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Cuba or florida keys

Steven Ballard

Senior Member
Hi all, looking to go on a solo trip next year to either of the above obviously mainly for the fishing.
can anyone give me any first hand recommendations, on best areas to stay etc?
cheers
 
Florida, would be through Dave Plummer at Anglers world holidays,top professional guide,English,and knows how to get Tarpon out without throwing the hook,been doing Florida for years and knows the waters.He also fishes for sharks,sawfish (over 20 feet)bonefish and grouper, plus.He does not moter up to Tarpon,touch the leader,pop them off and then count them,like some American guides try to do.American guides can talk the talk but are often full of poop.I have fished Cuba and booked local guides when the there but they are very hit and miss,also have poor tackle so you need to take it with you.I based myself in Cayo coco and the first time there caught massive amounts of fish, big Trevalley,spanish mackeral,baracuda, bonefish, snapper and smaller species,did lose 9 tarpon one evening on poppers some of which were huge.Second time a year later the same area was almost devoid of fish as if netted out.Tried further down the island Holyquin a year later and again very few sizable fish.Maybe someone else has found better areas,some of the protected areas will be better,but expensive to get access to.
 
Another vote for Florida keys with Dave Plummer in Islamorada, im totaly addicted to the place, i cannot recomend Dave highly enough, im off again next June. If you want to catch Tarpon over a 100lb and plenty of them or any of the species Mark mentions above you cant go wrong.
Neil
 
Yes Paul,Dave was a member of Nasa, wrote a book called Tales of a coarse angler.He moved to Norwich bought a tackle shop and fished the fens for pike and Wensum for barbel, being in the same small boat when 2 British pike records were caught.He also held the Wensum barbel record for a while in the 90's,before the recent syndicate monsters.For a long time now he guides around the world specializing in Florida.He was also in at the start in India ,lake nasser and a number of other locations.
 
cheers guys, I see the dave plummer hosted is around 3k, plus flights, just wondering if i could do it cheaper myself? and hire a skipper while Im there?
 
Hi Steve
I wouldnt recomend that as Mark has alluded to its false economy, the americans fish with spinning reels and play the fish forever until your time is up then take you to the leader. They charge you $5 a live mullet, you buy 12 for a session (4hrs) they spend 20 mins minimun each way driving to the fish, Daves 1st drift is 1 min from the dock. Dave throws a cast net, the mullet are free, Dave doesnt charge for the crabs that cost $3 each. Dave regularly spends more time out than he is meant to, ie dosent count the time getting bait.
Dave isnt American im not xenophobic but American guides dont always make for a fun time.
They expect a $100 tip for each 4 hr session, even if they just throw 2 deadbaits out.

As a result of Graham Elliots thread I have written a little review of my trips with Dave and have sent it to Andy, hopefully he will put it up when he has had a chance to look at it
Steve i have been for the last 4 years, its worth every penny imo

I am not connected in any way commercially to Dave or Anglersworld btw
Neil
 
Steven, you can always do most things cheaper but in the end usually the results are poor.Most American guides work out more expensive than Dave and poor in comparison.Yes you can hire your own boat and try to fish with your own tackle, if you know what you are doing but its always good to be shown how first.I think Bryce Henderson on the forum does that -after Dave guided him.
 
Not been to the Keys with Dave Plummer but used to meet up with him regularly on the river in India back in the 90's when my friends and myself were fishing the same stretch that he was guiding on.
Super helpful bloke and always worked hard to get his clients the fish they wanted.
 
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