Weekly Report: 10/19- 10/25/03

Oooh baby the fishing has been heating up! We have finally started to get some rain out here on the caye, which although has often made for some seriously tough visibility, has brought low pressure systems with virtually no wind days. Over the past couple of weeks the wind has been blowing about one out of every four days and beyond that it has been dead calm. One out of four of these calm days have been totally blue bird and the rest are mostly sun with some high clouds. What this means- damn good odds of a couple of days of awesome conditions!

The Results: Bob Olden and Mr. Moose. They only fished two days with us before they headed down to PG. First day they jumped 4 tarpon (bunny black deaths). Second day they got into some babies and some good bones- including one six pound fish for Moose. Lynn Skinner-Kleigh- her first time fishing in the salt and although it took a couple of days for her to get the first bone to the boat she finished off her trip in grand style, devolping an excellent relationship with guide Erlindo, mastering the bonefish thing, and even getting into a bunch of ladyfish. Marty and Cathy Ingram also only fished a couple of days but did pretty damn well for their first times in the salt as well. In fact they had some serious luck on their sides. Cathy’s first bonefish on the fly was pushing five pounds (she brought the pictures back to prove) and Marty- not to be completely outdone by his wife of 28 years- came back after the second day with pictures of a real nice 8-10lb permit. Well done you lucky son of a… Cathy and Jim Bender paid us another annual visit. Jim, owner of the fly shop www.thelowerforty.com in Worchester, MA (pronounced Wusta for the uninitiated) spent a couple of successful days on the water with guide Carlos. Jim did pretty well- saw some permit, stuck some bones, and jumped some ‘poons. Cathy did pretty well, too, and left with a damn good tan! Old time friend Chet Geniec and friend Karen Horan of Eastern, PA joined the party. Karen took right to the fly rod and put a couple of nice bones in the boat the first day and Chet (finally!) got his tarpon. Congrats to you both.

The last couple of days we had a couple of new groups in. First being some folks from California. Long time friend Charlie Fulelrton managed to con a couple of suckers into the trip this year- and funny enough they have already signed up for next year. Mike and Tom Harman got their first bones on the fly plus some ladyfish and jacks. The tarpon and permit were there for them but it just didn’t work out. KC Bishop- also new to the salt, seem to be eminating luck and could consistently got the tarpon to eat but seemed to have a little trouble hanging on to the fish. Although convinced they were aboard the Titanic, Charlie and Bob managed to heed Nesto’s advice most of the time (except one particularly nasty morning when Nesto recommended they bring a deck of cards and bottle of tequila) and jumped fish every day but damn-it guys you hang on to the fish! Of this group maybe the most excited after one of the blue-bird days was Gary, Director of California Trout. Gary has been around, he knows his destination fishing for sure. In brief his quote contained a bunch of expletives and “unbelievable.” While fishing with Tomas, Gary managed to get a shot at the entire Grand Slam- all in one cast! Tailing permit at 90 feet, daisy chaining tarpon at 50, and low and behold bonefish between there and the boat. Seemingly the most logical thing to do he grabbed the permit rod with a Merkin, dropped a 90 foot bomb (Tomas supposedly gasped “that is fucking beautiful” while the cast was mid-air), consequently lining a stray tarpon, which shot into the school of permit, blowing them out, which blew out the tarpon. However- all hope was not lost and he somehow managed to hook a nice bone out of the melee. Wow!

We also had a small Georgian contingent. Asa Davis got his first bone on the fly and saw a bunch of tarpon, but couldn’t quite get them to pull the trigger. Total novice and long time friend of Asa, John Tucker not only got a nice and straight 50 foot cast by the end of the week, but got his bonefish as well. But the big news out of this group was David Middleton. Another lucky S.O.B got a permit on day one and proving it was not a fluke got another one on day three. Speaking of permit, I jumped in the boat with John and guide Sinoe one day and we snuck out to Blackador to see if we could find and sickle tales. Sure enough right as Sinoe takes the boat off plane and shuts off the engine I glance over the port side and low and behold a bloody monster cruising right alongside. I claimed 35 and Sinoe claimed 40 pounds. Shortly after I inaffectivly tried to lasso this behemoth a “dink” twenty pounder cruised right up to us giving me the “fin.” Once again it didn’t happen, but you know what Mr. Permit? I will get you. It is obviously taken some time, but oh yes, you will be mine.

