Punta Cana, Dominican Republic Trip 7/21-7/26 Report!

[JerseyBrian]

At 10:30AM, my step mother, dad, brother and I headed off to the hotel's Ecological Preserve and got to see 7 of their Freshwater Spring Lagoons. They were filled with Tilapia (some upto 6-7 lbs!!) and crawling with freshwater shrimp (definitely their main diet) as well as some small cichlid looking-like fish that made their homes among the porous underwater rocks right beside the shrimp.






The Tilapia sure loved Ritz Crackers hahaha You could hand feed them as they were not scared of people.




At one of the lagoons, there was a nice platform to jump into the water and all of the guys in the family had a good time jumping in Even my pops struggled to make the jump! haha

[JerseyBrian]

Before the last dinner at the resort, we decided to pregame a little bit Annvat, we only went through a 1.75L bottle of Johnny Walker Black that week along with a Liter Bottle of Absolut and some of the local "home grown" Brewed MaMaJuana...I love that stuff!

Which led to some dancing with the Mariachi band at dinner LoL Those guys kicked ass!


Here's a clip of a "Special song" they sang for my step mom, being that it was our last night.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=qiY3MxemkPE

And a pic of the main meal including our 5lb Caribbean Lobster on the grill!!! That was YummY!

[JerseyBrian]

On the last morning of the trip, I took my last early morning trip to the dock in hopes of a few more fish before heading back home



So I went at it again with my tattered and broken Tsunami Holo Shrimp and started bouncing it off the bottom with a slight twitch right next to the rocks and landed this beautiful fish specimen. Don't know what it was, but it sure was pretty. Perfectly camoflouged for a predator lurking near the algae covered rocks for a small baby Jack Crevalle to innocently pass by.




And here is the last Lookdown/Moonfish of the trip. Victory goes to the Tsunami Holo Shrimp!


The lures which were used for inshore fishing that were fish catchers (I threw out some Smack-It Jr. Poppers with no luck )


This last pic is what I felt was the essence of this trip. Here's my brother jumping off the dock with a bottle of Mamajuana at the bottom left corner of the pic standing proudly on one of the dock pillars. The trip was Fun, Relaxing and Free Spirited!

[JerseyBrian]

Here are a few more random pics of the trip.

I saw your boobies! haha Sorry guys, no topless pics..I felt weird enough taking this one after they sun bathed topless all morning.


Here's a few shots of the great scenery and relaxed atomsphere

[JerseyBrian]

A nice "secret" spot Carlos showed me where he lands everything from 20lb Jack Crevalle, Ladyfish, Juvenile Tarpon, to 25lb Snook! It looked VERY fishy and I really wanted to throw a plug in their, but didn't bring my inshore rods with me on the jigging trip to have for later....grrr haha




Some of undeveloped landscape in Cap Cana (Phase 1 )




The center of the Presidential House they are building in the Cap Cana Resort.

The windows on this $18 Million dollar home costed $1 Million alone! I believe Carlos said they were Owens Windows


Bye-Bye Punta Cana! See you again soon!

[shoefish]

Wow what a great trip review. I love the fact that you took your own stuff and had such a great time just fishing the dock- I always feel that going to a new area with a bag full of tricks and tossing around is one of the most rewarding things you can do. That color combination on the crystal minnow has caught me more fish in warmer waters than anything else- I swear it is the only thing I would take if I was limited to one lure.

Thanks again for the report...and please PM me the real pics of the sun bathers

[brad regan 01]

that looked like an awesome trip. those were some really good pictures

[paul708]

Brian.
GREAT trip thanks for the report
hope we can get out up here soon

[JerseyBrian]

Originally Posted by brad regan 01

that looked like an awesome trip. those were some really good pictures

Thanks Brad. I try my best with my Point and Shoot Canon SD870IS camera

Originally Posted by shoefish

Wow what a great trip review. I love the fact that you took your own stuff and had such a great time just fishing the dock- I always feel that going to a new area with a bag full of tricks and tossing around is one of the most rewarding things you can do. That color combination on the crystal minnow has caught me more fish in warmer waters than anything else- I swear it is the only thing I would take if I was limited to one lure.

Thanks again for the report...and please PM me the real pics of the sun bathers

Catching a fish on your own gear is the best kinda satisfaction in fishing IMO. I can't imagine how proud one must feel when catching a fish on a rod they've built from scratch! I would feel like I was on Cloud 9

The REAL pics of the sunbathers will be kept in the computer vault

Originally Posted by paul708

Brian.
GREAT trip thanks for the report
hope we can get out up here soon

Me too Paul, me too If we still have spots left on the NC Jigging trip on Labor Day weekend, you should definitely try jumping on!

[SeaBiscuit]

What a great report of a very nice vacation! Stunning pictures and good times! Thanks for sharing Brian.
You second to last fish is a scorpion fish (http://www.misterchad.com/Scorpionfish.htm)
Wild looking and, as you noted, perfectly camoed among the rocks is a bad surprise to little fishes floating by. Glad you did not get "spinned" by that fish. Their fins contain a venom that packs a wallop!
SeaBiscuit