Day 1 - August 28th, 2004
 

Our first day in Cuba.  Woke up to sunny skies and temperatures well over 30' C.  Went to the causeway bridge after speaking with our travel agent about nearby fishing opportunities.  Initially we were going to try our luck around the beach in front of our hotel however after the time we had near the bridge I am glad we didn't. Only 10 minutes away, the area around the bridge linking Cayo Guillermo to Cayo Coco, consists of sandy flats, partially covered with turtle grass for as far as the eye could see with a deep channel between the islands.  The tide was receding during our visit so a moderate current was present.  There are crabs of all sizes all over the flats accompanied by less common sea horses and even tropical fish such as angels,

puffers and rays.  Very cool!

Before we even stepped foot in water we observed the locals who fished directly from the bridge.  Most fished without any rods, flinging weighted cut bait around their heads and keeping their main line on a large round metal spool-like object which sat on the ground.  Despite the lack of modern gear these Cubans managed impressive numbers of jacks using their methods.  Needless to say they were very curious to see two newbies show up with fly equipment.

As soon as we walked near the center of the bridge,  we literally saw countless garfish ranging from a few inches to over 4 feet in length.  A few steps further and not one but two huge 5+ foot barracudas became visible in about 15' of crystal clear water.

Closer to the shallower, Cayo Coco end of the bridge, where we could walk down and get on the flats, we clearly saw a school of at least 50 barracuda ranging from two to three feet in length.  Who knew these predatory fish schooled?  It only took 3 casts to this group to bring my first ever barracuda to hand on a gold size 6 crazy Charlie (one which I later lost).  Talk about a fast fish, man!  Before I could set the hook on my first fish it was already jumping 20 feet to the right of where it hit, thus setting the hook on it's own! 

It wasn't long before Karin followed suit with her first 'cuda.  These fish are so aggressive that it doesn't seem to matter what we throw at them, as long as it is moving.  I hooked many more but over 50% were lost due to line breakage.  Their teeth are extremely sharp!  I tried rigging up Karin's rod with some Tyger however this proved to be a double edged sword.  While she was landing almost every fish which bit, not nearly as many fish were fooled by a fly with a 6" Tyger leader in such clear water.  All together I am sure we landed a dozen or so 24" barracudas in just a few hours.  I literally lost count. 

Our flies got so chewed up by these fish that they became almost unrecognizable yet they still produced just as well. One of the Cubans which studied our troubles with these 'cudas from the bridge called me over and offered some finer wire tippet and one of his own flies, a local specialty.  He spoke very good English so we hit it off

right away with tales of past fishing experiences.  He mentioned that he may come back tomorrow with his fly rod and join us, that would be nice. I didn't see any bones today (probably due to the abundance of barracudas) although I did miss a pretty big jack on one of Fox Statler's pink and pearl minnows - maybe tomorrow!  I also saw a fairly large permit or palometa on the flats but it was much too far to cast to, and as I approached it just kept getting further away.  The scorching heat was relentless today but I didn't care, although I can't say the same for Karin.  Never before have I truly appreciated the value of a good technical shirt.  Hopefully the weather will stay nice and hurricane Frances will hold off for a while so we can get some more fishing in tomorrow.

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Written By: Nick Pujic, © September 2004
Photographs By: Nick Pujic © 2004 & Karin Zandbergen © 2004