By Capt. Robby Barradale
Hello, fellow fisherpeople! Last week Mrs. Capt. Robby and I flew to Miami where we hooked up with her brother Ray and his wife Lisa, then we all jumped on a plane to St. Thomas. At the airport we checked in at the Westin Lounge where the nice people took care of our luggage and transported us to the ferry for the short ride to the resort on St. John. We had arrived at a tropical paradise and instantly went into “vacation mode!” The lush landscaping, clear waters, clean beach, pool, great rooms, and of course the “welcome cocktail” all combined to set the tone for the week, which was basically to relax and have fun. During our stay we made day trips to Cruz Bay, Red Hook, and area beaches as well as the obligatory sunset cruise on the big sailing catamaran, but enough of that, you guys want to know about the fishing, right?
Those of you who know me know that if I am going anyplace where there is water a fishing rod is going with me, and many years ago I had purchased one at KMart, a telescopic rod that collapsed from 8 feet down to 2 feet, perfect for traveling! (I think it cost about $14.99 and I have beat it up badly but still it won’t break.) I only fished the resort beach for about an hour a day before retreating from the heat and found small yellowtail and mangrove snappers along with an occasional jack crevalle would avidly strike a small teaser (fly) rigged 2 feet above a jig. After much experimentation the fish determined that the best retrieve was a straight and fast one, similar to jigging bluefish, and though this was not what I would consider blitz fishing it was remarkably consistent. In the evenings we noticed a resident population of tarpon in the 50-70 pound class cruising along the dock but by then we were already dressed for dinner and our ladies were not going to let us get “fishy smelling,” so we left them unmolested.
On Thursday, Ray and I joined Karl Meyers from Oklahoma and Alison Brande, who had moved to St. John from Pennsylvania with her family a couple years ago and was in the process of obtaining her captains’ license to work on catamaran charters in the Virgin Islands. We had booked the “Mixed Bag” with Capt. Chris for a day of fishing and when we found out that Alison had never caught a fish we knew we were going to adjust that situation as soon as possible. We began trolling the purple hued 2000 foot depths in hopes of nailing some mahi or wahoo but, possibly due to the full moon, these species had lockjaw and would not bite. A few nice barracuda did decide to chew our offerings and Alison quickly became initiated into the ranks of fisherpeople! We switched tactics and pitched live baits over a 100 foot deep reef and enjoyed fast action with a mix of fish including bar and horse-eye jacks, big yellowtail, and a bunch of large triggerfish. In Jersey triggers are considered excellent table fare but in the islands these fish develop ciguatera poisoning which causes symptoms like nausea, vomiting, muscle aches, temporary paralysis, and hallucinations so we released these tough fighters. We did retain a big yellowtail which became dinner that evening and I was told that it was excellent. (I have to take the others’ word on this because, believe it or not, I don’t eat fish!)Â All in all it was a great day on the water and part of the fun of going to tropical places is meeting new people, and Karl and Alison were perfect boat company for our trip.
Before we wrap this up let’s touch on what has been happening locally. It appears that the day we left for vacation the stripers and blues showed up in Raritan Bay and have been providing steady action all week. Trolling bunker spoons and shad rigs is putting fish into the boat and jiggers are scoring with Swim Shads and Ava jigs, both with and without tails. Fly fishermen have also been nailing these fish with larger bunker or herring patterns drawing vicious strikes. A rule of thumb here is the prettier and more time consuming to tie pattern is most likely to get shredded by a nasty blue while the simple fly will probably attract a fat striper. Sea bass and porgies continue to please our bottom bouncers with cod a nice bonus on the deeper structures. I just got a call from a few friends that are on their way in from a good striper trip and it is time to meet them at the dock, so we’ll see you here next week. Till then, Hook Em Up!
