Farquhar Blog: 29 March – 5 April 2019
Farquhar Blog: 29 March – 5 April 2019
For the first time on Farquhar this season we experienced late afternoon showers with patchy light for most of the week. The tides this week started off with neaps and built up to new moon spring tides with the low tides early to mid-morning.
This week 19 GTs were landed, the largest measuring 97cm. It turned out to be a week of firsts with father and son team of Bill and David landing 2 fish each – David’s two fish were his first ever GTs landed on fly. Finnish angler Pentii also landed his first GT while the other father and son team of David and Alexander also caught their first GTs. Well done guys! Anglers Ryan and Mike from the UK landed 3 great GTs each whilst David from the US also managed to land 4 GTs. An encouraging sign this week was the impressive Bluefin Trevally fishing, several large fish were landed by Amaryllis, Pentii and Mike this week, well done guys.
Loads of Bumphead Parrotfish were seen this week with several that were hooked but unfortunately none were landed. 10 Triggers were hooked with 2 landed – one early in the week by angler Ryan and the second landed on the last day by angler Charlie.
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!
All in all our guests experienced a very enjoyable week on the flats of Farquhar.
The Farquhar FlyCastaway guide team.
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
Our Bumpies were seen in good numbers this week and although we had loads of hookups we only managed to land two, John and Yerlan getting one a piece.
We enjoyed good Tiggerfishing this week with 3 coming to hand. 1 each for Sandro , Jaromir and David. Our Bumpie fishing provided us with numerous opportunities and hookups. Despite the constant action we only managed to get 2 to hand, A 58cm fish for Nadim and a monster 105cm fish for Steve.
The outstanding fishing continued with 20 Triggerfish hooked, sadly only 6 coming to hand but still some truly exciting skinny water fishing. Of the 11 Bumpies hooked our first of the season was landed by Olafur, well done Oli!
The Species fishing was good with our first Yellowfin Tuna of the season landed by angler Matt. A couple of Dogtooth Tuna and Jobfish added to the bluewater tally. The numerous Grouper species caught throughout the duration of the week such as Bohar Snapper, African Marbled Grouper and
This week we enjoyed generally calm conditions throughout the week, with blue bird skies and very little wind. Visibility was good and the days heated up quickly. On the last day of fishing we did however experience a morning squall but it passed by 9:30am and it was back to fishing as usual shortly after. Early on during the week we had neap tides with early morning lows, whilst towards the end of the week we experienced midday lows as we moved into spring tides.
14 GTs were landed this week out of the 36 fish we hooked. Angler Brian landed the largest fish with a specimen of 92cm, he also landed the most with a tally of 4 to his name. Brothers Wes and George landed their first GTs, whilst Mike completed a Slam with a GT, a Trigger and a Bonefish all successfully landed in the same day.
The Bonefish fishing this week was great with all anglers landing multiple Bones. Large schools of fish were seen cruising the flats with one school of up to 2000 fish seen! Anglers Brian, Gary, Geoffrey, Joe and George all landed Bonefish over 60cm with the largest measuring just under 70cm.
Our species fishing was great! 3 Triggerfish were brought to hand this week out of the 12 we hooked, and despite us hooking 5 Bumpies sadly none were landed. Anthony landed a Napoleon Wrasse whilst Alex landed a very special Farquhar Permit. Congratulations! 4 Dogtooth tuna were landed (the biggest 20kg), several Rainbow Runners as well as Grouper up to 81cm. Out of the ordinary Jonathan also managed to land a 9 foot Nurse Shark after it ate his grouper!
Our 8
The GTs were around in good numbers this week and of the 36 that we managed to hook, we unfortunately only got 15 to hand with the biggest landed being a lovely 97cm GT caught by Vadim. This fish was caught while drifting close to the surf, the GT was seen holding in a depression, Vadim then put the fly down and a few strips later got the fish to jump on the fly. Vadim had a great week and went on to land 3 more GTs. Not to be outdone, Igor M landed 4 GTs with his biggest being a beautiful fish of 89cm. Justin made the most of his chances by landing 3 GTs, one of which was part of a Bumpie slam. Justin also managed to land an enormous Bluefin Trevally of 82cm. Two dark fish were spotted, Justin made a good cast and the fish reacted without any hesitation attacked the fly!
The Bumpie fishing was good with large pods of tailing Bumphead Parrotfish seen all over the atoll. Our guests managed to hook 8 and land 5, the largest measuring 105cm and was caught by Justin during a walk over a turtle grass flat. A good cast ahead of the lead fish went out and as the school moved over the fly one of the fish dipped down and he came tight. The fish then tore across the flat and eventually after couple nervous moments came to hand. Well done Justin! To complete the Bumpie catches Justin landed another of 80cm, Viacheslav landed 2 Bumpies on one day, a 69cm and 75cm fish respectively and Igor D landed a solid fish of 88cm.
