FARQUHAR FISHING REPORT
The season so far has been epic all round. Nine anglers from America were keen to hit the flats in week 7 with huge expectations following previous weeks’ stories.
Before day one even started some of the guests took to the beaches near the lodge after tackle setup and managed to check off the GT from the list right away. Chris and Diane played into the GTs and each landed several before the week had even started. They continued on day one and caught a few more each. Meaghan and Trey also managed to open up day one with GTs, Trey with three and Meaghan with one. The triggers were also happy and feeding. Timothy started off his week with a moustache triggerfish on the turtle grass flats and Taylor landed a moustache aswell, but a trophy at 50 cm and this time on the rocky ridges just off the pristine white beaches inside of the lagoon.
Day two showed no signs of slowing down and the fish were still fired up and hungry. Timothy had finished day one without a GT, but put good effort into making it happen on day two, finishing with three GTs. Chris and Diane took to the surf with guide Yousuf to fish for the bumphead parrotfish that frequent the deep surf cuts. After losing several good bumpies, Chris walked onto a sandy knoll in the surf while Yousuf marched back to the boat to bring it closer before the tide pushed too much. While walking the knoll, Chris spotted a large GT approaching and laid out a cast on the white sand, which made spotting the fly easy for the hungry GT. The fish wasted no time devouring the fly and an on-foot battle ensued. Yousuf spotted the commotion and rushed back as quickly as he could to help land the fish. A 115 cm brute in the shallows of the surf!
The day was not yet over and on guide Bailey’s boat, Robert and Jako went on a long surf walk. Robert managed to land a GT on foot, while Jako, in just a small area of the surf, managed to land a bumpy, a GT and a bonefish to complete the first flats slam of the week.
Day three and the good times kept rolling. Andrew and Trey managed to land a GT each, while Meaghan landed two. On Bailey’s boat again, Tim had a magical day. He spent most of the day on the beaches inside the lagoon in search of GTs and bonefish. He landed several bonefish and two GTs and then as if it wasn’t enough a large yellow margin triggerfish presented an opportunity along the way. Armed with his EP shrimp, he sunk the fly down to the trigger and surgically coaxed the fish into eventually eating. The fish took heaps of line and provided plenty of nervous but joyful moments during the course of the fight. Eventually he landed the 53 cm yellow margin and in doing so solidified himself a well earned flats slam.
On day four the fishing got even better and no shortage of fish were caught and seen. Andrew and Taylor landed two GTs each, while Jako, Robert, Tim, Chris and Diane all landed another GT each. On head guide Gerry’s boat, Trey was on a rampage as he managed to land a GT, a trophy bonefish of 65 cm and a beautiful moustache triggerfish to make up the third flats slam for the week among the team.
On day five Meaghan, Diane and Taylor each landed another GT. Tim managed to land two and after finally being bitten by the GT bug, Andrew went all in and landed four GTs for himself. Trey, after a fantastic previous day, took to the flats again, this time with Bailey in search of GTs. After seeing some in the morning, Bailey eventually spotted a more substantial specimen and positioned the boat for a cast. After losing a massive GT earlier in the week, Trey wasn’t about to let the fish go by without at least a photo and landed the cast perfectly. The fish engulfed the fly and went on a massive first run, immediately darting between several precarious coral heads and testing Bailey’s skills on the motor. The fish wrapped up the fly line in the coral on at least three occasions during the fight and Bailey dove in and rescued the situation to eventually bring the fish to hand. A 103 cm GT and the second metre fish for the week.
The final day showed some testing light conditions most of the day, but the fish seemed to just be more fired up, although harder to spot. Gene and Chris landed another GT each, while Trey and Tim landed two each. Andrew also landed another GT, but topped it off with a trophy 60 cm bonefish. Meaghan was the angler of the day with three GTs and with the goal in mind she set out to get herself a bumpy before heading home. With guide Yousuf she was always going to come right and during a surf walk, even in the low light conditions she managed to land a great specimen and ended her trip on a high.
