Beyond Belief in Belize: The Wild True Tale of a Bucket-list Tropical Adventure

The Mangrove Manoeuvre

Before my trip, I practised making quick, reasonably accurate 30 to 50 foot casts—just what you need for sight fishing on the flats. But my first day brought unusually strong winds, muddying the ocean flats, and making sight fishing difficult for the next few days. But all was not lost. The flats are dotted with islands, which hide numerous sheltered channels and lagoons, so we retreated there to “fish the mangroves” for baby tarpon (weighing up to 40 pounds), snook, snappers and ’cuda.

Sometimes the fish cruise in the open, but more often they lurk among the tangled, stilt-like roots of the mangrove trees, which thickly blanket the shoreline. Fish will dart out to strike a fly, but only if it’s within inches of the roots. So you target any likely looking pockets, with short, low, pinpoint casts—nothing like what I practised. Heck, I didn’t even know this technique (shown above) existed. But after 10 minutes, I knew it was hard. Cast too short and you’re out of the strike zone; too long or too high, and you’re hung up in thick brush. By mid-morning, Pedro had already said: “Please sir, not into de trees” about 20 times. To clear up any misunderstanding, I bluntly replied that I understood fish lived in the water—I just couldn’t seem to land the fly there.

Fortunately Phil Shook (above), my compadre on this trip, and an expert saltwater fly angler, showed me a technique for creeping the fly up to the roots. You cast short, and then quickly pick up the fly line, let out a few inches and drop it again, two, three or four times, until you reach the edge of the cover. In addition, the repeated light splashes of the fly line on the water sound like excited baitfish, and can actually pique the fish’s interest. Then Pedro, sensing I might be fixable, showed me how to tilt my casting plane, and crisply fire the fly directly down, into the pocket. Four days later, when Pedro said my casting was “now quite acceptable,” I almost teared up.