Flyfishermen's Holy Grail

The school of permit is approaching at a fast rate, which becomes visible through the bow wave in the shallow water in front of us. I put down the crab imitation several meters in front of the first fish and allow it to sink.

The first fish have passed the weighted pattern, when suddenly the line goes tight. A permit had grabbed the crab on it’s escape route and I set the hook into a massive fish.

The first fish have passed the weighted pattern, when suddenly the line goes tight. A permit had grabbed the crab on it’s escape route and I set the hook into a massive fish.

The hooked permit keeps following the school and within a short period of time the fly line that was lying on the front deck disappears though the guides. The drag system of the fly reel was set rather tight before we made our first casts and it starts working immediately. The fish swims on, despite the considerable resistance of a deeply bend fly rod and the heavy drag setting and 50, 100, 150 meters of backing follow the hooked fish.

The permit produces a big swirl on the surface for the first time and decides to move in another direction. I manage to bring some backing back on the reel, but these I loose just as quickly again when the fish jumps into a higher gear. Our guide Dion keeps the front of our flats boat aimed in the direction of where the fish is running to and Kate closely watches the whole fight, wondering how it will end.

We are three quarters of an hour into the fight before I am able to bring the fish within reach and Dion is able to grab and lift it into the boat. A magnificent permit, close to 25 pounds at least, I am over the moon with this catch.

Fish on !

We quickly take some pictures and than the fish is returned to the water, her salty environment. Kate steps up to the front of the boat, the hunt is on for the next fish. The school of permit from which I to managed to land one, has moved to deeper water and is now out of sight.

Largest atoll

Turneffe Islands is an atoll of fifteen by forty five kilometers (the largest in the Caribbean), situated in front of the coast of Belize in Central America. Most of the atolls on this world are formed by volcanic activity, but this is probably not the case with Turneffe Island. In the 16th and 17th century it was a hiding place for pirates, from here they attacked Spanish ships that were loaded with gold and other expensive goods.

Belize was called British Honduras in the past, it is the only country in Central America where English is the main language. The Turneffe Flats Lodge was build on the atoll in the first part of the eighties and it is well known for it’s excellent fishing and service. Many of the guests return here every year because of this.

Permits are wary fish, that's why catching one is so rewarding.

Next to the fishing for bonefish, permit, tarpon, barracuda, etc., one can also hold diving holidays here, join in eco tours, go snorkeling or just enjoy a relaxed stay. The lodge has nine flats boats available, so a maximum of eighteen fly fishers or spin fishers can try their luck here. Because of the size of the atoll, one will only seldom be close to other fishermen.

Pilgrimage

Bonefish can be caught here all year long, tarpon mainly in the warmer period of the year. The main attraction of the atoll and the reason why many fly fishers make a pilgrimage to Turneffe Island is the permit. In the lagune in the center of the atoll as well as on the different flats we saw, in the period that we were there by the end of January, several schools of permit every day. And those schools of permit did not just consist of only a few fish, the schools could be as big as over a hundred fish. It is an impressive sight to see such a big school of permit, consisting of fish from ten up to maybe thirty or forty pounds, pass the area where you are in.

The tools of the trade that are used for fly fishing for permit consist usually of a fast, nine foot saltwater fly rod build for a line class #10. The sturdy, reliable fly reel is filled with a floating WF10F tropical saltwater fly line and 200 to 300 meters of 30 lb backing.

Poling the flats.

The leaders that are used have a length of nine to fifteen foot, depending on what you can handle. The breaking strain of the tippet is around sixteen to twenty pounds. The weight of the crab fly depends on the depth of the water where we find the permit. On water of around two feet deep chain eyes are all that is needed. When the water is five foot deep or more, we have to make use of tungsten or brass eyes.

A selection of flies for Belize.

For fly fishing for bonefish on Turneffe Islands a fly rod for a line class #8 is heavy enough. There is nearly always a wind blowing and there are enough bonefish with a weight of over five pounds to justify this line class. When these fish put on the turbo booster, it is not hard to imagine what happens. The fish is running at considerable speed already and goes into next gear... Tarpon is found on the island in sizes of baby tarpon up to over a hundred pounds in weight. Fly fishers that aim for the big boys usually go for an outfit build for an #12 line.

Casting to schools

When the permit are searching for fooditems, they will move rather slowly through the shallow water and the black back and tail fins are visible regularly. When a school is on the move, than you will see this in the form of a bow wave that is moving quite rapidly.

It is best to place your crab imitation well ahead of the fish. This way you are less likely to scare the fish.

Only every now and than a swirl or a fin becomes visible. On the flats the permit will follow in small groups consisting of only a few fish the deeper channels in the sandy or coral bottom. In all of these cases it is best to place your crab imitation well ahead of the fish. This way you are less likely to scare the fish and you can imitate the way a crab tries to escape.

Permit released !

When danger approaches a crab, they will not start swimming but instead they will dive to the bottom, hoping to find a hole in which they can hide. This behaviour we should try to imitate with our patterns as well, so let the fly dive to the bottom in full sight of the fish and fish it than only very slowly back in your direction.

When a school of permit is moving fast, it sometimes works to put a crab imitation right in the middle of the school and let it sink there, but only do this when the other method did not bring any strikes. Follow the advice of the guide, first regarding the direction and distance that you have to cast and than regarding fishing the fly. The guide will bring you after a first, unlucky presentation in front of the same school of permit again,with the engine or by poling. The guides of Turneffe Flats have, without exceptions, a lot of experience in fly fishing for permit; make good use of that knowledge.

The take of a permit surely does not mean a landed fish in all cases. Of the five permit I managed to hook in a few days time, I managed to land only one. The other fish threw the hook, took a shortcut through the mangroves or they managed to cut the tippet on a sharp piece of coral. You therefore need to pack some luck as well on your first or next permit trip!

The author with a beautiful specimen.

TRIP CONTACT

After taking care of the border formalities and collecting your suitcases, you will find a representative of the Turneffe Flats Lodge that will drop you of in the harbour after a twenty minute car ride. The boat ride with the big game boat will take about one hour and forty minutes and than you are greeted at the lodge with a nice welcome drink. You have arrived in the permit capital of the world! More information can be found at www.tflats.com