Los
Jardines de la Reina are an
archipelago of hundred of islands placed in
the south part of Cuba Island and give
hospitality to several predator fishes of
the Atlantic Ocean.
Near
the border of the continental platform, in the
south west part of the Cuban sea, there are more
than 600 islands of sand, coral and mangroves:
los Jardinas de la Reina (The Queen’s Garden).
The tiny islets surround a larger island, the
broad flats carpeted with turtle grass complete
the scenery.
This
archipelago is far about 40 miles from the coast
and only few fishermen have had the luck to fish
here; in these recent years the Jardinas de la
Reina have been declared natural park and
fishing is allowed only to sportfishing anglers.
Here
the bathymetric profile of the depth presents
two steps: on 15 meters and on 35 meters and
sink in the blue of the ocean at less than one
mile off the island. Moreover, the oceanic
currents that arrive in this area favor the
approaching of all species of fishes creating a
perfect fishing place.
To
speak about the fishes that are present in these
waters is easy and the list is very long. The
Jardinas de la Reina are the kingdom of tarpon,
bonefish and permit, particularly the low
sounding depths and flats. Big blue holes and
passes give hospitality to huge snapper cubera,
african pompano, gray snapper, mutton snapper,
groupers. Everywhere you can find 20-kilogram barracudas
and in deep waters, outside the reef, jack
crevalle, small tuna, king mackerel, wahoo, jack
horse, the biggest tarpon and many more.
This
archipelago is surely a fishing paradise for
anglerS that love predator fishes to target with
the spin and fly fishing technique.
TORTUGA
HOTEL
In
this unhabited archipelago from few years is
installed a floating hotel managed by expert
Italian anglers; this hotel, called Tortuga,
is anchored on a shallow bottom inside a lagoon
of a big island.
This
fishing center has some Cuban construction boats
of 5 and 6 meters and six new American made
"Dolphin" powered by 60HP outboards,
plus two boats of 29’ and 42’ for offshore
fishing. On every boat you will have at your
disposal a fishing guide that will help you in
any kind of fishing you want to do.
At
the Jardinas de la Reina it is possible to
practice different kind of techniques: fly
fishing, spin fishing, trolling, bottom fishing,
surf fishing and drifting.
In
less than fifteen minutes you can reach the
different places for the fishing that you want
to do.
THE
FISH AND THE STYLES
I
have had the way to fishing in this paradise
during the month of January and I had plenty of
action with barracuda, jack and bonefish. The
first two days we decided to fish in trolling
alternating this technique with the spin
fishing. The main preys were barracuda from 5 to
12 kilograms that enjoyed themselves devouring
and crushing our CD Mag Rapalas snappers,
groupers and some jack crevalle until 11
kilograms.
BONE
FISH - In the morning of the third day we
decided to try for bonefish with spin and fly
outfits; after a ten-minute run in a battered
skiff we reached a flat covered with
approximately 60 centimeters of waters. A second
after we arrived, my guide whispered "Mira,
mira bone-bone" (Look, look bonefish). I
saw nothing!
My
Cuban guide indicated me where was the school
and I spent some minutes to discover where
exactly it was; I cast my jig precisely in the
center of the school less than 15 meters from
the boat. I got my first glimpse of Cuban
bonefish as the school scattered in panic.
All
the morning we stalked and cast to schools of
bonefish and often we were in sight of several
schools simultaneously. Most of the bonefishes
we saw were under 2 kilograms, but several times
we cast to tailing singles that were over 4
kilograms.
TARPON
- Another day we opted to try tarpon fishing
and we sighted several schools of baby tarpon in
the 5-8 kilogram class. We hooked several but we
weren’t able to wrestle them through the
mangroves into open water, except that for three
fishes around the 5 kilograms. They eaten mainly
dead sardines and flies and only in two cases
lures.
OTHER
FISH - Several big fishes, I think huge
snapper cubera, have broken my lines on the
rocky bottom when I was fishing in trolling with
light lines and small lures. The best snapper I
caught was of 14 kilograms taken in a channel
near the mangrove casting with an Husky Jerk
Rapala.
The
best fish of the week was an huge wahoo of 28,5
kilograms caught with a dead ballyhoo on a light
trolling rod.
This
fishing expedition was surely a very positive
and funny experience and I will surely come back
to that beautiful hot spot.
FISHING
BETWEEN GREEN AN BLUE
The
flats of the Jardinas de la Reina rarely exceed
two meters of depth and these areas that seem to
give hospitality at only few and small fishes
are the perfect habitat for big schools of
bonefish and tarpon and sometimes near the
mangrove it is possible to find gray and
mangrove snapper. Tarpon prefers channels
between the islands or between the forests of
mangroves, instead bonefishes prefer zones of
open shallow water where they can find crabs,
mollusks and small fishes.
Sailing
on these shallow waters you can also find ray,
lobster, small shark and the always present
barracuda. Here it is possible to effect fly
fishing and spin fishing.
These
two fishing system are based on a visual
research of our prey and on the perfection of
the cast. In this case is very useful the help
that our guide give us indicating where the
fishes are.
