melia guillermo march 2008

[crazycuda]

Just booked my second trip to cuba, first trip was to cayo coco three years ago, caught plenty of nice snapper on shrimp around 1-2 kilos. but this year I want to try lure fishing for barracuda and tarpon. I'm set up with a 9ft spinning rod and with a shimano 8000 gte reel loaded with 15kg power pro braid. I've got plenty of x-raps rapala lures between 10cm to 14cm and a few poppers at 11cm. Am I set up right? can anyone help me with any advice or fishing tips for the guillermo area.

[waggerlad]

hi m8
the pier at the melia the raps, and any lures do not work, but at the cuban look out station near the pillar beach the poppers work very well at night. as for your set up a good travel rod like firefly 5 piece or shimano work very well with the shimano bait runner if you pm me i will give you some very good cuban guys who will take you which hotel are you staying at kindest regards

[marktheshark]

Hullo matey
I have written loads on the fishing in Coco and Guillermo on this forum, what works etc; last in June 2007. So have Wagger and many others. Just do a search ... it's all there and I'm bu#**%!d if I'm typing that lot out again. Again.

[cowie]

Mark and Wagger,how was the latest trip,have you wrote a report?

[waggerlad]

hi m8 no just got back from visiting a m8 who is not to well, and im going away tommorrow to take the grandchildren on there christmas hols for the weekend. will put a report in later as im knackered regards

[crazycuda]

Thanks for your coments, I've looked at previous posts and I can't wait to get there. I'm staying at the melia hotel, is the pier the best option for barracuda or is it better to go and hire a hobby cat???. I'm dying to catch one on a lure, I trolled last year in mexico and probably caught the smallest barracuda ever but since then I've been hooked on them. Which lure colours are the best? Does size matter, It seems the wind may contribute to that, and finally surface or deep down. cheers guys.

[waggerlad]

hi m8
me and the welsh wizard mark used the hobby cats at the daquire next door to the melia. the guys are fantastic and know all the best marks.
you will pay 20 cuc a hour i caught 5 barracuda and one nice kingfish the welsh wizard caught nothing but had 2 good fish on and lost a good one also. if you take a small rod+reel you can catch your baitfish from the melia pier and the guys will sort the rigging out for you the bait fish will be morra take your own rod and reel regards

[crazycuda]

thanks for that, what size were the barracuda? will I be ok with 15kg braid?. Did you only catch on live and dead baits, are rapalas no good. cheers.

[waggerlad]

hi
mark fished with all the good colours raps, never had a take soon as he used the dead bait bang got a take soon as.
keep your deadbait in the fridge till you use it the barracuda where about 7to eight pound but mark lost 2 better ones. steve the gent who is there every year had a nice cuda forget now the size but it was nice regards

[crazycuda]

what species of fish should I use as dead bait, and what size is best. are wire traces a must for dead baiting?

[waggerlad]

hi
the fish we use are call ed moarra a little fish all silver and the cuda love them so do the snapper. if fishing off the pier use live bait moarra you can catch them using shrimp from the ranchon and use a small dropnet you can buy from the pound shop to keep them alive put extra line on the dropnet.
you can use 60ld wire trace with large cod hooks make sure you put the hook through the top part of the fish. if you want a list of what to take or you need a good fishing guide on his day off i will give it to you regards

[bag up bri]

Hi Crazycuda

i recently wrote a fishing report and in it i mentioned my one and only hobbiecat trip of the holiday all the fish i caught with Erazmo from the Sol were on the yellow lure pictured on my avater.When he saw these lures he nearly wet hisself and just kept repeating Yozzuri,but they were'nt i bought them in Florida (some American brand i think) hope this helps.

tight lines bri.

[crazycuda]

do you troll the dead bait or do you bottom fish them, what size are the moarra, do you just hook them though the mouth and out under the chin, or do hook them in two places?
to- bag up bri, I've bought some yozzuri lures they are from japan, paid a f*c*ing fortune for them last year, they look the dog bollocks but know joy with last year in mexico, but from what I gather from the mexicans fishing there is not what It was five years ago.

