Tarpon Caye Lodge

Belize is a great destination for anglers traveling during the summer months due to its neo to sub-tropical climate, whose daytime temperatures only vary between 10 – 15 degrees over the course of a year.  This consistency makes the fishing in Belize fairly predictable, as well as productive, each month of the year.  The following write up by Doug Schink  (doug@angleradventues.com) on Tarpon Caye Lodge recently appeared in The Angling Report.

Tarpon Caye is a 10-acre private island situated 15 miles east of Placencia, Belize in the area referred to as “Permit Alley”.   The Caye takes its name from its tarpon lagoon that reliably holds a resident population of mid size (30 – 60 lbs.) tarpon.  There are also some fair to good bonefish flats in the area, but permit is the main attraction at Tarpon Caye.  On the top half of the tide, permit predictably flood the dozens of flats found within a 5 – 20 minute run of the Caye.  These are skinny, gin-clear ocean water flats and dorsal as well as caudal fins are frequently out of the water.  While you can skiff fish, it’s often more productive to wade these firm, shallow flats.  It’s not unusual to have 20 or more legitimate shots over a tide. 

Love at First Sight

 Tarpon Caye Lodge is owned by “Permit Guru”, Charlie Leslie who has spent over 35 years guiding permit anglers on these flats.   What distinguishes the fishing program from more conventional “8 to 4” lodge programs is that they will fish the tides.   ‘We do fishing here’, is Charlie’s motto, and he means it.  If you are there over a full or new moon, your highest tides occur during the middle of the day and thus the best permit fishing will be during the midday hours.  However if your stay coincides with a quarter moon when low tide typically occurs around midday, Charlie will schedule “split day” fishing.  For example, during these tides, you might fish from first light until the permit leave the flats with the falling tide, say from 5:30 to 8:30 am.  You’ll then return to the lodge for a breakfast/brunch, and a siesta.  Around 2:00 pm, you’ll head back out to meet the permit returning to the flats on the incoming tide, and fish until dark.

Accommodations are in basic but comfortable double occupancy cabañas on stilts, each with full tiled bath with hot and cold water and generated electricity. The clubhouse features the bar and dining room where guests enjoy libations and excellent meals featuring the freshest local seafood.

Tarpon Caye Lodge is competitively priced and is currently offering a special for 7 nights/6-days fishing for $1,999 per person double occupancy.

Permit Alley is a challenging fishery to be sure, but if stalking tailing permit on foot on gin-clear flats appeals to you, you owe it to yourself to take the challenge!

Reservations: Angler Adventures, 800-628-1447; info@angleradventures.com, Additional information on Tarpon Caye Lodge: http://www.angleradventures.com/tarponcaye/

Belize Special Rates

We’ve put up a couple of report type posts on the fishing around Turneffe Atoll this week.  Since Belize is a great summer fishing destination and there are some great special fishing rates at 5 of the best fishing operations in Belize, we thought we’d get those special rates all posted in one place. Click on the links below to visit each destinations web page or call (800-628-1447) / email (info@angleradventures.com) for more information or to confirm your reservation.

You can do this and get a discount!

 Turneffe Flats Resort – June 25 – December 24, 2011

 

The cost for 7-nights/6-days fishing is $2,859.72 per person based on double occupancy accommodations and a shared boat / guide.  The regular rate is $3,384 per person.

Turneffe Island Resort – May 28 – December 16, 2011

The cost for 7-nights/6-days fishing is $2,587.50 per person based on double occupancy accommodations and a shared boat / guide.  The regular rate is $2,868.75 per person.

Belize River Lodge – July 24 – December 18, 2011 (limited space available)

The cost for 7-nights/6-days fishing is $2,412 per person based on double occupancy accommodations and a shared boat / guide.  The regular rate is $3,668 per person.

El Pescador – June 1 – December 15, 2011

The cost for 7-nights/6-days fishing is $2,595 per person based on double occupancy accommodations and a shared boat / guide.  The regular rate is $3,474 per person.

Tarpon Caye Lodge – March 1 – July 31, 2011

The cost for 7-nights/6-days fishing is $1,999 per person based on double occupancy accommodations and a shared boat / guide.  The regular rate is $2,890 per person.

