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Virgin Islands Activities: Fishing Guide

Great fishing opportunities exist in the Virgin Islands for anglers of all ages and experience levels. Some 21 world records in fishing have been set in recent years in the Virgin Islands; evidence of the amazing experiences that are in store for anglers! Fishing trips are available  with licensed, experienced captains; they will share with you their wealth of knowledge on saltwater fishing in these areas and insure you have a great time. Fishing charters are available for ½ day (4 hours), ¾ of a day (6 hours) or full day (8 hours) trips and range in price from $250 for a few hours of flat fishing to $1200 for a full day of marlin fishing. For more information visit the fishing section for the island you are interested in; St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John.

Fishing Grounds

The Virgin Islands are perched at the edge of the six mile deep Puerto Rico Trench, an area known for having some of the hardiest game fish in the world. Two well known offshore fishing areas in the Virgin Islands are the North Drop and the South Drop. The North Drop, about 20 miles north of St. Thomas, is famed for marlin fishing. It is said to produce more blue marlin bites per boat than any other place in the world. It is not unusual to have five, six, seven even ten strikes every day during the months of May to October. Although these months are the optimum time for fishing marlin they can be caught all year round.

The South Drop, 8 miles south of St. Thomas, is filled with warmer water from the Caribbean Sea and reaches depths of some 12,000 feet. It is a popular area for dolphin (mahi-mahi), kingfish and wahoo.

Flats are not numerous and windy conditions, deep drop offs and coral snags make shoreline fishing difficult. Despite this, there are many great opportunities to enjoy inshore fishing. On St. Croix, which has a narrow under-water shelf off its shores, fishing from small boats close to the shoreline is very rewarding. Some fishers try off of docks like Crown Bay Marina dock on St. Thomas and Clover Crest dock in Frederiksted St. Croix. On St. John,  Leinster Bay is popular for shallow water fishing. Fishing from the rocks on coastlines or on beaches is common among residents on all the islands.

Offshore Game Fishing

Offshore game fish include blue and white marlin, sailfish, yellowfin tuna and wahoo among others. Most of these game fish strike with little warning and they are all known to give quite a fight. Marlin will fight for hours and hours and are said to become more aggressive the week before and after the full moon. Tuna are also strong fish. Wahoo are known to attack bait ferociously and then swim away from the boat; they can race up to 50 miles an hour!

Species	Location	Season	Bait/Lures
Atlantic Blue Marlin	STT North & South Drop, STX 100 Fathom line	All year, best May-October	Lures, Ballyhoo, Belly strips, Mackerel
White Marlin	STT North & South Drop, STX 100 Fathom line	All year, best April-May	Lures, Ballyhoo, Bellystrips
Sailfish	STT North & South Drop, STX 100 Fathom line	October-March	Lures, Ballyhoo, Bellystrips
Yellowfin Tuna	STT North & South Drop, STX 100 Fathom line and all shelf areas	All Year	Lures, Ballyhoo Feathers
Blackfin Tuna	shelf areas on all islands	All Year	Lures, Feathers
Skipjack Tuna	shelf areas on all islands	All Year	Lures, Feathers
Dolphin Fish (mahi-mahi)	STT North & South Drop, shelf areas on all islands	October-January (peak season) March-May, July	Lures, Ballyhoo, Feathers
Wahoo	shelf areas on all islands	All year, best September-May	Lures, Ballyhoo

Inshore Game Fishing

Inshore game fishing is the mainstay of recreational fishing for visitors and residents alike and is an island tradition. Inshore game fish include barracuda, bonefish, kingfish, mackerel, snook and tarpon. There are lots of tarpon around the islands and your catch will generally average around 25 pounds, however catching a 40 or 50 pounder is not unlikely! Snook are nocturnal eaters so evening fishing is your best bet for reeling them in. There are charters that offer evening fishing. Methods for inshore fishing include fly rod, top water bait and trolling. Bonefish are a bit trickier to catch as they hide around corals making for an easy snag of your hook/line. Several local tournaments for adults and children  are held each year that target inshore game fish.

Species	Location	Season	Bait/Lures
Bonito (Little Tunny)	most inshore areas and around schools of bait fish	All year, best January-May	Fry, feathers
Barracuda	reef & bank areas	All Year	Lures, spoons, ballyhoo
Hardnose	most inshore areas and around schools of bait fish	April-September	Fry, small feathers
Bar Jack	most inshore areas and around schools of bait fish	All Year	Fry, squid, ballyhoo, feathers
Crevalle Jack	STX 100 Fathom line, most inshore areas and around schools of bait fish	All Year	Fry, squid
Rainbow Runner	STT North and South Drops, reefs & banks	April - September	Fry, squid, ballyhoo, feathers
Yellowtail Snapper	near reefs & bank areas	All Year	Fry, cut bait
Kingfish	reefs, most mid-shelf areas	All year, best February-May	Lures, ballyhoo, fry, skirts
Pompano	bays and lagoons	Spring	Jigs, lures
Cero	Near shore, reefs	All Year	Lures fry, ballyhoo

The primary target of shallow water fishing and flat fishing includes bonefish. Permit and tarpon are also at the top of the list, with barracuda and jacks being the most common. Snook are caught occasionally and sometimes even sharks.

Species	Location	Season	Bait/Lures	Fly Fishing
Bonefish	near shore, shallow areas, sea grass & sand flats, bays, mangrove lagoons	All year, best late March- September	Live shrimp, small jigs often baited with shrimp or crab	Small flies tied to imitate shrimp, crabs
Permit	shallow sea grass & sand flats, bays, lagoons, back reefs	All year, best April-October	Lures, jigs, small live crabs, pieces of crab, small sea urchins	Crab patterns
Tarpon	mangrove lagoons, bays, harbors, deeper water adjacent to shallow flats, around offshore cays	All year, best March-October	Silver spoons, white jigs, live bait fish	Large streamers, various 'tarpon' flies
Barracuda	around reefs, channels adjacent to shallow water, mangrove lagoons and bays	All Year	Live fish, bait fish imitations, silver spoons, feathers	Bait fish imitations, needlefish imitations
Jacks	around reefs, channels adjacent to shallow water, mangrove lagoons and bays, back reef flats	All Year	Squid, shrimp, cut bait, small spoons, spinners, jigs	Small streamers, shrimp imitations
Snook	mangrove lagoons, bays, harbors, along beaches with sharp drop-offs, reefs, seawalls and man-made underwater structures and pilings	All Year	Live shrimp, small fish, bait fish imitation lures, jigs	Bait fish imitations

Regulations: Visit Recreational Fishing Regulations for more information.

Fishing Events

There are several fishing tournaments throughout the year. These include a Couples Valentines Tournament in February, the Dolphin Derby in April (both on St. Thomas) and a Memorial Day Weekend Tournament (on St. Croix). Kids tournaments include the July 4th Tournament. Some small boat series tournaments, like the Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament on St. Thomas, include adults and children.  Visit our Events Calendar for more information and dates.

Fishing Club

The Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club (VIGFC), located on St. Thomas, is an active club which schedules annual fishing events and tournaments. Many of the members are distinguished anglers, having set world records. The organization is well recognized for its conservation measures in billfish tag and release efforts. On St. Croix there is the Golden Hook Fishing Club.