[bobthefish]

Let me start by saying, this report is how I found things, by no means am I going to say this is how it should be done. If it helps anyone going there for the 1st time, then great
This was my 1st trip to Cuba, and after reading every thing I could about the MCG, and everything related to the variety of fishing available, I thought I was fully prepared. Boy was I in for a shock.
I fished the pier most days, did 2 trips up to Paradon (Alex and Orlando,) Fished 3 times on the Hobby cats, and attempted to catch the Tarpon in the channels on about 6 early morning seasons.
Tried the bridge one morning, and did a short session at pillar one afternoon. Not bad considering I took the girlfriend with me.
Having met Tim on the plane it was great to bounce ideas of one another.
The Pier. This is now complete. Hardly any locals fishing it. I never saw anyone stopped from fishing, if they wern't from the Melia. The fishing was relatively poor. Tim snorkeled under the pier, and saw lots of snapper in the 1lb category. Lots of needle fish, And lots of bait fish. The bigger snapper I saw caught, came out at night to 3 of the hotel staff. They were using mullet heads for bait. (the crabs were stripping sardenes and mojarra baits within 10mins) It appeared that Tides were very important to there success rate. 1 hour either side of high or low tide was the favorite. 1 guy, lost a big cubarra one evening. He had also had 1 of 64lbs 2weeks before we arrived!!!
Mullet shoals were hard to locate due to the wind, and didnt hang around long if there 1st thing. 2 very big barracuda 20lb + were seen regularly, along with smaller specimens.
Spinning and lure fishing with plugs was a complete waste of time. We did manage a small cuda on a savage gear sand eel, and a jack of about a 1lb on a small fissh black minnow. I never saw or heard of anyone else catching on lures. Live baiting seemed the best option. I had a 6lb+ needle fish on a grunt, 10mts off the beach! Ha It made a few swimmers jump out a bit quick. No Amber jacks were seen the whole trip.
Tim caught 1 or 2 slightly bigger snapper with free lined live mojarra right of the end of the pier. About 6 of the guests fished the end every day, catching loads of small species on bits of prawn and bread/cheese paste. One thing I was not prepared for, was the way these fish fight, unbelievable. If mojarra grew to 5lbs, you would struggle to land them. I took my LRF gear with me for the mojarra and sardenes, great fun. Thats just about it for the pier, Paradon and Dunny to follow

 

[the optimist]

I keep checking for the next installment !!
Good stuff

 

[keyfonts]

Firstly, must say had a wonderful holiday and that the Melia Cayo Guillermo was better than when I previously visited four years ago.
*
As for the fishing. . . . . . I had a great time and great company after meeting bob on the plane ( watching him struggle around the airport with a bazooka tube was quite entertaining!).
*
After arriving on Monday evening and settling in to the room I decided to take a walk down to the pier for research sake! The pier renovations have been completed since I last visited which meant that the end was even further away from the beach bar!
*
Waking up at 0530 on Tuesday morning and looking out of the window, the hardly swaying palm trees signalled the first mornings fishing. With headlight on and prawns in the bait bucket and full of confidence I headed down to the pier via the lobby bar coffee stop. Always makes me laugh how the staff don’t even blink when you order a coffee at that time in the morning. They all know the fisherman are crazy already!
*
On to the pier. I headed up to the “old” end and before setting up had a chat with Billy who was already set up and fishing. My illusions of an easy couple of weeks fishing the pier were sadly shattered as he informed me that two weeks into his four week holiday the fishing was the worst he’d known it since he first visited ten years ago! (he’d been back every year since) Food for thought.
*
I baited up with peeled prawns and cast out two rods. Immediately I had taps and eventually reeled in a huge grunt (for grunt size). After that it was stripped baits each time even though they were well tied on with elastic.
*
As soon as there was a little light I left one bait out and tried hard plastics. Nothing. Not even a curious follow. On each visit I prioritised getting live baits Grunts or mohara and sardines or mullet when available. In fairness between bob and myself we tried everything. We even did away with wire and fished exclusively fluocarbon after the first couple of days to just try and get a bite in case the water clarity was a problem.
*
Breakfast!!
*
That pretty much summed up the pier. Last time I visited in jan 2010 when the weather was pretty much the worse on record with cold front after cold front the whole visit I caught snapper every morning I fished. We also caught them during the day and in the evenings.
*
Fish that were caught on the pier included some of the light coloured snapper on unpeeled whole prawns fished next to the pier legs which may have made a pound on friendly scales. Any number of grunts, a needle fish about 2.5 lb on float fished live moharra and my best catch a mutton snapper on live moharra fished with a couple of bb shots next to the pier legs at the very end. I also conned a barracuda that may have just passed a pound to take a savage gear soft plastic lure I borrowed of bob. (Wasn’t much left of it, sorry bob!)
*
I snorkelled the pier a couple of times and did see snapper around. The other thing I noticed were the number of crabs that littered the sea bed, hence the taps and stripped baits!
*
The pier is still an enjoyable easy place in the sun with all inclusive attractions close at hand but the glory days are over! No sightings of amberjack at all this time and only one decent snapper for accumatively probably hundreds of fishing hours! There was a distinct lack of bait fish too.
*
While my experience is limited, many of the anglers I had met up with, both Canadian and British had to reply on stories of days of old rather than last nights or this mornings catch as it used to be. Never mind the drinks were cold and there was always bob’s latest calamity to laugh about! How is the phone by the way?
*

