# Belize, new favorite fly fishing destination.



## Geologist (Nov 20, 2020)

Belize is pretty special!


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## Bill Payne (May 22, 2018)

That’s great! Thanks for the intel.


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## Salt (Mar 19, 2019)

Hell yeah, great trip!


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## nehrkesm (Aug 11, 2013)

Sweet! Did you see any bigger bonefish? We were down for a week in 2019......gobs of bones, most were micro. Like I didn't know they came that small type of small. I think the biggest fish of the week was 5-ish, which is respectable, but there just weren't many bigger fish we saw. We were out off Ambergris. Thanks!


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## iMacattack (Dec 11, 2006)

Nice! Thanks for sharing.


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## spc7669 (Apr 15, 2015)

Love that place. One of the best places to go for a slam.


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

nehrkesm said:


> Sweet! Did you see any bigger bonefish? We were down for a week in 2019......gobs of bones, most were micro. Like I didn't know they came that small type of small. I think the biggest fish of the week was 5-ish, which is respectable, but there just weren't many bigger fish we saw. We were out off Ambergris. Thanks!


About fivish or six was as big as a saw, they were in smaller schools typically in shallower water. When I fished mudding schools, they were small.......


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## swab_cousteau (Aug 16, 2021)

Looks like fun. Thanks for sharing!


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## DBStoots (Jul 9, 2011)

greyghost61us said:


> Back in May my gf and myself went to San Pedro Belize with another couple. Being that I was in Belize, of course I was going to spend some bow time in a Panga. I ended up fishing four days catching permit, bonefish, tarpon (babies) and snook along with numerous snapper of various species....all on flies. I took two 9wts, 2 8wts, a 7wt and a 10wt. I also took a few boat boxes of flies which actually turned out to be a good idea. I had read that fly fishing equipment can be had there but in a very limited manner, and that is the truth. So I took leaders, leader and tippet material, extra fly lines. My buddy who went was the male part of the other couple was new to fly fishing and he brought an 8wt with him but ended up using my tackle largely because his rig was what he had bass fished with and was not up to the job of handling most of the situations down there (it was a rather slow action rod and one thing Belize has plenty of is wind). I ended up basically using just my 8wts and my 7wt. I can not even tell you how many bonefish I caught....my buddy caught bonefish, snook and baby tarpon too, though he could not cast good enough to catch a permit, but he is learning now for a return engagement. I do not like staying in lodges so we rented a house through AirB&B and I booked my day trips through Tres Pescados. I had such a great time I went back down the first week of July for my 60th birthday, which was supposed to be when the larger migratory tarpon showed up.....so on my second trip I spend about a day and a half of the time staked out for tarpon which did not really show and was only able to jump one decent sized one. I spent the rest of the time chasing bonefish, and I slayed them, having one day catching at least 25. I also hooked one permit that I lost when it did a turn about and rushed the boat after I was down in my backing pretty good on an 8wt. On the July trip I stayed at The Grand Caribe which ran around 1k for the week and once again booked through Tres Pescados for four days of fishing (that is 500 usd per day plus tip). Once again, except when I was staked out for tarpon I relied on either a 7 wt or 8wt. The 8wt is ideal for the average permit down there, my favorite on the Belize trips is my Tibor Everglades on a Sage Salt loaded with the new Rio Direct Core bonefish line. Here are a few pictures.
> View attachment 181257
> View attachment 181258
> View attachment 181259
> ...


What a great trip! Thanks for sharing that. Let me know if you ever need a travel buddy to take another trip!


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

DBStoots said:


> What a great trip! Thanks for sharing that. Let me know if you ever need a travel buddy to take another trip!


I will be heading back down in the next few months...maybe late fall or early winter when the permit are at their hottest.


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## Jared D (Mar 17, 2018)

That looks amazing. I want to do a trip there as well. 
I have only been to Belize once (from a cruise). How easy is it to get there?


