Caicos/Turk fishing info needed

[gillgetter]

We booked a trip to The Turks/Caicos islands. I have never fished the ocean before, but would like to give it a try. I'm used to fishig salmon, walleye, pike etc up here in Michigan.
Anyone from that area that could give some advise as to what species to go after? We will be there the 1 st week in april. Looking at a half day charter.
Barracuda sounds like fun.
Thanks

[British Flyer]

I presume you are staying on Providenciales. You have two options to choose from - you can go bonefishing and go with a guide out of Leeward - I recommend Ed Missick of Catch the Wave or you can go for wahoo etc on a sportsfishing boat like Gewdolyn out of Turtle Cove. I have a house on the island that I rent out that has four fishing kayaks rigged up for use but it sounds like you have already got your accomodation :confused:

[Soundking]

Just rent a boat from a company and skip the charter. It's a 100 dollar waste to get a guide. Whatever you do, do not book silverdeep. I cannot speak enough about how completely unprofessional and downright awful that charter company was. To put things in perspective, I actually had to "bench" the guide and pole the boat and spot fish for my father because the guide was incapable of both and never spoke a word. Not once. Every piece of water there is easy to read. Go in back of Provo and fish the coral heads around the reef. Jacks, spanish and cuda should be a no-brainer. Throw poppers and crystal minnows and you should have no problem whatsoever putting the hurt on the fish. If you wanted something a little more serious fish the color change about 100 yards off the reef where it goes from dark blue to true bluewater with yo-zuri bonitas and you should have a shot at some weehoo. Head a little deeper and the wahoo will run around 50 lbs.

[gotcha]

I see that I am not the only one that had bad charter experience on Provo. I did not take out Silver Deep, I took out a person who's name I will not mention. Lets just say that the experience was not a good one. Provo has some OK DIY opportunities. There are bonefish there, however due to the astronomical prices, and inconcistent guiding, I did not like T&C as a great bonefish destination. Just my experience.

[ASetten]

I just returned from Provo last night..I did not get a guide due to the absurd prices, etc. There are a few DIY options that I know of with help from folks on this site and things I figured out on my own.:

You can wade Flamingo/Turtle Lakes along with the flat along Boneside Dr. These flats are very soft bottomed (Flamingo the least soft but most fished) but they do have decent amount of fish. You can also drive out towards Blue Hills/Northwest Point and take the left turn before the dump. Go down about 3.5 miles and there is a nice flat to your right - again its rather mucky. If you go to the end there is another small sandy flat that is hard bottomed (Bonefish Point).

The best option IMO is to rent a skiff from Mike Rosati at Windsurfing/Provo ($200/day but you can do half days as well) and take it over to Pine Cay anchor the boat near the little marina and get out and wade - beautiful flats that rival any I've seen in the Bahamas..

Good luck!

[British Flyer]

I have fished with a few guides there - the only one I think is worth using is Ed Missick - I would use him for a full day and then you can get to East Caicos bank. You will catch a lot of fish and some bigger fish.
I concur with the spots to target on Provo. Here's a link to some guys who just came back from T&C
http://kayakfishingstuff.com/articles_view.asp?Kayak_Articles=69

[Canibul]

I moved to TCI four months ago, and am in the process of buying a home here. Edward Misick runs a first class operation, and first class operations are not cheap. Ed is a great guide, and so is Alan Ray Smith. If you listen to their advice, and dont try to tell them the right way to fish, you might be surprised at what they can do.

I keep our boat tied up to the same dock in Leeward that they use, and see them just about every day of the week. Edwards operation is called Catch the Wave, by the way.

You can fish around Provo, and do pretty well. If you want to spend your vacation time looking for your own spot instead of hiring the local guys, well, you have nothing to complain about if you dont find it.

[Canibul]

Gilgetter,
Forgot to respond to your original question re: species down here. Well outside the reef, in deeper water, you can go after tuna, wahoo, mahi mahi (rainbow dolphin, dorado), different jacks. Just around the reef, outside but not too deep, I have been catching yellowtail snapper and cerro mackerel lately. Bottom fishing here around the deeper coral heads and ledges there are grouper and decent mutton snapper. There are bonefish flats all over the place.
You didnt mention if you are staying in a hotel eating at restaurants or if you are renting a house/villa/condo and cooking, but if you plan to cook and if you like to free dive, there are lobster and conch. Most of the fish is good to eat, as well. I like snapper, best, myself.

good luck.

[bloke]

Just a note on Pine Cay..............I agree that the scenery/flats are outstanding - you can see pix etc. at

www.greatbonefishing.com

Be careful of the currents around the little marina - although the water is very inviting; you will see Tarpon rolling there as well. To the North and East are the main flats - you will see a "spit" or small peninsula east of the marina - that is a productive area to cast to the edge of shallows for good size bones.

[rlbgfish173]

I moved to TCI four months ago, and am in the process of buying a home here. Edward Misick runs a first class operation, and first class operations are not cheap. Ed is a great guide, and so is Alan Ray Smith. If you listen to their advice, and dont try to tell them the right way to fish, you might be surprised at what they can do.

