Custom Fishing BVI Yacht Charters
Want to do some Custom Fishing BVI on your charter yacht? Here is some information on how to get that Mahi Mahi or Wahoo.
Can I troll in the BVI?
A line behind a yacht while sailing the Virgin Islands can be very productive. Rigged ballyhoo with or without plastic skirts always seems to be the right choice.
What are the best Jigs to use?
Feather jigs in either a blue and white or green and yellow color seem to work well.
Silver spoons have their place too.
Bibbed lures like Rapala’s work well on days when the wind has you sailing along at a slow pace.
Take a selection of lures, hooks, trace wire, and ball bearing swivels with you.
Do get ball bearing ones for trolling. They are much more expensive than the regular swivels; however, they still work while under load.
How fast should I sail or motor to catch fish?
Locations and speed, as well as current weather conditions, have a significant impact on catching anything.
Trolling at slow speeds (2 or 3 knots) around headlands close to the rocky outcrops could bag you mackerel, jacks, larger yellowtail snapper, and barracuda.
Look at your charts or ask your charter captain to take you over bottom features like Tow Rock, or if you are sailing back from Anegada to Jost Van Dyke, go over the wreck of the Chikuzen, or maybe past the pinnacles off Brewers Bay.
Any type of bottom structure is worth trolling over. Remember, 99% of the fish are in 1% of the ocean!
Out in the open water, out of the channel, larger game fish are more likely. In the open sea, troll at a higher speed somewhere between 5 and 7 knots.
Trolling on the way to Anegada can snag you Mackerel, Mahi Mahi or Tuna. Yes, and Barracuda too.
For the more adventurous, you could head out to either the South Drop or North Drop for Mahi Mahi, Wahoo, Tuna, Sailfish, and Marlin.
When the weather conditions get up, there always seems to be a better chance of snagging larger fish in the channel.
During bad weather, I have had Mahi Mahi as far as around the Indians / Pelican island area. Blackfin Tuna inside of Peter island. Wahoo between St John and West End.
Bonito tuna is always around and will take small feathers or chrome slugs that are the same size as silversides, and that are moving at high-speed, skipping the surface.
Finding Schools of Fish
You can always locate the schools by the bird activity.
Popular places are north and west of Guana island or just outside Steele point (West End Tortola) heading towards Jost Van Dyke.
Be prepared when you go to the islands. Trolling from a sailboat while sailing, you will need substantial gear — at least 35 pounds.
While sailing, you cannot always stop the boat straight away. If you hook a large fish, you will need gear heavy enough that you can tow the fish along while you are attempting to slow the boat down.
If you are motoring, then it’s not a big deal as you can stop at any time. We would often troll 15-pound gear while motoring.
What should I do if I get twists in my fishing line?
While trolling, the lure or bait is continually pulling on the swivel; regular ones will not turn, this means that if your lure is spinning, it will put hundreds if not thousands of twists in your line.
You will not notice this at first while trolling, but the moment you go to reel in your line, and the line slackens, it will twist up badly.
If you do get a twisted line, carefully reel in all the lines, being very cautious not to let the line get any slack while it’s going on the reel.
When it’s fully wound in, cut off any gear you have on the end and then slowly let the bare line back out again while still sailing, making sure the line does not go overboard.
Let out a bit more line than you had out when it got twisted. The twists will remove themselves with the water going by.
What about Bottom Fishing on my Custom Fishing BVI Charter?
Bottom fishing can be productive; however, any reef fish caught within some regions of the channel or its anchorages should not be consumed due to the risk of ciguatera.
Almost any sort of cut bait will work, as will live baits. Yellowtail snappers and jacks are very common catches. Small live baits at night time will score horse eyed jacks.
If at night you hear fish jumping just outside of the area illuminated by the lights of your boat, It’s probably horse eyed jacks.
Either bottom fish with bait or they will also attack bib type lures cast out beyond the light and cranked home fast.
Larger live baits that are suspended 15 feet below a floating balloon can give some fun with Caribbean reef sharks. Large sloppy dead bait on the bottom will get you nurse sharks. Any of the deeper anchorages will work.
North Sound on Virgin Gorda is particularly suitable for small baby blacktip sharks, up to about 2 feet in length. Make sure you anchor a long way from any other boats or moorings because of snags.
When you hook one, they will take several hundred yards of line on their first run before you can stop them. Then once you have halted them, you will not be able to turn them for some time.
Your fish will be circling your boat at several hundred yards out. If there is anything out there that your line can touch, it is an instant twang!
Two perfect places for more abundant shark fishing at night are anchored in 40 or 50 feet of water at Mountain Point Virgin Gorda and anchored in 70 plus feet a few hundred yards out from the caves on Norman Island out towards Angelfish reef.
In the last few years, the British Virgin Islands has become a “Shark Protected” country, and now you should not target them.
Want to know about fishing for Tarpon? Read our article (opens in a new browser)
Do I require a fishing license in the Virgin Islands?
You do NOT require one in the US Virgin Islands, and spearfishing is legal there.
You do not require one if you are fishing from shore, or under 18 in the British Virgin Islands.
If you are an adult on a charter boat, you DO require a license. The yacht you are booking also needs to have a fishing license for the ship. Not all yacht fish on board.
A temporary Pleasure Fishing License costs $60 per person for persons aged 18 years and older. Each person has to complete an application form and provide a legible color copy of their identification, either a passport or driver’s license. Temporary pleasure fishing licenses are valid for 30 days.
Individuals can complete a credit card authorization form for payment and submit it for processing. We only accept Visa and MasterCard. We can process temporary Pleasure Fishing Licenses and send them via email.
- Conservation and Fisheries Department
- Government of the British Virgin Islands
- P.O. Box 3323
- Road Town, Tortola
- The British Virgin Islands, VG1110Tel: (284) 468 2700 or 468 3701 ext 2700
- Fax: (284) 468 2781website: www.bvicfd.org email: cfd@gov.vg
If you are booking through the H2O Luxury Yachts Team, we will happily obtain your fishing license, whether on a bareboat or crewed charter. The cost is generally around $60.00 per person.
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