Fishing Reports

February 4th 2012

..With a small, and I mean small, break in the wind my offshore partner Maximo gave me a call to shoot out and re supply some of the local restaurants...seas were head high and gnarled up coming from six different directions..we were literally on our knees hand lining King Mackerel and at one point i yelled at Max.."with a combined age of oh..about 135 WTF ! are we doing" I never got a plausible answer, Experience comes from bad judgement? so does 100 lbs of fresh King Mackerel.
Chris Daly Bone fished with me earlier in the week and caught his fish pictured on the right. Numbers of fish are way down but we continue to get lucky. I'll take luck any day and despite the wind and poor showings it still a cool fishery an experince I hope my clients and friends and the people of this Island and the Big Island can enjoy for a long time.

Battle of the Beast in the Honda..... 1/24/12

Which I'll get to in a minute..More wind and and basically horrible conditions continues to plague fishing efforts with little or no offshore activity and poor bone fishing although we are still managing to catch a few fish, purely by God and by guess and putting in a little extra time and effort.
John Edmis fished with me this week and demonstrated one of the most impressive angling feats that I have ever witnessed. John and I were happily jigging Red Grouper and Lane Snapper over a patch reef when a giant Barracuda grabbed one of Johns Lane's and managed to get the tiny #4 circle hook snagged in the outer top lip of the 'Cuda. This is all happening with a tiny ultra light rigged with 8 lb test. I popped the anchor put John on the bow and off we went for a 45 minute chase the donkey. You can see on the right who amazingly won out. Terrific job my friend and thanks for helping to eliminate 30 plus lbs of Bone fish death.

Good Judgement Comes from Experience.........

....Experience comes from Bad Judgement..Which doesn't really amount to anything other than I can write what I want and hope it's entertaining...If I had to choose a place to come to in hopes of catching my first Bone Fish it probably wouldn't be Culebra...Yet two different people did that this past week and both of them were successfull .Which means a couple of things..I was wrong about my first statement or these people had the absolute best Fish Guide in the land of Chollo or there was a huge element of luck associated with all things Bone Fish this week!
Joshua Miller Caught his first Bone Fish on a fly on one of the windiest days of the whole season. We could only fish in a few protected spots and Joshua did a great job handling the ugly conditions. The first day we fished we ran into a patch of 5 or 6 Permit all horned up and tight on a little patch of interest. Joshua made some terrific presentations with a follow or two but nothin' home for mama. Worst week of the season so far for weather but we will keep on fishing..and as I once learned from Bad Judgement.."You got to go to Know".
Joshua on the right with his first Bone

D.I.Y. In Culebra.......

....Culebra has some of the best Bone fishing in this small part of the lesser Antillean Chain but also has a very small area to do it in. When I rarely get a chance to travel some where else and fish the very first thing I do is hire a guide to cut down on the local learning curve. Now i'm not a very smart guy compared to some of the business icons and others who fish with me in regards to day to day dealings but ...concerning anything that has to do with water..consider this... for every day you fish ,I put in 20., So I don't have to be very smart..just awake! Excuse me I digressed..Point being if you are coming to Culebra to fish call me! I don't bite! If you don't want to hire me and try it on your own..Terrific! but take advantage of my experience here and at no charge ( Judy at Dinghy knows what I drink) lets talk fishing. It amazes me sometime the number of people who come here to fly fish that skulk around trying to avoid me..Yes fly fishers are a strange breed..all except Johnny Pompano and myself!
Buzz Brennan came down from Jacksonville Fla. to fish with me yesterday. Buzz is an extremely experienced Red Fish Flats fisherman and wanted to try his skills on Bone fish. Tough Conditions with a lot of wind and a lot of refusals but perseverance paid off and that's Buzz on the right with his first Bone. Nice job my friend and great meeting both you and Heather!

How Hard are These Fish to Catch?..........

...Just ask Jacky Crawford who has Bone fished with me in Culebra for six seasons and in between Cuba ,and a lot of other places..in other words Jacky is a cut above the average fly angler..by a lot. The first day we fished Jacky had shots at over 40 fish in super conditions ,hooking one and catching one with most casts spot on with out me saying a word. We were both disappointed because he should have caught six that day. The next day it's blowing its balls off, little sun and very few fish with one hook up and a dropped fly before we called it quits. Too much wind to pole the boat with any control so we ducked out early and looked at pictures of Cuba at the bar on Jacky's ipad..I am definitely going to that place!......On the other hand I must have had 10 or more days last year where i had fly anglers catch a Bone Fish who were first timers or had never fished salt water. Moral of this rant?...you just never know..A couple of wise men once said "Time on the water" and "Presentation is everything"..oh yeah and Tina Turner said "It ain"t the meat....It's the motion!" which only goes to show somebody knows!
Eugenio from Italy on the right with his fine Blackfin Tuna result of his "grocery" trip. He also caught two other Tuna and 5 Kingfish..cio y'all

January 9 2012....Bad Week for Bones but Lot\'s of Cero

.....This was the 4th time Dave Richards fished with me this season. His first trip with me last fall he caught his first Bone Fish on a fly a hefty 8 lb East End special. Dave caught his first Cero on a fly this time with me but no Bones as conditions were poor. Dave caught some Red Grouper our second day the first time I've seen them here in Culebra. Red s look a lot like Snowys with just a touch of orange around the face and are not to be confused by Red Hinds which look entirely different.
Chris Pasternak who caught his first Tarpon on a fly last year with me had no luck this year with the Bone fish. Fish are few and far and spooky . Fish have completely left the East End Pela Flat I hope temporarily as one of the largest Barracudas I have ever seen has taken up residence there. How big?.... 60 lbs easy!
Eugenio Bigliocca from Italy fished his first of three days with me this morning. Great company and wooped him bad with a combination of Cero after Cero, Red Groupers,Muttons and some big Jacks. Taking Eugene offshore tomorrow, grocery fishing. Report back soon amigos!

The Next Generation ......

Spent yesterday teaching a fly lesson to two great kids, Percy and Louie from England. After going over the basics and working with both kids so they could present the fly at a reasonable distance we started walking the flats for some hands on. We were on an east end pocket flat walking around walking around some rocks to access the other end of the flat when at a distance of 6 feet we were confronted with the largest Bone fish i have seen in my life. I would guess 36" overall in length....of course he spooked and left me clutching my heart and babbling like an idiot. Poor Louie and. Percy having never seen a Bone fish thought. I was crazy......... Spent the previous three days fishing with Mike Carl ,his son Glen and Jose an exchange student from Spain. Both mike and. Glen are experienced fly fishers and. Glen caught a monster bone his first day. Jose and I left the boys on the flats the last day and took off to catch Jose an assortment of small fish, his first in salt water. That's his lady fish on the right.. In retrospect it was a great couple of days fishing with some cool kids who all stand to become accomplished anglers. Thank you Percy,Louie,Jose and Glen

End of Eleven......

,,,and if you put another person on this Island it will sink!..Typical Post Christmas Crush here in Culebra with everybody getting ready for the Famous New Year Celebration in the Plaza...Thank God for the Mackerel!..Really fun Cero Mackerel fishing on ultra light tackle has kept my business alive. Throw in a few Salma (Mutton Snapper) and big Jacks and we had a pretty fair week and just before the weather goes down the toilet again.
Ted Schreiber Bone fished with me about 7 years ago and returned to Culebra to fish with his Nine year old son Jake. Jake is not a long rodder yet so we pounded on the Mackerellas with light spin tackle and had a blast. Jake is an excellent angler. That's him on the right with a Caro. It's probably one of the most rewarding parts of this job to watch a young angler enjoy him or herself so much and to know that the day you shared with them will last in memory for a long while. ..Happy New Year to all the great people that have shared time with me on the water..Tight Lines, Tight Loops, health and Happiness

More wind and Finally a Break......

..All my trips prior to Christmas were disasters in the catching department and sadly with some really great people. It was great meeting Bill Saxton and his family from California but with all the wind and poor conditions we only caught fish one out of three days. Will Lyle and his wife had to put up with the same scenario.. It was just way off with the strong NE Christmas winds. Finally got a break the day after when the winds slacked off a notch and Dan Diaz and his dad Rudi witnessed a Sierra (King Mackerel) ambush. 20 to 30 lb Mackerel made short work of our 8 and 12 lb ultra lites. We were targeting the Cero Mackerel and the beasts showed up and made us look silly. Dan and his Dad still managed to catch and release a variety of Snappers, Jacks and assorted reef fish. We finished the day out chasing deep water Bone fish muds that had lots of small Bones and afforded Dan his first ever on light spin tackle.
To all my fly fishing Buddys to the West. As far as the Arubian Kayaks go..no fueron completamente honesto.. but still impressive!

Merry Christmas...12/25/11

Less Wind, More Fish ! and a Healthy Happy New Year

Before it Gets Crazy!

....Christmas Winds have started and Bone Fish are into their winter habits which means fewer fish tailing on the flats but good fishing if you know where to find their winter haunts. Richard Rogers finally got his Bone Fish for this visit after catching a Tarpon and a mess of Mackerel and various reef dwellers. With a steady 25 out of the North East we ventured into an area where Bone Fish like to hang out under these conditions, Cold and Wind, ..not to be disappointed the fish were there, big time! First cast Richard lands and releases his fish on the right.
It was great to have the slow pace of the last week or two but that is about to change. I have a few days open the latter part of January but that's it for the near future at least. Time to go to work and very thankfull I can. Long time client Willie Schlein out with me Monday and several new clients the rest of the week. We will keep you posted

Middle Week of December and the Mystery Guest

..Some people will go to great lengths to protect Culebra from the main stream mass of south bound Tourists looking for a new Tropical hide away. ..or maybe it's witness protection ? or this guy really is a celebrity ? I can't reveal..and don't really care. All I know is Senor X wanted to catch a Bone Fish and a Tarpon have his picture taken then blank his face out so no one knew who he was or where he was vacationing and fishing. He paid, so I did what I'm paid to do. He caught his Tarpon and then went on to catch a 26" fork length Bone that had it been fatter would have made it just a Mantis Shrimp dinner short of double digit. Not bad for your first ever Bonefish.
X you were great company, no body will ever know it was you my friend, and now that I have developed a specialty in anonymous clients Holly wood will probably be bangin' at my door..or not

Quality Week with a Long Time Friend and Client....

...Spent Most of this week Guiding Richard Rogers The last in the list of three old timers from Old Timers Week. Richard and I always start our trips with a live bait session in one of the deeper channels around Culebra. It's a place when the tide is right that you can catch an amazing assortment of fish and of all different size groups from small Yellow tail to King Mackerel and even one time a couple of Yellow fin Tuna. This Morning was no exception with Big Cero Mackerel,Sennets,Red Hind,Mangrove snapper and Horse Eye Jacks and Blue Runners. Richard is pictured in some beautiful morning colors with a Jack from location x. Yes that's a well known Culebra land mark in the back ground but if your off by two numbers you won't catch anything ,trust me.
Second day with Richard we both realized that in all the times we have fished together he has never landed a Tarpon. We set off on a mission which resulted in a double hook up and Richard finally landing and releasing his first Tarpon. We still have one more day together and we'll target Bones. It will be hard to best the eleven Pounder he caught with me 6 years ago and maybe we will catch nothing. I don't really think he cares. You know what it will just be fun for both of us just to be there..

Dec 4..2011...Old Timers Week in Culebra

....Bernie Gastrich,Jack Erler, and Richard Rogers have all fished with me for the last 15 years in Culebra and New Jersey at least once or twice a year. All three fished or are fishing with me this next week here in Culebra. It was Jack's turn today and he set the bar high besting Bernie's 2 for 5 Tarpon morning. We had to abandon our first stop to a fleet of Orvis looking long stickers in fancy Kayaks who rightfully had first claim to the grounds they were working. So after a short steam to the south west and within the space of two hours Jack had cast to several Tarpon and released two Snook. The release of two snook on the fly I believe is a first for Culebra at least with my clients. We are obviously not the Snook capital of the Caribbean. A short Jog to a sandy pass and Jack quickly caught and releasrd two Bones best one topping 5 lbs. To top off the morning Jack made some super presentations to a Permit on a west side pan cake flat that unfortunately did what Permit do best....It doesn't get any better than this. The incredible diversity of our fishery and the coolest people in the world who have blessed my life to fish with me. Thank you gentlemen!!

Post Thanksgiving thoughts.......

....Bernie Gastrich has been fishing with me for years. Bernie Just turned 80 last week and to celebrate came out with me this morning and put the wire in Five Tarpon using an 8wt clear intermediate line combo'd with one of Dan Blanton's best ever ideas. Perfect conditions light Northerly with clear water and hungry Tarpon. Happy 80 Bernie and many more!...both years and Fish !....Culebra is an Island 16 miles East of the main Island of Puerto Rico accessed by both plane and ferry...so the answer to the question is..No I can not pick you up at the El San Juan. Fly fishers practice your cast before you arrive here. If you haven't picked a rod up in a year you are basically paying me alot of good money to tune you up for the first two hours of our trip when you could actually be fishing rather than practicing...but then again it's your money and I'll still like you..... Always love and remember you Susie...Back in a few days after the funeral

Thanks giving Week 2011

...Off Island for a few days for business and to avoid the holiday crowds. Did get to the North side this week with my Fishin Pal Max. Caught some Yellow fin and Black fin and a Dorado but all and all pretty slow. Big swell with a lot of Blue water generally poor conditions for our type of fishing. Tarpon are still around but not bunched up like they were around the moon and Bonefish are missing from a lot of the flats..I hope a temporary fall occurance we have seen in the past. Dave Richards on the right with another shot of his first Bone Fish

Nov13th......Congratulations Joe!!

...On your marraige to Your lovely new wife Natalia and on catching your first Bone Fish. Joe Kowalski and his new bride were married in San Juan Saturday and chose Culebra for their honey moon. Joe and I fished together a lot this week with Natalia walking the flats with us the last day. Joe by the way is an accomplished fly fisherman but with no Bone fish or Tarpon to his credit. 20 minutes into our first day Joe hooks a big bonefish that goes a 100 feet into the backing but unfortunately after a back and forth battle lasting 10 minutes the fish drops the fly. The next day Joe hooks two Tarpon with the first one staying on the hook for at least 10 minutes and a dozen jumps before becoming unglued. Second much smaller Tarpon stayed on for 4 leaps. Not to be denied a picture Joe and I end up back at a Bonefish flat and Joe lands his first Bone. Lots of action and great company ! Wishing you both a life time of happiness and Bone fish!

Veteran\'s Day Week End .......2011

.....Dave Richards from Alaska was staying on the big Island and flew over to fish with me for two days. Dave caught two Tarpon the first morning plus a Snook, Lady Fish and a Jack Crevalle. The Second Tarpon went about 60 to 70 lbs the first about 30 lbs. The next morning Dave and I started fishing at just a little bit past "can't see" and the man evolved into a virtual fish machine with the sun rising and the scales flying with Cero Mackeral, giant Hound fish, Mangrove Snappers double headers all being released (except one Mackarella para mi cena)..what a show!
After the carnage and with the tide just right I shoot over to a Bone Flat and Dave reveals his fly casting skills, modestly denied but good enough to catch his first two Bone fish the second with a fork length of 25 1/2 inches which according to the fork length gurus makes that fish just about 7 1/2 to 8 lbs. Picture on the right!..This was not an average trip ,but Culebra when it's on!! Watch out.. More to come ,fishing all week and again thanks Dave!

October..2011..Tarpon and Bones

...Christie Marsh from New England way was back with me for a few days,and great company as always. Once we got her cast settled down and out of the "brook" as they say, girl wouldn't and couldn't hold back..Caught her first tarpon on the fly and jumped 3 more to start the first day off . Christie went on to hook 4 Bones the second day plus release a 'cuda and some jacks.
First two weeks of December are always slow for bookings and there is light traffic on the flats. Chances are you book a half day with me during that period we will end up fishing all day. Sean Gannon on the right with a keeper Mutton snapper from last fall

Puerto Rico\'s First Grand Slam here in Culebra......

...Bill Gehman from Orrington Maine who fished with me on April 12th 2011 became the first angler in the history of Puerto Rico to catch and release in one day a Permit, Bone fish and Tarpon. Hard to believe it hasn't happened before, but after extensive checking it just plain hasn't. Several of my clients in previous years have come close with several combos but with always one missing usually the Permit. Bill accomplished this with light spinning tackle. The Bone fish and Permit were caught with an ultra light 8 lb outfit. Bill's battle with the Permit lasted over an hour. The Tarpon was caught with a standard Tarpon rig with 20 lb test and took 15 minutes from hook up to release,fish was about 50 lbs. There is a lot of luck in doing some thing like this but to be honest without Bill's exceptional angling skills it just wouldn't have happened. Congratultions again Bill that was a lot of pullage in just 6 hours. Nice way for me to wind down this season and take a short break. See you in October!!!

Banana Chronicles......

...Bone fished with Don Erlich this past week. Don is an expert fly fisher and great fun to be with. Don is however innocent in his knowledge of bananas and their effect on all things that have to do with salt water and fish. Don's first day with me he makes a terrific cast and presentation to a big Bone fish only 10 minutes into the morning. As the fish takes off and Don starts to clear I look in the water and see a mass of running line in the likeness of a bowl of pasta and the diameter of a grape fruit. I yell to Don to turn his rod upside down a trick that will sometimes work on smaller tangles..but the pasta dish slams into the third guide out and there goes the class tippet and the fish...Once again Orvis Wonderline,( which in my opinion should be banned from this planet), does its thing!..Half hour later, second fish, solid eater..whoops..third fish little of a lot of things but mostly horrible luck. Break time....and out comes the Banana from Don's bag!..and suddenly all the mornings bad luck made sense. I asked Don to toss the ugly piece of yellow matter just so we could get home without a meteor falling on our heads. Next day was tough fishing but Don caught fish and things went smoothly. No F ups and used my line instead of the banana yellow Orvis line. One of Don's fish on the right. Proof of what you can do when you leave the guineos at home....

Puerto Rico Sight fishing at its best......

