FISHING gear

               FLY SHOP  |  FLY FISHING TACKLE  |  FLIES  |  SPIN FISHING TACKLE  | RENTAL EQUIPMENT                       

We keep our small fly shop stocked with everything needed for fishing at Turneffe.  We also have top-quality fly fishing and spin fishing equipment available for rent at the lodge.

Our well-stocked shop with everything you need to fish at Turneffe, including our most productive flies, leaders, tippet, accessories, and an assortment of Scientific Anglers fly lines.  

If you can't find what you need at your local fly shop, we can always take care of your needs here. 

Gear RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommended Bonefish Gear

• Rods: 7 to 9 weight

• Reel: Saltwater reel with at least 150 yards of 20-pound backing

• Fly Line: Tropical WF floating line

• Leader: 9-14 feet - depending upon the fishing situation

• Tippet: 2X-0X (fluorocarbon tippet is preferable)

• Flies: size #10 to #6 with bead chain eyes or no weight

Recommended Permit Gear

• Rods: 9 or 10 weight

• Reel : Saltwater reel with a minimum of 200 yards of 20-pound backing

• Fly Line : Tropical WF floating line

• Leader : 9-12 feet

• Tippet : 1X - 0X

• Flies : #4 to 1/0

Recommended Tarpon Gear

• Rods: 11 or 12 weight

• Reel : Saltwater reel with a minimum of 200 yards of 30-pound backing

• Fly Line : Intermediate sinking (slime line) or medium sink tip

• Leader : 4 - 6 foot butt section, 16 - 20 pound class tippet and 60 - 100 pound shock tippet

• Flies : Size 3/0 to 4/0

Recommended Barracuda Gear

• Rod : 8 to 10 weight

• Reel : Saltwater reel with a minimum of 200 yards of 20-pound backing

• Fly Line : Weight forward floating

• Leader : 20-45 pound wire shock tippet (8 to 12 inches in length)

• Flies : Size 1/0 - 3/0

flies

Bonefish Flies

A variety of bonefish flies work well at Turneffe and the best patterns vary somewhat from day to day. Small flies (#6, 8, and some 10) work best on our shallow, wadeable flats.

Bonefish flies for the oceanside 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.  Some anglers prefer weed guards and they can be useful, but most of our guides feel that the disadvantages of making it harder to hook fish outweigh the advantages.

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.

Some of the better bonefish patterns for Turneffe include:

• Pops' Bonefish Bitters, #6 to #10 (Olive and Amber)

• Pops' Egghead Bitters, #6 to #10 (Olive and Amber)

• To-Dy-For, #6 to #10 (White and Olive)

• Crazy Charlie - #6 to #10 chartreuse, white, pink & brown (unweighted for outer flats)

• Gotcha, #6 to #10

• Horror, #6 to #10

• Baited Breath, #6 to #10

• EP Turneffe Micro Shrimp, #6 to #10

• Various small crab patterns and several other unweighted shrimp patterns

Permit Flies

Although Del Brown's Permit Fly,  in various modifications, is nearly always "the crab of choice," a wide  variety of other crab patterns work well. Generally, larger, heavier crab patterns (#2 - 1/0) are preferred for the deeper flats and smaller, lighter flies work well on the shallow or wadeable flats.

Popular permit patterns include:

• Del Brown's Permit Crab (Merkin), (#2 - 1/0)

• Raghead Crab (#2 and 1/0)

• EP Turneffe Crab (#2 - 1/0)

• Various other crab patterns (#4 - 1/0)

• Smaller, lighter variations for the shallow flats

Tarpon Flies

Dark colors tend to be better in the early morning and brighter colors work best when the sun is bright.

• EP Peanut Butter, 3/0 and 4/0 (purple/black and red/black)

• Cockroach, Black Death, Purple Haze, 3/0 and 4/0 (orange/red and white/red)

• Deceiver patterns - various colors

• Apte-style tarpon flies, 3/0 and 4/0

Barracuda Flies

• Fluorescent green/pink tube flies with 2/0 tandem hooks and wire leaders

• Saltwater Poppers (#2 - 2/0)

• Clouser Minnows (#4 - #2)

FLY FISHING RENTALS

We rent top quality fly rods and reels (Sage/T&T rods and Hatch reels) as well as flats boots, such as Simms Flat Sneakers and Patagonia Marlwalkers . 

Fly Fishing Rentals

• Sage Rods (8, 10 and 11 weight)

• Hatch Reels (either right- or left-hand retrieve. Please specify in advance)

• Patagonia Marlwalker boots (sizes 5 - 14)

• Simms Flats Sneakers (sizes 5 - 14)

Rental Rates

• Rod and Reel - $25 per day or $140 per week.

• Wading boots - $7.50 per day or $45 per week

Although we have a substantial inventory on hand, it is a good idea to confirm rental arrangements prior to travel to ensure that we have your size.

Spin Fishing

We maintain a good selection of lures as well as all of the spin gear needed for the spin fishing at Turneffe. 

Jack and Snapper Tackle

Rod: 7-8½ foot
Reel: Spinning reel with capacity for 200 yards of 10-15 pound line
Leader: You will need a 12-18 inch wire leader or an 60-80 pound mono shock leader. 
Reef and Mangrove Lures: Poppers, Mirrolures and Rapalas are the best lures.

Barracuda Tackle

Rod: 7-8 foot
Reel: Spinning reel or an open face reel with 200 yards of 20 pound line
Leader: 20-30 pound wire leader (9-12 inches). 
Lures: Bright colored tube lures are the best baits for barracuda.

Tarpon Tackle

Rod: 6-7 foot
Reel: Spinning reel with capacity for 300 yards of 15-20 pound line. 
Leader: 12-18 inch shock leader of 60 or 80 pound mono
Tarpon Lures: Mirrolures (20MR, 52M, 52MR, 65M, 77M) and Rapalas (CD11Mag - CD18Mag). 

Permit Tackle

Rod: 7-8½ foot
Reel: Spinning reel with capacity for 250 yards of 12-15 pound line
Permit Lures: Live bait on 1/8 - 1/4 ounce jig heads is very effective. Also some larger crab patterns like the McCrab work well.  1/0 - 2/0 naked hooks for live bait are useful as well. 

Bonefish Tackle

Rod : 7-8½ foot
Reel : Spinning reel with the capacity for at least 250 yards of 8-10 pound line
Bonefish Lures : Live bait on 1/16 - 1/8 ounce jig heads works best for bones.  

SPIN gear RENTALS

• 7½ foot medium action rods with 12-pound line (for bonefishing)

• 7½ foot medium action rods with 20-pound line (for permit, tarpon or snapper fishing)

      Rates:  Rod and reel - $15/day or $85/week