The sudden itch that I just had to scratch.
Flying over the untouched flats of Belize on the Tropic Air Cessna plane last November to San Pedro, Ambergris Caye was life changing "a ha moment" to say the least. I needed to spend some quality time in this exotic place and begin what I'd like to say is a romantic relationship with flyfishing in saltwater.
The plane was packed so I got stuck between my two new friends that I just met for our week long trip with Simms, checking out all their new gear for 2013 while trying to stick a few permit. Squashed in the middle between Simms Central American Sales Rep Wil Flack and photographer Brian Grossenbacher, it was a Lacey sandwich and we instantly became friends for the 15 minute plane ride over one of the most incredible bodies of water on planet earth. I always knew that I would move south from where I grew up but didn't expect that to be Belize until I stepped off that plane in San Pedro on the last leg of the shoot.
My roots start in Southwest Florida but I've always dreamed of living down in the FL Keys where it's fishing heaven and hot like tamales. I couldn't stop thinking that this was what the FL Keys was like when my forefathers where growing up. Long stretches of untouched shorelines to explore with few if any other boats in sight.
Something in my soul comes alive when I'm in a place that not many people have ever been. This was like the fishing version of my hunting experiences down in the Florida Everglades. Instead of cruising cypress heads for ghost like bucks, I'm scouring the flats for elusive permit. With my eyes twinkling I gazed over the flats of Belize seeing several massive feeds of bonefish, making me wonder if those chewin' fools had ever seen a fly nonetheless a fisherman.
With so many square miles to explore and so many fish to feel at the end of fly rod I would soon become a professional fish bum. Sleeping in hammocks, nursing my cut up feet from bonefishing, making rum concoctions with fresh mango, testing the limitations of my gear, and tying bugs were all apart of my daily routine for the summer.
Many of you have asked if I'm guiding down here, and the answer is not yet. Someday I hope to share this special place with you all but in the meantime you can join me on some hosted trips that I will be offering in the next year.
Soaking it all up like a sponge this amazing opportunity to visit Belize was made possible by Simms Fishing Products and I will never be able to thank them enough for not only broadening my horizons but absolutely changing my life. Completely obsessed about flyfishing for permit like a teenage girl thinks about the boy she's crushing on that doesn't even know she's in the room, I find myself daydreaming about sexy black tails & rubber lips all day, everyday.
Live. Love. Fish.
- Capt Lacey