Fishing charters on St. Thomas, from Red Hook to Frenchtown

St. Thomas fishing charters from Red Hook and Compass Point

Five of the six boats work out of the East End. Ocean Surfari and Mixed Bag leave from American Yacht Harbor in Red Hook, Double Header from slips N24 and N25 at Sapphire Beach Resort and Marina, and Virgin Islands Sportfishing and Reel Livin' from Compass Point Marina. Capt Alvin leaves from Waypoints Marina in Frenchtown, the one boat on the harbor side of the island.

Red Hook is about half an hour from Charlotte Amalie or the Havensight dock; coming off a ship, the cruise port guide has the piers. Double Header and Capt Alvin pick up on St. Thomas and St. John, so ask before you drive.

What you catch off St. Thomas, and where

Offshore days run to one of two edges where the shelf falls away. The North Drop, north of the island in the open Atlantic, is known above all for blue marlin, with tuna, wahoo and mahi alongside; the South Drop, a few miles south, is the nearer ground, which Capt Alvin puts 10 to 15 minutes from his Frenchtown marina, for wahoo, yellowfin and blackfin tuna, mahi and sailfish.

Inshore it is kingfish, barracuda, tarpon, bonito, jacks, yellowtail snapper and grouper around the cays, lagoons and reefs, a few minutes from the dock and within sight of land, so a short trip is mostly fishing. Capt Alvin calls October through December the peak of the wahoo season, with the biggest fish into mid-January, and spring the mahi run; ask the captain what is running the week you come.

Inshore or deep sea fishing off St. Thomas

Inshore is reef and bottom fishing close to the island; Ocean Surfari's inshore bottom fishing works reefs in 60 to 130 feet of water and sells by the seat, $210 a person for four or more. Offshore, the deep sea fishing St. Thomas is known for, is trolling for tuna, wahoo, mahi and marlin, and the longest days run ten hours: $1,699 with Ocean Surfari, and $1,700 to $2,000 for Double Header's marlin trip, by boat size.

Ocean Surfari says its captains choose inshore or offshore on the day by the weather, and Mixed Bag puts the customary tip at 15 to 20 percent. Capt Alvin's boat carries its own tackle and two live-bait systems, and casting gear inshore for anyone who would rather throw lures; ask any other captain what is aboard. For children or anyone unsure of the sea, inshore is the gentler morning, in sheltered water near land; the run to the North Drop crosses open ocean. From the other island, the boats are on fishing charters from St. John.

Licenses and catch rules for St. Thomas anglers

A charter guest needs no fishing license of their own. The Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR), through its Division of Fish and Wildlife, defines recreational fishing as fishing where no catch is sold, traded or bartered, and bars pots, traps and seines. It asks for a voluntary catch report after each trip, on its online form. DPNR's angler pages list no season or size limit aimed at a charter guest, and some species do have closed seasons, so the captain decides what goes in the box.