Hi all,
I'm heading down to Aruba next week, has anyone had any experience fishing down there? Either from shore or charters? Open to any recommendations or ideas.
Thanks,
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Hi all,
I'm heading down to Aruba next week, has anyone had any experience fishing down there? Either from shore or charters? Open to any recommendations or ideas.
Thanks,
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What kind of fishing? Fly fishing?
I heard this guy was good but didn't use him when we went there several years ago .... back before our customers left the province.
http://www.flyfishingaruba.com/
Instead I decided to go deep sea fishing with the family, caught 1 wahoo before we had to head in 1/2 way through charter with everyone very seasick (even me which is unheard of). Think Lake Erie or St. Clair choppy waves (which don't bother me) ... but make them 6 to 10' high.
http://www.aruba.com/forum/f10/fishing-aruba-49753/
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic...uba-Aruba.html
Check out the area first then try fishing it first thing in the morning. I went down towards Malmok and the wreck and did try fly fishing from shore and got barracuda, pompano, ladyfish* and a red snapper. Bonefish .... I SAW BIG... I mean BIG bonefish but never had a chance to cast to them or spooked them. Most were so close to shore that I ruined my best chance at one by almost stepping on it when I went to step in the water, LITERALLY. Once the "tourists" are up put away the gear or find a guy going reef fishing.
* if you see ladyfish feeding, put on a smaller minnow fly and prepare to have fun. They aren't big, biggest was maybe 16" but think rainbow trout on triple espresso doing triple flips!
Make sure to have some thin wire leader if you want to cast a larger minnow fly for barracuda, they will cut 30lb floro better than your clippers will.
Thanks for the recommendations! I'm not planning to bring down any gear with me so Ill probably look to do some deep sea fishing, looks like there are plenty of charters but will check out what is going on when I get down there.
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Go to Canadian tire and grab a cheap travel rod or better yet a St Croix and cheap saltwater reel (or disposable freshwater, just sit it in the sink filled with water after use.) and take a few lures with you... you won't regret it. A couple wire leaders, a couple topwater walk the dog types lures (White rebels I have found the best) and a couple jigs. What part of the island are you staying? You will likely enjoy the reef fishing rather than the deep water unless you can put up with 3 hours of a jerky rollercoaster.
Awesome, you've convinced me! I've got an old telescopic rod and reel and will pack up a little kit to bring along. We are staying in Noord, not far from malmok beach and are renting a car so we can explore the island.
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Good Luck.
I got looking for a picture of the wreck I was talking about. Better yet, you can see the flats in this one. The bonefish I almost stepped on was along there in about 8" of water and I saw ones that probably were over 5lbs less than 5' from shore.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDtRJm4Hnn0
Make sure to bring a hooks and few jigs and a couple biodegradable balloons too. The wind is offshore so balloons work good there.
https://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic...ach_Aruba.html
https://www.google.ca/search?q=ballo...L4O_jwT965SYDw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlrtXKT5pxQ
Landed yesterday and scouted out some of the coast by Malmok and saw the wreck in your video, haven't ventured out yet but did see some locals balloon fishing so will try it out tomorrow. I've got everything but the balloons haha.
Did you try any real bait? I heard you can pick up squid and stuff at the super markets.
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You should see if you can get some balloons and some squid and try it, cut in a strip the squid should work good.
I used jigs with soft tails that sort of looked like squid, the 2 3/8" and 1.5" Canadian wigglers and mostly various streamer and shrimp flies. The 1/16 jigs with a soft tail and you can add a bit of squid. The jigs I used looked sort of like this http://basspro.scene7.com/is/image/B...312_2241311_is but with a minnow/rainbow trout colouring
Have fun, good luck
any luck?
Great trip overall but didn't get as much time fishing as I wanted. I hit up the Malmok reefs on a couple of mornings and afternooms using the balloon and jig set up with frozen squid and some odds and ends off a grouper from the market. The set up works nice on a windy day, just toss out the balloon and line and in a few minutes will make it out off shore quickly. Quite a few locals doing the same. I saw lots of fish. A few big ones but wasn't able to land anything.
Still enjoyed some fantastic sunrises and sunsets with a few Balashi's in hand!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...c13ee6476b.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5ca52c0aa4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5df84dea93.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...17d43a52de.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...855c941e8b.jpg
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Glad you brought the rod now? Do you know what you hooked and what did you land, any pics of the fish you did land?Quote:
Originally Posted by jham
For the future there are alot of different laws and protected areas on various islands so you have to look before you book or atleast before you go of course, you may not be allowed to fish from shore at all or only in certain areas.
But a few fish (any size), sunrises, scenery like that .... to use an old phrase... PRICELESS :-)
P.S. Not sure if you are interested in fly fishing but here's a cheap travel rod, a bit light but still fun. Freshwater fly lines and rod/reels work in salt but you need to rinse them well after using.
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-fishing-camp...ationFlag=true
We only landed a couple of small fish, not sure of the species, they were sort of a bluish tinge, blue tang maybe?
I've never actually tried fly fishing before, mostly just reel but thanks for sharing - Ill be better prepared for next time!
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It was kind of last minute and a bit of prep and some research before hand can make a big difference. I was reading more and found out that there are lots of different kinds you can catch from shore there, by the Holiday Inn the one woman caught a 3 1/2' reef shark from shore so it seems there are opportunities for some fun.
What you caught did it look sort of like this? Jacks are very common, put up a good fight and hit almost anything.
http://www.mexfish.com/fish/grnjk/grnjk.jpg
You can try this if you remember and have a bit of time.
http://species-identification.org/identify_species.php
I didn't know how serious or if you fly fished at all so i suggested just the cheaper basic travel one. I saw a March Brown rod on Kijiji near my area, a very good rod but never cheap .. and I already have 2 travel fly rods (1 being a March Brown) and can't figure out how to justify another. :-)