We started the day at 6:30 with the sun. After a quick breakfast of a bagel and a banana, we started the drive down to the Walk-In Marina where we would meet Darin Bain, our guide for the day from D.B. Tours. Darin is a man of few words, friendly but quiet. We made the quick run by skiff to his first destination and I was the first on the casting deck. It is funny how being on the casting deck feels like you are on stage and everyone is watching.
We quickly spotted our first bonefish of the day, I made the cast, and the line smacked the mirror-like water… bad presentation. My next attempt was to a couple of cruisers, and I dropped the fly right on their noses…. bad presentation. Soon after, Darin whispered “bone at 9:00, 30 feet, you see that mangrove?” I did, and I laid the fly down right in the sweet spot. The bonefish turned and followed the fly. Strip, strip, pause… strip, and he eats the fly and instantly tears off 15 feet of fly line as he ran in to the mangrove. POP! This bonefish swims away with a Pink Gotcha lip piercing, and as if to taunt me, swims in front of the boat within reach for about 5 minutes. The water was so clear that you could clearly see his fashion statement.
“You see the school, 11:00, no 11:30… 50 feet?” I see it, maybe 10 fish together rooting around looking for something tasty. I make the cast, 50 feet is a long cast for me, well if I want to do it delicately. The fly lands short, so I water haul, and get about 5 feet closer. “Cast again.” I water haul again and get maybe another 5 feet, but this time the fly lands in the zone.
I feel the tug that I have missed since Belize, and then strip set the hook, before I know it, the fish has stripped the line at my feet through my hands… feel the burn, and then another 30 feet of fly line off of the reel. The running fish spooks the school which I had underestimated; there were maybe 30-40 fish there.
I play the fish conservatively, really savoring it. Right as I get him about 10 feet from the boat, he makes another run of about 50 feet. This would repeat once more before finally landing the beautiful 5 or so pounder. Marci did a wonderful job of videoing the experience and got an amazing underwater shot of the fish swimming off.
Knowing that the school had spooked, Darin decided to motor to another spot. This time Marci, is on stage. Darin silently poles the boat close to another school of 10 or so fish. Marci spots them and makes the cast, falling just short of the target. She strips in some line and casts again. Strip, strip, strip… there are three fish following. Pause, the leading fish takes the fly and before Marci even realizes, 100 feet of fly line are off of the reel, taking her in to the backing. Another blistering run and another 50 feet of backing is gone. She played the fish beautifully, and landed her first Turks and Caicos bone, an impressive fish of at least 5 pounds.
The bonefishing in the Turks and Caicos is different than what we experienced in Belize. The fish are larger and the schools smaller. We spent a lot of time stalking, and when you did find a lone fish or a small school, you had to make a perfect presentation. I landed one more bonefish this day for a total of 2 fish out of maybe 10 attempts. We did see a small school of permit, and I made several good casts to them, but being the spaz of the sea, they could not be bothered. Tough fishing, but the rewards were larger fish.
We enjoyed a dip in the pool after the fishing trip and then had our afternoon siesta. I woke up and went down to fish the channel later in the day. I hooked up with what felt like a good sized jack, but lost him as he turned and ran towards me. Cocktail hour soon called, as did the cool pool. Marci and I enjoyed some quiet time alone at the Harbour Club Villas before the next guests arrived. 
For dinner, we purchased 2 whole local snapper from the market. We stuffed the snapper with couscous, butter, and citrus, wrapped it in a foil pouch, and I cooked it on the grill low and slow for about 30 minutes. Marci made wonderful plantains and we enjoyed a hurricane candlelight dinner at the table outside of our villa, enjoying our meal over a bottle of white wine. We were both feeling adventurous and even decided to try the eyes of the snapper. Amazingly, it actually tastes like muscles, sort of briny.
Marci and I enjoy a good adventure, and Providenciales, Turks and Caicos fits the bill. This place is rugged, not over developed yet, and still full of natural beauty. The fishing was tough today, the relaxation, and fun together however, came quite naturally.
Check out the video of Marci and I’s first Turks and Caicos bonefish!