# Belize



## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)




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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

Beautiful trip!


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## Tailwaters (Apr 9, 2019)

Nice pic's!


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

Very nice. !


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## bd_Florida89 (Mar 20, 2017)

Awesome post and great photos! Belize is definitely on my radar.


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## Whiskey Angler (Mar 20, 2015)

Awesome shots! I've been wanting to do Turneffe...AC is fun, but its not exactly top-notch fishing in my opinion.


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## bd_Florida89 (Mar 20, 2017)

Whiskey Angler said:


> Awesome shots! I've been wanting to do Turneffe...AC is fun, but its not exactly top-notch fishing in my opinion.


Who'd you fish with in AC? I've looking into Belize Fly there... would like to hear more about your trip.


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

I have not been to AC but some of the guys I was at Turneffe Flats with had some pretty bad experiences with other operations in Belize. I won't name names because I wasn't there but they said Turneffe was much much better. I would 100% recommend if you go to Belize to go to Turneffe. The only complaint I could think of is snappers eating my fly before the permit did (happened 3 times). Amazing fishing, diving, food, hospitality, guides they nail it all. If my bank account would allow I would go back every year.


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## Whiskey Angler (Mar 20, 2015)

bd_Florida89 said:


> Who'd you fish with in AC? I've looking into Belize Fly there... would like to hear more about your trip.


I've been a handfull of times and done a lot of DIY fishing along the beachfront, and though the bones are super spooky, and not very big, its a lot of fun because i can, walk right out the front door to the water, carry a backpack full of beer with me and fish at my own pace. But, the few times I've hired some guides, they were not very prominent in the guide game down there, and ended up trying find mudding bones to blind cast to all day - not cool.

I think I would have had a much better experience if I booked through Tres Pescados or El Pescador.

AC is a lot of fun, and there's lots of things to do beside fish, but its not what I would consider a hardcore/premier fishery.


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## RaspberryPatch (Dec 17, 2016)

AC is ?


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

Ambergris Caye I believe. What excellent photos, I like the enhancements. That looks like an abandoned lodge behind you in the permit picture. Have not fished there but I have fished Xcalak Mexico and Chetumal Bay. Of course it was better 18 years ago when we never saw another boat and bones were all 5lbs and up over 10. Still last year big bones can be had if you are willing to walk back in to rarely fished lagoons and we saw plenty of large permit over 25lb and schools of the medium and small. We stayed this last time at Casa Paraiso which was excellent and did a full week on a song compared to a full lodge expense thing. the guides were excellent. Not sure I like the idea anymore of driving down 5 hours from Cancun though. First time we took a 45 min boat from San Pedro- a better way to go if you can circumvent customs.


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

The building behind me in that pictures is where my guide use to work. Said it was a old weather station of some kind. There was a lodge right north of there that is abandoned during the off season but they come back during peak season. 
On most days I was there we didn't see another boat. Only on the last day when one of the guys who had been trying to get a permit for 15year we told him and his guide to run up ahead of us and fish so he could get one and he did. 
Turneffe is great. Fly into Belize city then like a 1hr boat ride out to Turneffe island. Maybe a little longer.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

I can attest to Turneffe Flats Lodge. Beautiful place. Occasionally bones right in front of the bungalow in the evening when the tide was right; one day I stuffed a beer in the pockets of my baggy shorts and after catching a bone out back, noticed that one had floated away. Very sad. The only disappointment during that trip.


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

YOU LOST A BEER!!! Everyone boo this man. Just kidding.

We had bonefish every morning right out front of the bungalows. Spooky fish but did manage to get 1 before breakfast each morning. We did see a few permit outfront too on 2 of the mornings but never got close enough to them to make a cast.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Was that crazy old man with his sh*t-eatin dog still out on the nearby island making coconut oil? I'd assume he's dead, he seemed 80 in the 90s but he might've only been 40.


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

We passed a few local lobster fisherman and their huts on neighboring islands but I do not recall a old man. We did feed a dog at one hut some cookies because he looked pretty thin. If you need to get the skunk off the dumbest bonefish in the world hangout right in front of these huts/camps.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

This old guy, think he had a homemade windmill setup to grind the coconuts/get the oil out. He had this fat little mutt, one of my buddy's was playing with it. Real friendly dog, licking and whatnot. We asked teh old man what he ate out there, etc. then someone asked does the dog just eat the same food as you? And the old guy said, yah, exactly the same food but about a day later. Lol. No one played with the dog any more after that.


