Fly-Fishing with the guides from Cayo Coco. Read before they screw-up your day!

[George07]

Hi Everyone,
I thought this might be useful for those who never fished with a guide, especially with the guides from Cayo Coco (Baga Park). I wish I had found a posting like this BEFORE I went with a guide on the flats at Cayo Romano…
I won’t go on with the list of names and who is better then who.
The bottom line is that the guides from Cayo Coco are used to be fishing while they are paid to guide fly-fisherman.
I asked many people after I came back from Cuba and the unanimous opinion, coming from both fly-fishers and fly-fishing guides was that the guide is supposed to show you the fish and help you learn the technique NOT to cast to it before you have a chance to do it. At least they should ask you what your preference is. They get paid for it! And talking about payment, to my humble opinion, considering the monthly salary which is 20 pesos in Cuba, compared to 70 pesos/person/day plus the tip of XX pesos/person expected at the end of the day, the payment should motivate them more than enough.
Think about it; if it’s a windy day, you (or the guide) might only spot 2-3 bones and if the guide is casting to them before you, he would take away your chance to catch the very few fish...
In my case the guide was kind of competing with me in casting to the fish. He was casting to the fish he spotted; he was casting to the fish I spotted.
And I’ve found people who had similar experiences with the guides from Cayo Coco (Baga Park).
A fly-fishing guide from back-home fished in November 2006 at Cayo Romano. At one moment he heard a reel buzzing behind him. Sure enough when he turned around his “guide” for the day was fighting a bonefish. The conversation between them:
Q: Did you see the bonefish before you made the cast?
A: Yes?
Q: Why didn’t you tell me?
A: …long silence. And there goes one of the few bones…reeled in by the guide not the client! You can imagine there was no tip at the end of the day.

The tricky part comes when an experienced fly-fisher shares the day (and the guide) with a beginner who is renting the rod. This was my case, and the guide was using the rod most of time. At the end of the day the beginner didn’t learn anything and did very little fishing…

I am not suggesting what you should do, just tried to make everyone aware.
This can be the subject for some debate so you might “jump in” with your opinions.

Tight lines!

[Mark]

I agree totally with all you've said George. I took my own rod and told him to keep his thieving hands off. Also if they fancy a bit of your tackle they nag and nag all day for you to leave it for them when you go.

[waggerlad]

hi i agree with mark who by the way can a put a fly on your nose allday long when the certain guide saw the gear i was carrying, his eyes nearly popped out.
but he was a total sh**e so i never give him nothing did i mark, so beware as stated regards

[Remediano]

Why not avoid all that and go down to the Keys? I was a guide in the Florida Key/Flamingo/Ten thousand Islands foryears before moving up to Virginia and I can tell you that youll have a much better time... I swear I always carried my own gear..LOL

[Mark]

Quite fancy the keys,more expensive though. Need more info.
It would be a brave man to get any tackle of Wagger, hes got a face like a robbers dog! Good bloke though.

[Lewis H]

Hi folks, I have had similar experiences with the Baga Guides, one in particular who shall remain namless, but his name starts with Dun... . This year I booked with Paradon at Los Penos (sp??), but David B who set this up for me assured me that this was a good operation. He was correct!! Guides were top notch and worked hard for you all day. We had boats from which to fish and get around and the guides knew which flats were good on which part of the tide. With this operation you pay the company and the company pays the guide, so you have some assurance that no funny business is going on. The trip is not cheap, $180CUC/day, but I think that can be split between two anglers, but am not really sure about that. These guides do not get paid much by the company (read Cuban government) but do work hard and deserve a healthy tip. During my one day we had a shot at the Grand Slam. Saw big tarpon rolling not far from the dock, saw 5 Permit streaking across a flat and saw waves of bonefish moving over another flat. From a catching point of view it was OK, hooked two good bones and landed one, these fish were moving but not stopping to feed. From an experience point of view it was incredible and well worth the money as far as I am concerned. Did not see another angler the whole day, in fact did not see anyone else, period. Great trip and I can't wait to get back. This place lives up to the hype of the Cuban bonefishing experince.

[waggerlad]

Quite fancy the keys,more expensive though. Need more info.
It would be a brave man to get any tackle of Wagger, hes got a face like a robbers dog! Good bloke though.
hi you welsh tart now thats not fair you know i cant get into the keys??? or america, in fact so pick somewhere else you git so i can have another 2 fine weeks of your company, she who im terrified of says hi, my bike is getting there, loveerly bmw boyo gods bike

[h2o]

I 2nd what Lewis H said, those guys are great! I went down in November 05 and will be returning next month. You can see a couple of pics here http://www.flyfishingthebow.com/cuba2005.htm.

[Derek McL]

I fished with Juanito. Although he brings his own fly rod along, he is top notch and a first class gentleman. I had no problem sharing shots with him, as he put me on many fish, and taught me a lifetime worth of bonefishing skills in a few short days. I was amazed at how my skill improved. We became more like fishing buddies and definitely good friends.

All of the money you pay the guide goes to the government. The guide is paid a poverty level salary by the government. The tip you pay is the only thing they really have to live on.

