Cuban Bonefishing

We came to fish for Cuba's southern shore Grand Slam--a Bonefish, a Tarpon, and a Permit.   My best three chances for Permit were the first day, (first cast, no less), the third day, and the last. Cody's best chances for Permit were also the third day, where they actively nosed on our fly and followed it, on more than one occasion, before deciding, "an Avalon Fly, meh--why bother?"and turned off quickly. I won't build any anticipation; no one caught any Permit, but we chased them.

As the first and last days of the trip are spent boating five hours
from-and-to the port town of Jucaro, fishing those days are half-days.  So our first day was an evening spent Bonefishing on some of the calmest flats I have ever experienced.  Tailwaters' original logo sported a freshwater trout and tailing Bonefish.  Until 20 June 2015, I had never seen tailing Bones as depicted on their first brand; it was something to see.

The Bonefish were everywhere--solo, clusters of four and five, large schools--just milling about for those small crustaceans.  Keko (pronounced KAY-kō), our guide for the trip, selected a tan patterned Gotcha, and it was BonefishOn! for two hours.  We got our sea legs, our casting, our sighting set for the trip that first evening, which helped establish what would be some great fishing.

Two days, we caught Bonefish early, so we could move on to the Tarpon and Permit for the 

Grand Slam.  I also wanted to catch a small Lemon Shark, about 3 feet/1 meter, and Barracuda.  The Bonefish splash and make such long runs, that they attract sharks and 'cudas quite often.  So, some mornings, we caught Bones to tease in their predators (none were ever sacrificed or hurt).  Other mornings, we caught Bones just to catch Bones--on the flats, in the mangroves, incoming tides, outgoing tides, we just caught beautiful Bonefish.

I haven't been to Los Roques, Venezuela for Bonefishing, but I have been to Belize and Hawai'i, and I think that the Cuban Bonefish are some of the Western Hemisphere's best Bonefish.

Jardines De La Reina, Cuba

Long before December 2014 when political relations with Cuba became more relaxed, Cody and I spent 16 months of planning with Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co., worrying about visas, deciding from which country we would disembark to enter Cuba, buying airline tickets, how many extra nights--if any--we would stay in Cuba sightseeing, and how to accurately pack for a 10-day trip to a country that had been off-limits to Americans for 60 years.

Back Row L-R:  Jeronimo, Camilo, John, Dick, Will, Brad, Bill
Front Row L-R:  Ron, Meredith, me, Cody, Juan

Jucaro

Avalon II with the Tortuga in the background

After arriving in Havana on 19 June, our group of 12 anglers awoke early Saturday morning for a five hour bus ride (tour bus) south and east of Havana along Highway 1 to the port town Jucaro.  Upon arrival, we off-loaded the bus and boarded our live-aboard ship, Avalon II.  Our passports were checked, luggage loaded, and we settled in for a five hour boat ride to our fishing destination, Cayo Anclitas in the Jardines De La Reina, a Caribbean Sea, mangrove islands archipelago laying east of the Pickle Banks and north of the Cayman Trench. Other ships in the Avalon Group stay anchored and operate as both a fishing and
diving center.

As slow-growing as mangroves are, the archipelago consists almost entirely of mangroves.  Despite some mangrove destruction due to Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the islands were abundantly teeming with wildlife--Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Great Egrets, Iguanas, Hutias, a tree rat that looks more like a beaver with marsupial forelegs, and a rich, healthy sea life, including sea crocodiles, and miles of turtle-grass flats and coral reefs.  Certainly, this fly fishing destination was unlike any to which I had previously traveled.