If you have begun to plan and try to understand when to visit Belize for a fly fishing vacation, you have most likely found out that the tides can play a big factor in your fishing conditions. While there may not be a perfect recipe for picking the best tides here is some basic information that applies to the fishing tides in Belize.

What are tides?

Tides are directly linked to gravity and the moon, the moon’s gravitational pull moves the earth’s bodies of water and this in the tides. The tides will vary in height and intensity depending on where the moon is in proximity to the sun and earth. So when you have a high tide the flats in Belize will be flooded with water, thus bringing needed nutrients and marine life onto the flats. Typically with this comes the fish. But, you do have to take into consideration that certain flats are deeper than others, so some flats may fish better a lower tide while other tides fish better at high tide. This is where the importance of having a fly fishing guide in Belize comes into play. They know where to go and when to go to find fish.

Best Tides to Fish?

As a rule of thumb, the fish will come onto the flats as the tide comes in, and the fish will return to the depths of the ocean when the tide goes out. So typically as a general rule the 2 hours before high tide (incoming tide) and the 2 hours after high tide (outgoing tide) are the best times to fish the flats of Belize.

The stronger the tide the more food will be swept up onto the flats and the more fish will come. A stronger tide means that there is a large increase in water depth and height. So, for example, you would want to choose to fish a 2 feet tidal increase than say a 1-foot tidal increase in depth. As more water will have rushed onto the flat and with this more food and more fish. So look for this when looking at tide charts.

The tide schedule is divided into four, seven day periods. And these four cycles will repeat every 29.5 days, or approximately every month. The four stages include the First Quarter, New Moon, Last Quarter and Full Moon.

Typically, if you are targeting permit in Belize you will want to focus your efforts in that 4-hour window around the high tide. 3 days before and 3 days after the New Moon and the Full Moon phases are your safest bet to be able to fish this window in your standard 8:00-4:00 pm guide day. As around this moon cycle, the high tide falls within the 8:00 am -4:00 pm window. So if you are wanting to target permit and can only go fishing during the 8:00 am - 4:00 pm window it is best to try to book around the new and full moon.

Fish the ‘Smarter, not Harder’:

But, at the new Blue Horizon Lodge, we have been taking a survey of the times that permit are hooked and landed. And you our surprise, we’ve learned that most fish are landed AFTER 7 am. The agreed upon reasoning between the guides, is this has to do with the angle of the sun. The higher the sun is, the easier it is to see the fish, and then make an accurate cast at the fish. Our team still ‘fishes the tides and not the clock’, but they most often depart between 6:30 and 7:30 am each day. But, they will fish late in the day, if that’s when the fish start showing up.

To book an all-inclusive fly fishing package and vacation at the new Blue Horizon Belize Lodge inquire within at info@bluehorizonbelize.com.