Need advice..on Antigua

**Nick c** · 09-12-2006, 11:42

Ok ..here's a challenge ..if you wanted to come to fish for salmon in Scotland I reckon I could put the entire 'kit' together for less than $400 and put you in the right place at the right time(without Sage,Hardys or Loomis!)
Anyone going to do the same for me? and put me near a Tarpon..just one!
We are staying just south west of St Johns (Antigua) Dec.28-Jan8th.
I have some gear but basic suggestions would be great
Regards Nick

**neonmarco** · 16-12-2006, 20:27

Is there Tarpon in Antigua?

**RayStan** · 18-12-2006, 13:42

A quick answer for Neonmarco - yes !!!

I have seen many tarpon in antigua.

A quick question for Nick - c - what resort are you staying in in Antigua?

**roth1214** · 12-05-2008, 22:49

yes there r landlocked tarpon in antigua near jolly beach

**marktheshark** · 17-05-2008, 21:36

Hullo matey
When I was there a few years back, McKinnon's salt ponds were full of baby tarpon. They're a large, shallow brackish lake just to the north-east of St Johns, towards Dickinson Bay. I fished by the casino, tried a fly first but there was a lot of weed and snot in the water that kept clogging fly and line. Changed to spinning rod, using a half-filled transparent bubble float spun very fast and an epoxy fry fly trailed 2ft behind in the splash; had a ball, caught a dozen, to 6lb, mad crazy fish that were a hoot on a 7ft spinning rod. They all came to life once the sun had gone into cloud, and the bigger fish came at dusk.
If you've got to try fly, poppers might work (the fish need stirring up first) but as I said, the water was quite organic. Antigua is full of these brackish ponds, so there are probly more places like these.
There are tarpon in Jolly Harbour too, especially when the fishing boats come back and clean their catch at the moorings; and some of these fish are quite large, but they're canny too and the one I hooked there dived straight into the pilings and broke me off very easily. I've also seen, but not caught, 30lb-plus fish rolling in the inlet in front of Dian Bay. Finally, one of the boat skippers told me that some of the best, and least well-known tarpon fishing in the Caribbean, was among the coral reefs off of Barbuda.
Hope that helps. I took my fly rods every time I went to Antigua and caught nothing with them, but just about every other method worked for snapper, tarpon, barracuda and bonefish inshore. Offshore, the light boat fishing is good between the island and Montserrat: plenty of tuna, barracuda, kingfish, dorado and occasionally wahoo and marlin.
Good luck and have a good time; it's a lovely island with great people.
Mark