Cayo Paredon Cuba's probably best Grand Slam destination
Cayo Paredon Grande is located about 90 km west of Cayo Santa Maria in Villa Clara province on the west side of Jardines del Rey. The area has been protected from commercial fishing for many years. It is probably one of the the most beautiful fly fishing areas in the Caribbean and the low fishing pressure makes it easier to get the fish to take the fly.
Paredon offers fantastic and varied fishing for bonefish, permit and tarpon with peak season from March to October. Fishing on Cayo Paredon Grande is just a dream. Bonefish are many and big. Fish up tor 7 or 8 lbs are around and healthy populations of permits are living on the same flats just further away in a little deeper water. As every permit angler will tell you, the permit is despite the numbers of fish there the most difficult fish to catch of the Big Three. So you always need a bit of luck, too.
Tarpon inhabit the area the whole year long but the best time for catching a giant is from June to August when the big ones migrate to their spawning sites. They can be seen on white flats or deep blue channels very near to the bonefish and permit feeding places. The flats have a solid bottom and are easy to wade. So a Grand Slam is possible to achieve if you know a bit on how to approach them and follow the advice of your guide.
Cayo Santa Maria, perhaps the most interesting destination for giant tarpon in the Carribbean´compared to the amounts of boats which are allowed to fish the waters (only four boats) has got quite well known during the last decade due to the promotion of Solid Adventures, Casa Batida and Planet Fly Fishing. Cayo Guillermo, Cayo Coco and Grande Paredon on Cayo Romano were made popular a little later.
The big three - tarpon, permit and bonefish - can be caught the whole year round which makes it possible to catch what is called a Grand Slam (all three species caught in only one day). Besides that you can get barracudas, groupers, jacks, trigger fish and the Cubera Snapper, one of the hardest fighters compared to its size at all. The different species that are to be found on the flats make the fishing very exciting as there is always some fish around that can be caught. Some of these creatures look really funny. Despite of their weird outlook they are very strong fighters.
When I visited Cayo Paredon in for the first time in April 2012 I was absolutely fascinated what the versatility at site are concerned. The huge flats offer great possibilities for the flat angler. You can fish for bones, permit and tarpon by wading the flats and mangroves and if you like you can go and cast from the skiff into a blue hole for big tarpon. However also giants can be caught on the flats. If you stay on Cayo Coco and hire a car you can explore all three cayos (Guillermo, Coco and Romano) with your family. It's a great destination for an extended trip as the beaches belong for sure to the best in the world.
Yeah, and then there is the deep spot near the lighthouse where you can run into a real monster tarpon. I lost a huge fish there because my fly line cut through the glove and burnt into my fingers. I will never forget that. It was like hooking a submarine. You will never know what will take your fly there. There are even tiger sharks...
If you are interested in big tarpon, go there between April and July when the large migrating tarpon are around. Hooking a giant on the flats makes your adrenalin level rise like hell.
