BIG TARPON, 80-150 POUNDS: Some resident big tarpon are here all year round. About the middle of February the big migratory tarpon arrive in our area. We can expect to see them feeding anywhere from the barrier reef to the bay just outside the mouth of the Belize River. They will be here through March. Sight fishing with 11 and 12 weight fly rods with floating or intermediate lines or 20-25 pound spinning gear is essential if you want to keep them on.
BABY TARPON, 5-30 POUNDS are resident all year and can be sight fished on the flats, along the mangroves, channels, creeks, lagoons and in the rivers. When tired of fishing for the big ones these acrobats can produce very exciting action, using 8, 9 or 10 weight floating fly lines or 10-15 pound spinning; 30-75 pound tarpon are mixed in at almost all locations.
SNOOK also are resident in this area and are caught all year round generally in the same places you find the small tarpon and with the same gear. So if you?re fishing for small tarpon be prepared for snook sneaking out and taking flies or plugs away from your targeted fish, but unlike tarpon, snook will head for the roots. Your guide may recommend a few variations of flies/lures/leader/action if you wish to target the normally elusive snook.
PERMIT AND BONEFISH are also resident in our area during this period. Permit are generally fished for with 9 or 10 weight floating fly lines with crab or shrimp patterns and bonefish with 7 or 8 weight floating lines with a great variety of smaller flies. Fifteen pound spinning lines for permit and 10 pound for bonefish is the usual size, with very effective small customized jigs we have in stock at BRL.
OTHER SPECIES to be caught during this period include, barracuda, jacks, Cubera and many other species of snappers. We stock very effective tube lures for barracudas.
WEATHER in January and February may include a couple of ?cold fronts? each month that may last two to three days with temperatures during the fronts in the 60s and low 70s, winds will vary from 5-20 mph. Most January and February days will be sunny and warm with temperatures in the 80s and winds easterly at 5-15 mph. March will be mostly sunny and clear, perfect weather for all species at BRL on the flats and in the rivers.
BOOKING: There are still a few choice spaces available for groups or individuals during the rest of January, February and March.
Call your favorite fishing agent or Belize River Lodge at: 1-888-275-4843
or email: info@belizeriverlodge.com to check for space available.
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Belize River Lodge Fishing Report
January 13, 2008
In early January a ?severe cold front? which extended across most of the USA and Mexico also passed through Belize. Howling winds and rain from the North with 62 degree temperatures was the most severe cold front to hit Belize in about ten years and the local population thought we were ?freezing?.
George L arrived from NY and wondered what the fuss was all about, but his guide was ready and in just about an hour after touching down at the Belize international airport George was heading up the Belize River, BRL?s answer to bad weather on the flats. Instead of howling winds he found howler monkeys, baby tarpon and snook. George jumped a dozen or more small tarpon and landed six or seven. He also jumped two forty pounders; one broke the leader and the other just left the fly behind to round off his day and a half on the river. The weather was now clearing with temperatures in the high 70s and on his last half day before flying out he fished the flats and caught bonefish and snook.
Other anglers also landed tarpon and snook, one angler taking 15 bonefish on the flats.
?Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get? and if it?s stormy on the flats, we still have the rivers to fish.
Belize River Lodge is easier than ever to get to with these:
NON STOP FLIGHTS
American Airlines from Miami and Dallas
Continental from Houston and Saturdays from Newark
US Air from Charlotte
TACA from Houston and Los Angeles
Delta from Atlanta and Los Angeles
Just 15 minutes from Belize airport to the Lodge.
Call your favorite fishing agent
or Belize River Lodge at: 1-888-275-4843
or email: info@belizeriverlodge.com
Please visit our new website:
><(((((((((*> www.belizeriverlodge.com ><(((((((((*>
