Last week I spent two days fishing the upper and lower half of one of the most pristine and promising tarpon rivers I have ever seen. The Rio Cuyagueteje, in the western province of Pinar Del Rio was the location and I was invited by the Cuban Government agency in charge of developing its potential as a sport fishing destination. The river itself is completely untouched and there were times when I felt like I was back in the stone ages.
We strung up our rods in a cow pasture on the edge of the river and it was somewhat challenging to keep an eye on some of the large bulls roaming near-by while I threaded my fly line through the guides of my Winston B2X 10 weight. We had glorious sunshine and temps iaround 85 for both our days and I was ready to get into some big tarpon.


Unfortunately, I was there 2 months too early. In the 2 days we fished the river I saw only 3 tarpon. The fish I did see were big, likely in the 80-90 pound range but I did not even get a cast off to any of these fish as they were rolling about 30 yards away with a stiff wind blowing into my face. Sure I was disappointed. But I have learned over the years that not everything happens just because you just happen to show up. I was told beforehand that the fish don’t really start coming in to the river until April and that peak season runs from early May until October. But what I did see was still very encouraging. 

The guides were a little green around the edges when it came to fly fishing for tarpon. They certainly knew the river and were clearly very comfortable with spin fishing. The boats were old and the engines did not exactly inspire confidence. In fact, at the end of day 2 we had to tow the second boat back to the landing because of mechanical failure. The guides were crestfallen when we got back to the cars at the end of the day. Hardly any fish, a broken down engine and not even a hook up in two days. During the course of the 2 days I was there, I managed to speak with several people that I met who live on the river. The old lady who runs the rope bridge said that the big fish never show up until April and two of the farmers whose land we had parked on told us to come back in May. I will be back for 2 days in late May and I’ll report on what I find. A little voice inside me is saying that the next report will be very different. 

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I spent the week of Feb 5-12 down in the Zapata National Park, on the south shore of Cuba, with a group of anglers from all over the world. The weather could not have been better and the only slightly sketchy day fell mid week. Most of the group still managed to cope pretty well with the cloud cover and wind, and a good number of fish were landed on the Wednesday, in spite of the conditions. The rest of the week was calm and sunny and this led to some spectacular catches.

I was very fortunate to spend the week with my old friend and guide, Alphonso. He and I have been sharing a boat for the past decade and I was absolutely thrilled to see him when we showed up on the first morning. For whatever reasons, he and I had not fished together for about 18 months even though I had been back to the Zapata 4 or 5 times with groups during this time. At 62 years of age, I had assumed that he had perhaps decided to take an early retirement. But there he was, ready to go and checking though my fly boxes to make sure that I had brought down a sufficient number of a pattern I’d created about 8 years ago. Alphonso calls my fly, Dinero Dinero.  I call it, ‘Cash Money’ because it’s like money in the bank, especially when targeting tailing bonefish in less than 6 inches of water. After 2 hours it was readily apparent that his eyes were still as good as they’d ever been as he was seeing most fish well before I was. When you find a guide whose company you enjoy, where team work and rhythm just naturally develop, it is a true gift.

We had some pretty impressive numbers of fish caught during the course of the week. Both John McKenzie of Nova Scotia and Tommy Murphy from Cork Ireland, each had 20 bonefish days and there were several other days where anglers in the group landed between 12-15 fish. The largest fish for the week was landed by attorney Matias Millet of Toronto, with a fish of about 8 pounds. I managed to pull in a 6 pound bonefish on my 6 weight rod, which was the highlight of the week for me. After two blistering runs, I had to ask my guide to start poling after the fish because I was about to get spooled.
There were several days during the week where we were pretty much exclusively fishing to tailing bones. They were everywhere! This kind of demanding situation is so much fun and demands both accuracy in your cast as well as a delicate presentation of the fly. So much of the area we were fishing in was less than a foot deep and the guys in the group that had never really had the opportunity to cast to tailing fish, were delighted with their good fortune this week.
If you are interested in an incredible bonefish location with a 1 to 1 client to guide ratio, we still have a limited number of space available through July. Please email me at or call our office toll free at 866 644-7703

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I spent the week of Feb 5-12 down in the Zapata National Park, on the south shore of Cuba, with a group of anglers from all over the world. The weather could not have been better and the only slightly sketchy day fell mid week. Most of the group still managed to cope pretty well with the cloud cover and wind and a good number of fish were landed on the Wednesday, in spite of the conditions. The rest of the week was calm and sunny and this led to some spectacular catches.

