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Featured Image - Providence Blog: 19 – 26 November 2024

Providence Blog: 19 – 26 November 2024

Week six of our 2024 season at Providence Atoll kicked off with eager anglers and perfect conditions. As we shifted from spring tides to neaps, we hoped for calmer waters and more opportunities to target tailing species like Bonefish, Triggerfish, and Bumphead Parrotfish.

Day 1 started strong, with good numbers of fish cruising along the flats. Zane had an outstanding start, landing his first-ever GT at 102cm. Throughout the day, several other GTs were caught, averaging around 80-85cm. Ryan and Brent also added some beautiful Yellow Margin Triggerfish to the tally, with Ryan catching one in the morning and Brent landing another during a low tide session.

Day 2 brought nearly perfect conditions, with clear skies and light winds. Rick landed his first-ever Milkfish after a strong fight. Pat then connected with a stunning Yellow Margin Triggerfish while walking a turtle grass flat. The GTs were out in force, and several big fish were seen cruising. Judah landed an impressive 114cm GT, his first-ever meter fish! Ryan also caught a trophy GT at 100cm, followed by Tom, who landed a 101cm GT — great work all around!

Day 3 was a tougher day, with cloudy skies and wind making conditions more challenging. Despite this, Pat managed two solid GTs, the largest at 95cm. Brent added three decent-sized GTs to the tally, and Zane fought a big fish, eventually landing a beautiful GT that was swimming with a stingray.

Day 4 brought near-perfect conditions with no wind or clouds. Father and son duo Rob and Judah had an incredible morning, landing seven GTs, the largest around 90cm. The Triggerfish were also active, with Tony landing a stunning Yellow Margin Triggerfish. Pat followed suit on the other boat, also catching a Yellow Margin. Later in the day, Tom landed a Napoleon Wrasse while dredging in deeper waters.

Day 5 featured near-ideal conditions again, with minimal wind and clear skies. The GTs were plentiful, with 12 fish caught throughout the day, the largest just under 90cm. Tony had a remarkable day, landing three Yellow Margin Triggerfish, plus a Bonefish and a GT, completing a slam. Zane also caught his first-ever Triggerfish, while Pat and Brent each landed a Yellow Margin Triggerfish. Judah capped the day with another beautiful Yellow Margin.

Day 6 was a bit of a challenge, with low wind but high cloud cover. The fish were skittish, but Pat and Tom adjusted by using thinner leaders and smaller flies, successfully landing a couple of GTs. Rick had a memorable moment, catching a massive Barracuda after a well-placed cast.

As the week came to a close, the weather started to shift back to spring tides, which we hope will bring more water movement across the flats. We’re excited to see what’s in store for the next week at Providence Atoll!

Catch Summary for the Week:

  • GTs: 53 (Largest: 114cm, Judah)
  • Triggerfish: 13
  • Grouper & Snapper: 85
  • Bluefin Trevally: 34
  • Bonefish: 1
  • Milkfish: 1

Till next time,
The FlyCastaway Guide Team

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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 29 October – 8 November 2024

St Brandon Blog: 29 October – 8 November 2024

As we wrapped up our 2024 season at the stunning St Brandon Atoll, we welcomed three eager anglers ready for adventure. Despite facing challenging conditions — strong south-easterly winds, overcast skies, and occasional rain — our guests persisted, and by the end of the week, the weather and fishing improved.

Bonefish were the first to greet us, with healthy numbers found on the flats, coral ridges, and around the islands. The fishing started slower than usual, but our anglers still managed to land a few quality fish. The average size was around 5–6 pounds, with the highlight being a 10.5-pound beauty caught by Mark. Congratulations on a great catch!

Permit were a bit more elusive this week, but the atoll provided some opportunities to cast at tailing fish. We had success twice, with Mike and Tony each landing one.

The Trevally fishing was promising, especially with the Bluefin Trevally, which were seen chasing bait around the islands and sand spits. Our anglers managed to hook a few, landing one Bluefin. We also encountered a number of impressive GTs (Giant Trevally), some of which were particularly large. While we had great opportunities, the timing was often off, and we couldn’t capitalize on some of the bigger fish. However, Mike did land his first-ever GT on the fly, a solid 80cm fish — well done, Mike!

A Golden Trevally also made an appearance, adding to the excitement of the week.

