BLOG-To have and to have not….


Hi everybody this is Chris with the latest tales from Steppingstones.

We have been busy decorating and renewing wood work, and generally sprucing things up. So I cannot say we have been out heaving in the kings and barracuda from out beyond the reef. In fact even on the odd occasion we have been down there, the normally cooperative tarpon in the Secret Lagoon have been very quiet. We are now in our dry season, so the water is rapidly clearing, and the tarpon get more wary.

However here is a pic taken last time Sue and I were down there. The boa was around 7ft long.

On the fishing front, it’s been the end of the dock for me. Not entirely without incident however. I managed a really good sized snapper the other night after a long afternoon punctuated by catfish, plus one miserable little snapper which I released. My supper, safely unhooked, I was about to dispatch when it wriggled, and one of its gill plates sliced neatly into my finger and amid spouts of blood, the fish bounced once on the deck and straight into the water where it swam off with a smirk on its face (Oh yes it did) I was not pleased. Spaghetti Bolognese for supper.

Next night I thought lets try again. This time it was bite after bite after bite. I was using two rods but had to give up on one as I could not keep them both in the water. Fast and furious. Mainly small snappers and catfish. But eventually my rod bent double in it holder and after a short but heavy fight I beached a baby sting ray of around 10lbs. This was returned safely.

A little while later I needed to go back to the house for a moment (refresh beers), so mindful of passing boats I reeled in and left my baited hook in mid water under the dock. Walking back along the dock I noticed a stingray on patrol but thought no more of it. Two minutes later back on the dock I turned round in time to see my rod which had been leaning against the handrail, trying to climb over the rail and into the water. I grabbed it just in time. There was a surge and then nothing. The line was bitten through just above the hook. Maybe it was that ray, who knows?

Anyway tackled up again I sat back and again had an almighty take on my chunk of barracuda.. This time it was no baby. Whatever it was, it ran about hundred yards out, then swam slowly south, turning briefly to give me some hope (and line). By this time Sue was out beside me, discussing strategy. We decided to pay out line to get me back onto the beach and away from the piles of the dock. This I did and started playing the fish from the beach. Still the fish would not concede any line, but continued to make short but powerful runs southwards. By this time I was down to maybe two or three feet of line (20lb) on my spool, so I had little option but to dig my toes into the sand and clamp down the reel. The line parted .

We can only think that this was one of the barn door sized rays we sometimes see along our coast, or possibly a very big nurse shark. I suppose you could argue that it gives us something to aim at, but I confess I would have liked to have at least seen what it was.

The problem is that if you use appropriate sized tackle for such fish, you may have a very very long wait. If you just want a snapper for supper, you use light tackle, and of course that’s when you hook into a monster. Sod’s law it’s called.

So now I wait for the next calm evening to try again.

The long spell of calm weather we have had has had some compensations. The baitfish have been shoaling up and have been herded by blue runners one day, and by small jacks on another day. Once this mayhem comes within casting distance, sport is fast and furious. A small plastic shad cast twenty yards is all that’s needed. The fish are generally not big, but even a pound sized blue runner is a real fight on light tackle. Last evening I had what was probably my biggest blue runner about 2 ½ lb. it ran up and down the beach for a good five minutes. Excellent sport! And with multiple strikes and misses on each cast, some really absorbing and fun fishing. Eventually the fish do move off however, and that’s probably just as well. Its hard work. Still I suppose someone has to do it!