Fishing Tobago March 2005

[Toine & Lia]

While planning our 2005 visit, we took a good look at the fishing calendar. March 18 till 21; Tobago Game Fishing Tournament. Best time to catch marlin, sailfish, dophin, wahoo according to several websites was the period between February and April; March, right in the middle. So, end of March we were on the Island.
This time we flew Martinair out of Amsterdam. They got luggage limits set at 20 kilograms per person and one piece of hand luggage. So we had to be very smart to get all our stuff on the plane. We managed. Three rods, one in our hands, two travel rods in the suitcase. Two reels and a multiplier stuffed away in the hand luggage. A big box with all kinds of lures. Some diving equipment and hardly any clothes. Keep in mind that everything else you need on a holiday is for sale in Tobago.We stayed at Sherwood Park Apartments at Carnbee. We rented a car so we would be able to get everywhere.

The very first morning, at daybreak, we fished at Sandy Point. After a few casts with a floating lure we caught the first jack. Not to big, but big fun. We got bitten off twice that morning, on shads. We didn’t use wire leaders.
Later that first week we fished a couple of times at Black Rock. On Rapala’s Fat Rap (firetiger) we caught Mutton Snapper, small Barracuda and a nice Jack. Again fish was caught in the very first light. After sunrise no fish took our lures.
Then the tournament came up. Through E-mail and some phone calls I got hold of a place on board Blue Magic, skippered by Sean Berkeley in Scarborough. Forming a team with two Trini’s and a guy from Charlotteville, we would enter the competition.
Once we were on the Island we met Barry St. George owner of Sublime Scuba and skipper of the Alpha Lime. Barry offered me a place on his boat to team up with him, Rusty and Owen, Anaconda, Cox, both Castara fisherman and freelance skippers on recreational fishing boats. They would be in the tournament as well. I couldn’t take the offer. So I fished the tournament on Blue Magic.

Before the tournament started we sailed the boat from Scarborough harbour to Man o’War bay. My fishing buddy, first timer in Tobago and never before fished in tropical waters, and I the one fisherman on board had the time of our lives. Sean putting us up to the fish. Jan getting baptised with his first ever Dolphin, Wahoo, Kingfish, Barracuda and Amberjack, next to some fine bonito’s. Spunky, the deck mate providing us with cold drinks, hot chicken, fresh bait and taking care of the rods and reels, is one of the best in the business. Quick, smart,hard working, the eyes of an hawk, Spunky has it all. I would love to have ten of those in my company. So, on behalf of the Digital Man (Jan, brought digital binoculars, had an Ipod and a digital compass in his watch), Sean and Spunky, thanks a million for this marvellous day.

Finally the tournament came up
The strategy we followed on Blue Magic, was easy: Go for the Blues. Blue Marlin was our target. That mend that we fished the big lures on the 50’s and 80’s in a five rod spread. Two 80’s on the outrigger, two 50’s common and a 50 on the top gun. We trailed that spread for three days, constantly varying the trolling lures.
Meanwhile Alpha Lime followed an other strategy and fished the FAD’s (fish attracting devices) offshore. Catching a lot of Wahoo and Dolphin. For Rusty and Anaconda it was like fishing in their backyards. The ended up third on the first day leaving a lot of big names behind them.
We caught some Wahoo on a suicide mission, attacking lures almost as big as the Wahoo’s itself. Every day the excitement was there when a Marlin came up behind the boat. Teasing with the lures. We held our breaths every time a Marlin took one of the lures. Disappointment was big when a bite didn’t result in a hook up. In all, we saw 6 Marlin in three days come up to our lures without getting it to hook up. A couple of those Marlin well over 500 pounds. Man, those fish, when caught, would certainly put us in a top five position. While “Professor “ Albert Bartu, owner of a tackle shop in Trinidad and team member on Blue Magic , tried everything possible to get a Marlin to bite, David Maharadje, the Fireman from Charlotteville and I prayed and offered beers to the Gods of the Sea to put own of the Blues on our hooks.
So, in all we gambled, going for the big one, and lost.

Barry took with Alpha Lime, a shot a the Marlins the second day. Last year I sold him a Shimano TLD 30 two speed with matching 30 lbs rod. In a spread of six, there was one 30 and when a Marlin came up, it picked up the lure connected to the 30 pound gear. Weighing at about 400 pounds the Marlin was no match for the 30 outfit. One big long scream from the reel and the spool was emptied. Like there was no drag on the fish at all.

