Cuba
Mohitos, cigars, Hemingway AND some fantastic fishing! Could be described by one American word that we Norwegians do not learn in school: “AWESOME!!” You could try out several types of fishing here, but the big thing is saltwater flyfishing. Fishing from boats that are rather flat bottomed, and maneuvered by a strong local fishing guide with a looong pole. The boats have strong engines to take you from one area to the other. These guides are very professional, and are experts both in spotting fish and getting the boat in the right position for you to make a cast, always taking the wind into consideration.
There is a lot of action, but as for most kind of fishing also a lot of waiting and scouting for fish.
Any second you have to be alert to be casting for a school of fish, setting the hook, and working on getting out the lose line, getting ready for a tough fight.
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| Catching a Tarpon is catching something totally wild and crazy. It will most of the time go directly in the air, repeatedly, pulling out enough line to get you starting to worry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| If you are fishing close to land, the key is to avoid mangroves and roots. Easy to say …
Bonefish is another wild thing! Compared to its size, you could never expect a fish usually less than 5 pounds to threaten to empty your spool. It is REALLY wild! There is a lot of Bonefish in these waters. You could wade, but we preferred to chase them from the boat most of the time.
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| You COULD catch even more fish, but after a while a lot of the focus is targetting the “Grand Slam”, often starting with the most challenging, -the Permit. Cayo largo is definitely the place for this!
However, Permit is considered one of the most difficult fishes to catch on a fly, and you have to be smart and persevering to get one. In TeamMustadNorway on this trip, Asgeir succeeded, and raised to “Super Grand Slam”, including Permit, Tarpon, Bonefish AND Snook on the very same day! Congratulations Asgeir! When the Permit is landed, there is full focus the rest of the day to catch the other species on hot spots that the guides protect for such occasions. Fishing tip for Permit: Look for the Rays, check if a Permit is closely following it, and cast right in front of them. |
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| One advice: If you have the opportunity, do not neglect another species that does not have the same status, BUT that is giving you a fight on the fly that you will never forget; The Jack Trevally! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Before going to Cuba, we met with the great Norwegian/British flytier Barry Ord Clarke. Barry has been travelling with the team to several fishing destinations in the past, shooting photos and writing articles. Barry tied us one box each of GREAT fishing flies for the upcoming adventure. All tied on Mustad Signature fly hooks. These hooks are all designed by the captain of TeamMustadNorway, Geir Sivertzen/Dr.Hook. Geir was for a decade the Product Development Manager of O.Mustad & Son.
In addition to these flies, we had another full box from “Avalon” the organizer of the trip in Cuba, www.cubanfishingcenters.com. Our trip was organized by the travelling organizer www.gocubafishing.com. They did a GREAT job! However, Cuba is not ALL about fishing. We enjoyed absolutely the whole stay! |
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| Some basic tips regarding the fishing equipment: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| “Double hook-up, -double happiness”! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
