Recommended Belize Fishing Gear and Tackle

Recommended Light Tackle

In General:    The primary baitfish for southern Belize are silversides (sprats and fries), crab and some shrimp. Greenish/bluish/blackish on top and silver on sides.

Also, in general, plastic baits should be 3" to 5". Both 1/4 to 1 oz. and 1/16th to 3/4" oz. jigs will work on various fish - bring an assortment of both. Jig colors should be chartreuses, whites, orange, pink/white. Lead weights should be in the 1-3 oz. range.

Krocodile spoons are good (#1-3), as are squid spoons (also #1-3). Bring wire leaders for barracuda and King Mackerel - black finish.

Specific Recommendations:  

We recommend the following as the best all around spinning tackle for species such as Crevalle Jacks, Mangrove Snappers, Mutton Snapper (off the beach and docks during mid-October to late December), Snook and Tarpon:

    Rod:    6-7 foot rod with a 10-20 pound line rating
    Reel:   5500SS Penn (or equivalent)
    Line:   12 - 15# test (for tarpon and snook, 15# and 25# test)
    Lures/Bait

• Heddon Excalibur Super Pop-R: 3 1/8" - 1 each bar fish, blue striper, redfish, red head, speckled trout
• Glass Minnow Soft Bait Bodies
• Big Game MirrOlure: 65M (3 1/4") and 85M (5"): 2 of each color: green back, white belly, silver scales; green back, yellow belly, gold scales; green back, white belly, gold scales; blue back, white belly, silver scales; black back, fluorescent orange belly, fluorescent flame, chartreuse sides; green back, white belly, pink scales.  (The 85M 5" lures can also be used for trolling for barracuda and King Mackerel.  Both the 65M and the 85M are excellent multi-purpose lures and are hard to find in Belize, so guides will appreciate them as tips, or you can sell them if you don't want to take them home with you.)
  
  
• Live Bait:  Mangrove Snapper (please do not use live or cut bait for tarpon)
• Cut Bait:  Mutton Snapper (please do not use live or cut bait for tarpon)

Bonefish:

   Rod:    6-7 foot rod with a 6-15 pound line rating
    Reel:   4500SS Penn or equivalent (should hold at least 250 yards of line)
    Line:   6-10# test
    Lures: 

• Small jigs (1/16-1/8 ounce) - wiggle jigs work well
• Small hooks (#1s and #2s) baited with plastic jig tails

For species such as King Mackerel, Wahoo, Barracuda, Cubera and Mutton Snapper, and Serra Spanish Mackerel, we recommend the following fishing gear for Belize:

    Rod:   6-7 foot medium/heavy rod with a butt long enough to fit into a fighting belt
    Reel:   6500SS - 9500SS Penn (or equivalent) (9500SS size for Mutton and Cubera Snapper) (reel should hold 300 yards of line)
    Line:   15-30# test
    Lures:  

• Rattlin' Rapalas (2 3/4" gold/black, back red, hot chartreuse/red, white/red head), pot bellied jigs (assorted colors, 1/2 - 1 1/2 oz)
• Tarpon poppers
• 3" MirrOlures
• 4 1/4" Yo-Zuri Octopus Skirts (blue/pink, pink/blue/black/stripe, black/blue, yellow/black/silver, green/yellow and blue/green)
• 5" Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows (purple/green, red/white, blue mackerel, green mackerel/gold laser)

Note:  if you want to troll, we supply all trolling gear.   However, additional lures are always appreciated.  We recommend any large (9") deep-diving lures, and are particularly fond of Mann 30+ Stretch lures - redheads, and any other Manns you can find (if you can find any).

Recommended Fly Fishing

Permit

Rod:  8-weight
Line:   9-weight (color doesn't matter) on a reel that will hold at least 200 yards of backing
Leaders: knotless 9-foot leaders (knotted line will draw strikes from tiny barracuda
Tippet:   12-20 lb. tippet depending on size and weight of fly
Hook sizes:  #6-#2
Flies:

Will Bauer Crab
Del's Merkin
Mantis Shrimp
McCrab
Turneffe Crab
Mangrove Critter

Bonefish

Rod:  8-weight
Line: 11-weight
Leaders:   knotless bonefish leaders (10 ft 012 IGFA 10#; 12 ft 8 lb clear, 3.65 m, 6.6kg; 12 ft, 10# clear, 3.65 m - 4.5 kg)
Hooks:  #4-#6
Flies:

Del's Merkin
Bonefish Clouser
Bonefish Slider
Turneffe Crab
Crazy Charlie
Gotcha
Puffs

