myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

We had a great week in Tobago staying at the Arnos vale hotel, an interesting place with a very laid back atmosphere perfect for winding down. The place is a little bit run down which is part of the charm it is very quiet and off the beaten track a fair way from restaurants and shops so I would recommend a hire car if you stay there.
For the record we used Sheppy cannot recommend him highly enough.
If you are into birding then this is the place to stay we did two thirds of Tobago’s birds just sitting on our veranda. The staff are very friendly and helpful a nice team of people. The only downside was the food in the restaurant which was pricey, other than that we would stay there again.

Fishing
Did not get out for the first 2 days specially after frying my legs in the sun whilst snorkeling on the first day, looked like I had been wading in a nuclear reactor.
Anyway armed to the teeth with spinning rod and with more lures than you can wave a 10 foot Shimano at I headed for the beaches. Basically I fished most dawns and evenings working the beaches down from Plymouth to Mt Irvine and that included clambering onto the rocks at Blackrock. With hind sight I should have spent more time there as this gives access into deeper water plus the locals gave it the thumbs up.
Never really saw any bait fish activity during the week from the beach however did see Barracuda in the surf at Mt Irvine on the last morning but just could not connect with them. So the upshot, I managed to blank the whole week off the beaches.
I don’t know? It was an odd week with a full moon, tides did not seem ideal, got to lay the blame somewhere ha, ha.

Mid week I made contact with Steve Hull who organized a fishing morning at Petit Trou Lagoon with Chris and Anthony Sykes along with John Leballeur. We spent a pleasant couple of hours lure fishing with John catching a nice snapper and Anthony describing how easy it was to catch fish on the old mans rod.
Chris, I look forward to reading part two of your report. How did you get on at Englishmen’s bay later on in the day?

Steve also put me in touch with Rusty at Castara and a trip was duly organised for the Thursday. Thursday came and after my performance thus far I was going to catch fish “come hell or high water” Interesting saying that especially the last part. So I met with Rusty early morning and we headed off in his pirogue for the Five sisters rock which I could see in the distance every now and again especially on the crests of the waves! Yes, this was the only day of that week which had a 6-8 foot swell running. I believe the naval term for this condition is a “short sea” and it was not for the faint hearted especially when trolling into the wind but we caught fish, Tuna and Bonita. Myself on the Shimano and exotic lures from Japan and Rusty on two eighty meter lengths of 200lb mono baited with muppets, wrapped around each ankle! This man knows how to fish. For every one I caught he hauled in two. Well after filling the cold box, seeing a leather back turtle the size of a dinning room table, shed loads of flying fish plus meeting up with Rusty’s mum and dad who were out fishing too, we headed back to Castara. Rusty even did two circuits around Castara bay in case there was any King fish about.

Seriously though this was a most memorable day out, if you do not mind fishing without the comforts of home then contact Rusty at Castara he will work his rocks off to get you into fish.

So, thanks Steve Hull for all the phone calls and organization, I think you have a calling for this type of work. It was a shame we never got to meet up, enjoy the rest of your time on Tobago.

Chris are you still up for a day at Blagdon on the fly?

And finally yes we are already planning Tobago for next year.

Thanks
Monty

Monty

Rusty tells me there is currently a vacancy for a fisherman at Castara, but there could be quite a few guys from the UK applying! I don't know many people back home who's morning trip to the office involves a stroll through an exquisite village followed by a short swim in a tropical sea. And once in the office, the day jobs not bad either. There's something special about being on the sea in a small boat with nature all around.

While trips with the charter boats will normally catch you bigger fish, I don't think they match the experience of being out on a pirogue and they charge you a lot more for the privilege.



Steve H

Paul (Monty)

Glad you had a good time and are now hooked on Tobago.

It's a shame that the beaches didn't come good for you.
I realise that I probably give the impression that the fish fall over themselves to get to your lures, but in reality, we have fished hard for the success that we have had and a few dedicated trips, where we have fished from dawn 'till dusk for several days has upped our average considerably.

The best times ARE dawn and dusk, and if that's the only times that you can fish, due to family (or work???) committments, then at least you are fishing at the prime time. Good fish have also come during the day, from the shore, but in the more remote areas, away from boat traffic and swimming tourists.

Fishing with guys like Rusty really does give you a flavour of local life - not like the glamourous offshore charters, so I agree with Steve H on that score.

As romantic and idylic as it appears though, it's pretty tough and a 6 -8 foot swell is probably a breeze to a professional fisherman.
When we fished with Eldon last time, he was sure that there would be a few wahoo about and he used a large skirted lure on the end of a soft wire 'line'. This was basically a coil of a couple of hundred metres of fencing wire, with half-pound leads (to get the lure well down) positioned every 20 feet or so.

After paying out the line, he wrapped a couple of coils of wire around his big toe and trolled the lure like this for a couple of hours. Everyday stuff to Eldon, Owen and the Castara posse but frightening to think of what happens when a 50lb wahoo crashes the lure!

I think that when we are all back in the UK, we should have a bit of a get together - swap fishing tales and reminis about the ones that got away.

Fishing is never quite the same back home, but it passes the time in between the next Tobago adventure.

Cheers
Steve