Top flies. Tarpon; black death with no flash, purple and black bunny. If you are using a circle hook, don’t set it! Intermediate lines have been effective if you want to look for some of the remaining big migratories in the channels. For bonefish- these calm days and west winds open up the ocean side flats for fishing. This means more wading possibilities, but you are fishing over grass and coral so weed guards are imperative. Over grass I like greens, brown, and chartreuse. These fish are often running in real skinny water so light flies are necessary as well. In the lagoons gotchas, bonefish fox, and Christmas island special in orange have been doing well. All the permit caught recently have been on #4 gotchas.

We are running a pretty hot December special right now. 5 nights lodging (meals and non-alcoholic bevs. Included) with three days guided fishing for $990. Drop me an e-mail if you have any fantastic fishing anecdotes, surefire pick-up lines, or any questions about Belize.

Plain and simple fishing has been good. Conditions have been a bit tricky this past week but the even the couple of soggy days we had produced some nice fish.

A couple of couples joined us this past week for their first forays in to the saltwater world. All hailing from southern Georgia but having fished before for bass and crappie (and maybe a couple of trout) they actually fared well once thrust the fly rod in their hands. The girls Lauren and Haile, both caught their first bonefish and Haile even got a nice 25 pound tarpon. Much to Walker’s chagrin, his highly revered 4 foot super ultralight ugly stick he brought down in a garment box did not have the opportunity to land a giant tarpon but he, and compadre Ben did get their first bonefish on the fly.

Dick and Robin Carr, from Santa Fe New Mexico, got their first bonefish on conventional tackle. Of the days they fished with guide Carlos they had a blast battling with tarpon and barracuda.

In a nutshell the bonefishing has been consistent. No real monsters have been caught but folks have all been catching fish. Tarpon fishing has been hit and miss depending on the weather. Nesto and I went out together on a reconnaissance mission to see if any of the big migratories are still around and we found they are. He landed a fish around 50 and I landed one around 80- but we saw a couple of rollers easily over 100. Some permit have been spotted but none hooked. Flies for bones- Gotchas, again. Estes bonefish special in green. O’Keefe’s Missing Link in tan. Tarpon. Red and black all white and white and lime green. The bigger tarpon this time of year tend to prowl the channels so it is important to have weighted tarpon flies or an intermediate line.

Next couple of months should bring the much coveted west winds so be prepared. We still have room and welcome last minute bookings- so come on guys and girls, you desrve a grand slam!

Weekly Report: 10/5/03- 10/12/03

Although it has been a bit quiet around the lodge the last week we have had some good fishing days and some impressive tales come back with our fisherman.

This has been “Swiss” week so to speak with four guests from across the seas. Beat Weidmann, of www.flyfishingparadise.ch, and his friend Andrea Allini joined us for seven days. Beat managed to catch a bunch of bonefish and have a pretty good time doing so. He did make a cardinal mistake, and that was to invite me out into the boat with him a couple of days. Joke around the lodge is that I have been a jinx and that Belize fish simply do not like me. A farce I say! I catch a bunch of fish when nobody is around… Anyway, my turn on deck and we are looking for tarpon. 150 yards away I spot the shadow moving towards us at a pretty good clip, I grab the 11 weight, rip off 90 feet and get ready. Tomas, the guide, looks at me and says “Will those are Permit,” (regular readers know of my particular problems with these fish). OK, I set the tarpon rod down and grab the permit rod, rip off 90 feet and get ready. 200 feet: “Tomas, now way those aren’t permit they are too big,” put down the permit rod and grab the tarpon rod. “Will, I am telling you those are permit,” grab the permit rod now. “No way- I can see them they are way too big to be permit,” Grab the tarpon rod. 70 feet, downwind, the tail goes up. “Holy %*^@, why didn’t you tell me they are permit!.” 6 HUGE permit, all over 25 lbs, and I honestly think a couple would push 40. Frantic, I throw the tarpon rod at poor Beat, grab the pemit rod and cast…. Low and behold the biggest plate of spaghetti you have ever seen in your life! And there goes my record permit. Anyway, no less than 10 seconds later more shadows, these moving real fast. Grab the tarpon rod, slam down the cockroach, set the hook and hand Beat a fully connected, pissed off 30 lb. jack who promptly decided it would rather be in Mexico and not Belize. 45 minutes later (and two missed tarpon on my behalf) we got big grins from the fish and from our friend.

