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Old 12-09-2023, 10:56 AM
Ceilidh69 Ceilidh69 is offline
 
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Default Fishing in British Virgin Islands

Wife booked a trip the last week of January, staying on Tortola. Interested in onshore fly fishing (permit, bonefish etc.) or offshore (mahi, tuna). Any tips of recommendations for guided trips?

Thanks
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Old 12-10-2023, 12:25 PM
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It’s been a long time since I was in my early 20s and lived on Tortola for months at a time, but I fished it quite a bit - free food! Walk and wade in the grass flats and fish the open sand holes for bones. Bring your goggles and build a simple snare stick, (just an 4/5’ stick and a wire loop) and you can snare little spiny lobsters that live under the grass flats where the ‘turf’ edges spill onto the sand holes. Look for their long antenna sticking out. If wading the reef edges, make sure you have good wading shoes - the black-spined urchins are common and the coral is very sharp - mind the ‘fire coral’ in deeper water if snorkelling/diving. You will rub coral with your line - choose a good running line and as long a wire leader as you can manage. There’s lots of barracuda, so gloves are a must- also if you stumble, you can catch yourself without cutting up your hands on the coral. For some reason, coral cuts seem to take a long time to heal. I’ve used those plastic ‘fish grip’ lock pliers on everything up to 4’ sharks, so I don’t have to tear them up using steel pliers when releasing. They’re cheap, light in your luggage and don’t get attention in airport x-ray scanners … On steep drop-offs you might also hook up parrotfish. Lots of them - and big ones too! Near the airport, where the access road crosses a narrow channel, there used to be some very big ‘cuda’, - and pairs of them would often follow me as I snorkelled along reefs, while snaring larger lobsters hiding in coral caves.They used me to flush out prey fish, and would dart in quite close to me to grab them. They swim with their mouths hanging open and teeth gleaming! Don’t tempt them with flashy rings or shiny diving watch-bands! If you’re getting frustrated, smash a couple of winkles from low-tide rocks and tip your fly with a little bait! Winkles are tough and stay on the hook well. Or, smash a small land hermit crab’s shell and hook on a live ‘naked’ hermit crab! I never saw permit in the shallow flats I was in, and I could never afford fishing charters in those days, so I never got off-shore to chase mahi-mahi or other blue-water fish. Fish, lobster and even small octopus supplemented my mainly chicken protein diet - beef and pork was far too expensive! I even once tried one of the feral goat kids that wander everywhere - once! There weren’t any species/size/catch limit regulations then, or license required that I knew off. That’s probably changed now. Hope that’s a help!
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Old 12-10-2023, 12:52 PM
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How to use a snare for lobster: Take a 4 to 5 ‘ very skinny stick. Just a little sturdier than a willow whip. Wrap light, flexible wire - but still stiff enough to hold a shape - tightly, and well attached around one end, forming a 4” round ‘slip loop’ extending perpendicular from the stick. - like a garden hoe. You may wish to attach a leash handle to the other end, to let the snare trail behind you when snorkelling, or to not lose your grip when a larger, snared lobster takes off on you!
Lobsters like to back into their holes, with only their very long antenna sticking out into open water, ready to zip further back if threatened. You MUST be right in the water to catch them, grabbing them by the tips of their antenna will only break them off. Spiny lobsters have no claws, but are covered in sharp spines - if you grab them by their carapace and your grip shifts - you’ll regret it!

Slack tide is best and grass flats with sand patches or edge.

Using mask & snorkel, get right down, level with the lobster lair - often this means lying on the sandy bottom. I float well, so I’d carry rocks in my pockets to help! The lobster will face directly at you. Slowly maneuver the snare loop alongside the lobster, when you think you’re far enough back to be clear of the tail, twist your stick, so that the open loop is directly behind the lobster’s tail. Then move in closer, and the lobster will retreat backwards. When you think its tail has passed through the loop, give the stick a slight tug. The lobster will attempt to swim, flipping/flapping its tail = which will only tighten the snare noose. Let it play out a little, put on your gloves, loosen your noose, slide him out and pop him into your bag (used onion bag).

I’ve caught some that are big enough to tow me through the water - but they were from deeper reefs, where you can’t lie on the coral, and flushing surf can make it difficult. Some pros I met free-dive to 35 ft and stay under for a long time to get the big ones for the restaurants, but that was well beyond my abilities. I mainly hit up the grass flat nurseries - my biggest was about 5 lbs. Octopus can be hard to keep in the noose - but with light wire, it can be done.
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