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Fly Fishing Belize: 15 Tips

1) Practice your casting long before you get there. Accuracy is vital on the flats, as is casting into the wind. Casting accurately around 60’ should be sufficient for most shots. Get use to strip setting. 

2) Get a good pair of flat sneakers with thick soles. The flats in Belize consist of broken coral and rocks, which can be extremely sharp and cause much pain even if they don’t penetrate through thinner soles. 

3) Ideal rod weights: 8wt or 9wt for bonefish, 9wt or 10wt for permit and 11wt or 12wt for tarpon. 

4) Bring small flies for the flats, mainly for bonefish. Micro shrimps and crabs are a popular fly choice in Belize for bonefish; size #8 is the most common.

5) The most common tarpon fly they use: EP Peanut Butter in black and purple. 

6) Don’t use store-bought leaders. Make your own leaders with tippet material of different sizes. 

7) Having long leaders for bonefish and permit, around 15 feet, will greatly increase your chance of hooking up.

8) The minimum pound test to bring should be 10-12 lbs to make bonefish leaders, and the maximum should be 60- 80 lbs to make tarpon leaders. 

9) Sometimes, removing your sunglasses can make spotting fins sticking out of the water easier.

10) Cover up. Even if it’s cloudy, UV light can still sunburn you. Long-sleeve sun shirts, long pants, light fishing gloves, a hat, and sunglasses are a must. 

11) Use very slow and long strips with the occasional long pause to imitate a crab and small quick strips using just your wrist to imitate a shrimp. 

12) Check your knots! Losing a big tarpon because of a knot failure sucks, don’t ask me how I know.  

13) Stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water throughout the day; it can be easy to forget when fishing on the boat and the flats.

14) Don’t be afraid to go for other fish. Belize is known for bonefish, tarpon, and permit, but there are many other fun fish to catch there, including barracuda, snappers, snook, and triggerfish. 

15) Clean your gear. The salt will destroy your equipment if you don’t wash it properly. Bonefish have a lot of slime; if you don’t wash it off, it will stink.