Fly Fish Guanaja is an all-inclusive saltwater fly-fishing lodge in the Bay Islands of Honduras. Fly Fish Guanaja’s lodge sits in the perfect location with numerous permit flats within a 5 minute boat ride. With no other lodges on the island and due to the location of the lodge, you will be the first and only boats on the flats each day.
It would be hard to imagine a destination more perfectly suited for permit fishing. Each day anglers are within minutes of a vast array of flats which, in rising and falling tides, can be loaded with tailing permit. Typically, anglers and guides will plan their daily schedules around the tides, fishing whatever hours give the best shots during favorable tides. If the best tides are at five in the morning, your guide will be waiting for you then at the dock, boat prepared, with both breakfast and lunch in the cooler. These guides routinely give anglers eight to nine hours of fishing time, beginning early in the morning or staying late into the evening, to be on the flats for the best fishing possible.
On top of Guanaja’s world-class permit fishing, anglers can also target bonefish anytime they need a little extra action, as well as possible shots at tarpon.
Reservations & Rates
Rates (based on 7 Nights/6 Days):
$4,650 per Angler
Inclusions
Your angling package at Fly Fish Guanaja includes meet and greet at the Roatan airport, ground transfer to the boat transfer, meals, lodging, and guided fly fishing.
Non-Inclusions
Not included in your Fly Fish Guanaja package are International and domestic flights, boat transfer cost from Roatan to Guanaja (It will be arranged for you though), flies, rods, reels, tackle, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and gratuities.
Travel Insurance
The Fly Shop® is not in the insurance business, but we recommend Travel Guard coverage as a service with a desire to see your best interests protected. It is impossible to know when an unfortunate situation (loss of luggage, fly rods, illness in the family, or an accident) may occur. However, such things can and do happen, and this insurance can provide a means of recourse against non-refundable financial losses.
• Travel Insurance Information
Seasons at Fly Fish Guanaja
The fishing season on Guanaja is basically 3 seasons. Fishing takes its cue from the weather, as long as the weather is good, the fishing is usually good. Generally speaking, November through January can be rough and the guides take a break during these winter months.
As spring arrives though, even from early February into March, April and May, the weather and the fishing gets better and better as there are less cold fronts and more consistent weather patterns. It can still blow a little in the spring, but it is still relatively cool. As a result, these are also the most popular months for fishing. You’ll want to make your reservations well in advance to get preferred dates in the spring and early summer.
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The summer means great fishing from June through early October; however, one must be aware of hot weather in June and July and then hurricane season in August through September. While the fishing is very good, one has to be comfortable knowing that a trip may be cancelled due to tropical disturbances. This is actually quite rare, but it could happen.
Fall can be very comfortable as temperatures subside. Winds are usually much calmer than in the spring as well… The only tough part about fall is that it is also steelhead, deer, elk and duck season!
Getting to Fly Fish Guanaja
Roatan International Airport (RTB) is a small airport that is very easy to navigate, making it simple to get yourself through customs. Fly Fish Guanaja staff will be waiting to transport you to the marina where you’ll board the boat to Guanaja. The boat ride to Guanaja takes approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes.
Lodging at Fly Fish Guanaja
The lodge is nicely laid out and very comfortable. There are five newly constructed double occupancy cabins, each furnished with two full size beds and a private bathroom, complete with on demand hot water showers and flush toilets. Air conditioning is standard in all of the rooms, providing guests the option of enjoying the ocean breeze or a controlled climate. Each room is extremely spacious with plenty of shelving, and hangers to organize your gear. Rod racks out front by the pier are available to store rods each night. Guides will rinse rods and reels at the end of each day and hang them on the racks.
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Upstairs at the lodge, you will find one of the nicest open air bars in the entire Caribbean, serving anything that you can imagine. The dart board and ring toss are a favorite way for anglers to pass the time playing each other each evening. The dining area is adjacent to the bar, serving some of the most delicious meals that you will ever find at a lodge. Out front of the lodge, there is a long pier that you will meet the guides at their boats at every morning, 50 feet from the front door of your cabin. Each evening though, the lights are turned on and you can routinely find tarpon, barracuda and other species lurking nearby in ambush… A well placed fly can turn your night into complete mayhem!
The lodge has wireless internet access allowing you to easily communicate with work friends and family back home. Wi-Fi calling, emails, internet browsing, text messaging and social media are possible.
Laundry service is available every day. Just leave your dirty clothes in the hamper in your room and they will be dry and folded on your bed when you return from your day of fishing. This allows you to pack light while traveling! You do not need a new change of clothes for every day!
Dining:
Meals at Fly Fish Guanaja are out of this world and a key part of the total experience. The ladies prepare each delicious meal fresh, with local ingredients. It is not over the top fancy, just good, down home, comfort cooking, Carribean style!
Appetizers are served each evening during cocktail hour. Delicious offerings like chips and guacamole, fried plantains and BBQ pork strips, chili con carne, ceviche…
Dinners are fabulous, simple yet delicious. Lobster dinners, fajitas, fried chicken, pasta, served with sides like, fresh salads, dinner rolls, mashed potatoes… Often a tray of each dish is served to the table and you serve yourself, guaranteeing that you will never go hungry. What ever they roll out is bound to send you away happy and full. Every meal they serve is amazing!
