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Sportfishing in the Cayman Islands

By: Christopher Tobutt

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The beautiful, clear blue and turquoise waters around all three sister islands - Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman - are ideal for all kinds of fishing, whether it's deep sea game fishing or shallow water reef and bottom fishing.

The waters of the Cayman Islands are full of many different kinds of fish, from the huge blue marlin, tuna and mahi-mahi of the deep sea to the smaller jack and snapper closer to the reef.

While many of the fish can be caught from the shore, there are many boat chartering services available, so that anglers can catch exactly the kind of fish they want. One of the things that stands out about Cayman fishing is the friendliness, in-depth knowledge and experience that all the guides and captains of the charter boats seem to possess in abundance. Their experience is not just with the fish — where to find them and how to catch them — but it's also experience dealing with people, so both the experienced angler and the complete beginner immediately feel at ease.

Shore fishing is also very popular in the Cayman Islands, but care should be taken to observe all fishing regulations and requirements; fishermen should also know where fishing is prohibited in the special marine park areas that are set aside for conservation. While such areas are often well marked, anglers are responsible for not breaking any rules.

For more fun fishing opportunities, sign up for one of the many fishing tournaments sponsored each year by the Cayman Islands Rotary and Angling clubs. One of the highlights is the Cayman Islands International Fishing Tournament, held annually in late April.

Whether you're competing or not, if you're aiming for the really big fish, it's a good idea to charter a boat for either a full day or half a day. While the near-constant temperatures of the warm water surrounding the Cayman Islands ensure that the bait fish — the small fish that feed the bigger ones — are around all year, there's still some seasonal variation, and the captains of the charter boats, together with their crew, know exactly the best times of year for catching each kind of fish. For example, the spring months are best for yellowfin tuna, while the best time to catch the huge wahoo is generally between November and March.

Perhaps one of the best things about the Cayman Islands is that you don't have to go very far offshore to catch some of the biggest fish. This is due to the formation of the sea floor around the Cayman Islands, which drops away dramatically as soon as one gets past the shallower reef area, giving way to some of the deepest parts of the Caribbean Sea.

Out to Sea
Captain Mark Ebanks of Captain Mark Ebanks Charters, along with his 41-foot boat, Jack's Hatt, have gained a reputation for providing one of the best deep sea fishing experiences in the Cayman Islands. I was fortunate enough to be invited out for a morning's fishing. We were looking for the big game fish: tuna, wahoo and mahi-mahi.

Jack's Hatt is equipped with everything that the deep-sea angler needs, including Shimano 50 and 80W Tiagra reels. But that isn't the biggest attraction. Captain Mark has been working in the charter boat business for over 20 years, so what he doesn't know about deep sea fishing in the Caribbean probably isn't worth knowing, and he's always willing to share all his knowledge with his guests.

While Captain Mark steered Jack's Hatt, deckhand Bruce Bush showed me the different kinds of bait, which included brightly coloured lures mimicking small squid or fish, as well as natural bait.

Angling for the big fish requires patience, and we were out on the open sea for a couple of hours or more before the sound of the rapidly rotating reel on one of the fishing rods indicated a bite. An extremely strong-looking steel-framed chair, bolted down in the centre of the deck, was the position offered to me. I declined Bush's offer to let me land the catch, partly because I was interested in taking photographs, but also because, frankly, I was completely new to this sort of thing. A huge fish on the end of the line, in addition to being only a few feet from one of the deepest parts of the Caribbean Sea, made me feel, well, a little out of my depth.

So I was happy enough to let Bush and Captain Mark bring in the mahi-mahi. Although it looked big enough to me (between 30 and 35 pounds), I realised later that this was by no means the biggest kind of fish. The biggest catch made by one of Captain Mark's anglers was a colossal 446-pound marlin, he said, and showed me a photograph of it, just in case I didn't believe him.

