JOURNEYS END
The Fishing
The fishing in Belize and especially Ambergris Caye is unique for a couple of reasons, One is the nice even mix of fish you find here with bonefish, permit and tarpon available in significant numbers all year round, The second is that it is far enough south that it doesn't succumb to cold fronts that can ruin the fishing in the winter like the Bahamas or Florida.
Another unique feature of fishing Ambergris is the tarpon flats. True flats sight fishing for tarpon year round for 20-100 pound fish with large migratory fish May through September.
The bonefish are quite plentiful on the flats surrounding Ambergris Caye, with a limited number of guides available and one fishing lodge on the island there are more square miles per fly fisher than most of our popular destinations in Belize. Bonefish can be found right in front of the resort. In fact the very first time I visited Journeys End a very large bonefish was patrolling the beach begging me to get my fly rod set up!! The lagoon in the back of the resort has bones, baby tarpon and barracuda as well. You can do OK out there without a guide in the evenings or the day you leave if you take one of the kayaks into the lagoon. Ambergris Caye is perhaps the most suited to non guided fishing of all our destinations as you don't need a boat to get to productive flats.
About half the flats in the area are wadeable and the other half are too soft. We have very large numbers of bonefish around Ambergris Caye and they seem to be very fat and happy. The fish weigh a lot for their length and seem to be a little more athletic as well. You will find jut about every conceivable type of terrain to pursue the fish. There are acres of flats that are very shallow with fish tailing or swimming with their backs out of the water and there are mile of knee deep flats that will have you scrutinizing every stick thinking it is another bonefish. Fly should be pretty small so take a look at the fly box. A typical 3-4 " bonefish strip works the best but sometimes the dead stop is what gets them to eat. If you are new to bonefishing check out the primer page that is listed under the articles on the main page of this website. It gives you a brief overview of basic bonefish technique. An experienced bonefisher will almost always catch fish, a bad day would be 3 landed, maybe 3 others hooked and a good day would be 15 landed with 20 or so hooked. In any case you will get lots of shots at the fish which is really what counts. Your skill level will go way up since you will be casting to fish all day. The fish average 2-3 pounds and we consistently catch 5-7 pound fish with 10 pounders always a possibility.
Tarpon can be fished on some beautiful flats surrounding some islands about 40 minutes from the lodge. True flats fishing is a year round deal here. There are bigger migratory fish in the late spring and summer but the 20-80 pound fish are always around. A good day means we will see dozens of tarpon and hopefully get some decent shots. The best day you may jump 5 tarpon and a bad day is a big zero. It is not as fast paced as the bonefishing but if you have the time and patience there is nothing like a tarpon and the fight that ensues. A 50 pound fish will instantly
bolt out of the water a peel of line only to jump again before you know what hit you. You don't land more than 1 out of ten hooked. Their mouths are so hard most hook sets are literally skin deep. It needs to be a relatively calm day to head out to these flats. The mangrove lagoons in back of Journeys End have baby tarpon as well but the fight may last only 2 seconds as the first thing the fish does is run and jump through some mangrove branches!! Fun but frustrating as there is no way to stop them.
Permit inhabit the deeper flats year round as well. Now keep in mind that a good week permit fishing is 3-4 fish so it is not the most numbers oriented fishing here in Belize. The permit fishing is 
as good as it gets. I have seen schools of 100 permit scouring flats in search crabs. A big school, flashing as they grab a bit here and there, tails in and out of the water really gets your heart pumping. Then you throw that perfect 80' cast and you realize it should have been a 70' cast as the water explodes with permit spooking in every direction! Lots of fish but alas, very few takers!
There are some very hungry barracudas in the back lagoons or on the flats. Bring some wire leader so you can fish for these guys. They range in size from 12' to 5 feet and are extremely athletic. It is impossible to retrieve a fly too fast for a barracuda. Barracudas can catch a bonefish at full speed and they jump which should give you an idea of their fighting prowess.
I always feel guilty when I come here because the resort is so lush and luxurious. It doesn't seem like it should be a fishing camp. Lisa is quite happy that it doesn't seem like a fishing camp and I'm quite happy it fishes like a fishing camp and Lisa loves it too! Please see the tackle page to for a list of flies, rods, lines, and leaders that you will need for your trip. There are some rental rods at the lodge as well as some flies for sale if you get desperate. El Pescador is a few resorts down and has some flies as well.
BELIZE!
JOURNEYS END RESORT
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