December Fishing at Long Caye, by Terry

Maya 2012 Fishing at Belize River Lodge
December 23, 2012
2Nd Annual Bonefish & Permit Tagging Challenge
January 31, 2013

December Fishing at Long Caye, by Terry

By Terry S

December 3-10, 2012

Fish:
Terry:  22 bonefish (biggest 5# – lost 5), 5# permit (lost 1), 12# baby tarpon
Eric: 15 bonefish (biggest 6# – lost 3), 15# barracuda
Mike: 13 bonefish (lost 3), 15# permit, played with an 80# and 100# tarpon for awhile before one broke the lure and the other one broke the line
Bruce: 13 bonefish (lost 3), 1 grouper, 20# barracuda
And we all had miscellaneous variations of Snappers, Jacks, Mackerel and other fish, but no snook.

Weather: Mostly cloudy with wind and some rain – temps from 62F to 82F

Report and comments:
BRL’s Long Caye Resort/Up-scale Outpost lived up to everything we expected. With our guides, Raul and Jose, and Chef/Housekeeper Aretha we had a fantastic time fishing, eating and relaxing. The weather should have been better at this time, but you cannot predict what it will be when you make your plans. There were four of us that came down for the week. My son Eric and two other fishing friends, Bruce and Mike flew down from Michigan and I came in from Florida. This was my second time at BRL and the other guys first time. Transfers from the airport to the main lodge and then out to Long Caye went perfect the Saturday we arrived. Had time for cocktail hour and then are first great meal and dessert. Dessert seemed to show up with every lunch and dinner and none was ever left-over.

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First morning fishing started out good with Eric landing a 15 lb Cuda on a bonefish jig and then some bonefish. I did even better with a few bonefish, a 5 lb permit in the boat and lost another “larger” permit after a 15 minute battle. We spent the afternoon looking for a tarpon to complete my Slam but the tarpon didn’t get to the boat till the last day. Bruce took two days to finally get his first bonefish but caught lots of other species the first two days including a very nice 20 lb barracuda that ended up in some meals during the week. Mike’s day two was exciting as he got his first bonefish and followed it up with a 15 lb permit that give him a great battle. But like me, he spent the afternoon after tarpon for a Slam and couldn’t get one to eat the bait. We spent time each day fishing for bonefish and ended up with over 60 to the boat and about 15 more un-hooked themselves. Eric had the bonefish for the week that was 6 lbs.  Mike had two other chances at big tarpon with one at 80 lb breaking the lure after about 20 minutes and the second one estimated at 100+lb’s breaking the line on a jump. We all had shots at snook, but none would eat for us. We all had fun catching snapper on our bonefish jigs.

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The accommodations at the Outpost were great and with the big bedroom upstairs and the two bedrooms down we had lots of room with just the four of us. Ceiling fans kept the air moving with no problems. The hot shower felt good every day and just sitting around the living room or on the porch was very relaxing. The hum of the generator helped put us to sleep after the long days on the water. Most of our fishing was done within a few miles of the Outpost but we ventured out a couple times to some hot spots a little further away.  We came back for Aretha’s lunches all but one day when we ran down to the big channel tarpon fishing. Breakfast at 7AM, lunch at 1-2PM and dinner at 7PM worked out as we always seemed to have a good appetite. We couldn’t have asked for better food served by a lovely lady for the week.

We fished back from the Outpost to the main lodge on the river the last day and stayed there for our last night before flights home on Saturday. Raul and Jose used all their great knowledge and patience to put us on fish. Our casting skills got better as the week went on but they both got to spend some time each day getting our lures out of the mangroves. Some of us had a little trouble with 11 O’clock and 1 O’clock and with right and left but that added to the fun. The unique location and accommodations for fishing groups or couples puts, what I call, this Up-scale Outpost in a class by itself. You are on a beautiful island, with a cold drink, looking out to the east over the reef with your own chef and guides. Doesn’t get much better than that and we will be back.