Turneffe Bones....

[Darian]

Got back from Belize yesterday. Too many days traveling for me. After our first days flight was cancelled due to the shooting at LAX, we rescheduled our trip and only missed a half day of fishing. The airline was very helpful but rescheduling meant an unanticipated lay-over in Miami on the way down there.

Turneffe Flats Lodge is a beautiful place. Manicured lawns with coconut palms and mangrove jungle all around. Well maintained and clean. Good food but not Carribean which was disappointing to me. I was able to get some Conch fritters at the first day's dinner. WOW!!! Was that good....!!

Had a great time and met some new fly fishers. No fish pictures due to the wet conditions but we did get into some Bones (my partner got one about 3-4 pounds) and I had a legitimate chance at 3 Permit (at close range, too). Just couldn't close the deal. Very exciting, stalking/wading those fish over a half mile of flats in 6" to 3' of water while it was blowing and raining. The fish were all on the flats for us. After wading miles every day, my legs are in good shape, now. Others caught Bones on the flats and Permit near the mangroves. We didn't have much luck near the mangroves, tho. All of the guides and staff live in housing provided by the lodge owners on Turneffe Atoll. All of them seemed to be friendly, helpful and knowledgable.

For the week, the weather was only OK. Breezy each day with storm cells surrounding the atoll at all times during the first 2 days. After that, it was rainy/windy/stormy with LIGHTNIN"/thunder, overhead. One morning it rained more than 2" in a couple of hours and blew so hard I just stopped fishing and stood with my back to the weather, waiting for it to calm down. I was ready to call it a day when the weather broke and then we spotted the Permit. I was really energized by the sight of those fish on the flats. The larger of the first two we saw looked to be around 20 pounds. When I made my first cast, they were about 40' from me. When I think about it, I probably had some "buck fever" at the time. Anyway, when I cast, the fish stopped and seemed to be checking out the fly but then just sunk out of sight and left. All of the rest of my Permit encounters required at least 60' or longer casts.... Oh well,.... Next time.

The captains down there really push to use small flies beginning in size 10 and working up in size if able to get some strikes. We were using floating and intermediate lines. I won't make the mistake of using an I line again on those shallow flats. One other problem I found was that flies sold by the lodge were, apparently, tied on inferior hooks. I had one hook straighten and the hook point bend/broke off on another. Nearly all of us experienced the same thing and Jay mentioned it to the lodge owner.

On the tourist side, Belize is a beautiful, lush, tropical place. Lots of jungle, lots of rain, high humidity, bugs everywhere (the flying bugs were kept down by the wind). Our captain was a young guy who was very knowledgable about the history of Belize. Good guy. He mentioned the Mayan Pyramid on the mainland. So, on the day we were leaving, we made a trip there on the way to the airport. The site was beautiful. Everything around the Pyramid (stadiums, sacrificial places, etc., were excavated and available for research/viewing. The size of the development and the pyramid itself was amazing. The Mayans built all of that stuff using lime stone cut accurately to fit; all around 700 BC. At that time, it's thought that nearly 3,000 Mayans lived there. During the excavation and exploration of the site, a hand carved, jade skull was found in a burial chamber. Believed to be a representative of the Sun God. It's now kept under lock and key by the government.

All in all, we had a great time in a very beautiful place. Would definitely go back but need to choose a time when the weather is a bit more settled.

[Baja Fly Fisher]

