Light tackle fishing?

[sku01pt]

I am thinking of bringing light tackle to do a little shore fishing..what regulations will I encounter? And where would you recommend to go? I'm staying right on the beach,I'm thinking I can just cast from my beach chair so as not to spill my drink....thanks

[Coconuts]

sku01pt: There are very limited opportunities to fish from shore on St. John, as many of the beaches are in the Park, and fishing from shore there is not allowed; there are, after all, swimmers around. If you rent a kayak and go outside the buoys, or pick a beach outside the park, you can fish, and no permit is required, but you really need to have some local knowledge if you are considering eating what you catch. Ciguatera is a very serious long-term illness that you can get from one fish meal of the wrong sort. My wife and I were sailing our trimaran kayak from Maho to Cinnamon last year, when on her suggestion I let out a line, and within a minute, Wham!, I had a serious fish battle underway. In my initial confusion I ended up reeling it in with the reel on top, which caused the crank to come unscrewed from the reel. That was awkward! I gave my wife the rudder and mainsheet, and had to re-assemble the reel with a big fish on the line. I eventually did manage to get it in the boat. I didn't recognize the species, though, and an elderly West Indian gentleman in the parking lot of Cinnamon clearly wasn't sure that eating it was a good idea. In Cruz Bay, I showed it to some younger folks who would have happily taken it off my hands, and did endorse eating it. On getting back to our villa and consulting our fish books, I was able to identify it as a "Hardnose", aka "Blue Runner". Being no threat to fish stocks, I have a built-in bias to cook what few fish I catch, but while the oven was warming up, I called our contractor, who asked how long the fish was. At 22", he offered a very unambiguous "NO!" (if it were 12" or under, "maybe"). The key point is to avoid predator fishes, as the neurotoxins build up as you progress up the food chain. Barracuda, for example, would be a definite never-eat fish. From what I hear (just hearsay, you need to do your own research), mackerel, kingfish, snapper, grouper, wahoo, and tuna are OK to eat, as are most small fish (12" or less). A recent study indicated that over 30% of families on St. Thomas have a family member that has suffered from ciguatera in the last five years. One reason that the fish at Starfish, other markets, and the local restaurants is so expensive, is that it often comes from far away, due to concerns over potential liabilities from local fish (again, specific species from local waters may be known as safe, in which case this no longer applies). I have since learned a lot about this disease, but if you need a cautionary web site, try this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ciguatera

All the best,

Kevin