We also had three other guys stop by for a couple of days, Estaban Neely, Paul Strother, and Winston Cutler (plus friend Toby for one day). New forays into the salt for them all, not counting the Keys but nobody catches fish there so it doesn’t really count, and they all got bonefish on the fly. Conditions were tough for there two days of fishing, low clouds and 15 knot east winds, but guides Carlos and Erlindo still managed to put enough of those little buggers down wind to keep smiles on everybodies faces.

The other Swiss; Nathan and Henry Looser. These guys came down with open eyes and a desire to experience everything- and their positive attitude has definitely reflected on how the fish bite. Frankly, I can’t list everything they have caught cause the list would be way too long- but here are some highlites of what they have caught: barracuda (over 20 in one day biggest 5 feet), bonefish (28in one day), tarpon, ladyfish, jack crevalle (biggest hooked est. 25lb on 6lb test), horse-eyed jack, lane snapper, black snapper, mutton snapper (brought back 35 as a treat for the staff), southern stingray (40 pounds), and a permit (10 pounds)! Granted they are not fly fishing only- but holy cow these guys are doing great and their trip isn’t even over!

9/1/03-10/2/03

Some fishing lodges have resident barracuda. Some fishing lodges have resident tarpon. But holy cow, since my return, our resident school of bonefish have found some new friends. 7 permit have been showing up at our dock for the last three weeks in a row! And I still can't catch one!!!

Anyway, Trout Tour 2003 has finally concluded and I have returned to the wonderful world of salt water flats fishing.

According to Hans, General Manager, September weather was fantastic. Wind was way down and the sun was way up. Unfortunatly, we did not have too many anglers to share these ideal conditions. September is notoriously slow on Ambergris Cay, and why I have no idea. The big migratories are still around, you will most likely not see another boat on the flats all week, and the weather really is fantastic. What is a Labor Day weekend picinic compared to a hundred pound torpedo connected to a fly line? Anyway, Peter DeJong of Belgium managed to land a 90lb tarpon and hook many others. Ted "the Mango" Margo returned for a second shot at the 'poons and succeeded. And for Ted's friend, returning guest, David Weeks, his ducks all fell in a row and he pulled off the Grand Slam. Tremendous congratulations. Mango was nice enough to send me an e-mail claiming that I am a jinx and he will only schedule his trips around my vacation from now on. Thanks Ted. Glad David was able to pull through with the bonefish! Even Hans and Jason the bartender had good days on the water this month. Hans managed to hook a grouper that drew some incomprehensible explitives out of his usaully reserved mouth.

Since my return we have had one guest on the water, Swiss fly fisherman Beat Weidmann. Conditions have been good and he has been doing well with bonefish and he landed his first tarpon (25lbs) today on a black death. Strong patterns for bones have been lightly weighted gotchas, Tan Miheves, and heavy Christmas island specials in orange. Tarpon, other than Black Death, you are just going to have to ask Mango- he seems to be the man around here now-a-days.

We are seeing a ton of fish out there and the conditions are very good and should only improve as the water cools off a touch. Days are still hot, but the nights are very pleasant. There are still some migratory tarpon around (80lbs +) and the residents seem to be showing up on the flats now that there big brothers aren't bullying them around as much anymore. This is also a great time of year for a realistic shot at a grand slam. There are still openings between now and Christmas and last minute bookings are always welcome!

El Pescador also welcomes the newest member of the family: Alejandro Logan Flota. Congratulations Ali and Alonzo we look forward to seeing you again soon!

Weekly Report 8/11-9/1

For those that keep the faith the rewards are fantastic. The July winds seem to have finally blown themselves out, the tarpon are increasing in numbers (and average size), the bonefish are happy as could be, and even complete novices are catching permit.

So how did our fisherman do among all this hype? Starting off this time frame were Larry and Adam Kupstas. I could simply say “they had a good trip,” but their trip really does deserve a little more press. “They jumped 15 tarpon in one day.” ‘Nuff said.

Next was a group of young Texan professionals (about 8 of them) and some slightly older Texan professionals (three of them). For an east coaster like me I was definitely lost at most dinner table conversation, but we were all pretty clear on a couple of subjects: fishing and fun. Everybody caught there first bonefish, just about everybody hooked there first tarpon, and heck I even “almost” landed my first permit out in front of the lodge. Weather was awesome and there was one day in particular with a nice west wind which turned things from good to dynamite. Although nobody hooked anything over 100#, there were some nice fish in that 60-80# range that came to the boat. Also of note was the latest game of volleyball in El Pescador history- way to go guys.