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

I'm only sharing this because I doubt I will go back. If you want to catch larger bones up to 10 lb and plenty if permit large and small, some tarpon especially in lakes smaller say 15 to 25lb then look at Chetumal Bay area. The farther you get from established lodges the better the fishing. Last trip 4 years ago stayed at Casa Paraiso in Xcalak Mexico on Belize border. Ben Sutton owner. His son arranges guides- excellent. We spent a week fished 5 days total cost $1500 for four of us including car rental from Cancun. Phenomenal lodge location. Best fish found walking a few miles into back estuary/lakes. There are two or three other established fish lodges for 3 times the price. We had dinners at those places. I first fished Xcalak in mid 90's and was the only boat for a week. Thise days are gone but u can find very good bones in the backcountry. The more adventurous you are exploring areas around Chetumal, say where there are no lodges the better you will probably do.


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

Jared D said:


> That looks amazing. I want to do a trip there as well.
> I have only been to Belize once (from a cruise). How easy is it to get there?


Rather easy. You just need a covid test which is negative a few days before you go, a rapid test works. I fly out of Albany GA and use Delta Sky Miles so it costs me 88 dollars for round trip per person. The flight from Atlanta is just around 3 hours. Customs is not bad at all, I carry on all my fishing tackle in an Orvis Rod Case (can handle up to 8 rigs) and a Fish Pond Backpack. Once in Belize City they have flights with Tropic Air to pretty much any of the coastal regions you would want to go to for roughly 160 USD round trip. Reservations for the in country flight are very easy to make and they have a toll free number you can handle that with. There are also boats that can run you out to Ambergris Caye if you do not want to spend the money for the flight. Keep in mind that every thing you book from the States will show up in Belize Dollars which are normally 2 to 1 with USD, I use Tres Pescados, they have a toll free line to the US and are easy to deal with, they can book you trips in San Pedro, Placencia or Hopkins. Make sure your passport has at least 6 months before it expires........Hope that helps.


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

7WT said:


> I'm only sharing this because I doubt I will go back. If you want to catch larger bones up to 10 lb and plenty if permit large and small, some tarpon especially in lakes smaller say 15 to 25lb then look at Chetumal Bay area. The farther you get from established lodges the better the fishing. Last trip 4 years ago stayed at Casa Paraiso in Xcalak Mexico on Belize border. Ben Sutton owner. His son arranges guides- excellent. We spent a week fished 5 days total cost $1500 for four of us including car rental from Cancun. Phenomenal lodge location. Best fish found walking a few miles into back estuary/lakes. There are two or three other established fish lodges for 3 times the price. We had dinners at those places. I first fished Xcalak in mid 90's and was the only boat for a week. Thise days are gone but u can find very good bones in the backcountry. The more adventurous you are exploring areas around Chetumal, say where there are no lodges the better you will probably do.


I have done Xcalak, it is great if you are not taking your wife or GF, I have just found it is easy to do the trips if I bring her along....less trouble down the road...lol.


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## SilverKing (Jan 17, 2019)

Great place


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

7WT said:


> I'm only sharing this because I doubt I will go back. If you want to catch larger bones up to 10 lb and plenty if permit large and small, some tarpon especially in lakes smaller say 15 to 25lb then look at Chetumal Bay area. The farther you get from established lodges the better the fishing. Last trip 4 years ago stayed at Casa Paraiso in Xcalak Mexico on Belize border. Ben Sutton owner. His son arranges guides- excellent. We spent a week fished 5 days total cost $1500 for four of us including car rental from Cancun. Phenomenal lodge location. Best fish found walking a few miles into back estuary/lakes. There are two or three other established fish lodges for 3 times the price. We had dinners at those places. I first fished Xcalak in mid 90's and was the only boat for a week. Thise days are gone but u can find very good bones in the backcountry. The more adventurous you are exploring areas around Chetumal, say where there are no lodges the better you will probably do.


