# Turks and Caicos DIY Bonefish



## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Never been there but I’d take a handful of crazy Charlie’s and some decent wading shoes. 

Plus a few bills to tip the locals for tips. 

Let us know.


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)

Yep, already tied some (wayyy too many) Charlies, gotchas, ep spawning shrimp, stuff like that. Not sure how many I'll actually get to use, but it's fun just tying a bunch in the anticipation before a trip...

Anyone ever been to North Caicos?


----------



## duppyzafari (Jul 9, 2015)

T&C Bones love flies with Rubber Legs.

Flamingo Lake, Bonefish Point, & Turtle Tail should show you something in Provo. I've heard of people catching bones right on Grace Bay, but I've never seen any. 

Hiring a guide is extremely expensive but worth it. Will Valely of bonefish unlimited is the best guide there - he'll run you out to flats with impossibly vast schools of bonefish. Tens of thousands of fish that will fight to eat your fly - you'll get tired of catching them. His instagram is incredible.

Middle and North Caicos are more sparsely inhabited - my understanding is that the fishing there is easy but I've never ventured over. Salt creeks and closeby flats are supposed to have plenty of bones and cuda, but I cannot independently confirm that.

The people there are incredibly friendly and it's extremely safe. You're in for a wonderful trip.

Also - I, too, noticed the DIYbonefishing site had not been renewed a few months back. Could be that the annual cost was no longer worth it to the guy. Either way, that was a wonderful resource while it lasted.


----------



## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

There are no bonefish there


----------



## BK922 (Jan 24, 2016)

I think he no longer updates the blog because he wrote a book that is available in kindle format from Amazon for like 7$, looking at it right now and there is a section of Turks and Caicos included. It was very helpful for me on a recent trip and should be for you as well


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)

Have read about the places you mentioned on Provo, Duppy. Sounds like Bonefish Point is the best place but am definitely going to try Flamingo Lake and Turtle Tail. Ended up booking a day with Great Bonefishing, but Cpt. Will definitely seem like one of the top guides and yes, his Instagram is quite awesome!

Will look at the amazon format, thanks for sharing! I'm guessing it provides some information (also about North Caicos) as where to fish, the better tides, flies, and so on?


----------



## Caleb.Esparza (Jan 31, 2016)

I'm going to the Turks in January for a week, plan to fish the Provo stuff as well as venture to north and middle diy. I learned more in one day reading Rod Hamilton's book than I did in three months of scouting the internet, it is absolutely worth the money.


----------



## CoolRunnings (Oct 18, 2012)

Most of Provo is restricted from fishing due to extensive nature preserves. I do not think you can fish from Grace Bay. You will want to catch the ferry to the next Island over (north Caicos). I believe there is some guy who rents kayaks/SUPs over there. Great bone habitat on all the islands, but Provo will be the hardest to fish due to limited avail. area and pressure. I fished with Bonefish Unlimited and it was expensive, but Capt. Will was incredible.

In short: Plan a day to ferry over to Middle Caicos and find a flat. Bones were not picky about what fly was in front of them.


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)

Bought the book from Rod Hamilton, a steal for $10! I thought I had a couple spots scoped out via google maps, but the info from the book goes down to the very tide.


----------



## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Im living vicariously off this thread. Ive dreamed about walking out of a hut with my fly rod and a tropical bone fish, permit, flat in front of me
turks or Bora Bora dosent mater
if Delta flys there i have a shot


----------



## Guest (Jul 27, 2018)

Go to the end of Pine Cay, somewhat behind the Meridian Club. There’s a good-sized flat there and when I was there a couple of years ago they were stacked in there like firewood.

We went to the docks near where they have the weekly fish fry and found a great guy who took us down in his pontoon boat and dropped us off and later picked us up for $40.


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)

Thanks for all the very helpful information, everyone! Currently waiting at the airport in high anticipation. Bonefish beware! Hopefully...


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)




----------



## BM_Barrelcooker (May 4, 2011)

Keep em coming.


----------



## Flatbroke426 (May 5, 2018)

Gotchas rule there


----------



## bonehead (Dec 9, 2016)




----------



## Fishshoot (Oct 26, 2017)

Looks like trip is going well!!


----------



## Camren (Aug 1, 2016)

Nicely done!


