Looking for advise for fishing St.John USVI (new to saltwater fly-fishing)

[setthehookdummy]

Hello All,

I am new to the forum and new to saltwater angling. I am fortunate enough to be traveling to St. John USVI in the coming weeks and will be bringing my 8 weight rod to chase bonefish and tarpon in the flats. Any information on where to fish, what to throw, and general salt water fishing tips would be appreciated. To be honest, I'm a trout guy who spends most of my time chasing native brook trout in the mountatins of West Virginia and Virginia. I know some of you will say, "you need to get a guide on day one" and I understand the reasoning but financially it's not plausible right now. My plan is to use intermediate line paired with a 9 ft. 14lb saltwater leader, and use 0x tippet if I need extra length. My buddy who ties flies suggested chartreuse over white clousers in size 2 and 8. He also suggested tan gotchas in size 4 and 8. Below are some other questions I have:

1. When looking for fish, will I see tails rolling or just shadows?
2. I am curious on how often to move spots in the flats? My wife will be hanging at the beach so I will need to stay in the same general area for a little while so she doesnt have to constantly change beaches.
3. Will an 8wt be enough rod? I know Tarpon can get large but I've seen some folks say that any tarpon I see will be juvenile.

Thank you for any information!

-S

 

[sweetandsalt]

My wife and I went to a wedding on St. John in 2007 and spent several days on the island. It is not a flats fishing "destination" but does have a few flats and a few bonefish. We don't go anywhere without bringing fly tackle and took a brace of 9'/#8 rods with saltwater reels and floating tropical bonefish line along with a box of typical bonefish flies. We had fun exploring around the circumference of the island looking for flats and wading around on them (not necessarily where beaches are though as where people are bonefish will generally not be). We found a total of about 10 fish and caught 0. Very pretty though and the local rum is excellent.

Please go to Saltwater Articles below and read about Outfitting for Topical Flats and Bonefish Leaders.

 

[captain belly]

I figured I would drop this USVI informative video to help someone else out since I'm finding this thread too late. for what it's worth..... here it is:
YouTube