 

[bobthefish]

Very good Tim, will have to up the anti and make the next report more interesting. Yes the phone is still not working. In the excitement of seeing a fish, waded to far with phone in pocket DOH
On with the report.
I had booked 2 days with Dunny. He rang me on the Tues evening to say he had booked me to go out with Alex on Thurs, along with another fisherman. No worries. I told him Tim would like to fish with me on the next trip. No problem say Dunny, you both come out with me, and have the best day fishing you ever had.
Pick up for Thurs was 7am. Dunny turns up 7.30 looking worse for ware? He had some sort of rash over his body, and was feeling Sheet. 1 1/2 hrs later after picking up 2 other punters and Alex + other guides we arrive at Paredon. Dunny left us at Cayo Coco.
Nobody else fishing with me, so Tim could have come.
Alex was brilliant, tied all my knots, and ran through what we would be doing after checking my gear. I should have brought some deep diving lures? Well 4 to 6ft is deep on the Purbeck ledges Ha. 30ft well thats not quite what I was expecting.
Off we go.... Alex asks me if I fancied hooking up with an Eagle ray? Well dont mind if I do. (Big mistake) So!!! on the the way out, theres this big Eagle ray minding its own business on the flats. Lets see what you and your tournament global are up to says Alex!! On goes a big treble, woosh strike, and the rod is placed in my hands? All hell let loose, pass me my brown cords please? With out going into into much detail, it was like hooking a bus. Quite a few times I thought my rod was going to break. After 40mins we agree next time it comes near the boat we cut the leader as near the hook as possible.. Duly done. I am now knackered. We now go yigging says Alex Ha. Little did I know what pain waited for me there. Dinners on the table, more to follow

 

[bobthefish]

So, out we go to the deep water. Alex selects a 400gm Williamson jig, drops it down to demonstrate how to jig. It looks easy on the telly??? My turn. Down it goes, and down and down. Bottom, and start jigging. Ok I say this is hard but Ill be ok? 2nd drop, and Bang! a fish. Reel Reel Reel says Alex, Lift Lift Lift he says. F**k F**k F**k says me. I swear that 60lb Grouper slipped the hook, and put a 12lb Jack on the end instead? Whoe! Now I consider myself quite an experienced angler. Ive caught lots of big fish in the Uk, France, and quite decent fish in Africa. But none of them fought like the fish I hooked that day.
I ended up with 2 jacks 1 20lb +, 3 Tuna (skip jacks 5to6lb) 1 snapper 7lbish and 4 Cudas to about 15lb. I also lost a big King fish, and we think a big shark grabbed the jig, as the line was bitten through a foot above the jig. Most came to trolled floating skirted lures and my trusted orange X rap. The wind got up and we had to make our way in early, but I was more than happy. Alex worked his socks of for me. I would liked to have tried Bait on the jig, but the bait catcher didnt turn up that day. The strong tide would have also been against us
By the way, a 9ft rod is not ideal for jigging ( thats for those who are thinking of going) The Global handled the fish fine, with a 1400 Saragosa. I was the one lacking??
It costs 280 cuc (that included the Taxi) I gave Alex 50 tip
The next trip was with Orlando, with Tim Hes the experienced Jigger: Shame about his rod then??? report to follow

 

[varabadfish12]

Bob I know exactly what your talking about,Alex is a great guide to spend the day with my wife and I spent a day fishing with him and a few times all we heard was wind wind wind wind wind and when your arms feel like jello it's hard to do. Great report so far keep it coming.

