St Brandon Blog: 28 Oct – 7 Nov 2019
St Brandon Blog: 28 Oct – 7 Nov 2019
This week saw us fishing over a new moon neap tide which gave us plenty of wading time to the full variety of species the atoll has to offer.
The Bonefishing was outstanding this week with all forms of opportunities presenting themselves. We enjoyed fishing to tailing fish in ankle deep water as well big schools in slightly deep water. A special mention goes out to Bill who was fishing the Indian Ocean for the first time. Bill managed to get stuck into great numbers of fish including a cracking 8.5lb slab. Well done sir! Randy also had some outstanding sessions landing numerous Bonefish for the week. A huge congratulation to Wessel for getting his 1st Bonefish on a fly rod on the first day of the trip and later in the week his 9.5lb fish proving to be our largest for the week.
The Permit were also around in decent numbers this week and we managed to get the guys into some really good opportunities, from tailing and cruising fish on the flats to fish high riding off sand banks and island structures, we had it all. A huge congratulations goes out to Andrew for managing to get it done, his 9lb fish slowly dropping down the flat when he presented the fly. The fish initially seemed to spook off the fly, but another cast was made, and the fish made no hesitations in inhaling the crab imitation second time round. Unfortunately, we did however lose a hooked Permit this week which is never nice, but that’s fishing and that’s why each fish landed is a special experience.
Good numbers of Giant Trevally were also around on the flats this week. We encountered fish riding on the back of Nurse sharks, big schools and single fish marauding bonefish in the shallows…any of these scenarios nail bitingly exciting. As it goes, we managed to have a few eat the fly as well as some missed opportunities, but Chris has done this before and managed to get it done with a gorgeous fish which measured 102cm! Well done Chris! Wessel also managed to get his 1stGt ever on a fly rod with a great 96cm fish, a really big fish for your first ever GT! The Bluefin Trevally were also around in decent numbers. Andrew managed to get a great fish which measured a whopping 78cm, congrats on yet another great fish. Bill also managed to get his 1st Bluefin Trevally on a fly rod this week adding to his species list. The golden Trevally were around in great numbers with Bill, Randy and Neil all managing to tick the box on this wonderful flats fishing species.
The week overall provided an abundance of variety, opportunities and species and as such look forward to sharing this special place with our next set of guests.
Until next week!
The St Brandon’s guide team
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The Permit were around in great numbers this week with all of our guests getting numerous shots at this incredible species. We experienced an array of different opportunities, including both cruising and tailing fish on the flats, islands and coral ridges. Jim did not waste anytime opening up the week with an wonderful fish of 10lb. The fish was slowly free swimming along the flats with the pushing tide, Jim’s cast hitting the money a few inches away from its nose the fish. The fish slowly turned on the fly and engulfed the crab midwater before giving him a solid tussle before eventually coming to hand. Jim then managed to catch the next Permit he made a shot at, this one was holding on the lee side of a sand bar. Another well-presented fly and the result was two permit within an hour….a great achievement. Dan also managed to hook a decent Permit but unfortunately the fish came off a few seconds into the fight. Jim showed no signs of slowing down though, his 3rd fish coming to hand after it crushed the fly over some white sand… a pretty fish with long sickles. His 4th was a real beauty weighing 14lb, this fish spotted tailing whilst we were heading back to the boat to have a lunch. His first cast gained no reaction and the fish continued to feed up the flat, but his next cast landed about a foot in front of the fish’s nose and it sipped it in. We were now 20 yards from the boat. When the fish came to hand the screams scared most of the birds off the atoll… it was a great moment! Jim managed to land his 5th Permit later on in the week, this special moment capping off a truly remarkable week of Permit fishing for him!
The Trevally too were around in decent numbers this week, with Arthur opening the account on the first day after we located a pack of Bluefin Trevally, Giant Trevally and sharks in a feeding frenzy off one of the storm ridges. Arthur made a great cast at the GT’s and before he could even get his first strip he was tight into a great fish. After a solid fight, a beautiful 105cm fish was tailed. Great job Arthur! We saw a few other GT’s during the week with Ben unfortunately being bitten of by the one he hooked. All in all, we had some great shots and saw some really big fish smashing bait which always a great experience to have out on the water.
We experienced fantastic Bonefishing all week. Opportunities to fish in ankle deep water at tailing fish, small and big shoals on the flats, sand bars and island systems…our guests got to see it all! Although our largest fish was 7,5lb we did see and hook some really big ones, unfortunately we couldn’t land them. Let’s just say they don’t get that big for nothing, these really big fish are smart and need to be fished at with precision casts and even when hooked they know exactly where they need to run to cut you off. All in all, still some superb Bonefishing as per usual!
Our guests were treated to phenomenal Bonefishing during the week with loads of larger fish landed. Some days the average size of the fish landed was as big as 6.5lbs. Many fish in the 7-8lbs range were caught with Tristan landing 2 large 8lbers this week. Terry, who was completing his third back-to-back week with us landed a solid 9.5lb Bone. Charles also landed a 9.5lb Bone but he landed an even larger fish when he hooked and landed a 10.5lb fish on the first morning of the week! An absolute monster of a fish and a fine way to end the season on the Bonefishing front.
