Travel Talk

Big Old Barracudas and Boat to Bluefields?!

Greetings,

It’s a fine and sunny Saturday morning here on Little Corn Island off the coast of Nicaragua in the oh so sweet Caribbean Sea. I can say things like that as I’m from the frigid north, you can’t boast about where you’re from but you can definitely give thanks to where you’re at, yes? Speaking of where I’m at we’re in the era of “pulling big barracudas into boats” and going hopefully standby or taking a big old slow boat to Bluefields.

So yeah, been fishing with Captain Randy lately and yesterday we hit pirate gold. Believe it or not the big barracuda above was brought in with a 100lbs test mono hand-line by none other than the Captain himself, indeed. We also lost some big boys aka snapping 50lbs test with even stronger leaders, this is what I’m talking about my friends and fishing on lakes will never be the same. My friend we’ll call “Barracuda Breen” was saying how once you’ve been to the Rocky Mountains, the others in Canada will never be the same…

So I’m here until mid-May but looks like things are speeding up and yours truly is on a mission to Bluefields. You know I’ve written about it being a seedy joint where a rusty blade could find itself inside you. I’m exaggerating but my spidey sense reinforced by local opinion says no good so I’ll be catching up on some work and supposedly eating an “out of this world lobster pizza” this gent spoke of. That said, I do have a friend who does web work there, would be cool to hang if schedules coincide.

In a perfect world I’d catch a flight but even better yet, they’d just fly over the island where I’d be on the telephone tower and cast my triple reinforced 65lbs line to catch a ladder they hang as they fly by.  I’d scream obscenities and gentle praise like I had turrets while turning, twisting and reeling myself in. It takes roughly 15-20 minutes which is nuts for $49.99 a ticket. The reality is that they are sold out so I need to show up today aka Saturday and wait standby for an arrangement on Monday.

Should that not work out, I have little option but to do something I’d most rather not. This deed is taking a passenger overnight ferry from Big Corn to Bluefields. I don’t know what time it leaves but believe it to be “not so convenient o’clock” to say the least. It arrives to its destination on the mainland at 6am and from there it’s off to the races. Supposedly you can get a sleeper but you need to act quick, I may miss the shot while loitering around the airport with a look alternating between anxious and alien.

Lots of shrimp in the area and I met this older Chinese gent in the trade last time. Do I remember where his shop is? I do know that once shrimps hit the islands, the price skyrockets.  Ahh, it’s always weird leaving this place. With no cars and no public clocks it’s easy to feel anxiety at the thought of even having to make a trip to the dock with the purpose of leaving the rock.

Enough of this, lots to do and prepare so I don’t have a last minute brain freeze.

Tight lines,

P.S: Neither of those fish were mine and yes, that is “Barracuda Breen” aka the guy from this post.

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