March 15th, 2011
Met at the National Park Dock at 7:30am with my parents for a ¾ day (6hr) offshore charter with World Class Anglers of St. John, USVI. Saw Captain Chris pulling up his boat and headed over to greet him. After exchanging a quick handshake I was greeted with some discouraging news. The wind had picked up and the swells were 8-9 ft—offshore was not an option. So much for my quest for Caribbean mahi mahi, wahoo, tuna and sailfish. Well, the unpredictability of fishing may be the only predictable part of fishing, so inshore it is! Hopped in the boat and headed out.
The in-shore route burns a lot more fuel island hopping (20+ miles) whereas the off-shore route was only 8.5 miles out. So, I knew the trip would not only be different species than expected, but a shortened trip as well due to the increase in travel times.
After a 20 minute ride out to his first “high spot” we rigged 4” baitfish through the nose with small treble hooks and had three lines in the water to troll. The high spot rose from 140’ to 40’ very abruptly, and Captain Chris informed me that we looking to pick up some Yellow-Tail. Within 1 minute of the bait hitting the water, the line was going and Chris has me grab the rod. With big game fish on my mind and mistaking Yellow-Tail for Yellow-Fin, I prepared for the battle, only to hoist in a tropical 14” fish! That’s about the time I remembered we weren’t going for Tuna.
Trolled the high spot for 10 more minutes and moved out without a bite.
Another 15 minutes at full speed brought us off the East End of St Thomas were Captain Chris assured me of a better bite. Set up with new baitfish as the local birds began to dive at our lines looking for a free lunch. The line behind me runs off and I grabbed the spinning outfit equipped with light monofilament line to fight an approximately 24” mackerel. Getting bigger! As I boated the mackerel the portside line began to run and my father grabbed the rig. After a couple minutes he boats the first fish of his life, a beautiful 30” mackerel! Things were looking good, a double header just moments after stationing the boat on the new spot.
Time passes without another bite, and we move on once more, discussing with other charters over the radio the productivity of the other hot spots—fishing was slow for everyone. Our next spot did not produce, and we headed back towards where we launched to try a different area.
After yet another long commute we positioned the boat between two small islands just 30 feet from the rock cliffs. Lines back in the water and the monofilament runs again. Grabbed the rod and watched a 24” barracuda launch out of the water and bite me off.
Ten minutes later the downrigger goes and we set the hook on a giant snapper. Captain Chris said the average snappers in the area are 6-8 pounds, the largest he had witnessed was 28, and the one on the line was a minimum of 15. As I battled the snapper Chris strapped a fishing harness around me—I was optimistic to land myself a monster snapper. I gained several yards and the fish took another 20 off the line. Chris repositioned the boat to get a safer distance from the approaching rocks and the snapper broke me off in the coral—the monofilament leader didn’t give me much chance once the snapper headed down where he came from.
Well, a bit discouraged I set the rod back and we moved to the next and final spot on the way back to the dock. I wanted a big bite, but I wanted to boat it too!
The last spot was in rough water as we rounded the edge of a point towards open ocean. Sure enough the downrigger strikes again and it’s fish-on! It’s a giant mackerel that’s zig-zagging towards the boat as I gain line on him and—SNAP!—yet another fish broken off! I reeled in as fast as I could in case it was just slack line, but he was gone. The line next to me set and I swapped rods—same fish struck again to give me one final chance. After a nerve-racking battle I managed to get the fish to surface by the boat and Captain Chris hoisted him aboard with a quick gaff to the side. A beautiful Kingfish about 18-20 pounds, and 40+ inches in length. Finally!
The kingfish was boated just minutes before the half-day (4 hr) cut-off, and Captain Chris seemed to believe that it wasn’t worth staying out 2 more hours due to the unproductive conditions. I decided to end on a good note and not stretch it out if the Captain wasn’t up for it (I would have stayed out all day but Chris was pissed about snapping off the weights to his downrigger moments previous to hooking the kingfish, so I wasn’t going to push for another 2 hrs).
So, we headed back early with 4 fish in the bag, and cold drinks in our hands.
All photos were graciously taken by my mother from the bow. Thanks for the documentation mom!