As we conclude our season, we’d like to thank all our guests for joining us in this remarkable corner of the world. It’s hard to believe that another season has ended, but we’re already looking forward to 2025. With an ecosystem as wild and untouched as St Brandon Atoll, we can’t wait for the next chapter of fishing adventures.

Catch Summary for the Week:

  • Bonefish: 52
  • Permit: 2
  • GT: 1
  • Bluefin Trevally: 1
  • Golden Trevally: 1

Looking ahead to 2025!

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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 22 Oct – 1 Nov2024

St Brandon Blog: 22 Oct – 1 Nov2024

We started Week 8 of our season by welcoming six new guests to Rafael Island, where they shared this very special atoll with us. As we transitioned from spring tides to neap tides, the water temperature remained nice and cool, which led us to expect more fish feeding on the flats.

This week, we definitely saw more bonefish cruising the flats, both in small pods and as big singles. Many fish were spotted cruising over the flats and feeding in ankle-deep water, making for exciting visuals as the anglers managed to get into some good numbers of fish. The average size of the bonefish this week was between 5 and 7 lbs, with a couple of 8-lb bones making their way into the net.

The permit fishing turned on in a positive way, and the fish were very receptive to the flies thrown their way. Solid numbers were found on the flats, ridges, and around islands, giving all our anglers great shots at the atoll’s permit. Everyone had opportunities to present little morsels to these elusive fish throughout the week. Much to the excitement of both guide Jarryd and guest angler Joerg, the permit obliged more than usual, and Joerg went on to land five permits in one day! A huge congratulations to Joerg for an outstanding day of permit fishing!

On the trevally front, it was a bit slow this week. We did, however, encounter a good number of bluefin around the islands and coral ridges, as well as a couple of GTs hanging around nurse sharks. The guests made some great shots, but unfortunately, only one bluefin made it to hand.

Sadly, we’ve now ticked off Week 7 of the St Brandon 2024 season and are looking forward to our last week of fishing this pristine atoll with our new guests.

The St Brandon Guide Team

Catch tally for the week:

  • Bonefish: 122
  • Permit: 11
  • Bluefin Trevally: 1
  • Golden Trevally: 5
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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 1 – 11 Oct 2024

St Brandon Blog: 1 – 11 Oct 2024

We’ve moved into week five of our St Brandon season, still surrounded by the same great group of guests as the previous week. Unfortunately, Mike had to leave early due to work commitments, but the rest of the crew was still going strong.

This week, our guests experienced some fantastic bonefishing, with plenty of opportunities to fish to tailing bones in super shallow water. Tench and Ben each landed the largest bonefish of the week, both pulling the scales to 8 pounds—well done, guys!

This unique atoll, which we’re lucky enough to call home for a few months each year, kept producing. All of our guests had plenty of chances to cast at happy permit. While we didn’t convert as many opportunities as we had hoped, we still managed to land three beautiful permit. We found pods of two to five fish regularly, as well as singles along the flats and coral storm ridges. JT saved the best for last, landing a stunning 16-pound permit on his final day. This fish, caught with a ray, was truly a memorable moment. Well done, JT!

The trevally fishing was a bit slower this week compared to last. However, we still had some exciting shots at bluefin and giant trevally (GTs), and we spotted some true giants around the islands and coral ridges. We landed two beautiful bluefin trevally, both measuring 78 cm, and one GT at 63 cm. The GTs proved elusive, and although we had a few opportunities, we couldn’t convert every shot.

Sadly, due to rough sea conditions, our group of anglers had to leave the atoll three days earlier than planned. We did however thoroughly enjoy spending the week on the flats with such a great group of guys and hope to see them all again soon!

Until next week

The St Brandon’s Guide team

Our catch tally for the week was: 

  • Bonefish – 59
  • Permit – 3
  • GTs – 1
  • Bluefin Trevally – 2
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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 24 September – 4 October 2024

St Brandon Blog: 24 September – 4 October 2024

Welcome to our 4th week of the season, where we welcomed a group from Westbank Anglers who arrived ready to spend two weeks with us on the atoll. 

The conditions we were dealt were slightly challenging at times, but we were back into the neap tides with a fair bit of wind, cloud and minimal rain. 

