Fishing in Guadeloupe: Story of our 1st day of fishing
You wish discover fishing in Guadeloupe ? We We wanted to share with you our experience during 7 days of fishing in the company of fishing guides and friends with whom we discovered the wonders of the island.
Fishing in Guadeloupe: a story of encounters and experience
Guadeloupe is an island in the French Caribbean, where the fishing potential is incredibly diverse. It is a magical place to capture several iconic species like the snook, the tarpon or the bonefish. We went there to meet among others two of our partners Rodmaps, Julien and Vincent.
Residing in Guadeloupe for over 17 years now, Julien has spent a lot of time at the edge or on the water. He now knows Guadeloupe like the back of his hand. He co-created the association Guadeloupe passion fishing allowing everyone to discover lure fishing in Guadeloupe. Since then, 10 fishing challenges in Guadeloupe have been organized every year.
He validated his fishing guide diploma in 2014 and has since shared his experience aboard his Skiff.
Vincent has also been a fishing guide in Guadeloupe for several years. He took up post on Julien's second boat with whom he formed a complementary team. in 2018. In the coming days, he will make us discover the joys of fishing in Guadeloupe from his pedal kayaks.
Our meeting with Julien is more than warm! We are impatient to be able to discover the joys of fishing in Guadeloupe and the fish that the island has.
Fishing in Guadeloupe: a first day with a bang
For this 1er day of fishing in Guadeloupe, we embark on Julien's skiff for fishing on the lagoon. A little navigation is required but also the safety instructions put in place by our guide. For example, we will talk about the positioning of the equipment in the boat so as not to trip, the crushing of the barbs or the way to stand while sailing.
We start fishing in about 10 meters of water. I start the casting jig by scraping the bottom, while Matthieu and Julien fish with shad in open water in linear action and cranking. The first fish are not long in coming. Julien quickly gets his shad shut up by a magnificent yellow trevally. Combat is epic on such a light rod, but after several rushes, it will eventually give up.
A few minutes later, Matthieu will touch a shad tarpon at dusk, but he will cut the line just after the 1er jump out of the area. No luck… But in the meantime, I put two small coubali trevally (caranx crysos) and a yellow trevally in quick succession!
I continue to scrape the bottom with the metal jig and it is an Atlantic Croaker (micropogonias undulatus) which will come up to the boat. A not so obvious fish to catch tells me our fishing guide. A new species validated for the Rodmaps team.
Matthieu regains his confidence by fishing with jerkbait and is harnessed to a pretty barracuda who will show us his acrobatic skills. Julien our guide explains to us that handling this species can be dangerous. It is therefore advisable to be particularly vigilant in order to avoid serious cuts.
The fish seem to react to shiny lures and with rather aggressive swims. This is why Julien takes out a blade. After only two throws, a very large fish is hanged on its rod! At the same time, I hear Matthieu's reel screaming in turn. This is a double. My partner's fish is the first to surrender. It's a yellow trevally.
Photo shoot and release while Julien's fight dragged on without ever seeing the fish. In the end we see the fish a few minutes later. A splendid king mackerel that we measure at 125 centimeters!
A giant for a fish that is in the lagoon. We were lucky not to have had the line cut with such a long fight on such light equipment. It was stung on the outside of the mouth by a single triple branch. We were hot but we had it!
Small tour beyond the barrier
Small briefing to see what we decide to do next. Since the weather is good, we decide to go behind the coral reef to catch new species of fish. It is then that we come out of the water a few small groupers from the rocks posted on the lookout for vulnerable prey.
We then choose to cross the shallow to fish for the break in speed jigging. A few small fish will come to visit us. The EVERGREEN Wolfram is particularly effective on this type of fishing. But no luck because the Spanish mackerel are also out, we will leave some jigs there.
This first day was rich in emotions, in number and especially in diversity of fish. We
The equipment used during this 1st day of fishing in Guadeloupe
- Rods used in light in the lagoon: JABBERS Wanderlust 5-part spinning, GOLDEN MEAN Deepcore 4 strands.
- Reels used in light in the lagoon: SHIMANO Stella 2500FD, SHIMANO Stella 2500FI.
- Rods used offshore: JABBERS Game Changer 73, JABBERS Game Changer 75.
- Reels used offshore: RYVL 10000 GT ULTRA
- Lures: Jackson Pintail, Keitech Easy Shiner, Blue Blue Sea Ride
Discover Julien's fishing guide offers:
Mangrove fishing in Guadeloupe
Sharing my knowledge of fishing in Guadeloupe is an essential point for me.
Learning to cast and acquire the basics of lure fishing is often very quick and accessible to everyone.
My diploma and my fishing experience in Guadeloupe allow me to mix the proportion of fishing and hiking in an appropriate way.
Fly fishing by boat in Guadeloupe
For fly fishermen, Guadeloupe is a hidden paradise. I will be happy to make you fly-fish for the mythical fish of Guadeloupe in the most inaccessible places with maximum discretion.
Lure fishing in a Guadeloupe mangrove boat
Sharing my knowledge of the Guadeloupe mangrove is an essential point for me. Learning to cast and acquire the basics of lure fishing is often very quick and accessible to everyone, whatever the level.
About The Author
Rodmaps
Rodmaps is above all the story of Nicolas and Matthieu, two friends passionate about fishing. Since our childhood, our passion drives us to travel through France and to travel around the world in search of adventure and trophy fish. Through Rodmaps, we want to share our passion for fishing with as many people as possible and make people discover the joys of this sport around us, because yes, fishing is a sport!