Return of the flyfishers!
This week we have Dave Lewis, demon fly fisher from Wales, making a return visit to us, together with Terry Smith, and newcomers Ray Jennings and Dell Elliot making up our second consecutive party of four from England (sorry, Britain).
When the weather forecaster on our national radio station, Love FM, knew Dave was coming back to Steppingstones, he immediately changed the forecast to howling gales and rain. As usual however he got it wrong, although we did have a fairly brisk wind.
With choppy seas on Day One, the guys decided to hit Monkey River at first light as we have been getting reports of tarpon and snook showing. This proved to be a good decision. Dave landed tarpon and snook on fly, Dell had his first ever tarpon on fly and the others also jumped tarpon and snook, as well as a few surprise tubas. These perch-like ciclids fight like blazes, and it is a pity they don’t grow all that big! The machacas which can normally be expected to come up to surface lures were however not coming out to play.
Day Two was a blast straight out to the reef with bonefish the main target. The sea has heavy so the guys got bumped and soaked going out, and bumped and soaked coming back. Despite this they were rewarded with some decent sized bonefish on the flats around Nicholas caye. Ray managed his very first bonefish on a fly which is always a great landmark. A strong breeze however made sight fishing a challenge even with our eagled eyed guides George and Wayne at the helm.
By the time the guys got back it was 7pm, so in two days they had averaged 12 hours a day on the water. No wonder they looked tired. Dave made a brief appearance before dinner before crashing out in his cabana. He ate his dinner for breakfast the following morning! Sue’s Mexican tacos WERE good, but for breakfast??
Thursday dawned much calmer, so amidst muttering about permit fishing, the boats set off for the southern end of Port Honduras Marine Reserve. The day turned out to be not a day for permit. A strong wind and colored water made fish spotting very difficult. Ray had some nice jacks on poppers plus more tarpon to everybody. Both boats went up Deep River which IMHO is one of the most enchanted places on earth. But nothing inclined to feed. The rivers need a good flush through which we reckon could happen any day now.
Their day ended in Monkey River hoping for a last minute tarpon, but it was not to be. They did however witness a pitched battle between two rival troops of howler monkeys - probably a territorial “misunderstanding’ as the Belizeans call it!
So to Friday. The plan was to go out to Ranguana and engage the bonefish again. However the wind sprung up overnight, so both boats elected for a starting effort back in Monkey River.
The river was quiet, so a move down to Deep River seemed like the best bet. However this too was pretty slow. After a day of stopping and starting, despite all efforts the day was unproductive. So while Dave and Terry decided to call it a day, Ray and Dell decided to have one last cast. Their persistence was rewarded and a tarpon and snook compensated for a disappointing day.
So the following day, bright and early the team decided today was to be the big day, and duly set out after permit. That evening the guys were back late. When we saw the boats approaching the dock in pitch darkness we knew something was up from the broad smiles. Dave had hit his grand slam of a permit, a tarpon and a bonefish, and Terry managed a permit and a bonefish, and lost no less than four tarpon late on in Monkey River in a desperate attempt to achieve his grand slam! So it was drinks on the house for everyone that evening, which is a Steppingstones tradition. Grand slams are not common, even here in Permit City. It is not just a matter of catching all three species in one day, it is as much a challenge of finding all three species feeding! The purists will insist on Grand Slams being all fly caught, but we excuse a little involvement of hermit crab in catching permit! As the guys will tell you, hooking a permit is hard enough on ANYTHING!
The following day, it was hardly surprising that, sore heads from the night’s celebration or not, the team was headed back out to do battle with the permit again. Terry in particular felt hard done by having missed out on his Grand Slam so narrowly the previous day. Determination often gets rewarded, so it was no surprise that Terry turned out to be the star of the show, with a Grand Slam of his very own to celebrate that night!. This Steppingstones tradition is getting to be a bit expensive on free drinks! Still it does not happen every day.
Next day saw the weather on an improving trend so it was back out to the reef in search of the bonefish shoals. The fish were quickly located but were in a silly mood, swimming around like harbor mullet, as Dave described it, and refusing even the most tempting of offers. Despite this a couple were landed and a very big bonefish showed itself although it remained uninterested in feeding.
Overall this was a story of what might have been. Stories of lost fish, missed fish, and shoals disappearing in a flash. However, the boys, led by demon flycaster Dave all caught tarpon, bonefish and snook . Terry and Dave both had Grand Slams as memories to treasure. Dell and Ray had some decent jacks, plus barracuda, etc. on lures as well as their successes on fly, so honour was in the end satisfied.