John Dietsch Founder/CEO HOOK.TV tells story about his first permit caught on a fly at Turneffe Flats. Check out Hook TV and join their fishing community to share movies, photos, and talk on their forum.
 | « on: December 20, 2008, 05:20:50 PM » | |
Just returned from fly fishing and shooting video in Belize for our Outdoor Channel TV series, Adventure Guides: Fishing Edition. We visited Turneffe Flats Lodge and proprietor Craig Hayes. I caught some nice Bonefish using flies and my friend Ed used conventional gear to get some nice Bones as well as a 10 pound Barracuda.
We learned that Belize is on the verge of passing a law that will require that all Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon are released whether using conventional gear or flies..... This is truly a watershed moment for saltwater fishing! Thanks to Craig and the other powers-that-be in the region for making this historic event happen!
I honestly struggled with the Bonefish down there as I am an old trout guide from Colorado and even after all these years focusing on the salt it appears I still have a tendency to do a "trout set" which tends to pull the fly out from the crusher mouth of the Bone. You would think after using flies to catch more than two dozen Corbina, that also have crusher mouthes, that I would know how to strip set better!!!!
We caught 6 or 7 Bonefish between us, but there were way more failures than successes. However that makes the following story about Permit all the more meaningful.
On the final day, we ran into a school of Permit and they thumbed their noses at me as well. Just seeing and casting to my first school of Permit was a thrill. There was a gentleman at the Lodge who had spent forty years in pursuit of a Permit as well as other species).... He finally caught his lifelong pursuit for the first time while we were there at the Lodge -- congratulations Warren!). Anyway, I was standing on the bow of the boat getting ready to leave and to admit total failure when suddenly another school of Permit swam by the boat. Dubs yelled out "Permit." I could barely make out the dark images as Dubs turned the boat. He obviously saw them better than I did, but I threw to the just in front of the dark spots -- just as I had to hundreds of bonefish that previously thumbed their noses.... This time it was different. I kept the rod tip in the water and focused on where the line entered the rod tip waiting to feel the pull of the Permit. As I made small strips with my wrist I felt a pull on the line and I made the strip set as Dubs had instructed. I was hooked up. It had only taken me six casts to hook up the most difficult fish to catch on a fly rod thanks to Dubs and a lot of sheer luck (OK maybe a little skill; it was a money cast)....
Time stood still for the first few moments, and when I played the tapes back I was amazed to see that I said nothing.... I was in another world with my laser focus on making the right strip set, lifting the rod just right afterwards and embedding the hook to ensure the connection to this fish -- obviously afraid of jinxing the whole thing. My elation at being hooked up to this Permit was delayed and finally I let out a hoot like never before!
Looking back I still feel like I was "visited" by this fish. The fish was so beautiful and mystical that I could not help but feel this way. It turns out that only moments before, the cameraman, Robert and my fishing buddy Ed, and I, had just been talking about the loss of members of our family, and in that moment playing that fish it was as though that they were all there for a brief time surrounding us, reminding us what is important.
Ed, who is a fireman in Seattle and has seen his share of tragedy, later said that as he watched me he felt like he was witnessing Grace. For one brief stretch of ten minutes, while I fought this valiant fish, everything faded away and all that was left was this moment of perfection.
Landing that fish was pure and unadulterated joy. It was amazing to hold this precious fish that I immediately dubbed "Princess of the Ocean." Photos and video of Permit simply do not do it justice. It is truly the most amazing and graceful looking fish I have ever held. I really did not imagine that I would be able to catch a Permit on camera considering the struggle I had hooking and landing bonefish, and considering how so many anglers that I know have spent lifetimes trying to catch Permit only to be rebuffed again and again.
Against the backdrop of struggle for the Bones my impending success with the Permit was all the more meaningful. You don't need to be religious to understand the power of these moments. In the end perhaps this is the real reason we fish.
When it was all said and done it took me only six casts to get my first Permit. The veteran guide at the Lodge, Eddie, who also witnessed the event, said that in thirty-five years guiding on the island he had only seen one other angler have success like this on his first attempt for Permit.... After that disclosure from Eddie we decided to quit while we were ahead and I flew home yesterday. There is nothing quite like the knowledge that the last cast I made with my fly rod produced a Permit, arguably the most difficult fish in the world to catch on a fly.
