myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Posted the wrong picture!

That's a jack - of course.

Hopefully - this is a freshwater mullet

Steve P

Sorry I missed you when I visited Tobago, my fault entirly. too much haste and very little speed springs to mind. Still enjoying reading all the reports and questions that arise.
Did have a very enjoyable few hours fishing with Captain Frothy on the flats for Bone Fish in Canoe Bay area. Did not catch a Bone Fish however I actually saw them tailing which was an amazing sight. Well worth the money.
When you return from Tobago and you fancy a few hours out on the Bristol Channel as I live only a few miles away from you maybe we could meet up. Then I could buy you a breakfast that I owe you and discuss where I went wrong.

Tight Lines

Nick T

PS You are right fishing in Tobago is far more peaceful, safer and enjoyable than trying to fish in the Regents Canal in London. But that is fishing and I have to wet a line wherever I am in the world. N

Not been doing much fishing the last few weeks. A couple of blanks at Jack Bay with poppers - on the way home popped in at Plymouth Pier - saw a lot of bait and one or two tarpon but didn't fish; also a lot of mullet (1lb upwards) close in by Courland river. Had an explore around Kilgwyn - fished the flats for half an hour or so and had a couple of chases from barracuda on poppers , also watched a bonefish swim past about 6ft away in 6 inches of water. Popped down to Sandy Point first thing this morning with some livebait (small jacks). There were a lot of medium sized tarpon (20-30lb) around visible from 20-100yds out. With a float I could just about get 30 yards out - finally got a take with my last bait but after a 30 yard run and big leap the fish shed the hook. Nevermind, looks like the tarpon are coming on strong now at SP so I'll be back (with more livebait).

Steve H

At last a tarpon off the beach - well almost!

Had another early morning session down at Sandy Point today. When I arrived at 5am there were already some tarpon splashing about 30 yards out along towards the oil terminal. Lobbed out a small jack beneath a weighted float. Second cast the float went shooting off (I could just about see it in the early light). I wound into the fish which shot off 20-30 yards clutch screaming and then leapt. Fortunately the hook stayed in and off it went again. After a few more runs and leaps the fish was quickly tiring and within 10 minutes it was flapping in the surf. The fish was only about 20 pounds, but proving hard to get in against the undertow. Time to tighten up the drag and beach it on a big wave. Wave duly came, fish makes one last desperate attempt to escape, leader knot parts company - goodbye fish. If anyone has advice on landing big fish in the surf on your own, please let me know!

As the light came up the fish moved further offshore (about 50-60 yards). They were still just about within range but no more bites forthcoming. This may have been because the fish went off the feed over high tide (around 7am today - the locals generally think SP fishes best on rising or falling tide which keeps the bait on the move) although most of my livebait were smallish sprats and may not have been swimming naturally enough to tempt tarpon (they seem pretty fussy about natural presentation).

Steve H

Steve,

Well done on the (almost) tarpon! I'm sure u'll have another chance! Can't wait to come out there and see whats happening over on the plymouth side. I'll send you an e-mail nearer the time and organise a time to meet up hopefully. It seems that both you and steve pitts have both had problems with leader knots and tarpon. Which knot are you using?

As for landing them...a surf board to surf them in on...maybe thats the answer! Then there's the difficulty of getting them to jump onto it...

Matt

I assume that they're using bimini knots, which I haven't learnt to tie yet, i'll try and find a link to a schematic and post it on here.

I've still got 5 months to wait, I'm very jealous.

Okay i've tried to educate myself on the bimini knot but i can't understand the advantages and uses of it...maybe one of you residents would care to enlighten me? Cheers!
Matt

Hi Matt

I never forgive myself if my knots come undone, but my losses of tarpon are mostly down to -

No 1. Fish throwing the hook - they are notoriously hard to hook and stay attached to. I have had a better a hook-up ratio on circle hooks, but loses, especially when they jump are just parr for the course and entertaining in its own way.

No 2. line wear - I always use a 3 - 4 foot (1metre) mono trace of 40lb plus breaking strain, as the rasping jaws of a tarpon will wear through thinner line. If you can tie good knots in 100lb mono, then this is what serious tarpon hunters the world over prefer.

I double the last 1.5 metres of my 30lb braid with a bimini and join the mono leader to this with either a loop to loop connection (tie a double surgeon's loop in the end of the leader) or an Albright knot for fail-safe security, especially with the 100lb mono.

As I mentioned in my recent fishing diary, it pays to re-tie your Bimini (or remove the last couple of metres of braid) each day, if you fish with lures on a recular basis. All that casting with big lures and / or playing big fish puts a lot of wear and tear on the last metre or so of line and the damage isn't always as apparent with braid, as it is with mono.

I think that learning to tie a bimini is well worth the effort and once you have the knack it should be possible to tie one in less than a minute. It does give you just an extra bit of insurance and is considered standard proceedure in most big-game fishng situations.

By the way, a Bimini tied in 30lb braid is almost un-detectable as it goes through the rod guides and if tied properly is 100% as strong as the line.

You have five months ..... starting from NOW!

Cheers
Steve

Matt

When you've learned to tie a bimini you'd better show me how!

I have always just used a simple leader knot - this is the first time it has broken on me. Like Steve P, I normally cut off the first few feet of line after every use.

There was a fair amount of pressure on the knot when it bust, but not as much as it should have been able to take. It may have been a nick in the braid near the joint.

Anyway, I'm still looking for advice on getting big fish out of the surf (apart from taking along a buddy in my tackle bag).

