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As the Caribbean sea is much more “fertile” than it’s very close Atlantic neighbor, the Marina Casa de Campo (and it’s surrounding waters) make an ideal location for deep sea fishing expeditions and every year especially during March, April and May, a contingent of passionate deep sea fisherman descend upon the Marina Casa de Campo in search of Blue Marlin. Captain Ed Thompson, a traveling sportfish captain is one such fisherman – here we bring you an interview with Captain Ed on his experience fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo.
Fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo – the basics
Before we start the interview, here are a few useful/interesting basic facts about deep sea fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo:
Fishing Spots or FADS (fish attracting devices): Local Dominican fishermen have set up a series of “fishing spots” about 24 to 40 miles off the coast which simulate a marine habitat. They do this by tying several palm tree leaves and brushes to a set of buoys – when the trees decompose they attract plankton, which in turn attracts the fish that feed on plankton. This stimulates and creates an entire mini-ecosystem – all the way up the food chain!
Fish: The fish most commonly caught off of the coast of the Marina Casa de Campo are:
• Blue Marlin – the blue marlin season is between March and Mid-July, with activity peaking between March and April.
• Mahi-Mahi
• Guatapana (Wahoo)
• Yellowfin Tuna
• Sailfish“Releases”: Often when you hear people (fishermen) talking about fishing they boast xxxxx number of “releases” in a day – which is the number of fish (usually Blue Marlin) they have caught and have released.
Now let’s get to known the fishing experience at the Marina Casa de Campo, from a more personal point of view – from the mouth of Captain Ed Thompson, whom we met having a drink and bite to eat at Onno’s Bar in Altos de Chavón.
When he’s not out chasing Blue Marlin, Captain Ed writes up his adventures on his own blog: reportsfromtherip.blogspot.com – which is rather amusing! So if you enjoy this interview, you can read more from Captain Ed there!
@cdcliving: Tell us a little bit about yourself. When did you passion for fishing start? What do you do?
Captain ED: My Name is Ed Thompson, I have fished all my life. I started working on charter boats right out of high shcool and it just kinda stuck. I have fished all over the Caribbean, Central America, the Bahamas and the Gulf of Mexico. I work as a traveling sportfish captain on the Blue Heaven, a 60 foot Bertram that hails from Tampa Florida. I bring the boat to destinations where the fishing suits us and entertain the owner and guests when they come fishing. We mainly catch and release our targeted speices (Marlin and sailfish). But we catch tuna, wahoo and dolphin (Mahi Mahi – not flipper) as well.
The Blue Heaven in the Marina Casa de Campo
@cdcliving: Is this your first time fishing in Casa de Campo?
Captain ED: This is the first time I have fished here full time. I came here a few years ago to check the place out. The boat I was running at the time just never came. The Blue Heaven has been here before. The owner really enjoys the Casa de Campo resort. I have enjoyed the fishing here as well.
@cdcliving: What kind of fish are you fishing for?
Captain ED: Here in Casa de Campo we are targeting Blue Marlin. The area 24 miles South of here and West of Saona island has a lot of Blue Marlin around it. There are of course some Dorado and Wahoo mixed in – but we mainly try to catch and release Blue Marlin.
A Blue Marlin on board the Blue Heaven (this one died by accident)
@cdcliving: Describe a “good catch”
Captain ED: When fishing for Blue Marlin a good catch would be a one or two a day in most places. But here there have been many days where the numbers have been really good. I would say a good catch for Casa de Campo is 4 for 7 (this means that you got seven blue marlin bites and caught four of them.) But the catches that stand out are when the Betsy caught 9 blues or the Therapy with 8 or better yet when the Chach caught 8 and all were caught by 0ne teen angler.
[The Betsy, Therapy and Chach are all other boats who were fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo at the same time Ed was with us.]
@cdcliving: Describe your average day out fishing from Casa de Campo.
Captain ED: Fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo is pretty straight forward. We fish an area that sits 24 to 30 miles to the South. We are fishing in an
area where the local commercial boat have placed FADS (Fish Attracting Devices). They are buoys that are anchored to the bottom in deep water with palm branches tied to the buoy. This attracts smaller bait fish and then the blue marlin aggregate in that area. The blue marlin here in the spring are smaller on average. Most are around 100 to 125 lbs. But it is not uncommon to catch them up to 250 lbs.
@cdcliving: Tell us about the “full moon bite” at Casa de Campo
Captain ED: The Full moon is always a great time to fish for Blue Marlin. Everything in nature revolves around a spawning pattern that follows the full moon. Everything becomes more active when the moon becomes full. The Blue Marlin that are aggregating in the area become more aggressive and the numbers increase as they compete for food sources.
@cdcliving: Tell us a bit about the Dominican commercial fishermen.
Captain ED: One issue we deal with in fishing here in the Dominican Republic is that we are sportfishermen. Our industry prides itself in releasing our caught fish. This ensures a healthy and sustainable fishery. The commercial fishermen here are targeting the same fish we are. They become very frustrated when they see us release a fish. They see dollars (pesos) swimming away – but we see a fish that we can catch another day. Most of the commercial fishermen are very nice and have worked well along side of us, but there are a few that demand we turn over our Blue Marlin. It is a big debate – they do have a lot of money invested in the FADS that the fish are around, but then again we spend a lot of money that goes into the local economy when we come here. A Blue Marlin that is released and caught again brings a lot more money to the economy than a dead fish does being sold one time at the market. I do see there side as well – there needs to be some kind of dialog between the two different groups.
@cdcliving: How would you describe the Marina Casa de Campo?
Captain Ed: The Marina Casa de Campo is very nice. The docks are very kept and clean. Our experience here has been good.
@cdcliving: What has been your best experience fishing out of the Marina Casa de Campo?
Captain Ed: I would say the the fishing is the best part of being here. I do also have to say that the boat yard IBC has been outstanding. I have had a few boat issues that I needed to have taken care of. The labor rates and the quality was very good.
@cdcliving: When you are not fishing or chilling in the Marina how do you spend you time in Casa de Campo?
Captain Ed: We spend our days waxing or working on project on the boat. We have made a few trips to La Caleta in La Romana to the beach there. It is nice to get out and do the local thing. At nights we either cook on the docks with other crews from boats, or we will go out to dinner – Altos de Chavon is our normal destination. Onno’s seems to be the most consistanly good food and is very reasonable. Each boat crew seems to have their favorite place for pizza, but all the places are good in their own right.
Thanks Captain Ed! We look forward to seeing you back in Casa de Campo soon!
Don’t forget to check out Ed’s blog: reportsfromtherip.blogspot.com – whilst in Casa de Campo he had some pretty interesting adventures in La Romana!