Fishing in the British Virgin Islands takes many forms. BVI Fishing includes dropping a line in the water from a dock or rocky outcrop. Others are way more serious looking to charter large professional game fishing charter boats. Most of us, however, fall somewhere in between.
There are no restrictions if you are fishing standing on the land. If you are standing on a boat the boat has to be registered as a fishing boat through the Department of Conservation and Fisheries. Also, the individual if 18 years of age or older is required to hold a Fishing license.
H2O Fishing experts can help you with any scenario.
Fishing in the British Virgin Islands on a Crewed Yacht
Many crewed charter yachts and most bare boats pay for the annual registration to be Registered vessels. Most angling is done by people aboard a charter yacht that they have chartered for the week. Some charter yachts even specialize in this, which is a great bonding time for families.
We have organized many charters based around fishing. They range from making sure the yacht has the right fishing gear to a week based strictly on fishing. It could be just the boys on the back deck all week long. It could be saltwater fly fishing for Tarpon and Bonefish or deepwater sports fishing for Marlin, Wahoo Dolphin, and Tuna.
We have learned a lot after 20+ years of angling in the British Virgin Islands and running a charter yacht. I will share what I have learned about how, when, and where to fish in a series of updated blog posts.
There are a few day boats available to charter locally. They go deep-sea fishing for large game fish or shallow water angling for bonefish or tarpon with fly gear. The most serious ones can be found in Red Hook in the US Virgin Islands.
Why is the Virgin Islands good for fishing?
The Caribbean islands were formed by tectonic plate movement along the edge of the Caribbean plate. This movement caused volcanic activity and landmass upheavals. Before this plate movement, the water here would have been thousands of feet deep. The shifting plates pushed up the islands and created shallow water around the islands.
Going just a few miles out, you come to the north and south drops, where the water drops from a couple hundred feet deep to thousands of feet deep.
These areas have large upwelling currents that bring nutrients to the surface. These nutrients attract large schools of baitfish, attracting sizeable pelagic fish. This makes the north drop one of the premier billfish areas in the world.
It is ILLEGAL to catch the following during Closed Seasons. Not only is it illegal, but spearfishing is illegal for anyone other than locals in the British Virgin Islands. Lobster and Conch can only be taken by locals in the open season.
- 1st January – 31st March Margate 1st January – 31st March
- Red Hind 1st March – 31st May
- Nassau Grouper 31st July – 31st October
- Lobster 15th August – 31st October
- Queen Conch 15th August – 31st October Whelk
We have yachts set up for your perfect charter vacation!
What about Bare Boat Fishing?
Perhaps you are wanting to take out a bareboat yourself or still bareboat and do a serious fishing charter?
Depending upon where you go, some boats work better than others. Many will head straight to the British Virgin Islands because of the vast variety of boats available. Another reason is the ease of navigation and a plethora of overnight anchorages. These anchorages offer great fishing off the back of the boat.
You can catch anything off the back of a sailboat that you can off the back of a power yacht. However, many sailboats have trouble maintaining the speed required for these deepwater speedsters even under power.
In the British Virgin Islands, the famous north drop can be reached by both power and sail vessels.
Fishing Trips in the US Virgin Islands
Grab your rods, spearfishing equipment, and anything else you like! No license is needed while you are chartering around St Thomas! While on your charter, we can arrange for you to go fishing with one of the sports boats that go Deep Sea Fishing.
You may also be interested in this blog post on customized Fishing Charters.
Keen Fishermen without any additional local knowledge about their bareboat charter may be interested in our blog post on Ciguatera Poisoning.
Contact us to book your charter!
We can help you plan your trip and go fishing on any vessel you want!
Get in touch with Kerry at H2O Luxury Yachts today. Let’s get you out on the water and do some BVI Fishing
Ph + 1-954-271-3005 (USA)