myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Has anyone tried Chumming off the rocks or shore with chopped fish or similar to attract in the fish if so where did you get it from and what was the result? I have used it else where with some good success any feed back would be good Thanks in advance.

Regards Chris

Chris

Never tried it. It may work, although currents here are generally pretty weak and so the slick may not move very far. Most chumming I have seen is with crippled live bait, especially from boats - this certainly does work, although you need a lot of livebait to do this which is pretty impractical from the shore unless you can catch them right there. If I am fishing livebaits from the shore I will normally only take 10-20 in eahc bucket, otherwise they are likely to be dead on arrival, notwthstanding air pumps etc.

Otherwise, there's plenty of flying fish around at the moment which will make good chum if you want to give it a try. I think most of the fish co-ops are landing flying fish at the moment - I have certainly seen a lot at Mt Irvine and Castara in the past few weeks.

Steve

Hi Steve

Thanks for that Steve, what are Co-ops? Is bait readily available? Can you buy live bait from anywhere on the island or is it best to catch your own? Can you buy bait (dead) anywhere? (this is like 20 questions I know but so much to learn so I can be prepared ) .Where we fished in the Keys we used chum, some days it worked realy well, others not at all. I would have thought if I can get access to some reasonably deep water it should work on the out going tide, which is when it works well in the keys ( I have lots of empty reel as proof, usually huge sharks) Is there any where on the island where you can fish off rocks into deep water? getting back to the subject of bait is a casting net any use there? Or am I better off catching with a rod and line? Usually I catch pin fish and blue runners if we are realy strugling we will use grunts! Look forward to your comments.

Regards Chris Sykes

Chris,co-op is as it is here a co-operative of fishermen so that they all market and sell at the same price,they have communal chillers,ice supplies and processing facilities.Most of the fishing villages have a co-op now-----you can't miss them they are also the centre of the village for liming!!!For bait etc.,simply as any of the fishermen and they will help you--in fact make friends and you will find your self invited to go out with them
Enjoy,David

Chris

Re livebait, the fishermen tend to use "sprats" (small sivery things about 3 inches long) which are readily (!) caught using cast nets. I tend to cacth my livebait down at the port (which usually has a good supply) although these tend to be yellow beaks which are not to be as hardy as the sprats. It is one thing to be able to cast a net, quite another to find some baitfish. They have been very scarce round Pigeon Point the last few months and a lot of the good rock marks don't necessarily have many.

It may be possible to pay a fisherman to catch some for you - they make it look so easy, but you then need to be able to keep them alive ntil you want to fish. Otherwise I can probably lend you buckets, battery air pumps and cast net if you want.

Steve Ellis who was here last week recommended trying a sibiki rig (mini mackerel feathers) to catch baitfish. You just bump this up and down on the bottom and in theory the baitfish hook themselves. I think this would work well at most deep water venues. I hope to give it a try at the port in the next couple of days. Having looked on the web, sibiki fishing is a whole art in itself.

If you want some deepwater rock marks for chumming, the one's I know of at this end of the island are along from Canoe Bay (need calm weather), Back Bay and Black Rock.

Steve H

Thankyou very much David and Steve .What is Liminig?
I have used Sabiki rigs before and they do work some times especially in a chum line. I do however find that a single baited no:16 or 14 hook float fished as you would in freshwater here for roach etc. is very good again especially in a chum line (barbless hooks are better so releasing the fish is easier but do not give any slack what so ever in the water or they are gone Very tiny slithers of squid work well as it is long lasting (on a barbed hook though) Where is the port? please let me know how you get on with the Sabiki Steve it will be interesting. If they do not work try baiting them as i said with thin slither of squid(there is nothing like real flesh) Are Canoe ,Back bay and Black Rock marked on the maps ? As I read more and more on here I am getting more and more excited, I am going trouting at Draycott on Wednesday and somehow I am not quite as enthusiastic as would normally be cant think why though Perhaps it is the weather or perhaps it is the quarry I do not think I will get spooled there!

Thanks Chris

Chris

Liming - my online dictionary gave the following definitions:

Main Entry: lime
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): limed; lim·ing
1 : to smear with a sticky substance (as birdlime)
2 : to entangle with or as if with birdlime
3 : to treat or cover with lime <lime the lawn in the spring>

You'll be pleased to know that Caribbean style liming has nothing to do with any of these! It basically means hanging out, on a street corner or verandah, preferably with a bottle of beer in your hand. I'm sure others can provide more succinct definitions! In fact my fishing is a bit like liming except it involves a fishing rod and a rock instead.

Thanks for the advice on sabiki - I'll let you know what happens.

I can give you directions to all the different places once you're over. Just give me a call. If you don't already have my number send me an email.

Maybe there would be some value in starting a location based guide to fishing in Tobago - a bit like the restaurant guide but for fish! I'll try this on Steve P when he's over

Steve H

Chris Sykes wrote:What is Liming?

Chris

As they used to say in the 70's TV program Kung Fu - 'You have much to learn Grasshopper'.

Liming is a social art form in Tobago.
Hanging out, usually in the evening, or sitting under the shade of a tree during the day (almost every tree has it's own limin' bench) with friends or aquaintances, chatting, joking, watching the world passing by - Jus' chillin' as my two 20-year old kids would say. See the photo at http://www.mytobago.info/photos/insuran ... rebay3.htm for a good example of this not-so-strenuous activity.

Quite often an unsurpassed view is associated with the pastime too, but then that is almost a given anywhere on Tobago.

I think you're right about Draycot - it will never be the same again.

Cheers
Steve

Steve I shall look forward to learning how to lime can you reach the sea as well if so I will have found heaven

Thanks Chris