St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Can’t get out on the water for the 45th USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament, set for August 4 to 6? No worries! Celebrate the summer marlin fishing season in the Virgin Islands on shore at MarlinFest. A fair, food competition and festival show is some of the fun. “MarlinFest is…
Sport fishing is a sport enjoyed around the globe. In the U.S., 46 million Americans or nearly 16 percent of the population ages 6 and older fishes for pleasure, according to the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation’s 2015 Special Report on Fishing. What’s more, angling for that big one isn’t an adult men’s only club….
On a Sunday in June 2016, we sailed our boat, Violet, out of Coral Bay, St John, USVI, for the last time. Looking back at the harbor we had moved to at the start of this adventure seven years before, I experienced an array of emotions, but the one that reigned above all was excitement….
St. Thomas angler Adrianne Baird Butler thought she had forgotten how to reel in a fish during her two-year hiatus from sports fishing following the birth of her daughter. Instead, the problem was that she had hooked into a whopper wahoo. Baird Butler’s 76.3-pound wahoo earned her not only the Largest Wahoo and Best Lady…
Catch a whopper dolphin (mahi-mahi) over 55-pounds and win $25,000 cash! This is the top prize in the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club’s (VIGFC) 21st Annual Dolphin Derby, sponsored by Budget Car and Truck Rental and set for April 24, 2016. “Fifty-five-pound dolphin have been caught here in waters surrounding the U.S. Virgin Islands, just…
St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Go fish! The July Open Kid’s Tournament, hosted by the Virgin Islands Game Fishing Club (VIGFC), will take place on July 6 at the IGY American Yacht Harbor (AYH) Marina in Red Hook, St. Thomas. Participation is open to all kids 12 years of age and under. The first 200…
There are two seasons at the American Yacht Harbor Marina (AYH), a 126-slip Island Global Yachting (IGY)-operated facility in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Busy and busier. That’s just the way Gary Hodge, manager extraordinaire at the marina’s fuel dock for over 20 years, likes it. Different from many destinations where seasonality creates downtime, Hodge…
Luck and talent has landed Mike Lemon coveted captain positions aboard some of the best sports fishing boats. As a result, it’s made for a career that’s defined by catches. In fact, you could say Lemon is one of the ‘catchingest’ captains in the Caribbean when it comes to blue marlin. “I’ve taken advantage of…
There is officially only one town on St. Thomas: Charlotte Amalie. The rest of the island is divided up into ‘estates’ dating back to the sugar era. Yet, thanks to the proximity of the British Virgin Islands for sailing and the North Drop for sports fishing, Estate Red Hook, or ‘Red Hook’ for short, has…
The right place at the right time proved lucky for St. Thomas angler Vince Bryan. When the official weigh-in was complete at the 24th Annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament, held July 15 at Hull Bay Hideaway and in honor and memory of Kimberley Brin, it was Bryan who reeled in the Largest Kingfish, a 34.43-pounder,…