BRL Fish Tales January/February 2022 & Travel Update

“You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I seen a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother.“

~ Ernest Hemingway “The Old Man and the Sea”

FISH TALES ~ FEBRUARY 28, 2022

The Belize Olde River in front of the lodge has been unusually green and clear since early January as a result of lower than usual rainfall in our area. Temperatures have ranged from 64 to 88 degrees and winds mostly North to Northwest at 2-12 mph, with many clear and sunny days. The light winds and low tides have been very favorable for good Snook fishing with a couple anglers catching twelve to eighteen Snook in a day, sizes ranging from small, four to twelve pounds, and bigger and one as large as twenty pounds. The most effective flies for Snook have been the “Half and Half” in chartreuse/white and in red/white.

On February 5th there was heavy rain from seven to ten a.m. Darrell and Bryce went out with their favorite guide, Pedro, in the rain at nine o’clock. After the rain it was sunny, clear and calm and they casted to lots of Snook and caught several including the twenty pounder. They also jumped, landed and released many small Tarpon. Pedro, Darrell and Bryce only saw a few big Tarpon, but no takers.

On February 8th, while fishing with Guide Mike T, Phil caught and released his very first Bonefish and then another fourteen for the day; he “had a great day”. Weather was sunny, clear and calm. The next day he landed nine Small Tarpon in the four to twelve pound range. He casted to and jumped many others but lost them to the “trout set’. Another day he jumped twenty more Small Tarpon, hooking, landing and successfully releasing eight, sizes ten to twenty pounds, and one at thirty and another at forty pounds.

Betsy D. made a quick visit to BRL and fished for a day and a half. Fishing with Guide John, the first afternoon she landed a nice Tripletail, while hooking and losing two others. Next day she landed a twenty pound Tripletail, a ten pound Snook and a Jack. Betsy spent some time looking for the migratory Tarpon, saw several Big Tarpon but no hookups.

Two Grand Slams were landed on February 19th and 25th by Jeff L. and Andrew S. Both anglers had lots of fun and excitement with Bonefish, Snook and Tarpon ~ the classic Backcountry Slam, however, IGFA recognizes any three of the four species (Bonefish, Permit, Snook or Tarpon) landed in one day as a Grand Slam so BRL has dropped the term Backcountry.

The Lowe party spent a week at BRL’s Long Caye Outpost; the group enjoyed fishing for Bonefish and mentioned “catching lots of Bones every day”. The gentlemen also caught Ladyfish, Tripletails, Cudas, Jacks, Snappers and had many “good shots” at Permit. One angler in the group caught seven species in one day, including a ten pound Snook. The Lowe party was very pleased with the number of different species fished for and landed and intend to make another Long Caye trip.

The Keller party, six friends, also enjoyed their trip to Long Caye Outpost in late February. Mother Nature had her say and the group had two very rainy/windy days but got in some good fishing time. Their guides, Pedro, Mike and Claud, found fish on the leeward side of island and also in island lagoons, so the Keller party enjoyed fishing for and landing many Bones, Cudas, Snappers and small Tarpon. The guys had a few good casts to Permit, but no takes. One angler caught a Grand Slam (Bonefish, Snook & Tarpon) along with a Look Down Fish and a Ray.

Ann and Alan made a return BRL trip and fished three days at the end of February. Ann concentrated on birding while Alan fished. Alan was hoping for a repeat of his 2020 pre-Covid closure trip with lots of large Tarpon action (three over 100 lbs landed in 2020), and while he jumped a few this past February, none landed this year, but Alan had fun and lots of sightings. Ann added 69 species of birds to her list in 2020 and this year, especially enjoyed the Boat Billed Herons, King Fishers and seeing many Manatees. Alan and Ann will be back in March for a few more days of fishing and touring, so keeping our fingers crossed that Alan gets a landed, photographed and release migratory Tarpon and Ann adds a few new species of birds to her checklist.

All flies were some of our BRL favorites from the list of recommended flies. No spectacular crazy flies to list this month.

All departing guests have had the COVID Rapid Tests within twenty four hours of departure, all have been Negative. Medical technicians come to the lodge to do the tests and no fishing time has been lost. Belize now requires a medical insurance, at a cost of US$18.00, which can be purchased on line before coming to Belize AND as of March 8th, fully vaccinated individuals only need to show proof of vaccination to enter Belize.

Warm regards,

Mike Heusner

“Wanted to say I very much enjoyed my stay at BRL, Mike and Marguerite were an absolute joy to be around and the staff was very very kind and attentive. Hoping to make a return trip before year’s end” ~ Nick B.

Thank you to our guest and guides who shared their memories below. Whether fishing the rivers or flats, you never know what you will see and fish for.