Fishing Off Ambergris Caye 6th Installment

Patricia and Eric Admiring One of the Many Black Snappers She Caught

At around noon Clifford asked if we wanted to continue fishing or head in and cookout and then fish some more afterwards or just keep fishing. Patricia and Erina didn’t want to stop so we kept fishing for another couple hours at another pair of high quality stops. We finally headed inside the reef where Eric dropped anchor in around 15 – 20 foot of water so Clifford, Erina and I could go snorkeling.

We jumped right in and Clifford, who had taken his spearfishing gear, shot a fish through the midsection. The fish squirmed and Erina and I were startled to see a big nurse shark appear from nowhere and quickly take it right off the rod. Clifford showed me how to find the conch and told us to let him know if we saw any big fish. I dove for the conch while Erina swam them back to the boat two at a time.

Eric, meanwhile, remained on board and made the switch from captain to cook. Patricia watched him use the ocean to clean the plywood and knife we were using to cut up the bait, he flipped the wood over and began cutting up piles of our day’s fish catch, conch, tomatoes, onions, peppers, limes and potatoes. He trimmed and then washed a ripe pineapple off in the ocean again, then sliced it and offered it to Patricia as an appetizer. Patricia thought it was so ripe, fresh, and oh-so-mouth-watering good.

Fishing Off Ambergris Caye 5th Installment

Patricia Showing Off the "Technique" She Used to Catch the Biggest and Most Fish of the Day

We moved to another “special sure-to-catch-some spot” and I switched to the front of the boat and the big rod and reel, while Patricia positioned herself aft to try her luck with Erina. Clifford put a bonefish fishhead on my hook for bait and I lowered it away. He set Patricia and Erina up for more bottom fishing all the while chattering about growing up on the sea in Belize.

Clifford told us when he turned 15 and an old fisherman took him in and taught him how and where to fish all the best “never-tell-anyone-else” spots. Not shy at all, he told us how he was basically the best four-sport athlete around and still played in weekly soccer and basketball leagues. He continually interspersed his entertaining stories with, “sink it back down Lady,” “reel it in Girl,” or “Eric, turn the boat, man.” His lively chatter was constant even though he never seemed to stop baiting hooks and removing bulging-eyed black, yellow tail and vermillion snappers Patricia and Erina were reeling up. I only got two really solid bites but lost both fish. The first one broke the 80 pound test line I was using and the second bit through my steel leader and then neatly cleaned Erina’s line too.

Patricia twice caught two fish at a time on her multiple-hook line and ended up catching the biggest and most fish of the day. Erina came in a not too distant second. I ended up last although I had the most fishing experience and was the one who pushed so hard to go fishing in the first place. I didn’t mind it one bit though. I enjoyed seeing Patricia and Erin filling the big cooler with fish and having a bunch of fun doing it.

Fishing off Ambergris Caye 4th Installment

Eric Showing Off One of Erina's Black Snappers

Erina and I went to the back of the boat to fish first, while Patricia remained up front just wanting to make sure she wasn’t going to get woozy. Clifford gave us some quick instructions on the “techinique”, which was performed by pulling the tip of the rod up and then quickly reeling the slack line in. He then cut out some three inch bonefish cubes on a piece of plywood and baited our round hooks. We followed his instructions on sinking our bait, which took quite some time as we were in approximately 600 foot of water. Clifford said the bottom was sandy and he was looking for a specific type of fish found around that depth.

The fish would take the hook as soon as the bait was lowered. I caught a small vermillion snapper and Clifford deemed I was ready for the “big ones”. I eagerly agreed and had visions of landing a big grouper or shark. Erina on the other hand was content with the considerable effort it took to pull in the 5-10 pound snappers she was catching.

Fishing off Ambergris Caye 3rd Installment

Erina - Always Happy to be In or On the Water

Clifford squawked in his Pidgin-soaked accent, “Are you ready to go fishing?” We all said yes, loaded our gear and found a cushioned seat in the 24 foot outboard. We headed offshore beyond the reef while Clifford and Eric agreed on our first stop. Cruising outside the reef we split a school of flying fish which got everyone looking outside for signs of fish. We were all so amazed at how far they effortlessly glided across the swells. Erina was looking left while I was excitedly yelling for her to look right, not realizing the school was so large we had fish gliding on both sides. What an awesome sight.

Eric piloted the boat to the first spot, slowed and then pointed the bow at a landmark onshore. He put the engine in reverse and steered to maintain position, while Clifford barked out depth estimates. Clifford told us he was starting us out on the “small ones” so we could get used to this type of fishing. He said he was using the different colors of the water to estimate the depth. The color differences to Patricia, Erina and I were imperceptible. It all just looked very, very blue to us.

Fishing off Ambergris Caye 2nd Installment

Eric (left) and Clifford - Our Fishing Guides from Uprising Tours


All the hesitant feelings changed when we met our guides, Clifford, and Eric, who doubled as the boat’s captain. Though we had been on Ambergris Caye for only three days we immediately recognized Clifford whom we had met at Baller’s Barbershop on our first day downtown shopping around. Neither looked like the guides you see on the ESPN Sunday morning celebrity fishing shows. Eric had multiple tribal band tattoos, earrings, a Bellikin beer ballcap and a t-shirt with a “Mary Juana” logo on the back. Clifford was sporting his own earrings and a Columbia soccer t-shirt. Their bare feet and attire gave them a modern day “Pirates of the Caribbean” appearance, which Patricia and Erina easily related to as they are big fans of the movie (read Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom here), and had the affect of putting them both at ease. Also, Clifford and I had hit it off pretty well at the barber shop while talking fishing so I was confident we were being well-guided for our first day of relaxing fishing, snorkeling and sunshine.

A Day Fishing off Ambergris Caye, Belize

View from The Blue Tang (our Hotel)

Though we all had widely varying opinions on going deep sea fishing, the day we spent fishing was one if the highlights of our vacation. Our morning began with distant springtime thunderheads in the East casting shadows on a glistening crystal clear blue sea. The western Caribbean looked to be promising another beautiful day. While gazing at the beauty of the sea and sipping a hot cup of Belizean coffee with Patricia and Erina, I thought back on my childhood open ocean fishing trips. My father and his Hawaiian Navy buddy used to take me out to Mummy Island off the coast of Mexico south of San Diego. We would leave before dawn and spend all day fishing. We’d get back late, exhausted but very happy, and we always had a great time in any conditions. Today, I was hopeful we would catch more than our fair share of fish and have a great time in the process.

Being the organizer of this fishing expedition, I bantered, cajoled, threatened and heaped shame at my 14 year-old daughter Erina and my wife Patricia until they descended the steps of our third story deck overlooking the sea and were headed down the beach for the pier. Patricia was worried she’d get nauseous riding in a small fishing boat and she’d been fresh water fishing many times before and knew fully well what a patience-driven sport it could be. Erina, on the other hand, appeared she would rather have spent the day strolling, shopping and touring downtown San Pedro.

Okay - Funtime is Over - Back to Work

Just got back to work here in Saudi Arabia from the best vacation I have ever enjoyed. I spent a few days catching up with the family at home and then went with my wife and daughter to Belize for a scuba and fishing trip.

Glad to be back at work but I am already counting the days to the next vacation. I'll have a few stories and photos posted in the days to come.

The photo is of a spotted eagle ray we saw while scuba diving off Ambergris Caye.