[waggerlad]

hi
the moarra come in all sizes but the best are about 6 inches long on the hobbycats dont worry about hooking them up the lads do it for you.
as for hooking them up at the pier just us a big hook size 7-0 and just below the spine hook them up there. dont forget to take plenty of size 8 hooks, and small leads, also 40lb line,shock leader to 60lb,swivels ect as you cannot buy these or any gear in cuba regards

[Billy Boy]

I caught a 2olb cuda in March this year whilst trolling a bass buster popper on the spinning rod, up the mangroves past the jungle tour pontoon next to the Guillermo bridge. This trip was about 30squid for 4-5 hours arranged through the rep -Alex. Lots of low fronts on that holiday meant beach n deep sea fishing was a no no - up the mangroves is totally sheltered and of course you can use ultra light gear. You can troll pretty much anything thing from those skiffs - guides caught em on daiwa pencil poppers and yo zuri crystals. snappers loved trolled poppers also. Guides tried taking me to a sink hole in the mangroves that apparently hold monster cuberra snapper and big grouper. Used whole, yes whole, lobster tail for bait (no shrimp!) and caught nowt but a 5lb mutton.

Going back in April - gonna concentrate on night fishing near jungle tour pontoon - there be monsters!

Addios!

will H
Wagger dude where is the cuban lookout near Pillar - can you PM me?

[waggerlad]

hi
the moarra come in all sizes but the best are about 6 inches long on the hobbycats dont worry about hooking them up the lads do it for you.
as for hooking them up at the pier just us a big hook size 7-0 and just below the spine hook them up there. dont forget to take plenty of size 8 hooks, and small leads, also 40lb line,shock leader to 60lb,swivels ect as you cannot buy these or any gear in cuba regards
sorry the lads of the hobbys troll the bait off the pier you bottom fish regards

[waggerlad]

I caught a 2olb cuda in March this year whilst trolling a bass buster popper on the spinning rod, up the mangroves past the jungle tour pontoon next to the Guillermo bridge. This trip was about 30squid for 4-5 hours arranged through the rep -Alex. Lots of low fronts on that holiday meant beach n deep sea fishing was a no no - up the mangroves is totally sheltered and of course you can use ultra light gear. You can troll pretty much anything thing from those skiffs - guides caught em on daiwa pencil poppers and yo zuri crystals. snappers loved trolled poppers also. Guides tried taking me to a sink hole in the mangroves that apparently hold monster cuberra snapper and big grouper. Used whole, yes whole, lobster tail for bait (no shrimp!) and caught nowt but a 5lb mutton.

Going back in April - gonna concentrate on night fishing near jungle tour pontoon - there be monsters!

Addios!

will H
Wagger dude where is the cuban lookout near Pillar - can you PM me?
pm sent m8 look up my m8 wen you are there in message

[baino]

You can catch Cuda from the pier if you cast & spin a small fish back towards the pier. often they will bith the fish in half but almost always return for the remainder.I've not had any luck at all casting poppers/rapalas at the Cuda. Speak to Flipper on the animation team at the Melia. He's an expert with a rapala & has had Jacks to 15lb, big Amberjack & Tarpon to 40lb. The previous manager from the melia landed a brace of tarpon to about 60lb on rapalas. the pattern seems not to matter. Poppers or sub-surface divers of around 12cm are favoured by Flipper. All the fish I.ve mentioned were cought from various places at the rocks towards Pilar.
You will find many differing opinions of what you can & can't catch from various places around Guillermo. All of them will work at all of the venues when the fish are in the mood.
In my opinion a livebait is the best option. Mohara or a small Jack hooked in the back or above the anal fin is best. You can use Sardines too (good but they don't stay alive for long)
Regards, Dave.

[lucky]

is the pier the best option for barracuda or is it better to go and hire a hobby cat.
Isn't the Melia pier in a bit of a state at the moment after it got bashed up by tropical storm Noel? As I understand it reconstruction work will commence this month but it might not be finished for a bit.

[crazycuda]

Thanks lads for all your answers, its seems I could have wasted about £80 on rapalas and surface poppers but if I just catch one fish on them I will be chuffed to bits. Do any of you fly fish of trout in england, if so were do you go? cheers.

