Salt Water Tropical Fishing in a Pristine Barrel

A Short Wait
Flipping a short cast of mo more than 20 feet or so, my cut bait tipped lead head jig sank smoothly for a few seconds before a fish grabbed it. On light tackle I laughed and “played” with the pan-sized denizen of the not-so-deep for a bit before finally flipping the multi-hued trigger fish over the boat’s gunnels.

“Man that was quick” my local guide quipped.

“Nothing here, huh?” I teased as this time my rod suddenly banged the gunnels, jerked sharply downwards by an obvious friend or relative of the first fish.

“What’s That?”
I was the one who had insisted on a brief stop at this site. We’d been motoring north along the Pacific coast of Colombia’s Choco region. The rustic fishing village of Jurubida, where we were based, lay some 45 minutes behind us when I’d spotted a pristine sight. There it was; a two-meter wide fresh water stream flowing over a five meter high rock face before plummeting into the azure blue sea. Surrounded by emerald-green tropical rain forest, the sparkling “chorro” was situated in a tiny cove just visible from the small boat traffic channel we ran northward in.

“What’s that?” I’d asked, pointing landwards the tiny-looking waterfall.

“Just some little stream of rain water, I think” my guide responded without luster.

“Pull over there and let me take a look.”

“Why?” His response came in a more curios tone as he swung the 16-foot hand-crafted wooden launch to starboard.

A Closer Look
Up close it was even prettier. The brackish pool into which the torrent plunged was a clear dark blue. This was a good sign that it was at least 20 to 25 feet or more in depth.

“This looks like a good spot 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 “try out” the spot for 15 minutes or so. If there was no action, we’d move on and I’d have at least some memories of a beautiful spot along the coastal rain forest.

My Trusty Guide Was Wrong
One after another they came into the boat. All pan-sized, but attractive and unique in their shapes and colorings; Clown fish, Parrot fish, Trigger fish, spots, stripes and brilliant red fish with bright baby-blue eyes.

Even my trusty guide tried his hand at hooking a few, laughing with delight almost the whole time. We shipped anchor and resumed our voyage northward after about an hour or so. But that spot was about the closest I’ve ever come to catching fish in a barrel. And man let me tell you, it sure was a lot of fun.


Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free. Want to know more about salt and fresh water fishing in the tropics? Visit: http://whittlewadeandhook.blogspot.com/ Need professional, original salt or fresh water fishing related content, articles or photos, images and graphics for your fishing / outdoor blog, newsletter, e-zine or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and information mailing list? Contact the author at: lynchlarrym@gmail.com/