Wade
03-05-2003, 06:05 PM
Just returned from two weeks in Cayo Coco - stayed in the Sol (Club) Cayo Coco (all inclusive) - fine food - nice beach - pretty crowded (very popular with Quebecers) - mostly great weather - not so great fishing.
I was really interested in latching on to a mighty tarpon for the first time and gave it a couple of shots.
One in a canal near the Melia Cayo Guillermo on Cayo Guillermo - just fishing from the banks - not a particularly appealing spot. There were good-sized tarpon surfacing and we could cast quite easily to them, but not one of four anglers caught anything. I used a small jig with a plastic tail (supplied by one of our guides) on my 7-foot spinning rod with 20-lb test Fireline on a Shimano 300X and a small Zara Spook on my casting outfit (similarly rigged with Ambassadeur 6500). I also tried some green/silver salmon spoons, suspending Rapala Husky Jerk and an 11-inch white Sluggo (the lone fly-fisherman - from England - said he catches smaller trout at home - I said we use those for bait where I come from!). There were also a few medium-sized snook swimming in the 5-feet-deep water but "they weren't hungry" as our guides would say. Fished from about 9:00 till 12:30 - hot and sunny - cost $30 US + $5 tip and $50 cab ride from my hotel. I arranged this through the tour operator agent at the hotel and it was not what I was expecting - if you go, get specifics from the guy who's going to provide the service - reduce the middle men.
The following week, I again arranged a tarpon trip directly with fishing guide Juanito who can be found at the Sol Cayo Coco or the Melia Cayo Coco. He said bonefishing was very good - "up to 4 kilograms" - but I really wanted to try for tarpon. I met him at 5:30 AM in the hotel lobby and we headed for Cayo Paredon Grande in a pickup truck with a 12-foot Pelican plastic boat and Evinrude electric motor on back (I noticed that he uses wine corks to plug the drain holes in the boat - good solution in a pinch - Cuban ingenuity!). We were fishing in the 40-metre deep "Blue Hole" by 7:00 AM and saw several tarpon surfacing on the edges - drops from one metre to 40 very quickly. Two and a half hours later and nothing so headed for the shallows - lots of mangrove islands that are shallow but often have 3-6 metre deep holes near them. Caught a 12-pound barracuda with a red/gold Rapala casting spoon with weed guard - excellent fight on 7' medium-action spinning rod - very strong and fast. On the same set-up, caught a couple of red snappers - two or three pounds - really fight hard for the size - seem much bigger. Got really hot by 10:00 - need a boat with canopy. Headed back to the "Blue Hole" - Juanito was trolling with a red/blue S-shaped Mepps spoon (Cyclops?) and got a hit from a tarpon as he changed direction approaching the shallows but it was off in a few seconds - he said if it had a single hook instead of the treble would have stayed on - good point! Juanito knew a lot of good holes and poled the boat through the shallows to them - he says May and June are best for tarpon there and July/August for marlin in the Old Bahama Channel. I paid $130 for 6 1/2 hours + $20 tip & $3 to the driver - I also gave Juanito some lures & hooks - hard to come by there.
I also fished Laguna Redondo for large-mouthed bass but was skunked - caught three 4-pound catfish which put up decent fights. After an hour of fishing, it started raining steadily for the rest of the four hours I was out - got soaked. There were several one-two pound bass that would nibble on the Berkley Power worms and slugs (the only lures that produced) but nothing of any size. Had 2 spinning outfits and one baitcaster - all with 20-pound Fireline - tried plastics, small red/gold Rapala minnow (that got me a 4-pound bass three years ago in Laguna Tesoro), jointed Rapalas, spinners big & small, etc. Some locals told me the fishing is not so good there anymore, it's "finished" said one - who knows? Paid $35 for four hours fishing + $10 tip and $50 for van ride there. Went out from 9:30 till 1:30 - might have been smarter to go earlier.
Also went out "deep-sea fishing" (not really - never deeper than 33 metres) with another Canuck. Together we caught 3 barracuda and a black jack - biggest 'cuda about 6 pounds - not much of a fight when the boat keeps moving and they're bouncing along the surface and on rods like pool cues - useful if you ever get into anything big, though. $210 for the boat for four hours regardless of the number of people + $20 tip - we fished out near the lighthouse on Cayo Paredon Grande.
