JUNGLE TARPON LODGE - The Fishing
Tarpon fishing is the name of the game here. From the Rio San Juan at the border of Nicaragua through the Tortuguero area on the central part of the coast lies the most productive tarpon fishery in the world. Tarpon reside here all year round and behave like the predators they are. While some migrate to flats to mate these fish are here to eat so you will see fish busting bait quite often. The snook are present year round but invade the rivers in October and November for added non-stop action. A few other species like machacha and guapote are often found on the end of your rod as well.
The largest tarpon are in the ocean with the average fish between 50 and 100 pounds. The largest fish landed here was 178 pounds! Imagine that much fish rocketing 6 feet out of the water, shake its head with its mouth and gills wide open and take off to do it again! ( that is if you haven't dropped your rod in bewilderment!) No other fish can really prepare you for that first big tarpon.
We fish the ocean in the comfortable offshore boats and use flat bottom john boats for the river. Ocean fishing is entirely dependent on the water conditions. It must be calm enough to safely get the boats out there. Most people end up using conventional tackle for the large tarpon most of the time. The fly rod can be extremely effective when your guide paddles into a feeding school but 80 % of the fishing will be in deep water. A very heavy shooting head can get down, it just means spending a lot of time letting it sink instead of fishing. Either way the end result will be the silver twisting, leaping machine throwing your fly/lure after the first jump. We also encounter Atlantic sailfish 40-80 pounds, tuna, wahoo, permit and Jacks are caught from the offshore boats as well.
The river fishing is a little more straight forward for the fly rod with fish rolling and feeding in some of the quieter back lagoons but there are still areas of big holding water that can be 20 feet deep with a 3-4 mile an hour current. Now think of that same 60 pound uncontrollable tarpon with an extra 4 miles per hour of current attached! Lisa and I love the peace and quiet back on the rivers and lagoons. You will encounter monkeys, sloths, toucans, crocodiles or something on every excursion. The thick jungle radiates with life. Smaller tarpon from 10-50 pounds are commonly found in the smaller rivers like Rio California while bigger fish can follow bait up some of the bigger rivers like Rio Colorado. Guapote, Machacha and Snook are found year round. In the fall there is a huge run of large snook ranging from 5-30 pounds. We have access to hundreds of miles of rivers from our central location near Parismina and our quick john boats. These smaller john boats can allow your guide to paddle and make a nice stealthy approach to a feeding
fish. Some of the fishing is blind and some is casting to rolling
fish. Very often you can entice these fish to the surface using poppers. You may be casting to what you think is a baby tarpon only to have a 60 pounder engulf your fly and leave you helpless on the end of your 8 weight! In the deep water situations the conventional tackle will be more effective but the patient fly fisher will be rewarded as well.
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