I keep our boat tied up to the same dock in Leeward that they use, and see them just about every day of the week. Edwards operation is called Catch the Wave, by the way.

You can fish around Provo, and do pretty well. If you want to spend your vacation time looking for your own spot instead of hiring the local guys, well, you have nothing to complain about if you dont find it.

Canibul, What is Ed Misick's price for a day's guided bonefishing?

[British Flyer]

He operates Catch the Wave charters I can not remember what a full day runs for - its not cheap but it is good fun.

[rlbgfish173]

He operates Catch the Wave charters I can not remember what a full day runs for - its not cheap but it is good fun.

So is good fun better than regular fun? :)

I can not see any prices on his web site for a single day fishing nor can I see anything that resembles a flats boat. I have heard that it costs about $800 a day so unless you have an excessive amount of money to burn forget it.

[Brugal]

Look to www.worldwidefishing.com to find Catch The Wave Charters!
Sweet flats boat! They recently added a 19ft Action Craft.

[rlbgfish173]

Look to www.worldwidefishing.com to find Catch The Wave Charters!
Sweet flats boat! They recently added a 19ft Action Craft.


Damn, silly me I went to his web site.

[British Flyer]

I do not remember the cost of the charter but hes the only guide to trust down there that I have fished with. So in my view its whether to fish on your own or go with him. The other guides I have been with are not any good. Thats part of the reason I have fishing kayaks at the house I have down there

[Wol]

Just a note on Pine Cay..............I agree that the scenery/flats are outstanding - you can see pix etc. at

www.greatbonefishing.com

Be careful of the currents around the little marina - although the water is very inviting; you will see Tarpon rolling there as well. To the North and East are the main flats - you will see a "spit" or small peninsula east of the marina - that is a productive area to cast to the edge of shallows for good size bones.

I've looked at www.greatbonefishing.com

Is the tarpon season all-year-round?

[bloke]

The tarpon are there all year............but are more active and school more in late spring/early summer as spawning activities get underway.

[joe michl]

Gillgetter ,

We will be down in Provo in early April as well. Am looking for another fisherman to split a boat for a day of bonefishing. Let me know if you have any interest in doing that and we can discuss the possibility. Will be doing some DIY fishing as well. Thanks.

Minnesota.

[bostonbruins477]

hey you should take a flight to south on skyking, and go out with Beyond the Blue charters. They have a local guide there, named Gangar, who is awesome, i spent the last three months living on South and trust me the fishing is awesome.
This operation is the only one that has a jet boat... they can access water on the caicos bank that nobody else around can... you will fly around and fish for huge schools of fish... gangar knows what he's doing and i gaurantee you'll have a day to remember... first time in the salt... dont worry you'll get some big bones... and do me a favor... if you do end up going... just tell Gangar that kevin from SFS last semester says hi...

[Brugal]

I tried this once and have to say it is a bit of a waste of time unless you are already in South Caicos. He has an air boat that is extremely noisy(at least it was an airboat when I was there) and basically we all waded while we waited for the fish to come back after scaring them all away with the noise. We went to East Caicos which is the same areas that Eddie Missick of Catch the Wave Charters takes us too all the time! Yes, the fishing is FANTASTIC there! I would say if you have a large group that flats boats can not accomidate and you all want to go together then do the South Caicos thing. If you are on Providenciales and want some quality fishing then give Eddie a call!

[Canibul]

I can't believe it's been three years since I posted here. Now we are in our fourth year living in the TCI as Americans. A lot happened. We built a house. Bought a new boat ( A panga). Lost new boat in Hurricane Hanna. A reader and fan of our online blog was kind enough to give us a bigger boat (!) which we now have here, a 25 foot. Contender. Nice.

And now..I find myself getting brought into a partnership with two local guys to build a fishing lodge. I also brought a friend of mine into the mix, a friend who has been running a trout fly-fishing lodge in Montana for eight years.

So, I figured I better get up to speed on bone fishing if I want to be knowledgeable about a business I am probably going to be in very shortly.

Oh, and there is bonefishing across the road from our house on Provo.

We have just been doing so much offshore trolling, jigging, and bottom fishing that I have not put any time into saltwater fly fishing. Time to change all that.

[Gringo]

I just did something, innocently, honest, but it might be cause for confusion.

I am the same person as Canibul. I had posted a couple things on here and then realized that I don't use that name any more, ( that was three years ago) and also my email address is mostly changed. So I registered under this name (Gringo) and it just occurred to me that I am registered here under two names now.

Anyone know how I can delete the Canibul account?

Thanks

[Gringo]

Gillgetter ,

We will be down in Provo in early April as well. Am looking for another fisherman to split a boat for a day of bonefishing. Let me know if you have any interest in doing that and we can discuss the possibility. Will be doing some DIY fishing as well. Thanks.

Minnesota.

Hey Joe,
Was that you I saw fishing Juba Salina last week?