Anybody have any leads/info/tips on previous fishing trips to Jamaica (specifically Montego Bay)? I’ve heard, “go out w/ a local” but not sure how that would precisely work. Any info?
Not, don’t, it will just be a boat ride. I love Jamaica but Montego Bay is only one step above Kingstontown. It’s a place to fly into and get the heck out of.
I love the people, the culture, the food, the rum in the outer areas, but the island has been fished out long ago and the coral reefs polluted and devastated by hurricanes. It is not a fishing destination. There are a lot of beautiful places and great people in Jamaica, but Montego Bay ain’t one of them any more. The USA doesn’t have slums like that. Watch the women and children closely in the big cities. The areas around Negril are my favorite, but don’t expect good fishing there either. It’s better fishing here. Better partying there. They know how to throw a party in Negril [:0]
Expect everybody you meet to be trying to sell you something, most of it not exactly legal and they can be persistent. Depends on what you are looking for, but that ain’t the place to go fishing. If you want to smoke weed and take your clothes off, it’s the place to be 
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
Ya mon! Everything Larry said is spot on. I have been to Montego Bay once. Don’t plan on going back… Ever.
07 Scout Winyah Bay 221 Yamaha F150
ditto on the boat ride/troll a lure/catch no fish
“George”
16’ Mirrocraft
25 HP Yamaha
“Jazzed”
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Save your money and go to Bimini or Hawaii instead. Jamaica is an open air prison of sorts. cCriminal element around every corner. When the state department warns you about a vacation destination, it’s time to re-think it. Been there about 4 times with cruises and once on our own for 5 days ( Negril). Got something there from the food or drink ( not sure which), that made me and the wife deathly ill for about days. Just my .02. I don’t even really want to get off the ship if we have to port there on a cruise. Shopping for junk and watching our backsides the whole time is not fun to me.
About 10 years ago my wife, son and I circumnavigated Jamaica on a sailing catamaran. I pulled 4 trolling lines around the entire island and never caught a fish. We stopped and dove in a dozen spots, seldom even saw a fish. All reefs were dead bone yards.
It is a dangerous country and Negril beach is X-rated. Not a place for children. My son was 15 and the drug hawkers were all over him.
There was a para-sailing establishment on the beach, if you could call a tent an establishment. The hawker out front was continuously advertising "parasailing, marijuana, hashish…parasailing, marijuana, hashish…over and over. I don’t think I’d go parasailing with the local hashish dealer[:0]
If you want to catch fish go to Costa Rica or Belize, if you want to get high, go to Jamaica.
Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
“Ships are the nearest things to dreams that hands have ever made.” -Robert N. Rose
We went a lot in the mid 70’s and liked it so my wife and I spent our honeymoon in Falmouth, Trelawney Beach. It was a resort frequented mostly by Brits so it was interesting. Did not fish but did some diving. It was fun but nothing spectacular. We hung out all week with some really nice locals at an open air bar/grill, sampling different rum drinks all week and eating jerk chicken, goat and fish. Going in to Mo Bay or Kingston was okay but you could not walk 10’ without someone trying to sell you weed or coke. I don’t see us ever going back.
“Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It’s Hand”.
I work with a bunch of Jamaicans today I asked them what their favorite local fish was to eat on the island. The answer was parrot fish, one said snapper but they hadn’t seen any of them in a while. On a side note they love the salt cod the most but that is imported.
Key West Stealth
150 V-max
Jamaica has improved as a country a ton in the last 10 years. The wife and I like to go because it’s a quick flight and bus ride to Negril. Montego Bay has less poverty now it seems, and Negril is much cleaner than the first time we visited 20 years ago. All of the reefs have improved because there is now a sanitary sewer system like there is in the US now. All of this is thanks to the huge tourism industy. With that said the locals rape the reefs that are not near resorts, and the fishing sucks. Hopefully that will improve some day.
Jamaica has improved as a country a ton in the last 10 years. The wife and I like to go because it’s a quick flight and bus ride to Negril. Montego Bay has less poverty now it seems, and Negril is much cleaner than the first time we visited 20 years ago. All of the reefs have improved because there is now a sanitary sewer system like there is in the US now. All of this is thanks to the huge tourism industy. With that said the locals rape the reefs that are not near resorts, and the fishing sucks. Hopefully that will improve some day.