Fishing in San Pedro & Belize

The estuaries, inlets and mouths to the many rivers are known for their tarpon, snook and jacks. The lagoons and grass flats are known for the bonefish, permit and barracuda. The coral reefs support grouper, snapper, jacks and barracuda while the deeper waters off the drop off are home to sailfish, marlin, bonito and pompano.

Fishing is great all along the coast of Belize, from the Port Honduras and Punta Icacos lagoon of Toledo to Rocky Point on Ambergris Caye. Any of the many rivers which empty into the Caribbean along Belize's coasts can guarantee a daily catch. Most of your guides and boatmen speak English so learning where and what to fish will be no problem.

The waters surrounding Ambergris Caye abound with a great variety of saltwater fishing and the island boasts some of the best fishing guides in the country. Most types of fish, including bone fish and tarpon, can be caught year-round. Within 15 minutes of leaving the dock, you can be fishing in tidal flats or in blue water hundreds of feet deep.

Cost for charters depends on the type of fishing (reef, deep sea, or bone and tarpon), the size of the boat, number of anglers, time of year and current bank balance of the captain, but expect to pay around US$100 to $175 per person for a full day's reef and deep sea fishing trip, including bait and tackle, beer, soft drinks and lunch. The International Billfish Tournament is hosted by the Barrier Reef Hotel and Hustler Tours each spring.

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FISHING ON AMBERGRIS CAYE has remained one of the Caribbeans best-kept secrets until recently. The extensive flats, a twenty minute boat ride from the lodge, are picture perfect. Shallow (2-6 feet) and with a whiter than normal sand bottom, these tarpon feeding grounds stretch for over fifty miles and provide the dining room for almost unbelievable numbers of tarpon.

Peak periods on the local flats are the months of May through November, though there are fish around 355 days a year, and Winter/Spring months (February, March and April) provide excellent opportunities when the weather cooperates. More importantly, it is uncommon to encounter other anglers once you have left the harbor area. The immense size of these flats, and the lack of fishing pressure has left these tarpon with an very aggressive nature, and they move readily to almost any properly presented fly.

You can forget the stories that you have heard about the relatively small size of the Belizean brand of tarpon! One very knowledgeable and experienced flyrodder at the lodge boated fifteen tarpon in three days and "jumped" 16 others. The largest was 178 pounds, and, as always, "you should of seen the one that got away!" Click here for how to cook up that catch!

FISHING FROM THE SHORE-
Regarding fishing from the shore, you'll certainly do better in a boat, but you can also score from the beach. Bonefish and all of the local reef fish are in abundant supply. Ultra-light tackle with small spinners and grubs will catch almost everything. Rattletraps will also catch most of the reef fish, plus barracuda. Bring your gear, and Good Fishing. That said, ALL of the local guides can put you on fish for a VERY reasonable price.

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I've done well catching bonefish right on the beach right near the rio. During the sunrise of the day i flyfish hitting the areas on the flats bare of turtle grass. Small shrimp imitations, and crazy charlies work out well. Then during the night when the tide is in, many of the reef fish come into near the beach searching for food sources. Light spinning gear and natural bait is more efficient than flies then lures in the darkness. Conch and sardines are deadly. The mula conch or horse conch is wonderful bait, it is smelly and it is tough and hard to get picked off the hook. The wind side of AC is really shallow and you can wade for hundreds of feet up to your waist if you are not really short. The leeside of the caye is filled with mangroves and with a mucky bottom. Basically, the windside is open for wading, but watch out for fast pangas, or fishing skiffs. I use wading shoes, not bare feet due to sea urchins and sharp objects. waders and fly vests are too hot for this climate, i use a fanny-pack stuffed with my gear, and of course a nail clipper on a retractor and a hemastat. Look for the areas without turtle grass, and try the muellas, or the piers. A good guide and a comfortable boat is a pleasure.

You can fish for bonefish from the flats at the cut just north of San Pedro, from the beaches north of the cut and from the docks and beaches in town and south of town. Caught bonefish just about anytime water conditions were right, any time of day...Water must be calm. Wade fishing with a 7-weight fly-rod, or a light spinning rod is a kick. You can catch more fish off a boat, but wade fishing, or off the end of a pier is relaxing. The area near the cut is pretty good. The various species of fish is pretty good: black snappers, red snappers, bonefish, barracudas, french grunts, and permit. Mr. twister's jigs are awesome.

You can use sardines available from at a bait shop immediately side of the airport, there is also a fly shop at El Pescador Resort....

You can fish from the beach and docks in town and on the south side of town beginning about 4:00 PM. We often cooked in the condo and found restaurants very willing to clean and serve my fish for about $5.00 per person. They were especially willing if I had a little extra fish that they could serve to others at full price.

There are many good guides and fishing from a boat is an option. I did it and enjoyed it. You can fish for an hour or more anytime you feel like it with your own gear. By all means, do it!

