THE ULTIMATE ANGLING BUCKET LIST

Stingrays were another fish I saw caught, and you
would regularly see sharks, barracudas, and
needlefish swimming by, all of which were caught
on small live-baits which you could catch to order on
size ten hooks and tiny pieces of squid around the
legs of the bridge.
Boat fishing unfortunately was another matter. After
numerous false starts, I eventually found a small
marina tucked way out of sight down a dirt track
through the mangroves, where there were some very
nice angling boats tied up.
I even managed to book a trip, though not at the
marina itself. Nobody there would take
responsibility for that. In the end, after the holiday
rep had been dragged into the arrangements, the
hotel was able to place a booking on my behalf.
Dawn Williams, reef Barracuda
That unfortunately was cancelled a couple of times,
supposedly due to the weather, though in all honesty
it looked fine to me. Again the crew were on a fixed
salary arrangement, so it didn't matter to them
whether they sailed or they didn't.
Eventually we did get afloat, taking a long route down the inside of a fringing reef looking for a place
to cross, passing a boat stranded on the reef top that hadn't made the best choice of crossing point. Then
at last we were out in the open sea.
I think I was there in February. Whatever the date, it was a change-over point in terms of fish species,
so we were told not to expect too much.
Certainly we should expect the wahoo to be gone, and with the summer species yet to arrive, on top of
which as it was mainly undiscerning holiday makers as opposed to anglers who booked these boats, we
might have to make do with barracudas.
Not content with that, I went up top and started talking to the skipper, suggesting things we could try
instead of working the edge of the reef all day with lures. Willing to blank trying for something better,
I twisted his arm to venture further off. But we were still trolling a spread of lures of different sizes and
at differing depths.
Eventually we spotted some frigate birds circling one specific patch, went over to see what might be
attracting them, and immediately we were in to dorado.
Continuing to work the area even after the birds had gone, we added more dorado, and a couple of nice
bonus wahoo to our tally. Then it was back inshore to anchor up and dine.
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