 The
Placencia area of southern Belize is known for its great fishing --
especially on the flats for permit, bonefish and tarpon. (Our flats have
sand and coral bottoms, so they're perfect for wading.)
However, our waters also hold a lot of
other fish -- Barracuda, King Mackerel, Black- and Yellow- fin tuna, Wahoo,
Grouper, and jacks and snappers of various shapes and sizes.
Placencia is becoming well-known for the
quality of its fishing and its fishing guides. Unfortunately, a lot of us
locals (including me) don't get much time to do any fishing on our own
because our anglers keep us busy most of the year.
Fortunately, September and early October
usually slow down enough for us locals to get in some fishing -- and that's
just what I do as often as I can.
Standard operating procedure is to gas up
early in Placencia Village and head straight out to Ranguana Caye -- a small
coconut-lined caye almost right on the Meso-American Barrier Reef. (Caye is
the local word for island.)
 Schools of baitfish
lie right off Ranguana, so a cast or two with a casting net yields enough
baitfish for a good 4 or 5 hours of fishing -- until it's time to make your
way back into Ranguana for lunch and more baitfish.
My first foray at the end of September
took us into a nice school of Black-fin tuna (the two of us caught about 10
each within 45 minutes -- with fish around 5-7 pounds in size).
Plus, during the tuna
frenzy, we ran into two whale sharks (each about
25-27 feet in length) AND a huge Hawksbill
turtle swimming to and from God knows where out in the middle of the
Caribbean.
Six or seven hours later we headed back
to Placencia with our tuna, a couple of 10-poubd horse-eyed jacks,
10 good-sized Barracuda (all in the 7-18
pound range) and 3 King Mackerels ranging from 10-20 pounds each. (We eat a
LOT of barracuda in Placencia since ciguaterra doesn't seem to be a problem
here.)
(A couple of days later, Kevin actually
ran into either a Mola mola or a Mola lanceolata - he estimates it weighted
about 300 pounds. These are fairly rare cousins of puffer and sunfish --
sometimes weighing up to 2 tons!)
%20-%20September%202002.jpg) This
weekend we decided to head out to Ranguana Caye
and spend a couple of nights there so that we could get out and fishing even
earlier.
(Ranguana has 3 small cabins with
comfortable beds, showers (hot and cold) and restrooms in a separate
building, plus meal service if desired, but we decided to bring our own
basics (rice, flour, tomatoes, onions, eggs, salsa and snacks -- plus rum
and beer of course), and catch the rest of our meals.
 We
got a late start on Friday, so we didn't do any fishing that day. But, when
we arrived at Ranguana, we discovered three 5-gallon buckets full of sea
water and baby sea turtles that had just hatched that day. The caretaker had
gathered them up to keep them safe during the day from the Frigate Birds,
pelicans, ospreys and seagulls that frequent Ranguana and
we were able to help release them that night by the light of a very
full moon.
I was the first one up to start the
fishing day -- 5 a.m., grab the sunscreen, some water, a cup of coffee --
the boat was ready from the night before with coolers, ice and tackle -- and
off we go.
 A
10-pound Horse-Eyed Jack was my first catch, then a small King Mackerel and
4 or 5 Barracuda ranging in size from 10-14 pounds was my morning catch.
Kevin made out with a 20-pound King, a 16-pound Barracuda and 3 or 4
Barracuda in the 12-15 pound range.
The rest of our fishing forays yielded
similar results - no tuna this time, but still lots of action with the
Barracuda, jacks and Kings. PLUS, another turtle hatch -- at night this
time, so the baby turtles were able to make their way to the sea on their
own.
Anglers from the US, Canada and Europe
will soon start arriving, so I won't have many more opportunities to get
back out to the cayes this year. But maybe I can get out a few more times --
maybe even wade the flats and fly fish for some permit and bones.
(Note: We were fishing with live bait. Rods
were a 2-piece 7-foot Ugly Stik Tiger (10-50 pound line rating), with a
Shimano Captain's Special, 30# test line and a 6-foot standup Ugly Stik
(20-60 pound line rating), with a Shimano Speed Master reel, 40# test line.
(The Ugly Stik Tiger is a perfect rod for both inside and outside the reef
for any kind of trolling plus casting -- a 6500SS Penn is a good choice for
the Ugly Stik Tiger for spin casting. The 6-foot standup Ugly Stick is a
good rod for heavy "meat" fishing because of its durability and action with
the roller guides. From the first full moon in November until first full
moon in February, the standup Ugly Stik is a great choice for grouper, Wahoo
and big Kings - redhead and black & pearl Mann 30 Stretch lures are perfect
trolling lures for these species.)
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