Next in line was a big group from Louisville, KY. These guys have been doing an international fishing trip annually for the last couple of years and managed to put El Pescador on their list- hopefully they no longer have to search for the perfect lodge. Some highlites were the whole gang’s first bonefish, Denny Ehringer’s Grand Slam (although not in the same day, and not on the fly but it is still pretty cool), and Steve Miller’s 6 foot nurse shark on the fly.

Combatting all of these gear chuckers we had five fly guys trying to keep the balance. Repeat guests Rich Wolcott and Eric Snyder wound up a two week Belize fishing lodge tour with a stay at EP and toiled for four days with fairly non-responsive fish. Other repeat guests Lee Sprinkle and Erv Wheeler also been chasing ‘poons with the long rod and have managed to hook and land a few nice fish.

The real story is long time repeat “Tarpon” Tony Cuomo. Tony has been coming here for 15 years, and let me tell you it has paid off. Getting off the boat one afternoon I asked the standard “how was your day?” and I got an abrupt response: “Shitty! Landed one 8 pounder, Alex (the guides 14 year old son) landed a 120, and I got one more around 150.” I hate to say it but I am being a little skeptical of Mr. Cuomo. The flies he is fishing with are original “Tarpon Hookers,” tied on 5/0 Mustad hooks with pink, yellow, blue, and red feathers tied in way too long with way too much flash resulting in just about the ugliest things you have ever seen. So yesterday Tarpon Tony invited me out in the boat with him and I jumped on the opportunity to dispel the myth. Within an hour Tony had the first 90# to the boat. Although he jumped three more that day I was at the bow a good 50% of the time to no results. I guess some guys have just got it. On a side note- we saw some absolutely gigantic fish yesterday. We are not talking typical at all- there was a pod of say 12 fish split into three groups which kept circling one flat. The smallest was 150#. The biggest, and this was rated under Nesto’s judgement and he has seen a lot of tarpon was “way over 250.” We each got probably 10 shots at these fish but as they say they don’t get big by being dumb.

Anyway, off to Denver September 1 to work the big fly fishing retailer’s show with El Pescador Punta Gorda General Manager, Jim Scott. After that off to do a grand fishing tour of the American West (got to get my trout fix!) before returning in late September. So hold tight for new reports (unless you want to hear what is hatching on Silver Creek, if the steelies are yet in the Clearwater and Deschutes, and if there are still some hoppers around on the upper Gros Ventre).

Weekly Report 7/27- 8/10/03

The weather has definitely turned for the better and within the last ten days we have had seven absolutely perfect conditions. Great sun and just enough wind to keep you cool. However, the tarpon have not been as keen on the conditions and have been a bit difficult. The great visibility conditions have been giving anglers countless shots at tailing bonefish and some pretty consistent permit fishing.

News around the lodge: Ted Johnson, of Leisure Time Travel, and his family joined us for a little vacation. Although they had one of those ‘difficult’ days of tarpon fishing I think they still had a pretty good time around the lodge. Of note; Aaron Johnson has come up with a fantastic plan of having weekly hermit crab races. Although currently a work in progress- crabs have been a little difficult to find- we will surely have some fun with this in the future. French fly fishing journalist Bertrand Kron also joined us ‘On Assignment,’ and we happily await to see his articles on El Pescador in upcoming issues of Le Mocheur.

Long time friends Ed and Margaret Garner definitely enjoyed their week of great weather. Ed did some damage on the bonefish this week and managed to hook a nice permit. His guide, Gilberto, sent Ed home each night with a homework assignment and the results were some very effective bonefish flies. The prototypes he showed me were tied on small hooks (8 and 10), mono eyes, little flash, dense furry foam type olive or tan body, and short olive rubber legs. But the big thing was the weed guards- which are a tremendous help while fishing for the tailers down here.

New to El Pescador and salt water fishing was Dr. Richard Brown of Annapolis, MD. Doc had a good time this week and we all had a good time with him. He got his first bonefish and tarpon and fed the lodge fresh snappers for a couple of nights.Hopefully we will see him back down here with his kids soon.

