Congrats on the killer new skiff Rick! Looks like missing that one in the galleria worked out.

Here's the ride I've been chasing fish with this week.


Got a late start with the DIY this morning due to rum and cokes. Spotted a few bones but couldn't get a good cast to them. Talked to a guy who jumped a baby poon in a creek so I gave that a try instead of chasing the bones some more. No luck but still beats the heck out of work.

Salt of the water said:

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Congrats on the killer new skiff Rick! Looks like missing that one in the galleria worked out.

Here's the ride I've been chasing fish with this week.


Got a late start with the DIY this morning due to rum and cokes. Spotted a few bones but couldn't get a good cast to them. Talked to a guy who jumped a baby poon in a creek so I gave that a try instead of chasing the bones some more. No luck but still beats the heck out of work.

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Try standing on the roof for spotting fish man!

Flor de Cana.

Not sure where you are staying. But if you have the chance, go to the north of Las Terrazas resort maybe less than a 1/2 mile. There is a nice flat over there that I caught several nice bonefish and a permit on DIY. I'm jealous, I wish I was doing what you are doing!

RickSawyer said:

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Salt of the water said:

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Congrats on the killer new skiff Rick! Looks like missing that one in the galleria worked out.

Here's the ride I've been chasing fish with this week.


Got a late start with the DIY this morning due to rum and cokes. Spotted a few bones but couldn't get a good cast to them. Talked to a guy who jumped a baby poon in a creek so I gave that a try instead of chasing the bones some more. No luck but still beats the heck out of work.

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Try standing on the roof for spotting fish man!

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https://instagr.am/p/BKqYH3sAUUi

where in Belize are you?

I need to take a trip with my wife before the beginning of June.

Great report. DIY on foot is tough to beat. If you get desperate, you can always use shrimp to chum for bones, then whip a fly when they're in range. Just don't over chum, or you'll get pinfish and sharks... or so I've been told.

These poons creeped on me last year while on DIY foot patrol in the Keys. There's something extra cool about stalking and sight casting while in the water. Good luck!

Wife wants to head to Belize in July to do some diving. I am for sure going to try to make time to fish. She's got her eye on Victoria House or Las Terrazas. Any recco's on where to stay and things to do in Belize?

My wife and I stayed at Las Terrazas and we loved it. It has probably one of the best restraunts on the island. We didn't do any diving when we were there we fished, but there was a nice dive shop next door. We waded apt of the flats north of the resort and had good luck with bone fish and a permit!

Rent equipment there? What else is there to do? I don't like diving my wife does. Do any mainland excursions?

In addition to Ragoo's questions, did you DYI or hire a guide?

If you're doing a strictly fishing trip you may be better off at a resort with dedicated guides so you get some of the better guides in the area. I ended up booking a guy through the resort and he didn't have top notch equipment (old tackle, no platform on his panga, just a stick for a push pole) but he made up for it with knowledge of the flats. He put me on a bunch of good sized tailing bones. I blew a bunch of shots but did land a few. I took my own gear and 8wts were plenty. If you want to chase permit or bigger tarpon you will want a 10wt. Take small flies (6 and 8) and air on the heavier side with your eyes (big bead chain and some lead). I tied too many light flies. White, tan/cream, and olive/brown all worked for me.


We poled by a guide with 3 guys on the boat blind casting a mud and catching the heck out of 8 inch bones. If you want quantity of fish you definitely have options for that too.

We stayed at a resort on the South side of town called Xanadu. Great staff, nice quiet location with not too many units, and more than adequate accommodations. It was quite a bit cheaper than some of the more well known places like Victoria house. I'd definitely stay here again if I came back.

Definitely stay somewhere that is oceanside because the breeze helps keep things cool. The lagoon side of the caye can get a little muggy.

The north side of the caye (North of the bride) seemed quieter but you have to pay a toll to cross the bridge and it seemed like there's way more restraunt choices south of the bridge.

Plenty to do in San Pedro / Ambergris. Get a golf cart and explore the town. Very easy to get around and plenty to see and do for a week. Lots of great restraunts to try (I don't think we had a bad meal all week).

Couple quick recs:
Hidden treasures (make a reservation)
Bluewater grill (good food)
Island dream tours sunset booze cruise
If you dive - Hol Chan over blue hole (second hand info)
Secrets beach - not a secret but still worth the long bumpy cart ride (have a few drinks before cruising up there)
Tropic air 15 minute flight instead of water taxi. (saw this rec on texags and definitely concur)

K Bo said:

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Wife wants to head to Belize in July to do some diving. I am for sure going to try to make time to fish. She's got her eye on Victoria House or Las Terrazas. Any recco's on where to stay and things to do in Belize?

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Ragoo said:

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Rent equipment there? What else is there to do? I don't like diving my wife does. Do any mainland excursions?

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I see the potential for another successful Texags hookup here. Get together and send the wives diving while you fish.

I took my own rods/flies. I fished with Will Flack with Belize Fly, he's good I caught bonefish and tarpon in the same day and blew my chance on permit. I've had friends that stayed at El Pescador which is pretty much strictly a fishing lodge and they had a good time. All that to say you don't have to stay at a fishing lodge to fish. You can hire guides from other lodges no matter where you are staying.

We didn't do any mainland excursions, we would rather just stay on the island and relax. We snorkeled in Hol Chan one day and like someone else suggested early it was awesome. It was like you jumped into the movie Finding Nemo down there, the sea life was amazing. A fun event in the evening is to go to the "chicken drop" downtown. It's pretty entertaining.

