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