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Freelining

Free lining is as simple as it gets with just a hook on the end of a line the weight of the bait on the hook gives enough weight to be able to ‘cast’ out far enough to the target species.

Free Lining Basics

You can increase the target species a little by fishing off bridges or boats or similar. You can extend the method with a branch to increase the distance you can fish at. Target species in Antigua could be Tilapia in the brackish water ponds just behind the coastal beaches.

 Trolling

Big game fishing uses this technique to cover the area needed a ‘spread’ of lines using the boat’s out riggers is arranged such as in the fig 1.

Image credit SportFishingMag.com

Fig 1

Sonar won’t exactly help you locate these fish but they can help locate clues and locations that can hold them. That run on the surface so you need a skipper who can read the water and environment e.g. birds.

This is a nice Antigua Fishing Video on the 2011 Fishing Tournament – watch the trolling action from some nice camera angles and submerged work.

Trolling is where lures are dragged behind a boats wake. Billfish such as Marlin hit their quarry with their bills to stun it – doing this to a hookless lure will wrap around the bill as a different way to ‘hook’ the fish. The standard marlin lures will also work that contain hooks for when the marlin goes to swallow the lure and gets hooked.

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Fly Fishing

“Nothing grows faster than a fish from when it bites until it gets away.”

Anonymous

Fly fishing in Antigua is possible through Captain Nick. or bring your own 8 or 9 wt rod for species less than Tarpon like Bonefish. Most areas will be tough to get space for a back cast unless you are fishing the beaches, getting out on a float tube for Tarpon must be one of the most unique exciting things you can do fishing in Antigua. Permit offer maybe the hardest challenge on the fly being very wary so getting one should fill you with even more joy.

Please help us to expand this area of the site by contacting us with your tips and knowledge. We are happy to share links and credit and love to hear about your stories.

Fly Fishing in Antigua Articles

http://www.fishing.co.uk/article.php3?id=2204

http://www.flyfishing.co.uk/european-rest-world-fishery-updates/314024-antigua.html

http://www.theflyfishingforum.com/forums/saltwater-fly-fishing/345380-antigua-barbuda.html

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Lure Fishing in Antigua

Lures – oh my what a subject we shall attempt to filter this a bit depending on what you may be after but at some point having a lure is exciting because almost all fish will take one at some point in time.

This page is under construction and I shall share a few links that are useful for beginners for now.

Morten tips

Morten was kind enough to share some wisdom for fishing Antigua in this trip report.

”Got a few from shore, but it is challenging fishing. A couple of small cudas near Turner’s Point. A decent spot is the rock harbour past Turner’s. Don’t know the name of the place but heading south from Turner’s there is a marina for local fishermen. I fished off the end of the rock walls and caught some small but decent snapper with a Carolina rig and squid.

I saw other fishermen with quite nice snapper caught right in Jolly Harbour, but I only got some small (but aggressive) ‎squirrel fish. Next trip I’ll try to rent a boat! Awesome snorkeling though! Cheers, Morten“

Turners is a reference to turners beach just south on the main road from Jolly Beach.

vishuscirquel added some excellent shore fishing to Youtube and we alert you to this in our usual way. Vishuscirquel is probably the most knowledgeable shore fisherman I know in Antigua. He has his secret spots and they should remain so.

Rigging soft lures

http://www.sportfishingmag.com/how-to-rig-soft-plastic-lures#page-2

Fishing Knots

In this video we see a knot that can help get you going if you need to learn just one thing make it a uni knot!