On the Bonefish front, we unfortunately only had sporadic glimpses of what St Brandon is known for i.e big skinny water tailing bones. For the most part they are still schooled up and holding in deeper sections, which is highly unusual for this time of the year. Our guests did however manage to get their presentations where they needed to be when some opportunities presented themselves, coaxing a fair number of bones to the net. Well done to Tench with the biggest of the week, a very respectable fish of 8,5lbs. 

The Permit fishing this week was however way more impressive, and despite the fact the total landed during their first week was 5, there were regular opportunities daily, both on the flats and around the islands. Congratulations to anglers Mike, Ben and JT on getting their yellow Permits,  who landed the biggest for the week. Three of the fish netted were over 10 lbs,Ben opening his Permit account on the first day with a beauty that pulled the scale to 15lbs, Mike with an incredible specimen of 16lbs the day after and JT’s respectable 10.5lbs prize.

On the Trevally front, we saw lots of Bluefin patrolling the flats and the coral ridges, but for some reason most wanted nothing to do with what we had to offer. We managed to connect with 5 however,  the average size ranging between 60cm and 70cm. We also ran into some large GT’s and hooked a couple, but unfortunately only none made it to hand. We are all very excited for the Trevally times that lie ahead and no doubt our numbers will improve as the season moves on and the weather warms up. 

To summarise, we only saw glimpses of what the fishery can produce but believe the group enjoyed their first week and were looking forward to their second. 

Until then 

The St Brandon guide team.

Our catch tally for the week was: 

Bonefish – 54

Permit – 5

Bluefin Trevally – 5


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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 17 – 27 Sept 2024

St Brandon Blog: 17 – 27 Sept 2024

Anticipation was high as we headed into our third week of the season, and our guests were already on the atoll eager and ready to start their second week. Tides wise we were moving into neaps which would allow us more time wading the submerged flats and in a more relaxed fashion. 

Our guests enjoyed some exciting fishing during their week out on the atol, although the bonefishing sessions we experienced remained a little tougher than we are accustomed to. This was not due to a lack in numbers as everyone had plenty of targets to cast at, but the fish just seemed off for some reason…especially in skinny water. We found some big schools however and managed to get into them during the course of the week. Our largest fish netted was 7lbs, although we did see some really big bones during the 7 days. These big fish are for the most part really smart, most often requiring long and accurate casts along with a little luck.

The Permit numbers we witnessed once again impressed, all the guests having great shots at them. As is their way, Permit are however never easy to convince and despite many refusals and near misses, three fish did make it to the net before the week came to a close. There were some nail biting moments included in these sessions, with fish following the fly for long periods and just not committing….aaaagghhhh! Mark and guide Jarryd however landed a true trophy in the first ten minutes of his last day out on the flat, the fish weighing in at an impressive 16lbs. Congratulations on an exceptional fish Mark!!!!!

The Trevally fishing was somewhat interesting over the last few days. The Bluefin Trevally were few and far between compared with the week before, however the GTs had well and truly come out to play. We encountered a fair number of GT`s during the week, both around the islands as well as the flats, with most, if not all of our guests having opportunities at these ultimate predators. By the end of the week we had managed to hook 5 x GTs and land 4. Congratulations to Scott and Brian on the biggest of the bunch, both 98cm brutes….just falling short of the magical metre mark. All in all though, we had some great shots and saw some really big fish smashing bait which is always thrilling and a great experience to be a part of out on the water.

To summarise the week, we thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on the flats, as well as the camaraderie around the dinner table with our new friends. At times we had to push through some challenging weather conditions, but our anglers still managed to land some cracking fish. Thank you to all our guests for the great time on and off the water. We really hope we get to fish together again in the near future.

The St Brandon Guide team 

Our catch tally for the week

  • Bonefish – 105
  • Permit – 3
  • GTs –  4
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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 10 – 20 Sept 2024

St Brandon Blog: 10 – 20 Sept 2024

So we headed into week two on what is surely one of the most remote and beautiful places on earth. Joining us were a group of fresh and very excited anglers who would spend and share two weeks with us on this world class fishery, having opted for our two week package option. We unfortunately faced challenging conditions at the start of the week, with strong south easterly winds and rain. Tough conditions for sure, but the guests stuck at it and as the week progressed the weather improved and so did the fishing.

