Jewel Runaway Bay Jamaica 2017

[wknd outdoorsman]

Last week I attended a good friends wedding in Jamaica. We all stayed at the Jewel Runaway Bay Resort and in between the all you can eat, all you can drink, all you can party and 90 ppl who attended the wedding I was able to sneak out 2 mornings to fish.

I fished with buddy of mine 2 consecutive mornings from 6 am (sunrise) - 8am. We were there for a week. Neither of us have caught a salt water fish from shore before (I went on a deep sea charter once and caught a small tuna and got really sea sick) so we were more than a little lost! I tried to do some research in the few days before I left so we weren’t going in totally blind.

The Gear
I was equipped with a 6’6 med action Uglystik gx2 4 piece travel rod, matched with my Shimano Sienna 4000 spoiled with 10lb mono. I also had a small tackle box with a pair of spoons, 3 spinners a few jig heads Ranging from 1/16- 3/8 oz a couple of small hooks and some split shot. I also had some soft plastic minnow and grub imitations.

The Action
Day One
I was more than a little hung over on this sunrise mission but I pushed through. I waded into the water about knee deep and started the morning casting parallel to a rock jetty I found just out off the resort. I was slow rolling a spinner and I had a couple half assed follows but nothing would commit. We after about a half hour we moved spots. First cast on the new spot, my buddy who was throwing a spoon got bit, the fish jumped and the line was got cut right off. I didn’t see the fish but my buddy said it was a long slender silver fish. My first thought was a barracuda, but again we weren’t sure. He automatically tied on the only other spoon we had. By this time I was using a quarter oz jig with a Berkeley havoc minnow imitation. I varried my retrieve but noticed that ripping my jig and letting it completely fall and ripping it again got some attention of following fish. But again nothing that would commit. It wasn’t until I got snagged on a rock on the furthest part of my cast did we figure out a pattern. As soon as I freed my jig, I burned it back in to double check my hook, but before it got back to me BANG I got hit! But I got bit right off! I let my buddy know to bomb out his spoon and burn it back in, and on his subsequent cast we landed our first fish!
   
The locals called it a Long Jaw but after after some google research we found out it was a Needle Fish (I think).

We fished for another 30 min til 8 am and we had a lot of aggressive follows but again no strikes. It was time to go back in as the sun was getting hot and it was time for breakfast with the fam!

Day 2
Exhausted from the night before (can you see a trend) although not hung over, we hit the waters again at sunrise. I was still casting the jig with a minnow and my buddy was casting the spoon and we were burning them in to get reaction strikes. Only this time we climbed up on to the rock jetty and Walked to the end. Within the first 10 min I ended up catching my first salt water fish from shore... well sort of, it was a squid.
   

After that catch there was about an hour lul of nothing. We switched up tactics and stopped fishing for the predatory fish and targeted smaller more timid fish. I started jigging a 1/16 oz jig with a small pink steelhead worm in between rocks in the jetty. I kept getting hit, but could not for the life of me hook into anything. That was until I hooked into this trophy!
   
The locals called it a Wrench Fish , but again we later googled it and identified it as a Longspined Squirrel Fish (I think).

After that we called it. Physically tired and exhausted and even slightly sunburnt we decided to pack it up.

The After
The cool thing isI actually kept the squid, brought it back to the resort and had the head chef prep it for my lunch that day.
   

After that I didn’t touch my rod for the rest of the trip. I just focused on relaxing, tanning and spending time catching up with friends. A few of the staff heard about our catches and offered up their advice for next time. All of them said our fake plastic and metal lure were garbage and to use shrimp or meat. I didn’t care though, I still had fun and I felt really accomplished! I am pretty sure that my travel rod will be with me on all of my trips from now on.

The Lessons learned
Sunscreen hats and sunglasses are your friends!
A good pair of water shoes are vital, especially if you do go over some rock terrain
The locals all said to use bait rather than artificial lures (talk to the locals before you fish)
If you are staying at a resort and need bait, visit the buffet the night before and bring ziplock bags!
If you do fish with artificial lures, fish them aggressively
The beach is less busy at sunrise rather than sunset so fish accordingly

[cutuzov]

"I was more than a little hung over on this sunrise mission but I pushed through."
That is what i call commitment

[MuskieBait]

First fish looks to be a Houndfish of the Tylosurus genus...although it's is impossible to tell if it was Tylosurus crocodilus (Houndfish) or Tylosurus acus acu (Agujon needlefish)...because the anal fin is covered by the hand and there's no way to take measurements.

