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That depends on your ability or how quickly you can adapt if you've never fished Bones. It also assumes that you're talking about fly fishing, which is what I was doing. This is only my second try at Bonefish, with the first being in Andros two years back. I've done a lot of saltwater fly fishing for other species though, with Bones and Permit being the toughest. The hardest part is seeing them. When they say these things are ghosts, or chameleons, they're not kidding. I really couldn't start seeing them myself until about the middle of the second day. One of the hardest things to deal with is the fact that they appear to change color instantly as they move from surface to surface, and once you lose them, it's hard to find them again. You often see the nervous water, their shadow, or a flash just slightly different from the water glistening in the sun before ever seeing the fish itself. I think I hooked up on 1 out of every 12 shots. The other part is distance and accuracy. You don't have to shoot 70-80' like they say(although you will definitely get plenty of shots at them that far), but you do have to be fairly accurate. I spooked them time after time just from lining them (shooting too far and getting the fly line too close to them).

As far as guides go, I wouldn't think twice about using Severo Guererro again servero@btl.net . I've done a lot of guided trips in fresh and saltwater, and aside from his expertise, he's one of the most knowledgeable and courteous guides I've known. He put me on top of about 60 Tarpon in one day, hundreds of Bones, and even 15-20 Permit. He can not only spot these fish from hundreds of yards away, he can see exactly what they're doing underwater as he guides your retrieval rate. Even if you can't see them, he can guide your cast so well and tell you when to drop the fly that you stand a good chance even if you can't see them yourself. He'll also get you close if you can't shoot fly line long enough or you're in a bad postion against the wind. This is especially important if he has to guide you on a backcast shot.

A few things I really liked about fishing with Severo is that he'll move or advise you try something different if he senses it doesn't look good. He's excellent at positioning the boat for your best cast. Sometimes he'll follow the fish for quite a while at a distance until he can get in on the right angle. I've been with plenty of guides that will just move in immediately and spook fish many times.

We used a lot of the fly patterns that I brought, but of those, my Orvis-made Cowen's Bonefish Scampi in #8 pink(shallow bead-chain eye) worked the best. One thing I would do differently is make my own flies. Severo had me get him some clear Larva Lace body material, which I found out he uses on his own flies. It gives a Bonefish fly a translucent 3D look. With the rabbit fur, it looked pretty darn close to the Cowen's Bonefish Scampi as well, but it had that extra dimension about it. He let me try it and they tore it up. I've never seen or heard of anyone using that material on a Bonefish fly.

The most important piece of advice I can give you is to make sure you bring a good pair of Polarized sun glasses in med to dark Amber or Vermillion(rose colored) and a cheap backup pair. You can't catch them on these flats unless you can see them, and if you break or lose a pair, you'll be helpless.

Hope that helps. If you have any questions about what gear to bring, let me know. Good luck.

Thanks Angelo, that was very helpful. My son does fly fishing but I do not. I am going strickly for the tarpon and I have Severo lined up for a day. I am sure that my son can use your advise better than I. Good tip on the sun glasses. Can you fish bones from the shore?

angelo nice read great photos ..last trip went out reef only but did see capt charlie capt bicho 's son on there new custom flats boat ,fishing only half day trip he landed/relesed 12 bone ,1 permit and had a big mother tarpon 100 lb class .. on for about ten min. that danced and jumped till it got off .. plus a big cuda .. a nice way to start the day !!!!!.. there faces said it all I yelled over where they happy .and they shared with me it was best day flats fishing ever!!!!! and they have been here three times ..but never with capt charlie ..so a good guide is so important as you say !!! .. fly fishing is not me but I can see how you guys get into to it .capt bicho wants me to try it he has spots that hold tons of fish ..but I am a spin freak ulta light in lagoon is my thing .and your right about sun glasses ,good ones for the shallows are a must . capt .bicho and capt charlie has three pair glasses,,, when they go in the back flats to fish as backup if they lose one .... tight lines to ya and good fishing here's to living the fishing dream and enjoying life to max !!!!!!!!!

Thanks, Angelo - I'm printing this out for my husband who's a mad keen flyfisherman. We're coming to AC over Christmas and he's fishing with Captain Bicho. All info is greatly appreciated especially about the Grand Slam! (I think that's what you call the 3 -Tarpon, Bonefish and Permit, am I right? - I'm no fisherman but I live with it all the time - Son and husband!) Thanks again!

