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View Full Version : Parque Tayrona, Colombia



j0hnb0y
31-10-2007, 14:10
I meant to post this a while ago but am finally getting around to it!
In early September i spent 3 fantastic days fishing on the North coast of Colombia, not too far from the Venezualan border as the crow flies.

The first day was fairly discouraging as the locals assured me i would not catch anything unless i had a boat...to hell with it i thought and proceeded to clamber up some rocks and start spinning. I was fairly sure i would not catch anything as the water was so clear and i could see nothing moving. At first i was spinning with a Jelly sandeel and for 20 mins nada! I changed the lure to a Minnow, a diving lure and first cast BANG! i thought i had been snagged until the rod started kicking! WOW! and here was where i ran into problems. i was using a v cheap real (£15) with only 10lb main line so every time the fish wanted to go i had to allow it. this was fairly tricky fishing amongst the numerous rocks but after 20mins and attracting a small audience i landed a 23lb Barracuda!!

This was my first experience of spinning in saltwater and my god it was incredible! Alas, i did not have my camera this day...typical?! Anyways, the fish was returned thoroughly tired and to the annoyance of the locals!

Next day i returned to the same spot and returned to the jelly sand eel. Some 5 casts i felt a knock and a small fight ensued. Out of the water came a Yellow Snapper, perhaps 1.5 - 2lb. This was it for fishing today, in some ways the barracuda fight took it out of me. far too much adrenaline and anticipation of the crappy line snapping so a small snapper was perfect...and perfect for lunch too!

http://photos-283.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v142/136/101/707235283/n707235283_1464583_9567.jpg

The last day i went to a different beach with no rocks...wide open, flat sandy beach. i tied on a bass fly and small 2oz circular freshwater weight and threw it out. to my surprise i could cast the rig a v long way, well over 100 yards! 10 mins of dragging the fly along the sand bed i had v strong bite. now this fish i will never know entirely how big or what it was as i lost it attempting to retrieve in the choppy surf. Such a dissapointment after a 25 min fight with a fish so much more powerful than the barracuda felt. up and down the beach it was running, at least 50m each run. line was pouring off the spool and at one point i thought i may run out! I believe this fish to be either a Yellowfin or Crevalle Jack. alas no photo as the fish was not succesfully landed which was a shame after such a fight! that's fishing!

http://photos-283.ll.facebook.com/photos-ll-sf2p/v142/136/101/707235283/n707235283_1464562_4880.jpg

To sum up, fishing on the Colombian/Caribbean coast was some of the most intense, exillerating fishing i have ever done at would thoroughly recommend the trip to anybody!

Next step is a fishing trip through Central America fishing both the Pacific and Caribbean, and hopefully get myself into a boat as well!

PanamaJack
01-11-2007, 21:19
Ah...shucks JohnBoy, the one that got away. But what was it?

I've got pictures of Jack Crevalle and YFT that I'll scan and include on a separate post. Perhaps they might help to identify what you hooked.

But I suspect it wasn't a YFT or other species of Tuna - they rarely if ever come into shallow water. In fact the only places I can think of Oz, South Africa and Ascension Island (South Atlantic) it is the presence of huge migrations of bait that bring them in.

Obviously it's most likely to be a Jack, but there're a range of different possible species. I'll track down some images of them.

Now in your PM you mentioned the 'yellow'. I suppose something to discount would be a Permit, there's a picture of a 24 pounder on my avatar (left). Whilst it doesn't have yellow on its back it does have very distinctive yellow shading near its anal fin.

Any rate just initial thoughts, let me assemble those pictures.
Dave

j0hnb0y
01-11-2007, 23:00
Dave,

thanks for the reply, looking at pics of a permit it could well have been that...!

but could just have easily been a Jack. i suppose it depends on the fighting-potential for each species as this thing felt like a monster!

i hope to catch a similar fish when i next get out to South America...counting the days. spinning in the solent just doesnt hold the same appeal!

PanamaJack
02-11-2007, 11:33
Hi JohnBoy
A Permit is in effect another species of Jack (Caranx) - the 'give away' is that deeply forked tail. And they're all extremely powerful! That one, fishing a set of 12lb spin gear, took over 30 minutes to beat.

In terms of your fish though the basic profile of a Crevalle Jack is very similar to a Permit. There's a picture of one on this link - http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=71. But for more streamlined profiles it may have been either a Bar Jack - http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1918, or a Yellow Jack - http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=1913. And the other 'candidate' is guess is a Horse Eye Jack. All can have tinges of yellow in them.

As I mentioned I don't think it was a Yellowfin Tuna but here, for comparative purposes, is a fly caught 40 pounder from Ascension Island - http://www.scbi.org.uk/pages/News_WhatsNewNfc200403_A.asp.

So when are you off to South America? And any idea yet which countries you'll be visiting?
Dave

j0hnb0y
03-11-2007, 13:08
thanks a lot for the info, i'm almost certain it will have been a Crevalle after looking again!

2009 will see me work my way through Mexico and eventually down to Colombia. will be fishing both Pacific and Atlantic. We are going on a v tight budget and intend living off fish for quite some time in very remote areas. will be quite the adventure! must make sure i spend a small fortune on different lures as i know from experience that buying fishing gear in 3rd world countries (well particularly colombia!) is rather hard...!

once again thanks for the info i hope to be regular posting come 2009!