Bus ride to Port Royal to check out fishing prospects
on George Hamilton (Jamaica), 05/Sep/2011 03:01, 34 days ago
I did a quick trip out this afternoon to learn more about sea fishing in Jamaica so that when my brother Hugh comes later in the year he knows what's available.Basically you can hire a boat that looks like the ones in this photograph at Morgan's Harbour Hotel for about $150 US hourly from Chris Williams of the Whynot.  You stand a chance of catching King Fish, Wahoo and dolphins at the California reef that's about an hour offshore.  The first two types of fish have quite sharp teeth so they should be handled with care.  They are like super-sized mackerel.  The King Fish run from 5lbs to 30 lbs according to Wikipedia, while the scarcer Wahoo run double that size.Or else you can strike a deal with one of the local fishermen and go out in their smaller boats.  Likely you would have to bring your own fishing tackle, but it would be cheaper.  Many of the commercial boats use fish traps, so possibly the most they might have for you to use would be a hand line.  Here are typical fishing boats in a picture taken at Treasure Beach.  There is no enclosed cabin so you should wear a hat and apply sunscreen.You should be extra careful if you happen to catch a predatory Lion Fish because their fins are poisonous. Apart from that they are apparently good to eat.Here are a few photos around the hotel and Port Royal.And here are some photos mainly around the Parade area downtown, taken from the bus.   The fishing part of this posting is all good hypothetical stuff but I should be able to report on actual fish being caught by the end of October.It's a short blog as I need to ensure I am ready for work tomorrow.