I'm working on a report but will chime in. Yes, the weather was wet and windy. My first day, I only landed 3 bones and saw no permit. My partner must've landed 6 or 7 bones, he had the hot rod. Day number two, things changed for me. I was into bone fish on almost every cast, well not every cast. I "farmed" alot of fish. I had one take off across the flats and burn the s*** out of my line finger then it came unbuttoned. Got the fly back and looked at the hook, straightened out. Later that morning, we spotted a couple permit so I was off wading up and down the flats. What's it called "buck fever" The permit came within 15' and I made a cast using a merkin crab. Let it settle and then the ultimate happened, the tail popped up and as the fish started swimming away, I set the hook, lifting the rod instead of strip striking. It ran about 40 feet before coming unbuttoned, damn. Then on the horizon, I saw this huge black cloud heading towards us.. I was near the boat so I decided to sit in the boat and watch as this cloud drew nearer. Ron and the guide were about 1/2 or so away, I knew they weren't going to make it back in time for the rain coats. Then a few drops, a few more drops and all of a sudden the sky opened up. I had bought a rain coat the day before the trip because that was on the things to have list. But being back at the lodge, it wasn't doing me any good there, at least it stayed dry. I was drenched from head to foot but who cares. It was warm and the water was warmer. Soon the rain pasted over and the sun broke through the clouds. Boy what a difference it made in spotting the fish. There were a lot of bones in the area, that we just couldn't see with the heavy over cast and choppy waters. After a couple days, I got to where I could spot the fish in the chop. One thing I found out, the fish with the tails sticking out of water were in the middle of the pod and there were a huge school on the outside perimeter. One cast to the "tailers" and the whole school spooked
It seemed like I took a "dip" every day. I had one bad dip on the third day. I had spotted a rock which I thought might roll but still stepped on it and crap "here I go again" THis time I was completely under water with my hat floating on the surface. During my "falliing time" I cut my hand on some coral. From the bottom of my palm to my ring finger, not too bad though. Looks like the incision that I'll be getting in a few weeks when I have carpal tunnel surgery. That was one of my main problems, no feeling in my thumb, fore finger and middle finger. Couldn't feel myself stripping the line and had a hard time holding the rod with a brace that I'm wearing.

Going to stop for know and continue later, I gotta scratch my bites

Jay

I'm also going to put short video together with what I shot

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Marilyn and I took a group there maybe 20 years ago.

We had our annual trip planned though Frontier Travel to Christmas Island and the plane service was not working so we switched everyone to Turneffe Flats Lodge off the coast of Belize.

Famous for its Bonefishing, the best to be had in Belize.

It was a very memorable trip.....very well run and popular lodge.

PS: After a week in Belize you will have some bites to scratch....but it's worth it.

.

[Darian]

Jay mentioning the daily spills reminded me that I had my share of spills every day due to tripping on coral heads/rocks, too. Got my share of abrasions. One actually made me laugh afterwards. I stepped out of the flats boat to start wading a tall, turtle grass area. Unknown to me was that it was mud based and I immediately got my left foot stuck up to the top of my wading boot. It was held in there by suction. So, as I was already in motion, I went over up to my neck. Finally got my boot out without losing it and had a good laugh but vowed to wade with a shorter stride and on top of the turtle grass.

The flats at Turneffe vary greatly depending on where you are in relation to the barrier reef. This reef is made of coral in shallow water with all kinds of loose, sharp stuff, including some large conchs, laying around to trip on and cut off the fish after they're hooked. Lost lots of flies there. Just inside the reef is turtle grass based on rock/sand. Here, the bottom varies in depth with some holes that aren't so visible to trip you up. This band of growth extends in from the reef to a point where the currents no longer scour the bottom. From that point it becomes the deeper turtle grass with a sand or mud bottom. Intermixed are sandy areas, a kind of bowl of greater depth than the surrounding areas with what looks to be level sand until you start to cross one of these patches. They are made up of an endless series of small mounds that alternate in height and hardness, making wading on them without twisting an ankle almost impossible. Takes a bit of adjusting too if you haven't done that before but learning it's a must if you expect to fish the flats and catch anything.

There're some interesting predators down there, too. One of them is the large Barracuda that come into the flats to relieve you of your catch if you don't land them quickly. They take 'em right off the hook.

