January 2023 - Currently not available
National Park Archipelago Los Roques is a necklace of islands in the Caribbean Sea situated 80 miles off the north coast of Venezuela, conveniently located for anglers traveling from the US. Technically referred to as an archipelago, Los Roques is an unspoiled atoll, characterized by extremely clear waters, magnificent coral beds, diverse and varied flats, sandy beaches and hundreds of smaller mangrove cays – all with incredible natural beauty. Los Roques was declared a National Park in the mid-1970s. Some flats are coral and some are soft marl covered with turtle grass and seaweed. However, most flats are firm, clean white, or golden in color, and easy to navigate. You will also be fishing extensive sand flats and beach flats, channels, cuts, coral shallows and mangroves. Los Roques is a bonefisherman’s wading paradise.

Chris Yrazabal, owner of Sight Cast, has over eleven years of experience guiding in Los Roques. Sight Cast began operations in 2002 and has built a solid team of local guides with years of experience. I worked with him before he started Sight Cast and have had nothing but positive feedback from clients fishing with him.

The Sight Cast team has extensive knowledge of each of the approximate 300 flats and different fishing areas at Los Roques. Each flat is unique and slightly different in depth and composition from the other. Their differences can be subtle, but because Yrazabal has achieved an enormous amount of experience during his 11 years of guiding at Los Roques, he is able to pass this experience on to his crew. The guides completely understand the importance of positioning anglers on a flat so that the wind is at the anglers advantage when casting to fish. Their guides have can communicate well with anglers in fishing English.

When anglers’ arrive in Venezuela, an identified person from Sight Cast will be waiting after immigration and luggage pick up. All measures have been taken to guarantee a safe arrival for guests. Anglers are transferred in an air-conditioned van from the International Airport to the hotel, and vice versa. Travel time is approximately 10 minutes. For the 35-minute flight from Caracas to Los Roques, Sight Cast uses the service of Aerotuy (Linea Turistica Aerotuy LTA). Once at Los Roques, the typical day begins at 7:30 am. After a hearty breakfast, you walk only few feet from the lodge to load your gear into the boat. Sight Cast fishes two anglers to a guide/boat with a separate boatman to take advantage of all the wade fishing opportunities without wasting time backtracking to the boat. Generally, anglers will share the guide for equal periods of time. Fishing hours may vary depending on tides and conditions but it is a full 8-hour fishing experience each day.

After a full day of fishing, anglers return to Acuarela Lodge at around 4:30 pm where the staff will be waiting to assist them in unloading their equipment. Acuarela is a deluxe beachfront lodge on El Gran Roque with 10 comfortable rooms and an ample lounge area. Rooms are well ventilated with A/C. Each room has a private bathroom with hot water. Meals at the lodge are prepared specifically for anglers. The attention and service is first class.

Thanks to its location (only 12 degrees north of the equator), Los Roques’ air and water temperatures vary little. The climate is dry and it rarely rains. The area is relatively unaffected by cold fronts and hurricanes. These factors make Los Roques one of the most consistent bonefishing locations in the world.

Los Roques offers outstanding numbers of bonefish with a very solid average size of 3-4 pounds. Fish over 5 pounds are caught more frequently than fish under 2 pounds, and good numbers of fish in the 7-10 pound range are present. Over the past two seasons, their largest bonefish released weighed in at a whopping 13 pounds! Although bonefish are the main attraction in Los Roques, tarpon from 10 to 100 pounds are frequently landed. They can often be seen rolling in the channels and occasionally on the deeper flats. Permit are seen occasionally, but are rarely caught. Other available species at Los Roques include barracuda, snook, sierra mackerel, bonito and a variety of snappers and hard fighting jacks.

Unlike northern bonefishing locations that can experience the summer doldrums when the flats get too hot, Los Roques fishing holds up quite well and can actually improve during June, July and August due to constant trade winds and currents. These currents replace warmed surface water while oxygenating it at the same time. Since warmer water holds less oxygen than cold water, this turnover and oxygenation effect keeps the surface water quality high in areas directly exposed to the wind.