...Chris Windram, owner of www.saltwaterflies.com spent a few days with Capt Pochi Rosario on the west coast of Puerto Rico sight fishing on the flats of Boqueron for big Tarpon. According to Chris it was "world class". I'm not surprised. Pochi is a great guide and sight fishing on the flats surrounding Cabo Rojo is as good as it gets. You can see the report on light Tackle Adventures Boqueron Bay Tarpon Fishing. Chris's next stop was Culebra and still hot he released two culebra Bone fish on a half day trip. Should have had four..stupid guide error!..Any way point is...! Next winter you can just bypass Fla. and for a lot less money, not freeze your ass off in February, and catch Bone fish and Tarpon. Chris on the right..

North Side Bite Still Going Strong...!!

..When I'm not fishing the flats my friend Max and I run trips on his Shamrock 26 to the North Side of the Islands trolling and jigging. Most trips are done by 10 in the morning because we have been running out of bait or ice or didn't have any more room to put the Tuna, King Mackerel,Wahoo and others we have been catching. Normally a catch and release operation we have changed our out look on conservation temporarily to aid the restaurants of Culebra that are always in dire need of fresh fish...oh and the credit card bill...Brian and Julie from Colorodo fished with us yesterday. Brian is pictured on the right with a 65# Wahoo he caught. The couple also landed Blackfin Tuna,Bonito, and King Mackerel up to 25#. Max and I still have dates open April 8th thru the 17th...

The Last of March, 2011.......

...Strong winds all week didn't prevent any of my anglers from catching Bone Fish..just one angler skunked out, Bruce Read started the week off with a Nice fish pictured on the right. Bruce is a class act ! Excellent caster and great company. Welcome to the Culebra seven pounder club Bruce! Fred Torphy followed suit despite some horrible conditions as well did Chris Mullens and Henry Whittemore.
I was attacked by Kite boarders on Monday. Now why in the world would these obviously well monied supposedly intelligent kids think that kite boarding next to people fly fishing from a flats boat wouldn't scare away the fish!! It looks like a fun sport and would love to try it but you have never seen anything in your life scare Bone fish off a flat faster than the the sound and sight of one these kids racing across two feet of water. Yard stare and few south jersey gestures got my point across. Hell hath no fury like a fish guide...when some...is spooking my customers fish!!
March is fire month! Grass fires happen every year about this time. Bomberos are busy ! Thank you Nata and Adan et all for your brave fight on the front!

Another unheard of Slam!.....

....A Grand Slam in flats fishing is catching a Permit, Bone fish and Tarpon all in the same day. In culebra we have come up with a few of our own. The Slime Slam is a Tarpon, Lady fish and Bone fish all released in the same day. I'm proud to say we have had several of those this season...and now we have the first Flim Flam Slam. Ken Reback, who has been great a client of mine for several years, has caught on the Fly in Culebra a Permit, a Bone Fish and a Tarpon..With a slight variation of the theme....Ken caught these fish in three consecutive trips to Culebra over Three years...making this maybe a Time Warp Slam. No matter, great fishing as usual Ken and congrats on your seven lb Bone Fish pictured on the right. One of two he caught one morning with me this week.
Spring break brings lots of anglers to the flats here. Hope everyone did well and had a good time. If I can help with local advice please call me I'm more than happy to help. Don't be stubborn. The best anglers are the ones asking questions. It's always a learning experience from your first cast to your last breath.

Cold March Winds.......

....Have dropped water temps down to where they normally are in January. Fishing has been very slow this past week with most of the Bonefish staying off the flats and in the deeper water and black bottom. Lots of anglers trying and some good ones, especially those Walker Boys. Some fish being caught but not in the normal March numbers.
Discovered some schools of small Bonefish (one to three pounds) in a large Bay that is normally too murky to even see bottom. With the North winds and lack of rain water clarity was such that we could see fish that we never even knew were there. Small fish are good. We need the recruitment. Ponchollo Carbonel with a fat release on the right.....

Some of the Smartest Bonefish..........

....in the world live on our premier Bonefish flat here in Culebra a flat by the name of Dakity. I love to watch first timers when they see their first big Bonefish and their eyes get as big as saucers and the arms start flying and the line starts crashing and the fish start exploding and then they are gone...and then most of the time four hours later the discouraged angler has still not connected a fly to a Bonefish and he or she doesn't have a clue why. Help is on the way! Do your research and practice your casting and presentation skills and not the next trip but maybe four or five later you will catch a Dakity ghost. There are anglers I know who come to Culebra and catch a Bone fish or two or three every time they fish Dakity. I mention this just to prove to the skeptics it can be done and regularly. Need their names? Call me I'll put you in touch. In the mean time research and practice! Check out www.bonefishonthebrain.com and especialy Deneki Outdoors where Bone fish guides, including myself, from Andros and around the world contribute Bone fishing tips. Author Terry Francis on the right with one of the two first Bonefish he ever caught. Terry fished with me this week and obviously was able to crack the "code".......

PR Fishing License.......

...I get emails all the time from people wanting to know if they need a license to fish in Puerto Rico. So here is the latest from my sources at the top of Natural Resouces in San Juan. It's coming ! At the present time there is no license required unless you fish commercially. The Gov't is still receiving bids on contractors to over see the licesing program at the recreational level. By this time next year the program is scheduled to be in operation at which time locals and tourists both will be required to purchase a fishing license. It will be issued in various forms. Weekly up to yearly. If you fish on a Charter boat (ie. myself) you will be covered by the Captains license and not be required to purchase your own. Stay tuned I'll keep you up to date. Remember things move slowely here compared to the States.
Lots of wind but still fishing everyday. Bonefishing has been tough but anglers who can deal with the wind are catching fish. Bob Warren and his buddy Bill pictured on the right caught a big Jack Crevalle ,a Snook and a Tarpon with me yesterday. Great Anglers and second time clients. My office (Dinghy Dock) has been over crowded with rubber dinghy owners and weird looking tourists! Judy is not Happy !

President\'s week ...2011

...Fishing everyday this month If I,m lucky and so far I am. I'll try to run down the past week which has been a blur of people and fish. My long time client and good friend Victor Kopnitsky started off the week. Victor is an expert fly fisher from Pennsylvania who released three bonefish on his trip plus multiple Ladyfish and jumped one Tarpon. Next was Andy Lilienthal and his son Levi. Young Levi got his second consecutive tarpon in two visits plus some double header lane Snapper. Kathy and Don from South Carolina had fish flying across the deck nonstop, we just lost count. Killed a couple of Ceros, Muttons and Yellow tails for dinner and released the rest. Jamie Romm from Brooklyn, Nuevo York ,caught Mackarellas, Chillo, Jacks and let his first Tarpon swim away for a release.
The Ponce Posse was in town and I had the pleasure of fishing with both Fernando and Panchollo on Monday. These guys are good! Terrible conditions with a few shots and Panchollo let a large Bone swim away for another day.
Andy Lilienthal fly fished with me today and on his first ever try at Bone fishing caught and released three nice Bone fish in one short morning. Great casting, good line managment,and yes presentation is everything. Good job Andy! and now I got to get these old bones some sleep......

Slime Slam ....!

....Not recognized in all angling circles, but definetly here in Culebra is the coveted "Slime Slam" or the release of a Tarpon, Bone Fish, and Lady Fish all in the same day. All three are some of the slimiest fish you will ever handle. Newest recipient is Carl Haensel from Duluth. Carl and his wife Cindy fly fished with me this week. Cindy is pictured on the right with a nice Bonefish she caught. Both are top notch Fly fishers some of the best I've fished with in years. Carl is a guide and a professional Photographer and its well worth visiting his sight www.namebini.com and checking out some of his work. So far this week they have caught several bonefish, Lady fish and one Tarpon on the fly. Congratulations and thank you both for an enjoyable outing......

Wind Won\'t Stop.. And We Won\'t Either....

...Its always a challange fishing this time of year. We are faced every day we leave the dock with the tough decision of where we can go and safely fish and still produce. On top of this half the places I would like to fish I can't even get too. My beginning fly fishers especially are plagued by back casts that fall apart in the 25 kt wind and fish that refuse to show or are just plain impossible to see in these sort of conditions. Off shore..forget it ! No one has been out in a week. Good news is the wind is forcast to let up soon and we are still catching some fish despite conditions.
Steve W caught his first fish on a fly rod the other day...Nice Cero in the picture on right result of some live chumming with sardines and then tossing the fly. Works like a charm...sometimes!...Celeste from Block Island caught some bottom fish and jumped two tarpon with me, while another Block Islander, Jamie with his son Big Fish Fisher, caught a monster 34 inch Cubera and some Flag Yellow Tails on the North side. Bone fishing all this week so good reports coming up!

More Big Water.......First Week of February 2011

...The fantastic North Side Fishing continues. Bill, Bill jr, Louie and Andy, Jersey boys who know the drill, smoked them last trip. 9 King Mackeral, 4 Tuna, and jumped another sail fish all this and back at the dock by 10 am. One of the boys with a "smoker" king on the right. Max and I have dates open the end of this month and the first two weeks of March. If the wind lets up we'll start jigging and throwing flies at these fish.
Got an email from a potential client last week wanting to know if he could stop by my Office in Culebra and discuss fishing. Before I rattled of one of my typical wise ass remarks I stopped and thought...You know I do have an Office. ..and come to think of it I have secretary too..So if you would like to discuss fishing or say..Premarital and for that matter post marital sex or any other worldly issue..Please make an appointment with my secretary, that's right, Judge Judy the bartender at my Office, Daily hours 5pm to 6pm, 3rd stool in, just in back of those frito suckin Tarpon, Dinghy Dock, USA.......!

Big Water..and the Walkers Crush \"em

..Back out on the North Side yesterday with Chris Walker and son Brennan. Great mixed bag of King mackeral (sierra), Wahoo (Peto), Black Fin Tuna and Bonito. Picture on the right is Brennan with his first ever Tuna. We were hoping to throw fly's at the Tuna but conditions didn't cooperate. After we got back in, cleaned up, I took Brennan back out in the flats boat and he nailed his first Tarpon on a fly. Brennan did a text book job on the 6o lb fish which he brought to the boat in 20 minutes with an 8 wt rod. Dad filmed the the entire fight from the cockpit.
Bone fishing continues to be frustrating even though I'm starting to see more fish. We have caught nothing but small fish lately and I apologize to both Dan Mayer and Steve Craig for not posting pictures. The Bone fish they both caught this week look like imports from Belize not the typical Culebra fish we normally try and target.
I'll be scheduling more "off shore" trips in March as long as this fantastic fishing holds up. February is pretty well booked up with just a day here and there left open.

Other Fish , Other Ways........

...Obviously I spend most of my time fly fishing on the flats in and around the shallow bays of Culebra. Ninty percent of my clients are flyfishers..I do it out of love and I follow the buck. "No check, no eat" my wife likes to say..now get back out! She doesn't really get the Love part...(She's actually a sweat heart and the only reason I have any money at all)..Original point being there are a lot of other fish besides Bonefish, Tarpon etc in Culebra.
The "blue water" fishery (actually only about a 3 mile run, has been off the charts this year. Most of the local boats troll ballyhoo or live line sardines for Black fin and Yellow fin Tuna, King Mackerel, Wahoo and Bonito. Max Guiterrez and myself snuck out the other morning on his Shamrock for two and a half hours. We ran out of bait and ice with 8 tuna and 8 King Macks to 20 lbs. Aldo Pena fishing along side us by himself caught 16 tuna. Plenty of Sail fish around as well.
Angler on the right is friend and artist "Pucho" ,Victor Oliver ,with a Beautiful PeaCock Bass he caught on a fresh water lake in Puerto Rico...of course with a fly rod....!

If Not the War, At Least We Won the Battle.....!

Great News for all Recreational Fishermen in Puerto Rico. PR has offically granted legal protection to Bone Fish, Tarpon, Permit and Palometa. Violation of this law which entails possession of the above, would result in a minimum $100 per fish penalty plus the possibilty of seizure of boat and gear. There are no loop holes. There was a tremendous amount of effort put out to get this protection status. I myself have been involved from the beginning but the real work was done by three people. Fernando Monnlor, one of PR's great fly fishers, Capt Fransico "Pochy" Rosario, and our "Guiding Light" Craig Lillistrom. Thank you all! My generation will probably not live long enough to see the benefits of this legislation but our sons and daughters and grand children will now have a chance to grow up in Puerto Rico to experience the wonders of these beautiful marine creatures. Picture on the right is a Palometa.

Bone Tease?......

...Holding my breath. Water jumped up a couple and a few more Bone Fish appeared in our local arena. Dan Gould watched his fishing buddy Max catch his first Bone fish on a 6wt in about 4 inches of water. Great anglers and good company!
Jacky Crawford, five year client and veteran of Culebra"s Bone Fish society, went on the next two days to catch six more. Hope things hold up
Want some of the best Bone fishing advice available? go to www.bonefishonthebrain.com .Check out Denekeis current advice column on Bone fishing . Straight up and down to earth good sense from some of the best guides in the business. 3 day lull in bookings. Time to haul, paint and a few quick repairs as we enter the heart and soul of our season. Come have a beer, 5pm, right next to six big Frito suckin' Tarpon and Judys great sense of.....

Tarpon Still Snappin\'...........

...Dave Cook fished the week with me, his second season fishing here in Culebra. Things started out pretty fast and furious with Dave catching his first fly rod Tarpon (plural) including the one pictured on the right and then went on to jump several others. Things then kind of ground down to a slower pace as we concentrated on the Bones. Dave did end up with several Bone Fish for the week but not without some serious time investment mostly on his own.It's the reality of the fishery here in Culebra. You will rarely do numbers but if you're willing to put the time in you will in all probability end up with some top quality fish. Dave's biggest Bone Fish went around 8 lbs.
Chris Pasternak also released his first fly caught Tarpon with me yesterday. All the Tarpon we have been releasing lately are in the 30 to 50 lb catagory. Fishing everyday so lots of glowing reports coming up..No 'Cuda head in my mail box yet and $100 bills don't last long in my pocket especially when Judge Judy the bartender bats those big blue ones at me...

January 2011..Fish Hard ! Live Long!.........

.....12 year old Reed Wolf caught a 34 inch Robalo or Snook right after he fought a 40 lb Tarpon for 10 minutes and five jumps. Reed displayed an amazing show of angling prowess by pulling the big Snook out of the Mangroves for the save. Despite a heroic resusitation effort by Dr Goldfish the Robalo came to terms with both his creator and a hot frying pan. Such is Life!
My Tarpon leader numbers are now off a little. Broke a leader on the first jump with veteran fly angler Dave Cook. This brought Dave down to 2 for 4 in two days on fly caught Tarpon. Daves still fishing with me so more to come as I finally get caught up on reports for the end of the month..........

Christmas Winds..Adios 2010

...NE 25 kts,seas 17 feet, ferrys are shut down and we have no gas on the Island...On the positive side it's 80 degrees here and we are fishing every day. I have plenty of 40# bite tippet and we are still catching Tarpon. Tarpon leaders..Keep them simple for fly..40# butt,30# down to 20# class, to no more than 40# bite. No biminis no hoffnagles. You can even get away with 30# bite on the smaller fish especially useful in clear water . Conventional, taper up..Line class to 20# to 30# to 40# bite overall leader length should equal the length of the fish plus a CH. I'm sure i'm going to get a lot of argument over these recipes but this is what works for us and we are about 95% on hook up to release this season. Another Jack for Willy on the right. Senor Crevalle is still alive and swimming somewhere. Lots of fish so lots of reports coming up......

Felicidades ! Dec 24 2010....

...Flat calm set the scene for some slammin' Horse eye (pictured right)and Jack Crevalle that stretched the limits of Willie Schlein's 8wt the other day. Jacks in the 10 to 15 lb range especially Horse eye Jacks are one of the most exciting fish you can catch in salt water on a fly rod. Willie went on to jump 2 Tarpon and then go out on his own the next day and catch a Bone. It doesn't get much better anywhere. There is a 5 foot 40lb 'cuda hangin' out in Dakity, one of our major Bone Fish flats. Deliver his head I'll give you $100. Barracuda not only eat a lot of Bone Fish but probably more harmful for us in the long run they freak out the local population to the point that fish leave.

As long As the Rod Bends.......

....That's my job. We can't catch Bonefish we'll chase Blue runners and Cero Mackeral. That's exactly what Caleb Sheffer, Greg Ivins and myself did the other day and threw in a few Mutton Snapper to boot. Rods were bent for two hours releasing somewhere around 30 big blue runners and keeping a few Snapper and Mackeral for eating. The interesting thing about walking the flats and poling over some of my regular haunts this season is not only seeing a greatly reduced number of Bones so far but also seeing some of the biggest Bone fish I've seen in a while on a consistant basis. Now there are a lot of things I do badly and a few things I do really good and one of them is judging the weight of fish and women with out actually picking them up. I won't take this any farther other than to say I've seen alot of 12 lb Bonefish in the last two weeks and damn the women on this Island are eating a lot of French fries.

December 12 , 2010...........

....Long time client Bernie Gastrich fished with me for three days. Bernie is a good fresh water fly angler but has a case of, raise the tip 'itus worse than any one i've ever met..Sweet Jesus!! Had old Bern pointing that thumb straight up off the cork so that it looked like a wedding cake penus, my usual cure all, but he still insisted on raising up that hand on the take to the point I felt myself becoming a Keys guide and yelling like a mad man at the poor guy..Lo siento Mi Amigo...Finally ended up 1 for 3 last day with a good showing of some bones on the Eastern End of the Island. Off shore guys continue to bang away at some decent Yellow fin tuna up to 60 lbs. Still got a few days open next week. Ocean water is 79, the sun block is 45, and the beer is 37 when judge, bartender Judy, presides over the daily Captains meeting at the Dinghy Dock..join us!

Insane Tarpon Blitz !!!......

...Exactly what the BVI's and Culebra are famous for in the fall happened today for The Gannons, Bill,Sean and Mitch. Three rods bent to the cork for a solid 45 minutes on one of our North side beaches. Home boys from Cape May hooked 9 and released 3 up to 75 lbs in an insane bite and incredible demonstration of light tackle angling skill. The only reason we quit was because the boys had to make the ferry and we ran out of bite tippet. What an F'n Blast!..The day started off on the flats where Sean,picture on the right, bagged a slob of a Mutton Snapper. Spring tides didn't produce the Permit I was hoping to see and Bones were out of the question with the big water and no viz. Beach didn't turn out to be such a bad last option after all.....

