Puerto Plata (unguided)Fish Pics

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Was down for my sisters wedding, didnt have quite as much free time as a normal trip,lined up a deep sea charter for the second last day, and they canceled on me...luckily i brought my fly rod and did some exploring, and was rewarded. Caught lots of little Croakers off the reefs in the ocean. No Barracudas cruising, but hooked 2 large Aligator Gars, even when Switching to 15lb Floro (forgot my steel braid leader....)it was no match for their teeth... the one put on a good show before chomping through my line, he was about 3 feet long! Went into the Mangroves and found some Awesome Tarpon! I have a new respect for these fish! unreal power and very acrobatic! had a couple on in the 8-10lb range, but i couldnt handle them with my 4 piece 6wt...lol. got lots of decent sized ones still! gave the locals a good show every time i hooked one and they heard a splash they would come running. I gave one away as a guy relly wanted it...he said he would feed his whole family on it...lol, i released the rest. Beautiful fish! Great Trip http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata022_zps18d8ce90.jpg http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata016_zps977018d9.jpg http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata017_zps1e1654d8.jpg no tail! lol http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata003_zps62ff2643.jpg http://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata001_zps991f60e5.jpg

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victory Breakfast after slaying tarponhttp://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata018_zpsa4862574.jpg

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No tailhttp://i1062.photobucket.com/albums/t485/shortsvm/PuertoPlata017_zps1e1654d8.jpg

[Bhflyfisher]

That's too cool man. Finding tarpon like that can be a blast. The 6wt mustve really been put to the test!

[Okotokian]

What were you using for flies? And did you use the same size you would here or buy something special for down there?

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That's too cool man. Finding tarpon like that can be a blast. The 6wt mustve really been put to the test!

Ya thought it was gonna break a few times! could only roll caat it was so tight. the big ones would just drag me into the mongroves or cut me off on their gill plates when they jumped! Lol

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What were you using for flies? And did you use the same size you would here or buy something special for down there?

Shrimp imitations(lester the lobster), egg sucking leeches, and grey ghosts, they were so aggresive they would pretty much hit anything!

[Bhflyfisher]

Ya thought it was gonna break a few times! could only roll caat it was so tight. the big ones would just drag me into the mongroves or cut me off on their gill plates when they jumped! Lol

They're fun fish, seen a couple cruising some docks in the everglades. Sounds like a 7 or 8 weight is needed with a shock tippet! Congrats though, im sure it was a blast!

[Teamprotz]

Didn't know there were alligator gar in the Dominican Republic . We got married there and my parents have been there a couple of other times , zero for 4 charter trips. You did well !

[Okotokian]

Re-inspired to get myself that 8 weight rod I've been thinking about before my next southern vacation. Looks like my little 5 weight would be easily snapped.

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[QUOTE=Okotokian;1708764]Re-inspired to get myself that 8 weight rod I've been thinking about before my next southern vacation. Looks like my little 5 weight would be easily snapped.[/i

If you want to fit it in your suitcase, you have to stick with a 9' 4 piece, i have a 10' 8wt 4 piece and its too big for my large suitcase, you could always take it as carry on though, something to think about! I will be getting a telescopic spinning rod to bring with me as well, when i was in jamaica a couple years ago there was cudas everywhere, but wouldnt hit my flies, even my large salt waters, they would only swoop them... they said you need bait to get them.

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Didn't know there were alligator gar in the Dominican Republic . We got married there and my parents have been there a couple of other times , zero for 4 charter trips. You did well !

Lots of alligator gar, you can sight fish them off the reefs, very visible with polarized on. where did you fish out of, and with who? Im trying to stick with the charters that seem to have good success rates! The guys i was supposed to go with sounded good but apperently unreliable... I went with "gone fishing" im punt cana this spring and did ok!

[NSR Monger]

sweeeet, looks awesome........hope to do some fishing in mexico this winter......rooster fish here i come!

[pechetr]

I was in Belize a few months ago doing the same thing except with my spinning rod. I was hoping to get a Tarpon, but had no luck. The Bonefish however are another story. Phenomenal fighters for such a small fish. I did have a Barracuda take a bonefish from my line in two bites.

It truly is amazing to fish the Carribean. Great fish btw!

[tight line]

I was in Belize a few months ago doing the same thing except with my spinning rod. I was hoping to get a Tarpon, but had no luck. The Bonefish however are another story. Phenomenal fighters for such a small fish. I did have a Barracuda take a bonefish from my line in two bites.

It truly is amazing to fish the Carribean. Great fish btw!

Thanks. Ya, i remember seeing your pics! The bonefish bit in half! Lol, thinking of checking out Belize or Costa Rica this spring. Sounds nice, and good fishing!

[OneGirlWolfPack]

That would be an amazing trip! Nice catches! :)

[Teamprotz]

Booked through the resort , no name , not impressive at all. One trip was out towards Haiti , the other right out of Puerto Plata. Notta on either , only things with fins were dolphins ! Dad went out of Punta Cana and also zip. We didn't do any research prior to going , it was a last minute decision. Prices were only about $100/person for the boat ride.

[bisonhunter]

hooked 2 large Aligator Gars

I am not trying to start a fight here, just curious if the gar you hooked were these:
http://www.google.ca/search?q=alligator+gar&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=QiC&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=s-asUPzhA-jMigKC6YGgAg&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1278&bih=739

Or these:

http://www.google.ca/search?q=alligator+gar&hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=QiC&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&channel=np&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=s-asUPzhA-jMigKC6YGgAg&ved=0CCsQsAQ&biw=1278&bih=739#hl=en&client=firefox-a&hs=UkC&rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial&channel=np&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=needlefish&oq=needlefish&gs_l=img.3..0l4j0i24l6.30983.33523.0.34737.10.8.0. 2.2.0.221.1360.0j7j1.8.0...0.0...1c.1.BaMZVWFphZY&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=1dbde8b9ff85667f&bpcl=38897761&biw=1278&bih=739

I caught a 5 footer of the second variety while shore casting in Panama last year. Cool looking fish, but not really built to put up a good fight.

Glad you had fun. I'd love to catch a tarpon someday.

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Definately needlefish, should have know that as i have seen them before. Appreciate that you cleared that up! Ya they are kinda wierd the one i hooked did a couple jumps then just thrashed around before bitting me off...

[Whiskey Wish]

This is more for info than anything else. We did some fishing in Puerta Vallarta a couple of years ago. Nothing scheduled or planned we just bumped into a guy on the beach and negotiated our way down to $75 a piece for a half day. He only took us off shore about 1/2 mile or so and he had an ordinary smallish boat with a canvas roof. He supplied everything including a couple of beer.

I wasn't expecting much and at first we were catching some smaller bait fish, about 1 or 2 pounds, which he kept and put in a bait well. Then we started getting into 15 to 20 pound yellowfin tuna. That was a BLAST fishing those things. We each caught a few and ended up keeping three total, one for ourselves which the resort happily cooked for us, one for the boat captain and one for the guy on shore which he promptly sold for 100 pesos to some locals. Excellent eating and fun fishing and would do that again in a heart beat.

The boat captain actually kept us out until about 1330 because he said us catching fish and having great fun was good advertsing for his seller on shore...lol.
Regards,
Dave.