cowie
05-18-2007, 07:15 PM
Hi all,I've just returned from a week staying at the Melia Cayo coco,this was my first trip to Cuba and am still coming to terms with what a special place and people i have just been to and met.Anyway on with the fishing report,after picking some of you guys brains as to what gear to take,i think i got it more or less right in the end,a 9ft ugly stick spinning rod with a okuma baitrunner reel attached loaded with 300yds of 30lb fireline braid,7 weight fly rod and 250yds of backing,and a 9ft uptiding rod with Abu 7000(though i never used this outfit).If was to do it again tomorrow i would take a real light spinning outfit for catching the livebait.
Day 1.
An early start-me and missus on beach in pitch black at 5.00 a.m.that excited at being there and wanting to see our first amazing sunrise,as light grew we headed to the rocks next to the Sol hotel,after trying various plugs and poppers and seeing some huge fish cruising around i was finally smashed by something that just stripped line for fun,eventually cutting me off on the reef,anyhow that was that as we had guest reception etc to attend.Felt a little frustrated at how hard the fishing seemed(was expecting stuff throwing itself onto my lures - DOH!)
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2174.jpg
Day 2.
We decided to explore the hotel grounds and found the little jetty at the front of the hotel where you rent scooters,a canadian guy was fishing with the rental guy(Roberto),they were catching small cubera and rigging them for livebait,after seeing my 1st cuda smash and grab i flew back to room and 2 peso's later returned with a bag of shrimp from Charles at the beach grill,Roberto showed me how to set up for catching the bait fish(basic freelining a hook with a tiny piece of shrimp on right under rod tip)didn't have the heart to tell him i knew that lol,anyhow replacing with livebait on 20lb wire trace and single hook had cpl of cuda strikes when he suggested a small fillet of fish cast out then inched along the bottom of the lagoon(all 2ft deep)2 fish came into view,head on looking like cuda's,a stop then inch retrieve and had a take,this fish screamed off,after several 50 -60 yd runs i got a bonefish of around 5lb's on the jetty,everyone going cock-a-hoop as this was bigger than they had seen for long time,couldn't believe i had my 1st bone,this was then followed by a cpl of small cuda which were great fun on the lightish gear.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2200.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2193.jpg
Day 3.
We went on the Catamaran trip which took us down to Cayo Romano and a fantastic beach,i had taken my 2 spinning set ups for me and one of the guys we met, had a chance of a massive cuda which was stalking the beach,then on return the captain told us we could troll if we wanted to,we put out big poppers blue/silver - red/silver and he even adjusted the boat speed for us,we had hits by cudas ,lost one then Graham the other guy managed to get one on board about 9lb,to the cheers of the 20 odd folk watching the battle.Later on back to the lagoon for more fun with cubera snapper to a cpl of pounds.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2249.jpg
Day 4 .
Myself,Andrea my partner,Graham and Claire,hired a boat for some deep water fishing,we arrived at the marina 5 minutes away from cayo coco,where the catamaran trips leave from,we wanted to have a crack at sailfish,tuna etc,this cost us 450 peso's,but by splitting the cost then using our credit cards which are then changed to US $ we got a full days boat hire/food loads of beer and rum/coke for £250- £125 per couple(Bargain).
When we arrived our fishing guide on the boat (Jose- double of Sergio Garcia the golfer) told us that with the sea being flat calm we might struggle with the fishing,anyway off we went. bout 5 miles offshore we saw a load of tuna hammering bait fish,steaming for them we trolled 5 baits through-Nothing,by mid morning we were that far off shore we couldn't see land in any direction,we had a strike to the back rod,but nothing came of it,talking amongst ourselves we decided to head inshore and try along the reefs,for snapper cuda,whatever,we just wanted some sport,the fishing guys were brilliant by the way, they worked their arses off ringing the changes with lures,trolling patterns etc,anyhow after lunch when we anchored up by a reef the wind got up a touch so they said we'd give it a cpl of hrs,after some furious sport with cuda, 3 in no time and the girls having a go in the chair,catching their first fish,Jose told us to get ready for a strike, he pointed to a frigate bird that was locked onto something and was right behind our boat,sure enough 2 minutes later i hooked into a dorado of around 10lb,2 more cuda and that was that,not the big stuff we had hoped for but was a brilliant day.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2345.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2247.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2348.jpg
Day 5.
