South Water Caye, Belize

On The Fly Saltwater

May 2024

By Jimmy Jacobs

It’s not often you find an area where you have three distinct situations that give you shots at hooking sizable tarpon. But, that’s just what was encountered on South Water Caye in Belize.

Our trip to this island in the south of the nation was planned for the pursuit of bonefish and permit. As expected during our stay at the Blue Marlin Beach Resort, we found plentiful of bones, with some running larger than expected. We also encountered the permit and got a few shots at those elusive and finicky fish, but with no luck at hooking them. The surprise of the trip, however, turned out to be the options available for tarpon, which had not been on our radar.

The first encounter came on a day when the permit we were looking for refused to show up. When the tide fell out taking most of the water off the flats, our guide, Ian Cuevas, pointed out that this was the tide phase when he liked to look for tarpon along the edges of the nearby mangrove islands. We changed our focus and decide to have a look for those fish.

As he poled us along the shore, the situation reminded me of targeting redfish and snook in South Florida. But that impression faded when we spotted fish in 4- to 5-foot lengths cruising the island edge, apparently looking for forage being pulled out of the shallows under the mangroves.

Since we were only expecting to challenge permit or bonefish this day, a 10-weight was the biggest rod in the boat. On roughly my third or fourth cast at one of those cruisers, the tarpon turned and inhaled the blue-and-white Clouser Minnow I was offering. The fish was only about 6 feet from the mangroves. The water erupted furiously as he broke the surface and immediately dove under overhanging limbs. That fight was short, since the gear in hand was not up to turning the fish and the leader parted in the mangroves.

Later I jumped one more of the silver kings, but the close proximity of the mangroves again proved my undoing. These fish were not particularly shy about biting, but they had no intentions of running into deeper, open water either.

Now interested in tangling with the area tarpon, the next day we headed out to a channel off the northeast end of nearby Tobacco Caye. It was quickly apparent that this was not a secret location. On the other days we fished the water near South Water Caye, we never encountered another boat. Today, however, there were two boats sporting fly fishers already anchored in the channel. Still, the pass was perhaps 200 yards wide, so joining them did not crowd any of us.

Here the water was 20 t0 30 feet deep over a sand bottom that was clearly visible even at those depths. As Ian was setting the  anchor, a couple of pods of really big tarpon passed under the boat, hugging the bottom as they swam with the current.

This time I was on the casting deck with a 12-weight set up, expecting that I would be able to handle any fish encountered. Mimicking what the anglers in the other boats were doing, I cast as far as possible to either the 9 o’clock or 3 o’clock directions, again with the blue-and-white Clouser. After slowly counting to 20 or 25 to let the fly flow with the current and sink, I began a strip-strip-pause retrieve. Bringing the fly back against the current kept the line constantly tight, with no slack.

After a multitude of those casts, I was beginning to lose focus. Tossing a heavy fly on a 12-weight can make your arms heavy and shoulders droop. Suddenly a fish hit the fly so hard that literally, not figuratively, it almost knocked me off balance. Instinctively I kept the rod pointed toward the fish and tried to set the hook by jerking on the line. That hook set never happened as the line shot off the reel and I simply hung on to the rod as tight as possible. Pretty quickly I saw a blue-and-white missile headed back toward me as the fly came loose from the tarpon.

The score was now tarpon 2 and angler 0.

The final leg of the trifecta came after dark. While strolling out on to the lighted dock at Blue Marlin, we discovered the water alive with eagle rays, tarpon and even a pair of big permit swimming thought glowing globes under lights pointing down toward the surface of the water.

After a quick trip walk back to our villa, I was again on the dock with a 10-weight tipped with a chartreuse Tarpon Toad. These fish proved to be the most cooperative tarpon of the week. In short order I jumped three of them. The problem, however, was they would follow the fly and take it when they were only a few feet from dock and practically under my feet. This left no chance to set the hook before they rocketed out of the water, with their head shaking violently.

This action sent the score to tarpon 3 and angler still 0. But sometimes the most memorable fishing is not the most successful.

I suspect that better anglers fishing out of  South Water Caye could improve upon  that score. They would certainly have the opportunities!