ALPHONSE FISHING REPORT
The third week of November brought picturesque weather to Alphonse and St François, along with fantastic fishing conditions. Gentle Southerly winds and hot days characterized the week, with the tides slowing as the week progressed moving back into the neaps. Our guests had an absolute blast on the flats and the bluewater, taking advantage of perfect fishing conditions and testing themselves against some of the most sought-after species in the Indian Ocean.
Angler George E came to Alphonse on his honeymoon and was keen to get his hands on as many species as possible. He started the week as most do, getting stuck into the bonefish on the dropping tide. George then turned his attention to the other species that call the flats home to try and ramp up the challenge, and a challenge it was indeed. George was made to work very hard for his fish but it came together beautifully on his second to last day when his guide started the day with a move for a giant trevally. George made his opportunity count and landed his first ever geet, a bucket list fish ticked off. Shortly after he went after some Triggerfish which had tormented him all week, with plenty of follows and bites but no hookups. His guide spotted a Moustache Trigger tailing in the shallows to which he made a cast.
The fish followed and George remained ultra-patient until he was certain the trigger had the fly in its mouth, shortly afterwards setting the hook with force. The trigger attempted to run into some corals, but fortunately for George his guide was already charging after the fish, net in hand, and intercepted it. George needed a bonefish for the flats slam which he secured with relative ease, but whilst they were bone fishing his guide suggested going after some batfish. George was keen on anything that bit and began swinging a bluebottle fly at some cruising bats. After a few feeble eats by a couple of bats, they found the hungry one, that you could hear slurping as it inhaled the fly off the surface. After a great scrap, George had secured his fourth species for the day and wrapped up what was an unforgettable day on the flats. Congratulations George!
Angler Patrick H joined us once again for a week of fishing and was fired up to catch a triggerfish. He’d been to other islands in the Seychelles before and fished for these toothy creatures plenty, but landing one had remained an unchecked box. He fished hard all week and caught himself a nice GT which he was chuffed with, and he had plenty of opportunity with triggers but again could not quite clear the final hurdle. On his final day, the hunt continued, this time walking one of the finger flats. His guide spotted the familiar shape of a trigger in one of the potholes, the fish appearing very dark. Patrick made his shot and the fish thundered the fly, immediately going tight as it felt the hook penetrate. The fish was landed and immediately Patrick and his guide Luke knew this was no ordinary trigger, it was an orange-line triggerfish. A super unique catch, and a species we only see one or two of every season. Well done Patrick, that is one hell of a first trigger! Later in the day, Patrick would also go on to bag his first-ever batfish and a bunch more bonefish.
Besides Patrick’s orange-line trigger, we had several interesting catches over the week. One such catch was pulled off by angler Jim C, who was armed with a seven-weight fly rod whilst bone fishing. Jim saw a sizeable milkfish hanging around some bonefish and thought why not have a shot. He cast his micro alphexo crab and let it sink to the bottom, not expecting much to happen given the fact that milkfish are vegetarian. Then exactly what he did not expect to happen, happened, the milkfish slowly cruised over and inhaled his crab off the bottom. Jim had an incredible fight with the milk on his seven weight and managed to land the fish, which measured in at an impressive 76 cm. What an awesome catch Jim, and well done on catching two GTs during your week!
Angler John M caught the biggest geet of the week, a beaut measuring in at 84 cm. He also managed to catch the biggest bonefish of the week of 63 cm. A few days later, whilst bone fishing, John too had a milkfish eat his micro alphlexo crab. Even the smaller milks put up an incredible display of power and endurance. John was chuffed with his 54 cm milk which capped off a special week of fishing, well done John.
Angler Albert P booked several days fishing around Alphonse Island and had a great time fishing for the larger bonefish which provided a great challenge. On his second to last day, he and his guide were sitting in the main Alphonse Channel when they saw a barracuda of biblical proportions. Albert’s guide had a fly tied specifically for barries which he hastily tied on before instructing Albert on how to fish it. Albert made the cast and left the fly completely, allowing it to sink slowly, fluttering gently as it descended. This worked brilliantly, and as the fly sank the cannon of a fish bolted to the fly and smashed it. It jumped spectacularly and made long speeding runs as it tried to free itself. The fish was eventually bought a boat side but they were now far from any shallows and the fish was so big they couldn’t get it into one of our big landing nets. Given the situation, an exact measurement was made very difficult but the fish was in the 160 cm region, which is a true giant and an unbelievable catch. Congratulations Albert!
A number of other great catches were recorded this week so we must also congratulate Sandy, Suzy, Bill, and David who caught GTs during the week. Congrats to Angler Charlotte C who caught a GT as well as a batfish during the week. A big well done to Tony and Graham who also managed to tick off the batfish during their fishing week.
The bluewater fishing remains very consistent, and angler Dave R lead the charge on a week-long bluewater fishing expedition. During his week he managed to land nearly 20 wahoos, six sailfish and a number of Yellowfin Tuna including our biggest tuna seen this season 32 kg’s. Congratulations on an awesome week Dave!
