Tropical Salt Water Fishing With All Your Five Senses

Sensing My Way

Leaning back and tilting my head upwards slightly, I felt the warmth of the sun’s invisible infrared rays on my face in contrast to the coolness of the waters swirling around my hand as it dangled over the port gunnels of our wooden launch. My eyes were closed but I could sense nearly everything around me. Gently the hand-hewn launch lurched and rocked as waves passed beneath the weather-beaten worn green painted prow. I tried not to let the roar of the 15 hp outboard distract me from the rhythmic “slap, slap, slap” from passing swells of brine.

Licking the spray from my moistened lips with my eyes still closed, I let the sides of my tongue try to identify the salty elements. It was warmer than my hands said it would be. It tasted good. In this part of Colombia’s Pacific coast there was no industry for miles so I never gave pollution a thought. There, I could just make it out now. Dolphins splashed and chattered just off the port side.

They Just Want to Play

I opened with salt-glazed eyes to try to catch sight of them. It wasn’t difficult to spot them at all as they crested and dove mere meters away. It was no problem for them to exactly match the speed of our boat. They were keeping up with us – or were we keeping up with them? Sleek gray and black they toyed with us passing us first on one side, then the other in a “tag” game of sorts that we were definitely losing.

“What do you think they want?” I asked aloud to Pepe, my locally-based fishing guide.

“They just want to play for a bit”, he answered in the Spanish of the region, glancing over at the still racing black and gray shapes now streaming off to port.

“Will they affect the fishing?”

“No, actually they’ll help.” This broke me from my trance. I sat bolt upright.

“What do you mean, they’ll help?”

“When they dive, I’ll power down and we’ll set up our first trolling run or drift.”

“You mean they’ll let us know where the fish are?” I asked incredulously.

“Yep. They sure will.”

And true to Pepe’s words, they did.

Five Senses Needed

With the coconut-palm-tree-lined coast just within sight, you needed to use all five of your senses whenever you fished. Each sense provides you with key information. Important information that helps in catching fish – all kinds of fish – under all kinds of conditions.

Our four finny friends dove. We cut power to troll, swinging in a lazy “U” to mark the area where they went down.

“We’re here”, Pepe announced.

Why oh Why Didn’t I Wear Gloves?

We readied our gear and dropped lines, one line rigged with a white-feathered, lead-headed jig. My 40 pound test mono was rigged with my latest “secret weapon”, a home-made stainless steel, polished silver spoon and number 4 stainless single-barbed hook (pictured in photo). It hadn’t taken long for things to heat up. On a day off the coast of Colombia’s “La Ensenada” National Park, it almost never does.

I winced as the blue mono tightened around my naked palm. Something strong, wet and angry had grabbed ahold of my spoon. Now I was paying the price. Crimson dripped into the deep blue depths with each lunge. It’s illegal to fish with a rod and reel, long line, trotline or net in the park entrance waters, you see.

“Fish on!” I croaked still wincing, but Pepe was already ahead of me. He’d seen the strike as my whole arm jerked aft. It had to be a good-sized Tuna or Albacore, maybe a sizeable Sierra could strike and battle like that but my money was on an Albacore. These bullet-shaped fish have two speeds: over-the-speed-limit-fast and full-throttle-overdrive. These speedsters can topple an unsuspecting fisherman overboard in a flash. They hit your line like a runaway freight train. The sudden stress often just snaps the line. If your rod isn’t ready or heavy enough, they’ll snap that off too. On occasion small sharks would hit too, especially early morning, late afternoon and on darker, low-barometer days.

Dorado, Aguja, Tuna, Albacore, Sierra or Shark?

“What do you think, Dorado, Albacore or Aguja?” asked Pepe who was keenly watching the pattern of the fight.

That often told you what was on the other end of your line well before the fish ever came into view. If indeed it ever did come into view. Flexing my biceps against an unwilling guest, I thought about his words. A Dorado would take awhile to land if I didn’t want to risk a snapped line. These gold, blue and green, round-headed beauties were strong and could easily be heavier than my line strength. A steel-pipe-shaped Aguja (Needle Fish), would easily snip right through mono of up to 100-pound test if its rows razor-blades called teeth ever reached beyond the 18-inch stainless steel leader. Even the wire leader would shear if I took too long in landing “ole toothy”. Only sharks and Piranha have more fearsome jaws than an Aguja. The “swooshing” sound of the line through the soft swells told me that we were in deeper waters now. The change in color from greenish to deep blue only served to confirm this. Deeper water was darker as the sun’s rays didn’t reflect off the bottom. Minutes later, the nearly 15-pound Albacore was gaffed and swung aboard.

Your ears can tell you of splashing baitfish and the predators that are after them. Listen too for the sounds of other boats, waves crashing against hidden rocks and reefs far out from shore. Your eyes give you constant information on depth and bottom cover. The smell of the open ocean differs from near-shore grounds with their hints of rain forest vegetation and palm groves lining the sandy salt-water caressed shores. You can feel the movement of your quarry beneath the waves as it swirls, dives, circles, twists, thrashes and rises in efforts to free itself from an unknown enemy. Taste the salt spray, the cool freshwater rain and the refreshing chill of the well-deserved “cold one” you’ll have after a serious fight – no matter which of you wins it.

Try fishing using all five of your senses. You’ll be surprised at just how much the enjoyment of all your fishing experiences will improve.