Breakfast is served early, in the dark, at 7am… Coffee is on at 6am. The ladies will roll out a few traditional bacon and egg breakfasts, with toast and fresh fruit, but our favorites are when they roll out breakfast tacos, or burritos, or freshly baked Cinnamon Rolls… add some Honduran hot sauce and you morning couldn’t get any better!
Lunch is eaten on the boat each day around 1pm, often on the fly as the boat motors between flats, making sure to maximize your time, especially if the tide timing is critical. If you want to stop fishing and take a bit of a rest, the guides will be happy to accommodate you. And if you are fishing on the south side of he island, you might want to request that he take you over to the bar at the beach palapa for a mid day pick me up!
Drinking water is supplied in each guest room and in the main lodge, in five gallon containers of purified water. Drinking water is also supplied on the boats in large reusable coolers. Upon check in, you’ll be given a bottle for drinking water. Please help them to reduce the use of plastic by using that water bottle during your stay.
Fishing at Fly Fish Guanaja
Fly Fish Guanaja is very much focused on its world class permit fishing. You will typically see these elusive fish moving onto off of the flats throughout the tide, tailing and feeding in the shallow turtle grass or white sand flats, and shallow reefs surrounding the island. It is not uncommon to get up to and over 20 shots for the boat in a day… the trick is to get these tricky buggers to eat your offering!
Besides the world-class permit fishing, anglers can also choose to target bonefish on the flats, as well as possible shots at tarpon, triggers, barracuda and other species. This is the only place in the Caribbean that we have had shots at schools of parrot fish feeding near the reef. It is an
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unbelievable sight to see these florescent green spotlight parrotfish tailing and gnawing on the corral!
Fly Fish Guanaja’s guides are seasoned professionals, most of them being with the lodge for over a decade now, and they are totally focused on getting their anglers shots at permit. Each has been selected and trained by Steve Brown, the owner of Fly Fish Guanaja. Each guide provides their own boats, a variety of customized pangas, and flats skiffs, perfectly suited for fishing their local waters. These boats are equipped with huge, clean casting decks, with lean bars, powerful motors, and the ability to be poled in mere inches of water.
Fishing Schedule:
At Fly Fish Guanaja, the guides are acutely aware of the tides and winds that will dictate the events of the days fishing. So, the schedule may be adjusted accordingly, to maximize your opportunities for permit every day. The guides want to fish the best tides, no matter what time of the day they fall. Some mornings the guides may even be leaving as the sun rises.
So, this is just a general schedule that the lodge may adjust throughout the week.
Arrival Day: Upon arrival to the lodge, you will be shown your room where the staff will bring your baggage for you to unpack and get organized. Once you are settled in, make your way upstairs to the bar and enjoy a happy hour before your first dinner is served.
There is no guided fishing on the day you arrive. Just hang out and relax and re-set your clock to Caribbean Time!
Full Fishing Days: Each evening, during cocktail hour or after dinner, the guide and angler match-ups will be assigned for the following day. Most commonly, anglers are up at 6:00am. with fresh coffee, juices and a delicious breakfast buffet with eggs cooked-to-order ready at 6:30. You should be out the door and on your way to the fishing grounds no later than 7:30. The fishing days at Fly Fish Guanaja are full, about 8 solid hours on the water. The most distant fishing areas on the south side of the island are no further than a 45-minute boat run under normal conditions, with some areas as close as five minutes from the dock. Lunch is taken on the boat and you will eat when you are hungry or you get a break in the action! The guides will have you back to the lodge between 3:30 and 4:00pm. Hop in the shower and get cleaned up, then head upstairs for cocktails and hors d'oeuvres. Dinner is normally served at 7:00pm.
After Hours: If you have the will and stamina, there is usually a crowd that retires to the bar for after-dinner drinks, cigars, games and plenty of fishing stories. The fly-tying table is available for guests that want to twist up some new flies for the next day’s fishing, and there is WiFi internet access for those who desire to check in with their family or friends.
Departure Day: There is no guided fishing on the day of departure. Be prepared to depart the lodge by boat to Roatan no later than 8:30am. Please reconfirm your flight departure time with the hosts the night prior to your morning departure, to ensure proper transfer arrangements and be sure to clear your lodge account (Gratuities, alcohol tab, store) and have your bags ready for the water transfer in the morning. A driver will take you to the airport for your flight back home.
What Makes This Destination Special and Unique?
• The waters around island of Guanaja provide ideal habitat for sight-casting to tailing permit in very shallow water. The reef surrounding the island create a barrier around the entire island and create a shallow water ecosystem inside the reef that is ideal for permit to slide in to feed and for them to get back out to the deep ocean just as easily.
• The fishing program at Fly Fish Guanaja is based on fishing the tides. That often means early mornings and late evenings, midday siestas, and ultimately more time on the flats, during the best times to be there, and therefore more shots at permit.
• There is no competition on the island of Guanaja. Fly Fish Guanaja has a monopoly, with no other lodges to compete with. This means that every shot at permit is your groups for the taking. The fish never get over pressured by competition from multiple lodges.
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