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The tarpon that never came, Belize
it!
Nada,
Nada! The tarpon win again...
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The
tarpon that never came
While the bonefish have seemed fairly
accessible and cooperative the tarpon has not! We have fished for many
days and seen an increasing number of fish during our day long trips. Even
though tarpon guru Billy Pate says that the tarpon is such a good fish to
flyfish for "Because it takes a fly readily", we have not had a single
take in spite of countless well placed casts - not least from my friend,
shop owner Kim Rasmussen of Salmon Fly in Copenhagen, who is a seasoned
tarpon fisher. Even I managed to put a fly close to these evasive fish,
but to no avail. They just turned away, totally ignoring the fly every
time.
Tarpon!
Martin Joergensen photo
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Kim tying
Martin Joergensen photo
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Standing
Martin Joergensen
photo
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It is a far cry from the frenzy that I enjoyed on the Billy Pate videos
that I devoured before leaving. Three or four of them showing fast paced
action, stunning runs, spectacular jumps and an ever gum chewing Billy
explaining in broad Texan how these fish are the perfect quarry for a fly
fisher. "Because it takes a fly readily"… Yeah, right!
Tarpon fishing
is not for the impatient. You get about an hour of activity during six to
eight hours of fishing. Most of the time is spent standing in the stern of
the boat, rod and fly ready, scouting for shadows or rolling fish.
Once
spotted it is first up to the guide to maneuver the boat to a proper
casting position and then your turn to place a fly within that critical
square foot in front of a fish. Neither is easy and neither happens by the
minute. Sometimes an hour can pass between casts, sometimes minutes.
We
saw between dozens and hundreds of fish during our day long outings. We
sometimes had more than one school to cast to, but only experienced a few
takes, a couple of fish missing and none properly hooked.
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Guides
Poling
Martin
Joergensen photo
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Severo, Ramon &
Manuel
More than excellent guides with their
own boats. Not luxurious, but spacey and efficient
outboard, wooden flats boats. They all do very good
guiding, but specialize in each their field: Severo
spots tarpon like no other guide on the island, Manuel
is a very good bonefish guide and Ramon does reef
fishing with anchovy chumming like no one else. They all
follow your every wink, and - as you are paying - you
should not hesitate to ask them to show you alternative
locations or other targets for your flies if your luck
is less than expected. The trips will usually last for
eight hours, and you will be picked up and set off where
it is convenient for you. I recommend starting early to
get the better morning fishing and avoid the heat, which
will try seriously to kill you after noon.
The price
is US$ 200.- per day, which includes lunch, water and
soft drinks.
Contact
Severo Guerrero
Guide
Martin
Joergensen photo
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More
about fishing and guides...
| | | Six
steps
There are six steps to catching a tarpon:
1) Finding
it
2) Maneuvering and casting to it
3) Getting it to take
4)
Hooking it
5) Fighting it
6) Landing it
Tarpon.... eh... there!
Martin Joergensen
photo
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Each step has its narrow chances of succeeding, and we never really got
beyond step 3. It seems to me that the closer you get to the final step,
the less your chances of finishing that step gets.
Finding tarpon is
not easy, but possible.
Getting the boat in position and casting can be
difficult, but is doable depending on your skills and the
guide.
Hooking it is highly unlikely and depends on casting precision,
fly selection and quality, fish' mood and a lot of luck.
As you get
towards the moment where you can get a picture taken of you with a tarpon
in your hands, chances that luck will fail you, and the fish will swim off
to freedom will increase drastically.
Tight
Martin Joergensen
photo
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Tying a knot
Martin Joergensen
photo
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Ignore that fly!
The Ambergris tarpon seemed to
have made a general agreement on ignoring flies! These fish were not
spooked in the manner that the bonefish were. Sometimes they escaped, but
always meticulously slow. Most times they just ignored the fly and turned
off, disappearing back into a dark spot or swimming slowly on. The only
thing really spooking them seemed to be the outboard motors of the boats,
when they raced by or turned back to drift over the flat
again.
Watching and chasing these fish is a fascinating game.
You
learn to spot them on long distances, learn how they suddenly disappear,
how clear you see them when they swim towards you or away, and how ghostly
and almost invisible they become when they turn their side to you and
reflect the bottom in their silvery scales.
The best time for spotting
them is in the morning, where both sun and wind is in your back. In the
low sun you can see the light reflected in fins and tails of rolling fish,
and later on you can see the shadows as they cruise in small schools up to
ten individuals.
A light wind and no clouds is the ideal weather. Just
a small cloud blocking the sun will severely ruin your chances of
following fish that you spotted while the sun was there.
We headed out
at 5 AM in order to be ready at sunup. As soon as the sun approaches and
passes zenith, the game tips even more to the advantage of the
tarpon.
During our ten days of fishing we saw hundreds of fish, but
only had a couple of takes.
Our guide, Severro's, theory was that the
fish had been fished too much and were too used to boats, lines and flies.
This seems probable. Not because there were many boats, but because of the
deliberate way the fish turned down every fly we offered them.
Fish in
more remote spots were more willing to take, and we heard stories of fish
that were 'jumped' - that is hooked, but not landed - in other areas
further south.
As Severro said every day after the tarpon quest: "Nada,
Nada! The tarpon win again".
Waiting
Martin Joergensen photo
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Typical setup
Martin Joergensen
photo
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Severo, Ramon and Manuel
Fishing guides are readily
available, and most dive and tour shops will arrange fishing too. We opted
for three well reputed guides: Severo, Ramon and Manuel. Guides have large
wood and fiber boats with powerful outboard motors. Do not expect luxury
here either, but competent sailing and guiding.
I fished with Severo, a
man of few words, but a very skilful guide with a very keen eye for
tarpon. He would stand all day on a small stool in the boat, poling it
steadily and scouting for fish. Lunch and drinks is included in the hefty
200 US$ that a day will cost you. Again: do not expect luxury. DIY
sandwiches with chicken, sausage or ham and sodas or water from the
icebox.
The guides will do what you ask them to do, so take the liberty
of bullying them around. If nothing happens in one location, ask for
alternatives. Change between locations, go for tarpon, bonefish, permit,
barracuda or one of the many other species available. Try fishing on the
reef side as opposed to the mangrove or tarpon flats behind the
island.
Have fun!
You paid.
You decide.
A snapper
Joachim Abildtrup
photo
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Baby tarpon
Joachim Abildtrup photo
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Baby tarpon
Joachim Abindtrup
photo
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Baitfish
Joachim Abildtrup
photo
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