By Steve Pitts
Having won a prize in the 2005 myTobago competition, my choice focused on the offer of a fishing trip with King David Tours of Castara.
Our departure was arranged for 08:00 on Sunday morning and after a pleasant drive along the Northside road, we descended the last precipitous kilometre into the village and met (King) David Williams, on the beach, below the fisherman’s co-op, on Castara’s main beach.
David’s boat was waiting with one of his crew members, just a little way offshore and as we ferried our fishing tackle and swimming gear from the car to the water’s edge, the boat was backed up to the shore and we clambered aboard.
I was impressed by both the lay out and the overall condition of the boat – it was spotlessly clean and looked to be very well maintained.
King David Tours – a very well prepared fishing boat.
In practical terms, for fishing, the boat has a flat and anti-slip flooring and comfortable seating for four people, with a centre console steering position, which allows the skipper to keep an eye on the anglers and ensure the safety of those onboard. The gunwales have four rod holders for trolling, if you don’t want to hold your rod and the mid-ship section of the boat is covered by a sun-shield Bimini top.
A 75hp Mercury Saltwater pushes it along at a fair lick in calm conditions and it was reassuring to find a full inventory of safety equipment, including VHF radio on board.
For this reason alone, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend King David Tours for a family fishing trip, or coastal tour.
As we headed out of Castara bay, along the coast toward the Sisters rocks, we chatted about the fishing prospects and we aquainted ourselves with each others working and fishing backgrounds.
Although I had brought a selection of fishing rods and reels with me, David had already set up two sets of trolling gear – PENN Tuna Sticks and Senator reels, loaded with 50lb line, wire traces and fitted with red-head Rapala CD plugs – one of my personal favourites and most successful catchers, so I was pleased to see that David was switched on to the hot lures and how to fish them correctly.
We also set a couple of handlines, baited with unweighted muppets (little plastic skirted lures, which look like small squid) and these skipped across the surface as they were trailed from the back of the boat, as we continued our journey out to the Sisters.
As we drew level with the lovely village of Parlatuvier, we were joined by a pod of dolphins - playing in the bow-wave and leaping through the wash of the outboard.
Parlatuvier Bay
We hooked 2 bonito on the handlines – just past Parlatuvier Bay and I soon learned that playing these little tuna on a handline is an acquired skill – one which the local fishermen make look easy.
We reached the craggy outcrops, known as the Sisters, with its thriving sea bird colonies and which lie around half a kilometre off of Tobago’s coast and we joined several fishermen from Charlotteville, Parlatuvier and Castara, most of whom were also trolling muppets, whilst a couple of hardy souls were anchored up in the tide rips, using livebait and chumming with handfuls of baitfish, which the resident laughing gulls, frigates and terns were adept at catching in mid-air, before they hit the water.
David made about 20 passes on both sides of the Sisters and we had a further 12 small tuna – black fin and false albacore – all on the muppets – mostly my wife Lyn and I hooking fish at the same time. On the windward side of the rocks the sea was a tumult of swells and crashing waves, but the pirogue-style boat coped with the confused seas admirably, with David constantly adjusting the helm and engine revs, always on the look-out for rogue waves and assisting with the landing and unhooking of fish – we felt in very safe and experienced hands.
King David Williams at the helm
David told me, when I posed the question, that he grew up in Castara and was a fisherman, like his father - then was offered the chance to start his own business through sponsorship by two Canadian tourists. His tour business has grown in just a few years to cover not only fishing and coastal boat trips, to rain forest tours and general sightseeing too. His affable nature and typical Tobagonian manner will ensure that his clients enjoy his company – in both senses of the word.
After around an hour I asked David if we could fish for barracuda inshore and he jumped at the idea ‘What ever you want, we’ll do’ he eagerly replied.
We struck out in the direction of Bloody Bay, then slowly motored back along the densely wooded coastline and trolled back towards Englishman’s bay and had a small yellow fin tuna (5lb) on theRapala.
As we fished on past Castara, I set up a spinning rod and set about casting into the likely looking spots around the rocks. I hooked something and the rod yanked around (could have been a cuda, as there were teeth marks on the lure, but didn’t see it), but it came off after a couple of seconds and a brief tussle.
Lyn trolled with the Rapala and sunbathed on the front of the boat, whilst I continued to cast a Maria First into some really fishy looking territory, then another hard take resulted in – a lizard fish of around 1lb.
We trolled on into the afternoon and cast our way down past Celery Bay and past some very rugged coastline, with many small bays and rocky points.
The coastline between Castara and Celery bay
David explained that he intended to run tarpon fishing trips to this area later in the year and we discussed the tackle he would need to offer fly fishermen the possibility of landing one of these huge fish.
David put out a small tuna on a three-hook rig and skipped it across the surface behind the boat. No-one saw the take, but the signs were that he had a strike from a crafty barracuda, which chopped the tail end of the fish off, just behind the rear hook.
barracuda snack
I was conscious that it was a Sunday and Mothers day too, so suggested that we call it a day, even though David was happy to carry on fishing for barracuda. As we turned back towards Castara we saw a flock of magnificent frigate birds circling and swooping over the sea – always a good indicator that baitfish are being pursued by larger fish.
As we arrived at the scene, I instantly had a hook-up and enjoyed a very spirited fight from a feisty bar jack of around 4lb, which was unhooked and returned. Total tally – 15 small tuna – 1 lizardfish and a bar jack, which put up a good scrap on the spinning rod.
We were greeted on the beach by several of the local fishermen and the catch was taken up to the co-op to be cleaned and gutted.
Catch of the day
I always prefer to offer the fish to the boat owner, so we declined to take a share of the catch. A number of people eagerly, bought the fresh-caught fish for supper and we thanked our host for his generous donation of the myTobago competition prize and for making it a very enjoyable day, and for his excellent company. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time during the rest of our stay to take David up on his offer of another trip for barracuda later in the week – but we’ll be sure to make time during our next visit and would highly recommend that you do too.