A Fishing Report
NOVEMBER 27, 2013
The rainy season this year brought us quite a bit more rain than usual and the Belize River has been in flood for several weeks. However from early October both the Sibun and Belize Rivers and the canals and lagoons in between have been very productive for small Tarpon and Snook.
Dick and Barbara after a church mission in western Belize, fished BRL for a few days. First day on the river they jumped 25 small tarpon and landed ten. On their very first day fishing in salt water they landed their first Bonefish and then three more. They also jumped several small Tarpon in clear salt water near the Flats.
Jamie’s group of fourteen combined fishing and touring. Their tours included Mangroves, Manatees, Miami Beach, the Belize Zoo, Cave tubing, Crooked Tree Wildlife Sanctuary, Howler Monkey Sanctuary, Altun Ha and Lamanai ancient Maya sites for archaeology. All these sites also provided great birding experiences for some serious birders.
Here is an excerpt from a guest’s recent BRL fishing experience.
I am sure that you have seen many bigger but I had never caught a tarpon before and when I did hook and land a 10 pounder on the 3rd day of our trip I was delighted out of my mind. Then on day 5 I got the big guy.
John (the guide) suggested that we go out in the bay where the resident tarpon sometimes hang out. We got to a large patch of sandy bottom and John spotted a tarpon rolling. We got close enough for me to cast to him but no takes. Then a couple more showed up and finally one rolled about 50 ft away. I cast to him and he nailed the fly. Fortunately he neither jumped nor ran until I got all the slack in, but then he jumped and we got a good look at him. I was amazed at the size and power. I have fished a lot of Atlantic salmon but never had anything like this on the end of my line.
He then took off like a rocket and took out all my line and about 150 yards of backing. I managed to get him back in close, but then he jumped a couple of times and took off again. All told he ran out my line into the backing 9 times over the 2 hour 15 minutes that I had him on the line and jumped about 10 times.
When I finally got him in to the side of the boat, John was trying to get hold of his jaw when he bolted under the boat. I tried to get the rod under water but wasn’t quick enough and he broke the tip. We managed to get control of him again and up to the side of the boat to get a close up picture and John was able to retrieve the fly and release the fish.
He looked to be about 6 feet long. This was my fishing experience of a lifetime.
Thanks to you and Marguerite for your wonderful hospitality and attention to detail. We will definitely be back. Best wishes. Bernie
