Puerto Rico, Fly fishing’s Accessible Hotspot
By: Capt. Till Brauer Mongil
www.quicksilver-fishing.com

The island of Puerto Rico is located a short 3 to 4 hour flight from any major city on the East coast of the United States and offers some of the most sensational light tackle and fly fishing opportunities in the Caribbean. While some other destinations get a lot of exposure through their tourism bureaus, Puerto Rico’s fisheries have evolved mostly through word of mouth advertising and a few magazine articles. This has created a “secret” following among knowledgeable fishermen.

These anglers coming into San Juan will enjoy all the comforts of home, fine 5 Star hotel accommodations, casinos for the ones that want to try their luck, great restaurants from all the cuisines around the world and a vibrant nightlife. San Juan is a city with over 500 years of colonial construction and history, featuring such period architecture as El Morro Fortress and the stunning Catedral de San Juan. Fine sand beaches and usually clear water conditions appeal to snorkeling and scuba diving enthusiasts. Outlet store bargain shopping is one of the most favorite activities for the wife and family to do while the spouse is fishing.

The island is mostly famous for its impressive run of Blue Marlin of all sizes, in fact the northern coast of Puerto Rico is also known as “Marlin Alley”. Marlin season runs from the month of June to the end of October, with fish of every size caught every year.

The possibility of a trophy “Grander” marlin, in excess of 1,000 pounds is always there when fishing the North Coast. In fact the longest running Blue Marlin tournament in the world, The San Juan International Billfish Tournament has hosted by the classy Club Nautico de San Juan for over 50 years without interruption. Other species of fish are found around the island, bonefish in the remote islands of Culebra and Vieques and an endless variety of tropical reef species of all sizes are always ready to attack a well placed fly. The bountiful waters of the San Juan Estuary are located a few miles East from world famous Isla Verde Beach, a short drive from the San Juan International Airport.

To those of us lucky enough to be able to fish these waters on an almost daily basis, it is a little bit of fishing heaven just a few steps from our backdoor. Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus), called Sabalo in Puerto Rico are found around the island, specially the mouths of rivers and mangrove island providing great sport along with snook and jacks of various species.

Fly fishing for tarpon of all sizes continues to be a sport in growing demand for the traveling angler, as more and more people realize it is easier to schedule a fishing trip to Puerto Rico than to a foreign country. Being a commonwealth of the United States, there is no passport required by US citizens to enter and leave Puerto Rico, also the local currency is the US Dollar further simplifying your travel.

There are a limited number of fishing guides available in San Juan and most are booked months in advance during the winter tourism season, which coincides with the best tarpon fishing, with many opportunities for fly fishermen to experience tarpon on a fly. An experienced angler can hire a guide to see where the fishing action is taking place, what is the method employed and the choice of flies and equipment, once that is information has been passed on by the guide the adventuresome angler can then fish with confidence for the same species the guide fished with the customer.

Shore fishing can be done from most the hotel’s beaches targeting several of the reef species found in the area usual catches are snappers of various species, barracudas, groupers and jacks. A spinning reel and matching rod capable of holding 250 yards of 12 pound monofilament is the best choice of tackle as most of the beaches will be wind swept during the day, making fly casting difficult in the open. Jigs, plugs and shiny spoons seem to gather the most attention among the reef predators as they resemble the small baitfish that congregate on the reefs. Be careful as you wade and fish the beaches, always gently shuffle your feet as you walk, that way you disturb the stingrays making them swim away without a tail swipe and possible injury with their poisonous spine. The truly great fishing is available only from knowledgeable guides, who monitor the moving schools of tarpon, accessible in the huge backcountry system only by boat.

Tarpon are the favorite target for fly fishermen, with fish of every size available at all times of the year, from juveniles in the mangrove lined channels that run from 5 to 15 pounds to 150 pound or more giants that can be found anywhere the water is deep enough to cover their backs. Fly fishermen can expect some chances to hook one of these fish, with success measured in the fish you “jump” rather than catch, mainly due to the hard mouth of the tarpon, which makes hooking and landing one very frustrating at times.

The visiting fly fisherman that travels to San Juan in search of tarpon and snook will have to be equipped with at least 3 rods, an 8 wt, a10 wt and a 12 wt; these will enable the angler to address most of the fishing conditions that arise. Reels need to be preferably of the large arbor type capable of holding the fly line plus 300 yards of backing and equipped with a smooth drag system that will handle the fast, strong runs of a tarpon. Lines can be of the floating, or intermediate sinking type, with a shooting head line a nice addition to the arsenal, just in case the wind decides to get a little nasty.

The fly fisherman needs to be able to cast in different scenarios, short 20 foot roll casts in the mangrove channels and 60 to 70 feet long casts for open water fishing. It is important to practice the double haul at a park, football or soccer field.

I am going to emphasize, Please practice your double haul ahead of time, I can not tell you how hard it is to learn this on the water, with tarpon rolling everywhere. Here distance is more desirable than accuracy.

Many different types of flies work in Puerto Rico, most of the tarpon and snook are taken on the following: sculpin patterns(Brown/Black), mullet patterns(Grey/Silver/Black), a deer hair/rabbit strip leech(Back/Brown), Clouser Minnow(Olive/White/Black) and lately the Gummi Minnow. These flies should be tied in 1/0, 2/0 Stainless Steel hooks for the small flies and 3/0 for the large flies. Always have some Poppers in 2/0 on hand just in case a Tarpon and Snook feeding frenzy forms while you are in the water, it is quite unforgettable for those fortunate to see the hundreds of fish working under the screaming seagulls and pelicans. For those that want to wade the reefs and beaches, some deceivers in white, olive, yellow and silver are always a good choice.

Leaders need to be 6 to 9 feet long, with a butt section of 60 pound fluorocarbon tapering to 40 pound, then followed by your tippet section in 16 to 20 pound and finished with a shock of 50 to 100 pound test fluorocarbon, depending on the size of fish targeted. Although expensive, fluorocarbon leaders are invariably the best, for their invisibility in the water and their resistance to abrasion. Keep you knot selection and leader construction easy to tie and foolproof, perfection loops, blood knots and uni-knots are reliable and perform flawlessly in most conditions.

Armed with this basic information you are now able to schedule a trip to beautiful, friendly Puerto Rico and give your fly rods and yourself a real fight, the one that only a leaping tarpon will give you.

 

Article	062
Created	6-24-2004
Modified	3-21-2005
Author	Till Brauer
Rating