Ensenada Honda is the largest bay on the south side of Vieques.
Lying about eight miles east of the town of Esperanza, it has
only been accessible to the public for the past four years,
thanks to being inside the old Navy-controlled lands. The name
Ensenada Honda means “Deep Sound” in English, and the bay itself
has a sizable area where the bottom drops to fifty feet. The
jagged shoreline is ringed with mangroves and a narrow strip of
grass flats that would stretch for several miles if laid out in
a straight line. The surrounding hills, rough and dotted with
cacti, rise several hundred feet and block the near-constant
Caribbean breezes. This provides a sheltered body of water that
is not just stunningly beautiful but filled with bonefish,
tarpon, and permit. This is without a doubt my favorite place to
fish on Vieques.
My notes from last year tell me that after forty-five trips to
Ensenada Honda in my flats boat, my anglers caught bonefish on
all but three. That’s a success rate of 93%. The reason for this
fantastic figure is that the bonefish of Ensenada Honda have
absolutely zero angling pressure. The only people regularly
fishing for them on the island are myself and Capt. Franco
Gonzalez. Since bonefish make a lousy meal, the majority of the
commercial fishermen on Vieques could care less. Throw in the
fact that the Navy kept almost everyone out of this bay for the
last fifty years and you have some bonefish that have never
learned to be shy around a boat.
If this all sounds too good to be true, it isn’t. If I’m fishing
this bay on a sunny morning with a competent angler on the bow,
I’m almost certain we’ll hook a bonefish or two. But there is a
big catch to this almost-sure thing. Getting to Ensenada Honda
in a seventeen foot flats boat can be a wild ride on a calm day,
and an absolutely dangerous one on a windy day.
The problem has to do with the geography of Vieques. The only
concrete boat ramp on the island’s south side is in Esperanza,
which, as I mentioned earlier, is an eight mile run to this
particular bay. The waters here drop to over one thousand feet
less than two miles offshore. Throw in our steady southeast
winds and this gives us a long stretch of open water that will
build up some frightening waves.
At least three times in the past two months, when I thought I
had a shot at getting customers to Ensenada Honda, I’ve turned
back after less than a mile. Simply because I was really in
danger of sinking. My Maverick Mirage is one of the most
seaworthy flats boats ever built, and has taken me through some
frightening storms in the Florida Keys. But nothing compares to
the wild water on the south shore of Vieques.
Fortunately, this bay isn’t totally impossible this time of
year. For five days during the last two weeks, I’ve managed to
fight my way into Ensenada Honda with good anglers, and score on
quality fish each time. We’ve landed four bonefish, two tarpon,
and lost one permit on fly, in the last seven days. All in all,
a pretty good record. If we could throw in a few snook and
mutton snapper that we can routinely catch this time of year,
than things could fall into the category of “Outstanding.”
Unfortunately, we’re still in the middle of winter here in
Puerto Rico, and that means sporadic winds and unpredictable
rain storms. It’s not much different than the Florida Keys right
now and all my anglers so far have realized that. For the lucky
few that roll the dice and hit the weather jackpot, I’m thrilled
to watch them head home with trophy photos to prove that Vieques
really is a great flats fishing destination. For those that
don’t, at least they get a day out on the warm Caribbean waters.
No matter what you catch when you come to Vieques, keep in mind
that as of today, February, 4th, it’s currently minus-2 in
Chicago.
Stay warm,
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
