St.John :: late march, recommendations.

[airmax]

hello all.
i will be travelling to St.John during the last week of march. i'm an experienced angler from the US (mostly bass) and am just starting to fly fish. i would like to do some DIY fly and light spinning tackle fishing while in St.John. during a previous trip to St.John, I fared alright on a day trip flats fishing with light tackle. we caught between 12-18 barracuda and i caught a couple of lemon sharks jigging dead bait. during this trip, i would like to target tarpon and hopefully some bonefish. any advice on locations and strategy would be greatly appreciated. also, i am not set on fishing by myself, any advice of a good guide would also be welcome. thanks for your help. j.

[JakeFF]

Headed down on Feb 21....i'll post a report when i get back. There are some posts form titleguy..who helped me try and locate some snook, posted under New England.
When you were there last time did you check out the flat down at the Annabel Ruins?...i have caught some bones there...early am, check out the small beach area...first.... if you walk the shore line from the parking area...to the left looking at the water....there is a small...cove, they are some times in there tailing early am....check this out before wading. Also have spooked some ..lemon sharks in there as well.
Ill let you know how i made out when i get back.

[echo]

Where do you guys stay on St.John? We rent a house on the top of Bourdeaux Mountain-kind of tough to get to but the peace and quiet is worth it. We're headed down 3/12-22...this will be our 4th trip there. Last year I did well on small reef type fish from the point on the right of Francis Bay, which is just across a little spit from Anneburg. I too have seen bones at Anneburg...only ever caught one and they sure seem spooky. I'm also thinking about renting a dinghy down at Coral Bay and fishing the mangroves back in Hurricane Hole.

[JakeFF]

We stay at different places every year, this year we are staying at a villa down by the Westin the name of it is Gull Cottage. We have stayed at the other end as well where you are staying, thats a nice view from that mountain, have you gone to that Resturaunt right at the turn there, it wasnt too bad....
I have mainly fished the flat down at Anneburgl Ruins, but going to try something different this year. The Bones there at Annegurg, are spookey but catchable, if you get there at low light, before the sun gets up to high is your best bet.
Have you been to Skinny legs? Its a good take, lots of native islanders go there, the owners are originally from Mass. Ted Kennedy was there last time we went..but we missed him by a week, and was told he hung his sail boat up on a reef after he sailed out of there...did he tip his elbow too many times?..laffs.
We are going...2/21 thru 3/2....so ill post and let you know how i did when i get back. I usually just bring the fly rod, but i might bring a light spin outfit this year.
Well take care for now...nice chatting with you...Bob H

[echo]

Thanks Bob,
We have not been to either of those eateries but are planning to hit Skinny Legs this trip-we hear they have the "best burgers on the island". Believe it or not in the 3 previous trips we've made there we have only dined out 2 times. We enjoy the house we rent so much that we just go to Starfish Market and buy a couple hundred bucks worth of groceries and eat in (also make sure to pick up a supply of Red Stripe).
Airmax, I don't know where to tell you to head for tarpon, as I don't think I have seen any around St.John. I did see them in the surf off Tortola so I'm sure they are in the area...I would like to get into them myself.
JakeFF, please let me and Airmax know how you make out.
Thx,
Bill

[JakeFF]

Bill...yes i def will post when i get back...yes the burgers are out of this world there at Skinny Legs. We usually hit that place at the end of the beach day, for a couple of :-% and sometimes have a burger for dinner, they also have some bands play there, good people watching spot.
We usually take down our own food, we brings our own steaks, shrimp, cans of tuna, chicken...then we hit the Starfish for other essentials. We all have a meal to cook..one nite...then its a smogasboard after that. What Resturaunts have you hit? Have you been to Honeymoon Beach....its about a ten min walk from the Caneel Bay parking lot, its a nice beach...but are'nt they all..laffs.
Will post when we get back..be safe.

