St. Johns /St. Thomas fishing from shore (wading)

[petefink]

Anyone -

First I apologize in advance for any breach of posting etiquette - this is first time.

I am going to St. Thomas this Sat for a week - very short notice. No idea where to go or what to use. I have all the gear (I think), but could use any advice. I can bring spin gear too (but prefer fly). No idea what lures to use for spin gear (or really for flys either). Where to try is biggest question.

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Peter Fink

[detra]

I've been to St John but didn't bring any fishing equipment. I stayed at Maho Bay. It's a great island. Snorkeling I saw lots of small barracuda, and there were many blitzes of baitfish fleeing barracuda (i think). I think part of the island is a marine sanctuary and is protected from some types of fishing. For more info try searching "st john" on this site. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.

[echo]

Most folks who try fishing on St.John try the flats at Anneburg at least once. If you're lucky you may get into bones there, but they are pretty spooky in my experience. I have not caught any on the fly there, but have picked them up by casting small jigs blindly in the very back of the cove. Any point anywhere on the island you can get to and cast from will get you a shot at barracuda or some other reef fish. The Hurricane Hole area looks great with its mangroves at the waters edge, but as detra said, it was turned into an underwater national monument at the very end of the Clinton administration and is off limits to fishing, so I've been told (thank you slick Willie). I can't comment on St. Thomas. Good luck, and post when you get back and let us know how you made out.

[Res4cue]

I will be there for a couple of Days around 1/20. I am bringing a fly and spin outfit, where is that cove at Anneburg? Is it to the right of the parking lot?
I will be throwing a couple flies in Francis Bay, I have seen Bonito there on Fry and even some chaining poons. Any help would be great!
Tight lines

[echo]

Res4cue,
If you are driving to Francis Bay watch for a small parking spot on the right before you get to the Francis Bay turnoff. There is a small trail that goes down to the waters edge. Or you could park at the parking area for the Francis Bay trail and walk back the road, it's only a couple hundred yards. There's usually a couple small sharks hanging around clear in the back of the cove but I've never seen any big ones. You can wade pretty far around the far side along the mangroves at low tide. Let us know how you do.

[Res4cue]

Will do, Thank you!
Can I get to it from Francis bay Beach by walking all the way to the left? What would those bad boys hit? will have both Fly and spin gear.

[echo]

You can drive right to Francis Bay beach, there is a parking area there big enough for a dozen or so cars. When you go out onto the beach, walk to the right and get down towards the point; it's about a 1/2mile walk. I did well out there on small cudas and reef fish using a small gold KastMaster spoon. I have heard from others that they've seen tarpon cruising the point just to the left of Francis Bay but I personally have not seen tarpon there. That point sees plenty of activity from snorklers so you would have to hit it on the off hours, i.e. first thing in the morning or last thing in the evening. Francis Bay is a great place to watch the sunset. I have not caught anything on fly tackle anywhere on St.John so can't offer advice for flies (the fact that on my last trip the airline destroyed all my rods except for an ultralight spinning rod didn't help much). You're gonna have a blast!! Where are you staying?

[Res4cue]

Will be staying at a friends house. Where is the shark cove, Is that at Francis or Mary's creek at Annanburg. Yeah I have seen bonito cruising the beach.

[echo]

I saw the sharks at the very back of Mary's Creek at Anneburg. Other than one other shark I saw while snorkeling at Salt Pond Bay I have not seen any other sharks (but I'm sure they are around). Make sure and get a smoothie at Columbo's!!

[shadowcastaz]

Im in St John in early March. I hope to flog the water while in there . Look for a large guy with a pale yankee complexion,That be me. Give a heads up if your interested in company.M :-% :-%

[Luyen]

I've posted a few times in the past about this, but I can't find my original post anywhere. There is great snook fishing along many of the USVI beaches, and lots of mackeral, grouper, 'cuda and other gamefish that will take a fly from shore. You can also find tarpon in the bays, and if you have a kayak or canoe. The Westin Hotel beach in Great Cruz Bay has fantastic snook fishing. Your spouse can spend the day at the pool or the bar, and you can sight cast to snook all day long. You'll see pods and singles cruising up and down the shoreline, usually within 5 feet of the beach. There are bones there too, but they're real hard to spot and catch. Any coral or rock-lined shore is a good bet for snapper and grouper too. On the north side of St. John is Leinster Bay, beneath the old sugar mill. This is a decent bonefish flat. Of course, if you can swing it, try to make the trip north to Anagada, which is supposed to have spectacular bonefishing. I've never made it there, but those who have say it's worth the trip.

