Well, if you look at where the Dominican Republic is, you might assume that bonefish and other in-shore species might be in the offing. If you KNOW there are bonefish and other in-shore species in the DR… well… you aren’t telling anyone. From trip reports I’ve found, the DR looks like a skip. Might be a pretty place, but doesn’t seem to hold much for the in-shore angler.
DR Bonefish Fail from Reel-Time
Sportsman’s Resource has this to say about the DR:
The Dominican Republic offers the sportfishing enthusiast excellent saltwater fishing. Offshore, the Mona Passage, Caribbean Sea, and Atlantic Ocean offer opportunities for anglers to catch marlin, sailfish, tuna, wahoo, dolphin, kingfish, red snapper, grouper, and more. Inshore, the flats along the beaches of the Dominican Republic are a haven for bonefish, tarpon, and permit.
So… maybe they are there, but the casual observer or family-vacationing angler seems to have a hard time finding them.
Oh Dominican Republic… where are your bonefish?
Why the DR doesn’t seem to have a bonefish in numbers great enough to support a fly fishing foothold is a good question and an open one from what I’ve seen. Poverty can’t really be the answer… bonefish live and flourish in plenty of poor places. So… what is it?
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Tags: bonefish, Dominican Republic, flyfishing
Problem is local fisherman in the DR. take every single living thing they catch home to sustain their familys due to the lack of economic resourses and efective law enforcement by the goverment ..But,,the Dominican Republic is a huge place with diferent and diverse ecosystems with plenty of unaccesible coastal flats that might contain Bones in good numbers …
Well, I have a question. It seems that there are not enough bonefish in DR, the reasons are diverse. My question is, how they are handeling the conservation of bonefish, permit, tarpon and snook in Cuba? Cuba has a lot of economic problems and lot of poor people, just like DR, but what they are doing differently?
I travel to the dr a lot and have seen a good deal of the country over many years. I have some experience bone fishing (by no means an expert). In my opinion the lack of bonefish is not overfishing or lack of environmental care, but rather a matter of simple geography. The DR has very little in the way of traditional bonefish flats.
On all sides of the island the shore drops very quickly and protected shallow bays are usually not protected or shallow enough. By the way, I am not an apologist for Dominican fishery abuse. SCUBA diving in the DR can be a very sad experience and if you want a poor opinion of the Dominican fishing industry talk to anyone in the TCI or Bahamas.
There are a few locations in the DR that I would still like to try with a fly rod, but the most probable good fishing is on the lee of Isla Saona, a protected national park.
I’m off working in DR for 8 weeks but only in the samana region. Have seen only 1 spot on that part of the coast that could be fishy, but i didn’t see any. I’ve been taken all over by a location scout.
there are no real flats leading to mangroves that i’ve seen. the mangroves I have seen have been really small and lead straight out to open water mainly. So certainly in Samana Its more a geography thing