julian and beverly from wippari caye met us at the dock at 945 and we were off. got totally soaked during the 9 mile ride out as it was pretty windy. when we got there beverly and julien told us it was there firt day off for weeks so we wouldnt see much of them. the island has been in juliens family for 30 years. it is a fishing lodge for permit the flyfishermans wet dream supposedly. julien is said to be the best guide in the area unfortunately im not going to spend 350 for a day fishing. so the island has a main house with a huge palapa of the front and a bar and mahogany tables underneath (everything is built with mahogany in belize)there are two good size cabins and a guides cabin. i guess the place gets pretty hopin sometimes but right now no one is staying. the island is about 100 yards long and 20 yards wide. one end is swampy with mangroves , the middle has the structures some grass and palm trees lots of little holes everywhere that you can see crabs scuttle into sometimes. the other end has been filled in with sea bottom(all shells and coral) a guy they have work there has been filling in by the wheelbarrow load, probably a few tons worth of material. julian hired a barge with a digging crane to come out and dig out around his dock so bigger boats can dock. well the barge was a rust bucket and started to fall apart. so the crew abandoned it there for half a year and they are here now taking all the scrap metal off it and then they are going to sink the rest in the deeper water about 50yards out. they are just now at the final stages off getting it done and julien and beverly are pretty uptight/anxios about it. so we were setting up the tent when we got there and a storm started coming in . we barely got settled in and the storm broke out. we cooked lunch inside the tent then were stuck inside for 3 hours waiting for the storm to pass . the afternoon ended up very calm and pleasant. i decided it was time to try some fishing. within 5 minutes i see huge permit tails fanning the air coming my way. feeding permitĄ i cast to them as they go by but their path is very eratic and it is hard to judge where to cast . i get close a few times but either they dont like my fly or never saw it then just as quick they are gone. i do catch some really colorfull reef fish. later at dusk i am fishing some flats and am casting at some fish i cant really see what kind. every once in a while i see a shape or wake in the low light and cast towards it . one time i see a shape coming towards my legs , as it gets closer i realize its a manta ray 3 ft. across. it isnt slowing down and i finally have to bring my rod tip nown and poke it on the nose when it gets about 7ft away. it shudders and darts away . at this point i decide im not comfortable withe the unknown shapes in the water im seeing all around and head in. that night two more intense wind and rain storms come through. the next morning julien ltlls us about a caye 2 1/2 miles out where there should be permit feeding during the tidal surge at 1 also good snorkelling .so amber and i load up the gear and lunch and head out . we get over there in about 45 minutes . the inside of the caye has been filled in and the edges are all mangrove . we have to wade through 20 ft. of muck to the turlle grass flats . we see some reef fish and a baracuda,we snorkel around the caye to the seaward side and find really amazing reefs and coral heads. with lots of colorfull fish . we are really exited and a little scared of the unknown creatures. after a couple of hours we head back in through more sulferous muck. as we eat lunch we notice another big storm is heading in. i make a shelter with the kayaks and we sit it out. then blue skies again. i head out to the flats for some fishing but dont see a thing. find out later the north wind has kept the tidal surge from coming in. on our way back across another storm comes you can hear the roar of the wind coming from behind . within a couple of minutes we are enveloped. the waves get pretty choppy but we are more envigorated than scared. luckily it only lasts about 10 minutes and ets lunny again . i put out a fly and start trolling and catch a 2 1/2 lb. wahoo right away yummy. we spend the evening watching them try to dislodge the barge from where its got stuck on the coral heads , pretty amusing. next day we get a ride back at 8 and spend the day at placencia beach hangin out and swimin waiting for the 320 flight to punta gorda.
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