Loved the photos Angelo....great reliving our trip again!!!
And, never too late....I have some from Mainland Belize 2000 which I'm going to post soon!

The fairly new www.Belizemagazine.com has a good article about Severo. It's in volume 1, I think.

Great pics!

Sure,

Tom (Goody's husband) and I did it. You really have to go up north towards Journey's End or a few spots down toward Victoria house. You need to be VERY careful though because it's mostly mud or soft sand. I wandered out on the lagoon side just 1/4 mile north of the cut and sank up to my waist instantly. Scared the hell out of me, but I remembered what Severo did laying his pole on the bottom and walking on it to get the skiff off ground when we would get beached in the shallows. I just used my fly rod laid across the bottom to pull myself out carefully. The stuff is like quicksand in some areas. If you go north towards Journey's End, the windward side is shallow and firm. You can go out just about anywhere on front of Journey's end and cast for them. Also, early in the morning, you can cast off of Capt. Morgan's pier on the right side about half-way down the pier in the turtle grass and you should see some.

One day Tom and I were discussing the day's fishing out on the pier at Banana Beach and a 4+ lb Bonefish cruised right by my legs and under the pier when I was standing in the water next to the pier(go figure, they spook easily everywhere else), so I'd say you can get them pretty much anywhere, but no where near as many as you would using a guide to get out to Congrejo, Blackadore, or Savannah flats.

Although you can't fish there, the Amigos Del Mar pier has about 50 large bones under the dock. I saw them there when doing a refresher for my dive certification. That's pretty much the reason you can't fish there - it's a dive training area for confined water exercises. Bones are smart though; they know it's safe there.

ANGELO
GREAT TIPS FOR BONES. WILL BE DOWN IN JULY TO TRY FOR SOME BONES AND TARPON. WAS WONDERING ABOUT COWENS BONEFISH SCAMPI. WHERE CAN I VIEW THE PATTERN. I TIE MY OWN FLIES AND HAVE NOT HEARD OF THIS FLY. I DONT HAVE AN ORVIS WITHIN 200 MILES OF ME. THE LARVA LACE IS GREAT FOR SHRIMP BODIES. IT GIVES IT THAT SEGMENTED LOOK. IF YOU PUT A THIN COAT OF 5 MIN. EPOXY OVER THAT YOU'LL WANT TO PEEL THEM AND EAT THEM. THANKS AGAIN. ANY CERTAIN TARPON PATERNS THAT WORKED BETTER THAN OTHERS?

Angelo,
I would have had to change clothes if I had hit that "mud" like you did. When I was really young, I saw a movie about quick sand in the Okeefonokee Swamp and it scared the stuffing out of me. So thanks very much for the tip!! I'm sure my son will fish from the shore at some point. Have you ever done any deep sea fishing from San Pedro?

Orivis is kind enough to share the recipe and a photo for the pattern on their website Cowen\'s Bonefish Scampi

I think what Severo does is run either a pink or pale green thread through the hollow center of the larva lace, which brings that color all the way through the lace in a translucent manner. You should just be able to replace the mylar body on the scampi pattern with this and be good to go.

#6 fly sizes are your staple here for bones. Bring some un-weighted, some lightly weighted, and some heavy weighted. Tan, pink, and white, as well as a few in #8 for the really shallow parts where they spook easily. User Fluorocarbon 10 and 8 lb. leaders for Bones.

For Tarpon, Black Death, Cockroach, and Burnt Orange Grizzly are choice, but I brought some others that are mainly used in Florida too, just in case. Size 2/0 and 3/0 are Severo's choice. Severo's choice in color while I was with him was Black Death and any of my darker orange patterns. You might want to bring some 4/0 since you're down there when the large migratory fish are there, but I wouldn't bring too many of them. Use 20lb or heavier leaders with 60-80 lb shock tippets, and preferably in Fluorocarbon.

You might want to try the Permit too. They're not really that big on the flats here, so #4 and #6 crab patterns are a good size. Severo didn't care for my #4 Merkin Crabs and wanted me to use my Bonefish Sliders instead. I think he also likes the Raghead crab for Permit here.