On the bonefishing front, we found good numbers of fish. Schooled up fish as well as quality singles and doubles. Our anglers managed to land a fair number of fish presenting to the schools around the landmasses on the atoll, however the singles and doubles we encountered on the submerged flats were a bit more weary and on the spooky side. As such, long, accurate casts were the order of the day. The biggest Bonefish for the week was a beauty, pulling the scale to 11.5lbs. Congratulations to guest angler Sonya on a magnificent specimen.!!!!

The permit fishing was nothing short of world class, both in terms of overall numbers as well as fish tailing.The flats as well as the islands presented us with a great number of solid opportunities at pods of 3 to 6 fish, and although the catch records don’t suggest it, we enjoyed some of the finest Permit fishing one could hope for. We did however manage to trick a few and get them into the net. A very well done to anglers Mark and Alan on landing their coveted Indo-Pacific Permit.

The trevally fishing this week was very exciting and maybe somewhat of an improvement from the previous week. We saw good quantities of big Bluefin cruising and slamming into bait fish on the flats as well the coral edges, and despite big Bluefin being some of the smartest fish going around we managed to land a few good ones between 60 and 70cm. Some rather large GT’s were seen on the flats and around the islands but none were converted and others did not hang around long enough to have a good shot at them.  The only real physical GT interaction this week was a brief one, when angler Scott hooked an emperor which was almost at our feet, when a big GT came out of nowhere and decided he wanted it a lot more than more than we did…..

Overall, conditions were a little tough and at times unsettled, but on a positive note the water is cool and everyone is super excited about what the atoll has in store for us for next week and the rest of the season.  All of us here on St Brandon had a great week, had loads of fun and established some new terrific friendships.

Until next week

The St Brandon Guide Team

Our catch tally for the week:

Bonefish – 88 (largest 11.5lbs)

Permit –  2

Bluefin Trevally – 7

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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 3 – 13 September 2024

St Brandon Blog: 3 – 13 September 2024

It’s that time of year again! Big bones, tailing Permit, monster Bluefin and hopefully so humongous GT’s. Welcome to St Brandon and our opening week of the Sept – Nov 2024 season where we welcomed a group of very eager anglers.

The week started off with some really strong wind which made things challenging despite some perfect ice cold blue water, however later in the week the weather settled and the fishing conditions became a bit easier. Tidal wise we were moving away from springs and into the neaps.

On the Bonefish front, we found good numbers on the flats during the first couple of days, with fish swimming in singles and doubles in some skinny water which is always really nice. Some of the fish were however a bit spooky (potentially the numbers of other predatory fish around), not letting us and the anglers get close to them. As such, the casts had to be long and accurate to convince them to eat the fly. Later in the week the Bones started schooling up in smaller pods of 5 -10 fish, our anglers managing to get a couple of nice fish throughout the week. Average size ranged around 5/6sbs, with the largest fish for the week being a solid 8 pounder. 

The Permit fishing was really good this week, with plenty of fish around. We saw a lot of them in pods of 3-6 fish, whether they were tailing along an island or a submerged flat. Rob had a great time this week, landing three during his week on the atoll, the largest a beautiful 11.5 lbs prize. Brian also managed to get one and so too did Dave, his Yellow Permit coming through on the final day. Well done guys!!!

The Trevally fishing was tough this week. We saw a lot of big Bluefins cruising along the flats and the coral ridges, but for some reason most wanted nothing to do with our flies. We managed to convince a few though, the average size ranging between 60cm and 70cm. We did also see some big GT’s but unfortunately none were converted.No doubt the trevally fishing will get better as the season moves on and the water warms up. 

To sum up the week, we had a ton load of fun with a great group of guests, and although conditions didn’t make it easy, we’re very optimistic for what lies ahead. We have spring tides up next and the weather forecast looks promising…until next week!

The St B Guide Team 

Catch Tally:

  • Bonefish: 91
  • Permit: 5
  • Bluefin’s: 6
  • GT’s: 0
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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 28 May – 7 June 2024

St Brandon Blog: 28 May – 7 June 2024

Here we are in the last week of our April-June ‘24 St Brandon’s season as we welcome excited guests from Scotland. The weather for the week brought heavy winds blowing out of the south and south east as well as multiple squalls blowing over the atoll which made the fishing a bit trickier to start with. The tides for the week saw the neaps heading into springs which will mean slightly spending less time on the shallower flats and shifting our focus more to the islands and other high lying areas of the Atoll.