Tylosurus crocodilus - anal fin long, 5.5-8.0 times in body length
Tylosurus acus acus - anal fin short, 9.7-11.7 times in body length

Second fish is Common Squirrelfish (Holocentrus adscensionis). It is not a Longspine Squirrelfish (Holocentrus rufus)

Holocentrus adsecensionis - NO white triangles at the tips between each dorsal spines, reddish or pinkish second dorsal fin
Holocentrus rufus - white triangles at the tips between each the dorsal spines, yellowish second dorsal fin

People are often insistent on fishing lures in saltwater for predators. Yeah, that's fun...but people miss out so much action if they would simply suck it up and use some bait. Smaller fish are not timid. If you drop a piece of raw shrimp into the water, you'll see a swarm of smaller fish on the shrimp immediately. Smaller fish far from shy. Larger predators often show a level of caution and reduced aggression...which is why they don't usually attack lures that moves slower (more time to inspect the lures) but will only attack instinctively to fast moving lures.

Small snapper will hit anything...but a big tarpon can stare at or nose a live herring for a long time if it remotely senses something isn't right...and if something really isn't right, the tarpon will not hesitate to refuse the bait and swim off nonchalantly.

[wknd outdoorsman]

Hey Cutuzov

The struggle was real but I was determined to come back with a great fishing story!

Hey MB!

Thank you for helping me properly identify the fish! I was almost positive that you would chime in to help in that regard.

As for the statement :
People are often insistent on fishing lures in saltwater for predators. Yeah, that's fun...but people miss out so much action if they would simply suck it up and use some bait.

I agree that live bait/ or bait in general would increase odds of catching. But to say“simply suck it up and use some bait” is a little presumptuous. The way I see it, people fish for different reasons, some for number of fish, some for size, some for different or particular species, and for some it is the thrill of the chase. For some, like myself, the goal changes with each trip. With that being said I do acknowledge that I did miss out on more action in exchange to accomplish my goal of seeing aggressive strikes and follows in the crystal clear waters. I was also trying to get them on video but I failed miserably on that front, lol!

[MuskieBait]

(10-29-2017 06:28 PM)wknd outdoorsman Wrote:  As for the statement :
People are often insistent on fishing lures in saltwater for predators. Yeah, that's fun...but people miss out so much action if they would simply suck it up and use some bait.

I agree that live bait/ or bait in general would increase odds of catching. But to say“simply suck it up and use some bait” is a little presumptuous. The way I see it, people fish for different reasons, some for number of fish, some for size, some for different or particular species, and for some it is the thrill of the chase. For some, like myself, the goal changes with each trip. With that being said I do acknowledge that I did miss out on more action in exchange to accomplish my goal of seeing aggressive strikes and follows in the crystal clear waters. I was also trying to get them on video but I failed miserably on that front, lol!

It's not a presumptuous statement. If the locals offer you advice, take it. Your experiences fishing locally is so limited that anything that up your odds should be seriously considered. After all, the goal is to catch fish, and film the strikes, right? Unless you like to wash lures with saltwater. I don't want to sound arrogant...but with limited experience, doing it "my way" and ignoring local advice is presumptuous in it own light.

Fish strikes equally hard on live bait, if not even harder compared to lures. To think that only lures can generate aggressive strikes is presumptuous because a struggling bait can elicit an even greater response more often than not. Fish are not hitting your plastics and metals for a reason. They are shy about something in the presentation. Perhaps the lures don't track well at the high speed that was needed to induce a strike, or the fish are simply too pressured to make that mistake again. Toss in a live shrimp and you'll see a completely different response.

I'm not trying to be arrogant...but I didn't get to 768 species of fish from around the world just doing it "my way". There has been a lot I've learned from locals. For example, if you go to Hawaii and fish your way, you will catch very little. The gin clear water and often pressured locations dictate that you need at least 6-8 feet of 8lb or lighter fluorocarbon leader from your sliding sinker to the hook...even though you're fishing over a coral reef and the possibility of a cut line is real. But if you don't go light and stealth, you won't get bites. So what's the point of doing it "my way" if you can't get bites in the first place? You can't lose fish without first getting them to bite and getting them hooked.

For other reef fish, we need to use size #26 to #20 hook, as light as 2lb fluoro and with small pieces of bread to get the best results...from Butterflyfish to even big Sea Chubs and Parrotfishes (these we went to #8 octopus hook with 10lb fluoro...got bit but still got cut off by the reefs). Their eyesight is just that much better, and they are mostly vegetarian. But a big parrotfish can out pull any jacks pound for pound. And to see a Parrotfish come up to the surface, circle your bait, slurp it up then immediate dives for cover is as aggressive as it gets.

I was in Cambodia last November trying to catch a Striped Snakehead. I was trying to do it "my way" by fishing a little plastic frog sight fishing to a Striped Snakehead. It completely ignored my presentation how ever good the plastic frog looked. My tour driver, remembering that I had caught a couple of little live frogs an hour ago, said "put the live frog on, guaranteed bites". I put a live frog on the hook, hooked by the rear end...and on the first cast to the Striped Snakehead, it darted out from under the lily pad and completely engulfed the frog. Locals know what they are talking about. They have so much more experience than you and I.

