Top 14 Off the Beaten Path Fishing Destinations

Every sportfisherman (and some people who don’t even fish) is familiar with top fishing destinations like Islamorada, Belize or Cabo San Lucas. But if you’re looking for an alternative to the more popular saltwater fishing spots, here are some you may not have heard of.

Isla Holbox, Mexico

Just off the tip of the Yucatan Peninsula sits Isla Holbox. This quiet, laid-back island stands in stark contrast to the touristy city of Cancun just a few dozen miles to the south. Remote and largely undiscovered, Holbox is for serious anglers seeking a hook-up with monster tarpon, jacks, barracuda, permit and more.

Venice, Louisiana

The Delta National Wildlife Refuge is home to an astounding variety of fish species, making it a Mecca of sorts for saltwater fishermen. Whether chasing massive yellowfin out near the oil rigs or hunting for monstrous reds in the endless maze of flats, there’s something for everyone around Louisiana’s southernmost point.

Out in the delta and beyond, look for cobia, king mackerel, red snapper, gray snapper, amberjack, almaco jack, scamp and gag grouper, tripletail and other species. Though an overused term, it is indeed a potpourri in this area of the northern Gulf of Mexico, whether you fish strictly offshore or both shallow and outside. A number of charters run daily to the deep reefs and — for yellowfin and billfish — to the blue-water rigs.

The Seychelle Islands

Your new obsession lies a thousand miles off the eastern coast of Africa, in the coral and granite islands of the Seychelles. This pristine hideaway of white sand in the Indian Ocean abounds in tropical fish and topical luxury. All of the angling pioneers who are fortunate enough to visit her shores call it a paradise. Nowhere else in the world offers the diversity of species that can be found and targeted on the fly; from tailing triggerfish to giant trevally, the Seychelles offer more angling adventure than one could experience in 10 lifetimes.

The Everglades

Since it’s a mix of saltwater and freshwater, you’ll find some of the most diverse fishing in the world in the Everglades. Known as the River of Grass, the Everglades run south from Lake Okeechobee down to Florida Bay. One-third of Everglades National Park is covered by water, creating excellent fishing opportunities for snapper, trout, redfish, bass, snook, tarpon, grouper, black drum and more.

Boca Chica, Panama

Boca Chica is a small fishing village and popular resort town on the mainland that sits on the northern edge of the Gulf of Chirqui about an hour and a half drive east from the city of David. Populated with several small fishing lodges, nearby fishing spots include Hannibal Bank, Isla Montuosa, and Isla Coiba. A few of the types of fish you’re likely to hook include yellowfin tuna, dorado, rooster fish, wahoo, snapper, amberjack, grouper, marlin and Pacific sailfish.

Apalachicola, Florida

Once a major shipping port, Apalachicola is now a center of commercial oyster and shrimp production, as well as a recreational fishing hotspot. With Apalachicola Bay and St. George Sound sheltered by St. George Island, kayak fishing is a growing trend. There are lots of light-tackle species to chase, including sea-trout, redfish, and sheeps-head. In summertime, tarpon move into the bays. What makes “Apalach” really special is its lack of snowbirds and the absence of high-rises, golf resorts, and choked highways.

Beaufort, S.C.

With a population of just over 12,000, Beaufort is about as classic small-town South as it gets, and there’s an authentic local culture that has flourished in connection to the ocean, rivers, and marshes for generations. A short boat ride past Fripp Inlet puts you in a saltwater paradise of dolphin, marlin, and much more.

Bijagos, Guinea-Bissau

Named by Sport Fishing magazine as among 14 of the world’s top spots to catch big tarpon, the waters around this small west African nation claim the all-tackle record (286 pounds, 9 ounces), and it’s not unusual to catch monster tarpon in these waters.

But the South Atlantic waters here offer more than just tarpon, including cobia, jacks galore, various snapper including cubera, cobia, leerfish and more. Anglers fish both from boats and, in places, from beaches. In/around the dozens of pristine islands that comprise the Bijagos Archipelago, there are plenty of opportunities for jigging and popping.

Morehead City, N.C.

Some of the biggest redfish in the world roll around the ocean surf here in the fall. Offshore, you can catch dolphin, tuna, even marlin. And inshore fishing for reds, seatrout, and other species is fairly consistent in most seasons.

Papua New Guinea

Even though New Guinea has become something of a Pacific hot spot lately, much of its coast remains untouched by fishermen. The underwater predators of Papua New Guinea’s Bismarck and the Archipelago Seas are poised to erase any memories of an angler’s past catch. Their seas are littered with challenging catches such as dogtooth tuna, sailfish, yellowfin tuna, marlin and plenty more. The coastal waters around the Madang, East and West New Britain and New Ireland areas abound in blue and black marlin, sailfish and dogtooth tuna. There’s saratogo and ox eye herring to play with too.

Southeast Alaska

Think “Alaska” and you probably think “salmon.” Of course, that barely scratches the surface. The variety of species that a real light-line enthusiast with spinning or baitcast gear and, say, 10- to 15-pound braid, can enjoy may seem almost endless.

In one day, an angler could very possibly land salmon (coho or chinook — or both), small halibut, lingcod, kelp greenling, cabezon and a variety of colorful (and tasty) rockfish including yelloweye, vermilion, china, copper, quillback, black, yellowtail, blue, canary and still more.

Offshore, Prince of Wales Island, America’s third largest island, is surrounded by seas rich with salmon, halibut, cod, rockfish and two types of crab.

Graham and Langara Islands, British Columbia

Steep, stunning, craggy, forested slopes overlook some of the most productive fishing grounds in the North Pacific in these islands about 30 miles south of Alaska. Sport-fishing pressure is negligible around most of the Queen Charlottes, known to the Haida as Haida Gwaii, except for the few (generally top-notch) fishing resorts — strictly fly-in.

During most of the season, the waters around these islands truly teem with schools of salmon: It’s a great place to nail a trophy 50-plus-pound chinook as well as smaller coho and Pacific halibut of truly behemoth proportions. Have that flying harpoon ready! Yet, with good conditions, following an easy morning flight from Vancouver, you can be catching ’em up that afternoon. In the summer, daylight fishing can start before 5 a.m. and last until 10 p.m.

Cuba

While slowly becoming more common, Cuba’s renowned sport fishing requires inclusion in this list. Cuba offers a combination of fabulous flats fishing and, as noted for the Bahamas, reefs and blue water. In addition to Havana, coastal towns such as Varadero, Zapata, Camaguey and Cayo Largo offer a variety of species including bonefish, tarpon, permit or palometa, snapper, jack, snook, barracuda, needlefish and the combative and voracious lemon shark.

Andaman Islands

It’s a mighty long trip to get here, but it’s also sure to qualify as one of those trips-of-a-lifetime for any angler. Though the Andamans belong to India, they’re located between that country and Thailand but much closer to the latter, in the southern Bay of Bengal.

Light-tackle ops are unlimited in these waters where anything less than 50 to 80 pounds may leave you crying. In one visit, it’s not unheard of to catch giant trevally, dogtooth tuna, green and rose jobfish, red bass (snapper), various groupers, emperors and other nearshore gamesters. A city block off the shoreline of steep-sided islands, you’re likely to enjoy repeated multiple hookups of yellowfin and wahoo.

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