There’s
some great news for anglers coming down to Vieques this summer.
My good friend Capt. J Fergeson finally has his new boat
delivered and is running deep-sea fishing charters. With Capt.
Franco and myself concentrating on the flats and inshore
fishing, this is the one service that has been sorely missing on
the island over the past few years.
Capt. J, like myself, is a former Key West fishing guide. He and
his wife Lisa got fed up with the crowds and high cost of living
in the Keys and saw Vieques an island full of opportunity. J has
been a licensed captain for nearly fifteen years and has run
everything from flats skiffs to large sailing yachts. His
offshore knowledge is extensive and he’s worked on some of the
best charter boats in the Keys, perhaps the most competitive
place in the world to make a living as a fisherman.
The boat he’s currently running was custom built for Vieques by
J himself. It’s a 26 foot Panga hull powered by twin 60 HP
Yamaha Four Stroke outboards. These engines are so quiet that
you can barely hear them when running. Their incredible fuel
efficiency helps keep the cost of his charters low even though
our gas prices are going through the roof, like everywhere else.
The hull itself is one of the most seaworthy designs on the
water. With a high bow and narrow beam, Pangas are one of the
most popular boats throughout the Caribbean for their pure
utility. They have a remarkably shallow draft but handle
trolling through four foot waves with ease.
I rode along on the first shakedown trip with J and Capt. Franco
two weeks ago. It turned out to be a great day on the water. The
seas were running about three feet that morning and it was a
bouncy but never unpleasant ride.
A quick two mile run from the dock in Esperanza put us in more
than 1500 feet of water, which is where the big stuff lives.
Finding that kind of drop anywhere in the States usually means
an hour long ride. The great thing about offshore fishing in
Vieques is the fact that these depths are only a few minutes
away from our entire southern shoreline.
We started trolling a spread of artificial lures with bait
strips up and down the trench with the electronics marking fish
under us the entire time. After a couple of small barracuda, we
finally hooked our first keeper, a nice blackfin tuna. These
hard fighters also make excellent sushi and this fish put at
least five pounds of it on the table.
Blackfin can be prolific down here in the summertime. Two years
ago, in same area on another friend’s boat, we found the ocean
swarming with these fish. By the time our baits were totally
worn out we put fourteen football size blackfin in the cooler,
which would barely close over the protruding tails.
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A real thrill came a short time later when the downrigger line
started screaming off its reel. This was something big that hit
well below the surface. Franco grabbed the rod as J pulled the
boat out of gear and I started clearing the other lines. A few
minutes later a long silver shape was darting back and forth in
the wake. It turned out to be a huge kingfish, at least thirty
pounds. Had we caught this fish up in Key West during one of the
big kingfish tournaments, we would have been well into the money
with it.
The final payoff came just before lunch when we spotted a
handful of birds diving at the surface, a sure sign of feeding
fish. When J ran up to them we watched a couple streaks of neon
blues and greens slash towards our surface baits, the
unmistakable sign of big mahi mahi’s. Two of them hit at the
same time and it was pure chaos, with jumping fish and tangled
lines everywhere. We got both fish to the boat and gaffed one of
the two twenty pounders to take home. A perfect ending to the
inaugural trip of Amity Charters, Vieques.
In addition to offshore fishing, J can offer custom snorkeling,
sightseeing, and even trips to Culebra when the weather is
cooperating. For more information contact Capt. J Fergeson at
(787)502-3839.
Capt. Gregg McKee,
WildFly Charters
