Lobster Hunt

Posted on August 2, 2010 by marta

An abundance of Lobster as we headed out late this afternoon to catch them

An abundance of Lobster as we headed out late this afternoon to find some lobster.

A late afternoon, spur of the moment decision had us heading out to find some lobster for Pete’s last night on island before he leaves tomorrow for Kentucky. I wish we could say that we actually caught them ourselves!!! No such luck as we motored off towards Five Cays and the fish plant knowing we could hail some boats and get some lobster the lazy man’s way. We whistled to a local fishing boat and they had a few lobsters on board.

We managed to hail a small local fishing boat.

As the fishing boat drew near, we could see that their catch for the day was not huge. In past years the boats would be filled……………over harvested perhaps???

A nice, one man dinner sized lobstertail.

Pete looks like he's ready to sample some delicious Caribbean Spiny Lobster

Do you think anyone will believe Barry when he tells them he dove and caught several lobsters?

Lobster fishing on the second day of Lobster Season in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Once we had bargained over the price for the lobsters, we stopped at Bay Cay for refreshments. It’s hard work negotiating you know!!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Lobster Tails

Posted on August 1, 2010 by marta

August 1 is the opening day of lobster season in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Baskets of freshly caught lobster tails waiting to be sold out at the Fish Plant. Plan on a delicious lobster dinner this evening as all the Provo restaurants will be serving lobster tails.

Bon Appetit!!!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Bonefish Heaven

Posted on November 18, 2009 by marta

Today I experience a bit of Bonefish Heaven out on the flats by Pine Cay.

What an unbelieveable day we had out on the flats with our guide Darin Bain of D and B Tours. He ordered up this spectacular flat calm day with clear see through water and those reflections! We headed off towards Pine Cay and it didn’t take Capt. Darin long to sight the fish.

Joe got busy and caught his first bonefish of the day.........a beauty!

We couldn’t have picked a better day and I was just along to take the photographs. I’m not sure how many cards I filled or batteries but I made sure I wouldn’t run out. The colours of the ocean, the flats, the bonefish and the reflections in the water were all breathtaking. I don’t fish but found the whole experience exciting and exhilarating.

Joe releases a good sized bonefish one of many caught this day.

I think Joe hooked up at least 13 or so and landed some six. At one point when I was shooting from the water, he saw a hundred or so coming towards me from behind. What a sight to see!

Fish On...........Joe catches another one and check out the reflections in the water.

Capt Darin has been fishing the Caicos Flats for over 10 years and he really knows the area like the back of his hand and will put you on the fish. His eagle eyes can see them when no one else can…..I was hopeless at seeing them but then I was too busy with the camera.

Joe smiles from ear to ear.......another bonefish. They're called "the ghosts of the flats"

Joe and Christen are honeymooning at Harbour Club Villas and Joe is a photo journalist with Field and Stream Magazine. This is his first time fishing for bonefish and I think we have him convinced that the Turks and Caicos Islands is the place for bonefishing.

Bonefishing is GREAT in the Turks and Caicos Islands

A perfect day! All you bonefishermen out there just have to head down to Provo and I’ll hook you up with Darin for a trip out onto the flats. Call me and I’ll arrange everything for you.

Tight Lines!

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

Flamingo Lake Reflections

Posted on November 6, 2009 by marta

Flamingo Lake was at its stunning best today .... flat calm with a mirror image reflection.

I glanced out at the lake late this afternoon and the reflections in the calm waters took my breath away. I grabbed my camera and didn’t even have a chance to tell Barry where I was going. The ripples and the colours kept changing as the sun started to sink over the hill to the right of our villas at Harbour Club.

The sun started to set and tinged everything with an orangey glow

As I walked along the road the water was churning………….”nervous water” as the fishermen call it. The bonefish were tailing and rippling up the calm on Flamingo Lake.

The bonefish were tailing and rippling the surface of Flamingo Lake

In the foreground of the photo you can see all the circles and ripples created by tailing bonefish.

I zoomed in on this photo which does show a definite bonefish shape.

For all you bonefishing enthusiasts out there, fishing would have been great this evening. Our guests at Harbour Club Villas can just walk across the road and into the lake. We see bonefish tailing all the time and you can watch from your villa windows.

Bonefishing is great in the lakes by Harbour Club as well as the flats. Come on down and join us.

Tight lines!!

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

Chalk Sound

Posted on August 16, 2009 by marta

My favourite photo of Chalk Sound taken from the road infront of this private home with its' own Juliet balcony

Many peoples introduction to Chalk Sound is from the air coming into the airport. It has the most spectacular turquoise colourations dotted with mini cays or islands. For those of you familiar with our second home in Banff, Alberta, Canada…..we have Peyto Lake which has similar turquoise colour that is due to glacial rock particles that are suspended in the water.

We were lunching at Las Brisas Restaurant one day and I happened to catch some photos of this gentleman going for a swim

Chalk Sound is variously referred to as a large lake, a land locked lagoon, a large natural creek , a bay or sound as well as an inland waterway. Take your pick. It is shallow and silty and you can see the clouds of fine sand particles kicked up by the above swimmer. That’s what gives the water its stunning turquoise colour.

View of the water looking towards Silly Creek and the residential area of beautiful private homes

Chalk Sound is a national park and is approximately three miles long (5 km) and lies in the south west part of Providenciales. At one time in the early 1900’s it was leased for raising and canning turtles, lobster and shellfish. Mr George Silly ( a part of Chalk Sound called Silly Creek still retains his name ) lived on a barren bluff between the two entrances to Chalk Sound in a thatched roofed cottage and he had a small shop and a cannery there.