Bob

[echo]

We've not been to Honeymoon Beach...we spend most at our time in the Anneberg or Francis Bay area. We also like going over to Salt Pond. We like to snorkel the east side of Trunk Bay but only if the cruise ship people are not around that day. We snorkeled Jumbie Bay one time I think on our first trip there but everytime since it's been too rough there. This trip we are planning to spend some time at Maho Bay and rent some kind of little boat from them. I've heard from others on this board in the past that tarpon hang out off the point between Francis and Maho Bay. The only place I remember eating out at was Chilly Billy's where we got a pretty good breakfast. But we are definitely planning to hit Skinny Legs this trip. If you're taking light spin tackle with you this trip I would recommend taking a bunch of gold 1/8 oz KastMasters. Have fun!! And please don't fish the place out before I get there --125-3
Bill

[JakeFF]

Hi Echo...yes great snorkling at Jumbie to the left side, that area got pretty hard hit during one of the hurricaines..but is recovering. Check out Honeymoon, the wives or GF's will like that beach, good for kids as well, again its a little walk from Caneel parking lot but not too bad. Def not like Solomon, that trail is a killer on a hot day. And yes def check out the Skinny Legs ..place its a good take..lots of locals..and vacationers. Little Maho is nice very quiet beach saw some turtles there....if looking at the water...the far left side of the beach...it looks very fishy there amongst the rocks...i fished it pretty hard one day but never got a thing....there were a lot of jacks moving in and out of that area and the main beach area. Thanks for the tip on the Kastmasters ..i'll do that.
Oh I'll def leave you some fish......if you have a... :-% for me at Skinny legs, laffs.
One more week...and i'll be out of this cold weather in Boston. I'll let you know how i did when i get back...Bob

[airmax]

hey guys.
sorry for the delay in my response. i've been super busy at work and not had much time to do my planning. in our last tirp to st.john, we stayed in a villa up the hill past the Westin. it overlooked Cruz Bay. we were there getting married. so, i spent most of the time doing stuff with family and my new wife. but, when i did get out fishing, we fished the flat by Annaberg. that's where i caught the lemon sharks. to be honest, i don't know where the first flat that we fished was. if my memory serves me correctly, it was on the far end of the island away from Cruz Bay. maybe it was Salt Pond Bay. in any case. we saw a large school of bones, but i spooked them on my first cast.

due to the bad weather here lately in NYC, i haven't had any time to practice fly-casting. so, i think i'll probably focus on light spinning tackle. any suggestions outside of the 1/8 oz kastmasters?

also, do you have any suggestions of a guide to use while i'm down there? i wouldn't mind going out one day to some good spots. thanks for the info. j.

ps. if you are a strong swimmer, there is excellent snorkeling out past Annaberg. i believe the bay is called Watermelon Cay. if i remember correctly, we drove all the way on the North side of the island, past Trunk, Cinammon, and Maho bay. at the end of the road there is a parking area. if you walk all the way around a stony beach (no sand), you reach a spot where there is a large grass flat. if you swim/wade through the flat, there is a nice little reef to snorkel. the tide is very strong here. so, you have to be careful. the best part about it, was that we didn't see a single person while we were there. it is kind of far out. so, it's best to let someone know where you are going. we went with my brothers and new brothers in law. it was great though. i saw a ton of BIG baracuddas as well as a couple of curious box fish, sting rays, and other great reef fish. if these directions don't make sense let me know. i can ask my wife the exact location. she has a much better memory about those places than i do.

[airmax]

hey guys.
what i thought was called Turtle Bay in my previous post was actually called Watermelon Cay. i edited it, but wanted to give you a heads up. j.

[echo]

Airmax,
I've been there to Waterlemon Cay (some maps show it as Watermelon and some show it as Waterlemon; I've been told Waterlemon is the correct name). I liked it out there but my wife is afraid to go back 'cause of the open water you have to swim to get out to the island. Regarding a guide, in many past posts on the subject the name Loren Nickbarg has come up. I heard on this board a number of months ago that Loren is working out of the Westin now. He has been well recommended on this site. We are looking at taking a day sail this trip...does anybody have any recommendations about who to hook up with for day sailing?

[JakeFF]

