I found myself en route to Turks & Caicos last week for a family reunion with two days to kill before the rest of the family arrived. Naturally, I had one thought on my mind - bonefish.
Bonefish guides run a minimum of $800 per day (plus tips) in Turks & Caicos. Therefore, I decided this would be a self-guided trip. After reviewing a couple of websites and multiple Google Earth images, I identified some flats that looked promising. One of them involved a very long drive on an unimproved road that took its toll on my rental car, but it ended up being well worth the effort.
After successfully navigating the dirt road, I came upon an incredibly beautiful flat that looked very fishy. I rigged up and scanned the water, spotting three cruising bones almost immediately.
I noticed what appeared to be snapping shrimp burrows, but no signs of crabs. I took out the box of flies I tied back in Idaho and rigged up a Peterson's Spawning Shrimp. It was the ticket.
After that it was a matter of cruising up and down the beach looking for fish. I had the entire beach to myself, except for a couple of nude sunbathers who were quite startled to see a guy with a buff covering his face approaching. As the tide started to retreat, I worked my way towards the outer edges of the flat and landed 4-5 more good bones.
The tide eventually worked its way off the flat as the sun was setting. It was a pretty epic outing...especially considering I didn't know what to expect after the long car ride across the island.
Now I'm back, enjoying a rain/snow/sleet mix in eastern Idaho.
Love DIY bonefishing. LOVE it. Good on ya!
ReplyDeleteHi Brent;
ReplyDeleteRod Hamilton here, from DIYflatsfishing.com and DIYbonefishing.com. Great story on Turks & Caicos and was hoping you might do a "guest blog" on DIYbonefishing.com. Like the way you write and we obviously have a mutual interest in fishing for bonefish and other fish of the flats.
My subscribers would really enjoy your views on the bonefish world.
Let me know and look forward to hearing from you.
MAN, we were JUST THERE in February and I got totally skunked!
ReplyDeleteI didn't talk to a single DIY-er who got even a nibble, but the creeks and lagoons over at Middle Caicos were teeming with fish.
Like you, I found the $800 fee a bit steep, but still better than teh $20,000 I'd owe if I wrecked a rental skiff, as so many thousands have between the two islands.
I'll be in Grand Cayman in 3 weeks - any tips on where to fish there? zmgriffith at hotmail dot com
Great post!