Trip Report--Belize 2008

 BELIZE WINTER PROGRAM - Trip Report
IN THE SALT
January 26 – February 2, 2008
El Pescador Lodge, Belize
7 nights lodging, 6 days fishing, 18 hrs CE
Thoracic and Abdominal Radiology
Presented by

Eric Herrgesell, D.V.M., A.C.V.R.

Trip Report

The weather is always good in Belize but sometimes good weather doesn’t quite match up with the fishing. But who is to complain. Temps were in the low 80’s during the day, high 60’s to low 70’s at night with an off shore breeze always keeping things comfortable. There were 16 total on this trip: 13 veterinarians, 12 anglers and 4 spouses: Dr. Doug and Betty Andrews, Portland, ME; Dr. Mike and Sandy Norris, Dover, NH; Dr. Herb and Dr. Tina Brown, Bowling Green, KY; Dr. Larry Mitchell, Indianapolis, IN; Dr. Corey Cherrstrom, Loomis, CA; Dr. Michael Mulvany, San Diego, CA; Dr. Richard Burrows, Kingman, AZ; Dr. Les Martin, Winnemucca, NV; Dr, Allan Dozier, Charlotte, NC; Dr. Scott Mays, Frisco, TX; Dr. Eric and Brooke Herrgesell, Sacramento, CA and I’m from Tucson, AZ this time of year. With the exception of Les Martin who got caught in Denver because of an overnight snow storm, everyone arrived on Saturday as scheduled. Les finally got to the lodge late Sunday afternoon after spending a lot of time in airports. The ladies really enjoyed themselves while the guys were fishing as there are plenty of things to see in Belize.  (See report below) There are over 400 sq miles of salt water flats surrounding Ambergris Caye and the target fish are tarpon, bonefish and permit. We really had only one good day for tarpon as the wind was our enemy for the fish. Too much wind makes the water oxygenated so the big rascals don’t show themselves much on the surface. Plus the high wind makes it tough to get on target. As the guides say, too short, too long, they’re gone! Fishing for permit was another story as these fish can really be elusive. Permit are usually found in areas where bonefish hangout and will mostly be found in schools. They are easily spooked so the boats can’t get too much closer than 60 ft and they really are picky taking a fly. Even with a perfect cast, they send a committee to follow the fly only to say no thanks. But I finally caught my first permit ---- only took 10 years to do it. Corey Cherrstrom ended up with 2 nice Tarpon on the only good day we had for these fish and for the group, two doctors accomplished the “week" slam (permit, tarpon, and bonefish); Michael Norris, and Don Sawyer. Eric, best known as Big Daddy, was king of the bonefish landing the biggest and probably the most.

Our days started with the flotilla of guide boats leaving the dock at 7:00 and after a day on the flats, we were back by 3:00. The radiology sessions presented by Big Daddy were exceptional. His pathology background, his keen interest in internal medicine and his outstanding talent as a radiologist and teacher made this a remarkable educational experience. He gave us more than 18 hours of films and discussions and the change to digital really makes a difference. One more cudo for BD. He befriended Big Zeus, a fairly overweight black lab owned by the lodge and discovered he had elbow dysplasia. He has a 100 day supply of Rimadyl on the way to Belize and Zeus is on a weight loss program as well. Without question, Big Daddy will be back again and IAFFV will return to the El Pescador Lodge, January 22 – 31, 2010. This time, we will be in the villas with a lot more room. 

Don Sawyer

BELIZE – THE “NON-FISHER PERSON” PERSPECTIVE!

The Belize trip is definitely spouse friendly!!  Our lodge was very nice with a beautiful view and pools to relax in.  More importantly, Belize is a wonderful place for some real adventure.  We ladies brought books and swim suits planning to relax and read those books we hadn’t gotten to yet.  However the scenery and the wonderful wildlife called us to action.  We flew in a very small plane to a river where we photographed beautiful birds, plants and iguanas as we floated down it to Lamani, an incredibly preserved Mayan ruin.  We hired our own fishing guide and boated out to Rosario Caye to observe even more beautiful birds including their nests of eggs and some fuzzy young! All of our guides were great and very well informed. While this might not sound that interesting, believe me, we had some adventures!!  We also did some shopping in the little town of San Pedro and photographed its inhabitants.  Although we and our cameras were very busy, we did find lots of time to relax and enjoy the evening “fish” stories at our family style dinners, mostly outside.  We even have a few “fish” stories of our own.  We all agree that we cannot wait to return to Belize and hope that more spouses will join us on this incredible trip!

Betty Andrews