Hi Joe,
Just came back home to Trinidad after spending the last three days fishing in Tobago so I can give you an up to date report as to the happenings fishwise:) By the way I fish primarily spinning tackle in Tobago.
The jacks and tarpon can be found at Sandy Point and Grange Bay or the Wall as Steve put it. Huge tarpon are also to be found at Plymouth jetty but I believe the jetty is closed for some reason.
The tarpon and snook reside at Sandy Point and Grange for most of the day and the jacks pass by swiftly and stay only for minutes at a time. There are lots of terns and pelicans but way too much baitfish at both places. When there are too many baitfish its difficult to get strikes on lures that have a chance of bringing in the fish. The lures that will get the strikes will sometimes not be strong enough to resist the pull and fight from these predators. I have lost numerous treble hooks on yo-zuri mag and crystal minnows this way. I have also been spooled by tarpon and jacks in Sandy Point where the fish tore off 250 yards of 20lb Ande line from the reel and I had no choice but to cut the line or risk ending up with a damaged reel or rod.
I was lucky enough to get a few strikes this weekend and even hooked a huge snook in the surf. The tarpon are at both places throughout the day but as you may know the best times for these fish are early morning and late evening. It gets bright these days from around 5:25am so you will need to be there early. Another point to note is that if you are fly fishing, the beach at Sandy Point may be too rough for your liking especially at the change of tides. The best tides to fish these two areas as well are two hours before during and after the full tides. If you try any lower tides you may need to get in the water up to your chest or so in order to reach the fish who in low water go out to the shelf a little with the baitfish and the surf will be too rough as well. I have seen some huge tarpon in the 100lb range this weekend but was not able to land or hook any for that matter. I plan to return at the end of this month though since the fishing then is very good and the seas down here start to become calmer and calmer. I plan to spend a few weekends over there in the next few months so I will also try to provide updates of each visit to the readers on this forum. The calmest months are july August when you will think its a lake you are looking at with absolutely no waves especially on early mornings. Almost every beach on the Caribbean coast can then be fly fished on some of those mornings. Good luck and if you require any assistance or more info its no problem
