A third trip to El Pescador Lodge proved to be the best so far for Bradley B. -- Read about his trip below:
Did you find the trip booking process through Yellow Dog enjoyable and useful? If not, please share why.
- Very. I've booked with you guys many times over the years, and one of the best parts about it is having a sounding board to pick between the various options, and someone to whom I can address questions/preferences/needs etc. We were considering another lodge this time, and talking to Matt actually helped solidify that going back to Pescador was the best option for this trip - and it was.
Were the Yellow Dog pre-trip planning packet(s) and travel itinerary you received for your trip helpful and accurate? If not, how could it be improved?
- No notes. It was great.
Did the lodging (rooms, dining area, social area, etc) match what you were expecting? If not, please provide additional comments or constructive feedback.
- We've been to El Pescador 3x in the last 18 months. It's like Mary Poppins - practically perfect in every way. We knew the drill, as did Matt.
Did the food (breakfast, lunch, dinner) match what you were expecting? If not, please provide additional comments or constructive feedback.
- Totally fine, but not spectacular. I wish the dinners were just a little better - but they're totally fine, but breakfast is great, and lunch is about what you'd expect from a boat lunch. I don't have any suggestions to improve.
Do you have any comments or constructive feedback based on the service, friendliness, etc of the lodge staff?
- The lodge service is impeccable. It's one of the reasons we keep going back. Seeing the familiar faces, and, most importantly, having them treat Matilda so well and be so welcoming to her, is just fantastic. Love Pescador. Our next trip my be out to Turneffe, just b/c I really want to go out there, but that will be a hard decision b/c Pescador is pretty flawless.
Were you pleased with your guide(s) customer service, communication skills, professionalism, work ethic, and general fishing knowledge? If not, please share why.
- These were, I think, my favorite guides we've had so far (Jio and Levan, though Junior was great last time as well - particularly for tarpon), but I may be biased b/c I got a grand slam with each of them. It was actually kind of nice to switch up guides mid-week, because every guide has their own style and type of fishing they seem most comfortable with, so the variation in the day, where we fish, and how we fish, was great - and we lost nothing in the quality of the guides. We told both we were chasing permit, and we got permit with both. It just doesn't get any better than that.
What key piece(s) of gear, tackle, flies, soft goods, etc. made your trip successful?
- Hands down: the hard-bodied brown/red sargassum crab was the absolute dominating winner (they had it at the lodge, and Jio suggested we get some the first day). I'm trying desperately to find it elsewhere. It may never fish that way again for the rest of my life, but I'll be damned if I don't have some version of it in my box from here on out. We caught 8 permit with it on the trip (both feeding in and near the sargassum on the surface, and on the sandy flats - but it perfectly imitated those floating and subsurface crabs we saw all around the sargassum), all on that fly, and they didn't show much interest in any other we threw at them. I've never experienced permit eating that enthusiastically - a couple just pounced virtually the moment they hit the water - it was wild. AND we caught at least 2 tarpon on that fly as well (where there were some tarpon and permit feeding in a sargassum line, we threw on 30 lb flouro and were casting to both!)
Would you return to this destination? Please share why or why not.
- I mean, 8 permit (including Matilda's first), 2 slams, impeccable service, great guides. . . the biggest problem we have now is how to motivate us to go anywhere else. Definitely going to go back. And it was an amazing week for nearly everyone at the lodge. They had 5 slams on the fly on our last day! It was bonkers. This was one of the very best fly fishing trips I've ever taken over the last 25 years. I think there may have been only one that was on the same level - and that was on my honeymoon! (Estancia del Zorro). My wife was very jealous she couldn't make it on this one. Thank you Yellow Dog.
About the Lodge: El Pescador Lodge, in business for over 40 years, is one of the best-run, most famous fly fishing lodges in all of Central America. Situated only 15 minutes by light aircraft from Belize City on the island of Ambergris Caye, the lodge offers world-class sight fishing for The Big Three: tarpon, permit, and bonefish. El Pescador Lodge was one of the original properties that we worked with, and it remains one of our all-time favorite destinations.