Back to the rock early morning armed with shrimp,caught small snapper ,then using a live grunt hooked a barracuda of between 20-30lb,was walking it back from the front of the rock to where i could reach it,when it made 3 huge jumps and off it got @@**@@.
rest of day was taken up by friends of ours getting married.I contacted Maria as i really wanted a crack on the flats for bones,she had tried to get in touch with Orlando early in the week but no-one had seen sight nor sound of him,So she put me in touch with Duniesky who came over to the hotel that afternoon for a chat.
Day6.
After spending 25 minutes with Duniesky the previous afternoon discussing bone fishing ,prices etc,we decided on a full day's fishing on the flats,myself and Graham came along,he had never fly fished ,so Duniesky would cast then hand over the rod.
At this point i really feel the need to type my findings of this guy,as i have read all the previous stuff that has been written about him(rightly or wrongly called by other guys - I can only go on my experience with the guy)i found him a likeable guy with enormous enthusiasm for bonefishing,throughout the day he was nothing other than courteous,funny and helpful to us both,exchanging flies and giving me little tips i'd never have thought of.
Back to the day - we went down to the flats at Cayo Romano,through the coastguard checkpoint,a hell of a route march ,then we were there,i was on my 1st bone flat,it was flat calm and bones were tailing all over,this,he told us was where he took clients for the opportunity to catch a big bone,after 3 misses to his fly and a couple to mine,i thought it was going to be hard work but once i got my casting arm back in i felt more confident at the bones i covered,there were some massive fish about,and after studying an area we noticed they were doing a circuit,out on the flat then through some mangroves and around again,he stationed us so i had 1st shot as they came between 2 mangrove bushes,the 10 minute wait was a killer as we could see them bow waving and tailing some 30yds away in amongst the mangroves,anyway a group of 6 bones came through the gap,first cast 2 yds too short so made a peach of a cast right in front,i saw the lead bone take the fly and turn,a strip strkie then all fu@@ing hell broke loose,it made a 20 yd run to the open flat then decided to come back and do 2 full circuits of a mangrove root,Duniesky threw his rod down and dove into the roots untangling my line,all the time the fish was still taking line heading out on the flats(to say i was bricking it was an understatement!)anyhow the guy untangled us and we were back in business,this time it tore off near 200yds of backing as it headed for Havana!,the speed and power was awesome,eventually i got the fish back to us and my first fly caught bone,which we estimated at close on 10lb's was in my hands,we had other chances at big bones but they came off,also a shot at a permit estimated at 20lb,but no joy,he then took us to a second flat in search of permit,cowfish and bones,this was a totally different style of fishing as we were looking for muddied water stirred up by the fish and therefore blind casting, we hooked and landed small bones and lost a nice one,Graham was having problems with strip striking,he couldn't get away from the normal lift the rod set of the hook,which meant he bumped a load of bones but only got a couple of good hook holds,we then had a spell by a small bridge catching garfish to 3ft on fly and shrimp,all in all i had my dream realised of a big fly caught bone,and it was all down to Duniesky,I would not,in my experience with the guy,or Graham's opinion either,have any hesitation going out with him again.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2463.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2456.jpg
That pretty much sums up my first fishing trip to Cayo coco,would i go back-well after i have finished this report we are looking at next years hol back again-2 weeks this time:happy2:
I would like to give a big thanks to another guy staying at our hotel- Richard Wood and his mate Steve,Richard your a star mate,your love of the sport and the place made it a joy to be around you and the flies you gave me had the required effect getting me the biggie,we hope to catch up with you again and was lovely meeting yourself, Steve and your good ladies.