----------



## Boykintom (Sep 1, 2014)

bonehead said:


> Yep, already tied some (wayyy too many) Charlies, gotchas, ep spawning shrimp, stuff like that. Not sure how many I'll actually get to use, but it's fun just tying a bunch in the anticipation before a trip...
> 
> Anyone ever been to North Caicos?


Curious how this trip turned out. My fishing buddy and I are thinking of doing this trip later in the year. Oops, didn't see the extra pages until later.


----------



## Brad Cuzzocrea (Feb 3, 2019)

It won’t let me post what I want to post, but I also second Will Vallely he was incredible. I also had Darin Bain who was good, but not as good.

I’m going back to Turks for 4 more days with Will, and will have to few days for DIY.. I know of flamingo lake, turtle lake etc.. bonefish point is illegal to fish. Where are the fish in this thread caught?

Thanks


----------



## Brad Cuzzocrea (Feb 3, 2019)

bonehead said:


> View attachment 35006


Where was this? Looks like sandy point on North Caicos?


----------



## numbskull (Jan 30, 2019)

I've spent a fair amount of time (as in 3 trips) DIY bonefishing on N. Caicos. It is nowhere near as simple as the DIY book would suggest. I've not run into acres of schooling fish. Plenty of tailing fish to be had at daybreak on calm mornings (which are infrequent) but after that it requires a lot of hunting. The size of the flats and extent of mangroves behind them means there is a lot of area to cover. The place is also very tide dependent and tides are difficult to figure out because they vary from spot to spot and are very delayed inside the big creeks........they also vary significantly with wind direction. This makes reproducing a prior day's success much less likely. The wind (typically in the 15-20kt range out of an easterly direction) complicates getting around in kayaks. You can usually access what you want in the am and have the wind on your back coming home but if you don't find fish where you hoped to trying to reposition can be quite tough. I hear of people having big number days but I find 2-4 fish in a typical 11 hour day more the average. Of course with better skills I could probably double that.....but it is what it is. Also be aware that N Caicos (unlike Provo) does not have much to amuse non-fishing partners. It is not someplace your wife will likely be happy while you go off to fish.


----------



## SkiffsDoWha (Dec 23, 2016)

Fished the north end (west of the river) of Grand Turk in November while in port for a cruise. Rented a Jeep paying $130 cash (wtf) for the day and drove up to the area. Incredible flat up there next to a “river” that had something like huge jacks or Tarpon busting bait. Was a couple hundred yards into the flat before I noticed the bigger fish, so I didn’t want to double back. I was throwing a generic #6 tan crab pattern and caught a couple of the fish I saw. Fish were not spooky, but did not come in close. Might not be what OP is looking for, but hopefully someone will find it helpful in the future!


----------



## Bonefishbananas (Dec 22, 2021)

bonehead said:


> Heading to the Turks this upcoming Friday, and going to be there for 9 nights (4 on Provo, 5 in North Caicos). Would really love to get into some bones, especially on the North island since apparently that's where the better fishing is. Was going to check the DIY Bonefishing website, but it seems to have been changed or terminated? Anyways, would really appreciate some info regarding on where to fish in these areas.
> 
> Thanks!


North is a different ball game to Provo. Get a ferry, look up @Bonefishbananas on Twitter if they’re around and get a decent room and a paddle board or kayak for bottle creek. Huge schools on the right tide… no guide needed


----------



## WhiskeyLoops (Aug 22, 2021)

This is an awesome thread, heading there in Feb, reached out to the guides mentioned here. 

Do you guys bring 2 rods? 6 & 8? 6 on calm days and presentation , 8 for windy days?


----------



## Bonefishbananas (Dec 22, 2021)

WhiskeyLoops said:


> This is an awesome thread, heading there in Feb, reached out to the guides mentioned here.
> 
> Do you guys bring 2 rods? 6 & 8? 6 on calm days and presentation , 8 for windy days?
> I have a house out on North with everything including a self contained apartment for adventurous fly fishers! We’re out there till the summer so let me know if interested. An 8wt is ideal. It’s rare the wind drops enough for lighter rods but I’ve caught bonefish on a 5wt 😜. On north id suggest neoprene booties better than heavy wading boots. Tides are everything. The fishing can be ridiculous! Schools of bonefish racing into each other like starlings but of course nothing is guaranteed. A paddle board is v useful but not essential. Decent backpack to carry water essential as you really are alone when out in the creek and it’s huge. Over a mile across and maybe up to 10 miles long. All the best - c u there Matthew [email protected]


----------

