ST. CROIX — For 14-year-old Jadriel John, fishing has become a way of life that he shares with the world through his social media accounts.
He started fishing with his late grandfather, Adriel Garcia — whom he was named after, with a “J” added to the front — who taught him how to cast a net to catch baitfish in 2018, when he was 6 years old.
Garcia died in December 2025, and John has continued to uphold their fishing tradition.
“I enjoy it a lot because my grandfather taught me, and that’s one thing I could carry for the rest of my life, and I’m glad he got me into it because it’s a really fun and enjoyable sport,” John said. “I could feed my family, and you know, help the people that need fish.”
John, better known by his initials, “JJ,” is a freshman at St. Croix Central High School, where he said his favorite subjects are science, social studies, and English.
Building a following:
After receiving encouragement from his supporters, John began sharing his fishing adventures on social media in 2021 through his JJ Fishing Adventures accounts. He said he did not have initial success on YouTube, but that turned around when he started posting TikTok videos of himself handline fishing, spearfishing, casting bait nets, and cleaning and filleting fish.
“I do really good on TikTok,” he said. “I have 61,000 followers.”
John’s mother, Zolymar Garcia, records him and posts the videos to his social media accounts.
“I’m usually the one who does the videos, and then he approves them,” she said.
John has gained a following in the fishing community and beyond — including Governor Albert Bryan Jr., who mentioned John and his passion for fishing during an event in 2022. John posted a video of the moment to his Instagram account on October 1, 2022.
“I think it’s really cool,” John said of the governor’s acknowledgment. “When I posted it, all my classmates were amazed. They didn’t believe it.”
He said he feels like the videos he posts inspire other teenagers to fish, pointing to a friend who watches his videos and is becoming more interested in learning to fish with a handline instead of a rod and reel.
“I taught him how to throw a net; all kinds of stuff,” John said. “I do think I inspire other kids.”
On the water:
John fishes from the pier and from boats. He has a 9-foot fiberglass dinghy with a 15-horsepower motor that he uses to maneuver Altona Lagoon.
Although John has caught nice-sized fish off the pier at the lagoon, like pompano, he said he prefers fishing from a boat.
“There’s a better chance that you’re catching more fish, better fish, and bigger fish than fishing out on a pier, because there’s a lot of other people that fish there, and the fish already know what’s going on and what’s gonna happen, so they don’t really bite compared to like out on a boat,” he said.
He takes his dinghy out to the reef to spearfish, where he catches parrotfish among other reef species.
John, who described fishing as a peaceful and relaxing experience, spoke about the dedication and persistence a successful day at sea requires.
“Some days you don’t even catch fish at all,” he said.
The fish that gave him his hardest fight, he said, was a 54-pound yellowfin tuna he caught from a boat using a handline, despite his hands cramping up.
“Every time I grabbed the line, my fingers wouldn’t open again to grab it and pull it up,” he said, adding that he considered cutting the line. “But I just said ... I’m just gonna have to fight it, and I brought it up.”
John said he prefers using live bait over artificial lures. He catches his own baitfish — sprat or mullet — in the shallows of Altona Lagoon using an appropriately sized net. He uses that baitfish for handline fishing, but when trolling for wahoo, he prefers a rod with lures.
Looking ahead:
Beyond posting his fishing adventures, John said he is planning to upload educational videos of himself speaking with other fishers about sustainable fishing practices.
“I think it’s important because our reefs here ... I feel that they’re overfished,” he said.
Asked what the biggest lesson the ocean has taught him that applies to his daily life, John said: “Don’t fear it, respect it. And don’t think you are, like, the best. Don’t think that you know everything.”
John is considering several careers, including becoming a commercial fisherman, working on an oil rig, or operating a tanker or tugboat.
John also promotes his brand, JJ Fishing Adventures, on hats and long-sleeve rash guards. He initially ordered merchandise from a manufacturer he is no longer doing business with and is now in the process of finding a new one so he can restock for customers who reach out to him through social media. He started the business at age 10 and renews his business license annually and his trademark every two years.
A mentor in the fishing community:
The fishing community has embraced John and taken him on to mentor.
“It really humbles me to know that they look up to my son,” Garcia said.
Gerson “Nickey” Martinez, a commercial fisher on St. Croix since 1993, was the first to mentor John. He said John was 7 or 8 years old when they met.
“He was always around the fishing ramps, like the pelicans,” Martinez said. “He was always doing something, trying to catch a little bait, asking questions about fishing, and his mother was always there.”
Martinez said John used to fish often with his grandfather.
“They were always together doing the fishing until suddenly he passed,” he said. “So, he is carrying the torch of the family.”
Martinez began mentoring John after Garcia asked him to take her son fishing on his boat so he could learn from him.
“He is very talented,” Martinez said. “He knows how to move around in the boat. He knows how to set a hook on a fish. He knows how to fight the fish. He has the potential to be somebody big in the Virgin Islands.”
Martinez said John has fished with over 20 of local fishers.
“He has learned a little bit from each,” he said.
Martinez said he sees himself in John, because Garcia supports her son the same way Martinez’s mother supported him when he was a child.
“I always encourage both of them: him to respect the mom, and the mom to keep encouraging him to become somebody in the fishing industry because he has the potential of becoming a great fisherman,” Martinez said. “He knows to do everything in the industry.”
Garcia is supportive of her son’s passion for fishing and his traditional handline technique.
“I love it,” she said. “It’s keeping the culture alive.”
She said she is already encouraging him to share his knowledge with the next generation of fishers when he’s older — though she noted he isn’t waiting to spread his enthusiasm.
“He’s actually getting some of his friends out in the ocean, out in the waters, away from video games, so it’s a blessing,” Garcia said.
Garcia said the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council (CFMC) has been scouting her son to serve on its educational panel because of his experience at sea, but that he is currently too young. Martinez, who chairs the CFMC’s District Advisory Panel, confirmed that the council has been keeping an eye on John to join the educational panel once he’s old enough, noting that he’d need to first be involved in either a commercial fisherman committee or advisory panel. In the meantime, Martinez said John is welcome to attend the council’s public meetings any time to see how they function.
John was also recognized by the CFMC as Fisher of the Month in 2022. The council published an article about him, complete with photographs of him on the water holding up various catches and grilling fish, which John shared on his Instagram account on July 2, 2022.
To support her son’s dream of becoming a commercial fisher, Garcia said the plan is for John to get certified in scuba and obtain his captain’s license when he turns 19.
“JJ is out to get what he wants to get in this world,” she said.