BTW a lot of the guides out of San Pedro fish Chetumal Bay. For two of the days I fished I was a heck of a lot closer to Xcalak than I was to San Pedro. This is a photo of us going through the canal that forms the border between Mexico and Belize.....we are pointing out the two nations....


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## 7WT (Feb 12, 2016)

Yeah its no secret anymore. Back before they built the canal and you had to "snake yiur way thru the mangroves the fishing was superb. All fish at minimum 5 and 6 lb and a lot of them much larger. I'm glad I went when I did. Its still good but nothing like it was.


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## greyghost61us (Dec 8, 2014)

7WT said:


> Yeah its no secret anymore. Back before they built the canal and you had to "snake yiur way thru the mangroves the fishing was superb. All fish at minimum 5 and 6 lb and a lot of them much larger. I'm glad I went when I did. Its still good but nothing like it was.


The bonefish in Belize are getting larger now, it is illegal to harvest them, permit and tarpon, There is now a push by some to outlaw harvesting snook too. Nets have been outlawed inshore too from what I understand.


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## drewbirch (Oct 9, 2019)

Looks like an awesome time.


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## Matts (Sep 2, 2015)

Great report and thanks for sharing. High adventure!


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## Clay Witt (Apr 1, 2019)

Im going in a few weeks. What flies would you have in the arsenal?


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## The Fin (Sep 28, 2021)

greyghost61us said:


> Back in May my gf and myself went to San Pedro Belize with another couple. Being that I was in Belize, of course I was going to spend some bow time in a Panga. I ended up fishing four days catching permit, bonefish, tarpon (babies) and snook along with numerous snapper of various species....all on flies. I took two 9wts, 2 8wts, a 7wt and a 10wt. I also took a few boat boxes of flies which actually turned out to be a good idea. I had read that fly fishing equipment can be had there but in a very limited manner, and that is the truth. So I took leaders, leader and tippet material, extra fly lines. My buddy who went was the male part of the other couple was new to fly fishing and he brought an 8wt with him but ended up using my tackle largely because his rig was what he had bass fished with and was not up to the job of handling most of the situations down there (it was a rather slow action rod and one thing Belize has plenty of is wind). I ended up basically using just my 8wts and my 7wt. I can not even tell you how many bonefish I caught....my buddy caught bonefish, snook and baby tarpon too, though he could not cast good enough to catch a permit, but he is learning now for a return engagement. I do not like staying in lodges so we rented a house through AirB&B and I booked my day trips through Tres Pescados. I had such a great time I went back down the first week of July for my 60th birthday, which was supposed to be when the larger migratory tarpon showed up.....so on my second trip I spend about a day and a half of the time staked out for tarpon which did not really show and was only able to jump one decent sized one. I spent the rest of the time chasing bonefish, and I slayed them, having one day catching at least 25. I also hooked one permit that I lost when it did a turn about and rushed the boat after I was down in my backing pretty good on an 8wt. On the July trip I stayed at The Grand Caribe which ran around 1k for the week and once again booked through Tres Pescados for four days of fishing (that is 500 usd per day plus tip). Once again, except when I was staked out for tarpon I relied on either a 7 wt or 8wt. The 8wt is ideal for the average permit down there, my favorite on the Belize trips is my Tibor Everglades on a Sage Salt loaded with the new Rio Direct Core bonefish line. Here are a few pictures.
> View attachment 181257
> View attachment 181258
> View attachment 181259
> ...


Jealous!👍


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## tailspotter74 (Nov 19, 2020)

thanks for the trip log. looks like a fantastic time down there!


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## grampy_grumps (Sep 6, 2015)

I go in two weeks. I am staying at a lodge on Ambergris Caye. I am an average tosser so hope to do okay and enjoy the trip. It is also for my 60th birthday.


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## Donovanbest (Aug 10, 2021)

Congrats on the permit


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