All in all this holiday was our dream holiday-and it turned out that way too,we have met some wonderful people,who for quite a lot have been there several times before,everyone is just so nice it's like a little home from home,and we cant wait till we're heading back again.
Day 1.
An early start-me and missus on beach in pitch black at 5.00 a.m.that excited at being there and wanting to see our first amazing sunrise,as light grew we headed to the rocks next to the Sol hotel,after trying various plugs and poppers and seeing some huge fish cruising around i was finally smashed by something that just stripped line for fun,eventually cutting me off on the reef,anyhow that was that as we had guest reception etc to attend.Felt a little frustrated at how hard the fishing seemed(was expecting stuff throwing itself onto my lures - DOH!)
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2174.jpg
Day 2.
We decided to explore the hotel grounds and found the little jetty at the front of the hotel where you rent scooters,a canadian guy was fishing with the rental guy(Roberto),they were catching small cubera and rigging them for livebait,after seeing my 1st cuda smash and grab i flew back to room and 2 peso's later returned with a bag of shrimp from Charles at the beach grill,Roberto showed me how to set up for catching the bait fish(basic freelining a hook with a tiny piece of shrimp on right under rod tip)didn't have the heart to tell him i knew that lol,anyhow replacing with livebait on 20lb wire trace and single hook had cpl of cuda strikes when he suggested a small fillet of fish cast out then inched along the bottom of the lagoon(all 2ft deep)2 fish came into view,head on looking like cuda's,a stop then inch retrieve and had a take,this fish screamed off,after several 50 -60 yd runs i got a bonefish of around 5lb's on the jetty,everyone going cock-a-hoop as this was bigger than they had seen for long time,couldn't believe i had my 1st bone,this was then followed by a cpl of small cuda which were great fun on the lightish gear.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2200.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2193.jpg
Day 3.
We went on the Catamaran trip which took us down to Cayo Romano and a fantastic beach,i had taken my 2 spinning set ups for me and one of the guys we met, had a chance of a massive cuda which was stalking the beach,then on return the captain told us we could troll if we wanted to,we put out big poppers blue/silver - red/silver and he even adjusted the boat speed for us,we had hits by cudas ,lost one then Graham the other guy managed to get one on board about 9lb,to the cheers of the 20 odd folk watching the battle.Later on back to the lagoon for more fun with cubera snapper to a cpl of pounds.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2249.jpg
Day 4 .
Myself,Andrea my partner,Graham and Claire,hired a boat for some deep water fishing,we arrived at the marina 5 minutes away from cayo coco,where the catamaran trips leave from,we wanted to have a crack at sailfish,tuna etc,this cost us 450 peso's,but by splitting the cost then using our credit cards which are then changed to US $ we got a full days boat hire/food loads of beer and rum/coke for £250- £125 per couple(Bargain).
When we arrived our fishing guide on the boat (Jose- double of Sergio Garcia the golfer) told us that with the sea being flat calm we might struggle with the fishing,anyway off we went. bout 5 miles offshore we saw a load of tuna hammering bait fish,steaming for them we trolled 5 baits through-Nothing,by mid morning we were that far off shore we couldn't see land in any direction,we had a strike to the back rod,but nothing came of it,talking amongst ourselves we decided to head inshore and try along the reefs,for snapper cuda,whatever,we just wanted some sport,the fishing guys were brilliant by the way, they worked their arses off ringing the changes with lures,trolling patterns etc,anyhow after lunch when we anchored up by a reef the wind got up a touch so they said we'd give it a cpl of hrs,after some furious sport with cuda, 3 in no time and the girls having a go in the chair,catching their first fish,Jose told us to get ready for a strike, he pointed to a frigate bird that was locked onto something and was right behind our boat,sure enough 2 minutes later i hooked into a dorado of around 10lb,2 more cuda and that was that,not the big stuff we had hoped for but was a brilliant day.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2345.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2247.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2348.jpg
Day 5.
