re: DIY Bone Fishing Turks & Caicos

When are you going? Sorry if I missed that.

Provo has some good looking stuff by the airport and on the eastern side of the island. I'm sure there are fish there.

If you are doing the DIY thing, you want to be fishing around a low tide. In flats settings, bones spread out at high tide and generally get off of the flat. Where there are mangroves, they push deep back into mangroves for protection. There's also the issue of not being able to physically fish when the water is high because of the tide.

In the Bahamas, I generally like to fish the first couple hours of the incoming tide. There are a couple of islands I've been to that, for whatever reason, have fish that seem to prefer a falling tide. If that's the case, I like to fish the last half of the falling tide. When you're figuring it out, it is imperative that you are on the flat at low tide. The fish will still probably be there, but they'll be more skittish and less likely to eat. It's also a great chance to see some pretty crazy tailing stuff. I have seen some Nat Geo level tailing events at sunset/sunrise low tides in the Bahamas. Like sit back and watch the show type stuff.

The bottom line with bonefish is there has to be some type of moving tide for you to have a decent chance of success. The fish will almost always feed against the tide/current, because they feed by feed by sucking mud through their mouths and out of their gills. They will feed against the tide and current so the mud is filtered behind them instead of in front of them. At dead low, you can tell you're in a good area because you'll see a bunch of little holes in the marl/sand where they've been feeding.

A bit of wind is better than no wind. They are easier to see when there is a little bit of ripple or chop on the water surface because you can see into the water. They are also a hell of a lot more skittish when it's slick calm and sunny. If you have clouds, watch birds fly across the flat. Anytime a bird flies over a group of bones, they lose their shite.

Walk slowly and try to avoid wearing wading boots if the ground allows. I almost always walk barefoot. If I have to wear shoes, I wear high top chuck taylors. Wading boots are clunky and make a ton of noise. Bones are scared of literally everything and sound reverberates a lot further under water than it does above water. You are also likely going to be fishing in crystal clear water and they see really well. Spend more time looking than you do moving.

I would also try to line up access to a paddle craft. It will multiply the areas you can reach on your own exponentially. My favorite island to fish in the Bahamas would be unfishable without a paddlecraft. We bring inflatable SUPs with us. I'd try to locate one to rent on the island. The inflatable ones are a lot easier to transport on or in a rental car than a hard SUP or a kayak. Bring ratchet straps in your suitcase.

I could talk for hours about the stuff. I'll try to remember to post a thread about our trip coming up with photos. If you want, I can post my email and we can link up closer to your trip and talk more. I'll also probably delete this post at some point if I remember because I had to learn all this stuff the hard way and I hate it being out there on the internet .