myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Hi all. First time for me.

Does anyone have any current info on the fly fishing prospects for the island.

Going for the first time on the 14th May and although I've devoured all the available info on site (and thankfully there is a lot of it) not that much is up to date. In fact posts on fishing generally seem to have dried up.

Is there a reason for that?

Any help greatly appreciated.

Mick

Hello Mick

Welcome aboard!

It is very disappointing that activity in this sub-forum has largely dried up. I don't think there is any reason related to fishing on the island; simply that life moves on the main posters who kept this forum active have 'moved on', so to speak.

Still here from time to time but haven't visited the island for four years now Steve.

Other places to visit and fish but Tobago still is my favourite fishing destination.

Hi Mick
Tobago has never been an easy fly fishing destination but if you prepared to put some time in there are several beaches and flats which will produce snook, bonefish, small tarpon, snapper and lady fish.

Larger tarpon are also present but the prospect of landing one on fly gear is frankly a daunting thought. Even on heavy spinning gear anything over 10 kilos would be very hard to get onto the beach through the surf.

The same story with jacks as the average size that we have caught over the years has been around the 6 to 8 kilo mark and they are just too strong to tackle with fly gear at that size assuming they come close enough to pitch a fly at. Mostly when spinning they come within casting range but often they are just that bit further out - Sod's law

Early morning offer good chances of snook close in on many surf beaches. Although we have had them to over 8 kilos they are nowhere near as brutal as jacks so you would stand a good chance of landing one on a good 8 to 10 wt saltwater fly rod.

Bonefish can be found very early in the morning at Pigeon Point between the entrance to the estate and the pier. As soon as the sun gets up they tend to move off though.

Snapper can be good fun on the fly rod and can be found anywhere where there is structure like rocks, pilings and mangroves.

There are a couple of very localised spots where you can find permit on incoming tides over wave-washed coral rubble but you would need a boat to get to these. Not sure if there are still kayaks to be rented but this would be a good option if available to get to these offshore spots.

Hope this helps and please let us know how you get on

Cheers
Steve

Hello Steve

Welcome back!!!!

Great to hear from you and delighted to hear that Tobago is still in your mind. I hope that you are both well? Hopefully we will bump into you again sometime in the future - hopefully on Tobago.

Hi Steve
We so nearly returned to Tobago in March but ended up in Antigua - no we didn't get on the wrong plane

Fishing was on the agenda and as much as we rate Tobago we do like to try new places and much of what we have learned about the fishing around Tobago is transferable to other tropical locations.

Much of Antigua was as we remember Tobago around 15 years ago so a trip back in time almost.

Lyn and I will get back to Tobago I have no doubt and it would be nice to catch up with you if we are out at the same time.

Best wishes

Steve

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the in depth reply, sounds like I'll have my work cut out. Still, nothing ventured......

I'll certainly report back how it goes.

Cheers,

Mick

Hi,
Just a brief report back as promised. Brief because I didn't catch much. Although in mitigation I'd just like to say that this wasn't a fishing holiday, I had a non angling wife to consider also.

You definitely learn from your mistakes and the biggest I made was to take only fly fishing gear and no lure rod. I found that the areas you could fly fish were limited without the knowledge of someone who knows the island well.

My intention from the start was to contact Kester Herbert and book a trip with him early on. Unfortunately when we arrived he was taking part in a fishing competition at the other end of the island, and apparently these things last three or four days.

I did manage two trips out with Kester later on in our stay. The first from the boat after tarpon using Kesters 12 weight ( I only took a #9 ) another mistake. I have to say it's not the easiest thing, standing in a rocking boat trying to cast a rod that's strange to you, loaded with a fairly heavy intermediate line and a four inch gummy minnow. But I loved it.

We tried three or four different locations starting in Buccoo Bay where I caught a small jack, and there was plenty of activity in all except Plymouth Bay which seemed lifeless. We returned to either Mt Irvine Bay or Stonehaven ( not sure which ) but there were spear fisherman active there and not surprisingly they unsettle the shoals. Kester said that the underwater twang as the gun is fired spooks them too. We did see some large jacks boil really close to the boat but I couldn't get the rod into action quickly enough and they were gone in a flash. Back in Buccoo Bay for a last try and a take from a barracuda proceeded to chomp the gummy minnow in half and on the next cast remove the zonker tail from a brand new 3/0 black death of Kesters. Whoops. Time to go.

The second trip with Kester was the ultimate for me. Anchor up the boat on the Buccoo Flats and then wade about stalking Bonefish.

You definitely need a guide for this, we frequently ended up what seemed like miles from the boat and at one point were standing backs to the wind like a couple of statues during a twenty minute rainstorm. Me praying like hell that there wouldn't be any lightening. Amazing how quickly it clears though.

We saw plenty of bonefish ( I should say Kester saw plenty ) I only saw them once he'd pointed them out.

Kester constantly changed flies depending on the depth of water and eventually I hooked one. My first ever. What an experience, I could get really addicted to this. After three scorching runs I got it back fairly close to me and the bloody hook fell out. Arghh.
About an hour later I hooked another one and this fight didn't last long. On the initial turbo charged run the loose fly line wrapped around the reel and the inevitable ping ensured. Gutting but not as much as the first one. It's over a week later now and I'm still pumped up about it. I cant wait to get back.

As you've probably gathered I'd wholeheartedly recommend Kester Herbet to anyone thinking of fishing the island.


Mick

That sounds exciting Mick

Thanks for posting up your report - I did say it wasn't easy