I have done a lot of fishing in my life from ‘trolley fishing’ for perch in Lake Michigan as a kid with my father, walleye and salmon fishing in Michigan rivers, ‘fly-in’ trips to northern Canada and a ton of Bass fishing in the midwest. When I moved to Roatan I did some bill fishing here, (sail fish and Marlin) and a bit for wahoo and dolphin fish, (not the mammal). Last week was something new for me and I must admit I really, really liked it.
Although most would consider it ‘flats fishing’ and most would do it in a boat, I had a local guide who showed me how to ‘walk it’. Walking it, generating as little movement as possible felt a lot like hunting. For a couple of miles parallel to the shore in New Port Royal there is what used to me a sand bar with a grassy bottom, that changed naturally some years back after a rare hurricane. The hurricane brought tons of rock to this sand bar and dumped it there. There it is a natural habitat for crabs and other delicacies that Sea Rays and Permit fish love.
In one to two foot deep water you walk the rock ‘highway’, slowly, quietly until you spot a black moving cloud of Permit that you strategically place a hook filled with crab in front of where you think they are going.
Permit fishing is not widespread and much to my surprise it seems that Roatan is one of the prime Permit fishing locations in the Caribbean. Culturally people here on the island are pretty much big boat, big fish, (marlin and the like), fishermen but for my money Permit ‘Hunting’ is where it is at for me.
I do know this. I did it once and did not know exactly what I was doing, scared some schools away and I will have a learning curve but I did hook one and have never had anything that took line faster and more powerful than what I experience with that Permit. I do not say that lightly. I have had 25 lb + Muskie and Northern, large Lake trout, small and largemouth Bass and a pretty good sized marlin.
If you are a fisherman, looking for that new fun and exciting experience, I suggest that you go ‘Permit Hunting’ your next trip here. Check out Kessel Cooper from Calabash Bight. He works out of Mango Creek Lodge in New Port Royal.
Roatan is one of the top Permit fishing locations in the world.