Back to the rock early morning armed with shrimp,caught small snapper ,then using a live grunt hooked a barracuda of between 20-30lb,was walking it back from the front of the rock to where i could reach it,when it made 3 huge jumps and off it got @@**@@.
rest of day was taken up by friends of ours getting married.I contacted Maria as i really wanted a crack on the flats for bones,she had tried to get in touch with Orlando early in the week but no-one had seen sight nor sound of him,So she put me in touch with Duniesky who came over to the hotel that afternoon for a chat.
Day6.
After spending 25 minutes with Duniesky the previous afternoon discussing bone fishing ,prices etc,we decided on a full day's fishing on the flats,myself and Graham came along,he had never fly fished ,so Duniesky would cast then hand over the rod.
At this point i really feel the need to type my findings of this guy,as i have read all the previous stuff that has been written about him(rightly or wrongly called by other guys - I can only go on my experience with the guy)i found him a likeable guy with enormous enthusiasm for bonefishing,throughout the day he was nothing other than courteous,funny and helpful to us both,exchanging flies and giving me little tips i'd never have thought of.
Back to the day - we went down to the flats at Cayo Romano,through the coastguard checkpoint,a hell of a route march ,then we were there,i was on my 1st bone flat,it was flat calm and bones were tailing all over,this,he told us was where he took clients for the opportunity to catch a big bone,after 3 misses to his fly and a couple to mine,i thought it was going to be hard work but once i got my casting arm back in i felt more confident at the bones i covered,there were some massive fish about,and after studying an area we noticed they were doing a circuit,out on the flat then through some mangroves and around again,he stationed us so i had 1st shot as they came between 2 mangrove bushes,the 10 minute wait was a killer as we could see them bow waving and tailing some 30yds away in amongst the mangroves,anyway a group of 6 bones came through the gap,first cast 2 yds too short so made a peach of a cast right in front,i saw the lead bone take the fly and turn,a strip strkie then all fu@@ing hell broke loose,it made a 20 yd run to the open flat then decided to come back and do 2 full circuits of a mangrove root,Duniesky threw his rod down and dove into the roots untangling my line,all the time the fish was still taking line heading out on the flats(to say i was bricking it was an understatement!)anyhow the guy untangled us and we were back in business,this time it tore off near 200yds of backing as it headed for Havana!,the speed and power was awesome,eventually i got the fish back to us and my first fly caught bone,which we estimated at close on 10lb's was in my hands,we had other chances at big bones but they came off,also a shot at a permit estimated at 20lb,but no joy,he then took us to a second flat in search of permit,cowfish and bones,this was a totally different style of fishing as we were looking for muddied water stirred up by the fish and therefore blind casting, we hooked and landed small bones and lost a nice one,Graham was having problems with strip striking,he couldn't get away from the normal lift the rod set of the hook,which meant he bumped a load of bones but only got a couple of good hook holds,we then had a spell by a small bridge catching garfish to 3ft on fly and shrimp,all in all i had my dream realised of a big fly caught bone,and it was all down to Duniesky,I would not,in my experience with the guy,or Graham's opinion either,have any hesitation going out with him again.
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2463.jpg
http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g88/cowieuk/cuba%20fish/IMG_2456.jpg
That pretty much sums up my first fishing trip to Cayo coco,would i go back-well after i have finished this report we are looking at next years hol back again-2 weeks this time:happy2:
I would like to give a big thanks to another guy staying at our hotel- Richard Wood and his mate Steve,Richard your a star mate,your love of the sport and the place made it a joy to be around you and the flies you gave me had the required effect getting me the biggie,we hope to catch up with you again and was lovely meeting yourself, Steve and your good ladies.
All in all this holiday was our dream holiday-and it turned out that way too,we have met some wonderful people,who for quite a lot have been there several times before,everyone is just so nice it's like a little home from home,and we cant wait till we're heading back again.