anyone fished in antigua?

[phil]

heading to Antigua in Feb, Jolly beach area. wondering if anyone has ever fished there, im going to bring a travel rod and some stuff for snook/tarpon/cuda. going to be a solo mission while the family is sleeping and/or napping from shore, not looking to go offshore(unless the price is right LOL) will be walking distance to the marina in jolly harbor, but not too sure how open they are to random guys fishing around their boats? Im hoping its like anywhere else in the world as long as you aren't a total Dbag they wont bother you. tips, tricks, all advice welcome!

[acaravaglia]

Never fished it, but been there. Beautiful island.

[CPR1]

I do this whenever I vacation with the family. I pack the three piece spinning and I walk the beach before dawn bombing Kastmasters, bucktail jigs, swim baits, etc. Look for docks with lights and try to hit them at night. I have had good luck finding tarpon cruising the lit up areas. You may need to ask permission first. A few US $s go a long way to get folks to give you access, permission and data. I have done this all over the Caribbean and HI. Walk the docks where the charters come in and see what is running. Sometimes you can grab a guide short notice for a half day for an affordable price. As long as they don't need to run too far and burn gas, they should be flexible on price. Getting them the same day gives you a lot of leverage. If they are not going out, they are not getting paid. There is nothing like walking the beach though. Just cover water and you are likely to run into active fish. Even if you don't get bit, the experience is always amazing. Good luck!

[Jigman13]

I spent a week fishing Antigua. A full 7 days of inshore and offshore fishing out of what I think was St. johns harbor. A good friend of mine lives there and fishes for a living, providing seafood and fish to local eateries and resorts across the island. We caught blackfin tuna, wahoo, king macks, red snapper, queen snapper, lane snapper, gray snapper, gags & black grouper, huge jacks, tarpon, mahi, cuda, and broke off a snook that was easily over 36" when pitching baits to mangroves. For the offshore species we vertical jigged and drifted tuna chunks. Inshore, we pitched baits--sprat and white bait, to gigantic schools of busting fish and dive-bombing Pelicans and frigates. It was sick... The fishing is solid there. You can bounce around any harbor and fish the docks, or hit deep coves or rocky outcrops and catch all the inshore species you can think of. I don't know what it's like by the resorts bc I stayed at my friends place, but the small beach behind the marina at St. John's harbor is a primo spot to plug or live line whatever you can net or snag. Tarpon, huge snappers, jacks, and shallow water grouper species move in and out of that harbor with the tides. The feeding frenzies I witnessed were incredible. It was like the striper blitzes off Montauk point but tropical fish crushing sprat.

[phil]

good stuff thanks guys. a bad day of fishing is better than a good day doing pretty much anything else in my book

[Jigman13]

Also, bring snorkel gear. Find a rock or reef in 10 ft of water and dive on it. They tend to be coated in spiny lobsters! I dropped down on a rock down there and the whole damn thing moved. It was incredible!