Hi
Im fortunate enough to be going to St Lucia in October but does anyone know about the fishing there ? Is it worth me sticking a rod in my case or just stick to sun bathing ?

Thanks

Lee

Anyone ? Im assuming there is fly fishing in the carribbean as im sure they do it for bonefish although I could be wrong ?

Lee

I found this response on another forum ....


"...sorry to rain on the parade, but leave the rods and bring snokels and fins.
about 7-8 years back, my wife and i spent 3 weeks on st lucia.
there are NO fishing opportunities i could find. the fishing on st lucia is typical of what you find in all of the southern caribbean islands. TOTALLY FISHED OUT!
the locals have all but vacumed the waters clean of almost everything that swims.
also typical of islands in the area is the way they were formed. they are all volcanic in nature, so they literally rose from the sea. there are no flats or even many shallow areas where one can wade.

a word of caution. be careful on st lucia. high crime rate, and big time drug problem. both made worse by the extreme poverty in the cities.
don't go out at night, esp into castries or soufrierre unless accompanied by a "local" guide, or someone who talks the lingo down there. esp be careful of the friday night "jump up" festival in gros isle. locals feed the tourists spiked drinks, and the tourists wake up hours later to find themselves seperated from all their valuables and their $$$. don't go here unless accompanied by a local person who will look out for you.
attacks on tourists are all too common there, but are always hushed up by the ministry of tourism. if i were not 6'2", 250 pounds we would have been in some BIG TROUBLE one night. some locals "insisted" i buy the local ganja. when i declined, things got heated.
however, st lucia is a beautiful island, blessed with an abundant tropical rainforest. "

I hear Blackpool's nice in October.

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[I]"I still don't know why I fish or why other men fish, except that we like it and it makes us think and feel."[/I] Roderick L Haig-Brown

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Ha
Well thanks for that, I had no intention of venturing off our resort anyway as for what its costing Im gonna stay and enjoy the facilities there. I have seen on the net that there are some organised trips for deep see fishing which I want to sample, but as were right on the shore I wondered if it was worth having a few pulls off the beach.

Lee

Yes it's worth it. I did it in the Dominican Republic. Don't go expecting bonefish or anything like that. What I did was take a 6 wt trout outfit. Fished off the beach wading caught nothing with saltwater flies and caught some grey snappers with trout lures. It was brilliant wee fish just under a pound. I didn't catch many but caught the three times I went down. The only thing I will say is that the above post is correct the sea has been hoovered. This was confirmed by a girl who had dived just outside the hotel. Very little or no fish. You will get fish but not big and not many, but it is a great experience. The only thing is that you need to go down early as once the early morning jet lagged walkers get out and about they like to stand and watch you. Only problem is they stand behind you not realising you are more likely to hook them than a fish.

Hmmm, well I have been a few times and not experienced any local hostility, including doing the Friday night street party at Gros Islet................but I would always be cautious at night.

Apart from that the shore fishing is not great - you will catch pipe fish and small tropicals off the rocks at various places but water too deep for bones.

Have had two deep sea trips there and managed a 110ls marlin on the first one - there were five hookups in half an hour at one point. Second trip caught nothing but saw a spectacular "super pod" of about 100 dolphins.

For the $100 or so per head, the deep sea trip is worth a go.

Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

I was there last May and agree, dont take your rod, the fishing is none existent except in the sea.
Another thing you will find is the guys who hire you the sunbeds on the beach can also be very persistent in selling you class a and class b drugs so be warned!.There is lots of sugar cane grown on the island so I would recommend visiting the big very old rum distillery for cheap rum. Touring the island by coach with a guide is also a must, I've never seen so many pineapples growing in my life, amongst other things.
As mentioned before, the snorkelling is excellent, its the only place I have ever touched a turtle in the wild ( the locals are now banned from eating them !)......... but dont leave your clothes on the beach unattended.

Phil........

Cheers for that. I think Im going to go on one of the sea fishing charters as that should be a good experience. As for the locals I really dont want to wander off the resort if I can help it. Were staying at one of the Sandals places and it seems massive so shouldnt need to go out really. I think we'll do an exscursion theres a horseback one that my good lady fancies, so I guess we'll be doing that one !

Lee