[shadowcastaz]

Thanx,you all are great!

[ben-mc]

Hey All,
Thanks for the great info. I plan to be there in a couple weeks. I will give the Westin and Anaberg a try, but what about the rest of the island? Nanny point and Salt pond bay look like they've got some good water.

Any info - comments?
Ben

[BEE-BARB]

I did a post on St. John yesterday to a guy from NY, I think, but here is some more information: I was in St. John June of '04 and June of '02. By the Anneberg Plantation, the flats are good. Making a left just before the Columbo stand--which has good ice cream but also good beer, go down the steep hill and keep bearing right. Watch out for donkeys! I think bearing left takes you to Maho and right will take you to Anneberg. The roads are usually marked. The Anneberg road comes to kind of a T. Bear right at the T and the flats will be there to your left. You may find a small parking space in the bushes here, and small paths down to the flats. If you go straight down this road another 100 yards there will be a big parking area on the right--and a lavatory if you need it.

Also, go to Cruz Bay early in the morning and fish around the ferry boats and all the yachts that are tied up. There are snook in here, and I also caught some kind of a jack--nice, pretty fish, about 20 inches long, that seemed as high as it was long. Silver-colored, with like a shell crusher mouth. The snook was about 24 inches. Some small 'cuda, too. I caught the snook on a rat-l-trap and the other fish on a flicker-spinner snelled hook that I bait with a squid strip and weighted down with about 1/4 oz. lead--just enough weight to give it a toss.

I fished Francis and Maho bays a few mornings--very early, mind you, before the sun comes up. I caught some snapper-like fish, on flicker hooks with squid strips. I couldn't tell you exactly what kind, but they went 10-18 inches and had kind of a dark dot down near the tail. Bring bug dope. The insects will rip you apart in the wee hours of the morning, but then start to subside after the sun rises. At Francis, walk off to the left and a reef juts out. You will catch some reef fish--various types--on small plugs here. The fish bite on the open beaches also dies down as the sun rises. I also fished Salt Pond Bay and caught some hinds--12-14 inch long reef fish, by casting plugs over the reef that is to the right of the bay as you come down the trail. You will know what it is like to be alone when you hit this spot early in the morning.

At Francis, if you are there in the early morning and see what looks like fin movement about 30-50 yards off shore, do not cast to it. These will probably be turtles and the "fins" are actually their legs as they come up and roll about while they get air. At Anneberg, you will probably see some sharks. They did not bother me, and they were only 3-4 feet long, but you will have an uneasy feeling until you get used to them. Good luck.

[echo]

That's a great post BEE-BARB. I'll have to remember the part about being out at daylight. The place I'm staying this trip supposedly has a short trail access to a small beach/cove south of Salt Pond. So while my wife is sleeping in I can be on the water. I leave in 3 days-can't wait!! This will be my 5th St.John trip.

BTW-where are you at in PA? I'm originally from southwestern PA but have been gone for going on 11 years.

[ben-mc]

Echo,
Sounds like we'll be there at the same time. Look for me, I will probably be in some of the previously mentioned places. I arrive Tuesday the 15th.

I'll be using a red-black-and yellow shoulder pack that my wife loaned me, so I should be easy to spot. I will be fly fishing also.

Thanks for the great, useful info guys, and I will let you know how I did.

