Being back here at Belize River Lodge (BRL) is a treat far beyond the fishing. Catching up with old friends like owners Mike and Marguerite and Misha and Dirk has been fun. Yesterday, longtime BRL fishing guide, Pedro Aldana and I reunited after not fishing together in over ten years. I mentioned his health issues briefly but not what they were. Well, one of them has to do with his heart and he’s in fact getting a pacemaker soon. He’s not supposed to overexert which of course means he probably shouldn’t be poling the flats.
Naturally, we went to the flats anyhow. Pedro had a plan to hide from the wind on the leeward sides of the nearby keys. He said he could pole gently while sitting down and wasn’t worried.
We started exactly as planned. We tucked behind the first key and it was very calm. Pedro sat on his poling platform and had Granny blind casting a small Clouser up against the mangroves in search of a few snappers and perhaps even a snook.
It turns out the snappers were hungry. Granny plopped her fly into the first good looking spot and a school of snappers came out. Most of them were mangrove snappers but the first one she landed was this pretty little yellowtail. Yellowtail snappers don’t often get big.
We caught a bunch of mangrove snappers. These guys don’t get big either but are fierce. Anything that goes by their home they’ll come out and take a bite out of it. However, if you miss the strike, they immediately get lockjaw. I didn’t miss the strike on this one!
There was one snapper that we caught that does in fact get large. This is a juvenile dog snapper. It’s tricky to identify all these guys. The blue line under the eye is key on this one. We also caught a schoolmaster but I didn’t snap a picture.
After a couple hours prowling the mangroves the sunlight was high enough to see well on the flats. We made a short run to one of Pedro’s favorite bonefish flats. The fish were there.
In general the bonefish of Belize are small. I’m a bit spoiled with them from my Bahamas experience, the Seychelles and from chasing the monsters of St. Brandon’s. But I still enjoy them here in Belize. They can be just as hard to catch and no matter the size they will test your gear. Of course, Pedro was poling standing up within 15 minutes. All true anglers are the same – fishing seems to take priority over almost everything.
What’s really fun about bonefishing in Belize is the skinny water you fish them in. I’ve fished bonefish here in water less then 4” deep. Some fish literally feed with their entire backs out of the water. For this reason, bring very lightly weighted flies for Belize. Most my flies have either the smallest bead chain eyes made or mono eyes. And I like the colors pink, tan and white.
We fished bonefish for several hours. In the beginning we saw quite a few but they were finicky. We were also getting “tuned up”. Bonefishing is all sight fishing and it takes some time to get your eyes in gear. There were also some quick long casts needed. In the end we landed five. Not bad.
Today was our last day with Pedro but we’ll be right back after the fishing with one of BRL newer guides. It should be good. It was another fabulous day in Belize. We returned to the Lodge about 5:30 pm. After a Belikin and a short time in the hammock, we were around the dinner table catching up with everyone. And of course, enjoying another enjoyable feast!
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