December and Light Winds........

....95% of the fly fishers I fish with are poor to ok at best in their casting and presentation ability and maybe 3% are WoW! Jim Opperman was a Mid West Trout guide for years and has Fished Culebra extensively. Jim might fall into that missing 2% right up there with the Taborys,Pantorno's, and Jeff Beckers of the world all who have fished with me in Culebra. Your 2% above wow, Jim....Beautiful casting !
Light winds finally!... but the Tarpon got wifty and spread out on me. Jim O caught a small Bone only one of maybe two we saw all Morning. That's Jim on the right. The good news is the offshore guys are finding small Yellowfin and good numbers of Wahoo close in. Kingfish (sierra) should be turning on any day with the colder temps.

More Tarpon....As November Blows Away

Incredible NE winds most of this month but despite conditions all my fly fishermen who have set out to catch a Tarpon have all done so. The fish remain bunched up on bait both in the mangroves and on several North Coast Beaches. Latest releases were posted by Gustavo Gonzalez, a proficient caster from North East Striper country. Gustavo jumped his first fish , after five or so jumps, and got the second to the boat for the picture on the right. After receiving several requests I will soon post a picture and description of the Culebra Tarpon fly we use here almost exclusively. This fly was originally developed by my good friend Jorlie Cruz. I of course promptly stole it,modified it and called it my own. Thanks Jorlie......

A Lot of Tarpon!.......

...There are a lot of Tarpon bunched up in several spots around the Island right now. Fished with fresh water fly fisher Steve Studley yesterday in some rather windy ,low viz conditions. There were a ton of fish constantly busting around us all morning. Steve at first had a problem that most fresh to salt converts have in that he wanted to raise his rod tip on the take. This doesn't work, period, ever!. I've developed a way to teach fresh water people how to overcome this. I have the angler when stripping the fly raise his thumb above the cork so he is now only gripping the rod with his fingers. The angler is then forced on the take to strip set. Raising the rod at this point feels too ackward with the thumb off. After the set the thumb of course can return to the grip as well as both hands and even both feet if needed. Proof of success is shown in the rather poor photo on the right with Steve's first Tarpon and first salt water fish on the fly released after 20 minutes of great pullage! Congratulations Steve!

November 20th and Richard Rogers.....

...Richard is one of my longest running clients and is very good to have put up with me for so many years. Richard has caught Bonefish with me as well as Giant Barracuda and almost every fish available to an angler here in Culebra ,but never a Tarpon. Today at first Grey light we rounded into a small bay to net Sardines for our mornings fishing and behold a dozen magnificent Sabalo crashing, busting and just going nuts. Richard I say to Richard..Here's your chance. The Tarpon Skunk is about to be defrocked. Point the rod at the fish and don't reel when he's taking line and all the usual stuff that in the heat of the moment they all forget. Nothing! 2hrs of nothing. Only answer I could come up with was too much bait. At least that's what my Tarpon Gurus tell me, Sardines and anchovy were jumping in the boat the whole time we were fishing. First for me thats why we get up and go again. See you in a few days my friend and we'll try again. Maybe with spear guns!

November 1..2010.....The 5 wt Adventure !

.....The smart angler will normally match his rod size to the size fish he plans on catching but then I rarely do what I'm supposed too... mostly just to see what I can get away with..or not, for example I'm using a 5wt Sage RPL, a gorgeous casting trout rod, to catch Bar Jacks up on the East End. Rod and fish are just perfectly matched so that you had to just barely put the fish on the reel each hook up. I was having a ball doing this for about 30 minutes when a curious 30 plus Tarpon shows up to check out the commotion...and of course I did. Fortunately one quick jump ended what ultimately and most certainly would have been a total Charlie Foxtrot resulting in a mailing tube to Sage. Getting ready to leave I catch the glint of a tail on the flat next to where I'm anchored. Why the hell not ! They looked like fairly small maybe medium Bones at best and as it turned very hungry. First cast, one strip and the 5 wt turned into a wet linguini and the tiny Ross reel tranformed itself into the rear wheel of a drag racer. Fly line and all the backing That Ross could hold, 100 yds, gone to the arbor knot in about 15 seconds. Fish was a good 7 lbs as it turned out and still is with the added weight of a #4 Gami and 3 inches of 2x. God made 8wts and common sense for a reason....but I'd still do it again!

October/2010...Rusty but back in the Groove......

...Too much time away put me off my game for a day or so. My apologies to Bruce and Sharon Olden burg . A combination of strong winds, super spring tides, poor viz and asshole guide with who still had Striper scales in his beard made Bonefishing Really tough. Bruce and Sharon did have several good shots at Permit. Saw more this week than I'vr seen in Culebra in a while. Bonefish stocks look to be slim compared to last fall. Bruce did end up 1 for 3 on Bones but not with out a struggle. That's Bruce on the right. Middle of the week the three of us fished some cuts on the East End and had non stop Jack Blitzes. Nothing big but numbers and good pullage. This was Bruce and Sharon's first Fly experience in Salt. Hope I've made some converts. Great people,great fun, which is really what its all about. Lots of free time next week. I'll be exploring and trying different things before Season gets rolling. Check it out here ....

Back Before You Know IT.........

Dale Winchell, Vice President of "Joe's Ice" here in Culebra, boated 7 King Mackeral (Sierra) with me and then finished Monday Morning out by releasing an 80# Tarpon. I swear Dale had that Tarpon boat side in under 15 minutes using 12 lb spin tackle.Either Dale is an animal or the fish was a pussy....maybe both. Last trip of the season featured the gentleman on the right, who wished to remain anonymous, releasing a Bonefish. All the fish on our Fish Picture page of this site by the way were caught this season. Need fly fishing advice over the next few months be happy to help just call my cell 609 827 4536. There are no other fly fishing guides in Culebra so beware of the web sites that advertise that they fish here. Like I said "Back before You Know It".....

April 7....2010

...Strong North East trades have set in for the first time this season. Normally these are conditions we experience in January and February. Strange year weather wise here at latitude 18. Winds made it tough to pole and see fish even wading as we resumed fishing after the bachanal. Schedule is light so hopefully I'll get a few chances to fish on my own this week and next. Picture on the right is Dave Toth with a big Bone Fish he released with me Good Thursday before the craziness. His Wife Jill also caught a Big Bone that afternoon and pulled the hook on another after the first run . Slamin' fishing with fantastic anglers....

...The Culebrense Have Spoken

....It has been a tradition of the boaters from the "Big Island" to invade Culebra every Samana Santa for as long as any one here can remember. They come over by the hundreds and raft up together behind one of our famous Bonefish flats called Dakity. They eat drink and party until the water starts to stink from all the sewage from the boats. This year promoters wanted to bring in a big cargo vessel to be party HQ with Gasoline,lights,bands,and a live radio show to pump the Party up. When local Culebrense got word of this they quickly organized a blockade to keep the "Party Barge" out of Dakity. I was the only Gringo to participate in this blockade and very honored to have been asked to join. It worked!! Thank you Tomasito and every one who participated. The "Cojones Award" definitely going to Sylvia..You go Girl! Back on the fishing front, picture of Dave Cook on the right with one of two Bone fish he caught and released with me prior to civil disobedience.

Hell Week..........

....There is no other way to describe it. Here in Culebra 8 hour gas lines, no water.... I apologize for the title,I'm Quaker not Catholic. On the water pretty fair week. Bonefish for Jeff Crabtree. Ponce's Kurt Akei goes 1 for three with some fine stick work . Nice going Kurt and again Happy Birthday. Also from Ponce, one of PR's best fly fishermen, Fernando Monllor, displayed his usual magnificent fly casting skills on the flats Sunday and released two big Bone Fish. Pleasure to observe the master! Dave from Montana with two Bonefish with me yesterday...Fine,Fine casting! My good client and 'cuda bounty hunter Richard Rogers on the right making the world safer for Bonefish.

Can A Bone Fish Run A Hundred Yards?......

....I remember a quote from Chico Fernandez (Author and Quite possibly one of the best Bone Fishermen alive) that the maximum backing you will ever need on the flats is 100 yards. Always one to cause trouble of course but I am merely making an observation...Twice, Twice I say here in Culebra this year alone, I have had Bone Fish run within yards of the 100 yd Mark. (My reels are marked and all carry a minimum of 150 yds of Backing). This came close to happening again just the other day again with client Eric Asmis. Eric and I both watched in amazement as a big Bonefish ran off almost all of his backing , the fish never leaving the flat, before pulling the hook in some coral. Eric caught that fine looking Tarpon on the right (Thanks Joe Panterno, Great Pattern!) and then went on to catch two big Bones. Fine angling Eric!! My suggestion ? Fly line to 50 ft of Mono (25 lb test) to 150 yds of Backing. Sure can't hurt!

Ides of March......

.....Craig Woolard , a most talented fly angler from Alaska, caught two Bones with me and pulled the hook on a third. That's Craig in the current picture on the right. (Click on to enlarge). Yes casting ability does make a difference combined with a new pattern we have just started using this week has a few fish confused! ...Nice change! most of the time it's me. Joe Panterno (current IGFA world record holder for largest Bone Fish ever caught on Fly) sent me a new pattern to try on Tarpon. Eric Asnis fished with me yesterday and second cast with Joe's pattern he's hooked up to a forty pond Tarpon which he released 20 minutes later...story and photos to come

Culebra Patterns........

....I tend to agree with Lefty Kreh's philosophy 'Put a decent fly in front of a Bonefish as long as the presentation is perfect and he will eat it"..except in Culebra. When I am on the flats I change patterns constantly. It's like a nervous habit and it drives some people nuts. I'm motivated by what I observe at the time. Tide ,light, what the fish are doing at that moment and most importantly what natural forage is available at that particlar tide. Banded shrimp, Mantis shrimp,Gobi's,green crabs and glass minnows and worms make up most of what Bone fish eat here. If you're fishing in 8" inches of water you better be light and weedless. 6 feet you better get down. All the patterns I fish here are my own or variations of others. The Green crab on the right is a great flats pattern for Culebra. Not my original idea just my version. Call me for ideas if you are coming here and tie. I'm happy to help

Coldest Weather Yet....

...Didn't stop Mike Becker from whoopin' this big Jack Crevalle on little 8 lb rig I usually use for Grunts...nice piece of angling Mike. Next stop found us hiding in the lee near a Mangrove flat with 8 inches of water and the strange combo of Bone fish and Snook tailing right next to each other, A first for me. Mike's wife Joy hooks up a Snook but couldn't keep it out of the roots. Case closed! Snook were a common sight here when I first came to Culebra but are few and very far between these days. There is no protection for these fish and most Culebrense growing up in culebra today will never have the chance to even see a Robalo in their current life time.

North Side on Fire!!.......

....Tons of bait and lots of Tarpon. Almost all of my anglers fishing from the beach have connected this week on fish up to about 80 lbs. Some of the battles have lasted an hour or more. Jumpin' Johnny Pompano still trying to get one to the sand because he's still insisting on using rubber hooks.
Bone fishing slowed up a bit ,fish seem a bit jumpy. It could be pre spawn or the more than usual numbers of big 'cudas hanging around. Alan Maglia, Tom Chimento, and my long time client and good friend Vic Kopnitsky still managed Bonefish releases this week.

Hot Bite and See Ya later February.....

.....Brit McMaster walked right into a fly fishing scenario most of us just dream about. Twenty minutes after leaving the dock last Thursday Brit is hooked up to a forty plus Tarpon that was released successfully after another twenty minutes. Thirty minutes later Brit releases his first Bone fish of the day. Right on cue who shows up next? Of course Johnny Pompano's arch nemisis, Senor Permit. He was twenty plus pounds and eleven oclock inbound,50 feet. It was like a dream come true and then reality struck. The Permit did what Permit do best and for six casts proceeded to ignore two of my best Permit Patterns. Brit finished out the day with one more Bone on the fly. Close old dog but no cigar today!!!
John and Tim Farenetta, clients for many years,fished with me Friday and crushed 'em. Final count...Dozen and a half Jacks, at least that many Snapper and Porgys and Four Bone fish!! That's the most Bone fish in one morning in 2010. Congrats and see you next year!

2/24/10 There is a Place........

....Where you can fly cast to Tarpon and see your fish coming for a hundred yards and yes you are in Puerto Rico and no You are definately not in San Juan. You will not see just one fish. On Tuesday I cast to a at least 30 fish some over a 100 lbs in 3 feet of clear water. If you didn't know where you were you would have thought you had found "Location x". Call "Pochi", Capt Francisco Rosario 787 547 7380 for absolutely the Best Tarpon fly and light tackle fishing to be found in this part of the world, period. I thank you Pochi for teaching this old dog some new tricks. Any day you can go out on the water and learn something new is a great day!!
Back in Culebra. picture on the right of another Culebra slob caught and released last week by who else? ..CW Next day open ,March 10th. Keep it tight and release it right!!

Week of the Walkers......and Congratulations Pancho!

........Chris Walker and his two sons, Brennan and Collin, all holding a fly caught Tarpon the family ganged up on. Fish was caught in one of Nancy Waltons private fishing reserves of course with the owners permission. Notice the bloody face on Collin. In his exuberance he jumped on the fish to help out his dad just as the fish took a leap and clocked him in the nose. Both Collin and the Tarpon were released to fight another day.
Bob Warren caught a Bone fish earlier in the week with me. Pancho Carbonel bagged two fly caught Bones within 20 minutes of each other. These were Pancho's first Bone fish. Light wind, good sunlight and big schools of fish were the ideal conditions Pancho and I fished in on Thursday. I watched from the poling platform with great pride as my student put it all together like a pro. Congratulations Pancho!!

Hottest February........

......that a lot of people here can ever remember. Light south east trades and water temps still around 80. Regular visiting winter fly fishers have been catching. Johnny Pompano with an 8 lb Bone fish release yesterday, and Nancy Walton, aka La Reina de Flamenco, with a Tarpon release off the beach. Chris Walker hooked up a permit on a Kwan fly but came unglued after the first run.Congratulations to all! I know it's DIY not DYS....

DYS in Culebra..........

......Contrary to what most people think,I'm a big fan of Do it Yourself fishing vacations here in Culebra. What I don't understand is how somebody could possibly think that they could arrive here blind go out by themselves for the first time and catch Bone fish. It's been done but not very often. Enter the guide!! Why not invest in a half day trip learn about our tides, our different flats,what these fish are eating and then spend the rest of your vacation applying what you've learned.
If there ever was a poster boy for DYS in Culebra it would be Mike Broyles. Picture on the right. Mike fished with me one day and then went solo for the next three catching all sorts of fish including his first Bone. He listened , he learned and then he went out on his own and kicked ass!.. Congratulations Mike!!

Week of Women!!........

....It just doesn't get any better!! Lady anglers all week just knockin' the piss out of big fish. Mike Broyles and his girl friend Carrie Thomas fished with me yesterday. Carrie released an 8 lb Bonefish caught on spinning gear. The day before I had the pleasure of fishing with Steve and Sandy Pion. Sandy was hooked up to an eighty pound Tarpon for an hour. She never once thought of giving up the fight and handing the rod to husband Steve and fought that fish from hook up to release all by her self. By the Jesus those women from Rhode Island are tough!! I love my Job!!

1/24/10..Slow Times.....

....A whole week with out a trip. A new record. Things start to pick up this week with only 3 days not booked..Johnny Pompano and I have been chasing North Coast Tarpon with dull hooks. I've gone 0 for 6 which is fine by me. Two jumps and I'm happy. www.bonefishonthebrain.com has been running a blog commentary on Puerto Rico and its policy or lack of on Gill netting Bone Fish. Interesting stuff. Bjorn, who runs the blog would love any comments, especially from the fly fishers of PR who have been unusually quiet lately and who this ultimately benefits more than anyone else.

1/16/10..Rain and Strange Weather

.....I've got more frogs in my back yard than any shack in Everglades City,Fla..3 days of rain in January, un F'in heard of...Fished with 7 years of potential angling experience in the 'guise of Levi Lilienthal, good kid who bagged his first tarpon Saturday just about his size and still very healthy after the release. Pic. on the right.
Culebra better wake up and deal with this run off problem. Honda is solid brown as in mud, turbity, what ever you want to call it...End result , you can figure it out!

The Word Cold is of course Relative...........

...when used in a sentence written in Culebra and read by somebody freezing their calhouns off in the windy 20 degrees of Chicago or New York....But, but for real, it got cooler here! and that couple of degree drop in air and water temp triggers fish to react. Ok! not always favorably but without a winter you can't have a spring and spring Bonefishing is what Culebra's about.
I spent an enjoyable day fishing with Terry Tuepah from the Northern Provinces of Canada during the early part of the week and finally after a lot of hard work Terry released a Bone fish. Long time client and seasoned fly fisher Jacky Crawford finished out the week and after a few enjoyable "Jack Attacks" to take the stretch out of the line he released a respectable 6 to 7 lb Bonefish. Stay Warm!!

Week of Big Bone Fish.........And Local Heros

....The fish on the right is the reason people come to Culebra to fly fish. My good friend Annie from "Paradise Gift Shop" here in Culebra caught her first Bone fish with me yesterday that also turned out to be the first double digit fish of 2010 and more than likely the first one caught this year in the entire Caribbean. Also on front page this week the intrepid "Johnny Pompano" the 6ft 10 inch fly fishing machine caught an 8 lb Bone fish out of one of his secret East End Honey Holes on Jan 2nd. Congratulations Big John!! We may be down in numbers this year but we got em on...yes size does matter!!!

Feliz Ano Nuevo...Ya\'ll

....Eleven hours into 2010 and Will McKee released the first Bone fish of the New Year. Will also got off 5 good casts to several Permit in a steady 20 kts of wind. A Jack Attack at first light started off the day when most of the Island was still soundly hungover. Culebra's a wonderful place when everyones a sleep, which is rare. Here's hoping for the coming new year that we all get to go to work in the morning, have some sort of affordable health Insurance Soon!! and when we get the opportunity to fish we treat it like a religion not an excuse...Flash back on the right is Capt. Jeff Becker , good friend and one of the most talented fly guides I have ever met ,holding one of six big Bones he released here in one morning back in 1997.

