After our Belize adventure last July, Curt, Joe and I decided to set up a more rigorous fishing experience. Curt did some extensive research and identified Blue Horizon Lodge (https://bluehorizonbelize.com/) as a location where we might have a better opportunity to tie into Permit and Tarpon. The following is a summary of the trip.
The lodge. Blue Horizon sits on an island off Placencia, Belize, a small resort town south of Belize City. After flying into the international airport, you hop a Tropic Air commuter for a 30 minute flight to Placencia. From the airstrip you head to the dock, and hop on a boat for a 40 minute bumpy ride to the lodge, which sits on 2 acre island.
Yes, the lodge is on an island. On the up side, you're surrounded by fishable water. On the down side, you're surrounded by water.
The lodge can host 10 anglers. Accommodations were very comfortable. The rooms were clean, plenty of fresh water, and the AC worked well. The staff were very attentive, food was delicious Belizean fare, and plenty of Belikin beer and rum to help decompress after the long days on the water.
The fishery. Blue Horizon lodge is all about Permit. It sits in the middle of one of the most (allegedly) productive Permit fisheries in Belize. We spent our 6 days poling or wading vast coral flats stalking the "grey ghosts" of the Caribbean. I imagine some decades ago an inventive fly angler-entrepreneur figured out that Permit fishing could be turned into a major angling (and money-making) opportunity for anglers looking spend wads of cash to tie into this elusive and hard-fighting fish. And whoever came up with the idea was right. Anglers flock to the area and spend big bucks just to get the chance to tie into one.
The guides are all second and third-generation Belizeans who not only know the waters, but have the uncanny ability to spot a Permit tail protruding from the water at great distances. It wasn't until the end of the trip that I could see fish tailing, and even then only after our guide spotted them well in advance.
Permit is a tough fish to spot, a tough fish to cast to, and if you're lucky enough to get a take, a tough fish to bring to the boat.
The other species that are targeted are Tarpon, which are pretty plentiful, and Bonefish. But make no mistake, the guides are all about Permit. Tarpon are second priority. Bonefish are a bit of an afterthought, unless the angler is on the verge of attaining a "slam,".
Daily routine: Coffee on at 0500. Breakfast at 0630. On the boats at 0700, the off to the flats.
You spend 8-9 hours on the water, up on the bow of the pangas, while the guide searches for fish. Permit fishing is long periods of sitting around looking, interspersed with a few minutes of excitement when the guide spots fish and positions the boat (or grabs the angler by the shoulder if wading) for the best chance of getting a shot. You get maybe one or two casts to the fish. Miss the shot and the fish takes off, and you go back to stalking mode.
Anglers return to the lodge around 1500-1600, and spend the next hours drinking Belikin and commiserating over what could have been.
Was the juice worth the squeeze. Depends. The lodge is all inclusive. And while pricey, it was well below the cost of trying to do it all ala carte. Plus, there is no way you could fish this on your own, unless you're a Belizean, which we weren't. So if you want to target Permit and Tarpon, this is the way to go. As for our fishing experience, I'd give it a C-. Despite Curt's extensive research, which had us there at the right time, we did not see the numbers of Permit we were hoping for. I know, fishing is aspirational, especially when targeting an species. But the law of probability is important; the more fish you see, the more shots you get, and the greater the opportunity for a hookup. We saw on an average 3-5 Permit every morning; most singles, but a few times in schools of 2-3. Just not enough to get comfortable casting to them and putting the fly in the right spot at the right time.
You kind of have to have some OCD to go after these fish. That's okay, but not really my idea of fishing. I wasn't averse to stalking Permit, but I also wanted to feel "the tug," even if it was a Bonefish, or God forbid a Jack or a Snapper.
Summary. In the 6 days we fished, there were on average 8 anglers who set out for Permit every morning. That's 48 angler days, and 384 angler hours on the water. No Permit were landed, with Joe getting the only hookup for the trip. The Mikey D team fared much better than our fellow anglers. Joe had the lone Permit hookup, Curt had two Tarpon hook ups and the only Tarpon boated. And we caught numerous Bonefish.
