Best Fishing in the Southern Caribbean?

I'm looking at a cruise out of Florida the first week of November this year, with stops in Grand Turk, La Romana, Curacao, and Aruba. I want to spend some time fishing, but prefer to not just book through the cruise line. Anyone have any experience fishing in one (or more) of these ports?

I know there are no guarantees (yeah, that's why it's called fishing and not catching), but if I'm going to drop big $$ for a charter, I want to maximize my chances by going with a good crew from the best location possible.

Thanks!

EDIT: Horror stories welcome too. If your experience wasn't a good example, maybe it can at least be a terrible warning? ;)

~v

Ok, so I'm seeing that this thread is at least getting some views, which means there are others that have the same interest that I do, but no one (yet) seems to have a good answer to the question.

In the meantime and in the absence of first-hand reports, I'm continuing to do research on fishing in these ports on my own. What I've gathered so far is that Aruba has a sizable fishing fleet (with a number of charter companies listed on places like TripAdvisor, and the majority of them generally well-reviewed). This seems to point not only to good fishing conditions, but also healthy competition between boats for business, keeping charter prices from being outrageous. A half day on most boats (including the captain, mate, gear, bait, sodas, and water) for up to 6 people is between $400-500.

I've read an article that lists the Dominican Republic as one of the top 10 places to go fishing for billfish (sailfish, marlin, etc.), and I've also read that the fishing around La Romana is terrible. Go figure.

I'll keep digging; please comment if you've got something to add!

~v

I am looking for charters on a Southern Caribbean cruise out of Florida in December. Unfortunately, my trip doesn't visit the same ports as yours. We visit Tortola, St. Maarten, Martinique, St. Johns and St. Kitts. I am also having a difficult time finding recommendations for charters but continuing to do research. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you but I will keep checking back on this thread for any updates. Tight lines.....

Best of luck to you! We've booked our charter for Aruba, and hope to come back with good fish stories, and better pics. ;)

Let me know what you decide, and how it works out. I'm sure some of those ports will end up on future cruises for us, so I'll be looking for another opportunity to fish among them.

~v

We will be cruising November 15-22 on RC's Jewel and are interested in a fishing charter for Southern Caribbean. Recommendations are welcome. If anyone is interested in sharing a charter in one of the Jewel's ports that week, let us know. Thanks and happy travels.

I see that all of your trips were for last year. I'm making a trip to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao and would like a fishing trip on of the stops. I'm debating between fly fishing (as I'm an avid fly fisherman in Idaho and Yellowstone area) and deep sea fishing. I'm currently thinking deep sea as I would like to catch some bigger fish. How were your guys experience?

Well, we only chartered in Aruba, but I can't say enough good things about the guys from Driftwood/LivingEasy (same guy runs both boats). They were flexible to our schedule, busted their butts to put us on fish, and made sure that everyone in our group caught something. While it wasn't a killer day of fishing, from everything we heard, we were one of the few boats to bring in anything that day. Probably the nicest thing about deep sea fishing around these islands is how quickly you are in blue water. That being said, I've heard some great things about fly fishing (especially for snook and tarpon) inshore in Curaçao, but you are pretty much on your own (no guides) if you choose that.

~v

I see that all of your trips were for last year. I'm making a trip to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao and would like a fishing trip on of the stops. I'm debating between fly fishing (as I'm an avid fly fisherman in Idaho and Yellowstone area) and deep sea fishing. I'm currently thinking deep sea as I would like to catch some bigger fish. How were your guys experience?