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This is a remarkable Belize River Tarpon caught by my mother, the photo is also of me. It weighed in at 169 lbs and was just shy of 7ft. My family and other people in the area caught a number of these fish around this size over the years, prior to the Catch and Release Law, which I fully support. This was the biggest that we actually got to properly weigh and measure. The good news is that the villagers did not waste a morsel of meat. This was May Pen Village in the Belize District. Probably about 40ish river miles upstream. The catfish were also HUGE! Now that they are protected, I have no doubt that there are many this large to this day.

Mike Heusner: The last biggest Tarpon caught by a guest at Belize River Lodge was measured and released alive. It was calculated to be 190 pounds. Best practice is to leave the fish in the water when measuring.

Guadalupe Montejo: The scales give off rainbow colors and good for making souvenirs.

Daren Lamb: My Dad John Lamb Sr caught one 6ft over 125 pounds near Roaring Creek, see just below.

Here is another giant tarpon...

Donna Flores: Used to see them in the mouth of the New River years back. Just huge.

Mary K Cariddi: I used to chase tarpon with my spear gun in the Sibun. I would shoot them and my spear would just bounce off them, no matter how sharp it was. The fish were as long as I was tall.

Mark Felix: Best fighting catch you will ever have.

Lenie Hulse Rosado: Tarpon meat has a distinctive taste, not bad but memorable. Once you taste it you would recognize it ten years later, without someone identifying it. Most often used to be made into fish balls or fish cakes/patties, with lots of onions, pepper and spices. Was a popular food fish in the Belize District from the river or lagoons.

Zeid Juan: The meat is good for empanadas or fish balls lots of tiny bones

Photographs courtesy Yvette Burks Barnes

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