Bones of Belize

The TrueFire crew headed to Belize in search of Bonefish the first of May. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Let's face it - that is always the right thing to do. At any time.

We were staying at the Turneffe Island resort. The accomodations were great even if you weren't fishing. The nightly food was prepared to perfection, there was a pot of hot coffee magically sitting on the doorstep of your hut every morning when you woke up, and Permit were swimming just off the end of the dock.

The weather was wonderful, with just medium wind for the most part and lots of sun. The bonefish were cooperative as well. They were a little tricky to get out of the coral once you had them hooked, as there were many pieces of sharp coral to snap your tippet. The good news was that they weren't real picky so we beefed up the tippet to 16 or even 20 pound test. That way you could put the pressure on them to get them out in the open water. This of course then led to several straightened hooks, but keeping them out of the coral was imperative.

Flies that took bonefish were green bitters, white crazy charlies and a few other assorted shrimp patterns.

We fished long hours and our guides were willing to stay as late as we wanted to get the fish we were after. Each morning we would take a short boat ride to get to the flats we would be fishing, then it was mostly wading. We packed a lunch so we didn't have to leave the fishing just to eat. Once the day was over we would head back to the comfort of the air conditioned room. A nice outdoor shower was available so you could shower while listening to the tropical birds in the palm trees. You had to be careful not to lay down for a brief rest or you would drift off and miss the awesome meal that was being prepared. You did not want to miss that!  

Great fishing, great lodging and lots of laughs! It was a trip that we hope to repeat soon!