St. Maarten fishing

[Fish Junkie]

Can anyone share any insight into the fishing scene in St. Maarten? Any experiences, reccomendations for charters? Areas to wade or shorefish? Figured I would ask here first before going onto saltwater forums.....

[Fish Junkie]

TTT

[FSNmachine]

I wish I could help you. I have been there but only as a day stop on a cruise. Took a shore excursion for some snorkeling. As a result having seen under the water down there I conclude there has to be some great fishing.

[BlueEye]

Fish Junkie - my brother will be heading down there as well for his honey moon in May of this year. He is also interested in a possible charter but any recommendations would help us as well. If you are going down there sometime after May then I can have him post a report on his experiences.

[Legacy]

Im headed there in April so any info would be great!

[Fish Junkie]

My wife decided that that is what she wants for her 40th B-day this year....trip to an island we haven't been to. We will be renting a house for a week down there in mid-August.

Lets keep this topic going guys and share what info we might come across.

Gambler's father told me about some salt ponds on the island that were chuck full of 10-20 lb. immature tarpon that were willing to bite for some light gear action. I will try and get specifics from him. Other than that, I don't travel without my standard salt gear of 8-20 lb. inshore travel rods/spin reels and some standard baits for cuda's, jacks, and some of the other 'usual suspects'. We will be with some family and friends so talk of an offshore charter has been discussed.

Will post and additional info I might find...

[TytLynz]

I was surfing online and found that you guys were having a discussion about fishing on St. Maarten so I took the liberty to join your site and give you some information.

First let me state that I am a local fishing guide that does surf/wade and onshore excursions. I have spent the majority of my 47 years fishing St. Maarten waters. So I think my comments can be trusted. If not I'll buy you a beer when you get here.

The island is best know for deep-sea fishing. At the particular moment the boats are coming in with wahoo with a small showing of mahi-mahi. Over the next few weeks the wahoo will be replaced by mahi-mahi as their season is fast approaching and should be in full swing by the end of the month.

The lesser known inshore fishery on St. Maarten is shifting into its' spring activity although strong winds and rough inshore waters still have the fish a little uncomfortable.

Sunday morning I had a client pull out on me but I decided to go out anyway. I loaded my livewell with sardines and headed to one of my favorite spots

Although the surf was pounding the fish were there. Within an hour and a half I landed a total of seven fish; one lady fish, one jack crevalle and 5 snook largest estimated at 8 kilos.

So I think that gives you an idea of some of the fishing on St. Maarten.

We look forward to having you guys here.

Tyt Lynz

P.S. This is one of my buddies from just south of your border on his trip here with me last year.

[Fish Junkie]

Thanks for the info and reply Tyt Lynz. Feel free to keep us updated on the seasonal fish movements etc. Always nice to see fishing posts from other parts of the country/world. You are right, mostly what you hear about is the offshore fishing, but I am excited to hear that there sounds like a good inshore fishery that like you say is lesser known....