Hi. This is Chris with news of our recent activities.
Over the past couple of weeks fishing has been pretty good, with all sorts of surprises from unexpected places.
Pride of place goes to Paul Sharman, who on his first day out managed a fly- caught permit of 12lb and a tarpon of 35lbs in quick succession, but his chance of a grand slam disappeared when the bonefish mysteriously went missing. Unfortunately, the area he was fishing whilst excellent for permit, can be unpredictable for bonefish, but I guess that's fishing. The tarpon seem to be a bit hit and miss right now, but over the past week Paul has managed to jump several on lures and flies.
Out at the cayes, Paul also had a day with the bonefish, and besides catching his share, his wife Pang and daughter Aranya both had their first fly caught bonefish. The bonefish are on fire right now in the lower cayes, with excellent fishing conditions. Paul also took his first snook, a fine fish of 12lbs. He went on to jump more tarpon and snook on fly and lure in the mangroves and in our secret lagoon, fishing from one of our kayaks. He also almost literally bumped into a manatee busy grazing in the shallows.
From the beach, another guest Keith Bourne took an unusual grouper on a shallow running lure right in close, and followed this up by a nice blue runner. We have a ton of baitfish close in right now, and this is attracting in some unusual visitors, besides the huge dolphin which cruised gently past a few days back. Aranya Sharman probably raised the most eyebrows with a lookdown caught on a strip of fish from our dock with almost her first cast.
The lookdown is a strange-looking fish more often seen offshore.
Keith's wife, Sheila spent an entire afternoon trying to hook one of the needlefish which patrol our dock. These long beaked fish will attack bait and small lures readily but are very difficult to hook, and up until now no one has managed to get one in. Eventually however, Sheila's persistence paid off, and we were treated to a display of aerobatics and short dazzling runs before she finally got the needlefish in. Keith however was not to be bested, and an hour later caught an even bigger needlefish casting further down the beach. This kind of fun fishing can be great for the family and provides a change of pace from the serious business of stalking permit and bone fish or tugs of war with barracuda, kingfish and the like out on the cayes.
Our guests all went on our Night Croc Watch a couple of nights back with our nature guide Babe (Winsley Garbutt), accompanied by Sue. This involves a four hour slow creep up Monkey River by boat, spotting crocodiles, birds, iguanas, bats and other creatures. The guides spot the crocs by the torch's reflection from their eyes. These can range from little baby snappers to fourteen foot giants who are definitely not to be messed with. Babe even managed to gently lift a 24 inch croc dazzled by the torch beam into the boat. Needless to say Babe was very careful how the croc was handled, holding it behind its head so it could not bite anyone. This however did not stop the croc growling with indignation like a puppy at having his evening disturbed.
The Croc Watch is not confined to crocs, as many species of birds roost along the river bank at night, and with care you can approach very close and get a good look , without them flying off,. Other animals seen besides loads of crocs of different sizes, were frogs, iguanas, possum and bats and a solitary mouse. It was a beautiful dark starry night, ideal for getting close up and personal with the inhabitants of Monkey River.
Yesterday Sue took a party by boat into one of our nearby villages to pick up some supplies and do a little shopping. On the way there, they passed an osprey flying with a live fish wriggling in its claws, and a little later, a turtle busily swimming along. A bit further on a manatee came into view with its calf in attendance. On the way back a dolphin swam slowly passed, so they stopped for a while and got some good photos. I suppose it is not often you get to see such sights on your way to shopping!
Finally as part of our work with the Belize Humane Society, we have helped to rehome a six month old abandoned puppy called Jazzee, who for the second time in her short life has found herself homeless. Jazzee will be coming to live down the beach from us, with Richard and Joy who look after a new house being built for some American friends of ours, Dennis Okane and Wilma Lingle. So a sad little story ends well.
Today Keith and Sheila have been taken out to the cayes for a days fishing, so we await their return, barbeque at the ready!
Sue will be reporting on our trip to see the red macaws of Red Bank. More later, and more pictures when we get them from Paul Sharman, who has been photographer in chief lately as he is a journalist and wildlife photographer by profession..