Not too exciting, eh? But don't feel sorry (ha!), it was freaking great to be doing all this in the middle of one of the coldest winters that I can remember in Southern Ontario - came back from +30s to -26 degrees celsius and a foot of snow in the driveway!
I was really interested in latching on to a mighty tarpon for the first time and gave it a couple of shots.
One in a canal near the Melia Cayo Guillermo on Cayo Guillermo - just fishing from the banks - not a particularly appealing spot. There were good-sized tarpon surfacing and we could cast quite easily to them, but not one of four anglers caught anything. I used a small jig with a plastic tail (supplied by one of our guides) on my 7-foot spinning rod with 20-lb test Fireline on a Shimano 300X and a small Zara Spook on my casting outfit (similarly rigged with Ambassadeur 6500). I also tried some green/silver salmon spoons, suspending Rapala Husky Jerk and an 11-inch white Sluggo (the lone fly-fisherman - from England - said he catches smaller trout at home - I said we use those for bait where I come from!). There were also a few medium-sized snook swimming in the 5-feet-deep water but "they weren't hungry" as our guides would say. Fished from about 9:00 till 12:30 - hot and sunny - cost $30 US + $5 tip and $50 cab ride from my hotel. I arranged this through the tour operator agent at the hotel and it was not what I was expecting - if you go, get specifics from the guy who's going to provide the service - reduce the middle men.
The following week, I again arranged a tarpon trip directly with fishing guide Juanito who can be found at the Sol Cayo Coco or the Melia Cayo Coco. He said bonefishing was very good - "up to 4 kilograms" - but I really wanted to try for tarpon. I met him at 5:30 AM in the hotel lobby and we headed for Cayo Paredon Grande in a pickup truck with a 12-foot Pelican plastic boat and Evinrude electric motor on back (I noticed that he uses wine corks to plug the drain holes in the boat - good solution in a pinch - Cuban ingenuity!). We were fishing in the 40-metre deep "Blue Hole" by 7:00 AM and saw several tarpon surfacing on the edges - drops from one metre to 40 very quickly. Two and a half hours later and nothing so headed for the shallows - lots of mangrove islands that are shallow but often have 3-6 metre deep holes near them. Caught a 12-pound barracuda with a red/gold Rapala casting spoon with weed guard - excellent fight on 7' medium-action spinning rod - very strong and fast. On the same set-up, caught a couple of red snappers - two or three pounds - really fight hard for the size - seem much bigger. Got really hot by 10:00 - need a boat with canopy. Headed back to the "Blue Hole" - Juanito was trolling with a red/blue S-shaped Mepps spoon (Cyclops?) and got a hit from a tarpon as he changed direction approaching the shallows but it was off in a few seconds - he said if it had a single hook instead of the treble would have stayed on - good point! Juanito knew a lot of good holes and poled the boat through the shallows to them - he says May and June are best for tarpon there and July/August for marlin in the Old Bahama Channel. I paid $130 for 6 1/2 hours + $20 tip & $3 to the driver - I also gave Juanito some lures & hooks - hard to come by there.
I also fished Laguna Redondo for large-mouthed bass but was skunked - caught three 4-pound catfish which put up decent fights. After an hour of fishing, it started raining steadily for the rest of the four hours I was out - got soaked. There were several one-two pound bass that would nibble on the Berkley Power worms and slugs (the only lures that produced) but nothing of any size. Had 2 spinning outfits and one baitcaster - all with 20-pound Fireline - tried plastics, small red/gold Rapala minnow (that got me a 4-pound bass three years ago in Laguna Tesoro), jointed Rapalas, spinners big & small, etc. Some locals told me the fishing is not so good there anymore, it's "finished" said one - who knows? Paid $35 for four hours fishing + $10 tip and $50 for van ride there. Went out from 9:30 till 1:30 - might have been smarter to go earlier.
Also went out "deep-sea fishing" (not really - never deeper than 33 metres) with another Canuck. Together we caught 3 barracuda and a black jack - biggest 'cuda about 6 pounds - not much of a fight when the boat keeps moving and they're bouncing along the surface and on rods like pool cues - useful if you ever get into anything big, though. $210 for the boat for four hours regardless of the number of people + $20 tip - we fished out near the lighthouse on Cayo Paredon Grande.
Not too exciting, eh? But don't feel sorry (ha!), it was freaking great to be doing all this in the middle of one of the coldest winters that I can remember in Southern Ontario - came back from +30s to -26 degrees celsius and a foot of snow in the driveway!