March 22nd, 2010
by Richard French, 25 March 2010

Grand River Troutfitters got back last week from their annual shop trip to the Zapata Peninsula in Cuba. The guys had to contend with some really tough weather the first few days of the trip. The colder temperatures and strong winds, which have been so prevalent throughout the Caribbean this winter, were a big factor for the guys as they fished the Salinas flats system for the first 3 days. The river however remained slow throughout the week. There just weren’t the usual number of tarpon taken and catch rates were way down. Ken Collins, using an intermediate sinking line did have a good day with 15 tarpon landed as well as a very nice snook.

Black Death was the productive fly in the river for Ken. As usual though, the flats were highly productive in spite of the conditions and when more favorable conditions came in later in the week, the fishing was superb. 1300 bonefish were spotted by the group of 8 anglers over 5 days with 240 bonefish booked and 147 landed. The last 2 days were excellent with double digit catches reported by 5 of the 8 rods.

The size 4 Gotcha seemed to be the top fly for the week.

There were many snook on the flats during the week and one guest estimated that he had seen 40 in one day, some of which were enormous. The end of the week pig roast was a
big hit and all the guides were humbled by Kens incredible casting ability. Cold beer and rum were flowing at the party and everyone enjoyed watching Ken put on one of his incredible casting clinics.

Back to the main page