St John U.S.V.I.

[saltfly]

I will be heading to St John in March and was wondering if anyone knew of some areas that I could explore without a guide that would produce fish. I plan on hiring a guide one morning to go inshore fishing but would like to try to find some bonefish and barracuda while my wife sits on the beach. Any info would be greatly appreciated.

SM

[DRHOOKLENOX]

I have been there a number of times. Flyfishing is very limited and good info. is also tough. Try the flats by Annenberg plantation for bones. They are heavily fished but flats are not easy to find around the island. May get some tarpon if you have access to a boat. Try harbor at Cruz Bay. MOst action around the island is in deeper water from a boat. Good luck , you will need it.

[rsm]

I have fished from a boat with a guide named Loren Nickbarg. We used live bait on light tackle and it was a blast. He would chum the water with live bait creating some great surface action. We caught bonito, barracuda, king mackeral, and I think black fin tuna. We ate tuna the entire week we were there. We also hooked a six foot shark that broke off. Loren's number is 340-779-4281. There are not a lot of flats. Two places recommended to me were Mary's Creek which is the area near Annanberg and Johnson's Bay which is halfway between Coral Bay and Saltpond bay. On my own I caught some jacks and small barracuda on deadly dicks at little Maho Bay. There was an article in FlyFishing in Salt Waters a few issues back that covered fishing in the BVI. www.flyfishinsalt.com If I remember correctly it listed a few places on Jost Van Dyke and Tortola that are supposed to be good. Both are an easy day trip from St. John. Good luck and have fun. I'm going back in April and plan on fishing with Loren at least once.

[tritondavid]

Just got back from St. John last week. I wasn't expecting to do any fishing, but after snorkeling in some of the more remote sections of the Island, I couldn't help myself. Without any equipment, I finally was able to track down THE ONLY place on the Island that rented fishing equipment. I think the place was called Cruz Bay Water Sports, but they are right by the Ferry landing. For 10 bucks a day, I got a medium size Penn spinning reel and a seven foot medium action ugly stick, neither were in very good shape, but I was out of options, I also located a small "tackle box" in the villa I was renting. It contained nothing of use but a 4 inch silver broken back Rapala. This was a close match for the zillions of small silver "fry" that I had found in a few areas on the Island. I got one night of shorefishing and caught numerous fish including grouper, blue runners, and a big Cero. The Cero (like a Spanish Mackerel) were abundant in this bay and ranged from 2 to 8 lbs. I was fishing in Frances Bay, try early morning or late evening. Start by fishing the beach area itself, as there is a good grass line out from the sandy shoreling (within casting range), proceed to the right and walk along on rocky shoreline as far as you like. The fishing gets better as you get further from the beach area. The Cero definately like the beach/grass area but more reef oriented fish such as grouper, yellowtail snapper and some huge Tarpon were chasing the Fry along the rocky/coral reef shoreline. Another spot to try for Cero and Blue Runner is in the bay by Waterlemon Cay. Park near the Annaberg ruins and walk about a mile alont the seaside path until you get into the back of the protected bay. There is tons of bait in this protected bay and the grassline holds a lot of nice Cero and decent size blue runners. I would plan on bringing medium action spinning or baitcasting freshwater gear with 12-16 lb mono. Smallish silver jerkbaits, rattletraps, and clearish soft plastic baits like the Netters Lance (Nettersinc.com) fished without a weight should fool plenty of fish. Bait like cut squid will also catch some fish grunts, snappers and the like). During the week that I was there, I saw only one other guy fishing, so you will likely be by yourself in any spot you choose. It would be a tremendous help to bring your snorkeling gear and check out potential spots first. Best of Luck.

[tritondavid]

Just got back from St. John last week. I wasn't expecting to do any fishing, but after snorkeling in some of the more remote sections of the Island, I couldn't help myself. Without any equipment, I finally was able to track down THE ONLY place on the Island that rented fishing equipment. I think the place was called Cruz Bay Water Sports, but they are right by the Ferry landing. For 10 bucks a day, I got a medium size Penn spinning reel and a seven foot medium action ugly stick, neither were in very good shape, but I was out of options, I also located a small "tackle box" in the villa I was renting. It contained nothing of use but a 4 inch silver broken back Rapala. This was a close match for the zillions of small silver "fry" that I had found in a few areas on the Island. I got one night of shorefishing and caught numerous fish including grouper, blue runners, and a big Cero. The Cero (like a Spanish Mackerel) were abundant in this bay and ranged from 2 to 8 lbs. I was fishing in Frances Bay, try early morning or late evening. Start by fishing the beach area itself, as there is a good grass line out from the sandy shoreling (within casting range), proceed to the right and walk along on rocky shoreline as far as you like. The fishing gets better as you get further from the beach area. The Cero definately like the beach/grass area but more reef oriented fish such as grouper, yellowtail snapper and some huge Tarpon were chasing the Fry along the rocky/coral reef shoreline. Another spot to try for Cero and Blue Runner is in the bay by Waterlemon Cay. Park near the Annaberg ruins and walk about a mile alont the seaside path until you get into the back of the protected bay. There is tons of bait in this protected bay and the grassline holds a lot of nice Cero and decent size blue runners. I would plan on bringing medium action spinning or baitcasting freshwater gear with 12-16 lb mono. Smallish silver jerkbaits, rattletraps, and clearish soft plastic baits like the Netters Lance (Nettersinc.com) fished without a weight should fool plenty of fish. Bait like cut squid will also catch some fish grunts, snappers and the like). During the week that I was there, I saw only one other guy fishing, so you will likely be by yourself in any spot you choose. It would be a tremendous help to bring your snorkeling gear and check out potential spots first. Best of Luck.