What happens when you have a photoshoot planned out in another country and Mother Nature decides it will be the worst time to go? You pivot, gain a few gray hairs, and move it to another country, right?
We were a week out from a shoot in the Bahamas when Mother Nature had something else for us. Forecasted cold, cloudy, and windy, we had to pivot. Two of our team members had friends down in Belize and somehow it all came together. With new flights and lodging, we decided to fly into Belize City. The rental van was one you would often see running, well, you know. We loaded the van down with gear and started the road trip to Placencia. After a few hundred speed bumps, we made it to our Airbnb and set our sights on the mangroves across the street. No one caught a thing other than a buzz. We didn't fly all this way to cast in the mangroves; we came here for a shot at a permit.
The next day we met up with the incredible Tarpon Caye Lodge team who hauled us over to the lodge. After a short thirty-minute ride, we entered paradise. Brightly colored bungalows, ankle-deep gin-clear water, and an amazing staff. We unloaded, geared up, and waded the flats. Eric hooked into a bonefish within the first few minutes. Lauren and Noah chased a few permit only to be rejected over and over. Regardless, it was a heck of a first day out there. After a gnarly night with a front blowing through, we expected the worst in the morning. Whitecaps and bad winds; we needed to sit tight. As if someone turned a light switch off, the winds died down, and we scrambled to the pangas. Both pangas rushed to the flats and we found more permit than anyone expected. With permit fishing, you expect refusals and rejections, but our guides found a few happy permit for us. By the end of the day, Noah grabbed one and Drew broke off the other. An epic day that will never be forgotten. We crushed a few Belikins and headed back into town for our next pit stop, Hopkins.
Part two of our Belize road trip will be up in a few weeks!