Daaauummm. I didn't know those new Dargels would get up THAT shallow...

Is that even fixable? Seems like if it went down the road like that and tore up the two hulls it may be a total loss.

I thinks it's jacked up, but that is right where it happened, I don't know that it slid down the road. I wasn't far behind when it happened, I had to wait on my farm road to let him go by on 186 toward Raymo, so he was 1/2 mile ahead of us, tops. Poor guy was just going west and someone pulled out of the Stripes in front of a car headed east. I believe the east bounder was moving along pretty good, clipped the drivers side of the truck but the boat/trailer took the brunt of it. Just threw the boat right over onto the ground.

The boat was for sale -they're finishing his new Dargel now - so I guess the insurance co. will take the place of a prospective buyer. Here it was on a happier day...

Should be reparable. Dargel is repairing that skout that hit a channel marker in PI last week which is waaaaay worse than that one skidding on some concrete. Apparently the car that hit the boat isn't insured.

elnaco said:

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Apparently the car that hit the boat isn't insured.

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Why am I not surprised? Is it any wonder there's a a thread on auto board about Texas Auto rates jumping up 30% across several companies? I used to think it was an RGV thing, but I believe it's wider spread.

Centerpole90 said:

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elnaco said:

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Apparently the car that hit the boat isn't insured.

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Why am I not surprised? Is it any wonder there's a a thread on auto board about Texas Auto rates jumping up 30% across several companies? I used to think it was an RGV thing, but I believe it's wider spread.

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I've seen stats that say at least 1/3rd of drivers in Houston are uninsured. It definitely sucks but you're a moron if you don't max out the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policies.

This is actually my skiff when it wasn't far from new. Shortly after I brought it home from FL I wanted some parts for the trailer so I pulled the thick file the PO gave me when I bought it because the trailer receipt was in there. I looked at the receipt and saw the name of the original owner (the guy I bought it from bought it from the original owner, but he didn't have it all that long) so I searched it on IG and boom... whadaya know the guy had an account and on down the page there are picture of the new to me Mav. We started PMing and I asked if this is where a scratch on the side of the hull came from and he said no, that it came from a dock, that this accident didn't touch the boat - a lady turned out of a driveway and just clipped the axle. The axle rolled out from under the trailer and set straight on the ground. He was sitting stopped when she hit it.

Finn Maccumhail said:

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Centerpole90 said:

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elnaco said:

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Apparently the car that hit the boat isn't insured.

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Why am I not surprised? Is it any wonder there's a a thread on auto board about Texas Auto rates jumping up 30% across several companies? I used to think it was an RGV thing, but I believe it's wider spread.

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I've seen stats that say at least 1/3rd of drivers in Houston are uninsured. It definitely sucks but you're a moron if you don't max out the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policies.

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so are mom and pop inspection places just letting it slide? What about county registration.

Ragoo said:

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Finn Maccumhail said:

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Centerpole90 said:

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elnaco said:

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Apparently the car that hit the boat isn't insured.

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Why am I not surprised? Is it any wonder there's a a thread on auto board about Texas Auto rates jumping up 30% across several companies? I used to think it was an RGV thing, but I believe it's wider spread.

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I've seen stats that say at least 1/3rd of drivers in Houston are uninsured. It definitely sucks but you're a moron if you don't max out the uninsured motorist coverage on your own policies.

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so are mom and pop inspection places just letting it slide? What about county registration.

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If these people actually register their car or get it inspected they probably just go to some half-assed insurance company, get the bare minimum coverage, pay for a month to pass inspection & registration and never pay again so the policy gets cancelled. They may have an insurance card but don't have an active policy in place.

Good point.

Saw this come across my IG feed. Pretty neat concept.

https://www.smithfly.net/collections/watercraft/products/big-flats-poling-board

That is interesting. Check out what JT Vanzandt put out there yesterday. I know they were working on the hog island skiff for quite a while... thats gonna be a good entry option as well.

I saw it, good looking boat.

It looked a little more like a boat that can be poled as opposed to poling skiff. As someone who lives hours from the saltwater something with a little more versitility is probably a better option.

AggieGunslinger said:

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I saw it, good looking boat.

It looked a little more like a boat that can be poled as opposed to poling skiff. As someone who lives hours from the saltwater something with a little more versitility is probably a better option.

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I fished outta Alvin's back in March and it is sick. Unsure how well it poles but the durability and functionality is pretty cool.

Simply put, If you live in Austin and want to be able to fish the Lower Colorado from Austin down to Port O'Conner... that boat can do it.

I've fished the Lower Colorado on JT's Hog Island skiff. I forget what hp he's got but he was running a jet drive and if there's enough water to float it will run. He had it rigged with the oars to position my fishing partner and I had room to fly fish. Stable too.

I don't think they've changed the hull at all for the saltwater skiff, just customized the options into a package with the forward deck, etc.

Finn Maccumhail said:

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I've fished the Lower Colorado on JT's Hog Island skiff. I forget what hp he's got but he was running a jet drive and if there's enough water to float it will run. He had it rigged with the oars to position my fishing partner and I had room to fly fish. Stable too.

I don't think they've changed the hull at all for the saltwater skiff, just customized the options into a package with the forward deck, etc.

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One of my neighbors guides with All Waters. He's got a 30hp Yamaha jet drive on his boat.

I am sure at this point we have all seen this but this will get your blood pumping.

Oh yeah.

Big poon on the fly are a life-changing experience.