 

The Bonefishing for the week started off with a bang as multiple good size fish were seen. There were some skinny water bonefishing opportunities at the start of the week during the afternoon dropping tides which made for some exciting fishing. As the week progressed, we shifted our focus more to the islands and coral ridges due to the higher tides we would be fishing this week. The guests managed to land good numbers of bones in those areas. Some good fish were caught during the week with our average size being between 5 lb and 8lb, with our biggest of the week being 3 beautiful fish ticking the scale to just over the 8.5lb mark. 

 

The Permit fishing this week got off to a slower start with fewer fish seen cruising the flats at the beginning of the week. We did however manage to find more fish around the islands and ridges as the guests enjoyed some good opportunities at happy, tailing fish. As the week progressed we were finding good numbers of Permit and Chaz managed to hook up to a beautiful Permit weighing in at just over 8.5lb, he was over the moon as this was his first ever Permit and he has pursued them for a long time. On the final day of the week, Johnny got in on the permit action landing a fin-perfect Permit weighing in at an impressive 12lb while fishing a flat just behind our home island. 

 

With the cooler water around this time of year the Bluefin Trevally and Gt fishing  was  once again on the slower side this week. we found ourselves exploring further south looking for them around islands and coral ridges although we were not finding them in the numbers we usually do. We do however expect to see them in much greater numbers in the coming September- November season especially as that season progresses. 

 

And so our April-June ‘24 draws to a close. Our final week on the atoll sees us end the season off on a high with happy anglers setting sail back to the mainland. We are very excited to see what the next season has instore for us out on this beautiful piece of heaven we call St Brandon’s Atoll. from the Flycastaway guide team we would like to thank all our guests who joined us this past season and we look forward to hosting you out there with us again in the near future.

 

Our catch tally for the week: 

 

  • Bonefish- 74
  • Indo-Pacific Permit-  2 (1x 12lb)
  • Golden Trevally- 1

 

Yours in fishing,

 

Flycastaway Guide Team

 

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Featured Image - St Brandon Blog: 21 – 31 May 2024

St Brandon Blog: 21 – 31 May 2024

We start the penultimate week of our season, welcoming three new guests and our good friend Terry doing his third week with us on the atoll. As we move from springs into neap tides the water temperature has remained nice and cool, an encouraging sign as we can expect to see more fish up on the flats tailing and feeding. There were some big squalls which came through during the first couple of days with high southerly winds blowing between 25 and 35 knots. This made casting a bit more of a challenge initially. However as the week progressed the skies cleared and the wind calmed, leading to some great fishing.

 

The cooler temperatures meant that there was a vast improvement in the Bonefishing compared to the previous week. There were many fish seen cruising happily over the flats and feeding in ankle deep water making for some exciting eats as the anglers managed to get into some good numbers of fish. This week we definitely saw more fish on the flats swimming in small pods of 2-4 fish with some large singles also spotted. The average size fish this week was between 5lb-7lb with a couple of 8.5lb and 9lb Bones caught by our anglers. On the last day of the week, Dale hooked into to a beautiful skinny water bone weighing in just over the 9.5lb mark making it the biggest for the week 

 

The guests experienced some great shots at the Atolls Permit this week with everyone getting numerous shots everyday. There were very good numbers of Permit seen around the flats, ridges and islands. Earlier in the week we saw multiple happy fish as they tailed and fed in calf to knee deep water, making for some exciting moments for our anglers. Terry landed yet another beautiful permit of 9lb on the first day of the week. As the week progressed there were many more good opportunities presented to our anglers, and on the last afternoon of the trip Terry managed to end off his stay with a fin perfect 3 lb fish caught on the shallow sand flat.

 

The Trevally fishing continued to be slow this week although there were some big Bluefin seen around the islands and coral ridges. The guests put in some great shots but unfortunately there were no fish landed. There were also very few GT’s seen around the atoll this week. 

 

We end our 8th week of the season on a high with an action packed last day and happy anglers. The cool wind continues to blow steadily from the east and the water temperatures are down. We move from neap tides into springs for the final week of the season and we expect to spend more time around the islands and higher ridges. Lets see what our last week of the season holds…

 

Our catch tally for the week: 

 

  • Bonefish- 103 
  • Indo-Pacific Permit-2

 

Yours in fishing,

 

The St Brandon’s guide team.

 

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