Well guys Found out last night that im heading to St.Thomas for spring break.
Now, i dont no much about the place. Only that there are a couple blue ones swimming around out there.
Questions are: Is there alot of billfish there at this time, what am i most likely to see, Whitey? or a blue one? do they get saildogs??? How bout tuners and such? Like i said dont know much about it.
2. Does anyone know of a good charterboat? or how about some east coast boats that made the trip over?
3. How far is the usual run to the fishing?
4. Besides fishing what is neat to do there, Besides
Shane:
I'll toss this out for what it's worth although I'm sure there are some on here that have spent way more time in St. T than I have.
The best fishing is in the summer on the North Drop--I think it's about 20 or so miles from the docks (hard for me to say since I was in the cockpit and not on the bridge when we've fished there). Spring is probably a little early but you never know--best season is June through Sept/Oct. They get a good early season run of wahoo and dolphin that keeps the fleet busy until the blues show up in force. Never seen a white or sail there but they should be around as well.
Most of the boats are docked at American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook. Stop by Neptune Tackle there and ask about the fishing--they are very helpful, especially the owner, Stuart Loveland. As for charters, two of the most famous are Red Bailey on the Abigail and Eddie Morrison on Marlin Prince. Red Hook's got some good little restaurants and bars.
Plenty of sightseeing and other stuff to do--be sure to bring snorkeling gear and hit the reefs (ask around for locations). If you're a diver then take a Scuba trip if you can--the diving is excellent. Also, you can take the ferry over to St. John's for the afternoon, great little side trip. You'll find that one of the most popular leisure activities in the USVIs is called Limin' or Jes Limin', which basically is island slang for "just hanging out in paradise watching the world go by."
Bluefin II >Sport Fishing, Capt. Don Mertens 340-775-6691
He is in Red Hook. 1/2 Day South Drop full day North Drop
We had a good trip with him. Watch the time,
They don't observe Daylite Savings Time there. March 9 it starts.
Best of Luck
Larry O'Donnell
Freelance Captain, Currently on the "Sto Bene" or "Low Bidder" or "Indemnity" depending on the day
Not a ton of blue marlin around at that time but it's the Caribbean and a shot is always possible. The drop always holds bait so the blues will not be too far away. I would say a white is going to be much more possible, you might see a sail but not as common as one would expect. Wahoo and mahi is going to be the sure thing, blackfin and yellowfin are possible but the bigger yellowfin run in the warm months. Try deep dropping for snapper and BIG grouper, if you do it hand crank you'll be in for a beating. If the weather is rough try for tarpon or bonefish and you can flyfish for snapper and other cool inshore stuff.
The run is usually about 20-30 miles to the drop. If you choose other fishing only the captain knows. I would also recommend the Marlin Prince, those guys get it done.
Other cool things to do in St. Thomas would be to drive the island in a rental car to see the sights. Watch out for Donkey Hill, it's a steep drop and better hope your breaks are good. Charlotte Amalie has a street mall with the usual tourist style island shopping. East End Cafe in Red Hook has good Italian food, and Duffy's across the street has good nightlife in season.
There are a few private boats that have been heading down to fish St Thomas in March and April, which is earlier each season than usual. The fish in the spring are on the South Drop which is a shorter run than going out to the North Drop 20+ miles. Last year Nick Ewald went 5 for 5 on blues one day while running Terminalla's Pride, and the Revenge and Reel Tight also had several multiple fish days with whites added in the mix.
The man you want is Capt Eddie Morrison on the Marlin Prince out of AYH in Red Hook. Best of luck.
18 lb.Brown on fly: 6x tippet, 106 lb.Atl.Sail: Ft.Laud, 888 lb. Mako Cozumel, 950+ Blues St.T
WIREMAN'S all over it. South side may be the best shot that time of year. There's a pinnacle about 40 -60 miles out that you can run towards and then troll to, that will make for some good wahoo fishing and who knows what else may show up...I heard thru the hush-hush gravevine that there were some swords taken there too @ night. Would make a good 2 0r 3 day trip too. U may wanna try some deep droppin during the daytime out there ala S. Fla style.(swords)...Eddie may know the mtn. top, although may not wanna give it up...Tell Eddie, Allen says hello. He may remember me...prob not though.
St.John was always a good day trip too...a short ferry ride away. There are some cool hiking trails too...the whole Island is a national park or something close to it....a little more laid back with a safer feel to it.
Is there still a "poor-man's bar" there on st. T.?
the fishing there is good but not great that time of year. i was there march of last year and fished with capt eddie on the marlin prince and we had an action packed day with a mixed bag. managed to tag one blue marlin in the 150lb class, missed one in the 200lb class, had a white come thru the spread, 2 nice yellowfin, a kingfish and one helluva mahi that weighed in at 58lbs. the crew of the marlin prince really know what their doing and i would fully recomend them. good luck
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