No Name Lodge Puerto Rico Trip Recap 2024

This article first appeared on the Lost Coast Outfitters blog in August of 2024.

This past July, the Lost Coast Outfitters crew hosted a trip to No Name Lodge in Boquerón, Puerto Rico. Quite possibly the only fly fishing “lodge” in Puerto Rico, No Name feels less like a typical lodge experience and more like renting a dope house with friends. The only difference is that half a dozen of those friends are excellent flats guides who own a fleet of Mavericks!

This place is like tarpon school!

Our crew of six anglers was a reasonably experienced saltwater fly fishing group, which was great, as No Name feels like what I’d call a somewhat advanced or expert fly fishery. Unlike places like Belize, where permit are plentiful, and they can range in size from very small to very big, almost every permit we saw on this trip was huge. We fished for permit on a series of flats (or reefs) that were offshore. We’d launch the skiffs in the morning, and if the weather permitted, we’d anchor up offshore and wade in knee-high flats or patrol the surf for permit in the waves. Fishing for permit in the surf felt like the type of surf fishing we typically do in NorCal for stripers and perch. 

Brandon was on fire!

The wild thing about this permit fishery is not only how big the permit are here but how incredibly technical it is. The permit flats are offshore, and they are always windy. And by windy, we mean 20+ MPH. While wading the flats, we often saw massive permit tailing in the knee to thigh-high water. The upside is that these fish are aggressively feeding. The downside is that the surface you’re walking on is loud, so they WILL hear you, and the winds are brutal, so you’ll have to adjust your angle to get a shot. 

Ken with his first Atlantic permit.

On this trip, two permit were caught. All by Ken from North Carolina. Friend of the shop and all-around great guy, Brandon (@theelordoftheflies), hooked a beast of a permit in the surf and valiantly fought it in neck-deep waves for about 20 minutes before losing it on the reef.

If chasing some of the most difficult permit in the Western Hemisphere isn’t your thing, No Name is an incredible tarpon fishery. It seems that many of the locals don’t even bother to chase tarpon, so these fish are incredibly unpressured. On my first day of tarpon fishing, I probably hooked 20+ tarpon and landed at least a dozen. 

Ken with his second Atlantic permit.

Cooper and Matt run a great program at No Name. The town of Boquerón is super chill, and we start the morning with a simple breakfast at the lodge. Jake, the head guide, shows up with sandwiches for lunch, and one of the guides takes the group to one of the local restaurants for dinner. 

Marc looking like a tough guy manhandling a tarpon.

When it came to gear, we used 9wts for permit and 10wts and 11wts for tarpon. Our crew used the Orvis Helios 4D Fly 9wt, Sage Salt R8 Fly 10wt, and the G. Loomis NRX+Saltwater 11wt for rods. For reels, we rocked the Hatch Iconic 9 Plus Fly Reel, Shilton SR Reel 12wt, and Galvan Grip Saltwater Fly Reel 11wt. 

For flies, the No Name guys love crabs, and we mainly rocked brown and green Alphlexo Crabs. For tarpon, those fish went crazy for anything that was purple and black. They primarily used the following: Tarpon SP Bunny - Black/Purple, Enrico Puglisi Peanut Butter, Umpqua Tarpon Toad, Rio Smelling Salt. My buddy Brandon got into a heated discussion with someone who said that tarpon don’t like flash, so he tied up a bunch of flies that he called “The FU” and caught several nice tarpon with them. 

For anyone who’s chased permit in places like Belize or Mexico but wants an even more challenging permit experience, then No Name is the place for you. On the other hand, if you’ve ever wanted to catch tarpon on the fly, I can’t think of a better place to get it done. 

If you’re interested in checking out No Name, contact us, and we’ll connect you with Cooper and Matt. We’re also hosting another trip back there next year (2025) and have room for five. So, if you want to get in on that trip, reach out, and we’ll get you all sorted.