12/28...Crowds are Here....

....Big Island is apparently suffering from lack of tourists but not so in Culebra. Wish we had Bonefish but they are gone from Culebra's major flats for the time being. Kite boarding is the newest thing out at Dakity and our "guests" from California have chased all the fish out of the area even after my pleading to stop boarding right up on top of the flats. Something they have been doing for hours almost every day for a few weeks now. With fly fishing limited to pocket flats and waiting for a mid winter influx of Fish we have spent the time Live baiting and doing fairly well on the right tides. Tito Norris and his son fished this morning with me and caught Mackerelas (Cero Mackeral) pictured on the right, and several large Jacks up to 6 Lbs. Winds are light and temps are in the 80's. So screw the Californians, life's OK.......!

Do the Right Thing...

...........and not just because it's Christmas. Take a kid fishing! Better yet your kid. My friend Hector Santana did just that this past Tuesday and it was a most enjoyable morning for Father and son and myself. We laughed , we caught a few fish and young Hector had us rolling on the deck with his nonstop comedy routine. So Hector Santanas both, many thanks to you for giving me the opportunity to see what is really important in this world... Felicidades to All!!

Best Weather of the Season......

...Instead of pounding the same old areas I started working spots some of which I hadn,t caught fish in Ten years or more. Willim Schlein was with me yesterday in absolute perfect weather conditions and ended up catching his first two Bonefish of his fly fishing career. He started the day with a fresh water hook set, with obvious results, on a double digit monster on an old Johnny Pompano pocket flat which even Johnny had given up on. Willie calmed down after that and put the wire in two consecutive Culebra Bones to end the morning with a count of 2 for 3. Nice Job Willie!

Fall Reflections.........

...It's been slow fishing. I'll just call it as it is (obviously I don't guide in San Juan! ). Our Bonefish stocks took another hit this summer, and sadly I only see a few remaining fish on the East End at the moment . That should change in February with the migration hopefully. The Ensenada flats have been beaten pretty hard as a result. There are Fish and all but just a few of my clients have caught Bonefish this fall. A couple even touching the double digit mark. All and all it's been a struggle. James Linehan and his buddy Willie from Chicago are a good example. Both are world class Fly Fishers,casting and tying especially, and both with many years of guiding experience. The best we could do the other day in 7 hours is release one small Bone and have another fish drop the ball in the end zone after the initial run. The good news is the flats of Culebra are Gorgeous, This is a sight fishery to behold ,you will see fish with me and probably catch. Things are only going to get better. They always do here!

Back on Track.........12/16/09

....Breaks over and it feels great to be back on the water. Clemson "Tigers" football was well represented today by special teams Jeff Ogren and fishin' buddy Josh Anderson from Alabama. Jeff caught his first Bonefish and Josh help me eradicate another Bone Crusher, or Picua Grande. I've watched these really big Barracudas pick Bonefish off the outer end of a big school like they were gummy bears at a saturday matinee. So no tears no regrets! This one also swims with the fishes..upside down!

Week of December 12

....Lots of wind ,and no business. 8 days with no charters. Typical of mid December with a touch of Recession thrown in. Morning Ferry arrived yesterday and nobody got off! First time I've ever seen that. Fished on my own today and found a good first light bite of bar jacks . Two feet of gin clear water over white sand,fish on every cast for a good twenty minutes. Perfect 5wt situation with fish only about 2 lbs. More wind forcast for next 4 days then and a break of sorts. Wahoo on the North side when boats can get out and divers report seeing a lot of Sierra (Kingfish) showing up around the Cayos.

December and all is well!.....

..Click on the current picture on the right and you will see about 20 incoming bones in the 4 to 6 lb range, what you don't see is that the school extends on each side of this picture another 50 feet or so or about 120 fish. All of those pictured are coming at us on Dec 5th with one Curt Akey from Ponce PR on point. My man was shaking like a leaf but got the job done. Curt went 1 for three on the morning and catching his first Bone ever on the fly! Look out Ipe, Curt is hot and on a role!! Ponchollo, your turn tomorrow. Long live the Ponce Posse!

December..Always a Pleasure!

..Some of my most memorable times fishing over the past decade and a half in PR have taken place during the month of December. Light fishing pressure coupled with ideal weather conditions often produce some of our best days on the flats. Offshore, wahoo are starting to show on the close drops and Sierra (King Mackerel) are starting to bunch up to do their winter thing.
Kortney Kirkeby caught his first Bonefish on a fly with me last week although Bonefishing in general has been slow since the giant rains of mid November.There will be no new reports until the weekend of December 4th 2009. Don't forget the fishing on Vieques!. Contact Capt Franco Gonzolez 787 450 3744

Rain Delay...Mid November

25 inches in 3 days made the Honda look like a gastro intestinal night mare. The muddy water made it to the flats and all but stifled our fishing for the week. The price of progress! You want developement the environment will suffer. There is no compromise. Tearing up the hillsides for these projects is creating run off scenarios that are killing our marine environment...On a more positive note I am getting great reports about the sight fishing for big Tarpon on the SouthWest Coast of Puerto Rico. Contact Capt. "Puchi" Rosario at 787 849 1430 for more info. He's the man to fish with. This is sight fishing. Not blind casting in stained waters by an airport runway!

Technique is Everything in Bone Fishing......

....and Nancy Walton,aka The Queen of Flamenco, who has caught more Bonefish in Puerto Rico than any other woman will be the first to tell you. She is a joy to guide with clean tight short and deadly accurracy and incredible stealth. Unless she starts to laugh. She does this a lot and makes you realize smiles is what its about. My mouth still hurts from smiling. Thanks Nanc!..
A new student in Pancho Carbonell fished with me today along with my good friend Fernando Monnllor. Unfortunately for the Ponce Posse the water temp had jumped up 5 degrees and the tides were less than ideal. Fernando and I made a Bonefish convert in Pancho and I took great satisfaction in watching his casting progress through the day. Puerto Rico should take great pride in the quality and high levels of expertise of their fly fishing community. Next trip Pancho we'll be clearing line!!

Friday the 13th,November,2009.....

..Fished the early part of the week with Joe and Marie Hughes,good friends from Sea Isle City ,New Jersey. Joe is a school teacher and one of the best known Fly fishing guides on the South Jersey Shore. Marie caught her first Bonefish and Joe caught a Tarpon. Nancy Walton , the Queen of Flamenco, is back and I will be fishing with her and Jim Opperman today. One of Puerto Rico's finest my good friend and spearheader of PR's Fly Fishing Assoc, Fernando Monnllor will be fishing with me Saturday and Sunday. Long time client Jack Ehler will be starting off the week next week with me so plenty of reports and pictures coming up! hopefully informative and open minded once we get by Friday the 13th!!!

Big Fish and Product Endorsement.........

Bill Lapatkin caught a big Bonefish with me Monday .Fish was easily approaching 9 lbs.(Saw one the day before that was 4 to 5 lbs bigger).Bill's fish was caught on a Tom McQuade pattern using my 7wt Gatti (built by George Costa) and the new Cortland Crystal PE clear floating line. I'm dropping names out of friendship only. I went and bought the Cortland line because I liked the idea and was curious if it would work. I will never use another line Bonefishing ever. It works beyond your dreams!! Anglers using the Crystal with my rod last week out fished the other Bonefish lines two to one. You can order them locally in Puerto Rico through Danny Sosa the Cortland Rep . Email him mdsosa@coqui.net Now who's going to send me a thirty foot center console to try?

Back side of the Moon..What a Difference....

....with fishing like the weather the old saying if you don't like it wait a moment especially in Culebra has once again proved true. Places I fished with out success five days ago now have good numbers of hungry Bonefish. Warren and Terry Wilkey fished with me yesterday and both caught their first Bonefish on the fly (Pic to the right). Both anglers are experienced sweat water fly fishers from Arkansas and picked up the flats dance in an impressive hurry...More reports after today as we are fishing every day this week with clients........

Back on the Flats..November/2009

Slow ,slow ,Slow..Fished with an excellent second time client,John Eilers who caught a small Bone the first day and got casts off to at least 3 Permit..Second day brought one Bone Broke off at the 4 second mark and that was that. Off to new grounds tomorrow with John ,Then Joe Hughes and Warren and Terri Wilkey coming in for the rest of the week.Hot reports hopefully coming up

August 2009

An "Administrative Order" is to be instated by DNRA to protect the Bonefish, Permit and Tarpon of Puerto Rico from commercial exploitation. This is a temporary stop gap until the law can be formally written. Congratulations to Fernando Monnlor and Paul Calvesburg as well Craig Lillistrom for their efforts on behalf of the sports fishing community of Puerto Rico. Now if the new laws are actually enforced by the DNRA Rangers our sons and daughters and grand children and the future sports fishing community of Puerto Rico as well as our guests from other lands can enjoy the fishery we were so fortunate to be a part of. Thanks to all for your support!!

6/02/09...Meeting with DNRA

.. Puerto Rico's fly fishing community was well represented by Fernando Monllor in our first meeting with DNRA to try and bring about legislation to protect the Bonefish and Permit of Puerto Rico. Tarpon are already protected by law. All present were very happy with what was discussed and hope at to have another meeting soon to finalize a proposal for enactment. Keep your fingers crossed!!

May 09

Fernando Monllor and Francisco Rosario along with Paul Calvesbert will have their first meeting with reps of the DNRA in Rio Piedres this coming Tuesday the 24th. This core group along with myself are in the process of forming a PUERTO RICO FLY FISHING ASSOCIATION for the purpose of protecting the stocks of Bonefish,Permit and Tarpon in Puerto Rico. The idea is to follow in the foot steps of Belize which recently granted catch and release only status to the big three. Watch this column for updates on the Association this summer and please Email if you would wish to join our cause..goldfishpr@aol.com

Fly Fishing Association of Puerto Rico.....

...Time Has Come Today (Chambers Bros 1967) formation has started ,with the purpose of uniting the Anglers of Puerto Rico to Protect the Bonefish,Permit and Tarpon Resources. A group of guides from all over the Island as well as interested Fly and Conventional anglers are uniting in an effort to push through legislation that would protect the Big Three and give them Game fish Only Status. Culebra Bonefish and Vieques Bonefish are in great danger of being gillnetted to extinction. Interested in joining the Association or adding your name and Email to the Under Secretary of DNRA list of concerned Fly Fishers contact me goldfishpr@aol.com Thanks

\"Last Set\"

..a few will know what that means...Great week end with good friend and long time fly pal Fernando Monllor who brought with him "Ipe" Juan Bennazar a new member of the illustrious Ponce Posse who smashed down on two Culebra Bonefish first time ever..Great job Ipe !!
Tomorrow my annual turn solo on the flats for an hour or two..next report

April..Mid Month 2009

....Elijah Grenier did an excellent job of landing one of the largest Hound Fish I've seen in many seasons. Quick twist from Dr Slick and the fish pictured on the right was free to go. I fish with a lot of young people through the season and Elijah was by far one of the most polite and mature of many... and a highly skilled angler to boot. Nice job Mom and Pop!
Things are slowing down booking wise as we wind down this part of the season. Bonefish are snapping like dogs. Old flats afficiando Tuck Meachum and myself hooked two in an hour on a recon run yesterday. Culebra Bonefish Love Dave Skoks Mega Mushy material!!! The last two dozen fish we've caught have all been on patterns tied with Dave's great stuff. Check out www.dwskok.com

The Worlds most Under Rated Game Fish......

...at least in this part of the world in my book would be the Hound Fish. Also called Gar Fish and Aguhan this giant needle fish attains lengths of 5 feet and and on lite tackle puts a sailfish to shame. They light up like a bill fish ,jump and roll and cut back like nothing you have ever seen and have teeth that would make a grown man think twice about how you grabbed him. We released one today that had to weigh 6 lbs and was at least 5 1/2 feet in length..Pictures coming soon!! Earlier in the week Shelly Canning released two Bonefish in a morning. The one pictured about 5 lbs and the other a good 9 lbs. Of course forgot the camera for that one. Witnessed a school of a hundred fish being chased by a lone Barricuda. I'm on the Case!!

Cuda Contract.......One Less

I'm big on catch and release unless you're a Mackerella,but this one particular piece of patch reef I fish has been plagued by a rather large and hungry Barricuda for over a month now. It wasn't just the occassional fish he was stealing from my Anglers as they reeled in half fish,piece of fish ,No Fish!! but it got to the point where every hook up was followed by that predictable crash of water and that sullen heavy pull followed by nothing. Lotsa Nothing!! So with the help of Anglers Bernadette Maglione and Jamie Benier we got the Bastard (picture on the right).The Nantucket twosome made short work of a rather large fish who had a good life but there was a contract. Senor 'Cuda now sleeps with the fishes.

The Tarpon that Ate the Camera..... For True!

This Story has been going around Culebra for weeks now so here's the real skinny and footage to prove!..Back in early March Justin Zink and his party went out fishing with Max Gutierrez and myself. Back at the dock I was cleaning the catch of Sierra (Kingfish) for the party when the Tarpon showed up to feed on the scraps. Justin decided to film the Tarpon by holding his small underwater camera off the dock. A large Tarpon came up out of nowhere and ate the camera out of Justin's hand. If that wasn't bad enough that Tarpon dropped it and another one ate it too then spat it out. I finally jumped in the water and recovered the camera. When I handed it back to Justin I noticed it was still running!..Check out the video on You Tube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVHMfhbNFXO

3/21...Heineken Regatta Trashes Culebra

If your going to write something it might as well be controversial!.... I'm all for the sailing part of this regatta but it seems sailing has become the last thing Heineken Beer (which I personally think tastes like Piss!) has any interest in when they arrive in Culebra every year for what has become an annual Drunk fest. Just another example of the gang raping of Culebra by outside commercial interests!.....On the fishing front, breakoffs happen enough when your Bone fishing here but there are some things you can do to minimize them. First pinch your barb! at least that way the busted off fish has a better chance to get rid of the hook..Hold your rod as high as you can when the fish runs through coral if done correctly you can actually keep most of the leader out of the water by applying the right amount of tension. When a fish pulls you up against a mangrove shoot slip line until only the fly line is rubbing against the shoot not the leader. That said My clients last week broke off a total of six fish which is a new record for me. I think it had something to do with Heineken!!

Ides of March....

..... and John Krebs aka Johnny Pompano is banging away at the bones. Culebra's own is releasing 2 to 3 fish a morning far from the bustling city we call Dakity. Dakity and Pelas are major flats here that the tourists fish because that's all they know. Look forward to fishing with you next week John! Offshore scene should light up again once we get passed this moon and the weather gets the kink out

Apologies, Part #5006022... and beware!

My apologies to the people who were scheduled to fish with me this week, my Etec is still broken and the part is still not here. There are no other flats boats here I can use and you need one in Culebra to get to the best Fish..also to prospective clients reading this report for the first time be careful about booking a guide from the mainland of Puerto Rico to Bonefish in Culebra. These guides will tell you they fish in Culebra but in actuality only fish here at the most a couple of days a year. It would be like me taking someone Tarpon fishing in Fajardo or the Lagoons of San Juan. You hire a guide because he has local knowledge and yes local knowledge is not genetically predesposed , Surprise! ..If you want to Bonefish in Culebra or Vieques fish with me ,Greg or Franco, that's what we do, period. If I'm booked on the day you want to fish I'll happily explain how you can do it on your own.

The Lion !!!

The first week of March and some of the worst weather of the whole season and on top of that my Etec decided to crap out on me. Working 'round the clock to get back on the water. Just prior to the proverbial hitting the fan Tom Burke bags his first PR tarpon. Seeing some Bones in non traditional areas which is a common spring time occurance and usually herolds the start of some of the best Bonefishing of the year in Culebra. Some of the other PR web sites ,mostly from San Juan, say that fall is the best Bonefishing in Culebra. Thats just PR bad PR and not true. There can definitly be good Bone fishing in the early fall but nothing like the surges we get the end of February and into March.

March 1st and the Lion or the Lamb ?

Light winds for a change and looks like my poling muscles are going to get a break today. Bones this week for Bill Newlin and Rick Claredon and a couple of long distance releases for my regular Jeff Eisman. Hot shots Fernando Monllor and Patrick Courtney had three releases between them but those boys could catch a Tarpon in a Kansas farm pond with safety pin. Have dates open the end of March and April is wide open. Remember!! Go to mass ,drink beer or do what ever but...Forget fly fishing over Samana Santa

\"The Wind is Your Friend\"..............

...or shut up and Fish! Two of my favorite Mantras and everyone who has fished with me is I'm sure sick of hearing that by now...Fact of life. It blows in the winter! make peace with it. All my anglers this week have come tight on Bonefish and I fish 7 days a week and yes it's been blowin' everyday...But it's 82 degrees!!!
Picture on the right is Chris Walker on the only calm day in February. Walkers Rule!!

Walker\'s .....Week to be Proud of..............

Four for six on Bones, good shots at Permit and most Importantly a new inductee to Culebra's Bonefish Hall of Fame. Brennen Walker becomes the youngest angler to catch and release a bonefish flyfishing in Culebra with out any assistance what so ever. Brennen made the cast, hooked and fought the fish and released the fish all on his own as his father Chris Walker and I just watched in awe. Watching this young man cast all week. has been such a thrill. He's going to be a star you watch!.. Move over Steve Rajeff,Johnny Huff watch out, Chris Korick don't look behind you Brennen Walker is on his way up.

No break from Weather......

Despite days last week with winds to 30 kts and rain and snow, (well rain any way) The Walker Boys are back and kickin' butt. (Details soon. They're still fishing)...The island is mobbed with lots of fresh pink and white faces and Mamcitas looks like a hog feeding trough when they open the chain at six o'clock.......

Double Digititis

...There was a time in Culebra when catching a double digit Bonefish was not considered that big a deal. I'm going back ten years or more. The average size of our Bonefish is now a lot smaller than years past. Just the other day I witnessed a school of 25 to 30 Bones that were only 2 1/2 to 3 lb at the most. Babies!! Hardly worthy of a cast.. Kidding!..Point being we never saw many small fish in the early nineties and catching a double fish was not an unusual occurrence. We still see big fish in certain places, on the average I see at least three or four a week. We released two over ten lbs last year and so far none this season.....That all changed yesterday when the intrepid "Pompano Johnny", Culebra's own flyfishing impresario caught and released the first Bonus Boner of the season. You;re right old Dog..There is a God!