Rob

 

[bobthefish]

Yes Rob, Alex, or Alesandro, his real name, is a lovely guy. I am trying to get him to write down and send me a few stories of his guiding exploits. I think they would make great reading. My partner is a writer, and thinks we might be able to get some published. It could earn him a few extra pesos. When you consider the guides are paid in Cuban pesos ( about a tenth of the value of Cucs) It makes you realise how important our tips are....Bob

 

[bobthefish]

Paredon! sorry if I have spelt this wrong?

Right then: I ring Dunny Sat evening, hes still ill, but Tim and I can go out with Alex on Mon, Just the job, Tim is buzzing. Sun evening, Dunny rings, Alex's dad is in hospital, but no worries, we can go out with Orlando. Ok, Will there be bait there, shall we bring some? Plenty of bait there says Dunny, bait will be caught 1st thing in the morning. ( For those who have been before, you know what this usually means ) Pick you up 7am???
Well, 7.45 Mon morning Orlando appears in reception. (Tims been there since 6.40) 1st problem, and a big one, Orlando doesnt speak English, well very little. Yes that really our problem not Orlando's. The usual 1 1/2 hrs later we arrive at Paredon. This time we tackle up ourselves, as Orlando disappears of down to the boats. We make our way to the boat, Tim has 3 rods, and I take 2. We had to stow everything aboard. Me trying to remember how Alex organized everything. I try to ask about bait? No bait, no one there to catch it??
Oh well, its trolling and vertical jigging. The sea wasnt to bad, a bit of wind, but not uncomfortable. Orlando indicates we should start trolling as we leave the inlet, prob about 10ft of water.
We both start with floating lures that fish at 4 to 5 feet. 5mins , I have a hit. Snapper about 5lbs. Good start . Orlando seems very pleased, and put the fish in the front hold. Off we go again.
I then get a Cuda, and Tim loses a couple of fish. We are now in deeper water. I try to ask Orlando should we change for deeper running lures, Si Si, Yes. almost straight away we are back in shallower water Mmm. Right I says to my self, this is not working. I indicate to Orlando, we want to try Jigging. Ok communication established, we head outwards.
Tim and I start to tackle up for jigging. Big problem for Tim, his jigging rod is missing. Orlando indicates that Tim only had 2 rods! No, 3rods we say. It was lying on the fore deck. To cut a sad story short, we think Orlando moved it when he put a fish in the hold, and didny put the rod back properly. So, at the bottom of the ocean lies a Waveblaster rod with a tyrnos 2 speed reel attached. As you can imagine, Tim was gutted. the rest of the trip didnt really mater.
Jigging was a waste of time as Orlando had no idea over what ground we were fishing on. Alex has a small hand held gps which was great, as I didnt loose any gear on the reef.
The rest of the day was was rather subdued, spent trolling, following the odd Frigate bird. I had another Snapper and a Cuda, while Tim , to add insult to injury, lost 3 more fish.
I will not say Orlando wast a good guide. Apparently his specialty is on the flats after Bone fish and Tarpon. The following day, a Canadian guy from our hotel went out with him and had a great days Bone fishing with him, and ended the day with a Tarpon estimated at 100lbs??? And Dunny told me Tarpon fishing would be a waste of time, to early Ha
So that was my experiences of Dunny. He is definitely a character, and knows his stuff, but is also full of sheet Ha.
Will definitely go again with him when I go back. Hopefully will get "the best days fishing of my life " as promised

 

[varabadfish12]

Good report Bob even though the trip ended badly,sorry to hear about the rod and reel.But i think you did good to get 2 days to paradon on your first trip to Cuba, ive been twice to Guillermo and only got 1 day so far and not for lack of pleading and begging lol.I love the area and the people and i'm sure like you i can't wait to get back. Thanks for taking the time!