Into August the lodge went from peaceful to crazy real quick. Snook studs, John and Jim Curtis, from Sarasota, FL and their friends Michelle and Melissa came down to try for the other flats fish. They all got their first bones on the fly and John managed to “touch” each member of the Slam one day. Glenn and Richard Foster also came down to give the salt a chance and I think we have created some new addicts. Although tarpon didn’t pan out for them, they had some excellent days bonefishing and Richard joined a very elite club by landing a nice 10 pound permit on the fly- well done for sure.

And then came the Bliss party… This was an annual trip for 10 guys made up of father and son combos. Although their first time in the salt as well- they conquered the adversity of denser water and all managed to land multiple bonefish. Skip Bliss did manage to hook a nice permit which took him clear down to the spool before he broke off and Bob Chanson and Lance Miller got to tussle with some of the real big boys on the flats. Although these guys did do some damage to the bonefish, the lasting damage was done to the poor little old town of San Pedro. These guy know how to have fun- and fun they had.

All in all, it has been a good couple of weeks. Every guest new to this type of fishing caught fish- lots of fish. The only down side to that is that I have given away so many pewter pins this week we have to reorder. We even had one guest sign up and join the El Pescador swim team, supposedly his freestyle was in 12 inches of water was quite impressive.

The bonefish and permit fishing has been very good. The tarpon have been tough, but on a positive side the guides are claiming that the migratories are simply running a little late this year. Hopefully this next lunar cycle will flood the flats with 100 pounders. The big boys are still to come- so keep the faith and hang on.

Weekly Update July 23-30

One would have thought that with eight guests at the lodge this week it would be quiet. However, quiet it was not.

First and foremost, congrats to Buddy Ridley. Buddy came to sight fish big tarpon on the flats. And Buddy was successful. In one day he pulled two big boys into the boat (90lb and 50lb)and jumped multiple others throughout the week. Not bad for his first week of 'real' tarpon fishing.

Glenn and Mango. Or rather Ted Margo and Glenn Harrison. These guys were bad news. They fished hard and laughed hard all week. They jumped a good number of big fish, but... Anyway, Glenn got his first on a fly and we all had a good time.

Long time Belize addict Jim Klug, of Yellowdog Flyfishing Adventures, sister and friends stopped by for a visit on their way to Punta Gorda and successfully managed to keep everybody up past their bed time. Jim also brought down all of the components and materials for El Pescador's newest addition; a fully stocked fly tying table. We thank him indefinitly for this. Now guests can recreate the flies that the big 'poons prefer to take with them.

Top flies of the week; don't know of any names but Ted brought down some of the most beautifully tied and original tarpon flies- that worked. Good colors for the week were chartreuse grizzly keys style patterns, good old black death, and the cockroach. White decievers with a splash of yellow tied on tarpon hooks have also been a good bet during the day. Size 3/0 and 4/0 have been tops- and guides have been loving flies tied on the Owner Aki and Gamakatsu hooks.

Winds have calmed down and we are starting to see some prime conditions so we expect big things for next weeks report. Until then...

Weekly Update July 15-22

It was relativly quiet around the lodge ths week, but we still managed to have some serious laughs and our anglers caught some serious fish. The fishing was so good they were literally jumping in the boat (more to follow).

Tarpon star of the week was definitely Bernard Mallet. He and Nesto were after the big boys all week and the results were impressive. Bernard managed to jump an average of three fish a day- at least oneof which was in the hundred pound range. He managed to hook the "A-train" one day and fought the brute for 2 hours and 52 minutes before the hook slipped with teh fish in sight of the boat, bummer. He returned that day, clearly tired, had his margarita and said very plainly (in a thick French accent); "Please, No more big fish..." Too bad cause the next day Bernard jumped one that Nesto claimed was easily over 150 pounds!

Next on the list; father and son Kovich, from Detroit, Michigan. These guys came with open eyes and high hopes. First couple of days they pounded the bonefish. The third day, they managed to stumble upon a small school of permit (about 200) of where Robert managed to hook three and land one. Best part was his return to the dock where he very non-chalantly said "Oh yeah, and I caught a permit." Unfortunatly they could not get the tarpon to cooperate for the rest of week, but we think they had a good time anyway.

