Fishing From the Pier & Pipe on Little Corn Island

Good day,

Yesterday evening was sitting as I am now doing very little on the computer, one of those times you’ve exhausted any sense of productivity and have been reduced to watching inane youtube videos. A gent suggested we go fishing and immediately I replied something along of the lines of that being a most brilliant idea. Gathered the rods, made some adjustments as salt destroys everything and we were off. By off, referring to a short three minute walk to the pier…

Before the pier there is a deep blue building and behind it a seawall. The building is the lobster factory and as a result, the stretch of sea that extends past the wall is often inhabited by fish of all sizes. Tried there for sometime and caught nothing but a rock, luckily living so close and in such warm waters getting your snorkel gear to extricate yourself from a predicament is not only possible but prudent and somewhat pleasurable.

Moved to the pier which is often the scene for late night eagle ray sightings as well as large, long fish. Say this as there was some debate last night whether the fish in question was a barracuda, tarpon or as someone suggested a shark!? It did have an incredibly thick tail but who knows. The rod setup was one small rod with light tackle to catch the bait to use for the large fish on a heavier setup. We caught a small fish and threw it on the line, the large fish was not interested.

After sometime Brandon from Little Corn Fly Fishing showed up and suggested we remove the bobber and pull it as these fish like to chase, he was right and in no time this large fish was chasing our small and still alive bait, awesome. That was as close as we got to catching it, afterwards it never showed another suggestion of interest. An hour later however a group of us were relaxing with lines in the water when out of nowhere such fish came and destroyed a small bait fish near the top and then as quickly as it came, vanished.

Lost a line to the deep, the islanders I’ve met never go swimming at night and some tourists do but those who have said it was quite the “experience”, we broke the line and moved on. Later caught a small jack which was a great fight for its size and one of the best eating fish, it was eaten that evening. The spark of fishing had been rekindled and it was time to throw some serious logs on the fire.

Awoke before the power shut off at 5am and hit the docks with two rods and a handful of shrimp as bait. Was on the pier fishing for a good time before catching a small grunt and moving on to the purpose of the early rising, to fish the pipeline. There is this massive pipeline that washed up on shore and it has been converted into monster lobster pods. Not sure how or where they got the idea or if it will work but there is a several hundred foot pipe floating in the bay that extends to near the beginning of the reef. The photo above was from two weeks ago, not it goes straight out to sea.

Arrived at the pipe moments after the lights switched off at 5am and made my way to the end of the pipe. It’s basically a half constructed project that serves as an obstacle course with no safety nets. Finally arrive to the end, setup and caught nothing, not even a bite, nibble or signs of life. Somewhat discouraged begin the not so fun return trip before deciding to try it again. This time catch a half pound grunt which is still nothing but when caught on a kids rod can be quite amusing.

If you’re living on a small island without cars or many luxuries it’s paramount to really use and appreciate what is there, if not why live there? You can sit alone in your room anywhere in the world, you can even connect to the internet and “chat” but everywhere has “something” that some could find interesting and the key is moving there and taking advantage. Whenever someone is fishing, it becomes a social gathering and a night in itself. Also considering the Nicaraguans are decent people, you can drink in public so there is nothing wrong with having a cold pint on the pier, I assure you.

It’s cloudy and rainy today, a nice change.

Tips hat,

P.S: It’s mango season, they are literally falling from trees everywhere.

P.P.S: Notice Corn Island in the background, that’s the big brother of this place.