I recently went fishing off the west end of St. Croix. I love fishing, but this trip was especially fun. My friend picked me up at the Frederiksted Pier in his 20′ Apex boat, I hopped in and away we went motoring up the coast. Our destination was somewhere off Hamm’s Bluff, the steep north-western corner of St. Croix. Sorry, exact coordinates top secret.
The boat was outfitted with all the essentials… rod holders, heavy duty rods and reels, fish coolers, and a gaff. Having ridden in lots of boats I was surprised what a nice ride the Apex gave… soft, stable, fast, and great when the seas got rough. The added cushion of sitting on the air-filled sides made the ride even better. If I were shopping for a boat I’d seriously consider an inflatable like an Apex (click photo of boat below for larger view). This Apex even had the canopy top to shade you from the tropical sun – a must down here.
Check out this 2013 Boat Shows list if you’re interested in finding an Apex near you.
The west end of St. Croix is home to the beautiful town of Frederiksted, boasts calm wind-protected waters, and lots of beaches. As we traveled up the coast we saw horses on the beach, flying fish jumping and sailing across the water, and beautiful lush mountains. As we approached our destination, off the northern tip, we also saw the old Hamm’s Bluff lighthouse sitting up on top of the mountain.
That was when both reels started screaming at the same time! In just a few minutes we had two beautiful Blackfin Tunas in the boat. They put up an amazing fight! One weighed 8 lbs. and the other 5 lbs. Soon after we turned around and trolled through the school again… boom, both reels went off again, another Blackfin and one larger fish on the line (we think it was a Wahoo) but that one got away. Again we trolled “the spot” and got two more 5 lb. Tunas on the hook and soon they were in the boat too!
We cleaned the fish, threw them on ice, and that evening we enjoyed fresh sushi and grilled Tuna. Could it get much better?