The Walk of Shame.
The morning after is when it really hit me, like WTH just happened. It was as if a bad movie was replaying over and over again in my head.
I couldn't sleep last night because every time I closed my eyes I had visions of that 15lb black tailed devil going for its first run and the knot in my fly line that I couldn't get out quickly enough. To date this was the closest encounter I've had since my last permit on the fly. I convinced myself that I needed one more shot, I got more like 10 and I proceeded to hook another one, not as big as the first but a solid fish out of the school that was the size of a truck. Feeling relieved and redeemed I realized right before he got on the reel, I had another knot in the same spot. BAM like a flash of lightning #2 for the day was gone.
Tucked with my tail between my legs we returned back to the dock. Longest boat ride home in my life. The guides at the dock gave me my well deserved lashings. Another opportunity lost at sea.
Cursed, vexed or just down right unlucky? In all honesty it's probably just a lack of paying attention. What am I going to do the next time I get a permit on? Focus immediately on my fly line, ensuring that it will be a smooth transition getting that fish on the reel.
I should've caught 10 yesterday. Instead I'm humbled again.
- Lace
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Oh what a Year!
Dialing in my cast for my big move to Belize! Photo by Rick Depaiva
Two flights and I made my way to San Pedro. Next day nailing bonefish!
Jumped some nice tarpon this year fishing with www.belizefly.com
Kickin' back after the F3T showing in front of Tres Pescados Fly Shop, so much fun. Thanks for coming all the way from FL Holly & Molly to hang with us!!
Had a blast with April Vokey, one day of fishing was not enough! Can't wait to catch a steelhead with her one day.
Bonefishing with my girl Rachael! Quit yelling at her Wil :)
First trip to BC. Fun week filled with friends & family! Caught a mess of rainbows, drank too much Kokanee and found myself lost in BC's beauty.
Bones got bigger when I got back to Belize...
Next stop was Glovers Atoll for a few days of fishing with Yellow Dog Fly Fishing & good friends. Photo by Jim Klug
Participated in my first flyfishing tournament, the Tres Pescados Slam Tournament in Belize with my new friend Courtney Martin. Super sweet time fishing with this gal, can't wait till 2014!
Hit the FL Keys with the fam for lobster season, never missed a year in my life!
Commerical spearfishing back home for a bit with my Dad while my man is chasing steelhead in BC.
My first STEELHEAD! Incredible moment & fish. Thanks babe for teaching me how to swing & sticking me on that sweet run.
Short visit to Bozeman, got to meet all the great folks over at Simms Fishing. 'Waypoints' premiere was kick ass & Yellow Dog Flyfishing parties were flippin' sweet!!
Back in my hammock in Belize, time to roll in the New Year. I can sadly say that I did not catch a permit on fly in 2013 but I can say that I tried. Hope 2014 is full of peace, love & permit!
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
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