We experienced excellent Trevally fishing on the last week of the season which is no surprise as we have encountered big numbers of Golden, Bluefin and Giant Trevally around the atoll this season. We were able to hook a couple Goldens this week with the standout fish caught by Jarod, who landed a strong 10lb Golden on the first morning of the trip. The Bluefin Trevally fishing picked up this week too with shots at many larger specimens. Charles landed a solid 72cm fish while Jarod kept his good fortune going and landed a 77cm Bluefin that was found while it was riding the back of 2 large Nurse sharks along with a bunch of other Bluefin and GTs.
Our GT fishing this week turned out to be fantastic with just about everyone in the group getting quality shots at these apex predators. 4 were landed in total for the week, 2 by Tristan with the aforementioned 90cm fish that led to his Grand Slam and a few days later he landed an even larger fish of 92cm; to land 2 GTs on St Brandons and pull off a Grand Slam is no mean feat! Well done Triston. Justin also got stuck into the atoll’s large GTs and managed to land 2 large fish in as many days. First, he landed a 110cm fish that was giving a school of Bones a seriously hard time and the next day he went one better and landed a 111cm fish that was caught while it was holding in the current just below a coral ridge.
We were treated to incredible Bonefishing this past week on St Brandons with our guests enjoying a wide range of different Bonefishing scenarios; large single fish in skinny water right through to big schools of fish in slightly deeper water. Of the larger fish that we were able to land this week, John landed Bones of 7, 7.5 and 8lbs during his stay on the atoll with us. Ed and Terry both landed 8lb Bones while Sidney came up trumps and landed the biggest of the week, an 8.5lb fish that ate the fly before an even bigger one could get to it! In total our group managed to land 331 Bonefish between 6 anglers with a solid 5lb average which is an impressive feat and once again shows that St Brandon is a premier Bonefishing destinatioin.
There were loads of shots at the Indo-Pacific Permit that call the atoll home. As usual we were able to hook a few but we were only able to land one this week. Robyn, the only successful angler managed to land her first ever Indo-Pacific Permit. Her 7lb fish was seen tailing on one of our more famous Permit flats and after she made a pinpoint cast with her self-tied fly, everyone involved knew the fish was going to eat. The fish took off at speed and after a couple nervy moments threading the fish through a coral garden the fish was netted! A couple quick photos were taken of the fish and then it was released to fight another day, well done Robyn!
The Trevally action was full of ups and downs this week with our guests having a number of good shots at the atoll’s large GTs. John, Ed and Frans all hooked monster GTs but unfortunately, the fish got the better of us and managed to get loose one way or another. There were however a couple of large Greenspot Trevally landed this week which provided great fun on the 9wt for Sidney, who landed 2 Greenspots of 63cm and 67cm while Frans landed the biggest of the week with a lively 69cm fish.
The fourth week of the St Brandons season started with high winds, cloud cover and squalls. This made the conditions tough but kept the water cool for long periods of time and thus led to spectacular skinny water fishing to large bonefish. The weather did stabilize later in the week doing a full 180 degrees, it went flat calm without a cloud in the sky. There were large numbers of fish landed everyday and the average size for the week sat at a solid 6lbs. Of the larger bones landed 2 fish of 7lbs were landed by Robyn, 2 of 7.5lbs by Ian and Sean and a 8.5lb fish landed by Robyn. Finally, Ray, who experienced some of the best of what St Brandons has to offer landed 2x 8lb bones as well as 4 fish of 8.5lbs, well done Ray! A few bigger fish were hooked but unfortunately, the fish had the final say. The conditions are perfect at the moment for a double digit fish to be landed so we are looking forward to what the coming weeks have in store for us.
There were once again multiple shots at the tricky Indo-Pacific Permit that call St Brandons home. With the variety of flats fishing scenarios on offer our guests enjoyed the challenge of fishing to these beautiful fish. There were a few hooked during the week but only one was landed. Ian caught his first ever Indo-Pacific Permit on the last day of the trip after persisting the whole week. Well done Ian, the hard work paid off!
The Trevally fishing proved to be tough this week, that said there were still multiple shots at large GTs and Bluefin. We are seeing good numbers of these fish around currently so the chance of one of our guests catching a fish of a lifetime is certainly on our minds while we wade the flats. Other than the larger Trevally species that call St Brandon Atoll home a couple of the less aggressive species were landed. Terry hooked and landed a respectable Yellowdot Trevally that was tailing on one of our famous Bonefish flats while Sean added to the species list with his first Golden Trevally of his fishing career.
We experienced impressive Bonefishing this week from a numbers perspective, loads of fish were landed with the average being 5lbs. Several larger fish were landed with a few giants getting the better of us! The notable Bonefish catches were completed by Landis, Nate and Dave who all caught large 8lb fish, however the largest of the week was landed by Joe and Mike who both managed to get solid 8.5lb fish to hand. This is a wonderful and promising sign for the weeks to come as we started to see good numbers of larger fish on the flats.
The warmer conditions meant that several large Giant Trevally were encountered on the flats this week. Some of our guests had great shots at GTs, however these fish showed us why they can be so tough to land with only one GT hooked and sadly lost when it ran through a coral garden, resulting in a broken fly line! The big Bluefin Trevally where seen in large numbers this week, especially along the eastern coral edge of the atoll. We managed to get 3 of these beautiful fish to hand with Joe continuing his impressive streak by landing a fish of 65cm and another beast of a fish measuring 78cm!
On the species front we enjoyed excellent fishing with several Napoleon Wrasse, Bohar Snapper, Marbled Grouper and Camouflage Grouper landed. A special mention for Alexander who landed an 80cm Golden Trevally as well as a 75cm Bonefish, Well done Alexander!
