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The island of St. Lucia established itself long ago as a location of strategic maritime significance. In fact, its natural harbor was of such tactical importance that it led to the island changing hands 14 times, and the British and French fought over it fiercely from 1664 to 1814. British sovereignty was finally established in 1814 and continued until independence in 1979. St. Lucia remains culturally vibrant, and today the forts and their cannons, while reminders of yesteryear, have given way to the blue economy; more specifically, rods, reels and charter fleets experiencing what could be blue marlin fishing’s best-kept secret.
My father tells the story of moving back to St. Lucia in 1976 and being told we did not have billfish. And yet one of my favorite childhood memories is the 11 hours we spent fighting a 350-pound blue marlin in 1980 on board Bernard Johnson’s Xiphias Seeker. Johnson’s longest battle was a 22-hour fight that ended in heartbreak with a burst line. That fish, which someone did dive over to look at, was estimated to be a grander. The 11-hour feat is something I have repeated with my sons on a 515-pound swordfish off the Keys in 2022—but that is for another story.
Geography
Located at 14°N, 60.9°W, St. Lucia lies roughly 1,500 miles east-southeast of Miami (a three-hour, 20-minute flight), 600 miles southeast of the Dominican Republic, and 214 miles north of Venezuela. Its closest neighbors are Martinique to the north and St. Vincent to the south—each about 20 miles distant. The Grenadines, part of St. Vincent, lie 78 miles away and make a tempting boat-cruise add-on for anyone headed this way.
The Magic Lady Experiment
The Bagshaw, Devaux, DuBoulay, Hackshaw, Johnson, Otway and Peter families remain pioneers of our marlin fishery; however, much credit for the recent “discovery” of how special our marlin fishery is must go to the Trinidad-based team on board Magic Lady, owned by Francois Mouttet and captained by Michael de Freitas. This experienced team has fished extensively across the Caribbean, including Mexico. However, after studying the rich structure around our south coast, reminiscent of our world-famous Piton mountains above the waterline, de Freitas was convinced that the fishing could be special. And was he ever right!
Over the past three years, for about one week per month, the Magic Lady team has fished in St. Lucia, focusing primarily on our south coast. They deployed one and then two simple FADs (fish-attracting devices) initially, and the results have been nothing short of phenomenal. The best week the Magic Lady team had was 106 blue marlin released. I was on board for one of the days that week when we released an astounding 19 blue marlin, although it still fell short of their best day that week of 23 releases.
I recently spoke with Francois Mouttet aboard Magic Lady, who explained the team’s approach and what they’ve discovered in St. Lucia.
“[Magic Lady] fished in the Dominican Republic and St. Thomas, and our captain, Michael de Freitas, was of the opinion that with FADs strategically positioned, we could re-create the experience in St. Lucia,” Mouttet says. “Having fished in St. Lucia occasionally for the last 20 years, we thought the fish would be in the 150- to 300-pound range around the FADs, and there are other areas to fish that hold much larger fish. This has proved to be correct! What we need to do now is find a way of including the local fishermen to benefit.”
Fish sizes can vary month to month. The most common blue marlin in our waters range from 150 to 250 pounds, but we’ve had months featuring multiple fish in the 400- to 700-pound class (all released). The largest blue I personally witnessed was a 1,023-pound beast (gutted) caught on Capt. Mike’s charter, but it did not qualify as a record because the angler required assistance to land it. Our official island record remains 707 pounds. A 627-pound blue marlin was landed in October 2025 during the Martinique Billfish Tournament, which takes place in the 20 miles of open water between St. Lucia and Martinique and is where some of our northernmost FADs are located.
Making Waves
I took great interest in reading the January/February 2025 issue of Marlin magazine, specifically the feature with statistics on various tournaments across the region and farther afield in Mexico and the U.S. I had started that exercise on my own and found getting the data difficult. The article confirmed that our Republic Bank St. Lucia International Billfish Tournament, hosted by the St. Lucia Game Fishing Association (SLGFA) each year in late September/early October, has the best statistics of the 30 tournaments for which data is provided. The anecdotal reputation among captains—that St. Lucia may boast “the best marlin fishery in the region”—now has data to support it.