Rob

 

[keyfonts]

So, my spin on paredon.
As bob has already pointed out I was quite looking forward to the prospect of fishing from Paredon!
We both spent the evening before preparing and deciding on plans for the next day. I woke up at 0600 with a wakeup call from the lobby desk. As was habit by now first job was to crack the curtains a little and get an idea what the weather was doing. Point one on the wish list, a very light wind and a clear sky!* I grabbed a quick shower loaded up with kit and headed down to the lobby bar for a coffee. I didn’t mind being early, I much prefer a little extra time in the schedule and the coffee at the melia is excellent! As a future point for anyone planning on fishing paredon it is a very good move to top up the melia pack lunches with supplies from the previous evenings buffet. With military proficiency bob and myself had constructed two French sticks full of cheese salami and pastrami and customised them to fit one of my extra large zip lock bags. Another one was then filled with pizza. Remember to take extra to keep your guide well nourished!
At about 0710 Bob arrived looking a bit drained. He’d had an unsettled sleep but was raring to go with the prospect of another great days fishing.
The taxi eventually showed up and we were introduced to Roland / Orlando our non English speaking guide. We set off and communicated the best we could. I must say he is a thoroughly nice guy and obviously a very experienced guide but for us not being able to speak any Spanish it did make things more difficult.
After the first trip Bob had done with Alex we decided that we would take more gear with us than we needed and leave behind anything the guide didn’t we’d need in the shack.* Bob had praised Alex’s uncluttered highly organised attitude when it came to fishing, something I highly agree with!
After eventually arriving at the fishing base (seems like the road goes on for ever!) and pushing the bus when it got stuck in the sand, we offloaded gear and began to rig up. At this point we were expecting a little assistance from our guide as Rob had all his gear checked, knots tied and surplus gear filtered off to avoid getting in the way during the trip. Instead we were left to our own devices and half an hour later the guys gestured for us to make our way down to the boat.
We were helped aboard and organised our gear as best we could. Due to the previous trip and having all the prep done prior to leaving the dock we were at this point un-prepared, without even having leaders tied on. At speed we managed to get some knots tied and ready to put some lures over the side.
Bob pretty much covers the trip from there but basically I ended up returning without my penn waveblaster 20-30 travel rod and shimano tyrnos 8 2 speed reel, a filling lost eating the stolen pizza and not a single fish landed!!
I’d just like to point out that all the fish I hooked and lost were barracuda, and none of them worth landing!
While I understand fishing is fishing, and now after gaining a bit of local knowledge the wind direction was all wrong it was more of a disappointment at loosing a days holiday than anything else. However I certainly wasn’t going to let it ruin the rest of the holiday. After returning to the melia I went straight to the bar. Didn’t seem quite so bad after 6 beers in 15 minutes. I even managed to laugh about it.
In hindsight I was only intending to take two rods on the trip as I expected the guide to select the gear we needed and leave the rest behind. I also had too many lures and other just in case items to make finding what I needed easy. Again we were after Rob’s previous experience expecting a different start to the day.
I suppose if asked whether I’d go to Paredon again next time the answer would be yes, without even having to think.
However I do think that the hobbicats from the beach are highly underrated and there is definitely a chance of catching a once in a lifetime fish if you get the right skipper. More info on that next time!
Tips for Paredon
-Get a big packed lunch together for you and your guide from the buffet the previous evening.
-Don’t take too much gear with you, it’ll get in the way on a small boat.
-There are mosquitos at Paredon. Cover up and deet up.
-It’s hot on the boats with no shade. SPF Lip balm and high SPF sun cream needed. Trousers, a hat and long sleeve top useful. A buff for keeping the sun and off your face also essential.
-Deep diving lures. We’re talking 30ft here. And big. Rapala seem to be the ones.
-Take extra water.
-Coins to tip the guys on the dock.
-Organise gear on the boat so all you need and no more is out on the rear seat.
-If you want to fish bait don’t risk relying on the bait man. The ballyhoo are easy to catch on the melia pier and sardines even easier from the bridge.

