Fishing in the British Virgin Islands takes many forms. BVI Fishing includes drop 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 of the crewed charter yachts and most bare boats pay for the annual registration to be a Registered vessel.  Most angling is done by people who are aboard a charter yacht that they have chartered for the week. Some of the charter yachts even specialize in this and it certainly is a great bonding time for families.

Fishing in the British Virgin Islands maybe the reels will go off while you are having lunch!
Fishing in the British Virgin Islands maybe the reels will go off while you are having lunch!

We have organized many charters based around fishing. Anything 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 deep water sports fishing for Marlin, Wahoo Dolphin, and Tuna.

INQUIRE HERE!

We have learned a lot after 20+ years of angling in the British Virgin Islands and running a charter yacht. I will pass on 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 either deep-sea fishing for large game fish or shallow water angling for bonefish or tarpon with fly gear. Most of the serious ones can be found out of 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. Prior to 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 of 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 which in turn attract large pelagic fish. This makes the north drop one of the premier billfish areas in the world.

Fishing on Charter Yacht Alternate Latitude.

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!     

Fishing in the British Virgin Islands, reels over the back deck bar on One Net
Fishing in the British Virgin Islands, reels over the back deck bar on One Net

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 huge 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 Sport Boats that go Deep Sea Fishing.

 Wonderful luxury yachts to consider for the above activities would be Viramar Soterion Great yachts if you are looking for sailing catamarans. 

Ben is a particularly well set up and keen fisherperson on Soterion. Tyler on Viramar not only used to own a fishing boat but also is a keen spearfisher person.

Fishing in the British Virgin Islands sailing charter. Your view afterwards
Fishing in the British Virgin Islands. Your view afterward. BVI Fishing Yacht One Net

In the British Virgin Islands (BVI), your relaxing view after you have finished fishing on ONE-NET

You may also be interested in this blog post on customized Fishing Charters

Keen Fishermen without any local additional knowledge on their bareboat charter may be interested in our blog post on Ciguatera Poisoning.

Contact us to book your charter!

Did you know that we also represent the bareboat fleets in the Virgin Islands?

We can help you PLAN your trip and your fishing on any type of 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)