Every day after the fishing the party began. Lots of beer, lots of big stories and lots of laughs.
New friends were made.
At the closing of the tournament the balance was made up; Alpha Lime ended 5th. Blue Magic somewhere in the twenties. Since then, every time I ran into Barry, Rusty or Anaconda, I was reminded on boarding the wrong boat. Big smiles again and again lots of beers and the story of the Blue on the 30. (If you run into Barry, asked what the reel sounded as the Blue emptied it.)

Later that week we fished the FAD’s on Barry’s boat. Some nice Wahoo and the odd Dophin.
I went night banking with Sean on Blue Magic. We fished from half past six till about eleven on a reef in front of the Hilton. Using a spinning rod and live bait I managed to catch 4 Jacks into 10 – 20 pound range. A few yellowtail snapper, two red snappers and a lot of grunts. I got bitten of a dozen times, hooked a shark that I couldn’t get near the boat and surfaced a 40 pound stingray on a 20 pound outfit.
Without hesitation I can recommend this kind of fishing to everyone. European anglers are familiar with this kind of (bottom) fishing and can out fish the locals who are more into hand lines and trolling.

On our last day I fished, again with Barry St George on the south side of Tobago in the shallows. Accompanied by Anthony Chierro, a lawyer from Trinidad, who I meet at the tournament. While Tobago in early morning was battered by heavy rains, we trolled between Tobago and Trinidad. Catching small kingfish, amberjack and barracuda on Rapala’s. In my tackle box there was a Magnum 18 Gold fluorescent, never been fished before. After trolling it for less then five minutes it hooked a good fish. The fish gave a good fight and it took me a while to get it near the boat. Weighing over 25 pounds this was a very nice Kingfish. Guess where the lure is now…… right in Barry’s boat!!
At ten we left the fishing area and closed our fishing adventures on the deck of Anthony’s 42ft Bertam, luxury fishing vessel, with a couple of beers, some nice food and beautiful women.

So, if you like fishing. You like to go for the big ones. You like to fish on a professional game boat; take a look at [broken link removed] Sean Berkeley is your man. Call him at (868) 680-1557.
He handles reasonable rates and is always willing to help getting additional people on the boat to share the costs.
Looking for some relaxed fishing action, nice diving, a bit of liming and good company; take a look at http://www.sublimescuba.com You can get hold of Barry by calling (868)-682-8096.
Guys like Rusty and Anaconda you’ll meet at Mt. Irvine beach facilities. Just ask for them.

Hope you enjoy Tobago, the people, the fishing, as much as we do……

Toine & Lia van Ierland
The Netherlands

[Kevin Hampson]

Hi Tonie and Lia,

I recognise most of the fish but what’s a dophin? I take it it's not a dyslectic dolphin trying to take itself out of the gene pool by throwing it self at fishing lures.

Regards
Kevin

PS congratulations on some great fishing and a good report.

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Toine & Lia

Thanks for that wonderful report. I'm sure that Steve Pitts will have some comments when he catches up with it.

How did Frothy de Silva and Hard Play do in the competition? I had some rather fraught correspondence with Froth and his wife a few month ago because I haven't publicly recognised them as the best and only real players in the local game fishing scene. I'd therefore be fascinated to know how he did.

[Toine & Lia]

Hi Steve,

I personally don’t know Frothy. On board Blue Magic I met one of his skippers, last year. Great guy, good tattoos (Blue Marlin left, Sailfish right). You’ll find Frothy’s name and his boats in some brochures of travel organisations who specialize in big game trips. As a member of IGFA, and being president of the Tobago game fishing tournament the Da Silva name is read all around the globe by (tournament) big game anglers. That doesn’t mean Hardplay is the only Tobago based professional big game fishing business. Hardplay is, the most written about, fishing business. Several people who do there own research and their own bookings referring to boats and skippers do also board Tobago boats like Super Cool, Blue Magic, Dream Catcher II. OK, they can’t always compete with the top of bill equipment aboard the Hardplay boats, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t as good (or even better) in getting big fish next to the boat. Maybe I am stubborn but I like people and businesses that don’t tell about their self that the are so good.
Back to the tournament.
Like most Tobago boats the Hard Play boats didn’t make the top ten. Winner of the tournament was ms Braveheart. Runner up was Jesse James, both Trini boats. With Alpha Lime in 5th place, being the first Tobago boat, Barry achieved a good result. Tournaments are won by the number and size of Marlin you catch. Knowing that in three days fishing with about 26 boats, 7 Marlin are tagged and released, it’s hard to get a the top five positions. Braveheart caught three of them.
So, Steve, you can see that having three boats in the competition, good charter boat captains, some of the best available gear and a big name, doesn’t mean you’re the best.

