Cayo Coco, Cuba

[fishpro]

Has anyone here been to and fished Cayo Coco? I just booked myself in for December 12-19 at Tryp Cayo Coco with the intention of spending the week fishing. I'll mostly be fishing the flats in the area hunting for bonefish, and would be interested in hearing about any experiences you've had, tips, guides, other fishing experiences in the area, etc. I'd greatly appreciate any info anyone is able to give!

[Moefoe]

Quite a few posts and threads on Coco already just do a search, lots of info...they got blasted by that Hurricane a couple of months ago, curious to see how there making out!

[58thecat]

Yup, that's my hangout, place is loaded with bonefish, believe it or not I have great luck using a 1" blue/white with silver back spoon...don't know why but when I see them on the surface feeding I cast well past them and it's a strike or a fish on.
Good luck.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by Moefoe

Quite a few posts and threads on Coco already just do a search, lots of info...they got blasted by that Hurricane a couple of months ago, curious to see how there making out!

Yeah that is why we didn't head out that way this year, give them a year to completely rebuild etc.

To the OP give us an update when your back.

Good luck, tight lines.

[bobalong]

Book at least 1 day with Duniesky, he is one of the best guides in the area. Book now as he is very busy.
Some good DIY fly fishing by the ship wreck which is just a short taxi ride from the hotels.
https://www.facebook.com/duniesky.urbano?ref=br_rs

[fishpro]

Well I'm back from my trip and wanted to provide an update for everyone. Overall the fishing was challenging, yet very rewarding at times.

I had originally planned on staying at the Tryp, but ended up staying at the Pullman instead. This worked out well as it's the closest resort to the large flat in the area. This flat was impressive in size, however on our first day we ran into a guy who has been fishing down there for years and informed us that there had been a lot of netting by locals just off the flat and there were very few fish around. In two days of fishing this flat, we caught one bonefish and one boxfish between three of us.

We also spent a few days fishing guided, one day for tarpon and 3 for bones. We saw several tarpon but were not able to hook any. The guided bonefish fishing was good though. The first two days we fished with a very knowledgeable guide who was able to get us into a few fish as well as take us on a 2.5 hour marathon walk through lagoons to get back to the taxi. For the last day, two of us decided to fish with a different guide due to being tired of the first guide relentlessly barking about everything he could with the fishery and our technique, and were fortunate enough to fish with a laid back guide who got us into a dozen bones plus a small snapper between us.

Most of the bones were 4-5 lbs, with a few landed / seen / missed in the 7-10 lb range. On the morning of our first guided trip I snapped off an 8-10 lb bone on the hookset because when I heard you needed to strip set for bonefish, I was doing more of a tarpon set. Fortunately I broke that habit quite quickly lol

This was my first flats trip, I learned a ton, and it will definitely not be my last.

[58thecat]

How was the area in general from the storm?
I heard they cleaned up well.
As for the fishing I always just went off the beaches, found areas that had coral and flat sand bottoms, used Xraps, bait to catch little fish and then run a hook through the back and cast way out...never used a guide just talked to locals, next time it is out to the large bridge and surrounding area, have scooter will travel!

[fishpro]

Originally Posted by 58thecat

How was the area in general from the storm?
I heard they cleaned up well.
As for the fishing I always just went off the beaches, found areas that had coral and flat sand bottoms, used Xraps, bait to catch little fish and then run a hook through the back and cast way out...never used a guide just talked to locals, next time it is out to the large bridge and surrounding area, have scooter will travel!

Yeah they cleaned up very well. There are a few resorts still under construction but the hotel I was at was completely cleaned up and repaired. The mangroves along the shore were a bit beat up in places but that was about it.

We kept an eye out along the beach as we walked to the flat, but never saw fish there. Our second day fishing the flat DIY we saw a few more fish but they were almost always upwind of us, although we did hook and lose a couple.