The idea to go to Belize came one night after my partner and I had talked about saltwater fly fishing. We watched a bunch of YouTube videos of people fishing for bonefish, permit, trigger fish, parrot fish, and just about any other reef fish you could imagine. The ecosystem, the idea of being somewhere warm, and the thrill of catching these colorful fish was enchanting. Saltwater was such a different style of fishing than we were familiar with. Our one excursion with saltwater fly fishing was a trip to Texas in January of 2021 for redfish. While the trip was a successful vacation, it was one of the toughest fishing trips I have ever been on. The weather and the steep learning curve of kayak fishing and saltwater fishing all combined to some tough conditions. I spooked more fish than had fish hook up. Wes connected with redfish, but only managed to land a drum. My biggest hope for our next saltwater trip was to catch fish, especially if we were going to be traveling so far.
In choosing our location, Central America filled all of our wants: Mayan ruins, cultural and ecological sites, good food, and unique fishing. Turneffe Atoll had everything we were looking for as far as fishing both mangroves and flats, and access to a variety of opportunities to connect with different species. It was also a central location for diving and potentially a trip to Blue Hole. With all of these things in mind, we decided to book a combination trip to both fish and dive at Turneffe for a week. In planning this, we also decided to do a week of sight-seeing on the mainland and islands before journeying to Turneffe. Our intensions for this were to explore some non-fishing excursions and activities for family we wanted to come with us on a return trip. Also – Mayan ruins.
The first week of exploring in Belize was just that: exploring the mainland and San Pedro. Enjoying a vacation like we had never been on and in a place, we had only dreamed of being able to travel to. More about this first week in another post, but for now – fishing.
Arriving at Turneffe Flats was everything you can imagine arriving at a five-star remote island lodge could be. We were picked up in Belize City at the Radisson docks and shuttled by dive boat for an hour across the channel and through the lagoon of Turneffe Atoll. Our luggage was handled and we got our room numbers as soon as we were on the boat. Traveling to the atoll it became apparent all of the guests either knew one another or had been to the lodge before. As a socially awkward person to begin with, this realization of course made me immediately more socially awkward. Also my partner and I were the only guests under the age of 35. All of that aside, when we arrived the expanse of white-cresting waves on the reef greeted us. Then the lodge came into view with swaying palms, groomed sand, infinity pool, and cabana buildings. It was breathtaking. After traveling for over half a day on water taxis, golf carts, and cabs my partner and I felt very travel-worn, in need of a shower, and very out of place. We felt even more out of place when we were greeted at the main lodge porch with a cocktail and an appetizer.
So – Why tell you about all of this awkwardness? Because these are the things no one talks about. There is a cultural expectation in the US that when you get to the point where you can afford a trip like this – you’ve “made” it. The truth is, you haven’t. The truth is you may not feel like you belong, and that’s okay. The important thing is to be honest with yourself and others, be open and kind, and embrace the new experience for what it is: something you’ve never done before.
Learn all you can and enjoy every minute.
Before we came to the island, my partner and I had agreed that this would be the part of our trip where we would be happy to wake up early, stay up late, and put in work for our fish. In other words – the sleeping in, lazy beach days, and afternoon massages were saved for the first week of our trip. At Turneffe, we were here to fish and dive. Diving being the relaxing part of our stay. In our fishing experiences, both of us are no stranger to 10+ hour days on the water, especially during Alaska summers where we have the advantage of 19+ hours of daylight. We knew this would be a steep learning curve in many different ways and we were here for it.
Our first night we sat down to dinner with four best friends who welcomed us to this new experience with open arms. After much discussion of saltwater fish and fishy traveling excursions they assured us that we were in-fact in the right place, had every right to belong in this new experience, and were excited for us and our first adventure on the water. We went to bed that night nervous and still a little apprehensive that we had gotten in over our heads.
The next morning, we had orientation with the lodge director, and after a healthy breakfast with as much fresh fruit as we could handle, we met our guide – Ed. He walked us through what we would need for our week in his boat and talked with us about what our expectations for fishing were. He went through our rod setups, flies, and leaders to make sure we had everything we needed, and we were off. Straight into the rain.
The whole week was scheduled for scattered rain showers due to a tropical storm sitting off the coast of Honduras. With this rain came unpredictable wind and tough fishing conditions for everyone else at the lodge who came to tarpon fish. It also made tough conditions for us because we were such newbies to this whole experience. It’s a good thing Ed was not a newbie.
Maneuvering us around the mangroves, flats, and thunderheads, we found and connected with fish each day we were out on the water. The first morning Ed brought us to a turquoise expanse of water where he polled us to what I could only see as a grey cloud in the water. Turns out it was a cloud of bonefish no less than twice the size of the skiff. Wes was on deck and at our guide’s instruction he cast into the cloud and stripped the fly back to the boat. The connection was lightning fast. The first run took Wes into his backing. The second run took him even further into his backing. The third run did the same. Then, after what seemed like an eternity and more backing than any of us had seen in our lives, Wes and Ed brought this fish to hand for our small group of fishermen to stare at in wonder.
I couldn’t top that. I smiled so much my face hurt. Wes swore up and down that he used up all of his luck and it was all downhill from here. Ed chuckled and got back onto the polling platform. I stepped up on deck.
We may have been in over our heads, but we were going to give it all we had.
You must be logged in to post a comment.