We are at our mid-way point in the season, the part where tourism is really down and the anticipation of our huge Tarpon migration begins to stir in our guides and customers minds. The big fish have not arrived yet, but our friends down south have informed us that the fish are thick in their waters. They should start to trickle in any day and by early August, or flats should be loaded with rolling Tarpon. The last few years we have successfully landed more large Tarpon on the fly rod than ever. We are proud to host Curtis Fleming and the Fly Rod Chronicles during the week of August 22nd. They will be filming their show with us all week and are looking to come tight with some Tarpon.
Hunting the Ghost on a calm flat
This week we had down Andy Lott and his lovely wife Suzi for some R & R and screaming runs of bonefish on the fly rod. Although they did not stay at our lodge, we were happy to pick them up on the North end of the island and take them out. The Lott's are repeat visitors to Belize. On their first trip a few years back, they decided to hire a "local guide" for some bonefishing on the fly. They were extremely disappointed with their experience with the local guide. This time around Mr. Lott finally listened to his wife, and he decided to do some research and find an established outfitter to work with. We are always excited when people find us after a having a "bad experience" with another guide because we know we can turn that frown upside down. Check out what the Lott's had to say:
Andy with a big bonefish. Check out how blue the rear fin is below his watch.
"We had an excellent time and our guide, Darryl, was top notch. My wife had never thrown an 8wt on water before and her casting improved 1000% in the days we spent with Darryl. I told him we wanted to catch fish and he produced. By the second half of day one he knew exactly what kind of trip we were looking for and was able to give it to us. He would look for larger
schools and get Suzi close enough and upwind to be able to have a decent shot, then we would pole near shore and look for smaller groups of larger fish that I could take a shot at. We had an excellent time. The weather on day one was very overcast and Darryl worked incredibly hard to find fish for us. We took the opportunity later in the day to look for some permit, but
after finding 3 groups of rays and no fish behind them we headed back to the bonefish flats."
Thanks for the great report guys. Darryl is or newest edition to the staff. He is young, but has a lot of experience guiding and his patience belies his age. We look forward to making him one our top bonefish guides next year. We have already had several repeats request Darryl as their guide. As noted, you do not have to stay at our lodge in order to enjoy the services we offer. Give us a call and we will get you set up with our staff right away. As you can see from the photos, the Lott's are clearly becoming better flats anglers. With some clear skies, they will have no problem spotting bones on their own and successfully casting to and landing fish. With a little more time with a guide on the water, I can definitely see these two hoisting a 40 pound Tarpon out of the water for a photo opportunity. Have a great summer - Mark and Darryl!