[Billy Boy]

I fished with Jordan from El Baga in March. He was totally committed to finding fish for you and would often spot a fish, ask for your rod to cast and hook the fish and then pass back to you for the ensuing fight! I have no complaints about this guy as he put the guests onto several good fish in atrocious weather including bones, giant needlefish, cowfish and stingray. I was never asked for a tip or any tackle - but gave both

I have met the great Duniesky and he seemed totally sound offering free advice on fishing around the hotel. Certainly not the actions of wehat some people have called a 'robber and a pimp'. he wouldnt even accept a cold beer off me!

I think alot of unfair bad press is given to these guys - I'm sure there's people who simply vent splean and blame the guides when they dont catch fish.

[George07]

I think alot of unfair bad press is given to these guys - I'm sure there's people who simply vent splean and blame the guides when they dont catch fish.

Hi everyone,

Glad to see there’s some good discussion around this topic. I’m not surprised to see people having different opinions. What makes someone happy might make someone else unhappy. While a fly fisher would be OK if the guide is doing most or all the casting and hooking another would hate it.
I for one prefer to carry my stuff and do all the work, even if at the end of the day I land less fish and my back hurts. I think that doing it is the only way to learn it well. And I expect the guide to guide me to the fish and to guide me how, where, when to catch the fish. Not to do it for me. And no, I’m not blaming on the guide if the fish were not biting or the wind was bad, or…
And yes, I gave my guide a tip alright; I know that life is tough in Cuba. However I don’t feel like looking for excuses for them when they fail…
I consider it is the guide’s duty to identify the client’s expectations. Through this thread/posting I was trying to go around this and bring the awareness to the client side.
And seeing different opinions and experiences “from the field” should help, especially the first timers to set clear expectations to the guides from the beginning.
It’s not a blame, it’s a “wise up”.
That’s what I meant by “Read before they screw-up your day!”

Tight lines!

[waggerlad]

I fished with Jordan from El Baga in March. He was totally committed to finding fish for you and would often spot a fish, ask for your rod to cast and hook the fish and then pass back to you for the ensuing fight! I have no complaints about this guy as he put the guests onto several good fish in atrocious weather including bones, giant needlefish, cowfish and stingray. I was never asked for a tip or any tackle - but gave both

I have met the great Duniesky and he seemed totally sound offering free advice on fishing around the hotel. Certainly not the actions of wehat some people have called a 'robber and a pimp'. he wouldnt even accept a cold beer off me!

I think alot of unfair bad press is given to these guys - I'm sure there's people who simply vent splean and blame the guides when they dont catch fish. hi m8
dont think mark,and jonnyboy would agree with you and they where both there, at the time as for them venting there spleans as they did not catch fish i dont think so, it was a farce from start to finish of there trip with this nitwit, duniesky and i can assure you the same two lads are the nicest gents you would wish to meet, regards

[Mark]

Thanks for that Wagger, like you said catching fish is a bonus. What i dont like is getting ripped off in the process. As for Duniesky, do you know a conman thats not nice as pie when you first meet? Those of you going to the Daiquiri should ask the little fella with the horses who works there what he thinks of Duniesky. If all the guides money goes to the government, why do they charge different people different rates for the same trip depending on how wealthy they look. Check out Dunieskys house compared to the others in Moron and then tell me hes scraping by on tips. Naivety my friends!

[waggerlad]

hi again
as mark and the other travelers know, i traveled into moran with the workers from the resort with my wife for the chefs birthday bash, daniel, we seen duniesky house the only thing missing was the 4X4??? he was touting for a car so he could go on his own and f**k the goverment.
nice mobile, he had nice watch, bloody good gold chain, he who smiles, is not what he seems (beware) the con

[Billy Boy]

Fair enough but Jordan (El Baga) and Barro (villa cojimar) both rock as guides!

Got the pics of my first bonefish back today - wow!

Peace (ok i'm drunk!)

Will

[cowie]

Hi guys just wanted to print my findings,myself and a friend from my hotel booked a day with Duniesky,he had never fly fished before and in agreement with the guide,would take over the rod once the guide had cast/hooked a fish,for myself he went through all the tackle,gave me a cpl of flies to try and was totally into finding us fish,suffice to say we had a good but exhausting day going to two different flats,i got my 1st bone on fly(see my cayo coco report)landed a cpl of smaller ones,lost a cpl of other good fish,and had a cuda,while Graham the other guy had a cpl of small bones,and bumped several more as Duniesky cast and let him retrieve.We finished off at a small bridge catching big garfish and snapper.The following day we were in the hotel bar when Duniesky came in with another hotel guest,he came straight over and told us they had had a great few hours,with the guy( a total non fisherman beforehand)landing 4 bones from our second flat and a barracuda of what must have been 40lb at the bridge we fished the day previous,all captured on camera.Asking the guy what he thought he was delighted with the service and friendliness of the guide,suffice to say that going back next year i will certainly look up this guide.At the end of the day all i can go by is my own and two other guys experiences who i was with and that is good enough for me.

[George07]

Hi Folks,

Let me say it the way I hear it: the guides have read the postings and realized they had to change...for the better.
This forum did its job by making aware the fishermen and ringing the bell for the guides. Good morning!

Tight lines,
George