Silver King – Insider Tip for Trinidad

September 2019

This year Matthew Milne has been working as a mate on one of our Cape Verde boats during the marlin season. He was born in Trinidad and is currently setting up his own charter business there. His accounts of the fishing made me curious and infected me with tarpon fever. Good numbers and heavyweights, he said, were far from being the exception. After some sleepless nights and finding there were some decent flight connections from Frankfurt to Tobago and on to Trinidad, I had made up my mind – this was a place I just had to visit. Previously I had only caught a small tarpon in Tobago on the fly by pure luck so I was naturally keen to find out what Trinidad had in store for me. Matthew was delighted to have me as his first official charter guest. The weather for first couple of days looked very promising so there was nothing to stop the Silver King adventure.

Day 1

The fishing started first thing next morning after breakfast. The first hotspot for big game fish is a mere 10 minutes away from the marina. Two bait fish were quickly rigged and within five minutes the first huge tarpon was hooked. After a hard fight we had it on board and our celebration shouts must have been audible in Tobago. We then took some good photographs of my first specimen tarpon as a reminder forever. Since large tarpon are known to be very sensitive creatures, this was done with a minimum of delay. A couple of shots and back it went, submerging with a mighty whack of its tail – wow, what a start.

We then moved to another hotspot and began fishing some 15 minutes away from the first location. We rigged up another two bait fish and believe it or not the next monster shot out of the water behind the boat within a short time. After forty minutes and with my arms duly stretched the tarpon was brought to the leader. It was just as big as the first one, I just couldn’t believe it. This time all the photographs were properly taken of the fish still in the water.
 

The lads didn’t want to completely destroy their first customer on his very first day so we spent the next couple of hours targeting small to medium size tarpon. We are talking about weights of between 20 and 80 lbs… We finished the day with a tally of 10/12 Trinidad silver kings. This meant that the entire trip was saved on the first day but I was admittedly pretty smashed, too. To get off to this good start we only used bait fish (sardines and ribbon fish).

Day 2

After a relaxed breakfast we set off again and fished the same spots for big fish as on the previous day – this time with no sign of activity at all. We saw one or two tarpon cruising on the surface bit failed to get a strike. After changing locations several times, somebody threw the switch towards noon and the situation changed dramatically. The fish were suddenly active and we immediately had a triple strike, catching two of them. After that the ribbon fish bait was attacked viciously and after a tough struggle we had a 110 pounder alongside the boat. A 90 pounder followed shortly afterwards, this time on the light tackle rod – great fun indeed. We finished the day on a total of 13/18 fish caught.

Day 3

As the previous morning’s fishing had got off to a slow start (after our lengthy breakfast), Matthew said he would like to fish the first spot at sunrise which we did from 6 to 9 a.m. The reward came within a short space of time. The fish were very active that morning, I even managed to take two on a fly. Unfortunately they both threw the hooks after a couple of jumps.

After that we had a leisurely breakfast and relaxed for a bit. At 1 p.m. we set off again and fished until sunset. Late in the afternoon the alarm bells went off and I actually managed to catch a tarpon on the fly – great jubilation. We finished the day with a tally of 11/16 tarpon taken on bait fish and 1/3 on flies.

Day 4

The same programme as the day before… We started off with an eighty pounder on light tackle, followed by another weighing 120 pounds. The latter was also taken on light tackle but unfortunately it threw the hook a mere two metres under the boat after having put up a tremendous fight – bad luck. The next tarpon weight 50 pounds.

Around mid-day things went very quiet for a while. However, the tarpon were on the feed again from about 4 p.m. onwards. The first gigantic strike was again on a ribbon fish bait. It was simply not possible to stop this fish and it charged off into the reef and said goodbye when the line snapped. After that we a strike from a hundred pounder on light tackle but again it threw the hook after some spectacular jumps. I had a fifty pounder on my fly rod bit I pulled the hook after some 15 minutes. The next fish on the fly rod also got away after jumping wildly. There was plenty of action all around us. We could see fish on the surface everywhere – small ones, medium-sized ones and some real monsters in the 200 pound class. We finished the day with 5/11 tarpon taken on bait fish and 0/2 on flies.

Day 5

Poor weather with strong winds, high waves and rain – fishing cancelled.

Day 6

The storm had abated but the sea was still churned up and very lumpy. Nevertheless this didn’t seem to bother the tarpon and we finished the day with a superb fish of 130 pounds (again on light tackle – plenty of sweat) and a tally of 11/13 silver kings caught including a triple – elation all round.

Day 7

Initially we had intended finishing the trip after the sixth day to enable me to set off for home with time to spare. However, the lads were having none of it and insisted on a three hour outing early in the morning in search of a huge tarpon. Saying no was not an option. At 6 a.m. we got the strike we had been waiting for. We fought the fish for half an hour but pulled the hook when it was only a couple of feet away from the boat. Bad luck, but not when you consider the trip as a whole. By 9 a.m. we already had a score of 8/11 tarpon on our catch list and that was really more than enough. I set off for home with long arms, terrible back-ache and several cuts and bruises.

Summary:

To be honest I didn’t realize that Trinidad was such an absolute hot-spot for tarpon fishing. There are plenty of fish ranging from five to two hundred pounds and catching ten or more fish a day is certainly nothing unusual. Matthew and his crew grew up there and know the area like the back of their hands. These guys are highly motivated, top fit in terms of their handicraft, reliable, no stress and always in a good mood – what more can you ask for? The boat and its tackle are ideal for this kind of fishing and tired arms can be guaranteed every day. The fish are extremely tough fighters as they are normally hooked in deeper water. Anyone who has caught a hundred pound tarpon from deep water will know what I mean.

We fished for 5 ½ days and finished with a total score of 58/71 tarpon taken on bait-fish and 1/5 on flies. Many thanks to Matthew Milne, Louis Devaux and Christian Milne for an unforgettable week’s tarpon fishing in Trinidad. For any of you wishing to try their luck with a Trinidad silver king, here are the contact details:

Matthew Milne

Email: matthewmilne94@gmail.com

Phone: +1(868) 283-7549

 

Tight Lines, Stephan Kreupl, September 2019