Good friend Jim White joined us again and managed to hook a couple himself. While fishing with Ricardo, Jim did quite well with the bonefish and had a blast with the baby tarpon with Ricardo in the mangroves. One highlight was while casting to a laid up tarpon under a mangrove he got the fly hung up in the branches. Ricardo eased the boat forward while Jim tried to free the fly- meanwhile... up, up, and away! The 'poon Jr. flew out of the water and promptly landed in the boat! We think Jim was using a bit too much of his secret mojo with that one.

Hot flies: with the tarpon; keys style flies with chartreuse grizzly tail and collar and white 2/0 decievers. Permit: good old fashioned size 2 Del's Merkin in tan and brown. Bonefish: gotchas all the way.

The wind can't blow forever and there are still plenty more of the big boys to come, so we hope to see you soon!

Weekly Update July 7-14

The story of the week was of tropical storm Claudette. After taking all necessary precautions we were rewarded with three absolutley perfect days of weather! Dead calm and not a cloud in the sky. Fortunatley, in true fisherman style, all of our guests opted to stay on the island for what promised to be the "hurricane" party of the century. Now about the fishing...

Early in the week high winds once again made the tarpon fishing difficult and although Claudette brought some great conditions the fish did not react well to the extreme atmospheric changes. Anglers Johnny Walker and Frank Rutherford of Ft. Worth, Texas, desperatly tried for their first tarpon, and had a couple of chances, but ended up only with the bonefish pin- and a good number of bonefish caught at that. (Image at right slightly enhanced!)

By the sound of it Peter Higginbottom and his guide Tomas were up to their elbows in Tarpon the morning Claudette was expected to hit. They got a couple of touches, but the fish had broken out in a horrendous case of lockjaw from the dropping barometric pressure. The bonefishing was on throughout the week, with each angler bringing back some impressive numbers of fish caught. Hot flies; #6 gold eyed Gotchas, and #6 Brown Charlies. Tarpon were tough due mostly to weather conditions, but when they moved they moved to black deaths and cockroaches. A couple of permit were seen, but the one shot that was made this week did not pan out (it was with a black death on 100# shock, go figure?).

Highlights of the week; the completley unexpected smiles of our seven guests after returning from a mainland adventure trip (through absolutley torrential rains). If we had a pin for being a "trooper" they would have all gotten the gold plated version! Peter and Carol Higginbottoms reaction to catching "too many" bonefish. The diehard enthusiasm of Johnny and Frank- we know they will be back for the tarpon soon. But best of all were the laughs we had around the dinner table and bar with all of our new friends; Joyce, Patty, Frank, Johnny, Susan, Lori, Mike, Peter, and Carol. We look forward to seeing them all again soon. Weekly

Update June 29- July 6

Despite strong winds, this was another great week at El Pescador. The beginning of the week yielded a couple of calm days which anglers Verne and Mike O’Connor, from the California bay area, capitalized upon. In one day they jumped six tarpon including at least brute easily over 100lbs. Higher winds made the tarpon fishing a bit tougher throughout the rest of the week, however Matthew Simmons got his first “fly rod” tarpon as did Lee Morris. Speaking of Lee Morris, of McLean, VA, the Grand Slam was in sight throughout all of his last day having caught a nice 15lb tarpon by 9am and multiple bonefish by noon. After lunch he managed to put his father in the back seat and had three great shots at permit but could not convince any to turn on the fly. We know he will be back for revenge soon.

Bonefishing was consistently good throughout the week. Our new friends Jim and Sherry Stinson and the honeymoon couple Joe and Elizabeth Robb all managed to get their first bonefish on the fly, congratulations! Possibly the highlight of the week was the smile on Carole Higginbottom’s face when they returned to the dock after their first day of fishing; not only had she managed to tame a 23 pound jack in 30 minutes but she also managed to significantly out-fish her husband!

There are plenty of big migratory tarpon on the flats right now, hopefully next week will bring us calmer weather and more chances to cast to these magnificent fish. We expect the bonefishing to remain consistent and the permit to be up to their regular shenanigans.

The theme of the past few weeks has been GRAND SLAM. We had 2 anglers get a Slam last week with several others missing it by a hair. Brian Belcher of Philadelphia, PA was the first to get a grand slam in 2003. He landed 2 Permit, 25 Bonefish and hooked 3 Tarpon, landing 1 of those in a single day! The very next day Britt Keel of Florida caught all 3 species in one day as well. It is not easy catching a Bonefish, Tarpon and Permit on a fly in the same week, let alone in the same day. Scott Harkins of Denver, CO had a Tarpon hooked for over a minute before it shook the hook and robbed him of his first Grand Slam.