Airmax, Echo,
Back from St John.....my report as promised......congrats Airmax hope you had a great honemoon.
As i said before i stayed at Gull Cottage...which is three villas up on the left hand side if looking from the Westin to the water. First morning there i checked out the little stream to the right of the Westin at first light, i tried clousers, crazy charlies, and some of my own concoctions, all i caught were a few jacks, there were also some small cudda there as a result lost a few flys. Was hoping for some snook, but never saw any, but the water was a bit murky, they could have been there. I decided to walk out on the rocks a little
about 40 yds down the rocks...i found some small tarpon porpoising...my eyes lite up.....worked hard at them...never had a hit, but there were plenty there, they where a little out of reach for the most part but every now in then they were within casting distance {had some nice tarpon flys, but no hits}. The guide that works out of the Westin...got his bait there every morning...tossing a small bait net, he did'nt stick around here after they got there bait....shrugs, maybe they were after something else. I forget the name of the boat but he moors it right there in the bay...something....Angler was the name. His prices were a lilttle steep for me being alone, and no one to split the fee.
I again tried this area a few times, mornings,and late afternoon with same results, i should have rented one of those small achilles over at the Westin...but being with a few other couples...i could'nt take the time to do it. The rules were..i got to go fishing early am..while all others were still sleeping...and be back in time to go to the beach or whatever else was planned for that day.
I also went to my favorite flat at the Annabergs Ruins, again at first light. There were a lot more Bones on this flat than my previous trips there. Had success with a crab pattern, clousers, and small shrimp pattern. I have been going down there for eight years...and this was the first time i actually ran into a few others fishing this flat. There are a few big rays that swim the flats, which can be a little spooky at first light, and not knowing what they are as the wake gets closer to you...they don't bother you, there just curious creatures who may circle you a few times checking you out as you are them. I have come across some sharks in the five to six foot range on this flat previous trips...so thats why its a lilttle spooky not knowing what it is at first. This trip i saw a five foot lemon shark who had breakfast there every morning...came right at me one morning.....he did'nt see me till the last min...i then moved my foot....stirring up the water...and spooked him across the flat..like a freight train. I caught maybe six bonefish on this flat, if you walk down to the far end of the flat to the end {towrds the cove}...where the deeper water starts, is where i had the most luck there is a group of bones around....eight fish that hang there regularly. Even if you spook them...give them time to settle..and they will be right back up on the shallow part of the flat. You will also see some turltles in the deep part sticking there head up from time to time checking you out. Also while down this end, i watched the deeper channel...rich green color water...there was something out there maybe bonita that was crashing bait...but too far for my reach.

While fishing there i did talk to a few other guys fishing there, two of the guys i talked with were ...Guides...fishing the flats on there days off { no clients booked}...they can't take clients here cause its part of the National Park. But both said it was the best flat on the island to fish by foot, there was one other flat mentioned, but only accessable by boat. I have a friend that lives down there he has his own electrical contracting business, and being such a small island evryone knows one another, so i dropped Pauls name which they both knew, and was able to get this information...other wise i think they would have wanted me to go out with them..rather feed me this info..one of the guys is a plumber and does guiding from shore his name was Tom Mcquad...i have his number if anyone is interested. The other guy..i think..if my ole memory is right his name is Chris....the name of his charter is,,,,Bite Me Charters......i asked Paul about the two and he said that Bite me Charters was the best charter on the island, very accomadating, Paul said the guy at the Westin is ok....but if you want a good trip...go with...Bite Me. I dont have his number but when you get down there...look him up in the phone book. If your interested..you can use my name or my buddies name for a recomondation.....as a referal...always helps to know somone, my opinion.

But other than that...thats all i have for now...we had a great time at the beaches, Honeymoon still my fav. We did rent an archilles for four hours and went to a few different beaches..i think it was a 100.00 for four hours...the larger archilles {smaller one a little cheaper}...in front of the Beach Bar, right on Cruz bay. Hoep you have a great trip...have one for me at...Skinnys! :-%

If i can help out with anything else...just ask.

Bob H

[echo]

Thanks for the update Bob. We leave in 3 days and will be on the island for a total of 9 days. I'll post an update when we get back.
Bill

[Gmack]

Jakeff

Hi I am new to this board and I am happy to see info on St John. I will be traveling there the first week in August for my honeymoon. We will be staying at the Westin for ten days or so. I am pretty green at flyfishing but by then I hope my practice will pay off. I have made note of your previous post. I want to try for some bonefish and is there any advice you would pass along such as flys or other gear? I plan to bring a flyrod and a spinning outfit. I have the number for bite me charters and I want to look into a trip. I may be limited to early a.m. flats fishing which is fine by me. Any info would be appreciated. Thank you.

[JakeFF]

Good Luck Echo have a great and happy safe trip. Even though i just got back..i'm so jealous...laffs.


