You know when you find those special places on the planet. The places where you stand in awe of mother nature. I don’t know about you but those places leave me caught between sharing it with the rest of the world and keeping that little slice of heaven to myself. This time I’m going to share. I think it’s the BVI’s best-kept secret. That is if you’re in to fly fishing, then you have to try fly fishing in the BVI. Or, if you’re in to spin casting or just extraordinary natural beauty. If I had to picture what heaven looked like it would be a day fly fishing in Anegada.
Most of the islands in the BVI are volcanic and rise dramatically from the Caribbean Sea. Anegada is an atoll surrounded by shallow white sandy beaches and fish, lots of fish! While the deeper waters contain
tuna, swordfish and mahi the shores are home to bonefish, tarpon, and permit.
We sailed out to Anegada the day before on our private chartered catamaran. The crew was up early to serve us a wonderful breakfast and send us off with a boxed lunch for our day of fishing.
Garfield and his brother Kevin arrived in each of their flats boats. Garfield has been fishing these waters for over 30 years. He practically speaks to the fish and he’ll keep you in stitches while he does it. Kevin, his little brother, is the intellectual fisherman. Not only is he a good at spotting fish but he can tell you about all the conservation and research being done on and around the islands.
We took the short ride out to the other end of the 11mile long island. On our way out we buzzed by flocks of flamingos standing in the shallows and conch islands created by years of conch harvest. The beautiful pink feathers and shells set against the turquoise Caribbean waters is an awe-inspiring vista.
Today our guide was Kevin. As we got up into the shallows Kevin started to pole the boat. “Cast there, cast there”, he said excitedly and so quickly. I wasn’t ready yet, I got flustered and tangled my line. The second time I was ready but couldn’t figure out what he was pointing at, “really over there? I don’t see anything…”. At first, I thought he was messing with me. Trust me he says! I cast, and most likely by sheer luck, I hooked
a bonefish! “How can you see them?” It took me a few tries to see what he was looking for. Small sections of stirred up water that indicated the bonefish were below feeding. I’m not sure I would have ever have found a fish without Kevin’s trained eyes.
The rest of the afternoon we caught several bonefish and when we weren’t catching Kevin was showing us baby turtles and rays that tuck up in the shallows for protection.
The day was so picture perfect the gin-clear waters of the shallows that roll out for miles before it drops off into the deeper dark blue waters.
A day of fishing in the BVI can be enjoyed while on board a crewed charter yacht. Your crew would be happy to work it into the itinerary. The guides on Anegada have all their own gear to share but if you want to bring your own there are several spots in the USVI and BVI where you can practice your fly fishing. Even off the back of the boat! If you are fishing with the guides a fishing license is included but if you want to fish off your yacht ask us about obtaining a fishing license.