ALPHONSE FISHING REPORT

An absolute belter of a fishing week kicked off our high season on Alphonse and St Francois Atolls. We had an incredible week where all of our ‘big 5’ species were spotted and caught, our anglers were treated to some great weather and serious action on the flats. 

Returning angler Tristan B has fished our flats once before but returned on this occasion to really show off his skills. His week got off to a flying start landing a cracking 87 cm milkfish, followed by a moustache triggerfish and a number of bones to secure a flats slam. Day two he started with some triggerfish action, getting a lot of interest in his flies and landing a good moustache trigger of 46 cm. As the tide began to push he set off with his guide in search of a permit. It wasn’t long before a good fish was spotted and cast to, Tristan went tight and delicately fought the fish to net - landing his first ever Indo-Pacific permit of 50 cm. A bonefish in the afternoon secured a second flats slam in two days. Later in the week Tristan caught himself two beaut GTs of 76 cm and 78 cm and another moustache trigger. He also ventured into the deep blue and caught a wahoo on the fly. Congratulations on your epic week of fishing Tristan!

Angler Chris E also had an extremely memorable week with some phenomenal catches. On his second day whilst poling a spot known as Betsy’s flat his guide spotted two massive GTs on a shark. Chris made a cast and one of the fish had a massive go at the fly but missed and the pair started making their way over the drop off. On his guide’s instruction Chris cast again as they approached the deeper water and began stripping. Once again, one of the fish exploded onto the fly, this time however the hook found its place in the corner of the GTs mouth. A great scrap ensued with Chris piling on the pressure, eventually bringing the fish to net and measuring in at an incredible 100 cm - our biggest GT of the week. Later in the day Chris caught a 47 cm moustache trigger (also the biggest of the week) and a bonefish for a world class flats slam. Chris continued to succeed the whole week, landing two more moustache triggerfish and two more GTs - one of which was also another beast measuring in at 97 cm. Well done on a top drawer week of fishing Chris!

Rasmus O and Martin O from In The Loop Magazine joined us for a week of fishing to document the beauty of our fishery and its inhabitants. They too were treated to some proper flats fishing action. Both of them had caught wind of the new batfish craze and were keen on throwing some blue bottle flies at these gorgeous fish and seeing the way they went about eating. Both Rasmus and Martin got on the batfish scoreboard and had a blast fishing ‘dry fly’ style on the flats. Martin made a big splash when he caught our biggest permit of the week - measuring in at a very impressive 62 cm - an absolutely beautiful fish. Martin would also go on to catch himself a GT during his week. Rasmus has a knack for catching triggerfish, and when it goes well why would you slow down. On one of his days Rasmus caught himself a beautiful 84 cm GT, and thereafter went on the hunt for triggers. He came right with two moustache triggers, a yellow margin and a picasso triggerfish for a super-rare triggerfish Slam - a truly phenomenal achievement. A few days later Rasmus ticked the permit off the list for the week by landing a stunning 47 cm permit which was then followed by another yellow margin trigger and a bonefish to complete a flats slam. Rasmus also notched up one more yellow margin on his final day which turned out to be our biggest margin of the week measuring 45 cm. Congratulations on your awesome fishing Rasmus and Martin!

We had new guests join us during the middle of the week, one of which was angler Tim W who had never fished the saltwater with a fly rod. He couldn’t have asked for a better start to his saltwater fly fishing career and his week after he landed a 42 cm moustache trigger, a 65 cm milkfish and a bonefish for an epic flats slam! Congratulations Tim, we are certain you’ll remember this day for a very long time!

Almost everyone who gave the flats a go this week tasted some success and so we must also congratulate Johannes M who caught a tanker of a milkfish which reached the one meter mark, Johannes also caught himself a 67 cm GT for good measure. Well done to Anthea E who caught a heap of bones during her week and also caught a beautiful yellow margin triggerfish. Pieter E caught a number of bonefish as well as a couple of wahoo on the fly in the deep sea. Young angler Hugo P fished with us for nearly a whole month and capped off his stay with his first ever GT of 70 cm - congratulations Hugo! Well done to Michael M who caught a cracker of a GT measuring 85 cm. Richard Anderson had never fly fished in the salt before and caught a number of bonefish and his first ever GT - well done Richard! Ray C started off his week in style with a fantastic 87 cm GT. Matt F, who is no stranger to our flats, finally got his first ever permit - a beaut of a fish measuring 49 cm. A big congratulations to you Matt. Oliver McC also got into the trigger action with his first ever moustache trigger!