Essay

PERMIT RECORDS IN BELIZE

Permit Me to Explain: Ken Watkins’ Record-breaking Obsession

In Belize, a lot of times the fish school up and are happy.
In Belize, a lot of times the fish school up and are happy. You can get close and catch two and three and even four out of the same school very quickly. In this case I would catch one, guide Darrel Smith would hold it, and I would catch the other one and—if we had a mate with us—we could do three at a time. This was one of the times we got two.
Words: Ken Watkins, as told to Will Rice. Photos and Captions: Courtesy Ken Watkins

Editor’s Note: Longtime TFFJ contributor (and notoriously unproductive permit angler) Will Rice interviewed Ken Watkins on a number of occasions in fall 2025 after news stories began circulating of Watkins’ herculean efforts and investments of time and resources in pursuit of permit. Watkins fishes exclusively with well-known Belizean guide Darrel Smith, owner/operator of San Pedro’s Fly With Me Belize. As of this writing, Watkins had hooked, landed and documented 675 fly-caught permit.

Watkins is in rare company. Del Brown set the bar at 513 fly-caught permit. In 2025, Mike Ward hit 514. Alejandro Vega Cruz, also known as Sandflea, surpassed 581 permit in 2023. Do these numbers matter? Depends on who you ask, but as always, the more interesting question is not how many, but why? 



JUST TAKING A LOOK

I first saw Ambergris Caye on TV. My wife and I were watching House Hunters International and they showed some houses in Belize. I told her, “I’ve heard about the fishing there. We ought to go down and just take a look around.”

So we came down here to Belize and the rest is history. We’ve been here ever since. When I first came down, I was looking at land. I was going to build a house because that was the business I’m in. But I quickly realized that’s not the thing to do here.

I knew I wanted to fish. I went online and found a fishing guide and ended up with a fellow by the name of Darrel Smith. We’ve been fishing together ever since. He is, in my opinion, the best permit guide in Belize.

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