Cuba
Jardines de La Reina - where the BIG tarpons hide...
In the Jardines de la Reina you will find some of the finest Tarpon, Permit and bonefishing in the world. With hundreds of miles of flats to fish.
Flat Skiff
For their guests, there are twelve Dolphin Super Skiffs, all equipped and poling platforms and new Yamaha 60 HP motors. These are one of the finest flats skiffs in the world, made in Miami and used for years by many of the finest bonefishing guides in the Florida Keys.
They are very comfortable boats, running in a heavy chop, yet pole along silently, allowing the guides to get close to the spookiest fish on the flats like big bones and outsize permit. The Yamaha 60's make them fly, and it's easy to cover thirty to fifty miles in a day of fishing, running at 30 mph plus.
Tarpon are abundant and readily available on the flats and in the channels and "rivers" most any day. Most of the fish in the channels are "baby" tarpon - fish in the ten to forty pound class, and just a delight on a ten weight rod. These smaller tarpon are far more acrobatic than their larger cousins but pull plenty hard enough to make you work at catching them.
In the flats the average size grows to 45-80 lbs and as a new fishery discovered in 2002 in the deep ocean channel the specimen grow to 120-130 lbs . The good news is that on a calm morning, you can often find tarpon rolling on the flats as far as the eye can see.
This is exciting fishing and there are lots of opportunities for both clients to be hooked up with hot tarpon running in different directions!
James Gunning from Uk with his Tarpon hooked late evening.
And another one for James.
The Halcon boat our home.
The new Perola boat.
Full comfort.
Tasty food.
Bones you will get to fish many areas where few anglers have ever thrown a fly to these bones. They are both large and easy to catch. The average sized bonefish is perhaps a solid three to five pounds , but there are opportunities for fish in the seven to ten pound class every day. It is not unusual to hear stories from anglers that have released several fish in seven to nine pound class in a day.
Anglers can find some outstanding wade fishing for bonefish in certain areas where white sand flats run for miles. In other areas like the turtle grass flats, the best fishing is from the skiff, where the guides can pole quietly and cover a lot of water, looking for big fish.One of the main joys of our bonefishing is the sunset hour, when it is often calm, and schools of tailing and laid up bones can be seen hundreds of yards away, their golden tails glistening in the light of the falling sun. A good angler can often catch ten to fifteen bones in a couple of hours on the good tides.
Permit are found in both good numbers, and large average size. This is permit fishing much like the very best in the Florida Keys. The flats where we find the largest permit are two to three feet deep on a high tide, yet adjacent to deep water. Big permit need direct access to deep water, where they feel safe, and can glide on and off these flats to feed. Most of the permit are found as singles, doubles and triples - perfect opportunities for a fly rod angler. Many of these fish will be in the twenty to thirty pound class, with a few well over thirty.Occasionally schools of smaller permit- fish in the 12-18 lb. class are encountered and these often prove to be easier to catch than the big boys. With nice weather it is not unusual to see several tailing permit in a day. Crab patterns like Del Brown's Merkin and George Anderson's McCrab make catching the elusive permit a lot easier than it was ten years ago.
One fly fisherman this year landed and released three permit in one week - 18, 25, and 40 pounds! For anglers that land a permit, there is an excellent chance of completing a Grand Slam the same day. Tarpon can be found at just about any time and tide level as can bonefish. Over the past five years, there have been numerous Grand Slams caught by fly fishermen.
You will fight the battle with various species - even giant turtles...
- "The magic hour" can be very effective in Cuba
Mutton Snappers are everywhere in the JDR, and plenty are found and caught on the flats- a real rarity. This is perhaps the best (and only) place in the world where you can now expect to catch mutton snappers on the flats. They are high powered fish that will pull with dogged determination when the safety of the mangrove roots is within sight. Mutton snappers are extremely wary when out on the flats, but if you can get the cast in there without spooking them, they are suckers for taking a fly. Most muttons caught on a fly run between three and eight pounds, but fish right up to fifteen pounds are a distinct possibility.
Jack Crevalle and Horse Eye Jacks
Jacks are wonderful game fish, and are very abundant in the JDR. It is common to see a school of big jacks patrolling the flats, eating everything in sight. Many of these fish are in the fifteen to twenty pound class with some right up to the thirty pound mark. They look somewhat like the permit, being in the same family, but Jacks are one of the most aggressive feeders on the flats and very easy to catch in relation to permit. As a bonus, the Horse Eye jacks make wonderful sashimi back on the boat before dinner.
Cudas and Sharks
Big Cudas are plentiful around all the bonefish flats. Most will be three to four feet long, and will give any fly angler a terrific fight. Their aggressive take is exciting and few fish can swim faster or jump farther than a big barracuda. They are easy to catch on the many good needlefish patterns, using a wire leader.
Silky Sharks and Caribbean Reef sharks are very common on the flats. You will see some surprisingly large sharks in shallows, looking for bonefish or anything else they can catch. Most are three to five feet in length, but you'll also see larger sharks in the seven to nine foot range. All of these will take a fly and the action can be spectacular. Good sized flies like divers utilizing soft foam popper heads, get their attention when popped aggressively in front of a shark. Sharks up to 150 lb. have been landed by fly anglers. Seeing one of these monsters roll up to the surface and smash a popper is sure to get your adrenalin flowing.
Other fish
Anglers that want to try trolling off the reef with plugs, bait, and even flies encounter many other species of fish. Various snappers including the huge Cubera Snapper are present as well as groupers, jacks, kingfish, albacore, wahoo, and bonito and big cudas. One group of visiting anglers caught twenty five different species of fish off the reef-in one day!
For further information about fishing in Cuba please contact Árni Baldursson at Lax-á office through e-mail: arnibald@lax-a.is or Harpa Hlín at harpa@lax-a.is
Picture below is from Theresa MONTUPET wuth here giant Tarpon.
