Here are five things I learned on my trip to Belize last week:
1. Line speed is extremely important.
I knew line speed was important in the salt before leaving, but rarely gave it a second thought...until I was on a pancake flat with a super-spooky school of cruising bones in a very stiff breeze.
We didn't have very many shots in the first two-thirds of the week, and the few shots I did have were exactly as described: cruising fish, long-ish shots, stiff breeze.
Mark my words, bonefish: it'll be a different game the next time I'm around.
Louis and Kent over at Gink & Gasoline frequently post good stuff on this, e.g.:
2. I like eating seafood far more than I ever imagined.
I caught some snapper on a handline off the back of the boat one night with one of the guides. The kitchen staff cleaned them & dressed them up in beer-batter. I topped them with Marie Sharp's and it was heavenly.
And don't even get me started on snook. We had it one night & it was amazing, but they're just too fun to catch to make a habit of eating them. But man, they are delicious. Commence moral dilemma.
Related note: we had caught a couple snook and the guides wanted to keep them. Our boat kept one, and the other boat kept two. I was sort of ok with this. Then I caught a big snook, which they also wanted to keep. I wasn't ok with this. Dylan suggested a picture of it in the water, as I leaned over the gunnel. This photo op was convenient; I 'dropped' the snook, giving it a little shove into the current to help it along.
3. There's a place for glass & slower action rods in the salt...
...and that place is short-shots, mangroves and docks.
I brought my CGR 7/8wt with me to Belize, and it really shined for making short shots under branches & in between roots and dock pilings.
Whether or not the CGR would have the backbone required to yank a decent-sized snook or baby tarpon out of structure remains to be seen: I didn't hook anything on it. But it reinforces my belief that super-fast action rods are not the cat's ass at all times, as I discovered this summer in Charleston.
Note: I would have gladly blown that rod up on a 20lb baby tarpon & replaced it with another. I consider that the price of admission, and better to blow up a $99 rod than a $450 custom-built glass rod, huh?
For more reinforcement on glass in the salt, check out the backcountry fun Dr. Aaron Adams had with glass here on The Fiberglass Manifesto.
Side note: Some day, possibly soon, or maybe next year, I will be actively searching for an 8'-8'6", 4pc 7/8wt glass rod for light salt duty. I believe it would be epic for reds, specs & bones in certain situations. And I want the reel seat to match my Tibor Backcountry, fyi...
4. I am very emotionally-invested in catching fish.
By day four I was getting bummed out.
The trip was awesome, food was delicious, bunks were comfortable, but I wasn't seeing many fish, and the shots I did have weren't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Frustrated would be an understatement.
Side note: I'll mention Dylan, aka the guy who does this for a living, hadn't hooked anything at this point either, so it wasn't totally my incompetent angling skills at play here. Things were friggin' tough.
The trip was awesome, food was delicious, bunks were comfortable, but I wasn't seeing many fish, and the shots I did have weren't easy by any stretch of the imagination. Frustrated would be an understatement.
Side note: I'll mention Dylan, aka the guy who does this for a living, hadn't hooked anything at this point either, so it wasn't totally my incompetent angling skills at play here. Things were friggin' tough.
Fortunately day five turned things around. If it didn't, Dylan would have woken up to the following on day six:
5. i) Loop knots are my favourite knots.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.
5. ii) My Tibor Backcountry is my favourite reel.
Simple. Elegant. Effective.