Old Home Week..Jersey Boys

Nice Visit from Cape May Fishermen Jerry Mancuso and Noel Beale along with the lovely ladies Christine and Ginny..Slow start in the early am but the home town team managed to bang out two Tarpon mid morning.A respectable 50 lb for Jerry in the picture and a monster 100 plus for Noel.....Of course I screwed up the big fish picture..Fish damn near rerotated poor Noels rotator operation after 45 minutes of pullage..Carry on Men..Pretty work!!!

It Can Be Done........By God and By Guess

It is possible to pick up a fly rod for the very first time ever,learn to make a half decent cast and presentation and catch a Bonefish over four lbs all within the space of three hours...and this taking place in 15 to 20 kt winds. Miracles do happen,ask former pro polo player George Wilson who developed a remarkable cast in a remarkably short amount of time fishing with me yesterday. Congrats Mr Wilson... and you can stop calling me Dennis!

A Day with the Queen............And What A Day!

One of the real pleasures of being a guide is every once and a while getting the chance to fish with a really great Fly fisher. "The Queen of Flamenco" aka Nancy Walton, fished with me yesterday in a steady 20 to 25 knot breeze, and showed me some casting and presentations I didn't even think were physically possible. Obviously they were as you can tell from the the picture on the right.Nancy and her husband Charlie have been coming to Culebra for decades and Nancy with Charlie cheering her on has caught and released more fish from her beach than any one could possibly ever keep track of. Thanks for a fun morning Nanc, let's fish that flat I told you about before you leave and get that double digit monster we've been chasing for years.

Last Week of Jan. and Perfect Conditions

The economy may suck and half the PR govt is going to jail but the winds are light the sun is shining its 84 air temp and the water is 79. Bones are making little Bones and after they smoke a cigarette they're tailing and eating like crazy. It don't get any better!!...First time Bonefish for seasoned freshwater angler Nate Bureau and several swings and misses on the Bones for first time fly fishers Sue Peters and friend Dave. After their lesson Sue and Dave ended up catching Yellowtails on the fly for their first ever long rod captures..and I believe they're hooked!

Mid January and the Martin Family Kicks Some Butt

Despite horrible conditions John and son Will each caught a Culebra Bone and Will a Tarpon his last day. Great company from Reading,Pa and Thank you Capt. Joe Hughes (Jersey Cape Guide Service) for the referal......John also had a Tarpon (an honest 100# plus) try to eat his 4 lb Mutton snapper as he's bringing it to the boat. Visuals like that make you forget the weather....Great anglers whom I look forward to fishing with again some day....

Reports from Near and Not So Far.........

Weather sucks!! but when boats can get offshore there are fish to be had..Capt Bill Pendelton fishing out of Bahia Marina here in Culebra (787 215 3809) continues to pound away at the Wahoo and Mahis with an occassional Blackfin. Capt J Ferguson fishing out of Vieques (Vieques Sport Fishing .Com) has been catching a lot of big 'Cudas and King Mackerel on the South Side of that island....and our own Max Guiterrez continues to shine with boatloads of King Mackerel teaming up with Aldo Pena or myself.
On the inshore flats scene , Capt Gregg McKee of Wildflycharters.com in Vieques has been plagued with high winds and rain the same conditions that have made our flats here in Culebra borderline "fishable" for the last week or so. Regardless Greg's anglers caught a few fish and Mine have caught a few and lost some more. Sounds like Vieques still has the better fishing this month...but February,look out, That's the month Culebra shines!! Will Martin caught his first Bone with me yesterday in 25 kt winds. Today it's dad's turn........

Three Days of Permit

The spring tides we have been having this week have been ideal for Permit on the flats. Years ago it was possible in January or February on a spring tide high water for one angler to cast to a dozen fish in the space of an hour. Those days are gone. This week in three mornings four anglers got to cast to nine fish with no hook ups. The closest was veteran fly angler Jorlie Cruz who has fished with me for years.Jorlie's Permit followed the fly for 10 feet bumping it twice before spooking a rod length away. We'll try one more time tomorrow then wait till next month. Chris Walker, get ready!!

Lock jaw fever...January Blues

Bones have been tough lately. Super spooky and some days tough to find the numbers you need to finally get one to the camera.'Been falling back on the Bar Jacks a lot lately just to get a rod bend. The good news is some of these are up to five lbs and pull like a bastahd as they say in Maine,..where I've never been by the way
My condolences to Pompano Johnny on the recent passing of his mother. Our thoughts and prayers are with you big John...Stay tuned better times a comin' for all....

Story about a Man named \"Johnny Pompano\"

He's kind of white when he first appears, not quite comfortable with his Culebra image...Still suffering the effects of the holidays and his southern migration....
But after few days he's a routine again,walking dawn to dusk,fly rod strapped to his back,wearing that great floppy hat searching for the first bonefish or Permit that dares to reveal itself to this 6 foot 4 fly fishing giant of a man...To his closest it's "Krebs"...Welcome back "Johnny Pompano. May your rod bend properly, your cheeseburgers be well done (as if you had a choice) ..and be one with Culebra,actually two (sorry Mary)
Last Day of December provided Fresh water fly fisher Donald Tursman with his first Bonefish. Congrats Don! let's do it again on Sunday.
Happy New year to all !!

Merry Christmas Winds

Right on cue, Northeast 15/25 kts hold on here we go. Tie down your panties and get out your woolies.
Peter Fanenga and Beth scored two Tarpon yesterday. His a respectable 75 lbs hers a solid 30 lbs. Great company and fun fishing. Sorry I had to cancel our fly fishing for tomorrow Peter. W'ell hopefully hook up with you guys next time.
Dr Mark Smith and son Aaron fished with me this morning. Horrible conditions but Aaron managed to battle a large Snook that ended up unfortunately where most large Snook do ,in the Mangroves.
Family emergency has me in the States for a few days hope to be back shortly...Happy Holidays

An Old Story, Sad but True

The beautiful Bahia called Linda or Dautilus on the Western side of our Island is a favorite spot for Local Culebrense to camp with their families over holidays. They cook,they drink and generally have a good spirited time both adults and kids of all ages. This has been a favorite Bonefish spot of mine and with a general lack of gillnetting in that area over the last three years Bonefish populations have bounced back dramatically in the little Bay.Three days ago, guess what someone got for Christmas, a brand new fifty fathom shot of gillnet and of course they're going to try it out at the campground. The first set yielded forty or fifty Big Bonefish which were passed around to anyone who wanted one but most were discarded. The fishing has continued over the last few days and I can safely and sadly say Bahia Linda is now Bonefish Free. These are people who don't fish for a living but use the gillnet as a toy to entertain themselves while they're camping..Because these people are mostly local it becomes "their right and their fish" and who cares for a few Macaco (Bonefish) except the dumb tourists.
If your planning on fishing with me this year don't worry! There are lots of other places we can fish.The sad thing is this doesn't bode well for the future. Puerto Rico is turning it's back on the destruction of a valuable tourism resource and one crazy Gringo fly fisherman screaming in the night ain't gunna make a hill o' beans. Would love any input, or if you have any press contacts pass this info along. One thing Puerto Rico does respond to is critical press directed towards Tourism. Happy Holidays and better days are coming!

Cold Fronts, Cold Water, It\'s Winter..So What!

All relative..but even a drop from 80 to 77 in water temp. radically affects our fishing. Here we are a week before Christmas and we already are experiencing late January conditions in Culebra. Bad news is Bonefish spend less time during the day up on the flats so we have to target them in deeper water and darker bottom. With light winds this can be an excellent fishery. With winds of 15 to 20 knots you will come to understand the true meaning of "sport" fishing.
The great news is colder temps bunch up the bait and the feeding Sierra (King Mackerel),Blackfin Tuna,and Sailfish on both our North and South near shore drops. Weather permitting this can be some of the best fishing of the whole year for those particular species.

Typical Day,and on your Own....What to expect.

I want to be totally up front about your day with me bonefishing because I just had a mediocre week and I need to straight talk..... Conditions permitting and you are an intermediate to expert you're probably going to hook a Bonefish and he will probably be one of the largest you've ever hooked. If your abilities lie in the beginner to Intermediate class your chances just dropped to 50%. You will see fish and You will get to cast to at least a dozen fish a morning I can almost promise. These fish are tough and the good anglers will produce two to one over beginners. We will be both wading and fishing from the boat as I pole you across the flats. During the course of your morning You will probably catch other types of fish on your fly rod besides bones and witness wonderful bird life and marine life, including turtles and sharks and rays. You are still going to have fun even if you don't release the largest bonefish of your fishing career.
Fishing on your own you can catch Bonefish here. Patrick Courtney and Brice Contessa from Marthas Vinyard caught fish almost every day and they fished from shore on their visit. (latest pic) They're Pros and they had some insider info but it just proves it can be done.

Walker Boys....Flats Legends,present and future!

There's nothing better in this life than sharing fishing moments,especially with your own family.Way to go guys!!!

End of November and a Visit with One of the Best...........

Puerto Rico has it's share of really good fly fishermen and I've been fortunate to fish with a few of them.The best by far is a gentleman from Ponce, Fernando Monllor. Fernando and I have been good friends for at least 6 yrs and have shared patterns and ideas about Bonefishing to the benefit of both of us I like to believe. Fernando has been also very active with Tarpon,Bonefish Unlimited a research group from the Florida Keys. Both Fernando and I have been submitting fin samples for DNA studys on Bonefish for two years now here in Culebra. The results of the studys should help in determining age,growth rate,health and other factors of Culebra's Bonefish population.
Fernando paid a surprise visit to Culebra Saturday, got off the Ferry walked to the closest flat and bangs out a Bone, easy as that. Next Morning I met Fernando at 6 am we walk to another flat and by 7:30 I watch him release another one after carefully taking another fin sample for DNA. (photo on Fish Pictures)..Come Back soon old friend.

Short Report..11/26

1st Tarpon for Dave Erickson Tuesday evening..Fished with Patrick Courtney and Brice Contessa from the Vinyard Wed.`Am. Brice is a guide during the summer ,Contessa Flyfishing Charters ,and does the same thing I do only he is poling in much cooler water(Temp. only)
Brice released a Bone on his own Tues but Pat and Brice and I could only piss 'em off Wed. Fish were wild! lotsa shots..no Takers,try again Saturday.Walker Boys today, T Day.........

\"We have to get up at what Time??\"...........

When I say meet me at 6:15 am I have a reason for it. It's not some masochistic desire to ruin your vacation I just want you to catch fish! Period!
So if you want to sleep in and fish after 9am because that's more comfortable with your vacation schedule..No Problem. Your just not fishing with me.
I take what I do seriously..and if the tide is right and the bite is at 0 dark thirty, That's when we're fishing. ps..I'm not really a bad ass..enjoy your vacation!

T Day Week 08.....

1st cold front of the year so we are kind of restricted where we can fish this week because of the winds. Dr Jose Ruiz and his wife Illene fished with me for about six hours over two days and caught a couple of Snook, a giant Grey Snapper (Photo soon),Lady fish up to 4 lbs (Truth!) and a few assorted small reef fish. Generally slow fishing but we had a great time.
Well known Bone fisherman Chris Walker is back and on his own bags a big one with his son on Monday. Congratulations Chris!!.. Chris will be fishing with me later this week.

Offshore Options.....

There are a number of options available this season for those who would rather target blue and green water game fish, ie Tuna ,Dorado, Wahoo, King Mackerel etc. It looks like I will be operating a brand new center console 28' Grady white with twin 250 Yamahas, large bait well, and total walk around for live bait and jigging...1/2 day fare, according to the owners, Carlos Jeep, will start at $450 for 3 to 4 people
Bill Pendelton is operating his sailing catamaran(totally rigged for sport fishing with outriggers and all) out of Bahia Marina. Bill had a good day sunday with nine Tuna and a big Wahoo.
On the inshore scene, my regular Dick Rogers from Maine,wore out the Jack population with a non stop 1 1/2 hour "bail" with jacks up to 8 lbs. Started with 3 rods ended up with just one. Concluded the morning with a flyfishing lesson for Richard with his new custom Sage .In the process he caught his first saltwater fish on a fly rod a 4 oz yellowtail. Kind of a let down from the Jacks but we all started somewhere!!
Final note. Jack Erler on his final day witnessed one of the largest schools of Bonefish I've seen here in a while. Over a hundred fish seen from the boat in 3 feet of water easily countable . We spooked them and never got a second cast

Mid November...I found the Tarpon!

Our Bonefish hook up rate is still at a %100 but the catch rate fell thanks to one small coral head for Ryan Bonneau and the old charge 'right at cha' for long time client and friend Jack Erler. Fish are still wild but responding well to my new pattern.
Michael Mendoza and Kelly fished with me two days. Michaels a bartender and his email is ihatemojitos...which is a classic if you've ever tended bar at a happy hour rush...Great company! Michael and Kelly banged out a Snook,few ladyfish, a couple of decent Muttons and other Chillos and jumped a Tarpon....They're here (Tarpon) by the dozens in one of our small bays balling up acres of Mehua and sardinas..I got time this week,let's do it.....

Slime Slam..Culebra First

Never heard of it but it exists now. The famous Slime Slam. Catch and release of three species on fly in one 24 hour period of fish having the smelliest slime of any fish pursued in this region of the world. Bonefish..Ladyfish..Tarpon. With a Barracuda thrown in for extra pungence
Joe Hughes ..Congrats! Wash your hands before you get on the plane.

First week of November and we\'re looking good

After a shakey start last season fish wise we are in a lot better shape in 08 at least as far as Bonefish. Capt Joe Hughes from Sea Isle City NJ fished with me for a few days. Caught a small Tarpon and Bone and even let me catch one trying out a new pattern. Joe's last day is today Monday(Nov 10) and we'll concentrate on Tarpon.
I fish with all levels of anglers but fishing with some one like Joe or guides like Greg from Vieques sure take the work out of your day. You basically just find the fish and sit back and watch.
The fish are very spooky this fall and we've gone to extreme stealth mode with our fly gear to compensate. Email me and I'll fill you in. Tom McQuade, you're still the King!

Back in da Saddle,1st report of Fall \'08..Welcome!!!

Recon on the 1st and 2nd found lots of Bones on the West end in their usual fall haunts(one school of at least 60. Water was so clear and still I could accurately sit there and count them from on my platform seventy feet away.
Paul Baker from Delaware fished with me Thursday on my first official trip of 08. Lots of tailing fish in gin clear no wind conditions and tons of refusals even with leader lengths up to 18 feet. Paul's a pro and finally I poled him up to two eaters and he ends up the day 2 for 3 on Bones. Not bad for Culebra!
Waters still very warm (86 f ) so fish are only showing early and late . Nothing midday
Next three days belong to Capt Joe Hughes from Sea Isle City ,NJ We'll expand our horizons and report back.....Stay tuned,and welcome back.

Preparing for a Flats Trip In Culebra

As we get ready to start our 17th season of 2008/2009 I,m reminded, every year people ask me what should they bring to fish here and how should they prepare in the way of tackle etc..Here goes
Number one! Fly fishers PRACTICE YOUR CAST!! Spend a few hours on the lawn getting back into the swing of things or spend your first few hours with me ,wasting both mine and more importantly your time, trying to get your cast back on track . Remember ,it is my job to put you in front of a fish..It is your job to make the cast and presentation. Granted you will be throwing patterns that I deem are best for the particular situation and you will never be without my advice and support..Bottom Line, it's still on you! so prepare! If you can find a field with Rabbits! They make a great substitute for Bonefish. If you can approach a Rabbit and cast to him so he doesn,t spook, Bonefishing will become that much easier for you. I'm serious!!
I encourage anglers to tie their own patterns to use here. Call me or email and we can go over what you should be working on. If you don't feel confident in your stuff or commercial flies, no fears! We,ll use mine.
8wt or 9wt for Bones( 7wts are fine for more experienced anglers ) ,10wt for Tarpon,Permit,King Macks, and small Tuna.
Flats booties or something similar are a must. Stripping baskets optional,your choice.
There are no fly shops here in Puerto Rico so bring enough tippet material, I've got a lot but I go through a lot too.
Light Tackle Fishers, keep it simple!! a few plastics ,a few jerk baits and poppers, a couple of leader sizes, and that's it. No reason to bring the whole Box.
Most Important REMEMBER,PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE IN CULEBRA. If you want fish to eat ,book one of our bluewater trips you'll have enough to eat for the whole week.

End of Season..Reality Check

Something I try to do in Culebra every year is actually get out with a fly rod and fish for a couple of days for fun and to get a feel of what the degree of difficulty actually is each season. Spending months poling clients around the flats trying to get them to do with their rods what you supposedly would do with yours can jade you as an angler.
It takes a few hours to get back in the swing but once I did it all came together. Two days on the flats,mostly wading, I'm happy to report Culebra still has lots of big fish and they're catchable.No numbers (I don't kiss and tell)but I,ve been smiling all week. Come join us next season. I'll make you smile!... So will Culebra!

Vieques...April/08

...Finally got over to our sister Island to fish the day with Gregg McKee. Perfect morning,good weather, and lots of Fish. Vieques has a fabulous fishery and anyone serious about flyfishing the flats should make a point of visiting Vieques. It doesn;t get much better. Although the average bonefish size is a little smaller than ours there are plenty of them in a totally pristine surrounding. Gregg poled me around several flats and in just a few hours I had shots at 6 Permit dozens of Bones and even caught a hefty Mutton Snapper. Not catching Permit is something you get used to but I had forgotten the thrill of watching my backing disappear off my reel as a Vieques Bonefish goes nuclear .
Greg will be accepting bookings in Vieques through July and we will both be back on our respective Islands November of 08. Fish the best of both worlds Culebra/Vieques. During season Flamenco has direct service between the islands at the high price of $25/pp. Book Gregg on www.wildflycharters.com or call 787 435 4833

West Coast Anglers show Culebra How it's Done....

