Fly Fishing and Banking in Belize -

 It is Not Just for the Boys! 

For more than two decades, Turneffe Flats has been known as one of the world's premier flats fishing destinations combining a remarkable fishery with excellent English-speaking guides, top-notch equipment and superior service.   The ability to sight-fish for BONEFISH, PERMIT and TARPON on any given day makes Turneffe one of the few places where a Grand Slam is always a possibility. 

Turneffe Atoll is the largest of only four coral atolls in the Western Hemisphere, and is best-known for its variety of saltwater fishing. Turneffe Flats is located on a picturesque point with white sand beach and coconut palms.  The coral reef is a stone's throw away and a large bonefish flat is right outside the front door.

Bonefish

Bonefish have been a primary target of Turneffe Flats' anglers for more than 20 years.  While wading the expansive flats on the seaward side of Turneffe, you will regularly see large schools of bonefish providing an unequaled opportunity for new saltwater anglers to learn the basics of the sport. There is also plenty of challenging fishing for those who enjoy stalking larger fish (some in excess of 10 pounds) in skinny water.

Our ocean side flats, some only 5 to 15 minutes from the lodge, are some of the most picturesque flats anywhere. While wading the flats at Turneffe you will cast to large schools of bonefish averaging 2-3 pounds, with 4-8 pound fish common and some fish as large as 10-12 pounds.

The ocean side flats also offer the opportunity to pursue small schools, singles and doubles. This fishing requires casting accuracy and provides the added challenge many seasoned saltwater anglers relish.

Bonefish are present in equal numbers throughout the year and they are on the flats most of the time. This differentiates Turneffe's bonefish from those in other areas, such as the Florida Keys, where bonefish only enter the flats in search of a meal. These are very lush flats full of crabs, shrimp and other bonefish foods. As a result, these fish can become selective. This can make for challenging fishing and the right tackle, flies, presentation and fishing techniques are all important.

Bonefish also inhabit the mangrove-lined lagoons and flats on the interior of the Atoll. These bonefish are generally larger and take flies more readily than the ocean side fish; although they tend to be on the move, making casting accuracy more crucial. Fishing for these fish is mostly done from the bow of our 16-foot Dolphin Superskiffs.

There is a wadeable flat immediately in front of the lodge, allowing you extra fishing in the early morning or evening.

Dick Brown, author of Fly Fishing for Bonefish, has named Turneffe Flats "One of The World's Seven Best for Bonefish."

Permit Fishing

Permit are the prime objective of many saltwater anglers these days and with Turneffe Flats leading the way, Belize has gained a reputation as the permit capital of the world.  As much hunting as it is fishing, permit present a unique challenge and many guests have celebrated their first ever permit with us.  At Turneffe Flats you may have a better chance to land a permit than anywhere else. 

Most permit are found a singles or in small groups on the flats and bars throughout the Turneffe Atoll, although we also frequently see larger schools of permit tailing in shallow water. Most of our permit fishing is done from a poled skiff but we also see permit on the wadeable ocean-side flats.  Many saltwater anglers have landed their first permit with Turneffe Flats.

  In 2007,  Fly Fishing in Saltwater magazine named Turneffe Atoll as one of the 10 best permit destinations in the world

Tarpon Fishing

Tarpon are perhaps the ultimate challenge of saltwater fly-fishing.  Although there are always some resident tarpon to be found, our migratory tarpon season extends from mid-April to October.  Tarpon inhabit the creeks, channels and lagoons of the Atoll and most tarpon jumped are 60-90 pounds, with some fish in the 100-150 pound range and occasional monsters approaching 200 pounds.

This ain't no Farmer's pond we're fishin' in!

* * * * * * 

     

in The New York Times Magazine, Adam Davidson opens an account in Belize, which turns out to be a piece of cake:
 
Working with A&P Intertrust, a Canadian company that I chose largely because I liked its Web site the best.
(The other two companies’ sites appeared stuck in a late-’90s style with lots of flashing boxes.)

A&P works with the governments of Panama, the British Virgin Islands and Belize.

 

(Other companies that I contacted prefer the Seychelles, Cyprus or the Cayman Islands,
where Mitt Romney has been reported to have money.)

 I decided to start my shell company in Belize because it would be exempt from all Belizean taxes and, as A&P’s site explained, “information about beneficial owners, shareholders, directors and officers is not filed with the Belize government and not available to the public.” And I’ve been to Belize and like the place.

 Setting up the company was a lot cheaper than I expected.
A&P charged $900 for a basic Belizean incorporation and another $85 for a corporate seal to emboss legal documents.
For $650 more, A&P offered to open a bank account to stash my fledgling operation’s money in Singapore —
 a country, the Web site also noted, that 

“cannot gather information on foreigners’ bank accounts, 
bank-deposit interest and investment gains under domestic tax law.”

And for another $690, it offered to assign a “nominee” who would be listed as the official manager and owner of my business but would report to me under a secret power-of-attorney contract. Then an A&P associate asked me to fill out the incorporation information online, just so she wouldn’t type in anything incorrectly. The whole thing took about 10 minutes.

Amazingly neither A&P nor I broke any law in Canada, Belize, Singapore or the United States.
The company required, in compliance with international legal standards,
that I e-mail it a notarized copy of my passport, driver’s license and some other identity documents.

But a company representative also reassured me that these would not be visible to any tax authority.

Just before they processed the paperwork, I explained that I was a journalist working on an article about offshore tax havens, and I haven’t heard from them since. (A representative from A&P declined to comment for this article, but he did note in an e-mail that the company was still “happy to serve [me] as a client.”) 

Setting up an account may be easy, but managing one is expensive.
 Following the law requires a team of lawyers and accountants to carefully monitor tax laws in dozens of countries and maintain accounts that stay on the safe side of confusing rules.

 
It’s not really worth the cost for anyone other than wealthy investors looking to put aside money, tax-free, for future generations. Or for large multinationals who prefer to centralize their global cash-flow stream in a place that doesn’t tax corporations or require a lot of financial reporting.

 Why would a huge company like G.E. want to pay U.S. taxes every time its Spanish subsidiary sells parts to a company in Belarus when it could avoid them by incorporating offshore?