St Brandon Blog: 16 – 26 April 2024
Our third week of the season saw us welcome our good friends from Austria for another back to back, 14 day fishing experience on St Brandon’s. The week started off with a lot of rain and high winds, making the fishing conditions a bit tough to start off with. however This did not deter the anglers as spirits were high and they were all looking forward to finding good numbers of bonefish, Indo-Pacific Permit and any trevally species the Atoll has to offer. This week saw us fishing the back end of the neaps as they head into spring tides. This meant the bulk of the fishing would be taking place around island flats and high spots moving back to the shallow areas later in the week.
The conditions meant that the bonefish were a bit shy during the first couple of days with the high winds and rain also making it tough to both see and present to fish. As soon as the weather cleared a bit and the wind calmed down we started seeing the fish doing their thing around the flats and the islands. The week saw a lot of the bone fishing happening in knee to mid thigh depth with the odd fish seen tailing in shallower water around higher lying areas. There were multiple Bones caught ranging between 5 lb – 7lb with the biggest fish caught the week by Michael weighing in at 8lb on the dot.
The higher water during the middle parts of the day meant that the islands, coral ridges and high lying flats and sand bars fished well for permit. As the light improved it made it somewhat easier to spot the fish, but the permit proved to stay step ahead of the anglers, proving to be very technical. There were many good casts made at happy fish but the guests could not convert as many as they would have liked. On the third day of the week however, Alex connected with a stunning Permit of 5lb during his afternoon session.
With the increase of water movement due to the stronger spring tide, there were more trevally species seen hunting around the coral ridges and islands. There were multiple Bluefin caught ranging from 40cm-70cm in length.This week also saw our first golden trevally landed for the season with Alex landing a strong 6lb fish. A few big GT’s were spotted around the atoll during the week and Klaus made the most of his opportunity, landing a 74cm GT on one of the western sand spits.
As this group’s first week draws to an end it sees the tides moving from springs into neaps. This will definitely excite the anglers because going forward we will have more time wading the flats in ankle deep water looking for tailing bones. The water temps were good throughout the week with all the rain and wind cooling down the flats. If the cold water sticks around we can expect an action packed week to come.
Our catch tally for the week:
- Bonefish- 96
- Indo-Pacific Permit- 1
- GTs- 1
- Bluefin Trevally-6
- Golden Trevally- 1
Yours in fishing,
The St Brandon’s guide team.
Our first day on the flats proved to be tricky due to dark clouds, severe wind, and torrential rain. The shorts we were afforded for the GTs were often last minute as the fish snuck up on us out of the dark light and unfortunately resulted in a blank day for our group. Nevertheless, we made the most of the time we had on the water and went to town on the various Grouper and Snapper found throughout the atoll’s coral gardens. A tough day for the atoll’s iconic species but still a fun one on the species front. 
The second day saw us enjoy a marked improvement on the weather front with mild wind and decent sunlight for most of the day. Ben got things underway on the flats early on, and although this was his first-ever saltwater fly fishing experience, he managed to hook and land his first Bumphead Parrotfish. A fantastic achievement, well done, Ben! Jim found himself in the action, converting a feisty GT that was found while it swam alongside a stingray. Natalie and Sergey happened upon a rich vein of life in another area of the atoll and managed to land 2 & 1 GTs respectively. Great job, everyone! 
The third day treated us to patches of decent sunlight and the odd cloud burst. We encountered several large GTs during our time on the flats but unfortunately, these fish didn’t come to hand. Jim, again in the action, this time fooling a decent GT as it bow waked along a turtle grass flat. Gene, top rod on day 3, had an exciting scenario unfold while waiting in ambush during the early stages of the incoming tide… A school of roughly 15 GTs swimming high and jet black in colour slowly drifted into his position. His fly went down and all hell broke loose when the school recognised his fly as food. After a massive explosion of mud and water, he was tight and following a long battle, he eventually landed a powerful 90cm GT! A little later in the day, Gene found himself in the action again, this time pinning a lively GT off a stingray. 
The fifth day delivered the kind of action that we’re used to seeing on the flats of Providence. With schools of tailing GTs as well as large single fish encountered during all hours of the day. Mike enjoyed a stellar day on the flats landing 3 GTs himself. The largest of these an impressive 101cm was fooled into eating his fly as a large school of 30 or so GTs tore past him on the falling tide. This powerful fish took loads of backing and gave an exceptional account for itself before it was eventually landed. Josh and his brother, Jack, enjoyed a special moment together, landing a decent GT each. Natalie, while fishing for Bumpies, noticed an imposter in the middle of the school. A quick change of rods, s1 cast and a few strips resulted in success, this time a trophy GT of 106cm! A great catch and another moment of magic from our favourite flats in Seychelles. On the tailing species front, Jim landed the only Bonefish for the day. 
The sixth and final day of our fly fishing season saw the weather take a turn for the worse, with an incredible amount of rain. These blankets of water fell on us for hours at a time and made things tricky, to say the least. We weren’t deterred though and with our spirits still high we persisted and the catches came in droves. Brothers, Josh and Ben, enjoyed a flurry of action with fish tailing and bow waking all over their flat. They eventually managed to land 2 each. The team fishing team of Watts, Jim, and Mike enjoyed action for most of the day and eventually managed to end with returns of 2, 2, & 1 respectively. Gene finished his trip with us in style by bringing 2 GTs to hand while his boat partner John enjoyed a moment that we all dream of experiencing ourselves… While waiting on the end of a lagoon, a large GT happened upon his position and with a quick cast and a couple of strips he managed to hook and eventually land a GT of 116cm! A fantastic catch to close off our season on Providence for the first half of 2024. Great Job, John! 
The bonefish schooled up this week which made it a bit tougher to find them in skinny water and on the flats. We did however still manage to land some good fish, with Peter landing a beautiful fish of 9lbs. Well done Peter!
The trevally were still around in good numbers …most notably the Bluefin. Mike however managed to spot a school of GTs during one session and despite hooking up, it was the smaller fish measuring 85cm which got his fly first…oh what could have been!
This week saw our guests enjoy the fly fishing experience St Brandon’s is most famous for; skinny water bonefishing. With cool water and loads of hungry bones around, our guests got stuck into the action from the moment their boots hit the white sand. Typical encounters included fishing for the bonefish while they tailed and worked their way up the gradual taper of the flats with the morning’s pushing tide. With productive fishing sessions enjoyed by everyone, we managed to rack up a very respectable catch tally for the week. As for the big fish, our standout catch on this front went to Trent when he hooked into a silver missile that not only ran him into the backing several times but also tipped the scales at 10 lbs! Great job, Trent!
Permit fishing is a cruel pursuit and although we had our shots, were only able to get 3 of these elusive creatures to hand for the week. Justin was the only fisherman this week who could convince the fish to pounce on a fly and he landed all 3 himself, 1 of which was a genuine trophy, weighing in at 15,5 lb! He managed to pick up this beauty while it followed a large stingray near a storm ridge. A very special catch late in the day. Well done Justin!
We experienced decent action on the trevally front as well, with favourable conditions in the way of good light and loads of baitfish found around the landmasses. This set us up nicely and we enjoyed several shots at large Giant Trevally. 1 of our anglers enjoyed all the spoils here, landing 2 beautiful fish, 1 of which stretched the measuring tape all the way to 105cm.
