We have just arrived at Tarpon Caye and we are sitting around the table enjoying a cool beer listening to Charlie Leslie the owner of the lodge and the tales of his many years guiding in the area and how with little means he built this lodge  Simplicity and enthusiasm are the principal characters of this permit fishing « pioneer », because we are sitting opposite a permit fishing “guru” who as early as the 1970’s had already observed and studied permit and begun to understand how to catch them on a fly . Donning a mask & tuba he studied how permit positioned themselves vertically before sucking in the crabs and crushing them but also how they occasionally spat them back out when something wasn’t to their taste. During this time Charlie Leslie and some of the world’s saltwater fly fishing experts met together like a group of scientific researchers and pooled together their observations, knowledge and experience to try and solve the mystery of how to catch a permit on a fly

But it’s getting late and there’s still an hour before the sun goes down and just a few yards away the tarpon are probably on the lookout for food in the lagoon. At the end of the day the small bait fish come out from the protection of the mangroves in great numbers and the tarpon wait greedily for this « fast food » treat! But we’d obviously been chatting a bit too long because as we approached the boat dock we could already hear the noisy violent attacks and see the flashes of silver as gangs of tarpon leaped out the water feasting aggressively on the dish of the day.

Excited by this entire hullabaloo we enthusiastically cast our flies haphazardly into the pack at every flash of silver, completely ignoring the discreet advice from our guide… until finally after a couple of strips I felt that unbelievable tug on the line and I set the hook by raising the rod too soon!

« Keep the tip of the rod in the water when you set » said Charlie, gently, quietly…

After a crazy hour of tarpon madness the sun went down in a flamboyant display of colour and the tarpon set off into the sea following their supper.

After this « appetiser » we settle down for a short nights rest woken regularly by the worrying sound of wind and thunder of an approaching storm.

But in a flash, as the sun came up, the bleakness disappeared and blue sky and sunshine dominated.

The order of the day was simple. A coffee and off to say « bonjour » to the tarpon, followed by a good breakfast and time to prepare tackle and head off to track down some permit on the flats

We are slowly cruising along a long flat and it is only 10 am when we spot the first « nervous waters »caused by some tailing permit.

And the rest of the day was non-stop fishing, taking turns about we never  spend more than 15 minutes not casting to permit on the flats in excellent conditions, overdosing on adrenalin when the crab hits the head of the fish, when the cast is too long or too short, when the water is so low that the splash of the too heavy fly scares the fish, or, one that really got the heart rate up, the permit sees the fly and follows it right up to our feet before catching on to the trick and dashing off noisily. Kathleen had the trickiest one who took the fly, and spat it out so quickly that it was only when we took the fly back in that we saw the crab had been crushed and rotated 180° on the hook.

I remember many years ago, at the end of a fishing day I met a trout fishermen   on a creek in Montana who when asked how his day had gone answered that it had been an excellent days fishing but on further questioning admitted that he had not caught one single fish.

It’s curious but I knew even then that fly fishing had nothing to do with accountancy and a good days fishing couldn’t be measured on the number of fish caught but to be satisfied with an “empty bag”! I hadn’t really been convinced until today. After a day so rich & intense when we had learned so much about permit fishing, experienced so many emotions and rushes of adrenalin, softened only by the serenity of the surroundings and the gentle enthusiastic words of encouragement and advice from our guide Marlon. Not one fish landed, but what a fantastic day we had shared.

Marlon and Carlito the assistant guide create such a great team spirit that we attack day two full of enthusiasm and excitement but things don’t look too promising. Wind and cloud have decided to join us today.

However the bad weather conditions don’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of   this team.  Most of the flats we fish are narrow, edged by deeper channels which we can go up in the boat, making it easy for a « trained eye » to spot fish and approach them quietly. 

The 2nd morning is filled with the same dose of excitement and emotion as the day before. Marlon always manages to find a flat with the right level of water whatever the tide or the conditions where he spots tailing or moving permit and once again we have very little time between fishing permit.