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## TheAdamsProject (Oct 29, 2007)

The reason I like Ambergris is we can do a number of things during the week. For the last 8 or so years we fished in Ascension Bay, MX and was more geared to fishing and if the girls wanted to get away they just spent some time in Tulum. We are going back to Ambergris this year to rent a house with friends as we went for our honeymoon 10yrs ago and kind of doing the 10yr anniversary deal with the house and also fishing. Im sure plenty has changed in 10yrs but looking forward to being able to fish some with a guide, do a little DIY, explore with the golf cart and enjoy plenty of cold beverages. Every place has their pluses and minuses, you just have to make a list of goals, there is a place for everyone.


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## bd_Florida89 (Mar 20, 2017)

MRichardson said:


> This old guy, think he had a homemade windmill setup to grind the coconuts/get the oil out. He had this fat little mutt, one of my buddy's was playing with it. Real friendly dog, licking and whatnot. We asked teh old man what he ate out there, etc. then someone asked does the dog just eat the same food as you? And the old guy said, yah, exactly the same food but about a day later. Lol. No one played with the dog any more after that.


HAHAHA!!!!!


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

Wow! Terrible situation out of San Pedro Ambergris Caye, flyfishing guide and his client a Virginia Cardiologist gunned down on guides skiff. More and more 'stuff", now here, Mexico, Bahamas in places, Dominican... ugh! Gives one pause!


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

Bad people are everywhere. Just gotta do your research and know who you are fishing with. Very sad news though that will probably hurt Belize's tourism for awhile.


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

Agreed, however research says he was a highly regarded guide who had contributed to Belize fly fishing for many many years. No way to research that unless you were maybe a resident. Reading and researching local news reports indicate that unfortunately Ambergris Caye is experiencing a considerable uptick in crime.


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## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

Latest news is he had it out with local drug kingpin and his house was shot at but he didn’t report it to police. When I was on caye caulker 18 yrs ago I was told the police were rotated every 6-12months so the drug guys wouldn’t have a chance to get them totally corrupted. Belize is relatively peaceful for a transshipment point of drugs from South America to the USA.


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## greyfusion (May 2, 2013)

Nice fish, and looks like a great trip, but.. There are some dudes that can put you on those fish right here at home... Benny Blanco and Brandon Cyr spank those fish every day in FL.


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## Smackdaddy53 (Dec 31, 2012)

You can just as easily be killed anywhere else, don’t buy into the hype.


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## Shallow Expectations (Jun 11, 2019)

I know Benny and some other guides are very good. When i finally man up and buy a boat I will probably fish with Benny a few times to learn the areas down south. Turneffe is just so nice in that you won't see another boat all day, and they fish there don't seem like they have seen every fly ever throw at them.


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

That's true. There is no comparison to the feeling of isolation you get down there. Much of it looks the same as in Colombus's day.

Edit>>> just don't get shot.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Not something the average angler thinks about - but it's not a bad idea to remember a few things about all the areas "south of the border" - and it's something I made a point of to the young guys I worked with on the street - years ago... 

Here in the USA we believe that justice is a public matter - and expect our cops and courts to sort things out when something bad happens... That's just not the case south of us where there's a long tradition that justice is a private matter mostly - and a very real family obligation (sounds like Sicily - don't it..). To give a better picture, folks down south of us regard their local cops and federal cops - as just a bigger and better organized gang than the ones in their neighborhoods.... Mostly I only talked to young cops about this sort of stuff - but it was important that they understand why folks from that huge area (central America and points south...) had real cause not to trust authority in most forms... We were knee deep in this sort of stuff down here in south Florida by the early seventies as these kind of problems came here - and it just got worse and worse the following 15 or 20 years with all the migrants that landed here during that time frame. Add the drug situation with all the money it generated.... that was pushing the changes we were living with...

Now let's add one more very real factor to remember any time you're traveling down south. That is, because of the political and socio-economic conditions down there, it's entirely possible that you might encounter young 'uns and not so young that have had real combat experience well before they were 18 years old (in some cases much younger...) and have access to military grade weapons....

My best advice down south is to mind your own business, keep your head down, and realize that you need to pay a lot of attention to local conditions wherever you are. Most resorts and fishing destinations will rarely ever have problems - and you can bet that the local cops will be highly motivated to keep things quiet (no matter what is going on behind the scenes). If local conditions seem to be getting hot you'd be well advised to simply cut your trip short.... or make some quick changes to your trip plans. Anyone that assumes that they can get relief from a local problem by going to the local police might have to proceed with lots of caution.... 

Wish it weren't so - and every day I'm very glad to be fishing down in the 'glades rather than working the streets (amen....).


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## MRichardson (May 27, 2010)

Just in case... say I'm down there fly fishing for bones and permit, etc. and something happens and the next thing I know I've shot a local for whatever reason. 

Should I slip the country asap, go the US embassy, or contact the Belizean authorities?


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