Regards,
Toine & Lia van Ierland

PS; The FAQ-section in the fishing department by Steve Pitts is outstanding. If you can’t catch a fish on Tobago now, you never will!

[Kevin Hampson]

Hi Tonine & Lia.
I think I've found out what a Dophin looks like large head, tapering body with a dorsal fin running from the head to the tail, blue green in colour.

Looks like a deep water fish I've not seen one while diving. Out of interest how big do they get??

Saw a Marlin once scared the Sh8 out of me god it was quick.

Regards
Kevin

[Toine & Lia]

Hi Kevin,

The dophin is the mother of all dolphin. It is an enormous fish that lives in the deep. Every bull (male dolphin) visits her at least once in a liftetime. But not anymore......I caught it.
Dolphin are the fastest growing fish in the seas. Bulls can grow about 2 metres in length weiging max. 70 pounds.
Around Tobago the average size is between 10 - 45 pound. Biggest fish in the tournament was 44 pound.

I never encountered a dolphin while diving (they are surface hunters). You can be lucky and find some while boating. Spreading a bait trail and snorkel in it.

Greetz
Toine

[Steve Pitts]

HI Toine

Thanks for the comprehensive update of your partisipation in the tourament.

I was on Tobago during the competition and watched the weight-in a couple of days. Shame that we didn't meet.

I fished the beaches most mornings at dawn and again at dusk and the most abundant species appeared to be snook of up to 5kg.

A few crevalle jacks and baby tarpon on fly gear also livened up the action, but on the whole this was the slowest I've known it.

I wonder if you can help?

I'm putting together a film on fishing in the Caribbean, which will feature our experiences around Tobago. I have some good footage of the run-up to a blue marlin strike, but the fish wasn't hooked, so I'm missing the real action shots of playing a blue, tagging and release etc.
I would really love to include this species, but without the essential action, the existing footage is bit of an anti-climax.

Do you have any digital video of blue marlin, or do you know of anyone who has some film and who might be willing to let me include it in our film?
I'll give full credit to anyone who can provide such footage and will also give a couple of copies of the completed film (DVD) which should be finished and available by late summer. I'll cover any costs involved in sending tapes to me and will of course return footage almost immediately, once captured, which should be less than 1 week turn-around.

I'd be eternally greatful if anyone could offer assistance with this request.

Here's hoping someone out there can help.

Regards
Steve

[Toine & Lia]

Hi Steve,

It ’s a shame that we didn’t meet in Charlotteville. It was only a bit crowded. Maybe on a next occasion.
I don’t have any footage of the catch and release of a blue Marlin. But, I know for sure that Sean Berkeley or his buddy Albert Barthu (a tackle shop owner in Trinidad) have got it on film. The film was made a week prior to our visit. The only problem now is to get hold of it.
Seems to me that calling Sean directly can help.

For the shore fishing. We fished one morning the beach behind The Tropikist down to Sandy point. The sea was full of blue runners hammering down on the groups of baitfish. We tried everything possible. We had two fly fishermen accompanying us, they also tried every possible fly without success. The view was great. That’s the only thing we caught that morning.
We didn’t encounter any Snooks. Maybe we were in the wrong places.

So, hope you get lucky with Sean.

Regards,
Toine & Lia van Ierland

[Steve Pitts]

Hi Toine

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of Sean.
It would be great if he is willing to let me use the footage.

I don't suppose you have contact details for him do you?

Regards
Steve

[Toine & Lia]

Hi Steve,

Look at the top of this topic. There you can find his phone number. You can't get hold of him by email our through his website, due to some technical problems.

I already talked to him, this weekend, and his is willing to help you out.
Sean Berkeley (868) 680-1557.

Regards,
Toine

[Steve Pitts]

Thanks a million Toine

I'll try to establish contact with Sean sometime this coming weekend.

Tight lines
Steve

[Steve Pitts]

I notice that this topic has had over 500 hits and feel it appropriate to inform myTobago readers that sadly, Sean Berkley was involved in a fatal car crash before I had the opportunity to speak with him.

I'm sure that anyone who fished with Sean, or for that matter has visited the island for it's wonderful fishing, will join me in expressing our deepest condolences to Sean's family and friends.

Steve