The broken rod was a tfo. I do not believe it will be a problem to get a tip
replaced. About 90% of the time we waded the flats, only when the bottom was to
soft did we fish from the skiff. I used SA Mastery reels, they seemed to
perform well under the conditions I fished. I used a 6 wt for the bone fish
mainly because we were always encountering jacks and permit. The flies I used
most was a simple shrimp pattern tyed with diamond braid for a body and a
flashy material for a wing and feelers, these were in pink and green. The
permit I landed was caught on a traditional Gotcha. The tarpon was taken with a
black and purple tarpon toad. The other flies I used were crazy charlies with a
brown wing and tan turneffe crabs. The biggest key to catching fish was not to
use to big of a fly. Amost every thing was caught on size 10 and 8 hooks with
the exception of the tarpon and the toad was tyed small on a size 1 regular
shank hook. I will post some pictures when my friend sends me the DVD he is
doing.
Mel
----- Original Message -----
From: DonO
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 12:36 PM
Subject: Re: [VFB] Belize Fishing Report
Gongrats, Mel. Sounds like you had a great trip- wow, 10 days... :o) And a
slam to boot! Did you wade or have a flats boat poled by a guide?
It's an $expensive$ decision to make- 'How much back-up gear do I bring?' I
always take an extra reel in each class, each with an extra loaded spool, and
an extra rod for each class. I don't have an extra 14wt, but I do have a 17wt
as a back-up for it. It's expensive to pack spares, but if you spend your
vacation and savings to be there, and didn't get to fish because of equipment
failure, which is more expensive? Fortunately, you had your 8-wt for back-up,
and it must have been a thrill to catch a 40lb tarpon on an 8wt, not counting
the skill required. Truly awesome.
What was the make/mod. of the broken rod? Winston replaced my 12wt, even
though it broke resulting from a reel malfunction (Teton drag froze up) and on
a sailfish.
On one trip, just for fun, we used out light inshore gear (trout gear for me)
for dorado- 6wt to 9wt, and caught 20-30# dorado on them. It was fun, but a
lot of wear and tear on the light gear (besides the saltwater use). We
wouldn't have even considerd it had we not been in Loreto, as there are few
sharks there to eat your catch during an extendid fight (from locals fishing
and Humbolt squids). In Pensacola, I love to use my 5wt on green jacks, as
they are like bluegills on steroids, and readily take small poppers.
Excellent on the permit. I've been wanting to catch one of those for a
decade, but nary so far.
OK, now you have to tell us what flies you used, and post pics of your
catches.
Thanks for posting.
DonO
----- Original Message -----
From: mel hocken
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 12:22 PM
Subject: [VFB] Belize Fishing Report
Hi Everyone
Just got back from Belize. Had ten days of great fishing on the flats. On
my first cast of the trip I hooked a permit, the fight did not last long as I
broke him off. Caught lots of bonefish, some jacks and on the first day I went
for tarpon I hooked and landed a 40 pound tarpon on an 8 wt. rod. You may ask
why was I using an eight weight? I was practicing a couple of casts with my 10
wt to get my range established and the tip broke during a cast. From the looks
of the break I think there must have been a flaw in the rod as it was brand new
and had never been cast. From now on I will always try any new rod out in the
back yard before I take it on a long trip. I eventually landed a permit so I
ended up having a slam trip.
Mel
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