Ben

[C Clarke]

Bring as many Epoxy bait fish patterns as your case will hold!!! It's been my most successful pattern down in the clear water here for Bonefish and Tarpon. plenty of Albies here too. the fish in Anneberg are tricky, but pulled a seven pounder out of there yesterday on a bunker pattern ( looks like the sprat here) Jonhson's bay and John's folly are definatly more productive flats and the fish are a little less spooky. There was Tarpon behind Skinny Legs for a while and the bait is still there just hard too cast with the boats in the way. Good Luck

[echo]

Ben, I'll be watching for ya...I fish with both fly and spin tackle, and I'll probably be wearing a dark blue daypack.
Bill

[keeper]

Hey guys,

I'll be arriving in St John on the 15th also. We're staying at the Westin. If either or both of you want to get together for shore fishing or go in on a charter I'd like to join you.
I'll be bringing a fly rod but am very flexible for any type of fishing any time any where.

Dave Gallant
(keeper)

[ben-mc]

Hey Bill and Dave,
I will be there from the 15th to the 20th. My wife probably won't allow me to skip out for a day on a charter, but I would like to catch up with you guys on the flats somewhere.

If this forum lets one send private messages I will send you guys my cell number. Otherwise, I will try to call Dave at the Westin to see whether you want to hit the water.

Look forward to it,
Ben

[OceanRunner]

...At Anneberg, you will probably see some sharks. They did not bother me, and they were only 3-4 feet long, but you will have an uneasy feeling until you get used to them. Good luck.
Nice recap of your trip. Thanks. I've been down there 6 times & never seen any snook. I'm heading back in May, so I need to keep an eye out.

The sharks that hang out near Annebrg in the AM tend to be mellow, until you hook something they like. I had them shread a small bar jack on me a bit closer then I'd like. Once it started, three of them got pretty fired up, looking for more, and it was time to back out slowly.

[BEE-BARB]

I am in south central PA, the Harrisburg area.

[ben-mc]

Hey All,

Just got back from 5 days in St John. Sorry I missed you guys down there -- my schedule didn't allow me to get out in the mornings like I wanted to... no one to blame but me on that.

I never did do well in Annaberg, but that's because we never got out early enough. One guy I talked to said he'd hooked a 20lb tarpon in there before we showed up.

We also fished in what I think was John's Folly. My friends are newbies, which meant that I was doing a lot more instruction than fishing most of the time. But that was just fine by me. These guys both got sawed off by a shark that we saw as we showed up. John's FOlly has a lot of thick grass and seems muddier than Annaberg. We fished there into the evening, but never made an early morning. I sorta regret that, but the trip was great.

I also saw a lot of bait fish at Maho bay. I wonder if the fishing might be good there in the evening or morning. If you're going, you might want to check it out.

The unfortunate thing I heard from most people is that fishing just isn't that good from the shore in St. JOhn. I think that made me lose a bit of motivation to get out so early. But this advice was probably coming from the offshore folks who only target the blue water species.

THanks to all for the information, and good luck to those on their way down. My advice would be to do what I didn't and get the heck out of bed before the sun comes up.

I'm back in FL for a bit before I return north to Chicago, and I caught a big redfish yesterday -- so the fishing gods must be rewarding me for the teaching I did for my buddies in St. John.

thanks again all,
Ben

[echo]

I got back last night. Saw a few guys on the flats at Anneburg but nobody admitted to being any of the parties (culprits?) from here. I did not catch any bones but had a few shots and even actually had a school of what looked like 5#ers charge my fly but they wouldn't take it. I did catch a fish in the back of Anneburg that I think was a rainbow runner, about 4-5# that gave me a tremendous fight on ultralight tackle. Also caught a few small fish (I think coneys) around rocks/reefs by where I was staying over past Salt Pond. The highlight for me (in addition to the rainbow runner) was that I caught a permit!! It was quite by accident, and the fish was small, but hey I'll take being lucky any day!! This was my 5th trip to St.John and I thought the island was as crowded as I have ever seen it. I'm headed back in July and hopefully the place will be a little more sleepy.
Ben-you're right-the place is not really a fishing destination, but it sure beats workin'!!

[OceanRunner]

The highlight for me (in addition to the rainbow runner) was that I caught a permit!! It was quite by accident, and the fish was small, but hey I'll take being lucky any day!!
echo, Congrats on the Permit!

I've been down there many times, and only seen 3 sizable fish while snorkeling - it was surprising how friendly they were while in the water with them...

I have caught many Palometta around 2#s, about as big as they get from what I hear, but have yet to catch a St. John Permit.

Nice job!