So to doing it "my way" is missing out a lot of other opportunities that is just as fun...and often times even more productive.

if you hire a guide and decide to do it "my way"...you will quickly become the least favourite clients

BTW...just to be clear...follows are not aggressive. There are no aggressive follow. An aggressive mood would most certainly result in a bite. A follow only indicates an interest or a curiosity. But not getting strikes means the fish are either neutral or cautious. Fish follow lures or look at them more often than you think. If you are fishing in deep water where you can't see the fish behaviour, and you are not getting bites, it doesn't necessarily mean they are not looking at your lure. If you can't see them follow and don't get bites, you would most certainly say that the fish are not aggressive that day...if not even in a negative mood. Gin clear water and shallow situation offers us much more observations...but we should over interpret when for what it is.

I was just in Mexico and one day I was throwing a lure to a school of Green Jack that were feed on bait on the surface. I kept chucking a little spoon into the middle of the action and didn't get any bites. On one retrieve, I saw a couple of them follow my spoon toward the boat. Were they aggressive? No. They ones that were busting on the bait and ignoring my spoon are aggressive. The ones that followed are merely curious. If they are truly aggressive, they would most certainly hit it...because that school of Green Jack were busting bait for a solid 2 hours while we fish next to them...and they ignored everything that we cast their way. They were selective and were aggressive only toward whatever they were busting.

Also a bit more of advice...to do well, you need to know what you can expect to catch...and how to catch them. If you know there are barracuda, or you are targeting barracuda, fishing a lure without a wire is just kinda silly. They will cut through mono no problem...and can even cut through 30lb stainless steel wire if you happen to hook into a bigger model. As for the Houndfish, I've fished for them many times. Sure, they will follow lures all the time. But they rarely strike a lure. With plastic or wooden lures, their toothy and bony mouths simply sildes off the lure during the hookset and deflect the hooks away so a good hookset is rare (just like fishing for Longnose Gar in Ontario with lures). But...if you freeline a chunk of squid of shrimp into the current, you'll see them smell the bait and immediately dart over to get it. You may even see a few of them compete for it. The Houndfish may carry that bait in its mouth for a while as it swims away. Set the hook now and you'll surely miss it. You have to open the bail, give it time to work the bait back into its mouth, before you set the hook. Even then, with their bony mouths, a 100% hook up ratio is rare.

[OldTimer]

...........all you can eat, all you can drink, all you can party ........... and fishing too. Great stuff.

Looks like a blast.

Bait's great........ but some heavy spoons, and some white or yellow marabou (or buck-tail) jigs are fun too - and recommended to try- in the southern salt.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,

OldTimer

[wknd outdoorsman]

One of the hardest things to do on he internet is to “hear” tone. And my “presumptuous” statement was meant to be cheeky or facetious, and I apologize if you took any offence to it. Judging by your response I do feel like I touched a nerve, so again I apologize.
As for the comments of doing things “my way” and disregarding locals intel in my vacay and that I was being presumptuous, you are 100% correct. I wanted to try to catch fish on my own terms. As I said before, I agree that I most likely would had more action using bait. but I personally would not have felt as accomplished if I hadn’t “tricked” or ilicited a reaction strike with my lures. Is that counter intuitive? Maybe. Was I making it harder for myself? Probably! Am I wrong to think or feel way? I don’t think so. One of the things I love about fishing is trying new things, learning on the fly through trial and error and learning through my own successes and failures. I can tell you, this year I’ve fished more than I have then the last probably 2 or 3 years combined and there were more failures than I cared to admit. But that is why I kept fishing. I took what I learned and built on it. It’s like a puzzle. I could complete a puzzle easier, faster And complete more of them in a specific time period if was given instructions to follow. But to me it would be more satisfying if I was to complete a puzzle on my own without the instructions. To each their own I guess, right?
You mention a couple of time that you don’t want to sound arrogant. Just a heads up, when you follow that up by referencing your species count or when you try to correct someone,“just to be clear... follows are not aggressive”, you do sound arrogant. Granted, you have every right to be arrogant. I mean 768 species from around the world is quite a feat! (Not being sarcastic, that’s pretty fucking awesome).
I’m not here to disagree with you or anyone in he forum. I’m just here because I want to share my experiences, in my own words and how I saw it. I don’t have very many fishing buddies, so I like to share some of my successes and findings with other anglers who are just as passionate as I am about the sport. I make my post informative and funny and deliver it in an exciting manor.
MB, maybe one day my species count can topple 700 and I can be as arrogant as you (cheeky). But in all seriousness MB, I admire your dedication to your craft and frankly Im jealous of the trips you have taken and the waters you have fished! There is much that I can learn from you, and I will continue to do so as long as you keep posting I can lurk in this forum.