The trip started out with a bang. I planned to fish for two days out of Belize City with a guide by the name of Richard Young Jr. Jr. turned out to be a very good guide and my fishing partner and I had a couple shots at large tarpon right away. 'Partner" hooked one large fish of about 100lbs but after only 14 minutes the fish broke off on its 3rd jump. Wow - this is what 100 lbs of very angry and very capable fish looks like! I was impressed and ready for more - bring it on!!











As an added bonus, we were able to catch many bonefish while fishing with Jr. mostly as a filler species when the light was bad or we couldnt find the tarpon. Now if that isn't enough to make any dedicated fly fisher who usually travels to the Bahamas drool, read on...the bonefish around Belize City I found to be very cooperative since they are not the glamour species of the area and receive little pressure. Ha , I didn't even know how lucky I was.






The second phase of my Belize adventure was aboard the Mothership Meca. We (a group of four) embarked on a weeklong adventure with two flats pangas in tow. Our mission was to explore a group of cays several miles from Belize City. The mothership proved to be an immediate advantage because anchoring out at the cays meant we only had to run 2-10 minutes to our "hot spots" and were able to return for meals and midday breaks from the sun.

The first day we managed to catch many bonefish in the 1.5 to 3 lb range. I also caught a 7lb baby tarpon.
On the third day of our trip we moved the Meca south to purportedly better Permit flats. We had high hopes that at least one of us would be lucky enough to hook one of these elusive fish. After a very frustrating morning of seeing many permit and getting casts off only to spook the fish or to be ignored we broke for a breakfast (served at the leisurely hour of 9:30). Everyone had seen fish and gotten some shots - but no hook ups. Between breakfast and lunch, however, our luck was to change. Paul caught his first permit of the trip and only the second of his life, he was thrilled. I also got a shot at some smaller fish on a flat. I executed an excellent stalk, cast, and dropping my crab into the middle of the school I was quickly hooked to my first permit. The little bugger was only 4 lbs but made one blistering run for the deeper water. I held on and he continued to slugged it out with me for almost 10 minutes. I leaned hard on my Sage 9 wt Xi2 and I was rewarded with my numero uno permit!






The rest of day 3 was spent chasing more permit tails but we got no more eaters.

Day 4 I was fishing with Paul and right off the bat we were into fish. I missed my first shot at a small school of fish. But the second group of fish we encountered were just coming onto a flat with the tide. It was a school of about a dozen fish. They were crisscrossing left to right then turned right back at us. I crouched as the guide tried to silently pole the boat backward. Fortunately for me they turned to my left just before they would have been spooked by the boat. I dropped the crab about 3 ft in front of the school and gave it a slow long strip, imitating the sliding dive of a crab caught swimming up in the water column but trying desperately to get to the bottom. I saw a fish respond and cruise forward to inspect the faux crab. I paused, letting it sink. I then went for another slide and the line came tight! Line started peeling off my reel like crazy as the fish raced off. This one was considerably more fish than the one caught the day before. We had a good tussle and after 15 minutes he was in. According to my Boga Grip, he was an an exciting 15.5 lbs. (On this trip all our fish that I give weights for were according to our Boga Grip)






It was now Paul's turn to fish. I took the backseat for a while, enjoying the scenery and it wasn't long before he caught a nice 9 lb fish. After all this excitement we felt that breakfast was in order - Paul and I felt like Fish Gods, walking on water back to the Meca.