Scott Mills and Party from Portland Oregon Fished both wading and from my boat with Dave Moyano personally bagging three big bones including a double digit fish and Scott Releasing his only fish and breaking off another. This was over a period of two tides and much rain and wind. Poor conditions and some top class angling ..,from you too Gregg despite the pain! Fish were definitely back on track after their previous lock jaw. Dave ties the record for one days fishing this year and is only off 3 fish for the all time daily which has been equaled several times in the past by such greats as Dave Magnum, Jeff Becker,etc..I'm talking fly only. Great Job!

4/10

Bonefish in all the usual and unusual places schooled up tight in knots of 15 to 40 fish with typical prespawn lock jaw. About 3 days and they'll tear it up again.
Tarpon release for Ravi Kahn and wife Julie. Slob of a fish pushing 80 lbs.....

A break in the weather..and then April Fools

....I thought it was changing but the winds are back..and it's April!! NE 15/25 and higher....Marty Hoerbinger and his wife Kathy fished with me 3 days last week. Conditions were tough at the beginning of the week, shots at big fish with a couple of run offs but it wasn;t till the last day when the wind finally backed off that Kathy made a picture perfect presentation and was rewarded with the release of a 6 lb Bonefish. Great folks to fish with and proof that perserverance and presentation are everything when fly fishing for big Bones.....

State of the Fishery (March Update)......

...An eye witness has finally come forward with numbers for the amount of Bonefish slaughterd by gillnet in Culebra last fall and offered for sale as Marlin bait to the Sportfishing fleet in San Juan Bay and Club Nautico during the the fall Blue Marlin Tournaments. At least 500 fish! which is why we don't see any amount of fish on the flats on the East End anymore. According to officials at DNR there is a glitch in the law protecting Bonefish and Tarpon in Puerto Rico. I don't know which is worse Puerto Rico's lack of concern over a highly valuable Marine resource or the hypocracy demonstrated by a few so called Sports in San Juan who have no problem purchasing a Valuable Sport fish such as Bonefish for rigged bait. Had enough? Email me (goldfishpr@aol.com and I'll forward your mail to our only hope in DNR

The Legend of "Johnny Pompano"

...Local folklore has it that you can tell the arrival of winter with the appearance of a tall white stranger with a funny broad band hat toting a fly rod .This intrepid individual has been known to walk 7 miles a day,everyday,covering all the flats and beaches of Culebra in his search for the holy Permit or Pompano... And like the sparrows in cappicino Johnnys migration back to the frigid isles to our North once again coincides with the other vernal events such as the arrival of the sooty terns and the mating of the leatherbacks and reminds us that spring is once again. Safe travels old friend....
Weather still shakey, Northside totally stirred up almost 9 days after the swell from hell.No Tarpon but first time Bonefish for James Hamrick and friend Steve yesterday. Back to the flats today.....

The Swell from Hell......

..The week of Easter brought the biggest ground swells to pound the North Coasts of this area in decades. Five days after this swell has subsided the waters surrounding our island are still churned up!! Fished the Mark Vanderhyde Family for the last two days. Great Kids,Thomas, Marco,Kathleen,and Claire. Slow fishing with a few Yellowtail,Rock Hind,and Porgys for the kids and a Bonefish for the Dads on their trip.

Mid March Madness..0/8

Serious Fly Slingers come to Culebra for one reason only...To catch Big Fish! Ken Rebock on his second visit to our island, fishing with me yesterday, released a trophy Bone. The year before he released a Permit. (Check out both pics in Photos). I guess you can figure out what we're targeting next year..(we call it the life time slam!) Bookings have already started for next season. If you want to target big Bonefish on the fly start planning now! Remember..November and early December are best with no crowds. Springtime ..Think late Feb. and early March

3/16 Carol Woji graces the Culebra sportfishing scene...

...and wrecks havec and fear amongst our resident population of King Mackerel. (see photo) Helping, Christine and Pete Callaway, who provided seconds on fish steaks for the grill. Great company Carol and since Nancy is on leave you have become Culebras top woman angler..until the Queen returns

Bonefish Love in

It happens at various times of year but mostly Spring and usually Dark of the moon..but the Bonefish are doing their tang , me son! They school up and form spawning "muds" mostly on top of the surface or close to it usually in 3 to 15 feet of water. The "muds" or smoke in this case is mostly milt from the males. Pretty cool to watch...and they don't mind! Two things happen during this ritual..The Bonefish don't usually eat and they are packed together and highly visible so its a good time to get an idea of the population for a given area. The results for 08..The West End population seems pretty healthy with more fish than I thought was there. The East End,as I would have guessed (due to the loss of fish over the summer and fall. See previous posts) has a pretty pathetic population. There are however fish showing up on the North East Beaches with reports of good numbers( Low water is the Key).... Stay tuned for more Bonefish sex tapes.

3/07 ENE..25kts,gusts to 30kts

Its really not that bad, its just been so long since I've picked up my pole I've probably forgot how.
Bob Kelso once again showed me you don't need a guide to find the big fish...second year in a row he's bagged a close to double digit Bone on his own. It's always a pleasure fishing with you Bob but next year I'm packin' my rod and you're spottin'..!
Afternoon tide same day and Ralph Ashmore on his birthday lands his first Bonefish ever. Congratulations Ralph!! Fish was pushing 8 lbs! We'll do it again on Monday

Enter the Lion..and pray for the Lamb

Typical March ,blowin steady but a little less each day..Guys from The Fly Forum are back. ' had Juro and Pete Vikanis out for the day Saturday... plenty of casts to 40 or more fish in super thin water..Culebra humbles some more of the world's bonefish experts..finally a visit to the" shoot a goldfish flat" and Peter skillfully bags a 3 1/2 lb Bone. Good conditions in general..its just never as easy as it looks

Another month gone..Feb 08

Even the giant wind machine has to stop blowing once in a while so that he can catch his breath and when he did....Max and I were right on it. Off to the North side to replenish restaurant stocks and the fish are still there. King Mackeral, Blackfin Tuna mostly but plenty of both. No large Kings but plenty of snakes (which the restaurants prefer). Aldo Pena was right with us. It always amazes me that here's a man fishing in a 19' open boat with a pull start 40 hp outboard and he has already caught this season more billfish, more Tuna and Wahoo than any of the multi million dollar sport rigs that either come over from the big island or that reside here in Culebra. Your the man Aldo!!...
Well presented TMC pattern resulted in a 5# bonefish on the flats for Joe Comeau Wednesday..Percy Chub and guests are up at bat tomorrow...Seeya at happy hour!

Kids...Take them Fishing! ..and learn Something

...It's easy to get caught up in the "head count " game especially if you are a guide, putting more importance in the number of fish you catch than the overall quality of the experience ..Guilty Your Honor!...Angus and Malcom Kinsey fished with me this winter and did an excellent job of catching some small Mutton Snapper and Grouper along with some assorted Reef Fish and a Barracuda. Although I couldn't put the boys on any "Drag Screamers"... if I 'd taken a minute to overlook my own selfish ambitions for the trip I would have seen two very mature and happy kids enjoying the fact that they were out on the water just Fishing...Thanks guys for teaching me a lesson!......Patrick and his older brother Michael( Boys fished with me yesterday) got to see how we catch our live bait and Patrick caught a slammin' Jack...George You should be proud of your grand Kids...!

More Presidents...More Wind

Dr Jeff Eisman breaks the Bonefish dry spell with a daring wind defying cast that turned over perfectly into the path of a healthy 8 lb bone. This on a flat I haven't caught a fish on in 10 years...Following morning Peter Bauer and two really great kids Jack and Matt got into a reef variety as well as a Nice mutton a Cero and busted off on two big Kings all within eye sight of Town..Today I had the Pros..Chris Walker and the Queen of Flamenco herself, Nancy Walton but the wind came on with an attitude and up went the white flag....We'll save up the A team,punt on fourth and try another day

President's Week..The Wind Continues

Wind, except for a few weeks in the fall, is a constant here a fact of life those of us who work on the water accept and work with or around...but these Christmas winds Suck!! and of course it affects the fishing. No offshore trips in small boats, poling small flats is damn near impossible ( and I need to pole for my clients to catch fish) as a result my last three Bonefish trips have been fishless. Good anglers,seeing a few, but poor presentation posibilities. The wind is from a condition that forms in the Atlantic most winters called a SPOH (semi permanent oceanic high) I;m not trying to impress..a couple of semesters of meteorology is like two years of high school spanish. You can order a beer in Cancun and define a SPOH and the crankin' up of the Xmas trades..nothing more,and..Xmas winds? I don't know about the rest of you heathens but my xmas is looking pretty faint on the receeding horizon..we'll survive

Pure Fish News......2/10/08

...Lots of big Sierra(Kingfish) on both North and South sides . Peto (Waho) and sailfish mixed in with plenty of Blackfin Tuna all North side. A few sails reported south as well. Look for the bait (flying fish) and birds on the North. Structure has been holding the Kings to the south
Bonefish are around but tough in this wind. A few snook (robalo) and Ladyfish in the back at dawn and dusk and Tarpon at the Dinghy Dock.

In a Recession is Fishing the first Luxury to Go....?

...Mulled that question over with a few other Caribbean and NorthEast guides this past week. We all agree our bookings are down but fail to see the logic. Why would any sane person cut back on his or her fishing fanaticism when there are so many other trivial extras in life that could be sacrificed so that we could all follow our passion...There is no point in even listing them. Period! Case closed!......Jamie,esposo de Zena Clark, fished with us Saturday and caught 4 King Macks and had the bite just ramping up to nuclear when Mr. Murphy put the hex on the main engine..end of morning. Plenty of reports coming up as we shift into the high point of our season. Please Stand By!!!

FEB 1/08...WIND and more WIND

.....Cut short an offshore trip Tuesday as conditions became iffy,got stood up wednesday when the party never called or showed up (I'll find them! its a small island)..The only bright note of the week was watching Randy McCool catch his first bonefish on Friday in 20 kts of wind and then getting pounded again the next day with Preston Walker. One Cero and some Jacks but a skunk on the Bones as the wind steadied out at 25 with puffs to 30.

The Queen is Back.....!!

La Reina de Flamenco, AKA Nancy Walton, picks her target fish out of a school,makes a 40' cast upwind in half a gale and scores!! Nancy and I have been fishing together for at least 16 years and her casting ability has never ceased to amaze me. It's a guide's dream to stand on the platform and have the person on the bow be able to put that fly where ever you or he or she wants with only one or two false casts. Thanks Nancy for making it easy..we'll do it again

1/28/08...FLAT ass Cam

..as they so eloquently say where I come from..not a breath of air as John Tronda and I attempt to find him a Tarpon, but the great Tarpon Jinx of '08 continues..Nada! so John battles a Piojo (lady fish,Gringo) and then walks into a one hour Jack attack and gets it all going on to finish off the morning with a nice 5 lb Bonefish..Bienvenidos John!!!

Vieques Comes to Culebra

Greg McGee,WildFly Charters out of Vieques,took a day off and brought his lovely wife,Amanda over here for her birthday....Of course we all went fishing..Thats what our tiny guide brains are programed to do (sorry Greg I was actually referring to the size of mine, brain that is)..I've never had it so easy!..I just picked up the pole and stood on my platform and Greg did all the work..bing bang! two big bones,one a few cheeseburgers shy of double D's, and the other a respectable 7. Great day off for me..Back to work tomorrow with Nate and Wife ..

1/24..I stand corrected

..Ladyfish are called "piojo" in San Juan not "macho elisa"...Dumb Gringo!

I Take Back All the Bad Things I Ever Said....

...about DNRA, Fisheries manegment, and local PR Departmental "hoop jumping"...on second thought ,I can't go that far....But what started out as an Email from my computer ended up as a Prime time news report last night on channel 11 news with Susan Soltero reporting. The subject..The Abuse of the Macaco stocks (bonefish)here on Culebra..I want to be careful and not take most of the credit for this exposure. There existed an issue that I recognized as important and I was the one who kicked it in the balls...Craig Lilystrom from DNR ran with this and did all of the ground work and contacted Susan Soltero who felt it was an important enough issue that it should be reported on her program .IF it wasn't for those two people the Public of Puerto Rico would have never been aware of the problem.Thank you both!!..A lot!!

Mega LadyFish Here in Culebra.......

...Elops Saurus is the latin name, macho elise is what they call them in San Juan, they are all LadyFish and in Culebra they are Giant!!..About eleven years ago my client at the time caught and released one that we estimated to be 6 or 7 lbs. The world record ,according to the internet, is 5 lbs. The FLorida state record is 4 lbs,10oz. Steve Woodard"s Wife Celeste caught and released a Ladyfish yesterday that all three of us estimated to be 4 lbs. Pictures next week. Celeste also caught and released about a 8 lb Snook and a large Jack Crevalle. The first three of all such species I have seen yet this year. Steve and Celeste jumped two other Ladys that were close to the size of the one we caught...Gets you thinkin' ....Nah! I'm not falling in to that stupid record game...

Steve Woodard.. Master Angler!

...Steve,who fished with me last year and banged out a Tarpon,Caught two bonefish this morning,one about 7 lbs..The Bones were his first ever. 25 kts of wind overcast and he still pulled it off...Nice job Steve! Try to get on a Tarpon tomorrow

Week of 1/16 Your not all going to catch one..in fact

if you are a total beginner your chances of catching a bonefish are small. There is a guy on the island(no name) who fished with me last year and didn't catch a Bonefish. Now he's back and going around asking about other guides I have no problem with that but he doesn't get it...You have to do something! its my job to put you in front of the fish in a reasonable "catching" situation if you're a total fishing loser it ain't going to happen no matter who your with..If I don't put my Bonefish clients in front of at least a dozen fish a day they can have their money back..Period
Lauren and her boy friend Chris caught a Bonefish each this morning on Chris's birthday. They both made the casts,they both hooked the fish and released them...See it can be done..Nice work guys!

North Side...Has gone Nuclear!

...In sixteen years of fishing in Culebra I've never see a bite like we've been having on the islands North Side drops. King Mackeral up to 30 lbs,Blackfin and Yellowfin Tuna and the occassional African Pompano and Sailfish thrown in. (See the picture of Max Guiterrz holding a Sierra he caught yesterday in "Fishing Pictures").That was one fish of twelve Kings we caught in four hours yesterday along with three Tuna....

State of the BoneFishery....(Enough for Now, let's get on with it)

One of the top officials with DRNA the group responsible for enforcing Puerto Rico's Fisheries regulations has vowed to put a stop to Gillnetting in Culebra.I believe in his sincerity we'll see what happens. One more hit like we took this fall and it's all over folks!...In the section "Fishing Pictures" on this sight is a picture of a gillnetter fishing at Dakity over Christmas.He fished there for ten days and was never stopped or questioned. As I told DNR I know he wasn't targeting Bonefish but I damn well know he was catching them as by catch. I asked the fisherman if he was catching any "Macaco". He said a few but not as many as he used to....DUH!!!

1/10..Krebs is back and on the Attack.......

..The problem with big John Krebs is his hands are too big... so unless its a double digit fish your shooting when you take his picture the fish appears like a minnow...This is why his bonefish pic we took today won't appear in photos..picture or not had a blast fishing with John and his lovely companion Mary this morning...Fernando, I remembered to take fin samples and have the kit on me at all times now!

State of the Fishery (Up Date)

...A number of people have volunteered to see if the people responsible for the devastation of the East End Bone Fish Population can be tracked down and at least warned that what they are doing is totally illegal, Non of the Puerto Rican enforcement agencys (DNR) have been any help. All assistance from the Gov't level so far has come from Federal Agencys who don't have the power to "meddle" in state affairs...If nothing gets done we will go to the press..I'm sure a few lines in one of the National Sport Fishing Magazines criticzing Puerto Rico's Fisheries managment will at least get the attention of "Tourism". The Dept Tourism is one of the agencys here in PR that people pay attention too. Florida has calculated that the average life of one Bonefish generates $75,000 of tourism dollars .Wake Up PR!

The Next Generation....

..John,13 years, with the Black Foot River Group caught his first Bone..Thats two young anglers under 14 with their first bonefish in one week...Ted and Cowri some very talented fly fishers from Japan and wonderful company on top of it all both caught bonefish the same trip...John Hertzer and Chris of Blackfoot fished their last afternoon with John getting wrapped up in the coral with his fish, submitted as a premature release..Yah! So where are these fish all coming from you ask?...Two drinks at happy hour(just tell Judy) and thy lips will be moving..!

Christmas/New Years Week

..Still assessing the state of the Bonefish stock, next report will be an update..in the meantime if you have any comments on the situation pass them along..Plans are Formulating!...Fished with John and Terry from Blackfoot River OutFitters in Montana,great bunch of talented anglers, Chris from the group released a small bone the first day..see what happens today..There are some fish around the West end, but seeing half of what I should see..They,ve come back before..cross fingers!

Puero Rico..The CurrentState of the BoneFishery (Part 1)

...If this was a magazine feature the title would be"Better get your Shit together Kiddies or Your Going to Blow it Again"....Good Culebrense friends of mine told me yesterday that coolers of Bonefish labeled" Macaco De Culebra" showed up for sale in the Las Marinas district of San Juan. For the past week I have seen hardly any Bones on the East end of the Island and today witnessed a gill netting operation on Dakity our most famous Bonefish Flat....Every body who has fished this part of the Caribbean remembers La Parguera. The Salinas Flat was at one time the premier bonefish area in the whole Caribbean. Simple greed and inept fisheries managment resulted in the elimination of an entire fishery. Gill netters went in and caught all the Bonefish there to sell to the Marlin fisherman in San Juan who used them for rigged baits...Well Puerto Rico guess what? Culebra harbors the last Bonefish in the Commonwealth and it looks like history is about to repeat itself...Oh by the way possession of Bonefish is against the law in Puerto Rico and exactly 1/2 mile from Dakity is the DNR Dock with the boats tied up and no one answering the phone as this valuable resource is being harvested illegally and being sold for soup stock in San Juan...Culebrense! Your grand kids are never going to see a Macaco..and this is supposed to be the ecologicaly enlightned part of the Caribbean!

