Belize Report Day 1

[Dave Sikorski]

Day three continued after dinner with a night fishing trip. With a few belikins in the belly and a little food to we pointed into the dark and hopped up on plane. The light from the island lit the way and before I knew it we were anchored a short distance from the lodge in a large cut that joing the lagoon and ocean/reef. Under just the moonlight I began casting a purple and black bunny fly that I had tied a few weeks earlier. Blind casting into the dark is a strange feeling.

The 12wt. was a bit to cast for long periods so Drew and I would switch on and off. It became time for my second shift and a few casts into it the fly got hit on the drop and hit HARD!!!. line started streaking away and after about 50 yds of backing Fabian said must be a permit....well just as the word permit came out of his mouth, a big ole silver king did his thing and tossed the hook. It happened so fast I still can't remember if I set the hook well or what happened but hell I was 1-2 on tarpon....not a terrible record.

With some deep breaths and laughs and smiles we got back to business. Drew wanted to keep me on the bow and didn't take anymore shift through the night. We changed the fly to a cockroach and I went back to work.

It had been about an hour since the tarpon and it was beginning to get a little tiresome. A look to the stern made me realize it was about time for bed. Drew was laid out and starting to snore and Fabian was curled up with the gas tank as a pillow.

Ok a few more casts.....that of course turned into more than a few with nothing to show.

Damn...only one chance tonight and I blew it....

ok ONE MORE CAST......

This time I was ready. BUMP BUMP BUMP.....SET.....ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.......

wow that line is cookin....The boat wakes up and Fabian says it's a permit again....not so sure I stay ready for the jump.

Well it's been a few min. and I'm now ready to agree. It's a big ole permit.

After about 15 min. I'm back to the fly line and the T&T and Tibor Pacific are doing their jobs. This guy is about whooped. The lights come on and I finally see what I've been casting too all this time. It's funny how you can forget what things look like when it's dark. The gin clear water might as well have been the OC inlet on a night in June.

The big slab of fish makes it in the boat and the night is complete. It's time for bed.



What a night!!!

TBC....

-D

[BBunker]

TOTALLY AWESOME REPORT DAVE!!! Sounds like a trip of a lifetime!!! Thanks for sharing it with us!

[CapeMayRay]

Great report and enjoyed the pictures. Sounds like by next trip you will have everything dialed in and should really knock them dead. Till then you are just going to have to play with the local stripers. Thanks for sharing you trip with us.

[Jer]

I just read the "Day three" report. Very very cool

[Dave Sikorski]

Well I've procrastinated enough....

Day 4

The day started a little earlier and in the same place as day 2. We started crusing along a 3-5 ft foot deep "flat" looking for nervous water and permit. We had beat the other boats to the area and the leeward location made it easy to spot the schools patrolling the area.

With Drew on the bow the motor was shut off and Fabian ascended to his perch.



There was a school ahead. We slowly approached and the pink lips of the fish showed against the dark bottom. They put up a wake as they came along, and the occasional tail would break the surface. We got in range and Drew began casting.

15 casts later and the school had been lost and the tension was a little thick. Permit were finally acting the way they're supposed to. Finicky little dinner plates!!!

a 10 min wait later the school was back!!...first cast this time and YAHTZEE!!



Hooked up.


After a quick battle Drew had his second permit of the week.



I made a few attempts at the school but couldn't get a hook up.

After a little run we made a few turns that looked familiar. We were back in the place I had caught my permit and tarpon from day 2.

What did Fabian have up his sleeve?

We stopped at "my" permit hole and they weren't home. We needed a break anyway and decided to have lunch.

Fabian changed the tippet quietly in the stern of the boat as we were eating, and his favorite tarpon fly was added to 80lb shock.

With full stomachs we slowly snuck into the creek mouth the tarpon seemed to enjoy.

No one home

maybe 10 min of waiting and a few blind casts later....THERE THEY ARE from the right.

two fish fought for the yellow offering and Drew was hooked up.

With a deep hookset this fish was MAD...a dz jumps with a few into the branches of the mangroves....How was this fish still hooked???



After about 15-20 min the fish was at the boat and was beaten. With a quick snap of the Bogagrip a 30 pounder was in the boat.



The hook was removed and the tired tarpon was sent back to the shade of the mangroves.


A short run later we were in the same cove where my bonefish came from.

The school is there. A few casts later and a fish takes the rootbeer charlie and makes a run for the mangroves...SNAP....damn....so close.

We didn't know it would take almost 3 more hours of searching to get another shot. It was a hot one that afternoon and the bones were spooky and hard to find.

Finally we ended up at Fabians camp. His personal school would have to cooperate and give us the 2nd slam of the week. Too bad they didn't get the memo. A few casts yielded nothing but a spooked school and the promise of a long walk accross the flats to find more fish.

We put our flats boots on and headed after them. I went with just the camera.

Drew hadn't landed a bonefish yet and I had to have his first on film. Little did I know the walk would cover a mile plus and quite a long time. We finally convinced fabian it was cocktail hour and the second grand slam wasn't meant to be. We agreed Drew would spend the last mile of the day on the bow and if we saw some bones he's make an attempt at them.

I opened an ice cold Beliken and hoped this adventure was almost over....man it was HOT.

well of course about 100 yds from the start there was a school of bones....cast....strip...strip....set....FISH ON. The little bone was nearly dragged to the boat and damn if we didn't have the second slam of the week. The 9 hour day was finally over and what a day it was!!!





....TBC

[Murph]

Absolutely incredible Dave! Great reports and pics