How to Make the Most Out of a Tough Saltwater Fishing Trip
The author with a powerful cobia, which saved the day when the tarpon and permit weren’t biting. All photos: Kubie Brown
To quote the A-Team’s Col. Hannibal Smith, “I love it when a plan comes together.” It’s a beautiful thing to have the stars align so that everything you’ve been preparing for and dreaming of happens exactly how you want it to happen—mostly because it’s a rare occurrence. The fact is that life is unpredictable, and most of the time no matter how much you’ve prepped and fantasized about how an adventure is going to turn out, life inevitably throws a wrench into the gears, forcing you to adapt and to overcome. This is especially true in the world of saltwater fishing.
Whether it’s your first or fiftieth saltwater trip, you invariably set off for the tropics with the highest expectations and the best laid plans. You visualize getting a dozen perfect shots at tarpon or bonefish or permit and maybe even a coveted Grand Slam of all three species in a single day. The weather will be perfect, your guide will be at the top of their game, and every fish will strike without hesitation. Of course, it almost never really happens that way. Because of wind, rain, wrong tides, sub-par guides, bad casts, and the simple unpredictability of the fish themselves, saltwater trips very rarely go the easy you dreamed they would. Yet that doesn’t mean you can’t still have a good time; you just have to be willing to adjust your expectations and think outside the box.
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you just can’t find feeding fish. Having a Plan B can save the day.
Target Different Species
On a recent tarpon-and-permit quest to El Pescador Lodge and Villas in San Pedro, Belize, conditions were tough. The water was low, the wind was insane, and we couldn’t get either of my targeted species to even look at my fly, let alone bite. That’s when my guide mentioned a spot he knew about where, under our present conditions, we might get a shot at a cobia—a species I hadn’t even considered. We quickly jetted across the windswept bay, and before I knew it, I was hooked into a bulldogging cobia that fought way harder than the small tarpon I had hooked earlier in the week. It was a revelation. Just because the species I was after weren’t cooperating, it didn’t mean there weren’t exciting fish to be caught.
While we all seem to focus our saltwater fishing efforts on the big three—tarpon, bonefish, and permit—there is a menagerie of other fish species out there that are more than happy to take a fly when others won’t play. From cobia and barracuda to snappers, jacks, and even sharks, these species can add some unexpected spice to your saltwater trip and often can give you more bang for your buck than the species you’re after. So, when the fish that you want aren’t cooperating, explore other options. You never know if and when an otherwise overlooked species can become your new favorite.
Even when the fishing is tough, never forget that you’re in paradise.
Go on An Adventure
There’s usually a lot more to a saltwater fishing trip than just fishing. Traveling to exotic destinations where popular gamefish exist is all about going on a grand adventure, and that principle should extend beyond just holding a fly rod in your hand. Whenever you arrive at a saltwater destination—or even before choosing one—put in a little research about other activities are available, aside from fishing. Many top fly-fishing destinations are also great places for snorkeling, bird watching, shark diving, jungle exploration, and more. You can go swimming or surfing, catch lobsters and crabs, head out on the town and take in the local culture, or just lie on the beach and work on your tan. After a slow morning’s fishing in Belize, I even spent an afternoon feeding the tarpon I couldn’t catch, and it was awesome! All these non-fishing activities simply add to the experience and can make even the slowest saltwater fishing experience into something truly memorable.
Take it All In
We all love it when our saltwater fishing plans work out as planned. Yet even when they don’t, it’s important to remember where you are. The exotic, beautiful, and amazing places where you travel to catch your favorite saltwater species are usually the very definition of paradise. They are worlds of sun, surf, and sand where something as simple as a sunset over the water, a pod of leaping dolphins, or a shady hammock on beautiful beach can take your breath away and even touch your soul.
It’s these moments that you should be looking for on a saltwater fishing trip, rather than just the fish you’re going to catch. For as much as we plan and dream about our saltwater adventure, the truth of the matter is that it’s unpredictable, and you never know what’s going to happen once you hit the water. If you look at the trip as a full experience rather than just a fishing expedition, you’ll get a lot more out of it and ensure that you’re never disappointed with a single moment—because in the end, it’s all going according to plan.
