Ambergris CAye + El Pescador

[Mark Bové]

Has enyone been to this place. I hear it has some killer florida like tarpon flats. Is it as good and similar to flordia flats? Also how is the lodge it seems pretty cool. Also I am planning on going July 4th is that a good time.
Mark

[Les Johnson]

You might want to check with Leland, fly-fishing manager at Orvis in Bellevue for some up to date information. He has booked a group into El Pescador in May. He put together a fly selection in the store and I do know that we've rigged up some rods and lines for "baby" tarpon. Give him a call at: 425-452-9140.
Good Fishing,
Les Johnson

[Mike Croft]

I don't ofton post here but your question struck a note with me as Ambergris Caye is probably my idea of fishing heaven. There are several hundred square miles of flats around the Caye that hold Permit, bonefish, and Crevalle with Savannah (sp) Flats being the most famous. Six months out of the year it holds giant tarpon and in places baby taropon can be found year arround. The Giant Tarpon start at the end of March but I don't know the month that they taper off. The giant Tarpon swim in a big circle arround the Caribbean and this is when they start to pass by Belize.

You must be able to cast at leat 80 and preferably 100 feet in a 15 knot wind. The trade winds come up almost every day and there a blows that last a week or more, when the wind hits 15 miles per hour it can stir up a lot of marl and the waters become cloudy. It is impossable to site fish the tarpon in these conditions. I advise planning a 2 week stay to insure you get a chance to have calm weather. In clear water you can sometimes see the tarpon comming for five minutes before you get your cast. You usually only get one shot too. Learn to make a combo strike using both arm and rod setting. Pratice setting the hook at least 3 times. NEVER set your hook until the fish turns. It takes a few seconds for it to register with the fish and when it does hang on and pray for evey damn one of your knots. If you don't have a good set you will most likely loose him on a jump. Your regular salmon set is not enough for Tarpon. I spend 30 min per day visualizing imaginary fish for several weeks before i go and it has proved an excellent aid. There is nothing you can do with a fly rod that even comes close to the excitement of this fishery.

Schools of Jack Crevalle are common and hit poppers if it is not too windy to cast them, if it is too windy, any 3 or 4 inch bucktail will work.

At high tide (not really very high by our standards) the water pours over the coral reef that runs the whole length of the country and fill the flats with water. As the tide turns it flows out of channels. If the channel is in a mangrove forest/swamp then they call it a river. It is not really a river but twice per day it flows. There is a big concentration of rivers one hour north by boat. If it is too windy and the water is too cloudy, pay a little extra gas money and run North to the Mexican boarder and fish the rivers. There are lagoons on these rivers with eel grass (they will call it turtle grass) and every fifty feet across the lagoon in every direction is a bare sand spot. every bare sand spot has a fish. It might be a baracuda, or a yellow tail, or a permit. but it is laid out like a checker board and you cast from spot to spot. Baby tarpon are found on the edge of the mangrove around the lagoon and you can often hear them splashing arround the roots of the mangrove. Doing these rivers is seldom done but it is one of my favorite things down there.

San Pedro is the only town and within site of the town you can find bonefish flats. The bonefish are not big like in Burmuda but with the right flies I was still able to hook 30 or so per day. Email me and I will fill you in on the patterns if you are interested.

Permit are also within eye shot of San Pedro. I was lucky enough to hook mine on my very first cast.

If you have unlimited funds you can get great food and sevice at El Pescador Lodge. It is about 5 min outside of San Pedro by boat. If you want to stretch your money get a room in San Pedro and hire your own guide. San Pedro has a fun night life and the trips to some of the skin diving parks will let you see every fish species imaginable. Doing it on your own will be about 1/2 of the cost of staying in a lodge.

Keep you eyes open when you are wading as there are tons of sting rays and even a few salt water crocs.

One more hint that I hate to mention as it tells you more about me than I want you to know. There is no air conditining down there but a lot of rooms have ceiling fans. Never, and I mean NEVER put your rods together in your room.

Good Luck, Mike

[flyandfield]

Mark,

El Pescador is a first class operation. The food, the booze, and the fishing are great. July is an ok time to be there. I think you will have missed the peak of the tarpon migration, though there are plenty of residents to cast to. There are bonefish everywhere! It is not uncommon to have 10-20 shots at bones a day. There are good numbers of permit too.

Make sure to take one of their bikes and ride it up the beach to journey's end resort. There are great bonefish flats to fish. I would be armed with smaller bonefish flies, with and without eyes. Weed guards are helpful since most of the fishing is done casting into the turtle grass.

A 6 wt is perfect for most bonefish. Use an 8 when it is windy or when casting to permit, and use a 10 for tarpon. Floating lines are perfect for bones and permit. Most of your tarpon fishing will be done with a floating too, but have sinking line allows you to fish different types of tarpon water. A full-sink intermediate is ok. A 400 grain shooting head worked best for me.

I've fished with a few of the the guides at EP. My favorite is Gilberto. He's been guiding for a long time, and really knows where the fish are. Urlindo is another great guide. He does talk very much, but he's been at it for 25 years. Again, he know where the fish are. Most of the guides are great, but if you get stuck in Armando's boat raise hell! He is a poor guide. He lacks communication skills and fishing knowledge. And he will drink all the beer you bring on board.

Have fun. I look forward to reading a report.

Damien

[miyawaki]

I just returned from a week at El Pescadore. Capt. Wolf is very close to correct, Belize could be heaven, although I lost enough tarpon to make me believe that Belize is possibly purgatory.

It appeared that the big migratory fish were making an early showing. I am glad I brought my 12 wt. rod and Pate Tarpon reel loaded with all the gel-spun backing it could take.

I fished the flats for four days and jumped 10 fish and my partner jumped six. He landed one of 70 lbs and I landed one of 40 and another 70 pounder. The highlight for me was losing three 100+ lbs. fish, the largest of which beat me up for over 40 minutes before straightening the hook. The first broke a 16# class tippet. After that I switched to a 60/80 butt and shock. The second big fish wore the butt through before breaking off.

El Pescadore is a terrific lodge, particularly for the first time flats angler and Bob, the fish master, is very good with newbies.

Good luck,
Leland.

[jsebenik]

I too just got back from the San Pedro Area. My trip was not solely for fishing, there is a lot to do down there, but I did get to fish every morning and evening. I mostly fished on my own and was very successful. I spent one day with a guide, Abner with "Go Fish Belize" guide service. www.gofishbelize.com. I caught a lot of bones and we did some searching for tarpon and permit with no luck.

Let me know if you are looking to do it yourself and I will give you more info.

Jeff

[Mark Bové]

Thanks for the imput guys. I am booked for 4 days of fishing in September and hope to nail a few tarpon.
MArk