Captivating Cuba

Hi everyone,

Have you ever tried big game fishing?

I'm not much of a fisherman, but my friend is getting excited because the 59th Annual Hemingway Fishing Tournament is coming up soon.

With the Caribbean sea on its doorstep, Cuba is a hot spot for deep sea fishing, and there's no shortage of holidaymakers and amateur fishermen coming to see what they can catch.

Image from creative commons, Flickr, by matthamm

There's been a Hemingway competition in Cuba since the 1950s, and it has attracted fishing teams from all over the world. This year, on the first day of June, the waters around Cuba will host teams from thirteen countries including Spain, the Czech Republic, Russia, Canada, France, the United States, England, and of course, Cuba. This makes it the biggest competition ever.

As well as the team trophy, there's a prize for the first catch of the tournament, and one for the hooking the biggest Dorado. Also called 'Mahi-mahi' or 'Dolphin-fish', Dorado are colourful fish, but most have some yellow colouring. Because they are fast-growing fish, they come out of the water in all sizes.

Image from creative commons, Flickr, by flawka

The event runs for the first nine days of June, at the end of the season when there are the most sail fish in the Cuban waters. And sailfish includes the marvellous marlin. Marlin are fast and powerful, making them hard to reel in. This makes for exciting sport!

They can be about 2 metres long and have a pointy snout which makes them easy to confuse with swordfish. Because marlin feed on squid, the fishermen will be dragging ugly squid-like lures behind their boats.

Image from creative commons, Flickr, by surdna

The Hemingway competition operates a 'tag and release' policy - each fish is marked to show they have been caught and then set free - so you won't find a competition fish on the menu of the restaurants Peter described last month.

These amazing fish are returned to a stretch of water that Hemingway called the "great blue river", giving holiday makers in Cuba another chance at reeling them in.

Happy fishing!

Jasna

posted at: 11:40 | path: /jasna | permanent link to this entry | 2 comments