Hi Gmac...welcome aboard. Congratulations on your upcoming marriage. Your picking a great place to travel for a Honeymoon.I'm sure your future wife will enjoy. My wife and i have been going there for eight years now...and never get tired of it...you'll see why.
As to the fishing i did...i did mostly fly, but did take a lite spinning outfit down, i used small kastmasters, and a few yuri swimmers, all i picked up with this was some small baracudda....as to flys i used...clousers, charturse, white.
Crazy charlies white......small crab pattern......and a shrimp pattern..i got most of the bones on the shrimp pattern down at Annaberg Ruins. But if you hook up with...bite me charters...tell him...that..{Tall Pauls...friend} that met him on the flat at Annaberg told you to hook up with him.
Are you going to rent a car..{cah as we say in Boston}.....if you have any questions about St John..let me know, that goes for your fiance' as well.

Where from gmac?

Well take care for now...good luck with your wedding plans......Bob H

[echo]

3/23- I got back from St.John last night. From a fishing standpoint my trip was about as close to a disaster as you can imagine. I packed 4 rods in a Flambeau "Bazuka" rod case and checked them with the rest of my luggage. I don't know what American Airlines ran over it with but when I opened up the case 3 of my 4 rods were smashed. Of course American Airlines denies responsibility. I had 6 wt and 9 wt fly rods-both smashed (the 6 wt was a rod I built and had never seen water yet), also smashed was a medium action spinning rod. The only rod that survived was an ultralight 5 1/2' spinning rod I threw in at the last minute. I tried my best to fish with the ultralight spin tackle and lost all my hardware, but was finally rewarded my last day there with a pair of 3# bones down at Anneburg-I took them on a white 1/8 oz bucktail jig. In spite of American Airlines efforts to sabotage my trip I was able to keep things in perspective and had an overall good time. We snorkeled some new spots east of Coral Bay, and chartered a sailboat one day, which was pretty cool albeit quite pricey. I met a guy from New York who said he had seen our thread here and brought a couple rods to give it a try (John from New York- I met you at Salt Pond-if you're lurking out there please join in our discussion here). We stopped for a couple of the famous Skinny Legs burgers, and I did my best to put a dent in the Red Stripe beer supply. Before next trip I'll be looking for an alternate method of getting my rods there.
Gmack-watch the tide tables. Catch the Anneburg flats on the high tide and the bones will be tailing just east of the parking lot. The bigger ones seemed to me to be tremendously spooky.
Bill

[swright]

Hey guys, thanks for all the info on St. John. I am going there the end of April and I've been trying to get info on some good spots for light tackle fishing from shore. I went there 3 years ago and stayed at the Westin. Like JakeFF, I was "resticted" by the family to do my fishing before everyone woke up, then I had to do what everyone else was doing for the day. I worked the same area near the Westin along the rocks and caught a few nice snook on topwater lures. Seemed kind of weird fishing right next to the resort, in fact my wife was making fun of me about it so its good to hear other people have tried it too! We went hiking near Annaberg ruins and I remember seeing the flats cove you all have mentioned and wondered whether there was any bones in there. However I don't remember seeing an easy way to get to it. As I said its been 3 years and all i remember was beeing way up above the cove. I have a really good road/trail map but if anyone can clearly describe where to park and wade in i'd appreesh. Also, I wouldn't mind trying for some cuda or tarpon if I spot them - would a med spinning outfit be appropriate? Would I need a steel leader? Can I toss the usual array of striper baits I normally use like bass assasins, etc as well as spoons? Can you keep any fish (ok, I'm going to admit it here. I'm usually a C& R guy but I kept one of the snook I caught next to the Westin. I asked around BEFORE I fished and no one knew the regs. Couldn't find anything written. The snook was great - I grilled him with a bunch of local spices and lemon - feed 8 people! mmmm-mmmm). Any other general tips about locations and baits (spinning gear) would be welcome.

Cheers

[titleguy]

Echo- that s&$ks- But you got a few anyway, good for you. Red Stripe and Skinny Legs, there a winning combo.

As for fishing by the resort, very strange- When I was there in 2001, I was at that end of the beach casting, with my stripping basket on and the guy raking the beach came up and sai, "hey mon, why you wearin' a dish pan?" Set the tone for the whole trip. I am planning a return trip with a fishing focus this fall. Skinny Legs, Duffy's, Freddy's, look out

[JakeFF]

Echo...sorry to hear about the AA..fiasco..they also lost my Tube for three days...top was crushed but rods were ok.......glad you were able to salvage something and able to get out and do some fishing. Glad you had a great time....i for one never get tired of that island.

well...welcome home..Bill


PS..you noticed Titleguy...mentions he is planning a trip back..with a fishing focus....then he mentions all of the ..... :-% spots immediately after....hmmm....laffs

Take care...Bob H