fishing and seasons of Los Roques

Los Roques is only 12 degrees north of the equator, (85 miles off the northern coast of Venezuela). Like most bonefisheries this close to the equator, the sun arcs overhead in perfect 12 hours intervals, and ensures stable water currents, favorable water temperatures, and wind, consistently drawing bonefish onto the flats from February to October.

The peak fishing season for bonefish here is significantly longer than in the Bahamas, Mexican Yucatan, Belize, Cuba, or Honduras, where the sun is low in the sky for months of the year, and their respective latitude creates a shorter calendar window for visibility and optimum weather conditions.

Los Roques is refreshed by nearly constant trade-winds, which are constantly turning over warmed surface waters. Since warmer water holds less oxygen than cold water, this turn over and oxygenation creates a perfect environment for crustaceans, baitfish and feeding bonefish. The cooling trade-winds combine with a dry climate to create very pleasant mid-summer conditions for anglers when other Caribbean and Central American destinations are plagued with oppressive heat and humidity.

January
The level of the water on the flats of Los Roques during January is usually too high. While it’s not uncommon to find lots of cruising bonefish along beaches in the first month of the year, the high water reduces the chances of seeing many tailing bones on the flats.

The weather is pleasant all year ‘round in the archipelago, however, and the angler searching for a January angling escape will have the advantage of little competition and fish that haven’t seen much pressure since the previous October.

February
Water levels at Los Roques in February are near perfect for the better part of each day and not as susceptible to the adverse ocean currents and winds that are common during November, December, and January. The Sight Cast guides focus on the rising tides and usually cast to tailing bonefish for about four hours of each day in February.

March, April, and May
The month of March signals the beginning of the best of the fishing at Los Roques. Rising water levels each day come up slowly, driven by western tides, but held back by eastern trade-winds. Beginning in March, it is not uncommon to see hundreds and hundreds of bonefish tailing close to each other. There are long periods of the day with virtually no water on the flats when the guides and anglers turn to deep water flats and beaches, waiting for the tide to turn and flood the flats with cool, fresh water from the deep blue sea surrounding the cays.

When the tide starts to flood, guides position flyrodders to intercept and ambush bonefish that move quickly to the flats; these fish are searching for the crustaceans that are exposed, and are feeding madly and often with reckless abandon.

Like most of the rest of the Caribbean, April and May bring optimum light conditions that combine with the favorable daily flooding of the flats of Los Roques. This time of the year offers classic, picture-perfect wading and a combination of both large numbers of bones and routine shots at larger bonefish. It’s the famous Los Roques bonefishing, when tails seem to stretch to the horizon, providing moments that most anglers remember for a lifetime. For the angler who wants to wade for big tailing bonefish - this is the time and place.

June, July, August, September and on through October
The summer months are what separate Los Roques from most other bonefishing destinations in the Caribbean. Los Roques can be effectively fished during the summer months, and right through October. A constant influx of cool, oxygenated ocean water on the flats, generated by trade winds and strong ocean currents, keep conditions fresh and habitable. This twice a day turnover of ocean-fresh water keeps the flats from becoming super-heated and stagnant. The crustaceans remain active and the flats of Los Roques are alive with fish all summer and into the early fall.

The near equatorial location does not experience extreme temperature fluctuations, nor is it historically affected by hurricanes crossing the Atlantic on their way to the Caribbean and/or North America. And unlike the tropics on the near southern side of the equator, there is little rain and not much relative humidity in the Los Roques archipelago.

The key to angling success in the summer months is mobility, and the Sight Cast guides move quickly from flat to flat, taking advantage of more quickly raising or falling water levels. Bonefish also move more quickly in the summer months. Tailing fish don’t hang around in one spot very long, and more refined stalking and casting skills are necessary to be successful in the mid-summer months.

November and December
The level of the water on the flats during these months is high all day. You don’t see many tailing fish on Los Roques during this time period, only cruising fish. The fish are here, just hard to see…

One important feature of Los Roques is that there are many flats to fish and, depending on the conditions, Sight Cast knows where to go for the best fishing.

The importance of wind, tides and moon phases
There’s no simple explanation or a consistent system to predict tidal fluctuations at Los Roques. In fact, it is easier to think in terms of water levels that cover, or expose the flats of Los Roques several times a day during many months of the year.

Los Roques tides (water levels) are affected by ocean currents and off-shore winds in the deep blue channels that surround the archipelago. Those winds begin hundreds of miles away and drive, alternately, massive mountains and deep troughs of water over the cays of the national park. In essence, the tide is of little consequence, except when there are several consecutive windless days.
If, for example, on-shore winds are strong, and the tide is flooding, greater pushes of water will enter the archipelago at a faster rate. If there is an off-shore wind, the tide will be accelerated or retarded, depending on whether the tide is flooding or ebbing. Ocean currents are constant, play an important role in Los Roques water levels, and further complicate the daily formula for successful bonefishing.