow." They mean that literally and figuratively. Caye Caulker is quite a change of pace from San Pedro much smaller and more intimate, far fewer people, and a super chill vibe that is easy to tune into. The locals were more than friendly and always easy going.



For those that want to go just slightly faster than slow, bikes are the preferred method, most walk here.




On our first afternoon on the caye we took a canoe out to cruise the shorelines and look for fish while we were at it. Happened across a school of baby tarpones, 15-40 pounders in a small lagoon near town. As it turns out they are fairly resident and kind of looked upon as pets by the dock owners close by. Glad we didn't fish for them!














We were on a bit of a shoestring budget but I had planned on throwing down for one guided day while we were in Belize. As things turned out and in keeping with the theme of the trip so far, I happened to pick probably the windiest and most cloudy day of the trip to pay a guide to fish me. Long story short, between the white caps, poor visibility, and my inability to put a cast where it needed to go, it was probably the most frustrating day of fishing of my life. Right off the bat we did manage to spot a school of fish in the big water while looking for permit. I got three casts at the school before the wind made it impossible to track them. In this case cast meaning a long bomb quartering with the wind and then stripping, literally, as fast as I could back to the boat. I landed one Lady fish and hooked a jack before we gave up fighting the swell and moved inland to look for bones. We found quite a few and a couple managed to eat a fly, but none came to hand.




Picking up a few sardines on the way out. Didn't wind up using any, maybe we should have?




The pelicans were kicking our butts, 3 to 1 by the time we connected with a good toss.




Reeling up a lady fish. Does that count as a smile?





For the next few days on Caye Caulker I walked the beaches in the mornings and evenings looking for bones. I wanted one bad after getting blanked thus far in the trip. As luck would have it, I found one mini-flat that the bones seemed to like quite well. I fished it for two days in a row at first and last light and managed to land my first bonefish. It was beautiful and of course as with many of my favorite fish, I have no photo to remember it by.

Can you see the bonefish?

No?







You have to look closer.












This was the only calm morning we had on the entire trip. I had been cursing the wind for fouling my best efforts thus far. The water was so calm and air so still on this morning that every fish I cast to spooked before my line even touched the water. Bonefish are easy is what I was told. If you find the fish, they will eat anything, just get it in front of them. My experience couldn't have been farther from that.

I actually found the shore based fishing opportunities here better than on Ambergris, perhaps because the islands features were smaller and easier to get to know. I found a few mini-flats that consistently held fish and local infrastructure, access, and help that was far more enjoyable and conducive to fishing than on Ambergris.

A few more images from around Caye Caulker






One of my favorites from the trip













From here we would hop on a boat for the next three days and two nights and do a little island hopping, snorkeling and fishing on the go.

No. That is a grimace.





That 2nd to the last photo is badass.

Crap, I will get the hang of it one day, I promise.

It was. I have a few more pics from the sailing/snorkeling part of the trip I need to sort through. Thanks for the advice on the gear and such by the way. Having decent stuff made all the difference. I can see how you get into the spear fishing/diving for good eats thing. Pretty stinking fun.

Damn, Coley. This post is as enjoying to read as to view. These photos are stunning. Thanks again for sharing.

Great photos Coley!!!.

I shot a series of timelapse sequences from a few different segments of the trip and just merged them into one longer video. My first attempt at this sort of thing so don't be too harse if it sucks.

The frog in the one pic looks like he was trying to show you the key to managing expectations. Excellent as always, as Stam said your words have a way of transporting us.

Coley,

You are a gifted photographer. Simply awesome!

Did any one notice the gecko inside that lamp with the frog next to it? I saw it the second time I looked at it.

The time laps was cool. I especially enjoyed the sun set sequence, with the clouds changing shape. Clouds and time laps photography were made for each other.

Now you need to add a music track to that video.

I'm with stam.

WTF has a pet tarpon?

If you take your pet elk out for a walk in November, you shouldn't be surprised if somebody shoots it. If you have a pet tarpon, you shouldn't be surprised if someone casts to it.

Great post Coley and very timely for me. I am leaving for Belize on Tuesday; staying in Palencia for a month. Belize is one of those places that has been in the back of my mind for years. True enough on managing expectations. This trip is about relaxation and experiencing what the place has to offer. Part of that relaxation will include fishing and I would think within a month I may manage to catch something - at least one small Tarpon.

I am expecting to consume a fair quantity of rum though.

There are several places in Florida that have "pet" tarpon. While I agree you should be able to fish over them you just might get a LOT of grief if you do.

Silver Coi, I guess

Coley......awesome stuff! Both photographically and written! Very enjoyable.

"And this is my pet herring. His name is Dodger."

I was in Antigua last year and in British Harbor a deep sea guide was hand feeding a pod of monster tarpon (5'+) with the entrails of the fish he was cleaning. They'd come up and grab the pieces right out of his and and if he didn't let go it looked like they would have yanked him right off the dock.

The guide books specifically state that you are not allowed to fish for them in the harbor.

I was wondering if anyone would pick up on that I almost called it "frog on a fence, lizard in a lamp" but didn't want to give it away.

There was a hand made ramshackle sign on the shore pretty near where the tarpon where at that suggested no fishing. I did noticed a couple of them were trailing broken leaders though... It was pretty clear they were people habituated as the school was following our canoe and seemed to be looking for a handout. There were a few pretty massive bonefish nearby though I was really tempted to cast at those, but again did not for fear of getting shot at and not being able to shoot back.

Mike, we wound our trip down at Placencia and it was a pretty cool little place. From what I had read I pictured it as more busy than it was. It was pretty chill actually. Placencia had probably the best swimming beaches of any place we saw on the trip. Clean, deep, and not very many weeds right by shore. In speaking with locals, it didn't sound like there was much in the way of snorkeling in the area which was my impression after walking around. There is an island just of the point of the peninsula and the channel that separates the two is a cruising spot for schools of jacks and big tarpon. I spent a bit of time chucking clousers as far as I could but only caught one super small jack and never saw the tarpon. A dude chucking bait there hooked a nice tarpon the night before we got there. Morning and evening are best. I walked quite a few miles of beach and poked around the lagoon side quite a bit and didn't find any good bonefish water. The dude that drove us to the airport owned a fly fishing guide service for 22 years there and I picked his brain a bit. According to him you have to get out to the cayes fo a good shot at bones and permit, and they are plentiful. I have his card if you need a contact down there.

I'll try and get to the final installment a little later on. Actually a fish picture or two in that batch, nothing terribly exciting though.

Very cool report Coley. I'm coming to think that expectation management is the key to traveling in general. My wife and I went to the Bahamas 3 years ago in March, and we only got to fish the first day. The guide said it was usually only windy for a couple days at a time, but we never got to fish another day. Even the sea kayaking was cancelled due to wind.

We leave Apr. 14, and I just booked a couple days for Caye Caulker, so I'll PM you for more details about that place. I'm looking to get a fishing guide for 3 days, and have lined up one for the first day at Ambergris and the third day at Caulker. Would you recommend the middle day at one place over the other? Cuz I still have that option.

We haven't booked the inland jungle stays yet, and I was hoping to learn from your experience.

Oh, about bonefish being easy, well they are when A. you can find them; B. when the wind is not too strong; and C. when the wind is not too calm. When it's calm on a shallow flat, your line and fly has to land gently off to the side or they spook, even at the shadow of the line. My usual stunt is to cast off to the side, and then a sudden gust of wind catches my line and drops it and the fly right on the fish's nose. Then ZOOM; they're gone.

Sg