Turneffe Island Resort: Looking for Permit and Bonefish

Exotic By Dino Frangos, M.D., IFFF MAster Certified Casting Instructor

Belize City is the capital of Belize. Only a 2 ½ hour flight from Atlanta or Houston, it is your gateway to remarkable bonefish and permit fishing. Enjoy great sight fishing with a fly or spinning rod in an English speaking Central American country.

I just returned from Belize after a successful trip of fly fishing. This was my sixth trip to Belize, and my third stay at Turneffe Island Resort. TIR enjoys a worldwide reputation for its fishing, diving, and snorkeling.
Leaving Mobile, AL on the 6 am flight to Houston, and after a quick transfer, I was in Belize City by 11:30 am. At the airport I was greeted by the TIR manager and shuttled to the marina. There is a 1-1 ½ hour boat ride to the private island. The ride is very picturesque and a welcoming cocktail is served.

On arrival to the island, the entire TIR staff is there to greet you. It reminds me of the opening to the Fantasy Island TV show.  “Smiles everyone.” After settling in, dinner is served family style. Dinner usually includes a fresh local fish, homemade breads and dessert.  

The guided fishing is tailored to your interests and abilities. The experienced guides can accommodate beginners to experts. This trip I was guided by “Taku”, a permit sighting machine. He provided numerous shots at permit. I landed two 12-15 pound permit, lost another to a poor hook set, and had my fourth permit break me off in the coral. The late afternoon was spent landing bonefish.

Two other fly fishers reported numerous catches of bonefish. Their guides were Eddie and Dennis. Both are experienced guides. I have had the pleasure of Eddie guiding me on my two previous trips to TIR. 

This area of the Turneffe Atoll receives very little fishing pressure. In fact, the few other boats seen were from another Turneffe lodge coming to the Turneffe Island Resort area in search of permit.

I would recommend looking at Turneffe Island Resort for your next fly fishing experience. There is nothing like the sound of your fly line screaming off the reel as you try to land a bonefish or permit. You may want to bring along a significant other to enjoy the diving and snorkeling, or lounging by the pool sipping a Pina Colada.

If you want to know more about TIR contact me.

Dino Frangos
IFFF Master Certified Casting Instructor

Fishing Brazil! (Peacock Bass)

Exotic By Thomas R. Dempsey, M.D. CCI

By far the hardest fighting fish ounce for ounce, pound for pound, is the peacock bass.

Instructor Tom Dempsey and Nashville hunting and fishing guide and fishing partner, Chris Nischan just returned from their fifth trip to South America where the peacock bass was the target species. Miami to Manaus is a 4-1/2 hour trip followed up with a 200 mile skip to the Agua Boa river and the Agua Boa Amazon Lodge. This fly fish only camp is located on a very small river that is noted for it’s crystal clear waters, a Mecca  for sight casting to marauding fish.

The Amazon is home to over 350 species of fish all of which will hit a fly. We had the good fortune to catch 17 different kinds of fish the first day. Although the camp is 200 miles from civilization in the middle of the jungle, there is air conditioning, internet service and the best food this side of grandma’s table. Fishing, all catch and release, is from jon boats with jet drive engines for the really skinny water. Props simply don’t hold up. All the guides are masters at poling and welcome the opportunity to show you they can cast a fly rod also. With over 600 lagoons to fish, as well as 135 miles of river, you hardly ever see another boat from your camp and never fish the same water twice.

Eight weight rods with floating lines and 30 lb. leaders are the tools for landing anything short of a monster. All amazon fish have teeth and everybody eats everybody. Expect to catch any where from 25 to 125 fish per day. The camp record is 550 in one day, no kidding. The PH of the water is so acidic from all the foliage that falls in the river that there are few bugs to worry about. No malaria or Zika here. The extremely low water levels this year pulled a zoo of animals to the river for a drink, peccary, jaguar, howler monkeys, tapir, amazon deer, giant rodents, and a slew of others I can’t begin to name. The location on the equator means the sun comes up at 6 am and sets at 6 pm everyday, and at night there are continuous showers or shooting stars.

This is a bucket trip even for the non-fisherman!!