 

[bobthefish]

Hi Rob, Yes, cant wait ti go back myself. Dunnys outfit, (I think called Marlin ? ) now has 6 guides working out of Paradon. From what I could gather, They all prefer to take clients out fly fishing for the Bone fish and Tarpon. But, you cant eat them, so trolling and jigging is a must, as it provides food for the table. I didnt take any of the fish I caught, but was offered. The fish caught was shared amongst the guys there.
It seems most bookings are done through Dunny, but you can ring Alex or Abel instead. I emailed Dunny about 2 months before I went, and did eventually get a reply. As you prob know, the internet connection is very poor. I have Alex's email and contact no, I only have a phone no for Abel. I will post all these as a separate thread, at the end of my report.......Bob

 

[bobthefish]

Glad you are adding to this Tim, Makes the report a thorough one. Again may I say, These reports are only how we, as 1st timers, found things. Its not a must do and must have report. If it helps anyone going, then great.....Bob

 

[brownsedge]

i hear ya bob..... iv been goin there 14 years now but iv stopped "booking" dunny... alex is also excellent and far more reliable... dunnys word means nothing... no matter how well you think you get on with him, he will eventually leave you swinging in the wind.. he aint wort it in my book..
you should have tried the baby tarpon in the lagoon at the back.... that's great fun on a fly rod... they are almost always there and a 6lb tarpon in 4 feet of water in superb free fun...also the bone fish on the flats in front of hotels...

 

[bobthefish]

Yep, we did try, and there not all babys ??? I will report on that soon. Suffice to say I lost one estimated at 20 to 30lbs, as did Tim?? .....Bob

 

[ChrisC]

Sounds great, I'm going to the Melia in 2 days time and hoping to get out on a boat a couple of days

Chris.

 

[bobthefish]

The Hobby cats in my opinion, is probably the best value for money if you want to catch monster.
We were helped by Allex, one of the life gaurds by the pier. He took us up to the Sol, and introduced us to Juan and Yosbari. Allex assured us they would do all they could to ensure we would have a good trip. He also offered to catch bait for us.
Our 1st trip was a 3hr morning excursion with Juan. This cost 60 cus each. We spent the three hrs trolling with My trusted orange Xrap, and Tim used sardines and the ever reliable yoz spotted minnow. End result, 3 cudas, 2 snapper ( one about 8lbs,) and a Grouper 6lbish ( This is getting bigger by the minute) The Xrap taking the grouper a snapper and a cuda. We didnt go out past the island, as it was quite rough. Be prepared to get wet, and only take what tackle you really need. Lots of sun tan cream is recommended.
The next sortie was with Yosbari. We negotiated a price of 50 cuc each for a 3 hr after noon trip. His English is very good, and kept kept advising us the whole time, really working hard to see us catch. The results didnt quite reflect the trip. We only had 3 Cudas, but both lost fish probably through our own inexperience. We took fresh sardines, and 2 Bally hoo that Tim had caught from the pier on bread. Yosbari said, these are the bait to use if you want a big one. We both had a no of aborted strikes, with out hookups. But,!!! beond the Island in the deep water, Tim hooked into a very big fish on the trolled Bally hoo. His reel screamed as the fish took line. He struggled to gain any control. Eventually after a few minutes a large silverish coloured fish thrashed the surface some 50mts away from the boat. Again off it went, but this time it didnt stop. All went slack? The braided line had frayed on the reef at some point. A long silence followed, followed by a debate on what the culprit was.
We eventually agreed it was probably a King fish. Well over a metre in lgth and quite deep in body. We shall never know.
Most of the strikes we had were at the back of the Island in deep water.
Another trip for the following day was hastily arranged. A quick sortie to the pier was called for, before supper! Tim had sussed how to catch the Bally hoo. Size 16 hooks baited with small bits of flake. The key is to keep a constant supply of bread going in. (small thumbnail size peices) The best place was on the left side 20 mts before the end of the pier. We caught a dozen in no time, in fact it was hard to come away as as it was great fun. And dont they fight on light gear?
We both upped our gear for this final sortie. I used my Tournament Global, with the Saragosa, 80lb braid with along 20mt 100lb nylon leader. I didnt want to suffer Tims experience.
Well, no monsters came our way, but a great afternoons fishing was had. 2 Snapper, a King fish, ( 5/6lbish) and the usual Cudas x3 I think) We both lost fish, Through fish not taking the bait confidently.
There are still big fish to be caught out there, but not in the nos of yesteryear as Tim reported earlier. On the right day Im sure the big ones will feed. If the weather had been kinder, Yosbari would have been happy to have stopped for some jigging or bait fishing in the deeper water, but the wind had the last say.
Well thats the Hobby cats done, just the channels to report on.
Oh how I wish I had spent more time there ???....Bob

 

[jaym69]

Amazing report so far.. Do you have any pics to put up also?