If only I could recapture the moment, the lesson, and that joy. Then again, I can share this amazing moment with all of you in our TV series that launches this Spring on Outdoor Channel! Tight Lines! John Dietsch, Founder Hook.tv
To watch Adventure Guides: Fly Fishing Edition tune in this Spring on the Outdoor Channel. Dates and times to come.
To find out more about fishing for Permit at Turneffe Flats Lodge go to: http://www.tflats.com
We learned that Belize is on the verge of passing a law that will require that all Bonefish, Permit, and Tarpon are released whether using conventional gear or flies..... This is truly a watershed moment for saltwater fishing! Thanks to Craig and the other powers-that-be in the region for making this historic event happen!
I honestly struggled with the Bonefish down there as I am an old trout guide from Colorado and even after all these years focusing on the salt it appears I still have a tendency to do a "trout set" which tends to pull the fly out from the crusher mouth of the Bone. You would think after using flies to catch more than two dozen Corbina, that also have crusher mouthes, that I would know how to strip set better!!!!
We caught 6 or 7 Bonefish between us, but there were way more failures than successes. However that makes the following story about Permit all the more meaningful.
On the final day, we ran into a school of Permit and they thumbed their noses at me as well. Just seeing and casting to my first school of Permit was a thrill. There was a gentleman at the Lodge who had spent forty years in pursuit of a Permit as well as other species).... He finally caught his lifelong pursuit for the first time while we were there at the Lodge -- congratulations Warren!). Anyway, I was standing on the bow of the boat getting ready to leave and to admit total failure when suddenly another school of Permit swam by the boat. Dubs yelled out "Permit." I could barely make out the dark images as Dubs turned the boat. He obviously saw them better than I did, but I threw to the just in front of the dark spots -- just as I had to hundreds of bonefish that previously thumbed their noses.... This time it was different. I kept the rod tip in the water and focused on where the line entered the rod tip waiting to feel the pull of the Permit. As I made small strips with my wrist I felt a pull on the line and I made the strip set as Dubs had instructed. I was hooked up. It had only taken me six casts to hook up the most difficult fish to catch on a fly rod thanks to Dubs and a lot of sheer luck (OK maybe a little skill; it was a money cast)....
Time stood still for the first few moments, and when I played the tapes back I was amazed to see that I said nothing.... I was in another world with my laser focus on making the right strip set, lifting the rod just right afterwards and embedding the hook to ensure the connection to this fish -- obviously afraid of jinxing the whole thing. My elation at being hooked up to this Permit was delayed and finally I let out a hoot like never before!
Looking back I still feel like I was "visited" by this fish. The fish was so beautiful and mystical that I could not help but feel this way. It turns out that only moments before, the cameraman, Robert and my fishing buddy Ed, and I, had just been talking about the loss of members of our family, and in that moment playing that fish it was as though that they were all there for a brief time surrounding us, reminding us what is important.
Ed, who is a fireman in Seattle and has seen his share of tragedy, later said that as he watched me he felt like he was witnessing Grace. For one brief stretch of ten minutes, while I fought this valiant fish, everything faded away and all that was left was this moment of perfection.
Landing that fish was pure and unadulterated joy. It was amazing to hold this precious fish that I immediately dubbed "Princess of the Ocean." Photos and video of Permit simply do not do it justice. It is truly the most amazing and graceful looking fish I have ever held. I really did not imagine that I would be able to catch a Permit on camera considering the struggle I had hooking and landing bonefish, and considering how so many anglers that I know have spent lifetimes trying to catch Permit only to be rebuffed again and again.
Against the backdrop of struggle for the Bones my impending success with the Permit was all the more meaningful. You don't need to be religious to understand the power of these moments. In the end perhaps this is the real reason we fish.
When it was all said and done it took me only six casts to get my first Permit. The veteran guide at the Lodge, Eddie, who also witnessed the event, said that in thirty-five years guiding on the island he had only seen one other angler have success like this on his first attempt for Permit.... After that disclosure from Eddie we decided to quit while we were ahead and I flew home yesterday. There is nothing quite like the knowledge that the last cast I made with my fly rod produced a Permit, arguably the most difficult fish in the world to catch on a fly.
If only I could recapture the moment, the lesson, and that joy. Then again, I can share this amazing moment with all of you in our TV series that launches this Spring on Outdoor Channel! Tight Lines! John Dietsch, Founder Hook.tv
To watch Adventure Guides: Fly Fishing Edition tune in this Spring on the Outdoor Channel. Dates and times to come.
To find out more about fishing for Permit at Turneffe Flats Lodge go to: http://www.tflats.com
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