The Triggerfish were seen tailing often throughout the week. Of the six Triggers hooked, the three landed were all Moustache Triggerfish. Krister who was on his first ever saltwater fly fishing experience got his week off to a great start on Day 1 by landing a beautiful 51cm Moustache Triggerfish. This fish was tailing on a turtle grass patch during a surf walk and after making several casts to the fish his perseverance paid off with the fish pouncing on the fly. Igor D who was enjoying a stella week landed two Moustache Triggers measuring 52cm and 54cm.
The 7thweek of our September – December season on Farquhar saw the return of the prevailing South East wind and with it a few heavy downpour. For the most part however, the weather was fair with good light , elements essential for spotting fish. Tidal wise we started on neap tides heading into the early stages of springs as the week progressed. All of our guests enjoyed some solid Bonefishing with everyone landing good numbers, sizes ranging from 45 – 65cm. As 6 of our guests this week were new to salt water fly fishing getting their first Bonefish on fly was really special and enjoyed by all.
The Triggers were seen tailing during particular periods of the tides and of the 4 hooked 2 were successfully landed. Father and son Ferdi and Eugene got a Moustache Trigger each within a short period of each other during a surf walk. Eugene landed a solid 58cm Moustache Trigger after having seen the fish tailing hard on a turtle grass patch, he put the fly close to the fish and it crushed the fly. Ferdi’s fish was caught in the same area ,a 55cm Moustache Trigger giving them the perfect start to the day.
The diversity of this fishery ensured our guests rods remained bent throughout the week, as the species fishing was particularly good including some very large Groupers. Justin who has been coming to Farquhar for years and trying to catch a Napoleon Wrasse finally ticked his box landing a Napoleon Wrasse of 73cm. Epic fish Justin, well done!
With the sudden change in weather the GTs were reluctant to come onto the flats and as a result the GT fishing was tough by Farquhar standards with only 8 fish being hooked and 5 landed. Sean managed to land 2 fish of 78cm and 82cm respectively, Ferdi and David also landed a GT each of 65cm and 77cm. The fish of the week was however a really good one, Tom’s first ever GT on fly a 115cm slab. The fish was seen cruising a turtle grass flat on the back of a Nurse shark. Tom made the cast just off the shark and a few quick strips later he got the eat. Epic fish, well done Tom! A few sizable Bluefin Trevally were also landed including Sean’s 78cm fish and Mary 72cm.
The species fishing this week continued to impress, the grouper species in particular smashing anything that came near their coral head. Jonathan landed a 55cm Napoleon Wrasse, whilst Tom’s 80cm African Marble grouper were two of the better ones landed. Unfortunately it was a tough fishing week by Farquhar’s standards but a few superb fish did come to hand and with a great bunch of people ensured good times were still had by all.
This week on Farquhar we welcomed back our great group of friends from Austria hosted by Stefan and Alex Haider of AOS Fly Fishing. This week started with morning neap tides which progressed to midday springs towards the end of the six days of fishing. The weather was perfect for 4 of the 6 days with clear skies, lots of sunlight and a light breeze which kept us from getting too hot on the flats. The wind picked up the tempo for the last couple of days and made the opportunities a little more challenging. The fish were out and about and plentiful this week, with the GTs being present in good numbers on the flats.
First timers to the Seychelles and Farquhar Atoll Christian and Helmut were treated to some fantastic fishing with numerous Bonefish landed. Christian managed to land his first GT on fly with a very respectable fish of 98cm. He also managed to hook and land a large Barracuda, a Golden Trevally, Bluefin Trevally, Sailfish as well as a massive Indian Mirror fish which is a very rare and special catch.
Also first timers to the flats of Farquhar were couple Sophie and Stefan. They started their week in style with a GT hooked and landed with Stefan’s very first cast of the trip! Stefan had a good week landing 2 GTs, lots of bonefish, countless groupers – of which one a giant Goliath Grouper and a couple of very decent Bluefin Trevally. Sophie managed to hook and land (amongst others!) two very special fish; a large bonefish of 68cm and on the last afternoon of the trip she managed a monster GT measuring out at 114cm, what a way to end her trip and land her first ever GT on fly.
Alex and Stefan both managed to bag some incredible groupers, Boha Snappers, Napoleon Wrasse as well as a couple GTs a piece. In total we hooked 40 GTs as a group and land 27. We saw a good number of larger fish on the flats which is a positive sign for the weeks to come. The Triggerfishing was tough this week, sadly none of the 4 we did hook coming to hand. The Bumphead Parrots also proved difficult, but we still managed to land two of the five hooked – one a piece for Alex and Micheal; this was Michael’s first Bumphead on fly which made it extra special.
The GT fishing was fantastic this week, 20 of the 39 hooked fish being landed. Matvey landed our largest for the week, his 99cm part of a truly special moment with good friend and fishing partner Alexander. Alfredo opened his GT account with a stunning 90cm GT on the first morning of the week. This was Alfredo’s first ever GT on Fly and he managed to land another later in the week. David in particular fished well and had a cracking week, landing 9 GTs of varying sizes. Superb fishing!
