We love fly fishing in Belize, specifically in the San Pedro around Ambergris Caye. San Pedro is super easy to get to. A direct flight from Calgary flies once a week to Belize City and then we take a puddle jumper flight to San Pedro that takes 15 minutes and voila, we are there! We stay at The Landings Condos at Bermuda Beach. We like cooking for ourselves most of the time and that set up is right near grocery stores, as well as small markets so we can get our food easily! We stay 2 weeks and we take turns fly fishing. It is a blast and every year is different! We are fortunate enough to have an outstanding guide who will cater to all skills of fly fishers and what they want to do out on the water. We like that a lot. Hilian Martinez is an excellent guide and his apprentice, Shawn Guerrero are a fantastic team and they take care of us. We fly fish for bonefish, permit and occasionally, tarpon! Although fly fishing is the focus, we enjoy the beautiful weather, snorkelling, bird watching, travelling to Secret Beach, drinking Belikin beer and sipping scotch in the evening and just plain having a great time.
The big moment on the trip was when Doug caught a 10 pound permit! He fought the hard fighting permit for 20 plus minutes before Shawn was able to net it! It was a great moment! The weather was fantastic the first 12 days and a cold front rolled in the last two days. The dreaded sargassum grass moved in for a few days but it was not a big deal when it came to fly fishing!
We come armed with a lot of flies but we now seem to be using a lot of squimps, mantis shrimp, EP shrimp and strong arm Merkin crabs. We always have "Gotcha" shrimp flies in pink, gold and pearl along as well!
Rick tied these Merkin crabs for our guide, Hilian!
Some of our group went "birding" this year and had a great time.
...as always, pictures speak volumes so take a look!
The quality of the bonefish has certainly improving since they became protected.
Mike, Doug and Bob
We encountered permit of all sizes.
Belikin beer in a bucket
Hilian with Doug and Mike
Salsa is a big staple at dinner time
Karen landed two nice permit
We love sunrise at 6:10 am. Don't be late!
Right there!
Spectacular sunrises.
Permit on!
Yahoo!
Beach days rock
Key lime pie on the island is amazing!
Taryn started this tradition. Pink Gotchas. So good!
The view from the Rum Dog! Another excellent over water pub to enjoy a drink and lunch!
The last two days, a cold front moved in. We went looking for tarpon. I hooked one but lost it. Darn!
Last fish of the trip was a big bonefish!
Karen and Addy, Hilian's wife have become good friends!
Supper at Elvy's has become a tradition!
King fish and octopus for dinner. Incredible.
Sometimes, we went fly fishing with a golf cart!
Permit!
We can catch bonefish right out front of the condo!
Shawn poling. He is getting very good for an apprentice.
Pelicans are so entertaining!
Mike's first time bonefish fly fishing was definitely a success!
Mike's first permit! Another fantastic moment!
Spoonbills
Crocs are certainly around. You need to be wary at all times. Great shot Violet!
Tailing bonefish. A great challenge to catch!
Hummingbirds at the condo are buzzing around constantly!
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