December 30, 2012 - January 5, 2013 Fishing Report

WHAT GUESTS WERE CATCHING:

BONES: Bonefish central around here and really fun for the families that have been staying with us over the holiday. Henry caught his first bonefish walking the beach with his dad George. Making it fun, that’s what it’s all about. Anthony came in the other day to the office, he is about ten, and proved he caught his bonefish off the dock with a picture on his i phone. Anthony found out about the bonefish pins we honor our guests with and that was his goal. Get a bonefish, get a pin. Way to go. Lauren caught her first bonefish on fly – again, witnessing the confidence at the end of the day, when someone catches her first bonefish on fly, is really fun to see. Evon and Lisa landed their first bonefish on fly as well! The Mase family had a big fun time out with Jerry reef fishing, and they caught a few bones on the way back in to the lodge. Ann, Michael, Charles and Henry all landed bonefish on fly. Michael was really happy to see his sons catch their first bonefish on fly. He was also really happy to see his backing for the first time in his fly fishing life. If you wanted bonefish this week, you had it.

PERMIT: If you love permit fishing, you would want to be out on the water everyday right now! Amazing January permit fishing. Permit from 5 to 15 lbs in schools north and south. Big permit in the deeper water. No kidding, permit in schools of hundreds floating….when you see it, you can’t believe it. I think we are really seeing the effects of all the “catch and release” effort Belize has made to these fish. Tim landed his first permit on fly, so did Sam….Vance landed a nice one on spin. Tons of shots, lots of “almost happened” …. which means you are seeing and fishing to permit.

TARPON: Micah landed his first tarpon on fly! Darrell fished everyday this week, and when I asked him about his day, “We had a great day.” I could never get him to budge until the last day…..the day he landed a nice tarpon way back in Frances Lagoon with Captain Luis. Still, he was modest. For the initiated, it was there. That grin. I’m so thrilled you landed a tarpon Darrell. Way to go. And thank you for being such a great role model for the fly fishermen that are just beginning. You showed them that it is about the day and what you learned. Fly fishing for tarpon will do that to a person. I fished with Meredith and Captain Cesar today out on Savannah. We had shots all day, but I bet if you asked us what was the most amazing thing we saw we would each say the same thing… when we saw a big fat 35 – 40 pound tarpon tailing in front of us at one o’ clock. I had a eat and Meredith landed a nice tarpon at the end of the day. Cesar was amazing. He talked to us about what the fish was doing. It’s what I’m working on in my own fishing, and I really appreciated those few moments in time watching…..

OTHER SPECIES: The Mase family ripped it up on the reef catching a variety of fish on spin. Barracuda madness – and I’m almost temped to get a barracuda pin because I think they are so underrated as a light tackle fish. In any case, we had a lot of barracuda, big and small, landed on fly and spin. We also have had some really great fly fishing for snook in the mangroves. Darrell landed his first snook on fly, so know he nows. It’s a great fish.

FLIES THAT WORKED

Bonefish: Gotcha, Crazy Charlie’s in tan or white, just about anything would work – mostly size 8 and 6, some with weedguards.
Permit: Our standard never gives up: Orange Christmas Island Special in size 4 or 6, Avalon in size 4, and Gotcha’s in size 4 or 6. Some crabs in 6, tan. Mantis shrimp, tan and bead chain eyes – it works.
Tarpon: : Chartreuse toad, slow easy twitchy retrieve – depends on what the fish is doing. Watch and listen. On Savannah we are using 40 and 50 lb shock. Let the fly settle, then move it. White, tan, pink – bunnies and toads. Saturday they wanted tan. Really fun tarpon fishing in skinny water right now!

GUIDE OF THE WEEK

Captain Cesar takes the title this week for getting Lori-Ann and Meredith into some world class tarpon fishing.

REPORT SUMMARY:

Here it is the first week of 2013. We went from a packed house to a much slower pace as our guests headed back home after the holidays. We thank our guests for sharing their holiday time with us. We had a ton of fun and laughs. The fishing is fantastic right now. There is some dodging weather here and there, but the fish are around. As we begin this new year, we are reminded about what is important to us. Family, friends and time spent with each other, fishing or just hanging out. I think we all felt the importance of “special” time with loved ones . Cheers to good fishing and Happy New Year!

Don’t forget our Annual Grand Slam Tagging Invitational to Benefit Bonefish & Tarpon Trust at El Pescador Wednesday, Jan 23 – Sunday, Jan 27, 2013. Contact us for more information. Thank you! - Lori-Ann and Ed

If you have any questions or would like more information, please email us at [email protected]. Happy fishing!