Tarpon

Rod:  10 weight
Line:  11-weight (floating, slime intermediate sinking), reel should hold at least 200 yards of backing; 80# shock leaders for large tarpon, 40-60# mono shock tippet for small tarpon (9' 12-15 lb leader for small tarpon)
Hooks:  #6-#2, 3/0
Flies:

Cockroach
Black Death
Orange Butt Tarpon
Clousers (green/yellow)

Snook

Rod:  10 weight
Line: 10 weight, 9' 12-15 lb leader, IGFA 40-60 lb mono shock tippet
Hooks:  #6-#2
Flies:   same as for tarpon

Barracuda

Rod:  10-weight
Line:  11weight with 8 ft 20-40 lb leader and 15-18 lb wire tippet
Hooks:  1/0-3/0
Flies:  anything long and skinny that mimics a needlefish

General Stuff to Bring

Placencia Fishing Calendar

All listed species may be caught year-round.  This calendar merely attempts to pinpoint times of the year when fishing is more favorable for each species.

Belize City Tide Charts

See https://www.tideschart.com/Belize/ for tides and other essential fishing information for Belize.

Placencia Saltwater Fly Fishing

Southern Belize is a first-rate saltwater fly fishing area for permit, with an average size fish of 10 pounds.  (Thirty pounds is a trophy fish.)

The area south of Dangriga to Gladden Caye off Placencia is sometimes called the Belize Permit Alley because of the number of permit found on the flats. 

Permit in southern Belize are also found in mangrove lagoons such as the Punta Ycacos Lagoon south of Placencia.

Also plentiful are bonefish, snook at Monkey River and in the Placencia Lagoon, tarpon off mangrove cayes, and snapper, juvenile tarpon and machaka (a local species) in the Placencia Lagoon and at Monkey River.

Placencia fly fishing guides are excellent guides who are intimately familiar with southern Belize, most of them having fished the area with their grandfathers and even great grandfathers.

However, don't expect natty fly fishing attire and expensive boats with casting platforms. 

Boats are pangas (Mexican skiffs), usually wood and fiberglass, and your boat may have been fiberglassed and finished by hand by your guide himself.   

Plus, the guides work HARD, they know how to handle a boat, they know where the fish are, and they know how to catch them (which isn't always the same way that anglers may have learned in Florida, or Andros or the Christmas Islands). 

If you listen to your guide, and follow his directions, you're more than likely to catch that elusive bone, permit or tarpon, if any are to be caught that day.

(Of course, it helps if you can spend some time perfecting your casting before you land in Placencia - try for a cast of at least 40 feet with reasonable accuracy. 

But, please, don't expect a permit if you've never done any saltwater fly fishing before - or only once or twice. 

It also helps if you let us know something about your saltwater fly fishing or light tackle experience when you schedule your trip - that way we can try to pair you with the best guide for your experience level.)

Remember, by law bonefish tarpon and permit are catch and release only, and, please, no live bait - at least not for bones, permit, tarpon and snook.

Also, while snook isn't a legally protected catch and release species, at most, please take only 1 snook for eating and leave the rest for another day!)

Belize's sport fishery is still in pretty good shape, so please help us keep it that way for everybody's kids and grandkids. 

Finally, remember, you will need a fishing license -- you can purchase your license on-line at www.coastalzonebelize.org.  

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you need any guide recommendations, help with hotels or transfers, or if you'd like to mix up your fishing with other activities such as snorkeling or diving, Mayan ruins, caving or cave tubing, jungle hiking or horseback riding, jungle river canoeing - or even culinary adventures such as organic Maya chocolate making or Belize spices and restaurant tours.

Tight lines!

Placencia Belize Fishing

Southern Belize offers some of the best saltwater fly fishing, light tackle and trolling anglers can find anywhere, and the waters around Placencia (Dangriga south to Punta Gorda) are justifiably famous for permit - many anglers believe permit fishing here to be the best in the world.

But southern Belize fishing isn't just about permit - other abundant species include bones, tarpon, snook, King Mackerel, tuna (Black- and Yellow- fin), snappers (Cubera, Mutton, Gray, Yellowtail),  Barracuda, Crevalle Jack, Grouper and Wahoo.

Local guides are well-known for their knowledge of local waters, general guiding ability and versatility.

For more detailed information about fishing out of Placencia, see our information on flyfishing and recommended gear and tackle, and a Placencia fishing calendar.  

We hope you'll come fishing in Belize, and please do contact us with any questions you might have.

Tight lines!