‘Jungle Fever’

Take it from me; spectacular inshore fishing awaits those who venture to bountiful Belize.

Our guide, Raul, skillfully maneuvered his 22-foot panga around a sharp bend in the creek and into the main portion of the Belize River. This broad expanse was a stunning sight: tannin-tinted waters created a platform for two huge walls of bright green jungle growth which rose into a patchwork sky of white and blue. It seemed that exotic birds were everywhere in this wonderland with pleasing images of red hummingbirds fluttering around the bushes during our morning breakfast replaced by real-time treetop sightings of toucans, macaws and other exotic species.

The sheer joy of this experience was that the sights, sounds and smells of this jungle river were all a blessed bonus to this morning’s quest to nab a Central American river tarpon. My reverie turned to curiosity as Raul slowed the panga and headed towards a huge fallen tree - its base lay on the river bank with its old gray trunk and branches extending 40-feet out into the brown moving water. Raul said, “Get out your casting tackle and work the edge of the tree - tarpon lay up there where they hide and ambush any prey that comes along.”

I grabbed my rod and was about to fire a quick cast to a likely looking pocket but as I cocked my arm, a frightful roar from the jungle stopped me cold. I was sure that King Kong was racing around in the bush and heading right for us. Raul giggled and told me to calm down - he made it clear that my reaction was the usual response for a first-timer. The animal I thought was a man-eating wild beast turned out to be nothing more than a howler monkey; a critter barely larger than a house pet. I completed the forward cast and my bucktail landed perfectly in the pocket. The first sweep of my rod brought a huge flash just as the lure disappeared. I waited a second for the fish to turn before striking and a moment later, 40-pounds of shimmering silver went airborne. I was glad to see the amazing acrobatic display as this helped to tire the fish and rob it of precious energy. In 10 minutes the battle was over and the silver king was quickly photographed, revived and released into the cocoa-colored water.

This pleasing triumph marked the midpoint of our five-day fishing week. It also

marked the transition from two prior days of cloudy weather and two subsequent days of sunny-blue skies. Because of the great diversity of game fish in bountiful Belize, there were species galore for all conditions.

The lowered light of the cloudy days enabled us to have excellent sight-fishing for snook and tarpon, and we generally found our Belizean linesiders from the mouth of the Belize River out to the moats surrounding the offshore cayes. As suspected, they’d always be up alongside structure like downed trees or just under the shady line of the mangroves. Although Raul advised me to use soft plastic jerkbaits for the snook, I stuck to my trusty white bucktail and rarely had a refusal. The snook we caught ranged in size from five to 20 pounds.

During the first two days, no matter where we went, the conditions were optimal for sight-casting tarpon. The bay in front of Belize City was flat calm and all we had to do was ease along until we spotted rolling fish. At that point, Raul would cut his four-stroke and pole us into the midst of the eager silver kings.

When mid-morning came and the tide turned, Raul would run his panga about a mile south of Belize City to a deep channel of about 20 feet and anchor up. Slowly but surely, loads of mullet would ride the tide out to sea with big tarpon hot on their tails. This is where we jumped some of our largest fish. They struck wildly at our silver/black D.O.A. BaitBusters and at times, they’d miss entirely and leave a watery crater as a memento of their aggression. Other times we had solid strikes but failed to get any giant tarpon to the boat, although none of us cared since the action was so consistent.

Our last two days featured such bright sunlight that the three of us knew fishing the flats was the order of the day. We arrived at a large, submerged plateau Raul aptly named “Huge Flat.” He told us to get our rods ready right away, as the flat was loaded with large muds. I rigged my spinning outfit with a small orange bucktail jig tipped with shrimp. We fished the muds all day and caught a ridiculous amount of bonefish. When ladyfish and large snapper showed up, we added a small trace of 30lb. fluorocarbon leader which helped us stay connected.

Our final day started with a “ready” consensus to return to the same flat. Although Raul saw no muds, he uttered the magic word, “palometa.” He quietly pointed his push-pole at the numerous schools of permit headed our way. I quickly switched over to a white diamond-head skimmer jig that Mike had given me the day before - his words to me were, “When you see permit, throw this.”

Since these fish were in large groups of 50 or more, they were less spooky and more competitive. It became clear that these fish were very responsive to grabbing a presentation slowly retrieved along the school’s periphery. By the time the day was over, I had released an astonishing nine permit, which to Mike’s knowledge, certainly broke the club’s record for the 20 years he and his wife have owned the lodge.

