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Henry Mountain reports on his visit to Santa Maria, Cuba

Together with a handful of enthusiastic Fly Fisher Travel fishing clients we set off to get a taste of the new specialist tarpon fishing area of Santa Maria on Cuba’s north coast. Run by the same operator who first opened Cayo Largo nearly a decade ago, we knew that we would be suitably well-looked after and were looking forward to tussling with some of the monster tarpon that we had heard about.

A short night in Havana sets the scene for what is undoubtedly a colourful Cuban experience. The people are smiling and friendly and if you travel with an open mind and a relaxed attitude, accepting of the fact that things are not like they are in most of the rest of the world, then you will be sure to have a good time. Specifically one has to accept that vouchers have to be handed over for everything and the pace and manner in which things are done is just... well, different. I don’t wish to sound unenthusiastic about Cuba, in fact the general feeling was that we should have gone a day earlier to soak up the sights and sounds of Havana.

Travel out to Santa Maria is via a short flight from the internal airport and then a short transfer to the Melia Las Dunas hotel. This is a large all-inclusive hotel which serves as the base from which you go fishing. After an afternoon’s rest and relaxation, enjoying one of the hotel’s four swimming pools and the occasional free mojito, we were all set for the off.

Santa Maria itself is effectively an island and the area you fish, which forms part of the Jardines del Rey archipelago, is a series of cays, lagoons and mangrove channels. There are two main areas that you fish. There is an area known as the ‘main channel’ which is effectively open water with a depth of a few metres, but within that there are a series of deeper channels and it is through here which all tarpon seem to pass on their way to the flats. It is also the area that tarpon just cruise and feed during periods of low tide. The second place to fish for tarpon are the flats themselves and here there are just acres of perfect flats to pole in the search of silver.

The week proved to be a very windy one and without going into all the technicalities of why it makes tarpon fishing tough in this area, suffice to say that it was not the easiest of weeks for the guides and required some keeping of the faith on the part of the fishermen. Having said that, fish were caught and some really decent ones too. My personal first tarpon was a mere 40lbs and that was one of the smallest landed. Others more skilled and fortunate landed their first fish of 60lbs and during the course of the week managed specimens pushing the 100lbs mark.

We certainly all experienced the raw power of hooking tarpon only to see them jump once and throw the hook back at us. Their mouths are like iron and while the take may seem tentative and delicate, an aggressive strip strike is required to drive the hook home and give you a half chance of doing battle. We experienced broken leaders and braided loops, lengthly battles with fish coming adrift after an hour and one hooked fish which half a dozen people saw at close quarters and estimated at over 100lbs jumped as only tarpon do shaking its gills only to land on the bow of a moored skiff breaking 80lb shock tippet and swimming to freedom.

The week came to an end all too quickly and the return to Havana coincided with the travel chaos resulting from the Icelandic volcano. Two of us found ourselves stranded in Cuba for a whole week (please no postcards of sympathy) and were forced to return to Santa Maria for a few more days.

While not perfect, the weather was more suitable and we glimpsed why just a few people in the know rave about the tarpon here. On one morning while out on the ‘main channel’ we saw literally hundreds of tarpon rolling. One moment you would see them breaking the surface a few hundred metres away and then a few minutes later they would appear close to the boat and action was almost a certainty. Despite fishing a sinking line I had a 60lbs tarpon roll on the fly inches from the surface and just a couple of feet from the boat! There was huge excitement among guides and fishermen with large numbers of fish rolling over a period of several hours. At one point each of the three skiffs were hooked up and on one boat we had a double hook up. It was blissful mayhem and as suddenly as the action started, the wind picked up and it was all over. That is tarpon fishing.

The highlight for one rod came on the last day when fishing the flats. I should make it clear that fishing the flats involves the guide poling the skiff over flats which are just two or three feet deep and a combination of sand and turtle grass. Perched on the bow and with line off the reel and ready to go, you scan the flats on the off chance that you may spot something before the guide. If you do see something, it is then no mean feat to deliver an accurate cast from a moving boat in a wind with a 12-weight fly rod. On this occasion there was no missing two enormous tarpon cruising in just a couple of feet of water a hundred metres away. They swam in the direction of the boat and with one accurate cast and a slow strip, the fish of a lifetime was on. You can witness the rest yourself by clicking here. Cuba video. Please be patient as it takes a while to load.

The cost of a weeks’ fishing is between 2,900 to 3,700 Euros per rod.

Fly Fisher Travel will be hosting a week in 2011 so call 020 3301 3300 for more information.