The weather recently has been absolutely wonderful for fishing. The spring winds have died down and the temperatures have been very mild. We expect to start seeing the migration of Tarpon at any time. As soon as they show up here sometime in May the Tarpon fishing will be at its peak. If you have ever wanted to cast a fly to a giant that is over 150 lbs. May though October is the time to do it here in Belize.

We held the 1st Annual June Trejo Memorial Fly Casting Competition here at El Pescador on April 22, 2003. Nesto Gomez was the Grand Champion after 3 events winning $500 in cash, a new Scott S3S #11 weight rod. There was a long distance category, a speed round and an accuracy course. With over $3000 in cash and prizes we had a great turnout and managed to..SÐ. ©. GET http://images2.postdirect.com/masteJune’s wife. This will now be an annual all Belize event. Everyone is invited next year. We will keep you posted here at the fishing report page for next year’s competition. We would like to thank, Jim Klug, Yellow Dog Fly-fishing, Trout Hunter, Scientific Anglers, Scott Rods, Promotions West, Caribbean Depot, F & G Insurance, Captain Sharks, Mash Hardware/Crystal Shipping, Belize Diesel, Capricorn Restaurant, Blue Water Grill, Tom Vidrine, Bob and Diane Campbell, El Pescador Lodge and the Belize Tourism Board. We would like to thank everyone who participated and sponsored the event to make it a huge succes!!!

MARCH FISHING REPORT

Fishing has really been consistent the last several weeks. The trade winds are now blowing from the east and the weather has been really nice. After a few crazy months of El Nino rain showers, it is a nice change to see the sun everyday like we come to expect here in Belize. All winter long there have been huge schools of Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon in all size classes. The giant schools of Permit, we are famous for, seem to have grown in size if you can believe it! What a rush seeing the flat boil because a school of hundreds of Permit are on the feed. Most of the Permit have been caught using standard bonefish patterns and crabs. Good flies are the Merkin Crab, Crazy Charlies in pink and white, Feather Crabs and Moe heads. The favorite Tarpon flies recently have been Cockroach Styles in Orange, White/Red, Black/Red and Natural.P>

Good Job George! George Killat came down from Ice-Cold, Michigan for his first Saltwater fishing experience, and like an old pro he managed to land a 150 pound tarpon. George was casting a borrowed 10 weight Tarpon Rod from our good buddy Bruce Richards at Scientific Anglers. The rod showed up in Belize a 4 piece, and left as a customized 6 piece, after a 3 hour fight with the giant Megalops, the rod just couldn’t handle anymore and exploded. There were a few frantic moments following the loud SNAP, as Nesto jumped in the water and wrestled the fish by the mouth to finally bring it in the boat. That fish was the largest landed Tarpon in the month of February 2003 at El Pescador Resorts. Hopefully we can get a copy of the letter George is going to write St. Croix explaining how the rod was broken. It is sure to be better than the typical “ umm I stuck it in the ceiling fan” letter that is all to common.

Larry Boyd showed up in mid February with the pictures of his HUGE Tarpon he landed last year when he was here. The IGFA Chart shows the fish being 194 pounds according to the girth and length measurements taken right before the release. That is the potential WORLD RECORD fish for 16 lb. tippet class…………….released. The beautiful framed, matted and enlarged photo makes a great addition to the new Anglers bar.

‘Sir’ Peter Leo from Great Brittan has the best story of all, or should I say 2? I’ll let you decide which version to believe…. Story 1. Peter is on the deck of Mario’s boat, they see a school of tarpon, Peter makes a beautiful 80 foot cast, he hooks and lands a 50 ponder and the rest is history…………Story 2. Peter is in the chair of Mario’s boat enjoying lunch and re-hydrating after a big night of Billiards and Sambuca. Mario is sitting in the bow of the boat relaxing, watching the boys eat their sandwiches, when he sees a tarpon cruising under the boat. He grabs the rod that is leaned up against the gunnel and gives a little flip towards the fish. Whammo! The Tarpon eats the fly and is off to the races. Peter stands up and is given the rod just seconds later……………..the focus shifted from food to fight very quickly. 40 minutes later a Tarpon is in the boat getting its picture taken. When you ask Mario what really happened he just gives a big grin. We may never know for sure, but Peter definitely got his Tarpon pin.