Fishing Hot Spots

Lake guides for this map

Month-by-month patterns, fish, ramps and rules for each water:

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Fishing Hot Spots by area

Islands, cays, reefs, banks and points with good fishing water. Tap one to fly to it on the map.

Los Roques bonefish, Margarita billfish and the Cartagena banks

Los Roques is one of the best bonefish spots in the Caribbean, with huge white-sand flats between the cays, and big tarpon and permit too. La Guaira, Margarita and La Blanquilla sit close to deep water, so sailfish, white and blue marlin, wahoo, tuna and dorado are caught not far from shore, with the best billfish season from about September to December. Further out, Los Testigos, Los Hermanos, La Tortuga and the Aves islands have reefs with snappers, groupers, jacks and kingfish. In Colombia, the banks off Cartagena and the Gulf of Morrosquillo, Isla Fuerte and the rocky points around Santa Marta and Cabo de la Vela hold snappers, jacks, mackerel and tarpon in the river mouths.

Los Roques is a national park: sport fishing is allowed there only with a park permit, catch-and-release, in the zones the park sets. Tayrona, the Rosario and San Bernardo islands, Morrocoy, Mochima and La Restinga are national parks or refuges. They show in red, and BigJoe does not put fishing spots in or next to them. Check the local fisheries rules (AUNAP and Parques Nacionales in Colombia, INSOPESCA and INPARQUES in Venezuela) and travel advisories before you go.