BVI’s 2024 – Fly Fishing and Trolling in the BVI’s

1st – 7th Day Fly Fishing – Feb 1-7, 2024

Five guys on a sailboat in the British Virgin Islands with focus on fishing for a solid week! We did both trolling while we were underway and fly fishing off the boat while we were anchored. We also had a special treat of fishing with a guide in Anegada. It was a great time, and here are some highlights:

Right off the bat, the trolling proved productive. My brother agreed to take us out into deep water the first day and before we knew it, we had our first fish onboard. A very nice Wahoo!

Next up as we got out into the deeper blue water, I managed a nice sized blue runner, and then Elijah got the fish of the day as we were headed toward the mooring for the first nght, a nice sized black tuna! Sashimi was in our future!

So to summarize, the wahoo was dinner that night and the tuna made several carpaccio and sashimi appetizers! Yum!

There were a few nights where we had tarpon off the back of the boat when we turned on the underwater light. There were other trips previously where I experienced this, but except for one grab, I struggled to get eats. After reading some blog posts, I realized these tarpon were eating small glass minnows and they were really picky about size and color. The gummy minnow was the fly of choice, but I tied a versiion using white EP fibers and crystal flash and a very strong gamakatsu hook.

Elijah was the first to land a tarpon, using the gummy minnow. Shot of him holding the Silver King below:

Next up we had an amazing day at Anegada with our guide Kevin Faulkner of Anegada Fly Fishing. We made it challenging for him as we had 4 fly fishers on his skiff and six rods between us. We ended up motoring several miles to get to the bonefish flat and were fortunate to find tarpon working the mangroves on the incoming tide. We found bones almost immediately but had trouble getting an eat. Elijah and I decided to get out and work the flat closer to shore, as the lesser experienced salt water fly fishers, Steve and Jared remained in the boat and continued to utlize Kevin’s keen eye as a fish spotter. We wading quite aways and didn’t see or spook any bones. I came across a single permit, but did not have a crab handy and he refused my bonefish fly.

As the tide changed, we noticed that tarpon were beginning to work the mangroves close to the shoreline. Kevin did a nice job getting us close. We had the gummy minnows on our 9wts and were ready. Elijah had a good shot or two and actually got an eat, but did not get the hookset. I had a great shot at three fish crusing left to right but misread the distance and ended up caught up in the mangroves. Steve then took a turn with my rod and made some good shots but did not get the eat.

In the end, a few smaller fish were caught, small jacks, ladyfish, etc, but no bonefish or tarpon.

To net out the day, I can’t emphasize enough what a great guide Kevin is. He is a wonderful teacher and shared a lot of info and stories about Anegada, his home.

Our next day was Sunday at Jost Van Dyke. We trolled on the way over and had some great eats, but lost all the bigger fish. A couple we suspected were big barracuda as our lines were retrieved with the leaders slashed by razor sharp teeth. The exciting moment for me was a giant fish which we suspect was a big billfish of some sort as it peeled off over 200yds of line and then did a tail walk. I thought it might be a sailfish or small marlin. Immediately after, it broke me off with a big head shake, snapping my 40lb fluorocarbon leader. Lesson learned, go heavier on everything as it relates to the trolling gear. I plan to re-rig everything before my next trip.

Jost Van Dyke is a fun place! We took a little break from fishing and snorkeled in and visited Foxy’s and the Soggy Dollar. which is aptly named and all of our dollars got wet!

That night was going to be my last chance at a tarpon. Elijah was not only supportive, but very helpful. The first two eats I got resulted in two lost fish – one bent hook on the gummy minnow on the first fish and totally abraded bite tippet on the second one. These were both big fish.

After tying on new 40lb bite tippet, I also went with the glass minnow imitation that i tied. To my surprise, it worked almost immediately. These fish were working deeper and the dumbbell eyes I used got me to the proper depth fast. Finally I got a good eat and the proper hook set and it was “fishi on”! I knew the gamakatsu hook was going to hold without bending. After a 12 minute battle, I was able to tire the fish and with Elijah’s help, land it. We estimate the fish was 40+ inches and 30+lbs. It was a beast and even with several solid attempts, Elijah was unable to lift the fish up onto the step. No good photos, but a couple of shot videos of the fight.

Feeling good about getting my first tarpon to hand! However, I don’t feel that I can check it off my bucket list just yet. The tarpon off the back of the boat are just cruising fish, attracted to the light. I still need to get one or perhaps many more, in a more natural setting, like in the mangroves, or rolling near shore. However, I also don’t want to diminish this experience! After losing fish to bent hooks that came with store bought gummy minnows, it was very satisfying to set the hook and land a fish on a fly I tied! With tarpon, I can’t emphasize enough, the importance of using a very sharp, strong hook! Also, it is fair to mention that Elijah and I were both fishing the same set-up for tarpon – Scott Meridian 9wts outfitted with Galvan Torque reels. Both the rods and reels performed superbly!

All in all it was a really great trip! We did run into some heavy weather right toward the end and our skipper, who is also my brother made the decision to spend our last day at the dock, as we had very heavy rains that day.

Here is our captain:

and our crew as we prepared to snorkel the famous Indians:

And our drone shot of all: