Bone, Tarpon, Permit & Other Fish in Cuba
Bone
( Photo of happy angler Steve Cooksley from the UK)
You'll find some of the finest bone fishing in the world in Cuba. Since the flats are never commercially fished, they are teeming with bones that average a solid four to six pounds. An angler has lots of opportunities daily for fish in the seven to nine pound class. Bones in the 10-14 lb. class have been caught with more regularity especially in the last years thanks to marina conservation, but what is impressive are the overall numbers and average size of these bone fish. There are a variety of flats, from pure white sand to a mixture of sand and grass, to flats where it can be solid turtle grass and marl. Guides use the flats skiffs to cover a lot of water, but when they encounter an especially good flat to wade, they often park the boat. The anglers will hop out, accompanied by the guide, and wade fish the flats. There are a great number of flats that provide outstanding wade fishing for large tailing bones on an incoming tide.
The late afternoon and evening fishing can be especially pleasant. The guides are willing to fish late, and the wind typically dies in the afternoon. Tailing and feeding bones can be spotted hundreds of yards away on the calm flats, and in the low evening light the bones pounce on a fly with abandon you don't see at mid-day.
Tarpon
(Photo of Steve Ames of Angling Direct UK)
Probably the best tarpon fishing in the entire Caribbean thanks to the huge ecosystem that everybody are now able to experience and to fish almost everyday. Tarpon are abundant in the island system, especially baby tarpon in the 20-50 pound class. Larger fish, 80-140 lbs are getting more and more common every year especially during March – June months. What you can expect is some of the hottest fishing for tarpon to be found anywhere in the world! Baby tarpon is a perfect fish to catch on a 10 weight fly rod, or on spin or bait casting tackle.
Permit
Other than the Florida Keys, this is perhaps the best place in the world to catch a big permit on a fly. There are both good numbers of big permit, and superb permit flats to be found. Flats that are barely out of the water, or just below the surface at low tide are two to three feet deep on a high incoming tide - perfect habitat for the largest permit. Many of these flats are bordered by deep water- exactly the same kind of conditions you see in the Florida Keys where most of the world record permit have been caught. It is not uncommon to pole up to these flats and see a half a dozen permit tailing, all of which are in the 25-35 pound class! Cuba offers some of the few spots in the world where you have a very real opportunity to catch a grand slam - any day of the year!
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
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!