A
hooked bonefish of few kilograms does a run of
100-150 meters, instead a tarpon will start a
series of interminable jumps and acrobatic
evolutions. It is very difficult to hook in a
solid way a tarpon, in fact the mouth of the
fish is very hard and you can expect to lose 80%
of the fishes. With live or dead bait it is
surely more easier because you have all the time
to get the bait swallowed and then effect a
solid strike. This fish when hooked can transmit
incredible emotions that may be found with
difficulty in other predators.
In
these Cuban flats the average size of bonefish
is around 2 kilograms but specimens up to 5
kilograms are regularly fished. For tarpon is
around 5 kilograms near the mangrove and in
shallow waters, and 20-30 kilograms if you
target it in deeper waters outside the reef.
FISHING
EQUIPMENT
The
lovers of light spin fishing can use a common
trout rod with a reel that can contain at list
200 meters of 8-10 pound. Orange and yellow jigs
will give you long and funny fighting with small
and medium size bonefishes. For tarpon a medium
action rod linked with a reel spooled with 200
meters of 16 pound is a right choice. Best lures
for this silver fish are Rapala from 7 to 11
centimeters like Countdown and Husky of clear
colors: red head (RH), Constant Guigo (CG), blue
(B), silver-black (S) and the new colours BSH,
SSH and ORO.
For
the fly fishing it is better to bring two kind
of rods, one light for bonefish and the other
resistant for all the other predators. The
former rod can be of 8’ or 9’ with a reel
spooled with a 9 WF floating tip and 200 meters
of 20 pound backing. The most used leader are
1X, 0X or 02X of a length from 9’ to 12’.
The hook recommended for building the fly is the
legendary Mustad 3407 in the misures from 2 to
8. As flies the best choice for bonefish are
Bonefish Special, Crazy Charlie, Mother Epoxy,
Crazy Crab, Mini Puff, Mini Shrimp, Deceiver.
For
the latter rod you need a 9˝’ or 10’ with a
reel that can contain a 10-11 floating tip and
250 meters of 30 pound backing. Leaders of 12
and 20 pound are the most used as well as flies
from 1/0 to big poppers on 6/0 hooks; some of
the best are Stu Apte tarpon Cockroach and red/black
Grissley. The best colors are the clear ones and
sometimes the fluorescent pink, green and yellow.
TRY
THESE SUGGESTIONS...
Absolutely
not to forget doing the spin fishing with
surface poppers for targeting jack crevalle and
jack horse. It is really enrapturing to see the
fish to run behind the lure frenetically and
than get it disappeared in a sprinkling of water;
few seconds and your reel starts to give line in
an impressive way.
For
this kind of fishing you can choose a rod of
3-3,5 meters that can cast from 30 to 90 grams.
As regard to the lures, Williamson, Yo Zuri
surface poppers and the new Rapala Skitter Pop
work very well for jack crevalle and big
barracuda. For this kind of fishing is
compulsory to use 60 or 90 steel leader before
the lure and on the reel a 15-20 lb line is a
right choice; in fact you can expect to hook
easily fishes over 10 kilograms of weight. In
particular jack crevalles of this weight are
like trains of the sea and after the hooking, in
few seconds, make runs hundreds of meters.
Along
the reefs and near the passes the best fishing
system is the light trolling targeting mainly
barracuda, snapper, jack and grouper. The 8, 12
and 16 pound are surely the most used because
normally the average size of the fishes is not
to high but, anyway, when a reel start giving
the line every kind of fish can have eaten your
lure, from a 2 kilogram jack to a 20 kilogram
snapper. Rapala Magnum and Super Shad Rap from
11 to 14 centimeters and big spoons are the most
productive lures in these waters.
Equally
interesting and effective is the bottom fishing,
that it is mainly practiced in late afternoon
and early in the morning. For this technique are
used two big boats, so 3-4 anglers can fish on
the same boat. Normally are chosen deep waters
outside the reef where it is possible to find
huge grouper, snapper cubera, gray snapper and
shark. The snapper cubera is a very fighting
fish and in these waters can reach 40-50
kilograms but the most common average size is
around 20-30 kilograms. For this giant fishes i
suggest you the new VMC circular hook 9788 or
the very strong 9730PS.
BAITS
As
baits are normally used chunks of fish but the
best bait for big bottom predators is surely a
lobster on a 8/0 hook. For small and medium size
fishes a 20-30 pound tackle is right, but if
your targets are grouper and snapper you will
need surely a 50 pound outfit. So you can lift
up the fish before it goes on the reef and cut
the line.
USEFUL INFORMATION
As
document you need passport valid for at least 6
months and a tourist visa.
The
climate is tropical and warm with
an average temperature of 28°. The rain season
starts in September and ends in November.
The
official language is Spanish, but at the fishing
center is also spoken Spanish, Italian and
English.
Best
fishing periods run from January to August with
March, April and May the best months for
bonefish and tarpon.
MORE
INFORMATION
- Avalon
- Fax:
0039 011 3833926 or 0039 0323 59275
- www.gse.it/avalon
- E-mail:avalon@ipsnet.it
