Sports

Tropical saltwater fishing in a pristine barrel

a short wait

Casting a small mo cast over 20 feet or so, my cut bait tipped lead head jig sank gently for a few seconds before a fish grabbed it. On the light tackle, I laughed and “played” with the frying pan-sized denizen of the not-so-deep depths for a while before finally tossing the multi-colored triggerfish over the sides of the boat.

“Man, that was fast,” my local guide joked.

“Nothing here, huh?” I joked when this time my rod suddenly hit the rails, jolted down sharply by an obvious friend or relative of the first fish.

“What’s that?”

I was the one who had insisted on a short stop at this site. We had been driving north along the Pacific coast of the Chocó region of Colombia. The rustic fishing village of Jurubida, where we were based, lay about 45 minutes behind us when I saw a pristine vista. I was there; a two meter wide stream of fresh water flowing over a five meter high rock face before plummeting into the azure sea. Surrounded by emerald green rain forest, the brilliant “spout” was situated in a small cove barely visible from the small channel of boat traffic we ran north through.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing towards the small waterfall.

“Just a little trickle of rainwater, I think” replied my dull guide.

“Stop there and let me take a look.”

“Why?” Her reply came in a more curious tone as she turned the 16-foot handmade wooden speedboat to starboard.

a closer look

Up close it was even more beautiful. The brackish puddle into which the torrent plunged was a light dark blue. This was a good sign that it was at least 20 to 25 feet or more deep.

“This looks like a good place for some panfish,” I translated into the best Spanish I could.

“Here?” My guide was surprised. “I don’t think there’s anything here,” he continued.

I asked to “taste” the place for 15 minutes or so. If there was no action, we would move on and I would have at least some memories of a beautiful place along the coastal rain forest.

My trusted guide was wrong

One after another they entered the boat. All about the size of a frying pan, but attractive and unique in their shapes and colors; Clownfish, Parrotfish, Triggerfish, Spots, Stripes, and Bright Red Fish with Bright Light Blue Eyes.

Even my trusted guide tried to snag a few, laughing with delight most of the time. We drop anchor and resume our journey north after about an hour. But that place was the closest I’ve ever come to fishing in a barrel. And man, let me tell you, it sure was a lot of fun.

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