Why Did I leave San Pedro??

Who the fuck knows. Something to do with real life, money, my beautiful wife...so on and so forth but good god, is that place magical.

The buildup for this trip was almost too much to handle. A winter from hell. 89 inches of snow. Bonefish that tear off line like a rocket. Lurking Tarpon in the mangroves. Elusive and maddening Permit. Oh yes, we were coming, we were coming

This trip was set up by the Silver Bow Flyshop (www.silverbowflyshop.com) in Spokane. My boy Sean (aka Wonderboy by the guides down there) couldnt come this time, but Jon and flats neophyte Angry Andy came from the shop. Joining us was Old Man River (my dad) Old Man River Version 2.0 (my uncle Larry), Al (nicknamed Al-Qaeda) Jon's son in law Mark and Andy's bud Jason (both their first trips) and two other fishing nuts, Paul and Vaughn

The week was filled with a few downs but a ton of ups. A weather front from the north came in on day one with winds going north to south....and Ambergis Caye is not set up to handle that. West wind....ok, East wind...ok....North wind...blow me. The drop in barometric pressure put the fish off, at least for me.

Day 1--One bonefish...ok, I'll blame it on the weather

Day 2--BLANKED. We were on bones all day, changed flies furiously, stayed out and extra hour and finally just said fark it ....lets go drink Belikin...but hold on a second...I did manage this brute



Day 3--Wake up, and it feels like the winds have shifted and the clouds aren't going to be an issue. Pysch....we haul ass up to Deer Caye about 15 miles on the Lagoon side and the combination of wind coming back from the North, deep cloud banks and wave action whipping up the flats to the consistency of chocolate milk. My dad did catch a bone of about 3 lbs that put him way, way into his backing




I was starting to have a small feeling of a monkey on my back now. Last year we slammed fish--every day. I know you cant control the weather, but holy hell....I was jones-in for a good day. Good thing for us, the nightlife is fun and right in front of our hotel, the Belizian elections were underway....I felt a party coming on. It was wild to see such action in an election scene. First off, no booze in Belize til 6pm...minimum on Election day. Second, the two parties...UDP (United Democratic Party--in Red) and the PUP (People's United Party in Blue) had people on patrol driving people to the polls. I wouldnt be surprised if 75% or more of the country voted. Democracy in action


Taking advice from our trip host from Belize Flats Fishing...the honorable Doug Brady....I just said fuck it....I am going to have fun and let it all just happen. Here I was in Belize and I was bitching about not catching fish....jeeesh.

Good Advice Doug----cause the last three days were nothing short of EPIC

Days 3-6....coming tomorrow...but here's a little sneak peek to wet the appetite