[DLJeff]

Great report. Sounds like you guys got to experience all that the flats have to offer. One word of advice: clean those coral cuts very well and watch them closely for a week or so. Coral cuts very frequently become infected. They can sometimes heal over on the outside and then a few days later get red and sore and infected. I've even seen them turn into a very ugly abscess. When we lived in Samoa all us kids had blotches of purple dye on our legs and feet and arms. For some reason, the anti-biotic topical medication all the doctors used was dyed purple. It worked tho. But if we missed one or didn't tell our Mom's it usually got infected.

[steveg137]

Very interestong.

I'm heading to Belize in January for the first time- what would you recommend for wading boots? Also any med's or insect repellant you'd recommend?

Thanks a bunch.

Steve

[Baja Fly Fisher]

I cleaned my cuts out real good. My left hand got a real good gash and it bleed for a while then I went back to the boat, poured some fresh water on it, (and screamed) then put some antiseptic ointment on it. Got back to the lodge and Karen gave me some Hydrogen peroxide, it foamed up and then applied some more ointment. So far no redness or discoloration. I remember when I live in Hawaii and surfed the Pipeline, I went "over the falls" on a wave and got slammed feet first into the coral reef. Cut my left foot real bad to where I had to have 132 stitches to close it up. All I remember was the doctor using what looked like a turkey baster full of water into the cut and cleaning it out, damn near passed out then a shot to dead'n the foot so they could sew it up.
I'm ready to go back. Started tying up some 8's and 10's using good hooks

Jay

[gitt]

Wading boots

How much do you want to spend? I have the Simms flats booties that you can zip up the side that I use here for the perch thing on the coast. They were a little big with just some cheap (read disposable) cotton socks and no neoprene sock. Bass Pro has some flats boots for around $30. They aren't out on display, so you just have to ask for them. They are called World Wide Sportsman Flats booties. For a week walking flats, they should be good enough. Unless you can justify Simms guide version of the flats boots with multiple trips, I go with the lesser price booties. I included a photo on the booties as well. Open toed sandals and tennis shoes are not an option.

For bugs, DEET products in an pump spray is what you want. Cream ointments can't be put on fast enough for the no see-ums, if you run into them in the mangroves. I called the Kaiser traveling nurse, told them where I was going, and they gave me options for mosquito borne diseases.

[steveg137]

Cool thanks "Gitt" - feel like I'm abusing some close friends addressing you like that...yeah don't want to shell out on the Simm's ones as unfortunately can't seem me doing ton of this so will look for the Bass Pro ones.

Good tip on the treatments, I still have a small head net used in New Zealand for the sand flies the 2nd time after getting savaged their, saved me ton of itching and return to complexion of my youth.

[Darian]

I second the DEET recommendation for bare skin. Wear some insect shield clothing if you can. Very effective. If you don't have any or don't want to buy any, you can get some spray on insect repellant from places like REI that will provide some protection.

Depending on where you're going in Belize, the insects vary. Mosquitoes and black or horse flies in the mangroves and sand fleas on sandy areas of the atolls and islands. If it's windy with showers, which it seems to be all the time, and you're on the flats, mosquitoes won't be an issue and not many flies appear to be out at this time (I still got a couple of bites from flies, tho). Different story in/near the mangroves or anywhere on the mainland. I wore shorts for the first few days but changed to full length trousers and the problem disappeared.

For cuts or scrapes, bring a small first-aid kit. Include some Neosporin and some alcohol wipes used to disinfect skin prior to medical procedures, etc. You can get a supply at any pharmacy or drug store. Hydrogen peroxide is good but just another bottle of liquid to pack.

For wading, my partner and I chose to rent/use the lodges boots. The lodge rents Simms Marlwalkers. Mine were very comfortable, provided ankle support and didn't pull off when I stepped into the mud flats. I don't have any experience with zip-up flats booties down there and wouldn't recommend them. I have used them around our beaches at times and can tell you that they wouldn't hold up on the reefs at Turneffe for more than a very short period, you might twist an ankle and your feet would be very uncomfortable.

Good luck on your upcoming trip down there. Hope you enjoy Belize as much as I did.