[waggerlad]

You can catch Cuda from the pier if you cast & spin a small fish back towards the pier. often they will bith the fish in half but almost always return for the remainder.I've not had any luck at all casting poppers/rapalas at the Cuda. Speak to Flipper on the animation team at the Melia. He's an expert with a rapala & has had Jacks to 15lb, big Amberjack & Tarpon to 40lb. The previous manager from the melia landed a brace of tarpon to about 60lb on rapalas. the pattern seems not to matter. Poppers or sub-surface divers of around 12cm are favoured by Flipper. All the fish I.ve mentioned were cought from various places at the rocks towards Pilar.
You will find many differing opinions of what you can & can't catch from various places around Guillermo. All of them will work at all of the venues when the fish are in the mood.
In my opinion a livebait is the best option. Mohara or a small Jack hooked in the back or above the anal fin is best. You can use Sardines too (good but they don't stay alive for long)
Regards, Dave.
hi got to go wth dave here flipper is the man, when, or if you see the cuban poser tell him to look after my firefly rod till i get his shimano beastmaster fixed after the dozy bugger stood on it. regards

[drynet]

Hi Wagger I am based in the north east also went to Guillermo last August going again this August took quite a bit of your advice and bought my son and I a firefly on your reccomendation these are brilliant rods. Had great fun caught plenty of fish nothing big but this was mainly down to our poor experience.

[waggerlad]

hi drynet
there are plenty of staff, at the melia who will give you a wealth of information, on fishing and will take you to diffrent spots the main man is flipper, try taking a good small boat rod and ask the guys at the daqurie next door to take you on the hobby cats, ask for lou the lifeguard, he looks like a swede, or lester the barman another great guy from the daqurie bit of a pi@@ pot but a cracking guy.
if you need to know anything to take or tackle issues just give us a shout, or mark (the welsh wonder kid) as he knows all the lads at the daqurie. mark is alright but he is welsh lol and he is a right hand chucker (fly fisher) and he like the dolly birds regards:pimp2:

[Billy Boy]

Fear not Crazy cuda

Get yourself a mangroves trip booked with Andrea the skipper at the harbour (through your holiday rep) He will take you to the mangroves on a skiff for a morning where you catch loads of cudas n snappers on surface poppers. My best cuda was a 20lber. There are some deep channels where you can troll your poppers or using xraps for big grouper.

Billy Boy

[drynet]

Wagger thanks for the info I will be in touch as I need all the help and advice I can get. We are like Mark flyfishers but we are happy fishing for anything. Met your friend Ishmal last year he took us upto the rocks towards pilar had good fun caught nothing big just cow fish and trigger fish mainly. My 14 yr old son did catch a 6lb bone on the fly on the last day of our hols he enjoyed it but we were in a bit of a panic as we only managed to get back to the resort half an hour before the bus left for the airport, far too close for comfort or for a shower.

[waggerlad]

hi drynet
ishmal the gardner is a cracking lad hope to take him a nice rod and reel this time out, i helped a lad in cuba last year to obtain a rod and reel from a canadian policeman, he was leaving behind.
told him to leave the said rod and reel to ishmal, as ishmal took this lad under his wing and took him to certain spots for a days fishing on his day off, he did not leave the rod and reel to ishmal, and we cannot find out where it went but i promised him this time in may i will take him one good friend with a big smile regards

[bag up bri]

Hi Waggerlad,

Re:The Pier
Iv'e got my fingers crossed for you and all our fellow anglers and Cubamaniacs going out there in the coming months,it's frustrating just having to wait and hope for some good news. Like Cuba Cad i would be up for the re-build mission like a shot, I am by no means an expert but i can use a hammer and nails.
We've just recieved a letter from Hanoi and it seems that while the Sol hotel is closed for re-fitting he will be working in a restaurant in Moron. He also says that he only managed to meet up with you once in November and if i am in contact with you to pass his best wishes on to you and your wife.

Tight Lines Bri.

[waggerlad]

HI BRI
never heard from my little friend hanoy, as we looked for each other, and missed each other a couple of times he caught me and the wife on the beach, near the sol i was suppossed to go fishing with his father on rotunda for catfish on his day off but we never got round to it .
got some cracking pics of me and the silly old sod fishing he nearly killed us on that speed boat there was 8 of us he is a wonder with that boat. its the big on the tourists get to go on. hanoy told him off for being a divvy lol. had some nice cats a fish a chuck:sweethear lost a nice on near the cigar in the water we also went to some sights the tourists never see very good day out bit cramped i n the hire car but we had a cracking day out all for 70cuc all in and that was feeding the 8 of us will go and see his mam in moron as i know where she lives if i get round to it i will send you pics of the trip kindest regards steve (WAGGERLAD)