Permit right on Schedule

Chris Cross they showed up the exact day forcasted...George and Michelle Walker had good shots at medium fish all morning

Josie Martinez..Super Fisherwoman

Its hard enough to catch a bonefish these days in Culebra,but what makes the feat even more of an accomplishment is to do it when your 12 years old with no prior bonefish experience...and I'm talking about spotting the fish, making the cast,fighting the fish all with out outside help. Congratulations Josie, I know you made your Dad proud and you sure had me in awe..next year lets go get a Permit!

A chance to wish you the Best!.....

To the great new friends I've made and the old friends who still insist on fishing with me despite my increasing excentricities,grumpiness and sick sense of humor....I wish you the best this Holiday Season. As the polar ice cap slowly melts and the seas rise and envelope our coastal ozone shrouded Babylons ruled only by marauding bands of crack heads and Red party/Blue party politicians, REMEMBER!...Some where there is a Tail, waving enticingly above the mirror smooth water of a healthy Caribbean flat and it's your perfect cast that is going to make that fish put his head down to the fly and make 08...all right! May the world be as one,Peace on Earth and SAVE THE REST!

North Side On Fire!

Hot as it gets! ...Spent the morning with my "offshore partner",Max Guiterrez, Making a "restaurant Run" in his 26 ft Shamrock trolling two rods and a handline. We caught fish for three hours straight. Mahi (Dorado)),Blackfin Tuna,Sierra (King Mackeral). Normally we'll live bait these fish from a drift using 20lb spinning rods or even fly tackle..If you;ve never done it I can't recommend this fishery enough. It's a good way to stock up on fish for your vacation and to have a blast doing it...Prereqs..Wind under 20kts,any day other than 3 days either side of the full moon,and most importantly...$375

Mid December..Bones are Back

After almost ten days of horrible conditions winds are moderating..Had bones all over the flats this morning plus pods of ten to fifteen working 8 to 12 ft water depths..saw five or six fish that were easy double digit and small schools of Bonito all over the channel entrances..first time I've smiled in a week

Olga..Bad Week..Be Happy You're Not Here

Tropical Storm Olga has ruined this week,water looks like rootbeer from all the runoff ,winds out of the NE 25 to 40 then veering to SE and S

First week of December

Fished three days with a second time Client who by the way is an excellent fly fisherman and never caught a Bone fish. We saw very few and only had good casts to maybe half a dozen fish that should have been takers.Jacky did catch Mutton Snapper,Bar Jacks and other fish but skunk on the Bones. Poor guiding? the weather was pretty shitty or just bad luck? Actually that's just fishing !...The day after he left the Tarpon showed up

The Bite continues..

Fabulous Salma(Mutton Snapper) fishing,I wonder if Snapper Farm has been augmenting our local supply,..I have two slow weeks coming up and will fish any morning I'm not booked for Muttons,two people,2 1/2hrs of fishing..$85 you read the paper the economy sucks,lets go fishin'

First cold snap

After a four day leave of absence winter greeted my return to Culebra..Water temps dropped from 83 to a cool 79..Richard Rogers ,on his second outing with me this month,started yesterday morning off with a pair of 5 lb bar jacks, released a Bone and found himself in the middle of a spectacular Salma (Mutton Snapper) bite landing a dozen or more in the 3 to 5lb range. Never breaking stride Richard went on to capture a good size Cero and numerous white Jacks in the 5lb range. Final count was somewhere around Thirty fish for the morning..I love cold weather

Weather sucks...but

...its 78 degrees, so who cares if its raining and blowing..Ian Wray,from England, lands the biggest Bone of his flyfishing career (150yds into the backing) plus four types of snapper,several barracuda and a Cero Mackeral .Ians wonderful company but I can't understand a word he's saying so I'm assuming he's having a good time.....

Mid November..

One of the perks of this job is the relationships that are formed between client and guide.. Jack Erhler has fished with me for twelve years..I've watched his cast develope from a sloppy fat loop into a precision presentation..and just as his cast and fishing skills have matured our long time friendship has made our time on the water together a real pleasure...Friend or not Jacks 3 trips with me this visit resulted in the loss of 3 fish..It didn't matter..Murphy couldn't spoil the good time we had together

Calling it as it is....

not on fire. SSSlow but steady fishing..no Tarpon run and picking away at Bones..Everybody is hooking up but....! an inordinate amount of Long distance releases..mmmmm!

Continue week of 11/10

Things picked up a little with "Pablo" Paul King of the Mitch Evans party picking up his second Bone of the trip with a nice 8 lb fish. (Pics hopefully next week). We cut the trip short as the approaching sounds of thunder sent us scurring for cover. Lightning rods properly stowed. Albies are making a good showing..Jack E. with a couple of long releases...more today

Week of 11/10/07

Joe Hughes caught a slob with me Saturday,nice 8 lb bone, only action we had all morning..things were slow...Fished the Mitch Evans party sunday,one take and a few misses on the flats and then a small 3 lb bone for "Pablo" poling from the boat..The Bonito (false Albies) showed up in force channel side on the eway home and did there usual zig while we zagged..Jack Erhler will get them tomorrow........

WELCOME...FALL 07....

Been fishing for a few days now and just a general overview of whats happening on the water here...there is no Tarpon run on the beaches like has taken place the last couple of fall seasons for the simple reason that the large areas of bait that congregate the fish have yet to materialize..everything seems late! There does however appear to be a fair number of Bones around and a cooler than average (for this time of year) water temp of 82 f. .....Fished with Joe Hughes, a Sea Isle City,N.J. Fly fishing guide, the middle of this week and my first trip of the fall season..Joe got a 25/30 lb Tarpon release the first day..Next day fished with Bill Gallup and his friend Dick both Fresh water fly guys from Vermont going one for two on Bone fish with Bill's being his first ever..Congrats Bill ,nice job and hopefully another salt convert!...fishing everyday this week,more to come ,stay tuned.......

That's all Folks

...See ya in the fall. Now booking late October and November..Scroll down and review this seasons reports. Things we did and didn't do, fish we caught and will catch again..All pictures on the fish picture page are just from this past season alone..Many thanks to all my clients new and old, stay in touch and see ya on the rebound!

Fall open dates

November is booking up! The period 17th thru 28th is all booked or unavailable which leaves the 29th and 30th. The first part of the month is still open 6th thru 16th with most of December still available

winding down

First time Bonefish for Ron Farari on Friday..Jorlie Cruz caught a Tarpon on his own between trips with me. Don't need no stinking guide! Jorlie and I have had great fishing through the years and not so great fishing as in this week. Three days of southwest winds and a few gear problems..There is always next year if I can borrow him from Vieques Greg for a few days

4/18... One for Colorodo

Fished with Tim Adams and his friend Danielle on wednesday. Tim is an accomplished Freshwater fly fisherman from Colorodo and with some great casting bagged his first Bonefish with out making any of the traditional mistakes that Fresh water fly guys make when they fish the salt the first time. Nice job Tim!..My good friend and long time client Jorlie Cruz has been with me this week also .Jorlie has been busy trying out new line and rod combos and has yet to score on this visit. Something he normally does with great regularity. With the wind back in its normal direction the rod will bend today Jorlie

Week of 4/10...and Vieques

Bonefish for long time client Doug Lavinger ,then off to Vieques. Fished a day with guide Greg McKee of WildFly Charters..Wind was blowing hard Southeast so we couldn't get to the productive flats on the East end of the island..sometimes you get a better idea of a guides abilities when he has to handle a tough slow fish bad weather situation.. and such it was...Greg is an excellent guide I wouldn't hesitate to recommend him! ..and those of you who know me are aware of my "sketchy" relationships with other guides (eh,eh!) Greg is a pro, and I hands down recommend people fish with him...Thats my first endorsement of another guide in this area,out side of my good friend Garfield up in Anegada...gettin' a little soft I guess

4/9...back in the saddle

...Five days on land,hauled the boat for Samana Santa (any of you who have been here for hell week would understand why).Lessons and eco tours the first part of the week..(we do both by the way..no bioluminesence,'cause I'm scared of the dark and it cuts into happy hour !)..fly fishing yesterday with Father Krebs. The good reverend had 'em coming from both sides and looked like a giant gumbo limbo ,casting every whichaway ,trying to decide which fish he wanted..needless to say between the two of us we scared them all off,but what a show..one of the finest "push" I've seen in weeks..Good to see the fish survived this anual Coors Lite religeous event...Long time client Doug Lavinger tomorrow

One of the Best....

A lot of fly fishers come to Culebra and catch a Bonefish on their own and taking into account the difficulty of our fishery to just catch one fish sometimes is a major accomplishment.. On the other hand to come here and fish two tides in two days and release 4 bonefish rates you about as high as you can go on the old angling barameter..Jim Walker is the Man! ...Jim started fishing with me a number of years ago and its been a blast to watch his Bonefishing skills improve every year..Don't get me wrong just fishing with me didn't get him to where he is today as much as I would like to take credit..(I've had clients who have been with me for years who still couldn't catch the clap`in a Puerto Plata Cat house)...Jim studied the fishery and made it happen! Oh yeah and he's fishing this morning before he flys out ... My bet is he'll make it five!!!

3/28..and the lion departs

Giant swell from the North squashes any chance of us flyfishing for Kings...Bonefish for Dick Rogers from Maine and then another Mainiac Rob Bryan with his first Bone on Friday along with some big Cudas,Bonito and Cero...Samana Santa cometh..and I'm gettin ready to hideth

3/27...live bait and ultra light

Cashing in on the great King Mackerel fishing we have been having drifting with live bait using 12lb test spin. Been a blast.... Takes within 10 feet of the boat,Blackfin Tuna mixed in. Larry Kearns and daughter Colleen scored some nice Sierra yesterday with Colleen's biggest going 28lbs. (Fish Pictures).... Try to entice one on a fly rod with my regular Jack Ehler tomorrow

Score one for the Mighty Krebs

John pulls one out of mystery flat underscoring the fact that probably 3/4 of the Bonefish caught in Culebra each year are found in areas other than Dakity. Dakity fish are show fish.... Big ,easy to see and hit so hard that as soon as they see a pair of orvis flats boots and one of those dorky floppy hats with the ears they just start to laugh..Here comes another one..Way to go John.Nobody has more hours in than you and every fish you've caught you've earned the hard way by walking to all your spots in a straw hat and flats wear by Kmart..See ya April 3rd and 4th

3/19.......Permit on the Fly for Ken Reback!

Super job! from the cast to the 30 minute battle through the coral and every obstacle possible, the running line was hung twice under heads,Ken you deserved that fish! Permit by both our estimates was 15 to 18 lbs. Pictures soon on the Picture page on this site. When Ken was hooked up to a big Bonefish later that afternoon I promised him that upon releasing the fish we were going to the Dinghy Dock to complete the slam. Fortunately for me ,the bone broke off after a 10 minute battle and I avoided the wrath of PeePee. What the hell was I thinking....?

North Side on Fire!

Been the best winter showing of King Mackeral (Sierra) in years. The three or four boats from Culebra who regularly fish for the local restaurants part time have been coming in with coolers full in just a few hours of fishing. Max Guiterrez had King Mackeral,Yellowfin Tuna,Blackfin Tuna and Wahoo on Sunday. Some of the Kings were 20 to 30lbs. If you want to fish with Max and I in April I have open dates all through Samana Santa since I won't be flats fishing that week because of the crowds. Whats better than spending holy week catching and eating fish and drinking lots of beer in Culebra. Its what the pope wants ,Tourism wants, all God's publico driver's and the people who made Flamenco a Blue Beach... whatever the hell that is

3/15

Small Bone and baby Tarpon for Ron and Elisa from Portsmouth ,New Hampshire...Dave Tomczyk winessed the largest school of Bonefish that I have seen in years here, easily a hundred fish that we could conservatively estimate,probably more than that. Fish were cookie cutter images ,about 4 to 5lbs. Wind and clouds are back,more like January!

week of 3/10..Email apology

Apparently (I never use spell check by the way) some people are not receiving answers to their Emails..I apologize! We're working on it..If you need to get in touch call and leave a message 787 742 0412..Forgot to mention a great trip I had last week with John and Darren Villani who caught some slammer Mutton snapper..Great company and good fishermen..sorry about the picture Darren,came out all glare..Fly fishing all week everyday..lots of wind,poor tides..I love a challenge!

The Queen Shines on...Til Next Year

It was like the old days in Culebra..Nothing but Tails as far as you could see and all 7 and 8 lb fish with a couple of double digit Hogs thrown in. Perfect light and tide just right and big Bones acting like big Bones in skinny water. It was Nancy Walton's last trip of the season and there was nobody better suited for the challange at hand. The Queen hooks up and to one of the biggest Bones I've seen in ages. After 10 minutes of nothing but backing the Pride of Flamenco has fly line on the reel. It looks like we're close to getting pictures when the fish makes one desperate run and wraps the fly line around one of two coral heads on the whole flat. He'll be waiting for you next year Nancy! Great Show! Better than Charlie saying goodby to the Ferry that time !

In Like a Lamb......My Ass!!

So much for that old March cliche ..it's blowing a steady 25 and puffy out of the East...Started out this morning in a relative calm with Adam Ferrel and Andy. Andy took the skunk off the boat with a small Bonefish first thing so we moved up into Tarpon time. Adam hooked up and got six jumps out of a twenty lbs backwater fish before he threw the hook...and then it started to blow so we spent the rest of the morning trying to hook up on Cero Mackeral on the lee side..more wind tomorrow!

1/27..Tarpon,Bones and a Permit Party

I had the pleasure of fishing with Dave DiBenedetto who is the Editor of "SaltWater Sportsman" and Chris Ryan who is ex Orvis staff and possibly the finest fly caster I have ever fished with. Dave fished with me last year for the first time and Chris has been fishing with me for many years....Spent Tuesday targeting Tarpon... Dave released one with me last year and bagged another this year in the 45 lbs range after a technically perfect fight of about 15 minutes...Chris then proceeded to tease some smaller fish but failed to connect as fish after fish batted his fly around like they were playing vollyball...great entertainment though for me and Dave......Wednesday started off first thing with Dave casting to a single Permit from the Boat..Perfect cast! fly lands just under the fish's head,he dives on it,picks it up and spits it before either of us can say oh shit! Chris is up next...seven Permit,thats one more than six,heads down,horned up! fifteen feet on the bow in a tight circle feeding hard! Chris's perfect cast comes tight, fish comes unglued,school spooks,hearts athumpin',cool sight!...My anglers soon make up for our fishless start with each of them catching a Bonefish. Thank you guys that was a fun two days to be up on the platform!

2/25..Sailfish for Nancy Demeo

Nice to get offshore to break up the routine and get away from the crowded flats..Took Nancy and Rick Demeo out for a morning trip on the Shamrock for a half day morning charter. Nancy caught and released her first Sailfish and the couple also put 6 nice Sierra(King Mackerel) in the box. Great morning..Good company,great weather,hot fishing!

2/23..first time ever

For the first time in 16 years I had to cut a trip short because every flat in Culebra was covered up with fly fishermen . Taco bell Louis had his Rent Me zodiacs all out with a bunch of Yahoos trying to pole a rubber boat learning to fly cast at the same time,the part time newcomer freshwater guides from Maine and Georgia all had people out and the East end looked like opening day of trout season..So I apologise to my client Richard Green,who was wonderful company, for not getting the opportunity to show him what Culebra Fishing could be really like.. I hope this was just a case of overcrowding on a holiday weekend and not a sign of things to come. Culebra doesn't have the resource (Something I've tried to relate to the new guides who don't seem to care or want to listen)to support an extensive fishery here..Fortunately for the newcomers ,they obviously don't have to rely on guiding for their livlihood , they are basically just playing..which is fine ..fish and have fun by yourself...you don't need the money so don't put extra people on a already crowded flats area

2/21...The Winter of Kings and Carlin Lynch

Carlin Lynch,9 years old and about 57 inches high fought a Sierra (King Mackeral)for 25 minutes on 12lb test that weighed exactly 30lbs and was 52inches long. (See pics in fishing pictures). Pretty impressive angling! Dad, Jim lynch ,should be very proud of both sons,you too Tommy, both for their angling skills and mostly for just the way these kids conducted themselves.....

How many people live on Nantucket..?

I don.t think there is anyone watching the store in Nantucket right now ,cause they're all here!.... Fished with Brian Sullivan and his lovely companion Tess Sunday. After catching some Jacks and Snapper we graduated to the big boys..Tess hooked up and fought a big Tarpon (much bigger by the way than Brian's brother Mike's fish...Right he's from Nantucket) but due to some unfortunate circumstances, none the result of Tess's angling skills, the Tarpon parted company after about 15 minutes...Good reports on North coast Permit showing up!

2/17 ....I forgot to mention

Jacky Crawford here on his second visit to Culebra who caught a Bone with me and Butt wrapped a big Poon which I'm sure he'd rather I not mention..Jacky ,you ain't the first and I hope not the last...and Paul and 9 year old Reed McDermott,Reed showed how it's done and put three nice Salma(Mutton snapper) in the cooler for his family to enjoy for dinner . Film at ten as they say at CNN..Whoops did I say that!!!

2/13..All Hail!...The Queen Scores!!

Accompanied by the lovely Pam Keefer, Culebra's own Nancy Walton,Known world wide from Bay Head to Zoni as the Queen of Flamenco, showed Pam and I how it's done. Bonefishing with me Tuesday Nancy placed a 70' cast right on the nose of a five pounder that jumped on the fly she designed and tied. After a flawless fight with the fish going well into her backing we released the Bone. I have been fishing with Nancy for over a decade and her casting never ceases to amaze me. In a 20 kt wind she can place a fly where ever she wants in a 70' radius within 2 feet of a target at will bangadi boom! Thanks Nancy for making it look easy. We'll do it again soon

2/12.......Double Release for Steve Woodard

Every once in a while you have a day on the water where all the luck factors line up like the stars and Wazooey!!...Smiles and High fives..It was a pleasure to share one of those days with Steve Woodard and his wife Celeste..Monday started off with the Flight arriving late from Isla Grande due to a surprise FAA inspection the day before that grounded half the planes that commute to Culebra.( Nothing serious, mostly just seat belt signs not lighting up or not enough Puke bags in the seat pockets...) Arriving on the grounds about 2hrs later than I'd originally planed, Steve,who had extensive Tarpon experience growing up in Florida, feeds a fifty pounder and I'm on the leader 20 minutes later...After a brief break we return to the action,Steve feeds a slobola,hooks up and the Tarpon proceeds to tow us around the Caribbean for the next hour and 15 Minutes. This fish is a good hundred pounds and the biggest that ever crossed the deck of my new flats boat. After pictures(check next week)the Fish is released in good shape. Oh yeah,I almost forgot,Steve was using 12 lb test..........!