Note from a long-time dive operator on the island:
Spear fishing guns are legal only free diving. No tanks allowed when using spear guns. Big fines and prison terms if caught using with tanks. Also, it is totally ILLEGAL with scuba equipment or any type of fishing equipment within Marine Reserves and punishable by up to 5 years in prison.

While I am stating it is legal with snorkel equipment I would certainly never take a tourist spearfishing and would hope nobody else would.

It would not take long to deplete the fishlife it we marketed spearfishing therefore I think it should be left for the locals who have fed their families for generations using this one of many fishing methods.

The guides are very flexible with respect to their schedule, and prefer to begin early or start late depending on the tides. Occasionally that means missing a hot breakfast, or returning at dark for just a quick shower before dinner.

Tarpon remain the primary attraction at in the area, although there all the reef species, barracuda, snook, snapper, grouper, and of course the ever-present bonefish and occasional permit. These are really a sidelight, though, because this is tarpon fishing the way everyone dreams that it should be! The flats are situated only a mile or so from the blue water and they are constantly being replenished with fish from the deep. White sand bottoms with occasional patches of turtle grass provide an unbelievable background to make these fish very visible in the shallow water. Schools of dozens of fish can be seen pushing water like bonefish from hundreds of yards distance.

The common denominator for success at Ambergris Cay is the weather. Generally speaking, the dry season in Belize extends from March through May. Morning breezes are usually from the southeast during these months and directly from the east during the rest of the year. Since the vast tarpon flats that the flyfishermen are concerned with lie on the western shores of the Yucatan, this affords a protected "leeward" side much of the time.

Although the months of May through November are considered the prime time for flats fishing, the fish are present during the entire year and any days that are calm are considered ideal times to be on the water in search for tarpon.

When the wind does raise havoc with the tarpon fishing the protected and always sheltered coves and lagoons offer a safe and almost guaranteed shot at bonefish. Though the bonefish don't often run large here, there are lots of them and they provide plenty of entertainment.

Permit are frequently spotted in these lagoons also, as well as cruising along the inside coast of the Yucatan and on the tarpon flats themselves. It is a good idea for flyrodders to have a spare rod always set up with their favorite permit pattern and an intermediate line in case they get a shot at one of fly fishing's most elusive gamefish!

Click here for information on the lobster season and fishing for lobsters.

Barracuda are a common sight in all the water surrounding Ambergris Caye. They are difficult, but not impossible to take on a fly. Six or seven-inch long fish-hair flies with trailer hooks cast across and stripped back as rapidly as possible in front of the fish is the most successful way to latch on to these toothy monsters. For the spin fisherman armed with a fluorescent yellow tube lure, a strike and battle are guaranteed!

The Environmental Conditions which make Belize an Angler's Paradise: Belize has a unique combination of environmental factors which create the ideal habitat for a myriad of saltwater game fish. Its most outstanding attribute is the Belizean Barrier Reef, which is second in size only to the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Australia. Ten to forty miles off the coast, an intricate chain of submerged islands and little cays provide the ideal habitat for a shallow-water coral -ecosystem. Shallow- water coral species demand a strict set of environmental criteria in order to flourish. If undeviating variables- including precise water temperature and specific water depth- are not present, the formation of a reef is impossible. This is why large barrier reefs are fairly uncommon.

From the air, you can see the reef as an unbroken chain of white surf that stretches north along the eastern shore. Inside the reef the water is shallow with a blue tinge; outside the reef the water is deep and from the air is a dark royal blue. On very clear days, the reef appears as a narrow strip of yellow dividing the two shades of blue. Only near Ambergris Caye does the reef run anywhere near a populated coast. Offshore it is almost a solid wall of magnificent coral formations broken only by narrow channels called "quebradas". The reef is more than just decoration. Without it the island would not exist; as it serves as a breakwater protecting the beach from erosion and shelters the caye and its inhabitants. On the eastern side depths drop off rapidly to thousands of feet.

The complicated ecosystem of the reef supplies food and shelter to a huge variety of baitfish and small crustaceans that, in turn, attract larger predators. The reef also protects the shore-side protects the shore-sidefishery from the unmerciful wrath of the ocean. The-coral heads absorb the brunt of the pounding waves, which creates a tranquil setting in the flats even if the outside ocean is being pummeled by a storm.

Belize's second virtue is its series of fresh-water rivers and brackish estuaries. Tarpon, snook, snapper, jacks and other species utilize these fertile waters for feeding and spawning purposes. The nutrient-rich rivers also dump a wealth of biomass into the ocean which is utilized by zooplankton, crustaceans and baitfish, providing a veritable smorgasbord for game fish.

The reef and river/estuary system make an unbeatable combination.

CLICK HERE for more information on fishing in Belize and San Pedro, including a list of local guides.