An oceanfront shore house in Curacao with a nice dock above the sea, with crystal clear water and plenty of fish, is the ideal location to at least try during your stay to catch fishes from the dock of our bay.
Before we purchased this waterfront property Villa Sea Paradise in Jan Thiel bay, locals were used to shore fishing there a lot.
During the construction of the villa in 2009 I remember I came one morning and saw two of the construction workers fishing on the shore of our property. I told them to stop fishing there because they were robbing me of all my fishes and suggest to them to go fish next door, on the neighbor’s property. Those are my fishes, I said to them. They argued by saying the fishes in the sea goes from property to property, so they belong to nobody. I insisted for them to move to next property by saying when the fish are between my boundaries they are mine!
They shook their heads and moved next door. Then I started to laugh out loud. Only then they understood I was joking!
How they catch fishes
People on Curacao usually go fishing early in the morning when the fishes are looking for food. They use as bait, little crabs, the ones that crawls around with a seashell on top of them. As bait they also use chicken meat or smaller fishes, they catch by cutting them into little pieces.
They use nylon fishing line with a hook and lead or sinker attached to it. The locals usually don’t use fishing rods. They cast the line with the sinker not far away from where they are standing on the shore. Sometimes the hook gets stuck in the coral reef then after failing to detach it, they cut it loose. That’s why they have several spare hooks and sinkers with them.
I saw some hobby fishermen from Holland that after catching fishes they throw the fishes back in. I asked them why? Don’t do that! Give them to us! One local guy did catch 8 fishes in 1 hour the other day and gave us 2 of the fishes. See picture below.
Picture of fishes caught in the backyard.
The names of these two fishes are: Redtail Parrot fish and the smaller one: Princess Parrot fish.
I asked him how he does it and why his hooks don’t get stuck in the coral reef formation? He told me to throw the hook and sinker only on sandy parts, then it won’t get stuck. A very logical and simple explanation. He too uses as bait small fishes and crabs.
Unique alternative fishing methods
The most unique fishing method I saw is fishing while snorkeling. Having a mask snorkel and fins this guy was lowering his line with sinker and hook on the fish he selected. After hooking them he pulls them up and place them in a net he carries.
Some people cast fishing rod with a floater and a sinker. They calculate the distance to the bottom and place the floater four inches higher so that the sinker, hook with the bait will hang about two inches from the bottom. The bait is then in the right position.
Shore fishing on Curacao is the most common way to fish without worries or expense of hiring a boat. Besides, you don’t need a permit for shore fishing. If you like to try to catch fishes at our vacation rental, bring your fishing rod or line and enough hooks and sinkers to Villa Sea Paradise. You can even try night fishing.
Fishing by night using our dock light shining in the sea.
We have also installed a fishing spot light which shines in the sea under the dock. It attracts big fishes, especially Tarpons.
Tarpons are Silver color fishes that can grow very large. They have big scales. Their size in shallow water are rarely more than 90 cm, in open sea they grow more than 2 m. Food and bait are small fish, crustacea (living shrimps, craps, lobsters).
Being able to take in air from the atmosphere, they can stand very low oxygen content of the water. They are strong fighters when hooked.
Also needle fishes are attracted by the lights. Tarpons at our dock hunt especially on needle fishes. They are big approx. 6 feet. See picture below.
Picture of a Tarpon from the Dock
A group of about up to 12 comes almost every night to the light. Dependent of who of the neighbours switches their spot light on first. He gets the most Tarpons.
The following fishes with names in English and Papiamentu can be caught from the shore at our vacation rental Villa Sea Paradise Curacao:
Name is English Name in Papiamentu
Tarpon Sabalo
Mahi-Mahi, Dradu
Parrot fish Gutu
Big Eye Scad Masbangu
Barracuda Baracuda/ Picuda
Sergeant Major Ladronchi Strepia
Mullets Mulá
Result after frying the 2 fishes: delicious!
Photo taken at the vacation rental: Villa Sea Paradise Curacao
Interested in staying with us? Contact us for more information about our oceanfront villa, one of the nicest and close to town Curacao vacation rentals.
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