You go out far and deep if you decide to take on a sport fishing excursion off St. Lucia. You also can do no better than experience it with Hackshaw's Boat Charter's, based near the capital of Castries. Hackshaw's is a third-generation, family-operated boat and deep-sea fishing operation that has been run for over four decades, during which time they have been taking angling enthusiasts into St. Lucia's prime coastal fishing areas. Everything is planned to the letter, all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the fishing experience.
My own half-day outing with Hackshaw's began at slightly before eight in the morning when my driver got me to the small dock and reception office of the company at Vigie Marina, near Castries. At eight o'clock on the dot we pushed off in the roomy motorized yacht "Sea Ender", accompanied by two young but very experienced Lucian sailors and angling experts, actually the captain and his assistant. They were responsible not only for the eight guests onboard, but also of course the fishing gear and assisting us day anglers. Our route took us several miles off St. Lucia and the outward bound journey to the fishing grounds took between half an hour to an hour; in fact, the St. Lucian coastline was just a sliver on the horizon by the time our captain decided we had reached deep enough waters. The process for getting everyone into the angler's chair and having a go at fishing was to take turns of about 20-25 minutes for each guest angler, depending on whether you actually got lucky at the end of your session and were able to reel anything in. The available catch in these waters typically include everything from tuna to wahoo, marlin, snapper and, yes, the occasional shark. However, the catch of choice seems to be the tuna or possibly snapper, since these are the most popular to prepare by local cooks. During our particular outing, the first catch came after about 45 minutes, when a large tuna was reeled in. If you have never angled before, be advised that large tuna, wahoo, and other inhabitants of the depths here do put up a considerable effort before they finally land on deck, so you must reel in with equally considerable strength and consistency. The battle may last as long as five minutes, although the effort makes it seem quite longer. Several more large, fine tuna were brought up during our remaining three hours out in these waters.
Hackshaw's Boat Charters provides light refreshments (beer, soft drinks) and chips or other light snacks onboard during your outing. The vessel is covered, but open on the sides to the strong rays of the sun so that sunblock and sunglasses remain a good idea.
Check out their website for more details and description at: www.hackshaws.com