After breakfast I was able to catch another Permit of about 8 lbs. Paul had some shots but no takers.
At lunch we found out that we had just tied our guides record for Permit in one day on his skiff with our 3 fish. We had the option to move but I was feeling the magic of the day and opted to stay in this sweet spot. We thought we would fish the afternoon out before we made a decision. I wanted the record for our guide! After lunch two of the guys wanted to rest so I went with Martin (our guide from the morning) and Paul went with Dean (our other guide for the trip). Martin and I headed out in tougher light conditions and initially poled several flats and saw nary a permit. We returned to the flat were I had caught the fish before lunch since we had seen quite a few before and after I caught that fish. The light was getting bad leaving me to spot the fish. I was on the front of the boat and Martin was in the back. Any fish I missed would likely be spooked by the time Martin could see it. I could only see about 25ft (the range at which the fish normally see us and boogey out of there). I spotted one school but when I went to cast they spooked even though I was crouching and trying to keep a low profile. The next group also spooked before I could get the crab pattern in front of them. The third group, however, contained three fish angling right at me. When I put the fly in front of them and gave it the slide nothing happened. As it sank I saw two of the three leave but the third was following it deeper. I stripped ever so slowly feeling for the fish. When I felt tension I strip stuck and had hooked my third permit for the day and the fourth for the skiff. I was able to land the fish, another 8 pounder, and here is Martin with the permit/record. I later found out that I had also set a new individual record beating the old one of 2 permit for one angler in a day on his boat.

No more permit were caught that evening or the next morning in fact, apparently our magic had worn off. We moved the boat back toward Belize City in order to try for tarpon and bonefish.
The bonefishing remained good and the tarpon fishing, slow. The last morning before our flight Martin wanted us to head back out since we had about 5 hours to fish before he shuttled us to the airport - who were we to say no? I loved this guide! The bones came easy that morning as I fished alone with Martin and Paul fished with Dean. The other two anglers packed and rested. After catching 10 bones I insisted Martin try the fly rod only if he would let me try poling the boat. Needless to say I stink at poling! It is so much harder than you might think! Martin was rusty and could not remember the last time he caught a fish on a fly rod. Regardless of our multiple handicaps Martin still got shots at fish and it wasn't long before he caught a nice bone. After he hooked two more he made me get back on the pointy end of the boat and we went looking for tarpon. No 'poons and time running short. We hit one more flat on our way back to the Meca. For the day I counted a dozen bones before noon not to mention the other fish Martin hooked. Awesome!

All in all this was a fantastic fishing trip and great vacation. I know I will be going back next year and it sounds as though the other three guys will too.

But my trip was not over yet - from Belize I flew to Costa Rica to take a shot at my first Sailfish on a fly. We arrived in Tamarindo to fish. I arrived to find very windy conditions and reports of poor fishing. Oh well, we had a boat chartered and had come a long way - we were going out no matter what. We tried trolling to tease up a sailfish and after several hours one finally came to take a look. Unfortunately, he didn't get lit up and was obviously unimpressed with our presentation as he faded back into the depths. About an hour later another one came up. This one was more determined. He chased the teaser toward the back of the boat as the mate reeled it in like a madman. As the teaser almost reached the boat the sail grabbed it away. I was very worried he would spook as the mate tried to jerk the teaser away from the fish. I slapped the fly in behind the fish just as the teaser came free. The 7ft fish spun 180 degrees and lunged at the fly in the blink of the eye. I set the hook firm and held on. For the next 10 minutes the fish was definitely in control as he rocketed about 300yds into my backing and proceeded to jump over a dozen times. I was on the defensive doing everything I could to keep my line from separating. After many jumps the fish calmed down a little and I made my move. I put the pressure on knowing if I waited too long he would rest and it would only prolong the fight. I pulled hard on my 13wt my biceps burning. The fish tried to go deep but I was able to move him. He also tried to plane away from the boat using his sail as a rudder. But after about 6 minutes of slugging it out I was able to put his bill in the mates hand.

As a sidenote, my sail was caught on two tube flies that I tied. The captain advised that my flies were too small and I needed more. I was surprised but took his advice and put on both of them! The leader was 22lb class tippet and 100lb shock. The rest of the afternoon and all the next day we tried to bring up more fish but none came to call.

photo: Heres a sunset at the end of our second day looking out from Tamarindo at the anchored boats in a small nook in the giant Pacific