Midday success on the flats hinges on fishing near deep channels where the current pumps in cooler water with the incoming tide. If you don't see fish cruising in such spots, try sweetening the pot by chumming. Get a few crabs, find a point where the bottom offers good visibility and the current sweeps across a wide portion of the flat, and then crush and deploy one of the crustaceans every 20 or 30 minutes. You'll be amazed at how effective this can be even when the flats appear barren. In general, though, your chances for bonefish will be far better closer to sunrise or sunset.
Smaller bonefish continue to outnumber the big fish on the shallows of most Bahamas destinations.
But islands where the flats are closer to deep, open bodies of water, such as Tongue of the Ocean or the Atlantic, continue to harbor the larger concentrations of trophy fish. Anglers stand a better chance to connect with a double-digit bone when traveling to the Abacos chain, Chub Cay, Andros, the Exumas and Crooked Islands. Offshore in The Bahamas, there is still a chance to run into a hungry marlin, but tuna and dolphin will be the best bets. Best chances for a good catch may come around the eastern edge of the Gulf Stream, the Northwest Providence Channel and Tongue of the Ocean, although boats out of some of the Out Islands may find decent action off their eastern shores as well. And one place that always comes up when you mention yellowfin tuna is Eleuthera, and there's a good reason for that.