Equipment and Flies

For bones:

• Rod: 7 to 9 weight
• Reel: Saltwater reel holding at least 150 yards of 20 pounds backing
• Fly Line: WF salt water floating line
• Leader: 9-14 feet depending upon the fishing situation
• Tippet: 2X-0X (there probably are advantages to using fluorocarbon)
• Flies: A variety of bonefish flies work well at Turneffe, and the best patterns vary somewhat from day to day. Small flies (6's, 8's, and some 10's) work best on our shallow, wadeable flats.
  Bonefish flies for the ocean side flats at Turneffe should be unweighted or very lightly weighted. These bonefish are often in a few inches of water and weighted flies hang up too easily. On deeper flats and particularly around the mangrove islands in the center of Turneffe, larger, weighted flies are preferable. Small crab patterns also work well here.
  • Pop’s Bitters #6 & #8 (Olive and amber)
  • Pop’s Egghead Bitters, #6 & #8 (olive and amber)
  • Tailer’s beware, #6
  • Bone Voyage, #6
  • Gotcha, #6
  • Snapping Shrimp, #6 & #8
  • Small crab patterns, #6
  • Crazy Charlies, #6 & #8, some unweighted , chartreuse, white, pink and brown

  *Have some of the above patterns in a weedless variety.

Permit

For the permit, you’ll need slightly heavier and stronger equipment:

• Rod : 9 or 10 weight
• Reel : Saltwater reel holding a minimum of 200 yards of 20 pounds backing
• Fly Line : WF saltwater Floating (some anglers prefer a slow sinking line but this makes it more difficult to recast)
• Leader : 9-12 feet
• Tippet : 1X-0X
• Flies : Although Del Brown's Permit Fly, in various modifications, are nearly always "the crab of choice", a wide variety of other crab patters work well. Generally, larger, heavier crab patterns (#2 to 1/0) are preferred for the deeper flats and smaller, lighter flies work well on the shallow or wadeable flats.
  
• Some recommended permit flies:
  • Merkin, #1/0, #2
  • Turneffe Crab, tan and olive
  • Fleeing crab #2, #6
  • Various others some light weight and other heavier and some with weed guards.

Tarpon

Recommended tackle for Tarpon:

• Rod: 11 or 12 weight
• Reel: Saltwater reel holding a minimum of 200 yards of 30 pound backing
• Fly Line: Intermediate or faster sinking line or sink tip
• Leader: 4 - 6 ft. butt section, 16 pound - 20 pound class tippet, 60 - 100 pound shock tippet
• Flies: All flies in 3/0 or 4/0. The real key for successful tarpon fishing is to have some bright flies (reds, orange, yellow), neutral (tan, white, brown) and dark (black, blue, purple)

Barracuda

• Rod: 8 to 10 weight
• Reel: Saltwater reel holding a minimum of 200 yards of 20 pound backing
• Fly Line: WF floating
• Leader: 20-30 pound wire shock tippet (8 to 12 inches in length)
• Flies: Size 1/0 to 3/0, Bring various with double hook tandem rigs, wire leaders and various saltwater poppers.
• In addition to the above flies bring an assortment of clousers in #1/0, 2 and 6 in tan/white, chart/white and blue/white.

Also bring:

• Polarized Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Fishing hat
• Rain Gear
• Insect repellent
• Hook sharpener
• Camera and its necessities (batteries, film, lenses, cleaner etc.)
• Wading pack (for your back or fanny)
• Snorkel gear
• Prescriptions
• Wading Shoes. These need to be firm soled shoes designed for flats wading and impermeable to small, sharp pieces of coral with ankle protection. Light tennis shoes or dive booties will not suffice and are dangerous to wear.