BONEFISH BONANZA

MANY ANGLERS SPEND ELEVEN and a half months saving their cash for that big fishing trip, either in the UK or a Scandinavian adventure chasing huge coalfish and cod. My guilty fishing pleasure started 17 years ago at a fairly tender age of 23 when I headed to the West Indies.

I’d heard Tobago had some pretty tasty fishing, which was one of the many reasons for venturing to this tropical haven. That initial trip was more of a romantic reconnaissance mission.

My girlfriend at the time seemed convinced that it was just a fishing holiday for me rather than a romantic break together. It was difficult to argue when I was standing agog staring at gargantuan tarpon porpoising only a few feet from the edge of the beach.

This initial venture into distant locations led to five more Tobago trips between 1998 and 2006. Much had happened since 2006. I wondered if Tobago would still be as I remembered. My fishing buddies were also curious. Garry, a former bank manager turned leisure-driven entomologist and twitcher, had been to Tobago with me on a couple of previous trips. Stuart, my coarse fishing buddy, had only overheard the many stories of the big fish landed and the huge ones that evaded capture, snapped rods or lined reels. “Let’s just book it,” he said. Ten minutes later three