Captain Mark is well known around the islands, and much of his business comes from referrals from the front desk of hotels or from word of mouth. The service he offers is clearly first class, and the fact that many of his customers come back to him year after year speaks for itself. Chartering the boat for half a day costs US$800, and a full day, US$1,200.

Trolling for Excitement
On another day, I met Captain Eugene of Bayside Watersports, which operates on the North Sound-facing coast of West Bay, at the end of Batabano Road. We walked past the 60-foot Happy Hooker — the largest of Bayside Watersports' vessels — and got on board the 31-foot Lil' Hooker, which, although much smaller, still seemed impressive enough to me.

Unlike reef fishing, where the boats anchor for a while, deep sea fishing boats like to keep moving, or "trolling" as it's called. And we were trolling along the side of The Wall, a huge undersea cliff that suddenly drops down thousands of feet from the relatively shallow reef. Powerful sea currents bring the smaller bait fish up the side of the wall, Captain Eugene said, and of course, the big fish always follow their food. So the trick is to find where the food is in greatest abundance. A group of circling frigate birds (known locally as man-of-war birds) just ahead of the boat indicated the presence of flying fish — plenty of them. The fact that so many flying fish were leaping out of the water meant that they were being chased by the big fish we had come to catch; probably mahi-mahi, I was told.

Captain Eugene and Adrian Ebanks, the deckhand, prefer using natural bait rather than the brightly coloured lures. "We use ballyhoo fish for just about everything," Adrian said, showing me two of the little fish used for bait, one with a huge hook put through it for the really big fish such as wahoo, and one with a smaller hook for catching mahi-mahi.

It costs US$600 to charter the Lil' Hooker for half a day, and US$1,100 for a full day; and it costs US$1,000 to charter the much larger Happy Hooker for half a day, and US$1,800 for a full day. The boats can also be chartered for reef fishing.

Apart from deep sea fishing, reef and bottom fishing can also be enjoyable. Within the reef, you can find fish like snapper, blue runner and grouper, along with several different species of jack. All the fish in the jack family, such as almaco jack and bar jack, are known to put up a good fight, so bringing them in can be both challenging and satisfying.

On the Fly
The shallow areas of Frank Sound, North Sound and South Sound are good for light tackle fish such as bonefish, tarpon and permit. Fly-fishing requires special skills, and the special tackle required is not easily available in the Cayman Islands, so that anglers wishing to participate in fly-fishing are advised to bring their own equipment.

However, Captain Ronald Ebanks of Grand Cayman is a very experienced fly-fisherman, specialising not only in fly-fishing but also in light tackle fishing, and he's able to guide would-be anglers to the best places for this kind of fishing, where bonefish, tarpon, snook, barracuda and jack can be found.

Although the Cayman Islands don't have any rivers, many fish such as tarpon can still be found in the canals that lead into the North Sound. Tarpon can also be found in the larger brackish ponds. On Little Cayman, tarpon can be found in the Tarpon Pond, a land-locked lake. The best times to go tarpon fishing are very early morning and late afternoon, and fish as large as 20 pounds have been caught in the lake.

Permit up to 35 pounds can also be caught in the waters around Little Cayman. Anglers there can catch bonefish all year round, too. Sam McCoy's Diving and Fishing Lodge is a family-run business located on the northwestern side of Little Cayman; Sammy McCoy is one of the islands' most experienced fishing guides.

Most resorts on Little Cayman do not have fishing guides all year round, however, since they tend to cater to a variety of customers. Call ahead to confirm their availability.

Fishing can be very good in Cayman Brac too, and its southwest coast can be a great place to find bonefish in particular. Every May, the Jackpot Annual Fishing Tournament takes place during the Brac's Discovery Day weekend. Big game fish like blue marlin, wahoo and mahi-mahi, as well as tarpon, can be caught all year round here as well. There are many modern, powerful sportfishing boats that can be chartered, either for full- or half-day excursions.


Book your flight today! Visit www.caymanairways.com, or call 345-949-2311 (in the Cayman Islands)
or 1-800-G-CAYMAN (in the U.S.).

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