Bonefish and Tarpon Fishing on the La Tortuga at Jardines De La Reina Cuba

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Named the Queen's Gardens by Christopher Columbus.

The Jardines de la Reina is major chain of islands off Cuba's South-eastern Coast, which is 125 miles long - very similar in distance and size to the Florida Keys. The area of the JDR that we fish is approximately 2600 square miles, a vast offshore wilderness, where you will never see another angler most days, other than people in your own group. Our live aboard houseboat, Tortuga, takes up to 14 anglers, utilizing 7 skiffs. Fishing this huge area, is roughly equivalent to the Florida Keys from Key Largo to Key West, a distance of 90 miles, with an average of only 7 skiffs on the water each day! Many of the good flats are fished only once every couple of weeks, and there are areas of the JDR that have still never been fished by sport fishermen! With this much water to fish, the guides are able to spread the fishing pressure around so that the fish remain quite easy to catch in comparison to more heavily fished destinations.

You will talk with your guide the evening before and plan on what you would like to do the following day. This is often dependant on the weather, the tides, and what fish the anglers prefer to target that day. With such a huge amount of water available, it is easy to spread all the anglers out in the fishing area where everyone will be in superb water. There are no restrictions on where you can go or what you can fish for.

Your fishing day in the Jardines de la Reina is completely flexible. Often the guides will run back to the "mother ship" for a nice lunch and a chance to relax and then go out and fish until close to dark. If you prefer to spend the whole day on the water, you simply set this up the night before with your guide so that a nice "boat lunch" can be prepared for the following day. Our guides are hard working fellows, and often end up fishing from early morning to dusk. A nine-hour fishing day is probably average, but some days we'll get up and fish for tarpon at 5:30 AM, come back for breakfast and then take off the rest of the day and fish until dark. The guides are enthusiastic and love to fish long days. Ten and even twelve hour fishing days are not uncommon. Just remember to give your guide a larger tip if you are fishing long hours.

If you would like to do some night fishing, just let your guide know and special arrangements can be made to do this after dinner. If a full day of fishing has not tired you out, you can have some spectacular fishing for tarpon, jacks and other fish at night in the JDR, especially with bait on spinning rods.

The fishing for baby Tarpon (fish in the 15-40 pound class) is spectacular. It's not unusual for clients to catch 10-15 or more in a day. Larger Tarpon, up to 85 pounds and some up to 110 pounds, especially in the late spring and summer months can be found. The most fun though, is catching good numbers of baby Tarpon, perfect fish for a ten weight rod. These fish are found on vast ocean side flats, as well as in the many channels that connect the ocean with the backcountry.

The island system is also teeming with spectacular Bonefish flats, many of which can be waded. Bones average 3-4 pounds but on some flats you will see much larger fish, many in the 6-8 pound class with a few as large as 12 pounds. In some of the more remote areas in the JDR, you will be fishing for Bonefish where very few, IF ANY, anglers have EVER fished for Bones! They are so unafraid, that 4-5 pound Bonefish will cruise right up to within a few feet of the flats skiff!

Permit are very common in the JDR, and these are "Florida sized" Permit, with many fish in the 25-35 pound class. Most of the Permit are found on flats closer to the deep water and the reef, on the ocean side of the island system, but there are many good Permit flats in the backcountry. Also If anglers devotes a few hours, during the best tides, to fishing for Permit, it is not unusual for them to get up to a dozen good shots at Permit, and a lot of these will be singles, doubles and small groups of big fish.

The large variety of flats fish and reef fish available make the JDR the finest destination in the World if you enjoy catching a variety of fish. Not only do you have the big three (Bonefish, Tarpon and Permit) but the JDR is perhaps the last place in the world where you can catch big Mutton Snappers on the flats, like you could in Florida forty years ago!

In addition to Muttons, there are many Jacks and some are huge. The largest Jacks are the Jack Crevalle, and it is not unusual to see twenty pound and Jacks cruising the flats, eating everything in their path! Big Horse Eye Jacks are common - up to 14 pounds. There are Yellow Jacks (great for Sashimi) as well as schools of Bar Jacks and Yellowtail Snappers.

Out along the reef, there are a huge number of big Snappers, and Grouper, including World Record size Cubera Snapper. Anglers that troll or bait fish along the reef will hook some huge Snappers and Groupers that they will never land. The big Goliath Groupers (Jewfish) up to 5-6 feet long, for 300/400pounds, are common. The Sharks and Cudas are lots of fun to catch on the flats, and they can be caught easily by fly fishing on a variety of poppers utilizing wire tippets. Silky Sharks in the 3-5 foot range are very common and can also be easily caught while fly fishing.

Your trip begins in Havana, Cuba's capital, providing a great opportunity while visiting this great country to experience all of its history and culture, before moving down to the port of Jukro (Huckers) where you catch a ferry out to our mother ship.

An Amazing Week For The Customers At The Farquhar Lodge, Seychelles!

Fly Fishing Jardines de la Reina Cuba

Bonefish Season: March to July - Oct to April Peak: April to May Weight: 1lb to 10lb Average Weight: 5lb	Permit Season: March to July - Oct to April Peak: April to May Weight: 1lb to 30lb Average Weight: 10lb
Tarpon Season: March to July - Oct to April Peak: April to May Weight: 20lb to 130lb Average Weight: 60lb