Marlon spots 3 permits  heading from the deeper water onto the flat, always « ready  » I immediately cast my crab in front of them, but they keep changing direction, and my casts are imprecise , but I carry on casting, stripping and I don’t know exactly why but suddenly  I strip strike and bingo ! I hooked him!

I raise the rod, medium drag and let the permit go for his first never ending rush. As soon as I feel he may be pausing for breath I slightly tighten the drag and begin to try and wind in some line, this doesn’t please him and off he rushes again, in a typical Usain Bolt sprint. After a 10 minute fight the permit is close to the boat, too close perhaps and he rushes under it. I immediately put the tip of the rod into the water hoping not to break it, and let the fish rush off and to my surprise at the same time I see Carlito putting on his mask and diving into the water and swim under the boat, surprised, confused I turn and see Marlon, non-perplexed, “no problem” he says to my surprised look, “the line was caught up on a metal part of the boat and Carlito has uncaught it!”

“Lift the rod up so the line doesn’t get caught in the coral now!”

 I quickly get some line back in and carry on the fight and 5 minutes later the permit is in the net and the joy on the boat sounds like we’ve just won the European handball championship. We are now a winning team and next day we confirm this by losing one permit and netting another who leapt on the crab at the first cast!

And what about the tarpon you are probably wondering, Isn’t the lodge called « Tarpon Caye »?

We don’t have much to tell because we were so busy stalking and fishing permit and after the excitement of the first day they were very discreet probably due to the full moon which meant they were active all night. But we did catch one and lost three.

But they better watch out because we’ll be back soon !

Some technical hints & Advice

It is important to be able to cast far and with precision even in windy conditions, to master the double haul, low parallel casting, and casting with the minimum of false casts because permit are top of the menu for sharks and for this reason are always on the move and spook very easily.

The fly, usually a crab pattern, has to move in a life like way. In order to get the right animation, try a couple of very short strips, followed by a short pause. If you feel the slightest pull on the line you have to immediately strip strike but keep the rod tip down, just a slightly faster and longer strip is enough, if the permit hasn’t taken the fly it won’t be spooked and you can carry on moving the crab. This is probably the secret of catching permit, as often you don’t feel the fish taking the fly and he spits it out in a flash without you even realising. Don’t expect to feel a definite tug. It’s more like the feeling of the fly catching on a bit of elastic!

Tackle

Permit

2 rods 9’  #9/10 both set up with a crab pattern , if the crab on the first rod gets caught on a bit weed or coral you can  carry on fishing with the second rod.

Tarpon

9’ rod #12,( tarpon are powerful and they can big).

Tarpon feed on the schools of small bait fish.First by rushing into the school and knocking them about with their tails, then they come straight back to eat the fish they have knocked out! So it’s a good idea to imitate a dying, injured fish and to move the fly with 1 or 2 short strips with short pauses

One evening while waiting for some tarpon to appear I had left my fly in the water and it was slowly sinking to the bottom when a very big tarpon appeared from nowhere and attacked the fly and completely took me by surprise!

Tarpon fishing is technically not too difficult but the strike and the fight need endurance, calm and control of the tension of the line during the leaps and rushes.

Other species

9’ rod #7/8 for bonefish which are plentiful on the flats and the permit rod and reel for fishing near the reef for trevally, triggerfish etc…..

Flies

For permit most crab or shrimp patterns work but they mustn’t be too heavy, like epoxy patterns

For tarpon sardine imitations work best, gummy minnows, clouser minnows always tied on excellent hooks like gamakatsu for example.

Where to go ?

Without hesitation, Tarpon Caye Lodge is by far the best place we have ever travelled to for permit fishing. We were there at the wrong time, with the wrong tide & moon and the amount of permit we saw and fished for was unbelievable! And knowing that in the spring the fishing is better and the big tarpon are there too, we cannot wait to go back!

And above all the contact with the guides and lodge staff is spontaneous, warm, welcoming and genuine a far cry from the impersonal courtesy you experience in most other top class fishing lodges.