In 2023, 13 boats competed: 10 fished 3 to 16 miles off the north coast, and three fished 9 to 12 miles off the south. The top two finishers that year fished the south—Travis Ali’s Blue Fever from Trinidad won first, while St. Lucia charter captain Tom Peter aboard Exodus placed second. We released 23 blue marlin and 50 sailfish. In 2024, guided by the success of the southern strategy, 13 of 16 boats fished the south, producing 72 blue marlin releases and 18 sailfish. In 2025, most of the 18 boats fished the south, producing 83 blue marlin releases and 52 sailfish. That’s an average of 4.61 blues per boat in 2025 and 4.24 blues per boat in 2024, compared to 1.38 in 2023 (excluding sailfish). For comparison, Marlin reported that in 2024, the South Carolina Governor’s Cup averaged one blue per boat, and the Los Cabos Billfish Tournament averaged 0.7—the highest ratios recorded for the tournaments. Again, St. Lucia’s numbers remain impressive. And these 2025 numbers did not include the omni-equipped boats that were fishing around us, which did not take part in the tournament but had very impressive days as well. Note that we do have an omni category in our tournament and hope to attract these boats to participate in the future.
Word has spread about these numbers, and we are now fortunate to see numerous well-known teams on the sport-fishing circuit coming through to explore our blue marlin fishing, including Stone Cutter, Rolling Rooster, Iron Bird, Marlin Darlin, Never Say Never, Salty Fare, Betsy, Juben, Outlier, Cheeseburger, Da Bait, Click Through and others. And their reports of releasing 10-plus blues on a regular basis is helping to put St. Lucia on the map.
And it’s not only big-name foreign boats reaping the benefits of St. Lucia’s blossoming blue marlin fishery. My friend Don Harvey from Lake Oconee, Georgia, only recently entered the world of big-game angling, but it was his move to St. Lucia that sparked the drastic lifestyle change.
“I came down to St. Lucia in 2020 to look at a world-class golf course that was being built on the north end of the island. I fell in love with the dramatic features of the island and bought property on the golf course initially as an investment decision,” Harvey says. “After bringing my family down to St. Lucia and experiencing the culture of the island and a few charter fishing trips, my investment decision turned into a lifestyle decision. I remodeled a classic 60-foot Bertram (Par-Tee Time) in St. Lucia and never looked back. We’ve placed third the last two years in the annual Republic Bank St. Lucia Billfish tournament. The fishing and the people of this island are second to none.”
All the Makings
St. Lucia is endowed with excellent marina facilities, the largest being the 253-slip IGY Marina in beautiful Rodney Bay located in the north of the island. Down our west coast is the 42-slip Marigot Bay Yacht Haven Marina in stunning Marigot Bay. There are no other marina facilities farther south, but that doesn’t mean it’s inaccessible. Using a mooring ball for a couple of days off Paradise Hotel or Sugar Beach in Soufriere, located within our UNESCO World Heritage site and sitting at the base of the world-famous Pitons, is a very nice way to wake up and come back in the evening, and it has become a favorite spot for visiting boats. Blue marlin have even been known to show up on the back of the boat at night while moored in Soufriere.
The sport-fishing boats will typically stay here to cut down on the run to our southern fishing grounds and then come back up to the IGY Rodney Bay Marina or Marigot Bay for fuel or provisioning as required each week.
For those wishing to use the services of our local charter fleets, we have many experienced businesses and captains, including Captain Mike’s, Exodus Charters, Hackshaw Charters, Mystic Man Tours, Salty Boat Charters, Reel Time Adventures and Island Routes Caribbean Adventures. All of these operations know our waters well and can facilitate a fun and productive day. Pitch-baiting is relatively new, with its effectiveness demonstrated by the Magic Lady team. Depending on your level of fishing expertise, it would be good to chat with your captain beforehand to ensure your trip meets your needs. Note that our local fleets do not have omni-sonar capabilities, whereas the bigger sport-fishers coming through do use this technology.
Make the Trip
From colonial outpost to bluewater destination, St. Lucia has come a long way. And perhaps its best-kept secret is now emerging: a world-class blue marlin fishery few yet know. There is a lot to do and experience, waterfront real estate is still reasonably priced by regional standards, and the rich mixed heritage of French, English, African and Amerindian creates an intriguing island to explore. The recently opened and world-acclaimed Point Hardy Golf Course by Cabot, which has just been named the No. 5 best international golf course in the world, attracts golfers from all over, many of whom are also fishing enthusiasts, and some of whom have already decided to acquire and keep a boat here full-time. For the record, St. Lucia is also a great place to visit or live. This Helen of the West Indies, as the island is referred to, also boasts the world’s only drive-in volcano, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and widely regarded as one of the most beautiful in the Caribbean islands. Regardless of what brings you to St. Lucia—be it blue marlin, a tropical retreat or both—we look forward to welcoming you.
