Cuba has always been famous not only for its authentic culture, spectacular nature but also as a country that attracts fishermen from all over the world. Who hasn’t read Ernest Hemingway’s “Old and the Sea” and hasn’t dreamed of swimming in a boat somewhere near Havana for a while, waiting for the fish of life to catch. Fishing lures in Cuba are top-notch.
Still, we were brought here not by sea fishing, but by the desire to meet real barefoot for the first time in our lives. I’ve caught in many countries and caught a lot of different fish, but I’ve only had to read about barefoot fishing until then. In search of the most suitable fishing ground, I was able to choose from many countries and places, but still, exotic Cuba was the most attractive.
Experience while fishing in Cuba
The most important thing we learned from our first stay in Cuba is that you don’t seem blind without an echo sounder. You don’t see the depth, you don’t know what the bottom relief is, and most importantly – you can’t imagine if there is a fish under the boat. The only source of information you want to reluctant to rely on was a guide – a resident of a local village who tells you in Spanish that, for example, this place is 10 meters deep and has a lot of fish. However, no one knows how reliable this information is. After all, echo sounder guides have not even seen in their eyes, so they can rely on their experience to guess who is underwater.
In preparation for a trip to Cuba and fishing there, the first thought that came up was to buy a cheap echo sounder, which can then be used to simply leave with the locals. However, this idea did not turn out to be the best, because nowadays, for safety reasons, no battery can be carried on an airplane. After thinking for a long time, we found a solution quickly. We borrowed a pair of smart echo sounders, the Deeper, which weighs just 100 g and is easy to operate without any additional technology and does not take up much space. Most importantly, no one hangs at the airport and can load them fairly quickly, even when fishing.
Another important advantage is that with the help of Deeper you can see not only the bottom and fish gathering places, but also create a bathymetric map of your fishing place, mark the most promising fishing places in it and save it for the future. So on trips like this, Deeper’s clever echo sounder is a really big helper for anglers.
Just arriving, we expected a low tide, but it was the other way around – the water level, judging by the marks on the palm trees, had risen from the usual about 6 meters, so the roads were flooded. We couldn’t even take a taxi to the hotel – only a special ferry took us to it.
Poweful fishing lures
It was a pleasant surprise that when they saw us, they greeted each other emotionally and swam close to shaking hands. They were particularly interested in the Deeper echo sounders we had, which were apparently told by our guides. Everyone wanted to make sure there really was such a device that showed the fish and what was underwater in general. I handed them a Deeper tied to a boat with a rope on the phone, and soon there were surprising shouts of admiration, apparently indicating how much fish or something was underwater. Don’t be too surprised because people here haven’t really seen much. Of course, such attention eventually caught on a bit, but looking at the sincere eyes of local fishermen, you couldn’t get angry. People are curious, they have a lot of interest, so we made friends.
At the request of the guides, we gave the caught fish to them – the catch was shared by the whole village, and we received gifts of bananas and rum. With our usual “catch and release” here, you would really risk getting the locals uncomfortable. People who have a hard time feeding on what nature brings do not understand such things. However, for such generosity, we received an invitation to taste a real Cuban lunch for non-tourists. We were invited to taste what the locals themselves actually eat.
We started our acquaintance with Cuban rural cuisine from fish. True, the baked barefoot was quite “dry” and resembled chips. Another fish dish was a very soft tilapia steak. Mmmm, how delicious … After that, we had a chance to taste Cuban soup with pasta and pieces of fish, which also turned out to be quite delicious. In addition to all this, of course, we also received Cuban “bread” – dried banana with peel. Cubans eat it with everything and always – with soup, beer, coffee, or one.
Practice, practice, and practice
Still, the most fun fishing in the morning is swimming, and somewhere in the jungle, there is a pleasant warm breeze. Spotlights are already flashing in the water in one place or another. These are local fishermen who have sailed on their tires and are already occupying their places. Their way of fishing, at least from the side, requires a lot of skill. It is based on throwing four very thick lines with hooks and baits, and the unused part is wrapped in rolls. One line is attached to the stake, the other is tucked behind the ear, and the other two are held in the hands.
Of course, our catches were probably more impressive, probably thanks to better baits and Deeper’s help, so we soon earned universal respect. If the hotel, which was mostly occupied by Mexicans, Brazilians, and other residents of both American continents, initially looked at us with ridicule, then two or three days later we had our own circle of fans waiting for us every time we returned from fishing and wanted to see the catch.
A ten-day stay in Cuba was like an instant. In fact, Cuba is a very exotic country. Both in the landscape and in people’s lifestyles and contrasts. It should also be borne in mind that Cuba is not in vain in the top five barefoot fisheries. If you’re crazy about barefoot – you’ll have something here
In the end
I plan to return to Cuba to catch them at the end of February when the best spawn period for their fishing will begin. Says, then the biggest barefoot catch is on.
