myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Joe Walker wrote: I had your DVD delivered yesterday from Veals!

That's it then Joe - you can't fail now

If you can find the time to look through the accompanying CD, there is bucket loads of info. relating to Tobago on there and some of the photos may give you some clues too.

If you email me at steve at pitts18 dot freeserve dot co dot uk I'll send you directions to a very good flat for bonefish and small tarpon which features in the film.

Cheers
Steve

Fantastic! I'll send that this evening when I get in.

Steve, email sent as requested!
Rgds
Joe

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

Hello Collins,

Thanks for the report. What part of Grange do you fish and what lures besides the crystal minnows do you use?

Thanks, Hugh

At Grange either end of the beach closer to the rocks are productive especially early mornings since the baitfish cling to structure during the night and are there until the sun rises when they then move out a little. Key to fishing these areas is to find the baitfish and cast close to them. Try not to run your lure through the school of bait since they tend to flee from the lure and breaks the school apart which sometimes I believe tends to alert wary tarpon etc. I have had a lot of success with the crystal minnows especially the blue/silver in the 4" size. I use Maria La Segunda if I am targetting larger fish though and these lures are very effective and cast further as well. I have not used much surface lures so I cannot attest to their effectiveness but Mr. Pitts can vouch for their reliability in this regard. When fishing for tarpon or snook a slower steady retireve is preferred with these lures as opposed to fishing for Jacks who prefer a very fast moving lure.

Thanks for that. I'm usually at the eastern end of the beach but probably not early enough. I'll have to pick up a few minnow lures too and then report back later.

Hugh

Yea you need to go early to get the big ones
These lures are pretty hard to come by on the island though but you may be able to get a few at the Mangrove Shop close to Pigeon Point. Are you in Tobago right now? If you are I would have left you with a few lures before I left on Wednesday, I fished Sandy Point on Wednesday morning but the fish were way out and too much bait too be productive. The Houndfish are really aggressive in Sandy Point too so thats another option

Well it sounds promising to me....if anything I'm going to have to be careful not to get my rod busted up, and the 300yards of backing on my fly reel sounds a better and better idea! I only have a handful of plugs but I will take them with my bass travel rod and have a bash. Is it possible to get plugs out there? If so, where from and are they expensive? I have a couple of large-ish poppers I picked up in florida, two rapala J13's, a couple of J11's and a crystal minnow. My reel has about 220yds of 30lb braid on it, and I'm taking 26lb knottable steel trace wire too. I want my focus to be flyfishing but can hardly ignore the other offerings!

Steve, did you get my email ok?

Joe,

It may be better to bring your plugs with you as they are hard to comeby on the island and not very many varieties when you do find any maybe one or two choices.

hmmm...think I'll need any more then? I'll need to make an emergency purchase before packing commences on Monday! Houndfish look like they could provide enormous fun on fly gear - do they take flies?

I'm still in cold California and can get those lures here, no problem. I arrive in Tobago June 21!

Joe- Yes they do take flies, not sure what patterns and stuff though.

Hugh S- June is great for fishing Tobago as well, its prime time for tarpon for sure.

Collin,

Two years ago I caught a couple of 50 + pound tarpon from a boat off the coast near Bloody Bay. 8 pound test with live jacks for bait. I look forward to the days when I can be in Tobago in the spring when the flying fish are in which means the tuna, dorado and billfish are around. We also caught some nice wahoo out of Speyside one winter.

Hugh

Hugh S
You should be in for some action when you arrive in June. Saw a lot of Dorados for sale on the roadside stands on the way up to Roxbourough on Tuesday which means they are plentiful as is normal. Flying fish are abundant at this time of year as well. When I go back at the end of this month I will be able to give you some better feedback since this time its going to be a fishing trip rather than work/fish.

We have been out in April and May the past couple of years, so I am feeling really 'home' sick.

You guys aren't making me feel any better either

Email, map and directions sent Joe - catch a couple for me!

Steve

Thanks Steve, as you say that's a really big barracuda. There's some of the same size or even bigger lurking around the mouth of Bon Accord Lagoon where the coral reef starts. It wasn't that acrobatic but extremely strong with long-long runs almost ripping my arm off. I had some smaller ones with nice acrobatic show and some even managed to get away. Anyway I've seen some of your huge tarpons you caught around Tobago. Some truly magnificent ones. I wish I could've encountered one of those during my stay.

Robert

Robert Tarjani wrote:There's some of the same size or even bigger lurking around the mouth of Bon Accord Lagoon where the coral reef starts.

This one was caught the other side of Buccoo reef, around towards Crown Point


Hayley is 5ft 2, so the fish was a tad under 5ft long.

Oookay...the final bit of the puzzle:

where do I get tide tables from for duration of my stay?

Hi Joe

Try: http://tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov/get_pr ... gh,+Tobago