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Avalon Fishing Center, the company that controls most of the inshore fly fishing in Cuba, has racked up another rave review from a non-US angler. The latest positive report is from subscriber Mikko Hautanen in Finland, who fished Jardines de la Reina this past April, jumping about 60 tarpon and landing 16, not including the many baby tarpon he wrestled with. He says the average fish weighed about 40 pounds, and the largest was a 120-pound-class fish that has the distinction of being the largest ever taken in Jardines. Additionally, Hautanen says he caught a huge number of bonefish up to eight pounds, and had 19 different shots at permit.
Hautanen says simply Jardines is the best place he has ever fished. He warmly recommends the trip to fellow subscribers.
The positive report adds to our bulging file of positive reports from non-US subscribers. So far, however, the feedback from US subscribers has been mixed at best. If you are a US subscriber and you have fished Cuba with Avalons Fly Fishing Center, do file a report anonymously. You can do so on our web site, www.angling report.com. Click on File A Trip Report and leave your contact details off the bottom of the report. Through August 31, we have made name, address, telephone and e-mail address optional on the input form.
With new political winds blowing in Washington, it is not out of the question that travel to Cuba by US citizens will become legal soon. That prospect ratchets up the importance of our getting more feedback from Americans on this fishery. Are the less-than-positive reports we have published recently a fair indicator of the way a larger cross section of Americans will view this fishery? Or are they anomalous?
My raising this question should not be interpreted as encouraging anyone to spend money in Cuba on a fishing trip. Doing so is illegal. You can read the relevant regulations at: http://treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/cuba/cuba.pdf. What I want to do is hear from anglers who made an independent decision in the past to go to Cuba on a fishing trip.