Fishing: Chapter 1.

This goes out to everyone, but everyone may not be interested.  It is about my passion, which is Chetumal Bay, and about the local indifference to it.

Chetumal Bay is very much like Chesapeake Bay, only smaller (about the size of San Francisco Bay)

It is at the north end of Belize; and all of it except Corozal Bay, the little inlet where we live, is in Mexico.  When I get the Website going, there will be a map which clearly shows both bays. (click here to see a map of the bay.) For now, imagine this big bay which leads out into the Caribbean, with a little bump on the bottom which is our local bay.

Chetumal Bay is the nursery for all of the fish which live in the Great Belizean Reef, which runs the entire length of Belize, from 30 to 60 miles off shore.  Like Chesapeake bay, it is fed by many fresh water rivers, and like the Chesapeake, it is endangered by pesticides which which are in the runoff.  It may be the greatest undiscovered salt water fly fishery in the Western Hemisphere.  You should look up references to “Chetumal” on the Internet.  Pay particular interest to the ones which reference Xcalac (pronounced Ishca LOCK), a small fishing village on the peninsula which defines the bay.  People are currently paying $1950 a week to come to a hotel in Xcalac and fish for bonefish.  Previously, the most noted bonefishing was in the Christmas Islands in the middle of the Pacific.  Bonefish there rarely exceed 5 pounds.  Bonefish in Chetumal Bay range up to 8 lb. You catch them on a 9-foot 8-weight fly rod. They fight like no other fish you have every caught. If you’re in a boat, they threaten to pull you out.  Standing in the water, in the flats, which are 2-3 feet deep, is better.  You can also catch Tarpon, 35-150 Lb, on a 10-wgt fly rod, or Permit, 150-180 Lb. on a 12-wgt fly rod.  The idea of catching a 150 pound fish on a fly rod makes shivers run up and down my spine.

I learned all of this on the net before I came down here.  I started quizzing the local Belizeans about it. They claim that this is all B—S--.  You can’t catch these fish on a fly rod.  You use a hand line.  Chetumal Bay is “the bay of death” and has no fish at all.  You can catch everything you need in Belizean waters.

Of course, I will go out with the Belizeans and get them to show me how to catch fish on a hand line.  But, because they are Belizeans, they CAN’T fish in Mexico.  But we (Americans) can.  And will.  And I know that North American fly fishermen will not pay $$ to come down here and fish with a handline.  But they will fly into the Chetumal airport, stay here in Corozal, for $40/day, and take a boat up into the bay and fish for another $50-60 a day. First, I will learn how to do that. Then I will tell you about my adventures while learning. Meanwhile, look up Xcalac on the Internet, and share my excitement.

Sr. ric

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