What is a Gyno Crab

Dr. Ralph Cifaldi’s Gyno Crab – Tied by Doug Schlink

Mid-Morning Permit Snack

Hook: Daiichi X452 or similar in #2 or #4
Thread: Danvilles Flat Wax, Fl. Green
Weight: Lead Eyes – sized to water depth and hook size
Tail: Appx 2 – 2 ½ inches, Polar bear, dyed golden orange (Rit golden yellow dye does it) and barred with a dark brown (*) marking pen
Body: 8 pieces of Tan Aunt Lydia’s Rug Yarn (Antron) figure-eighted in (Merkin fashion) on top of hook shank, and trimmed to appx dime shape.
Legs: 2 (**) Amber/flecked black Sili-Legs, square knotted in (Merkin style), trimmed slightly long (about 1 inch) and set with Krazy Glue (***)

 * I didn’t have a dark brown pen, just dark umber. The barring should be darker – more contrasting.
** While conventional wisdom would dictate 3 legs (per side), Ralph contends permit can’t count, so this is tied true to his original pattern (which worked, so apparently they can’t count).
*** I didn’t have any Krazy Glue handy – just used some head cement. Ralph put drops of Krazy Glue on the legs near the edges of the yarn body (and worked into the yarn slightly) to keep these sticking out at the appropriate angles.

800-628-1447 – 860-434-9624 Fax 860-434-8605 E-Mail:Info@angleradventures.com PO Box 872, Old Lyme, CT 06371 web site: www.AnglerAdventures.com

Remembering The Gyno Crab



NOV 6 – 13, 2004, I was one of a party of 8 very talented flyfishers and great guys who descended on Casa Blanca on Mexico’s Ascension Bay

in quest of permit. The first day out, just a couple were taken, one by first time permit fisher Dr. Ralph Cifaldi. Ralph was using a crab pattern of his own concoction; a variation on the Dorsey Kwan, distinguished by a long tail of amber dyed polar bear barred with a brown marking pen.

  

"Tara" with a nice Ascension Bay Permit

The second day, there was better success in the group, with Ralph coming in as top rod with a “hat trick” – 3 more permit on this just his second day chasing permit! This piqued our interest a bit more in Ralphy’s unorthodox pattern.

 

The third day, more permit were released by the group, but again the top rod was Doc Ralph, with another hat trick! 3 days into the trip and Ralphy had 7 permit under his belt. The excitement over Ralphy’s fly grew, and being the generous soul that he is, he stayed up late cranking out more of his crab patterns so as to present each one of us with one at breakfast.

 

There was no doubt in my mind what fly to tie on that morning! We ran back into the bay, inside of the tip of Vigia Grande. The wind had slightly clouded the water along the south side of the bay, and my superb guide Manuel (Tarantula) worked the edge between the cloudy and the clear water. Suddenly I spotted a huge permit working up tide toward us. I called to Manuel and he kicked the boat right, and with a couple of strong pushes on the pole put me in position to intercept the fish. I launched Ralph’s fly, it landed perfectly, I made a one-foot long strip and the big fish quivered, lunged forward and ate it. It immediately took off on a searing and what I expected to be a “reel-emptying” run. But about 70 yards out, it just stopped, and slowly pulled. I looked at the bottom and it was moving. Yes, now he was just leisurely towing the boat across the bay! This went on for 42 minutes until finally we got the fish close enough to tail it. But Manuel couldn’t get it over the gunnel! Finally, he went over the side in chest deep water to “wrassle” the beast into submission. We didn’t have a boga grip, but Manuel said his largest “bogaed” fish was 38 pounds, and allowed as how this guy was just about as big! We settled on 35 as an estimate.

  

By the end of the week, our party of 8 had tallied an amazing 35 permit on fly, and quite a few over 20 pounds. And Ralph’s pattern accounted for 17 of these, and the fly didn’t even a name. The last evening, our group sat around the palapa having beers and trying to come up with an appropriate name for Dr. Ralph’s (a gynecologist by the way) remarkable fly. Finally John Canavari burst out, “I’ve got it! The Gyno Crab”. And the name stuck. Google it!

I can’t swear there’s something special about the pattern – maybe it was just a case of a lot of happy permit eating well. But if any fly catches any permit, I want to have it in my arsenal! Hope this works as well for you.

800-628-1447 – 860-434-9624 Fax 860-434-8605 E-Mail:Info@angleradventures.com PO Box 872, Old Lyme, CT 06371 web site: www.AnglerAdventures.com