The trip starts out meeting Captain Grayson and ends with saying good bye to your friend Grayson. We fished two full days for Snook, Tarpon, and took a shot at fly fishing for Permit. I quickly realized my casting skills were not up to snuff for Permit fishing but Grayson found Snook and Tarpon all day both days that we went after with spinning tackle. We used his tackle which was all new and well maintained as was the boat. The biggest surprise was the food. We had one lunch Monkey River Village restaurant (fresh Snook, caught by harpoon by a villager) which was excellent. The second day Grayson made lunch and get this, he is a former chef and made chicken. Both meals were terrific. Grayson is also an accomplished artist with a gallery in town so make sure to stop by. Also, make sure you talk to him and ask as many questions as you can about ‘most anything, this is one very accomplished person. I am going to get my double haul casting up to Permit standards and be back as soon as I can.

Grayson is an amazing fisherman and guide.  He took us out to a place where we only saw one boat in the distance the entire day.  From the time he went from full throttle to neutral and sent out the lines, we were on the fish in less than 1 minute.  We caught a good variety of fish: several large Spanish Mackerel,  King Mackerel,  Bonita, and Barracuda.  It was a trip that my son and I won’t forget!  Grayson knows where the fish are and how to put them in the boat!

My teen son and I are not serious fishermen but like to fish, so Captain Grayson was perfect for us because he knew where to go, had all the gear, taught us enough to have fun, and most of all is genuinely a kind and patient person who you can tell loves life and is excited to share his beautiful country.  The cherry on top was how he encouraged us to take the Snook filets back to the hotel and trusted the staff there would help us by cooking them up.  He was right - our whole experience felt like a stay at a good friend’s house because of the care and accommodation shown to us by the people of Belize.

We were originally scheduled to fish in the morning but Captain Grayson double booked. He called me several days in advance to reschedule. We shifted our trip from the morning to the afternoon and it worked out great. He took us trolling which was great for the kids as they are not proficient fly casters. We got into several fish and some of those Jacks fought really hard. It was a blast. He let us fish until sundown which was over 5 hours of fishing and you could tell he really wanted us to be successful. After we returned he cleaned our fish and we brought it in to the restaurant and they cooked it for us for a small fee. They prepared it 3 different ways and even though it was a lot of fish we ate it all because it was so delicious! Captain Grayson is also a very talented artist and ironically enough we had purchased some of his work that same morning without realizing it was he who was the artist. Hilarious! I went back to his gallery the next day and bought one of his fishing shirts with his art on it I liked it so much! Anyway, if you’re looking for a great guide who can get you on fish inshore, on the flats or deep sea look no further. Did I mention that he’s a super cool guy too?

This was the highlight of our vacation. Grayson was a great captain. His main goal was to put us on fish. We caught a lot of fish and enjoyed the beautiful inner reef experience. Would highly recommend…