So you have booked your fly fishing trip to Belize and are wondering what you might need to pack for your adventure. Here is some general information about what we suggest to pack for fly fishing in Belize.
Belize is a tropical country where the average temperature is 84, so expect this more or less most days of the year. While like any place in the world Belize does experience cold fronts and warm fronts so be sure to check the weather before heading to Belize. A lot of the time when you check the weather during the rainy season it says rain every day, well this may be true but these rainstorms only last for less than an hour. So don’t be discouraged that the weather says rain every day a lot of the time this is not the case. Here is a link for a detailed weather report of Southern Belize: https://old.windguru.cz/int/index.php?sc=434969&sty=m_spot.
General Packing List:
Light rain jacket and sweater for cool mornings/evenings and early morning boat runs. You never know when a tropical rainstorm may decide to move through.
Light quick-dry shirts, shorts, and pants for protection from the sun.
Polarized sunglasses for spotting fish (amber, copper, or green mirror work best on the flats), bring two pairs if you have them. One pair for the runs to the fishing grounds and another pair for the actual fishing.
Wide-brimmed hat for protection from the sun.
Buff or other sun protection for the head and neck.
Personal medications.
Small waterproof bag for carrying extra gear or dry bag backpack.
Camera, batteries, plenty of memory/film, and lens cleaner.
Sunscreen, lip balm, and moisturizers (SPF 30+).
Insect repellent (we recommend OFF brand spray with the orange cap).
Hand towel/rag for fishing use.
Wading shoes or boots for stalking flats fish, if desired - We recommend HARD SOLES
BOOTS. Simms, Patagonia, or Orvis makes a Zip-it style or Flats Sneakers that work very well.
Normal wading boots can be very clunky and heavy to pack. Our guides like to wade fish for tailing permit a lot of the flats in Southern Belize.
Fisherman’s pliers, clipper, and line cleaner
Optional: binoculars and snorkeling gear. Our guides can take you snorkeling on your fishing day if you would like. This does cut into the fishing time but can be a nice way to break up a week of fishing. Be sure to bring your own snorkel gear.
Fly Fishing Gear:
Recommended Permit Tackle:
Rods: 9 or 10 weight
Reel: Saltwater reel holding a minimum of 200 yards of 20-pound backing
Fly Line: Tropical Weight Forward Floating
Leader: 9-12 feet
Tippet: 12-20 pound test, 16 pound is the go-to. Fluorocarbon offers an advantage
Recommended Tarpon Tackle:
Rods: 11 or 12 weight
Reel: Saltwater reel holding a minimum of 200 yards of 30-pound backing
Fly Line: Intermediate and sink tip (350-500 grains sink tip). Having both of these lines makes you prepared for every scenario. We often will fish deeper channels most of the time and the heavy sink line is mandatory for this.
Leader: 4 - 6 ft. butt section, 16 - 20-pound class tippet and 60 - 100-pound shock tippet
Recommended Bonefish Tackle:
Rods: 7 or 8 weight
Reel: Saltwater reel holding at least 200 yards of 20-pound backing
Fly Line: Tropical Weight forward floating line
Leader: 9-14 feet - depending upon the fishing situation
Tippet: 2X-0X 8-12 pound test - fluorocarbon offers an advantage
FLIES:
Permit Flies:
Bauer’s Crab - Olive and Tan size 6-8 (sometimes size 4)
Camo Crab - Olive size 4 and 6
Del Brown's Permit Fly (Merkin) - Tan size #2 to 1/0
Enrico Puglisi's EP Crab - Olive, Tan, Tri, size 6, 4, 2
Various other Crab patterns in olive or tan - size 6-1/0 Smaller, lighter variations for the shallow flats
Bonefish Flies:
Pops' Bonefish Bitters, #6 & #8 (Olive and Amber)
Crazy Charlies - chartreuse, white, pink & brown (unweighted for outer flats) #6 & #8
Gotcha’s - white, pink, tan , #6 & #8
Tarpon Flies: sizes 3/0 to 4/0
Gummy minnow - size 2, 2/0
Apte-style tarpon flies in various color combinations. Dark colors tend to be better in the early morning and brighter colors work best when the sun is bright.
Deceiver patterns - various colors
Hopefully, this packing list will prepare you for your fishing trip to Belize. If you are in need of specific fly fishing gear we do offer rentals. Be sure to reach out to us at info@bluehorizonbelize.com for any specific questions in regards to the gear.