A closer look at the Belize River Lodge:
The world-famous Belize River Lodge was built by Vic Barothy and opened its doors under another name in 1961. The lodge was purchased by the present owners, Mike Heusner and Marguerite Miles, in 1987 whereupon they renamed this marvelous destination “The Belize River Lodge.” It is situated on the banks of the Belize River, 10 minutes from the International Airport and three miles from the open ocean.

The Belize River Lodge has two fishing programs. One offers fishing and touring from its’ exquisite land-based lodge and the other offers fishing, cruising and touring from its’ live-aboard motherships, the 58-foot MV Cristina and the 52-foot MV Blue Yonder. While the live-aboards by definition can reach more remote locations than lodge-based anglers, it is essential to understand that visitors to the land-based lodge will find superb action as well since the lodge pangas cover a great deal of close-in and faraway water each day.

Our impressionable experience:
My research on the exciting destination of Belize urged me to choose the Belize Rover Lodge because of its perfect centralized positioning for the angling habitat, lush jungle surroundings, immediate presence of excellent staff, amenities (phone, fax, and wireless internet) and mahogany-finished lodgings that are imbued with Belizean angling history. I was sure that owners Mike, Marguerite and their daughter Misha, along with their 25 employees and six house guides, would provide a solid family atmosphere in the midst of such a stunning tropical fishing paradise. When the week came to an end, I asked myself - where did the time go? I felt that the Belize River Lodge exceeded all my expectations with rave results including delicious native cuisine, Swiss-clock efficiency and knowledgeable guides in well-appointed pangas. I especially enjoyed returning to the dock alongside the lodge at day’s end, knowing that a pre-dinner snack of tostadas, salsa and ice-cold Belikan beer awaited me only a few steps away.

The five day results in the angling department were superb, especially considering a bit of downtime for rain showers and Art’s photographic sessions. My own results were six snook, one tarpon (with eight other fish jumped), 10 bonefish, nine permit, 30 ladyfish, and more dog and cubera snapper than I can remember. This does not count the multiple cutoffs by whopper snook or surface plugs launched skyward by near misses from rough and tough jack.

After a cool shower back in my room, each afternoon I’d plop into a well-cushioned bed to write notes in my journal. This was a task made easy as the ceiling fan overhead whirled around the jungle air now well iced by the trusty air conditioner. When six o’clock rolled around, I would walk over to the main lodge housing the living and dining rooms. When Mike rang his bell, we’d all gather at the long dinner table where the smiling kitchen staff would proceed to serve a nightly feast - such a repast might be fried snook, cheese broccoli, potato salad, rice and beans and sweet deserts such as fried plantains and juicy puddings. My favorite dinner beverage was the ice-cold fresh-squeezed limeade.

After we ate and the fading yellow sun sank into the dense green jungle, our conversation would continue of the day’s angling adventures that at times stretched from brown rivers under the green Mayan Mountains, all the way out to the offshore cayes surrounded by endless tan flats covered with emerald clear waters. I often found myself concluding that I was in a genuine angler’s paradise – one that the harsh hands of mankind have not yet influenced.   

Contact Data:

Belize River Lodge

Belize City, Belize

Central America

Toll-free phone: 1-888-275-4843

www.belizeriverlodge.com

info@belizeriverlodge.com

Important Facts About Belize

-Population- 280,000.

-Location- South of Mexico on the Caribbean Sea.

-Geography- Cayes and mangroves on the east coast. Jungles and mountains in the west.

-Capital- Belmopan.

-Language- English is the official language.

-Size- 180 miles long and up to 68 miles wide.

-Currency- The Belizean dollar is worth half of the U.S. dollar. American dollars are widely accepted, but change may be given in Belizean dollars.

-Travel documents- A valid U.S. passport is required for both entry and exit into Belize and the U.S.

-Belizean Departure Tax- There is a fee of U.S. $37.50 for the Belize Departure Tax. This may be included in your plane ticket or it must be paid at the airport prior to departing Belize.

-Airport- The main airport is in Belize City (BZE) and is served by American and other major airlines. The airport is also the major hub for all air travel in Belize, including the offshore cayes.

-Weather- Considered tropical, Belize has similar seasonality to Florida, especially the rainy season.

Activities-

Belize is a major paradise of flats, mangrove coasts, rivers, rainforest, cenotes, jungles and mountains. It has endless opportunities for fishing, boating, sailing, cruising, snorkeling, kayaking, trekking, birding, exploring the Mayan ruins as well as shopping for locally made crafts. Belize City has an interesting zoo and the local open air markets will keep you busy for hours.