Fall..2007

If you have any interest in Tarpon fishing with us next fall, I suggest you start thinking about your plans pretty soon. Bookings are already coming in and some of them are five day blocks. See ya at happy hour!

2/11...North Side

Culebra boasts many talented fishermen,one of which is Aldo Gonzolez Pena. Aldo stopped by to tell me the North side bite was hot for Sierra(king Mackeral) so I grabbed my charter, Dave McGinty from Philidelphia and with Max Gutierrez and a load of live Sardinas headed out to the North side Sunday. After we got the kinks out and figured out the dance steps we managed to put 12 King Mackeral in the box in about two hours.... I really got to get back to flyfishing.... Look forward to Steve Woodard and his wife tomorrow

2/8 ..Faranettas put fear in the fish world

Nice change of pace when you're flyfishing almost everyday (I'm not complaining)..Had the pleasure of taking John Faranetta and his son Tim out live baiting, the boys put a hurt down starting with almost every member of the snapper family that is available to catch here and ending with a King Mackeral Blitz with John finally putting one in the boat that weighed exactly 18lbs. John's fish was caught on 10lb test. Great Job! We released all but three of the snappers and two Mackeral. Fished the next day with Mike Spenser who caught some big Jacks,including a monster Crevalle. Mike also got to Jump his first Tarpon. Back with the long rod with Dave McGinty today and tomorrow,hope to have some good fly reports......

2/07.......Krebs and the Permit

Big John tells me he finally hooked up with his arch rival ,the permasaurus, who on feeling both the sting and the wrath of the mighty Krebs took off over the reef with everything except John!!.......Slow this week. 2nd day with Dan Driscoll after 0 for 1 the first day..Pressures on! Dan's a great flyfisherman and deserves his first Culebra Bone..We'll try...Hard!

2/1... Reports

Fished with Bob Kelso and his wife Linda who was celebrating her birthday. Linda caught and released a thirty lb Tarpon to honor the day. Bob, who started off his vacation like gang busters with that big Bone,only had one hook up Thursday on Bones with me and the fish broke him off on a piece of coral. Thats ok Bob,it was Linda's birthday. Bob did show me the mark on his rod where he measured his big fish. It was 27 on the plus side inches snout to fork which according to the Dick Brown scale, which I use confidently, Makes that fish at least 11 plus pounds,closer to 12, conservatively. Nice fish Bob ! One of the biggest that I know about in at least two years here.

1/31..Most Recent Picture and Fish Report

The Newest addition to the Fishing picture page shows Big John Krebs holding a Bonefish he caught last year. I believe he was fishing with his buddy Jim Peva. All pictures on this page are current from this season (06 fall,07) except the picture with John (Big guy with the beard and glasses). Nice fish John !...Reports of Snook on the Northside,My man Krebs is on the case! Bob Kelso,from Wisconsin and fishing on his own his first day, landed and released (unfortunately without pictures) a monster Bone he says for sure was double digit...Congratulations Bob, I'll try to match that Thursday with you

Fishing Culebra on Your Own

People ask me all the time,how can I fish Culebra on my own without the services of a guide. I think you will find, at least it's been my experience, when ever a professional guide travels outside his own turf to fish the first thing he does is enlist the services of another guide who is familiar with the area he wants to fish. It only makes sense. You need local knowledge to fish an area effectively. If money is a problem,most guides will happily give you some basic info so you can fish on your own in some what the right direction.(Depending on your personality and what day it is of course)...Fishing on your own in Culebra.... Basics...Forget the rental boats ,they're a waste of your time and money, Kayaks are ok as long as you realize your going to do a lot of upwind paddling and there ain't no cardiologists within 20 miles...keep your barbs pinched down (you'll land more fish and the hook has a better chance of falling out when you break him off... Don't try to stop the run of a bonefish ,with either your hand or heavy drag. Beginners do this all the time. Let the fish take line, all of it,including most of your backing if necessary. He will stop!....Have fun and call me when you inherit enough money to hire my services

1/25....Jimmy Buffet returns to Culebra

Had the pleasure of fishing with Jimmy Buffet again..This time he brought Joe Paterno with him.Joe has held the world record for largest Bonefish ever caught on a fly rod for the past 10 years. So two super anglers,beautiful weather for a change,great company,and they caught fish.(See Fishing Picture Page on this sight). The biggest thrill of the trip was watching Joe hook into a Bonefish that made his eyes bug out and mutter "BBBBig FFFish" The leader parted at the knot where the intermediate joins the class tippet when the fish (an easy double digit) took off across the flat Murphy was with us again!..My friend Big John Krebs (Buffet calls him the"Swiss Tsnunami")gets the credit for arranging all the details and legwork for this trip,and again many thanks John, You're the best

1/24..Taco bell next on Dakity flats?

My anger managment counselor here on Culebra has asked me to keep this short and happy..what an asshole..Our major bonefish flat ,at least in size,as most of you know is called Dakity.Louis from Uraguay, who moved here about 7 years ago, thought that would be a great place to start a floating restaurant to augment his water taxi business.Now he has added boat rentals! He has several bright red zodiacs with outboards that say RENT ME in big letters tied up to the restaurant 30 feet from what used to be a good bone and Permit flat...by the way thats pretty much history in the fish department as you might have guessed. These zodiacs are going all over the flats in all directions,running aground,and generally terrifying fish, turtles,people and what ever, there is no need to say anymore...big breath and smile!

1/20 Bonefish with attitude

Fishing with Allen and Greg and Ruth from Cnnecticut for four days, day two Greg hooks a tarpon on a Dan Blanton whistler pattern that I have modified a little on a 2/0 Tarpon hook...Fish Jumps and throws the hook..next cast Greg hooks up again,fish never jumps so I'm convinced he's hooked up with a Horseeye..fish comes to the boat,its a bonefish! ate a 2/0 Tarpon fly with a #60 bite tippet..he looked like a cat trying to swallow a chicken!..Stay tuned for my tirade on the new Dakity boat rental.

1/18..Have you seen Big John?

I can't mention Nancy without mentioning Big John Krebs ..he's not the queen of Flamenco, but he's the King of the road..big as a sasparillo tree holding a flyrod,John spends more time walking the beaches and flats of Culebra than most of us spend driving or sleeping..When you mention the words Bonefish and Permit to Big John his eyes get as big as saucers he starts to drool a little and he can't stop talking about the tails he seen lately or that 40lb Permit that lives on that coral head on the East End that will end up driving the poor man absolutely insane..Welcome back John..He will eat that fly one day and we will hear you screaming all the way back at the Dinjy Dock....Wind and More Wind! cancelled after a few hours with with PJ and his wife have to try again tomorrow...!

Nancy's Back!

My good friend and one of my oldest flyfishing buddys,the Queen of Flamenco,the tightest loop on the island,Nancy Walton is in the house or on the beach more accurately...To celebrate her return we did some exploring in some ugly conditions.Wind was NE about 25,water was dirty so we hit the deeper water with an intermediate and a Teeny 250 grain ..Nancy threw for about a half hour where I'd seen fish a couple of days earlier on about the same stage of the tide but this time no luck. We went a little deeper and on about my third cast with the 250 grain I was hooked up in about 20' of water. Released about a 6 lb Bone 10 minutes later. supposed to be Nancy's fish. Oh well! good to have you back Nanc!

1/11 Tarpon ,clear water,just the right size on the fly

Live bait fishing with Brad Dubik and his buddy Joe both from Maryland...Brad went 1 for 2 on Tarpon bringing a fifty pounder up into the boat for pics and then release..There were some bigger fish around (up to about #80) but the point I'm trying to make for my Fly fishing clients is that the water was gin clear,the fish were aggressive and need I say more? Life is too short with too many pitfalls and hairpulling and Bullshit not to catch a Tarpon on the fly

Boat Rentals!

A lot of people ask me about boat rentals and bonefishing on there own. So here it is..Save your money! The boats from Culebra Boat Rentals are worthless for fly fishing and fishing in general unless you just want transportation to the flats or want to drop a handline on the reef. Problem is you have to know when to go and where or you're just throwing your money away. Enough said. Hire a guide, either here or in Vieques, and don't fall for the hype from one of the San Juan guides about how they fish here and can put you on fish and if you hire a guide in Culebra stick to the older uglier males they're always the BEST!

1/5-1/9 NE 15 to 25 and higher

Slow week..lots of wind,had to fish in the lees just try and make a go of it..Terrible day friday with Bill Wilke and partner ended up catching reef fish on the patches just to make the rod bend.Went back Yellowtailin with Lisa and Irene from Pittsburg Pa. Caught a few along with a big Horse Eye and lost a nice King Mackerel. Bite was over by 7:30 am. Wind dropped out afternoon of the 8th .....Took Fred Diciccio out for a few hours.Fred is a guide in Alaska. Saw lots of Bones,mostly in the deeper water (3 to 9 ft) but they were really skittish and wouldn't eat. Typical January....

Yellow tales 1/2/07

Took a day off and went pluggin with a buddy at the top secret Yellow tail snapper hole at first light..Culebra has a lot of big Yellowtails! steady fishin until the sun broke water,then just a pick, but still fun..some fish to 4 pounds plus!

12/29 Another Freshwater Conversion

Fished with Paco Bruno yesterday whose only previous flyfishing experience again was in freshwater..spent a little time with his cast and his presentation which he mastered beautifully but forgot the part about what you do when you actually hook a Bonefish..So Paco did what is inctinct when you hook a fish and tried to stop the fish from running with his stripping hand instead of clearing line and putting the fish "on the reel"..result, nice fish,busted tippet and very embarressed guide..Sorry Paco,that was definitely my fault.Anyway we had fun,great company and I hope to fish with Paco again if he gives this sorry ass guide the chance

12/28 coming soon..more updates and pics

Fished with a great couple Niall and Kailey Boggs from Oregon for two days. He is an accomplished steelhead fisherman with previous bonefish experience and a fantastic caster. Nialls manage to hook and fight a big Bone for five minutes and loose it when the fish ran at him and dropped the barbless hook and then a half hour later on a different flat jumped two 40# Tarpon when they did the exact same thing as the bone..Poor guy was shell shocked..Just goes to show you can be the best fisherman on the planet and bad luck will still find you sometimes....Anyway fishing with Paco Bruno tomorrow and this page will very shortly have pictures..won't we be cool

Got Kids? 12/22

Fishing trips with young kids can go two ways..total disaster with the result you want to kill the parents and feed the kids to the sharks or totally rewarding, like today fishing with Jorge Calderon and his two sons Jorge and Edwardo. They were by far the best behaved kids I have ever fished with. Anchored up on a little patch reef and with light spinning gear started catching an assortment of bottom stuff,snapper and Chena (Red Hind) ,grunts etc.Then finished off the morning casting to busting blue runners up to 10lbs..lots of fun! but more fun because the kids listened,did what they were told, and were just plain good company..Congratulations Jorge...Steve Lewis party today,then a day off for xmas,back in the saddle the 26th..FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Got Salt? 12/18-12/21

Flats guiding we constantly run into the situation of having to convert Fresh water fly people to salt water techniques..two good examples..fished with Steve Manley from British Columbia for the last couple of days, Steve is an accomplished fresh water fly angler and a fantastic tyer ..Steve kept lifting the tip of his rod to set the hook on fish for two frustrating days on a lot of fish and caught didly squat..the third day he he mastered the strip strike ,kept the rod tip pointed at the fish right through the entire take and caught three bonefish on three takes..Today fished with Chris Cross and his wife Marylin..Chris had never even seen salt water. First day in the salt,first fish seen, a Permit!,first cast ever in salt water and he's hooked up to a Permit...Take that to Atlantic City and smack it down on red..never happen in another hundred lifetimes..of course the fish came unglued but thats Permit fishing..and yes they showed up...Big Time!

S.P.O.H. and BLOW

The semi permanent oceanic high (SPOH) has moved south as is the winter pattern,the result=Christmas Winds...water is dirty,stirred up, should kick the Permit in the butt and get them to show especially with these big spring tides coming up..Offshore for the restaurants tomorrow

North Side 1/2 day 12/10/06

Fired up the Shamrock for a test trip ,now ready for season,Blowin out of the East about 25..Made one down wind slide and hit 4 or 5 spots with mixed results..Picked up half a dozen "snake" king mackeral in the 8 to 10lb range a few Ceros (Mackarellas) two or three Madrigals (White Jacks) and a couple of Bonito..No Wahoo(Peto) or Tuna and everything very deep

12/06/06

George Clemens from Mass. caught his first Tarpon on conventional spin gear..North side still rough as hell but down a little from last couple of days. Got to get away from this moon

Good showings on the skinny Dec 3rd

Bernie Gastrich from Canada who has fished with me here and in N.J. had quite a show on a major Culebra flat..Squalls went through late afternoon and when the wind dropped..UP PERISCOPE! all you could see were tails all in 6 to 8 inches of water..Bernie made a beautiful presentation to a giant single who charged the fly inhaling and then ran straight for us..you don't need me to fill in the rest of this predictable scenario..couple more shots in ideal conditions with that sexy just before sunset light and mirror calm water..it doesn't get any better!

Wind,and more Wind

The first cold front of the year with a strong high pressure behind it brought howling Trades Nov29 with another four or five days predicted.SUCKS! but thats the fishing Biz..Peter Wright of Marlin magazine fame along with Rick Westfall who does all the filming for Guy Harvey were here at the invitation of Bonnie Anderson. They did a segment with Bonnie offshore and a bit with me inshore..Tough fishing because of the wind but the bit should have some interesting shots. To be aired on OLN (Outdoor Network) at some future date..great folks to work with!

Frustrating Bones

Jorlie Cruz's last day had Nancy Walton along. Nancy is The Caribbeans answer to Joan Wulff. The major flats were devoid of fish..very strange! checked both tides,flats East and West..saw 2 fish! Finally checked out one of the smaller pocket flats that hasn;t had fish in years and found it loaded! Schools of a dozen fish on both ends and then one big school of 30 or 40 cruising the edges..Staked off up wind and had my anglers present..fish were wild a few follows but no takers even after 2 or 3 pattern changes..Welcome to Culebra!..Had a small Permit come into the spread but by the time we got straight on him..gone..back in a week.......

111/16 Jack your a hero!

Jack Erler,on his last day fishing with me,shows how its done..First fish to show,first cast...35 minutes later..pictures and release! 40lb fish in gin clear water,you could watch the entire take like it was in some panaramic surround sound steroid induced private home theatre..Great job Jack!..Jorlie Cruz back out today for his last day got to pick him up in 15 minutes....

Vieques Report 11/15

Capt Franco Gonzolez writes me that our sister Island also has a great Tarpon bite going on at the moment. Lots of fish in the 15 to 25lb range epoxys and small deceivers the flys of choice. If you have never caught one of these fish on a fly rod now is the time to call Franco or myself. Tarpon make any other fish in ocean seem tame.Check out Capt Franco at his web site linked through this site(go to resources)..caribbean flyfishing co.

11/14 Three broken rods in 10 days

Decided to chase tarpon instead of Bones..found them stacked up in a shallow bay with crystal clear water,white sand bottom,4 feet of water,bait stacked up against the shore and giant slobs patroling just outside the bait. Jorlie Cruz once again put his fly magic to work but ran into someone named Murphy..After jumping four mediums he scratches up the release on a 80 lbs deep shouldered slobola,fight time 35 minutes! ..text book until with me leaning over the side,shock tippet in my hand the fish makes a final lunge..things happen fast with large animals
..Pressure comes back on the rod and with the sudden shock the 10wt explodes..off to East Dorset,VT with that one too

Tarpon blitz 11/13

North side tarpon showing,not nearly as dramatic as last year..Jack Erling busts of a hog and then a few casts later releases a gorgeous Horse Eye that puts him way into the never seen much end of his backing...Next morning fished with Jorlie Cruz,one of Puerto Rico's greatest fly anglers, who gets the release ... Bonefishing today

11/10/06 All The Bonefish You Could Ever Wish For

Plenty of fish today,all sizes..Jack Erling of Maine,a client of mine for ten years,makes the score and gets to check out his backing. Tarpon still a little scarce but that could change soon. They are where you find them!

Back in the blue water

I will be running "offshore" trolling and live bait trips for King Mackeral,Blackfin and Yellowfin Tuna, Wahoo and Dorado..Stay tuned to this page for further details..Trips will be half day only and definitely less expensive than the " other boat " ..Those of you who have been around a few years remember how successful we were in this fishery in the 90's with "Emma". Trips will be starting in December

November 2nd Culebra

Big tides this week ,lots of bait in the right places but not the quantities of Tarpon that we had last year at this time. Once we get by this moon I honestly think things will come together, the ingredients are there. Good bite on another spot on the North side but have to see it first hand..TALK IS CHEAP .I'll be checking it out with some flyfishing clients in a couple of days..Stay tuned

What to Bring

People are always asking me what to bring in the way of flyfishing gear when coming to Culebra. If you plan on Bonefishing bring at least an 8 wt (although a 7 wt is fine in lighter air situations) with floating line and a reel with at least 200yds of backing. Tarpon fishing from a boat 9wt and 10wt are fine,from the beach you need at least a 10wt but preferably a larger and lots of backing. You'll need a large selection of tippet material to handle both the various dental plans and eye sight capabilities of our varied marine life. Fly patterns,bring the basics and we'll tune you up when you get here. I tie almost every night and can supply you with what you don't have. NO GEAR ? NO PROBLEM! we'll supply it...REMEMBER! FOR BONEFISHING,TARPON AND GENERAL INFO ABOUT GOINGS ON AND OFF IN OUR AREA, WATCH THIS PAGE STARTING NOVEMBER 1ST

Book November Now

Reports from Culebra,Vieques and San Juan will appear here on a weekly updated basis starting in November.