Clouds reflecting in the turquoise waters of Chalk Sound

The history of Chalk Sound revolves around various commercial enterprises such as mentioned above. George Silly also leased Chalk Sound and tried to rejuvenate the sponge industry. He had 250,000 cuttings of reef sponges sown. He continued this experiment of planting sponge beds but the operation died out after his death in 1917 and was abandonned after the war.

Chalk Sound private home with a million dollar view

Today Chalk Sound is lined with spectacular homes but you can rent kayaks from Las Brisas Restaurant or perhaps be lucky enough to see the kids learning how to sail a Caicos Sloop. Stop in at Las Brisas Restaurant for a delicious lunch or dinner with one of the best views on Provo. Their Paella is really good………Pina Coladas too!!

An Old Man Cactus stands tall against the panoramic blue turquoise background of Chalk Sound

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Lobster Season Opens

Posted on August 1, 2009 by marta

The Caribbean Spiny Lobster locally known as crawfish

Lobster season opens today and I’m sure all available boats will be out today fishing for lobster. The Caribbean Spiny Lobster is also known as langouste, rock lobster, crayfish and crawfish and they tend to shelter in crevices of rocks and coral reefs during the day and coming out at night to feed. They have a striped body, brown-gray in colour with yellow spots on the segmented tail.

Lobsters covered the bottom of this boat

In the Turks and Caicos Islands lobster season is from Aug 1 to March 31 and some of our fishermen learned to dive at a young age and have inherited their knowledge of lobster from their fathers or other family members.

Yum! Lobster tails for dinner this evening the opening day of lobster season!

Boats usually carry team of 2 to 4 fishermen and since the fishing boats have a shallow draft, they can stop directly over patch reefs on the Caicos Banks. The spiny lobsters are found hiding in crevices and under coral outcroppings.

A boat load of lobsters destined for many of Provo's restaurants

I couldn't resist putting in this photo (sorry Laura!!) but this was simply the biggest lobster I've ever seen. It was huge!

I couldn't resist putting in this photo as this was simply the biggest lobster I've ever seen. It was huge!

Our guests at Harbour Club Villas will be heading to Baci’s Ristorante this evening where John will be preparing a delicious lobster feast for this evenings diners. Come on down to Baci’s for fine dining in an Italian terrazzo style ambiance nightly fresh fish and lobster specials. Hope to see you there!

Marta

http://www.harbourclubvillas.com

Kids like fishing too!!

Posted on July 20, 2009 by marta

Wayne and his kids fishing off the docks at Harbour Club Villas

Wayne Hall of Ocean Vibes dive operation took some time out to show his boys how to fish. They set up on our dock at Harbour Club Villas where Wayne moors his boat. He’s originally from Grand Turk and is the only Turks and Caicos native to own and operate a dive operation on Providenciales.

I got one, I got one!!!

The kids were so excited when they started to catch fish. Dad helped to release them into a bucket so that they could take a good look at them.

Wayne takes the hook out as the kids watch

Next time you want a great scuba diving adventure in the Turks and Caicos Islands, we’ll put you in touch with Wayne and Ocean Vibes.

Marta

http://www.diving.tc

Chad loves fishing

Posted on June 14, 2009 by marta

The last time I shot a photo of Chad was in 2003.......he told me the sun had bleached his hair!!!

I had to go through my photo files to come up with this photo taken out at the old Leeward Marina in 2003. Quite a difference in the size of fish and I guess Chad has vastly improved on the size of the fish caught. In the 2003 photo there was only enough fish for a bit of sushi. The Dorado caught by Chuckee 11 at the Caicos Classic was at least 30 lbs.

Don’t forget next year’s Caicos Classic tournament will be held again in June.

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

Caicos Classic 2009

Posted on June 12, 2009 by marta

We went down to Turtle Cove Marina today and watched the Caicos Cup Tournament boats pull in after a day's fishing.

The fish are still biting and this year’s Caicos Classic Tournament has eight boats entered and five of them are local boats. I’m not sure how many Marlin were caught and released but will add this information once the tournament is over. Art Pickering, tournament director was out and about as the boats returned to the dock.

Ossie and Scooter check the weight on a dorado caught by Chucke 11.

Release points are scored as follows: Blue Marlin 300 points; White Marlin 200 points; Sailfish 100 points. The scoreboard at Scooter Bob’s showed quite a few fish caught and released over the three days of the tournament. Tomorrow, the final day, will be a day of fierce competition.

Caicos Classic Scoreboard showin the fishing boats and numbers of billfish caught and released so far.

The boats fish from 8 am to 4:30 pm daily and each boat has an IGFA certified observer on board. For a release to qualify for points, the observer and a witness must identify the species of fish, the leader has to be brought within grasp of the mate and wind on leaders must have an identifying mark in place of a swivel.

Chad carves up a Dorado...........a great fish fry tonight for some lucky people.

Make sure you make a note of next year’s competition………… June 19 to 24, 2010. Hope that you’ll join us for our annual Caicos Classic Release Tournament.

Tight Lines!

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

Yellow fin Tuna

Posted on May 8, 2009 by marta

What a catch.......a great fight and Barry landed a 30 lb yellow fin tuna

Today Barry headed out for a day of deep sea fishing with some friends. He hooked something off Malcolm Roads beach and it put up a great fight for a good 15 minutes. What a beauty! It was a 30 lb yellow fin tuna. We’re going to invite our villa guests to join us for a tuna steak barbecue tomorrow night and what a feast it will be.

Bon appetit!

Marta

http://www.bonefishing.tc

MyTurksAndCaicosBlog.com

Turks and Caicos Vacation, Travel, Fishing, and Diving

Category Archives: Fishing

Lobster Hunt

Lobster Tails

Bonefish Heaven

Flamingo Lake Reflections

Chalk Sound

Lobster Season Opens

Kids like fishing too!!

Chad loves fishing

Caicos Classic 2009

Yellow fin Tuna