I was very fortunate to spend the week with my old friend and guide, Alphonso. He and I have been sharing a boat for the past decade and I was absolutely thrilled to see him when we showed up on the first morning. For whatever reasons, he and I had not fished together for about 18 months even though I had been back to the Zapata 4 or 5 times with groups during this time. At 62, I had assumed that he had perhaps decided to take an early retirement. But there he was, ready to go and checking through my fly boxes to make sure that I had brought down a sufficient number of a pattern I created about 8 years ago. Alphonso calls my fly, Dinero Dinero. I call it, Cash Money because it is like money in the bank, especially when targeting tailing bonefish in less than 6 inches of water. After 2 hours it was readily apparent that his eyes were still as good as they have ever been since he was seeing most fish well before I was. When you find a guide whose company you enjoy, where team work and rhythm just naturally develop, it is a true gift.

We had some pretty impressive numbers of fish caught during the course of the week. Both John McKenzie of Nova Scotia and Tommy Murphy from Cork Ireland, each had 20 bonefish days and there were several other days where anglers in the group landed between 12-15 fish. The largest fish for the week was landed by attorney Matias Millet of Toronto, with a fish of about 8 pounds. I managed to pull in a 6 pound bonefish on my 6 weight rod, which was the highlight of the week for me. After two blistering runs, I had to ask my guide to start poling after the fish because I was about to get spooled.

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The owner of the live aboard operation out at St Brandons Atoll has been emailing us for the past 6 months with some of the most incredible stories and images from this location that we finally have decided to see it for ourselves. St. Brandons Atoll is a 24 hour steam north of Port Louis Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean. This beautiful location is so far south and east in the Indian Ocean that there is no issue of potential piracy here like what may exist further north, in atolls of the Southern Seychelles. The only way to fish this extraordinary series of islands and flats is to do so by mothership. We have the MY Gryphon booked out for the first 9 days in November of 2012 and have a hold on the second week should it be needed. The full moon is November 28th and we have selected this time frame to coincide with the optimal moon phases for the month

The Gryphon is a 96ft motor yacht with a 23ft beam and a 7.5ft draft structured for long range expeditions. She can accommodate up to 8 fly fishermen, 4 guides, as well as a crew of 5 who cater to your every need. A large and spacious vessel boasting two stabilizers, which makes travelling extremely comfortable, she has a top speed of 13 knots. She is the perfect base from which to explore St Brandon’s in comfort. It would be difficult to find a better boat from which to do the crossing as she has all the extras like a TV, DVD player and card table to help pass the time.

St Brandons (Cargados Carajos Shoals) is comprised of a vast network of sand flats, coral ridges and channels that run through a myriad of unparalleled angling opportunities. The magnificent condition of the coral and the lobster infested outer reefs are proof that other than a small population of Creole natives who live on Raphael Island in the north, this area has seen very little human pressure or interference.
The exquisite flats that dominate the landscape of this area are predominantly made up of a white hard packed sand base. For those who like to wade and site cast to large bonefish in skinny water, there are few more gratifying fisheries on earth. While there are fishable areas at St. Brandons that are comprised of broken coral, by far the majority of the atoll is easy to wade.

In terms of species, St Brandons offers the finest big bonefish opportunities on the planet. Fish up to 15 pounds have been caught during the last year with larger fish routinely seen and cast to. On an early incoming tide, guests can expect to see a combination of huge schools of bonefish, along with large cruising singles and doubles. This destination also holds some of the best Indo Pacific Permit opportunities found anywhere. And for guests looking to fish Giant Trevally, some absolute monsters have been landed over the past 6 months. The hard packed white sand flats offer superb visibility and anglers can see waves of bonefish and other species coming in from a great distance away.

Four of the 8 available slots are already booked for our first week and if you would like more information on this truly once-in-a-life time flats fishing adventure, please contact the office toll free at 866 644-7703 or via email at

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I just got home from the Partagas Cigar Festival in Havana Cuba and the entire event was a huge success. The venerable House of Partagas was celebrating its 165th Anniversary and we brought down a group of guests to celebrate with cigar lovers from around the world. Cocktail and dinner parties, deep sea fishing, golf and a Hemingway Day were just part of the week-long festivities.

The Partagas Festival is a celebration of offerings for the coming year from the oldest cigar factory in Cuba and the week was a who’s- who of cigar aficionados from around the world. Brands like Cohiba, Monte Christo, Punch and Romeo and Juliet were honored throughout the week.

One of the many highlights of the week are the specialty cigars rolled for the opening and closing ceremonies, by the one and only China. She must have worked overtime for at least a month to produce the number of customized cigars for the week. This event is held each November and we attend with guests every year. We should have the 2011dates by early January so if you’d like the opportunity to join us next year for this extraordinary event, please call or email me and I’ll put you on our list for next year’s party. 

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