My family and I
recently returned from a trip down to the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Turks and Caicos is a group of about 40 different islands a few hundred miles southeast of Florida. One of the many great things about Turks is its accessibility. We left Austin early on a Saturday morning and were
sitting on the beach just after lunch. We stayed on the island of
Providenciales (Provo) on the southwest side. Sapodilla Bay was our home
for a week which was an ideal set up as it is not very touristy and had great fishing access.
Sapodilla Bay
One thing we learned about Provo is that it is not an inexpensive island. Price of food, drinks and fishing charters were quite costly so most of our fishing was self-guided. My Dad, younger brother and I did fish a half day with a guide early in the week though which was well worth it. Our guide, Hue Evans, had great knowledge of the area and really knew where the fish were. As an added bonus, he kept us laughing the entire trip which made it that much more enjoyable. We met Hue on the north east side of the island and after about a 20 minute boat ride, we pulled up to our first flat. I knew it was going to be a good day when we saw about ten tailing bones as we were pulling up.
Poling our first flat of the day
The day was an absolute blast, we traded off on the rod and caught fish after fish. We moved from open flats where fish would peel most of the backing off of your reel, to narrow mangrove inlets where hook ups were an adventure. My brother must have hooked into six or seven fish within a 45 minute stretch, that all came unglued as they hit the mangroves. It was pretty entertaining watching his reaction each time. We only used one pattern the entire day, a # 4 tan Gotcha. There wasn't a need to try other flies as the fish pounded this one. Rod of choice was my 8 weight TFO which my wife Liz had recently gotten me as a birthday present.
Greg with his first fish of the day
Me and Hue behind a nice bone
After a great day on the boat, the rest of week was spent trying out different spots near our house. Sapodilla Bay, Taylor Bay and Silly Creek were all pretty good access points and luckily we were within walking distance to all of them. Of the three, I liked Taylor Bay the best due to its easy access, long stretches of flats and good numbers of fish. If you get their early enough, you can have the entire beach to yourself. We spotted bones directly from the shore each day which made for easy casting. The water was no more than waist deep fifty yards out so wading was another great option.
All in all, we had a really good time down on Provo. The fishing was great and the people were friendly. If you make it down there, give Hue Evans of Da Reel Deal Fishing a call. He will put you on the fish.
Sapodilla Bay
One thing we learned about Provo is that it is not an inexpensive island. Price of food, drinks and fishing charters were quite costly so most of our fishing was self-guided. My Dad, younger brother and I did fish a half day with a guide early in the week though which was well worth it. Our guide, Hue Evans, had great knowledge of the area and really knew where the fish were. As an added bonus, he kept us laughing the entire trip which made it that much more enjoyable. We met Hue on the north east side of the island and after about a 20 minute boat ride, we pulled up to our first flat. I knew it was going to be a good day when we saw about ten tailing bones as we were pulling up.
Poling our first flat of the day
The day was an absolute blast, we traded off on the rod and caught fish after fish. We moved from open flats where fish would peel most of the backing off of your reel, to narrow mangrove inlets where hook ups were an adventure. My brother must have hooked into six or seven fish within a 45 minute stretch, that all came unglued as they hit the mangroves. It was pretty entertaining watching his reaction each time. We only used one pattern the entire day, a # 4 tan Gotcha. There wasn't a need to try other flies as the fish pounded this one. Rod of choice was my 8 weight TFO which my wife Liz had recently gotten me as a birthday present.
Greg with his first fish of the day
Me and Hue behind a nice bone
After a great day on the boat, the rest of week was spent trying out different spots near our house. Sapodilla Bay, Taylor Bay and Silly Creek were all pretty good access points and luckily we were within walking distance to all of them. Of the three, I liked Taylor Bay the best due to its easy access, long stretches of flats and good numbers of fish. If you get their early enough, you can have the entire beach to yourself. We spotted bones directly from the shore each day which made for easy casting. The water was no more than waist deep fifty yards out so wading was another great option.
All in all, we had a really good time down on Provo. The fishing was great and the people were friendly. If you make it down there, give Hue Evans of Da Reel Deal Fishing a call. He will put you on the fish.
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