Steve H

Ok thanks to both steve's for the info! As for being able to tie one...yeah i wish! I have about 5 weeks to learn though. I found the following link helpful though steve...

http://www.fintalk.com/fishing-knots/bimini-twist.html

Hope it helps...and see you soon (ish)

Matt

Early morning trip to Jack Bay on Monday, but again, no sign of any jacks. there were a few baitfish being picked off by terns, but nothing much else doing. Popped in to Plymouth Pier on the way home. There were a few tarpon up to 50lb or so chasing bait close in to the shore on the Turtle Beach side of the pier. This area is pretty much clear of obstructions and gives a good chance of landing a fish, if you hook one. So...., this morning I had a crack at the tarpon with live bait. Again there were a few fish in the same spot as Monday (only about 20 yards off the beach) but I couldn't tempt them with my smallish sprats. By 6am the tarpon had moved off (possibly because of slack water (low tide around 7am this morning). Oh well, keep trying.... Maybe when the Courland River starts flowing there will be a few more fish in there..

Steve H

Hi steve,

Thanks for the report over in what will (soon) be my neck of the woods! Exams before then though You'll have to let me know how your other efforts go...is the river flowing well yet? Best of luck!

Matt

Thanks for the up-date from me too Steve

I have done very little fishing since returning (one small bass from the Purbecks) and it's always the same when I come home.

Either I'm all fished out, or the lack of tarpon, jacks and bonefish might have something to do with it. I'm sure you'll find it hard to re-adjust when you come home!

Hope all is well with you and the family.

Cheers
Steve

Steve, Matt & all

Not much to report since last update. Landed a tiny tarpon (about 5lbs) from the beach on Saturday at Petit Trou - hardly pulled the string. Also fished at Grange Bay which was full of friars and diving birds but no signs of tarpon or anything else big.

Was back at Sandy Point this morning. A lot of bait and bird activity and quite a few tarpon finning all along the beach, mostly 50-60 yards out, but some closer in. Had one half take on a live sprat (which left the sprat characteristically squashed), but nothing to strike at.

Ran out of bait by around 6:30am - most fish had died overnight because of a powercut - one of the hazards of trying to keep fish alive out here!

Having fished the beach and packed up, I wandered along to the the first jetty. There were four or five 30-40lb fish finning their noses at me about 10 yards off the jetty while munching friars. Guess I was fishing in the wrong place!

I'll give it another crack on Friday!

Steve H

Steve

Have you tried baiting up any 'swims' with fish heads?

If the tarpon are that close in at SP, I reckon that they would soon find some baits in the edge.

I think that tactic is worth developing and is easier than f**ting about with livebaits. Have you still got that one you had when I was out in MAY?

Mike's out later next week, so I'm feeling a little envious, but already planning a trip in October (somewhere Xtra special)

Cheers
Steve

Steve

I haven't tried fish heads - the flyingfish season has finished here now, but you're right that it's probably an easier way to catch tarpon. I think even chumming with small amounts of dead livebait serves to attract tarpon in close. I'll maybe pop into the processing plant at Gibson's and see what they have to offer.

That said, catching livebait down at port is a pleasant way to spend an hour in the late afternoon.

Steve H

Steve (H),

Thanks for the update again! It's keeping me going through work and i can't wait to get out there. Down to just over 3 weeks to go and counting! Still got to get my hands on some leader mono but with not living near the sea i think i'm going to have to resort to mail order

From your posts there seem to be a fair few tarpon around..i can't wait! I hope the rains start to raise the level of the courland river...and bring some big fish in close. If you need anything before i leave just give me an e-mail...flying the morning of the 27th.

Looking forward to the next update,

Matt

Another morning session at Sandy Point fishing with Marc Bevan. I've never seen so many tarpon there, pretty much continually busting friars. We fished off the first jetty and pretty much saw fish finning all the time between 10 -50 yards out with most fish looking to be 30-50lb. Alas another power cut had decimated my livebait supply - only had about 8 live fish by the time we got to the beach. The tarpon seemed pretty preoccupied by the friars and regularly swam past our sprats. Marc then got a good bite but the fish didn't hook up. By 6:30am things had slowed down and we'd run out of bait. I tried various lures and poppers all of which were studiously ignored.

Next time, next time....


Steve H

PS - Matt don't worry about leader mono - that's one of the few things that you can get very easily over here.

Back at Plymouth this morning with Marc and his wife Claire. Arrived at the jetty at 5:15am to be greeted by tarpon leaping close in between the pier and the rocks. Marc started using the (few) livebait I had caught earlier at the Port, while I trundled off with the cast net to try to catch some more off the end of the jetty.

The large shoal of bait (friars) on which the tarpon were feeding moved under the jetty and into the open water to the left . This was good as it meant that there was a reasonable chance of landing a fish if we hooked one. The fish we saw were all pretty much in the 15-50lb range with fish surfacing probably every minute with near continual surface bait activity.

Marc and Claire continued to fish while I managed to catch a few more livebait (mostly small herring). There were lots of tarpon surfacing and crashing amongst the friars, but there was not much point fishing amongst such dense shoals of baitfish (visibility must have been all of 1cm). We concentrated on fishing around the edge of the shoal and probably had 6 or 7 good bites over 2 hours of fishing. This is the most bites we've had from a shore session. Alas, none of the fish hooked up - these Plymouth fish must be wily tail grabbers - and we all got soaked in some heavy downpours.

Nevermind, we'll be back......

Stephen

URGENT - You won first place in our Competition last month. You might want to contact me urgently (click the email button below) so that you can claim your prize while on the island.

Well done!