Kevin Pallett has just returned from a week aboard the live aboard Georgiana fly fishing the Zapata region of Cuba. Here is a report of the weeks fishing at this relatively new destination in Cuba….
I have just returned from a great week fishing aboard the boat the ‘Georgiana’ in the newly created Zapata marine reserve. I have been on the Georgiana a couple of times before out of the Island of youth on Tarpon trips and new that she was a comfortable and practical mother ship for a weeks fishing.
I was really excited to get the chance to be in the first season of groups to get to fish the Zapata marine reserve as its is now a UNESCO recognised biosphere. The area has been split up into 9 sections fished by only 6 skiff 2 double occupancy and 4 single occupancy skiffs. The 2 double occupancy skiffs get to fish the further away sections which have tarpon mangrove lagoons and channels, while the single occupancy skiff go to the skinny water bays and lagoons for bonefish and permit. This area has been fished before but from a land based operation, which required a lot of travelling and a long mangrove channel run before you even get to the fishing areas. Fishing from the Georgiana moored in the middle of the area meant some fishing areas were accessed in just a few minutes ride.
The weather was unkind to us during our week with wind for most of the week and several overcast unseasonably cold days, but in the shallow sections it was still great for spotting tailing bonefish, interspersed with the sighting of permit. I managed to see permit on all but one of the days and had several unsuccessful shots, luckily Bernard in our group manages a fantastic permit on the last day. The key to the permit fishing is small dark green and brown crab patterns (see picture below), but as our host Sean Clarke said it always pays to take some coloured water proof felt tips pens which can be used to recolour flies and after the first day there were many permit flies changing colour while enjoying mojito’s after the days fishing!
I’m absolutely certain that had the weather be kinder to us there would have been many more permit shots and fish landed. This also made the tarpon fishing tricky but Nigel aka Ricky Waters, managed a nice one. This is also a great place for beginners to saltwater fly fishing with new to the sport Melissa managing bonefish from first some muddy waters, then wading and catching bonefish on the flats, whilst experiencing sighting permit in skinny water and casting to tarpon in mangrove lagoons.
The crew on the boat made us very welcome and comfortable with lots of fresh fish (the jack Ceviche was superb) and lobster for dinner, while the guides were all great boatmen, superb at spotting, keen to please with great knowledge of the areas. Finally our group was a great mix and I enjoyed all their company.