Fishing Report – Tortola, BVI

The fishing here in February has been top notch thus far. Large tarpon have been moving in at night on the east end of Tortola and have been feeding aggressively. While temperatures drop to the north, the weather here has remained wonderful as usual. If you need a getaway for the winter and want to catch big fish, this is the place to be right now. Enjoy the report!

Tarpon Fishing Report – Tortola, BVI

The last week of fishing has been very good here in Tortola. I have been able to put a little more time into my efforts and I have been getting results. The weather is pleasantly cool these days, about par for this time of year. The month of January ended with two tarpon, and so far February promises to be much more productive. I spent several hours fishing last night and hooked into a lot of fish but only managed to land one. It was a beauty… (more)

Tortola, BVI Fishing Report – February 1st 2006

Recently fishing conditions in the British Virgin Island have been tough. High winds have been causing an increase in wave size. We have been hit with a series of small craft advisories but the weather seems to be getting better. Despite the conditions I have made a few trips down to the east end of Tortola to try my luck with the tarpon. As each day passes my confidence grows and as a result I have been hooking into more fish.

I recently fished with a fellow named Mike who was visiting briefly from the United States with his son Max. He introduced me to a few lures that he claimed worked well for tarpon but I was skeptical. We both fished live bait majority of the two nights we fished together and hooked in to several fish but I was the only one who managed to bring in a tarpon. It was nice having the company of someone who has experience catching tarpon and I was able to develop some tactics that have been producing ever since. I certainly became a believer in using artificial baits for tarpon.

I’m currently waiting on Mike to email over the photos of the tarpon from the other day but here are a few pictures from last night. I caught this good sized jack about twenty minutes after loosing a good sized tarpon. Both fish hit artificial baits, and unfortunately the jack completely engulfed my lure before I had the chance to take pictures of it.

First Report of 2006

I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to go fishing quite a bit lately. I even spent Christmas fishing with my girlfriend in Anegada, which you can expect to read about tomorrow night. Yesterday afternoon I decided to head out in search of tarpon on my own. No species of fish has ever been so elusive for me to catch as the tarpon. After spending around fifteen nights chasing the silver kings I knew it was just a matter of time before I landed one.

My rod bent over sharply as I set the hook. Line screamed off my reel as it made a run, and for a moment I thought it was a big jack, but then I heard a huge splash under the bridge and I knew it had to be a tarpon. I fought the fish as it pulled more line out under the bridge and made another jump. Every time I seemed to gain some ground reeling in my line, the mighty fish made another run. It made a third jump as I leaned over the rail of the bridge trying to get a look at the fish. My medium action rod was bent almost entirely in half and I had to reach my arms down as far as I could to prevent my line from rubbing against the concrete of the bridge below me.

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Happy Holidays from FishingFury!

The shore fishing in the British Islands is always exciting wether you are catching fish or not. During the day, the view is filled with breath taking colour in any direction you look. Crystal clear water means that you will be sighting fish before you cast. By night, anywhere street lights hit the water, especially bridges, will hold fish. I have spent many nights fishing off of the Queen Elizabeth bridge, which is the bridge that connects Tortola (the biggest island in the BVI) and Beef Island (home to the airport of Tortola)

The channel separating the two islands is home to numerous species of fish. By day you can watch jacks feet on small baitfish and if you are lucky you will see one of the channels biggest consitent residents, a five foot long barracuda. By the darkness of night the bridge area become a nightclub for tarpon. On any given day you can spot 10-20 tarpon lounging around the bridge. One would think this would make for an easy catch, but in my two months of fishing for them at night, they show little to no interest to lures, flies and live bait. I havent decided if they are just really smart fish, or extemely lazy.

For 2006, I will be keeping a log about the tarpon activity here in the BVI. To end 2005, I’ll be heading to Anegada with my girlfriend to take advantage of some of the best flats fishing in the world. Expect pictures, and enjoy your holidays.

Happy holidays everyone!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

While I was in Santa Cruz for Thanksgiving I made sure that I visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Though my choice of going the day after Thanksgiving was not the brightest one, I did have a great time and managed to take a few great photos despite the overwhelming crowds of children. All of the images here were taken with a Canon PowerShot SD550, and not my usual Canon PowerShot SD10 ELPH because I forgot the battery in Mexico.

Upon entering the aquarium the first thing you see is the awesome Kelp Forest exhibit complete with a large school of tiny fish, Leopard Sharks, and a Wolf Eel I couldn’t get a clear picture of. Be sure to check out the live kelp cam.

As you might expect there were more exciting and strange animals at every turn, like this Sheep Crab (pictured below). It wasn’t long before we started moving in to the deeper water inhabitants like the goliath grouper below, and huge yellowfin and bluefin Tuna. I wish I could have captured better images of the Tuna because there were easily a few over 500 pounds. As a fisherman seeing these beasts up close for the first time in my life I was unable to blink and had to be pulled away from the glass.

As we continued through the aquarium there were quite a few areas where you could pet and/or feed different species of fish, stingrays, sharks, and more. It was nearly impossible to get pictures in this area with all the children pushed up against the exibit and their parents close behind them. I did manage to break through their wall and snap two good images of the Yellowtail feeding, and the Shark petting exibits.

The Jellyfish were truely a highlight of the trip for me and that area of the aquarium was nearly empty of little children running about, screaming, and getting their oily fingerprints all over the glass. I was able to take my time getting high quality photos, and watch the jellies slowly waltz around the tanks. The layouts of the jellyfish exhibits and the lack of children made for a very relaxed environment.

The view of the Monterey Bay from the aquarium is just as amazing as everything you’d see inside with a few added bonuses. You can easily spot seals, turtles, and other marine wildlife with the provided (and free) telescopes located all around the observation deck. If you look closely at the last image blow you might notice something familiar. Not ringing a bell yet? Well the Monterey Bay Aquarium was where they shot portions of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and this is where they kept two Humpback Whales. You can watch a short clip from the making of the movie at the Monterey Bay Aquarium website.

I definitely want to go back to the aquarium when it’s not as busy, perhaps even write up a much more in depth article, but I don’t know when that may happen. Until then I’ll probably just watch the live webcams while I’m working.