St. Kitts Fishing
Fishing St. Kitts: A Historical Island Paradise with Growing Fishing Opportunities
St. Kitts is a tropical island location known for its natural marvels, including volcanic imprints, forests, and lagoons. It’s a popular vacation destination in the Caribbean and many who stay also visit the nearby and smaller island of Nevis. Both of these islands are known to be some of the best opportunities to scuba dive and snorkel in the world.
Saint Kitts, also formally known as Saint Christopher Island, is part of the West Indies on the edge of the Caribbean and Atlantic Oceans. It is actually part of a singular country with the nearby island of Nevis and is known as the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis.
Saint Kitts has a population of more than 35,000 and speaks English as its primary language. Basseterre is the capital and is a large port where many fishing charters and fishing guides make their home base.
St. Kitts has a long history of colonization by nations such as Spain, France, and Britain. It was an island that was fought over for hundreds of years because it was a huge asset to whoever controlled it.
During the Revolutionary War, St. Kitts was the richest British colony in the Caribbean. The British spent 200 years as sole owners of the island of St. Kitts from 1783 to 1983, when St. Kitts gained their independence and, for that reason, you can see plenty of British influences throughout the island.
The most popular fishing done on the island is offshore fishing, of course, although there are some great fishing times to be had inshore at brackish lagoons as well. Many of the local restaurants catch their fish fresh, and should you ever talk to anyone who fishes for the restaurants, it’s likely that they have some great fishing advice.
The island has made an effort to protect its reefs and build artificial reefs, which have also helped bring more fish back to the island and its surrounding waters. Overall, St. Kitts is a small island with a large history and great potential for some of the best fishing you’ve had.
Offshore, Inshore, and Even Fly Fishing
The hype of St. Kitts is usually offshore fishing, but we’ll start by talking about the great fishing that might be in the backyard of your hotel or rental, and that’s the inshore fishing. St. Kitts is home to many lagoons where the tarpon fishing is ripe. Many have also reported that these same lagoons or “salt ponds” are good for catching snook.
Many recommend using a fly pole on these lagoons with lures such as a Tarpon Screamer or a Gurgler, that are meant for these fish. If you want to choose a safe color for any type of weather or cloud color, stick to natural colors for the flies, such as brown, white or black. Be careful when you’re fishing these ponds that you’re aware of who owns them and if you’re allowed to fish there.
If you’re looking to fish out on the open water in St. Kitts, there are certainly many great charter companies to choose from that can give you the time of your life. The fish around St. Kitts are some of the best deep-sea varieties, including tuna, wahoo, mahi-mahi, kingfish, shark, and more.
You can fish for wahoo and tuna in the fall and winter months, mahi-mahi and marlin are at their best during the summer. Unless you’re one of the few who have managed to secure a boat of your own on the island, you’ll most likely be fishing via charter, and from there you just have to find a reputable charter and they’ll know the water best.
You won’t need to worry about what to bait or line to use, they’ll have that prepared. Many use plastic skirts trolled in areas that are anywhere from 200 to 400 feet deep. They’ll also use ballyhoo and diving plugs. Many have reported that Sandy Point is a great location for wahoo fishing, especially in late winter.
Trolling for wahoo generally is pretty fast if they’re biting, around 8 knots. Keep an eye out for large schools of baitfish, they’ll be given away by birds attacking them from the air. Troll through these schools with various baits and lures in an attempt to catch one of the fish that is undoubtedly feeding off the school of baitfish from the bottom.
Using an 80-pound test should suffice when fishing for fish such as tuna or mahi-mahi. The marlin may require much larger tackle, which your charter should already have handled for you.
It’s great news that St. Kitts has regained its fishing through efforts of conservation and revitalization because it hasn’t always been an amazing destination to fish, especially at the height of overfishing and reef decay. But now, each new day is a better day to fish St. Kitts than the last as conservation efforts bring more and more fish to the island.