16 days and counting till i can get my fish on.......

J

 

[bobthefish]

Thanks J, will try and sort pics out soon. Im of the older generation, and have trouble just posting Ha.

 

[ChrisC]

Great stuff!
Hurry up with the channels report, I want to read it before I fly in the morning! ha ha

Chris.

 

[bobthefish]

As requested Tim.
The Channels at the back of the Melia were undoubtedly the most frustrating part of the whole holiday. 1st venture down was just a rece, about 10.30 am. It was easy to find. About 30mts outside the "sentry post" on the right there is a Lamp post. Just by this , there is a gap in the hedge, you can see the worn path. Wear old trainers and plenty of Deet, you will see why.
As you walk towards the bridge you will see a big Mangrove root opposite a shallow bay on the far bank. The channel is only about 10mts wide at most,(prob less) You will now be about 40mt from the bridge. It is prob no more than 2 1/2ft deep at its deepest. Dont let that put you off.
I stood by the mangrove root watching for about 10mins, all I saw were crabs and masses of fry. I was just about to leave when a Tarpon head and tailed 6ft in front of me. Hard to say how big, but big enough. Wow, I couldnt get back to get a rod quick enough. I had read an excellent report by Diakent about hooking an loosing 3 tarpon in 10 mins on bits of Mojarra. Armed with the Mojarra out my fridge, I was back in side 15mins. 2 rods out full of expectation, free lined half Mojarra on both. It didnt take long for my hopes to wain? Crabs, and big ones at that, tore my bait to pieces in minutes. I tried sink and draw, but no sign of a Tarpon.
Next trip, a bit earlier, armed with live Mojarra under a float. Tim came also, and tried free-lining a live bait. We saw Tarpon showing up against the mangroves on the far bank, but again no interest.
The last week I was there, I decided to try early, 7amish with the fly rod. Wow, what a site greeted me. Tarpon every where,smashing into small bait fish!!! Surly I couldnt fail to get a hook up? Well, after trying every fly in the box, with my leader getting shorter and shorter, nothing. By now as the sun rose, the Tarpon had moved under the bridge, but were still regularly smashing into the fry. you can get to within about 10mts from the bridge, so still in casting range. By now, Tim was on the bridge, watching and laughing as I tore whats left of my hair out. Breakfast called. I def had a few follows, but needed to change my approach.
Next morning, same thing, Tarpon everywhere, and 1or 2 in the 25lb region. This is def not recommended for guys with a dicky heart. Tim joined me, as I again failed to get a hook up. He had brought down with him some very small rapalas. 1st one kept catching the bottom, the second one, a very small dark 1 1/2 ins lure immediately was seized by one of the larger fish!! Fish on!!! but not for long. One big tail walking jump and all went slack. Ahgggg, but at least a take. My turn, I butchered one of my small Bone fish flies to make it float ( I cut the eyes off, very high tec). I remembered what Alex had said about stripping slowly, and speeding up at the end of the draw. 2nd cast spot on just in front of a big fish! Bang, were in, legs gone to jelly. Out she jumps, and bugger ?? I forgot!!! BOW to the King.
All I could do was laugh and shake Ha?
Understandably the Tarpon departed as we did for breaky. Not before checking the other side of the bridge. Theres a gap you can get down through, Its mossy city so plenty of Deet. We saw plenty of smaller Tarpon showing. They def seemed to know we were there though, and moved further away as we got close.
I had one more foray on my last morning, but it soon became obvious that something was not right. The Tarpon were there but very unsettled, kept moving very quickly. A quick walk to the bridge solved the problem. There just below the bridge was Mr Crocodile sat with just his head visible. End of fishing. Dont think hes a danger, hes about 6ft long. I am reliably informed they are only fish eaters at that size Ha
So that was my experience of the channel. I am sure every day is diff, but everyone I spoke to said fly fishing with small fry imitations would get most results. Landing them would be another matter. There are lots of snags. I still have an inkling a live mojarra on the right day could produce a surprise. There are some big Tarpon amongst the small ones, we saw 1 off the bridge that was well over 30 ?? Good luck to anyone trying for them, I think they do get quite a bit of pressure..... Bob