Roatan Pirates Bend Fishing Trip

By Jerimiah Johnson
Edited by: Lynne Millsaps

While enjoying a fresh cup of fine Honduran coffee, Greg and I equipped the Gypsea Sol (a custom made 34’ sport fishing boat powered by two 250 horse power Yamaha outboards) for a full day of deep sea fishing with an arsenal of G-Loomis rods armed with Penn International 975 cs and 16 VSX reels backed with 900-500 yards of either 80 or 50lb test of Power Pro’s finest braided lines. Satisfied we had everything needed for the day’s excursion; we pushed off the dock and headed out to pick up Cassidy Hyde, our Honduran local fishing guide, Harry Canterbury, owner/publisher of Adventure Sports Outdoors and his friend/photographer Bruce Logston. After a warm welcome, the five of us set off for a day to remember. The trip started off beautifully with the seas being as calm as a mid-town lake on a calm summer morning. We ran the boat up the south side of Roatan Island at 35mph so we were able to reach or desired fishing grounds at the East end of Roatan in less than an hour and a half. From there the day only got better! Within moments of having our first fishing rods in the water the fish started hitting. We had a double hookup right off the get go - two Yellow Fin Tuna. After landing the fish we quickly put the rods back in the water, and hooked two more Yellow Fin - four fish in ten minutes! We continued to catch a few more tuna and then decided we would take advantage of the fresh bait and pursue larger fish like Wahoo, Mahi Mahi, or maybe even a Marlin. We continued to troll the Eastern shore of Roatan in search of a trophy fish with no success. We did manage to hook into some more Yellow Fin, but decided to make the ten-mile crossing to Guanaja Island where the fishing only got better! We dropped the lines back in the waters along the west end of Guanaja, as we fished alongside a Honduran local in a small Cayuco- also known as a Panga. We made a few passes around the point of the island without a strike before the fishing picked back up, but when the fish decided to hit they had a feeding frenzy! Out of nowhere four of the six rods we had in the water started pulling back, we had found another school of tuna only these fish were larger. Two of the four rods landed Yellow Fin weighing in over ten pounds. For the rest of the morning we continued to catch tuna after tuna after tuna. Before we stopped trolling just after noon, we had over twenty tuna on board not to mention the ones we had thrown back!... A day of fishing every angler dreams of. We then stopped in at Graham’s Place, a private island only minutes away from the main island of Guanaja. There Graham himself welcomed us, and his fish pen was full of sea turtles, a school of trophy sized Bone Fish, Rays, Barracuda, and a 150lb Grouper! With the help of Cassidy we arranged the use of a smaller boat capable of boarding the flats for some fly fishing. We immediately spotted not one, but two large Permit! Greg stepped off the boat in hot pursuit of the two trophy flats fish. A perfect cast, behind the fish without a splash, the two Permit were now in pursuit of Greg’s “Crazy Charlie” fly. They both followed the fly nearly to Greg’s feet before pulling away to disappear back into the flat. Although there was no hookup, it was still an opportunity every fly fisherman can appreciate. Unfortunately all good days must come to an end, including this one. We returned back to the Gypsea Sol and headed back to Roatan, taking in some of the amazing scenery the Caribbean has to offer. We arrived back to Infinity Bay on Roatan where we unloaded our days catch and enjoyed a cold drink at the bar while bragging to the neighboring guests about what an outstanding day we had. On behalf of Pirates Bend Caribbean Adventures, Greg and I would like to thank Harry Canterbury for coming down to visit us and enjoying an outstanding day of fishing. We look forward to our next adventure with Adventure Sports Outdoors. To be a part of an adventure like this and other fishing experiences contact Conner at www.PescadoRoatan.com. Read full article with pictures at http://www.roatan.ws/roatan-pirate-fishing.html ###