Anguilla - flyfishing opportunities?

[gtopche]

I will be in Anguilla in January. I heard there was good tarpon fishing but no bonefishing to speak of. Any help with guides or recent experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Gary

[BobG]

Gary,

A few years back, I spent a month on Anguilla. The island has stunning beaches, and commands spectacular views of St. Martin/Sait Maarten, and some of the friendliest people in the Carribean.
Sadly, there is little if any in the way of fishing. I searched from one end to the other, and finally threw in the towel. I did find some small flats in an area known as "The Forest" located behind the airport. I looked and fished it pretty hard a couple tides, but never saw a thing. Ironically, a group of locals sort of adopted me, and took me night fishing several times off the commercial dock in the area known as Sandy Ground. I was a typical Carribean fishing trip. Fresh sprat (small bait fish were caught with a throw net) fished on the bottom with a heavy sinker off the dock, lots of cold beer, a roaring fire in a 55 gallon oil drum over which we cooked fresh goat meat and locally made sausages. These local guys were great hosts, a loads of laughs. However, they were very disappointed at the catch. While we did catch a fair amount of medium sized snapper, and small grouper, the brunt of what we caught was bonefish! We were fishing bottom in 25 feet of water, 11pm, drinking beer,eating fresh goat cooked over a blazing fire, and all we could catch was bonefish. (#$119) These guys wanted nothing to do with them since unlike the Bahamas, they deemed bonefish inedible.
So, the Reader Digest version in, there are bonefish on Anguilla, somewhere, but there are no flats.
As for tarpon, I did see some. They were swimming around the town dock which is owned by the people who operate Silly Cay. The ones I saw were 200+ pounds, and show up every night at dusk. I didn't bother with them since there were so many moored boats there, landing one seemed hopeless.

There are a couple restaurants you must try there though. One is named Hibernia. A Paris trained chef opend up a small, but great place in a small home he gutted and remodeled. Food is Asian infused French cuisine. Get there early b/c it fills up fast.
The other is my all time favorite restaurant anywhere. It's called The Straw Hat, and is located on a dirt road behind the airport. The guy who owns it is a BC grad from Conn who bought the place 15 years ago. It features local crawfish as appetizers grilled in a mango/scot bonnet butter. My wife liked the poached grouper in a vanilla reduction so much, she had it three nights in a row!
The creme brulee was the best I've had!