Got in late last night and am still getting acclimated to cold and rain. Too tired/lazy to do a full report, but here are a few photos.

We arrived in Bluefields full of hope and optimism.


A three hour panga ride brought us to the area north of Pearl Lagoon, where we were to stay for four nights.



The locals - Moskito Indians - remembered us from last year and helped us unload our gear.



In minutes we arrived at what we jokingly called the Karawalla Hilton





Our rooms were as luxurious as we had remembered.



To say Karawalla is romote would be a major understatement.



But the people are so friendly we felt right at home.



Truth be told to fishing was only fair. But we did manage to jump about 20 tarpon and landed three. We also got a few nice snook.














We got out to the blue water for a few hours. KK hooked and lost two absolute screamers. We never got a look at either of them. We did land one nice barracuda on the fly





In spite or only fair fishing we both had a great time. In part because of the people of Karawalla.

This is a the local fish vendor with his turtle meat for sale.



We give this man and wife one of our fish. They were VERY apprecative.



This family is farming in the jungle. Their nearest neighbor is miles away.



We gave the village kids baloons. They loved them!



All and all, a great trip. But all good things come to an end.

Some good stuff right there...

Looks like another trip of dreams no matter what happened fishing. Great photos Dave!!!

JD

awesome report! Great pics.

Wow!

Great report !
Have an awesome and safe time down there.

Oh, and don't stand too close to this guy....
He has that ex-military/CIA look about him

Cool stuff.Good luck,
SZ

Very very cool report!

Keith

Nice work Dave! Amazing photos, as aways!

Never thought of KK being ex CIA (or witness relocation program) but it's all coming together now.
Cool pics and narative Dave.

Frickin' awesome.

Livin the dream. I love South America. Thanks for sharing.

Locals must remember you guys, I think they locked the sheep up, all I see are cows.

In light of our recent topics this thread is like a breath of fresh air. Thanks for sharing Dave and I hope there is more to come! Still remember KK's great video from last year...hopefully he's doing some editing right now!

Ike

MMMM, Turtle! ....a different texture in EVERY bite! One bite feels like tofu, the next steak, the next jello...

Looks like a blast and I wish I could have made it. maybe next year?

That's a gnarly shot of that 'Cuda. what do you suppose the other fish were... kingfish?

KK is, in fact, planning on aonther video. But it may take him awhile to go thru all his photos and videos.

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

Wow, Dave. When you go to see a place, you do it right. What a cool experience.

Nice tarpon, too, and a huge snook. Great stuff.

Wow! Those pics of the leaping tarpon are world class shots. Love the tight line on the jumper. You can visualize the run and jump sequence. However, I can't make up my mind which shot I like better, the fish or the setting sun in the jungle lagoon. Good post Dave.

Great photography Dave. I just got my Mexico photos onto my computer and see that I never did get one of my buddy's tarpon in the air, just the splash after it re-entered the water. Guess I ride the short bus when it comes to fish photography.

Sg

SG

Dont feel bad. My camera shoots 4 frames per second and I had a lot of what we call lept fish photos.

No doubt y'all are having a grand time making new memories this trip. Hopefully, KK won't do a repeat of the bedridden fetal position this time 'round to detract from same....

DV, do they use spraycans to paint down there?

Wow Dave, thanks for sharing the trip and the photos with us. Looks like a great time.

to bad the only one that could make the trip with was kaykay. i also noticed to the locals have wised up. they hid the goats real well.

seriously though. DV next year i'll put a care package together for the locals. like older/ugly polariod glasses and stuff. how are they doin for toothbrushes?

Glad you guys are safely back. Thanks for a great post, hope to see more.

Awesome shots Dave...........nice big snook, that is a real trophy..... and that shot of the leaping tarpon is incredible!

It's a tired old story, but we lost a lot bigger snook. I managed to hook myself in the heel with a big trebel. KK laid down his flyrod to help me and soon it was yanked down by a a really big snook. He got it to the boat, where we got a good look at it. The guide guessed it at 30 pounds.

We are going back next March. Wanna join us?


P.S. It's not fun having a big treble yanked out of your foot. I told the guide to grab it with the pliers and yank as hard as he could, but he was tentative, so it took two yanks. The second one was NOT fun. KK didn't get to see it as he was busy trying to land the biggest snook I have ever seen.

Nice!
Curious about the 'cuda. Is it edible? Good? Oily? I have no idea.

They are edible, but not my favorite. They tend to be a bit fishy and oily. In addition the larger ones can cause illness from toxin they ingest. Ciguatera

This from Wikipedia
Ciguatera is a foodborne illness caused by eating certain reef fishes whose flesh is contaminated with toxins originally produced by dinoflagellates such as Gambierdiscus toxicus which lives in tropical and subtropical waters. These dinoflagellates adhere to coral, algae and seaweed, where they are eaten by herbivorous fish who in turn are eaten by larger carnivorous fish. In this way the toxins move up the foodchain and bioaccumulate. Gambierdiscus toxicus is the primary dinoflagellate responsible for the production of a number of similar toxins that cause ciguatera.

Like Dave said, they are edible, but it's a strong flavor. If you like mackerel you'll probably like barracuda even better. Of the long lean toothy critters, wahoo is the good table fish. Very delicious.

Sg

The first time I fished for 'cuda off of Santa Barbara, I kept a couple to eat...they were the only two I ever kept, and a friend of mine from England who thinks that mackeral are really yummy ended up eating virtually all of it himself.

Really fishy, really oily...probably would smoke up well, but I wouldn't recommend it for baking or frying.

Fish on...

Todd

'Cuda run and jump like steelhead and take about the same length of time to land.

Sg

They grilled up fine...they just tasted like crap...but those were Pacific Barracuda in California...those Atlantic Barracuda might taste different?

Fish on...

Todd

Cool pics, thanks for sharing

Todd,

Yes, there is a difference between the Pacific and Atlantic barracuda, and the Atlantic barracuda are edible (if not contaminated by poison). They just aren't as good of table fare as many other fish species. It's not surprising that they grill up just fine for Stam. You have to account for his PBR-soaked brain cells and Buckley background for setting his "good food" bar a schoosh lower than regular folks. Around the Caribbean, any of the snapper or wahoo are much better table fare than barracuda. Wahoo are the spring chinook of Caribbean fish. Grouper are supposed to be really good as well, but I've never had a chance to eat any.

Sg

Great photos and report DV and KK, as per usual

And I truly appraeciate the SG Vs. STAM friendly-discourse