Over the past couple of weeks fishing has been pretty good, with all sorts of surprises from unexpected places.
Pride of place goes to Paul Sharman, who on his first day out managed a fly- caught permit of 12lb and a tarpon of 35lbs in quick succession, but his chance of a grand slam disappeared when the bonefish mysteriously went missing. Unfortunately, the area he was fishing whilst excellent for permit, can be unpredictable for bonefish, but I guess that's fishing. The tarpon seem to be a bit hit and miss right now, but over the past week Paul has managed to jump several on lures and flies.
Out at the cayes, Paul also had a day with the bonefish, and besides catching his share, his wife Pang and daughter Aranya both had their first fly caught bonefish. The bonefish are on fire right now in the lower cayes, with excellent fishing conditions. Paul also took his first snook, a fine fish of 12lbs. He went on to jump more tarpon and snook on fly and lure in the mangroves and in our secret lagoon, fishing from one of our kayaks. He also almost literally bumped into a manatee busy grazing in the shallows.
From the beach, another guest Keith Bourne took an unusual grouper on a shallow running lure right in close, and followed this up by a nice blue runner. We have a ton of baitfish close in right now, and this is attracting in some unusual visitors, besides the huge dolphin which cruised gently past a few days back. Aranya Sharman probably raised the most eyebrows with a lookdown caught on a strip of fish from our dock with almost her first cast.
The lookdown is a strange-looking fish more often seen offshore.
Keith's wife, Sheila spent an entire afternoon trying to hook one of the needlefish which patrol our dock. These long beaked fish will attack bait and small lures readily but are very difficult to hook, and up until now no one has managed to get one in. Eventually however, Sheila's persistence paid off, and we were treated to a display of aerobatics and short dazzling runs before she finally got the needlefish in. Keith however was not to be bested, and an hour later caught an even bigger needlefish casting further down the beach. This kind of fun fishing can be great for the family and provides a change of pace from the serious business of stalking permit and bone fish or tugs of war with barracuda, kingfish and the like out on the cayes.
Our guests all went on our Night Croc Watch a couple of nights back with our nature guide Babe (Winsley Garbutt), accompanied by Sue. This involves a four hour slow creep up Monkey River by boat, spotting crocodiles, birds, iguanas, bats and other creatures. The guides spot the crocs by the torch's reflection from their eyes. These can range from little baby snappers to fourteen foot giants who are definitely not to be messed with. Babe even managed to gently lift a 24 inch croc dazzled by the torch beam into the boat. Needless to say Babe was very careful how the croc was handled, holding it behind its head so it could not bite anyone. This however did not stop the croc growling with indignation like a puppy at having his evening disturbed.
The Croc Watch is not confined to crocs, as many species of birds roost along the river bank at night, and with care you can approach very close and get a good look , without them flying off,. Other animals seen besides loads of crocs of different sizes, were frogs, iguanas, possum and bats and a solitary mouse. It was a beautiful dark starry night, ideal for getting close up and personal with the inhabitants of Monkey River.
Yesterday Sue took a party by boat into one of our nearby villages to pick up some supplies and do a little shopping. On the way there, they passed an osprey flying with a live fish wriggling in its claws, and a little later, a turtle busily swimming along. A bit further on a manatee came into view with its calf in attendance. On the way back a dolphin swam slowly passed, so they stopped for a while and got some good photos. I suppose it is not often you get to see such sights on your way to shopping!
Finally as part of our work with the Belize Humane Society, we have helped to rehome a six month old abandoned puppy called Jazzee, who for the second time in her short life has found herself homeless. Jazzee will be coming to live down the beach from us, with Richard and Joy who look after a new house being built for some American friends of ours, Dennis Okane and Wilma Lingle. So a sad little story ends well.
Today Keith and Sheila have been taken out to the cayes for a days fishing, so we await their return, barbeque at the ready!
Sue will be reporting on our trip to see the red macaws of Red Bank. More later, and more pictures when we get them from Paul Sharman, who has been photographer in chief lately as he is a journalist and wildlife photographer by profession..
posted by Sue Harris @ 2:52 pm
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