Fishing Report: July 2008

July marked the end of the busy season here on Roatan, and Mango Creek Lodge saw it out with a great group of anglers.

We finished the month with a full house and a camera crew! Cindy Garrison from ESPN and her team visited for a week as they filmed footage for a number of potential new projects. Cindy spent time with our managers discussing Mango Creek’s environmental and conservation initiatives before hitting the water to scout the flats. She met with success and caught a few bonefish—and her camera crew, of course, caught it all on film. Look for updates about Mango Creek and Cindy’s new projects coming soon.

Mike Krentzman and Cindy Garrison

While Cindy was busy filming, Gord and Cathy Joyce were enjoying their third trip to Mango Creek. This great couple has become like family to the lodge and even brought along photos from their past trips to share with our guides and staff. Gord and Cathy caught a number of fish on their days on the flats and also snuck in some spinning.

Also during this time, William and Will Joyce, a father a son, were doing their own exploring. While William fished, Will photographed the amazing sea life around the reef and got some terrific footage of his own. William did OK himself and caught several bonefish, a permit, and a couple of toothy needlefish.

William Talley and a bonefish

Next up were Bill and Sue Martin, who joined us the following week. Bill split his stay between time exploring with Sue and time on the water, where he really lit it up. He warmed up Day 1 with one good-sized bonefish and then followed that up on Day 2 by getting seven of them! On Day 3, Bill caught three bonefish on his morning trip and then met up with Sue for a picnic and snorkel on the secluded Pigeon Keys. Afterward, he was back on the flats with a pink crab pattern, which helped him bring in two permit! He was all smiles the rest of the week and said it was his best fishing day ever.

Bill Martin and one of his two permit

Fishing Report: February 2008

Well, what can we say? The fishing has been great, and our season is proving to be as good as last year, with a number of guests returning to the challenge of our flats.

It may be an anomaly, but it appears that our bonefish are slightly bigger than last year. See this photo of Mango Creek Lodge guide Perry with a nice bonefish caught by guest Chuck Hornor.


At the same time Chuck was visiting, Joe Pozzi and Wally Filkins from Chicago joined us for some spin fishing. Tie-Tie, their enthusiastic guide, put them on a number of species. These included two permit, one grouper (30 lbs), snook, snapper, bonefish, and even small sharks. Their stay also included a trip to Guanaja, where they managed to land 12 to 15 bonefish.

Weather at this time of year includes trade winds that at times make it more difficult for the fly fisherman. However it is unusual for the wind to persist for more than a few days. For the experienced fisherman, this is not an issue.

This is a picture of Chuck. He really doesn't like getting sunburned. He reported that bonefish were present in great numbers, that they were not "spooky," and that he caught more than 30 during his stay!

He's coming back ...

Fishing Report: July 15-Aug. 15, 2007

This week has been a special one at Mango Creek Lodge. Be it the right winds, right tides, or simply hungry fish, the fishing has been exceptional for permit on the fly.

We first turn to Steve Calaway, who finished up his month in Honduras by coming back to Mango Creek to spend the week chasing permit. Day after day, he was spotting and casting to giant schools but simply could not get one to take. Yet Steve was not to be dissuaded. He was constantly adjusting his tactics and retooling his trout-fishing instincts to fit the requirements of a saltwater assassin. And with the right combination of skill and a bit of luck, Steve made his time down here truly count. Here's Steve's recounting in his own words:

We stalked a couple of schools of big permit and got a few chases but no bites. Almost dark, time to go in, but we checked out one more spot on the boat ride home, one last chance as the sun threatened to disappear, leaving us to navigate the reef and mangrove system in the dark.

"Perfect cast," whispered Tie-Tie on my last cast of the sunset. I threw 70 feet of line, dropping the white crab pattern 7 feet in front of a pair. The giant tails moved towards the crab, then it happened, she ate. Tug, Tug, wham, my line screamed out to the sea and I was hooked up--it wasn't a dream. 20 years of fishing trout doesn't compare to this beast of the sea. Tie-Tie and I followed her, by boat, as she led us out to sea. Day turned to dusk and the fish pulled on, sometimes giving, mostly taking. Eternal moments in time. She started giving more, and I took until we were one, together under a tropical sky. Laughing, high-fives, hug, yell, "Oh my God," thank you, . . . thank you.

Steve caught this magnificent fish on a size 16 White Turneffe Crab pattern after literally casting everything else he had in his box at permit that week. He also caught the fish after Tie-Tie recommended making the leader a bit longer and using 12-lb tippet instead of 15-lb.

After getting back to the lodge, Steve was so excited he could barely sit still. He just kept repeating, "In 20 years of fishing, man, that was the best fish I've ever caught."

Not to be outdone, our guide, Perry, set off the following morning with Carlo Gobetti. Carlo was over from Italy and spent a few days of his trip to Roatan dayfishing with us. In similar fashion, Carlo made the right cast at the right time, and luck graced yet another fisherman with a nice permit--the second one to be landed in 24 hours.

Congratulations to both fisherman on two great fish.

One final note: Thankfully, we were hardly touched by vicious Hurricane Dean, which passed about 100 miles north of us early in the morning on Aug. 21. Despite the 160-mph sustained winds and torrential rain near the center of the Category 5 storm, we were hardly shaken down here on Roatan. In fact, we saw little more than gusty winds and above-average tides. Looks like our lucky streak continues!