tonyb Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 (edited) Well I'll keep this short and sweet. Had an awesome time at Sandals Royal Hicacos near Varadero, Cuba. I picked up a 3-piece travel rod from St. Croix to do some fishing from shore while I was there. I caught onto a pattern for Barracuda using a Rapala Skitterwalk using a turbo-charged retrieve/hyper walk-the-dog combination I named the 'Cuda Dance Here are some spots I tried and my first and new personal best Barracuda! I also learned that the off-shore fishing is not really worth the money on N. Shore of Cuba (local angler advice) as they severly net all species with reckless abandon. Most of the other 30+ hits I had on the Skitterwalk were small cuda's < 5lbs and I couldn't get the hooks into em with my fast-paced topwater retrieve. I also tried a lot of other baits and while I had many follows, I could only trigger strikes on the ultra-fast presentation of the Skitterwalk. Berkley Gulp! 3" shrimp are a decent option for targetting smaller fish. I just rigged it on a 2/0 hook with no weight and had some hits on that as well. Cohiba's, Havana Club, beautiful beach (Among Top 10 worldwide), and Barracuda what else could you ask for? Cheers, Tony Edited January 23, 2007 by tonyb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustink Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Nice report!! Man....those are some mean looking fish! dk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thanks for the report! Great pics and I must admitt that it sure looks like fun to me! HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimace Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thats wicked Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mepps Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 nicely done tony! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
setomonkey Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 That's cool, how deep is the water that you were fishing? Did you catch any other species? Nice to see pics from somewhere warm... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mistyriver1 Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Very cool Tony, they are a mean looking fish eh, thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Setomonkey, the water was anywhere from 6-15ft. I couldn't believe the teeth on a Barracuda, much more aggresive than a Pike or even Musky. The lure is going into a shadow box with a photo of the fish, big teeth marks in the hard plastic Skitterwalk now I saw some Puffers, needlefish, various small reef fish, and small yellowtails chasing bait, all my lures were too big for them, seemed to be the story all week. I also had a Permit-looking fish (estimated around 15lbs) inhale my 3" Gulp! shrimp and as soon as I set the hook it spazzed and started peeling off a big run, then the braid must have cut into itself on the spool of the reel tightening up the line and the 30lb flouro leader detonated making a cracking whip sound lol. Saltwater fish are faster and more powerful than anything I have caught in freshwater. It's really awesome actually. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 thats awesome man. three years ago i stayed in cuba and my dad and I took a cab to a lake called La Redonda. We paid a guide and did some bass fishing. We caught 20-30 average (1-2 pounds) largemouth and we caught a 6.5 and my dad lost a 9+ on a rattletrap. The treble hook broke off!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douG Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 That's a great report, TonyB. Thanks a lot for sharing your sw experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernie Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hey Tony...Hows the fight in them? From the look of them they just have to be a major fight. I had a huge one swim beside me in Grand Cayman 2yrs ago snorkeling. When I first seen it I thought it was the meanest looking muskie I ever seen. Thought to myself that would be awesome to hook into. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted January 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Insane fight on that fish Nippissing, 2 cartwheel style jumps turning the water into a froth, several screaming runs and the fish even tried to rub my lure off on the bottom. It fought like it was twice the size, simply amazing. I consider myself lucky since that spot was shallow enough for me to hop down off the breakwall and into the water to land it. Plan B in other deeper areas was 55lb Flouro and a 3/0 Treble to try to hook the lure in the fish's mouth and then hoist it up. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernie Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Wow..glad you had fun with that. Hope the opportunity comes up for you again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Tony I love salt water fishing and have always loved fishing for cudas.... very underrated sport fish! nice work and awesome pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffw Posted January 23, 2007 Report Share Posted January 23, 2007 Nice looking cuda, I hooked one in st.lucia last year on my 8wt while fishing for bones and permit. The permit looking fish that you had on was probally a jack crenalle. cheers jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacklebuster Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 cool report Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kemper Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Thats one of my dream trips for fishing. Somewhere in the tropics searching for cudas. Others for me include west coast for salmon (achieved 2 years a go), west coast winter steelhead (yet to be achieved), florida for bass (achieved), sailfish (big goal) , east coast for atlantics and big brookies (possible next year and my buddys family just bought a house out there) All in all, id say not bad for a 17 year old! Nice lookin 'cuda you got there, still got all fingers and toes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pikehunter Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Great report and pics! Now tell us, how many fingers did you loose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Cliff Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Super report, glad to hear you had such a good time! Thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted January 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I packed needle-nosed pliers to save my fingers Kemper, Guatemala is the place for you if you want sailfish. World renowned. I've also heard Costa Rica and Panama have some great sails. jeffw, thanks I do believe that is the fish I hooked into. Crevalle Jack Interesting thing about this fish is that 3-5lbs is common, the one I hooked had to be between 14-16lbs. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyb Posted January 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 I packed needle-nosed pliers to save my fingers Kemper, Guatemala is the place for you if you want sailfish. World renowned. I've also heard Costa Rica and Panama have some great sails. jeffw, thanks I do believe that is the fish I hooked into. Crevalle Jack Interesting thing about this fish is that 3-5lbs is common, the one I hooked had to be between 14-16lbs. Cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazyhook Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Jacks pull awesome man! I have acught them up to about 15 pounds but they do get alot bigger. Hopefully I will be out for Cudas next month and other toothy saltwater fish! here is a little guy from my last trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joey Posted January 24, 2007 Report Share Posted January 24, 2007 Great report, looks so beautiful there. Awesome looking fish. Thanks Joey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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