Farquhar Blog: 12 – 19 Oct 2018
Farquhar Blog: 12-19 October 2018
We welcomed a very excited bunch of guests onto the atoll on the 12thof Oct, most of whom were pretty new to fly fishing. We were subsequently super excited to show them what Farquhar had to offer. From a tidal point of view we were on a full neaps, with the mid-morning high tides allowing our guests the opportunity to fish the last bit of the pushing tide and the entire dropping tide.
These tides typically produce better fishing for the tailing species such as Bumpies and so it was when in the end we hooked ten of the gentle green giants. Sadly only one was landed but the thrill of casting at those enormous flagging tails will certainly not be forgotten in a hurry by the group. The GT fishing was unfortunately tough this week as we only managed to hook five, landing three of these normally aggressive predators. Some solid Bonefishing and Trigger fishing also provided good sport but it was Farquhar’s offshore fishing which really made an impact this week. Forty two Sailfish were raised, sixteen were hooked and five were landed. On top of this ten Dogtooth Tuna, four Yellowfin Tuna and two Wahoo provided some adrenaline filled moments in the deep blue. Having an offshore fishery capable of producing that level of fishing is testament to how diverse this atoll really is.
Four friends who were completely new to fly fishing had a great week on Farquhar, Nick landed two beautiful Sailfish (200cm and 207cm) as well as a tank 185cm Wahoo and a 85cmGt. Gert enjoyed a solid week landing a Dogtooth Tuna, some big Bluefin Trevally in excess of 70cm and loads of species. Johan got stuck into a Dogtooth Tuna of 110cm and a Yellowfin Tuna of 110cm, whilst Henk hooked and fought multiple Sailfish and landed a great different number of flats and reef species. Father and son who were also new to fly fishing had a special week as father Kelvin landed a 220cm Sailfish on his birthday whilst his son Shaun landed a tank Dogtooth Tuna of 136cm as well as a 82cm GT.
Jonathan landed a 70cm GT and although he had very little fortune in landing them, he showed great skill by hooking 6 Bumpies during the second week with us. His partner for the week Pierre had a pretty good week, landing a Bumpy, a Golden Trevally of 78cm as well as a Sailly of 195cm amongst some other flats and reef species. Brothers Louis and Stefan had some great offshore success, Louis landing a Sailfish of 203cm, a Dogtooth Tuna, two meter long Yellowfin Tuna and to top it off a beautiful Wahoo of 110cm.
We would like to thank all our guests for a really enjoyable week and really hope to see them back on Farquhar in the future.
The Farquhar Guide Team
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
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- Farquhar Atoll – Seychelles www.flycastaway.com info@flycastaway.com
Boat partners for the week Craig and Gregory had a good one, Gregory landing a Bumpy of 90cm, as well as a Moustache Trigger of 60cm and a small GT. Craig landed a tank 82cm African Marble Grouper amongst some other nice fish. Casper went on to land large numbers of species as was his target for the trip, whilst Neil got GT’s of 72cm & 84cm GT, as well a 103cm Barracuda. Christian who had come all the way from Argentina to target the mighty GT enjoyed some great success landing fish of 60cm,86cm and 88cm. Well done! He too hooked a Sailfish but unfortunately after a long fight the hooks pulled.
We enjoyed some truly great fishing on our first week of the Sept – Dec 2018 Farquhar season with a really fun but hard fishing group of South African anglers. Coming off a full moon spring tide we had large fluctuations in water level and with the strong SE wind still present early season there was plenty of cold blue water for us to explore. It made casting tricky at times but the guys never let it get to them and they were rewarded with some incredible variety as well as some great GT action.
The GTs were around in good numbers and by the end of the week we had landed 33 of these incredible predators including three fish over a meter. Patrick landed six for the week, two of which were over a meter (a 101 & 102cm). François had a few stellar days and capitalised with nine fish between 70 – 96cm. Tom also had a great week landing four, his biggest a 94cm beauty. Andrew too had a special trip landing our biggest fish of 104cm fish as well as two more impressive geets. Brent landed five fish between 75 – 96cm, whilst Duncan’s 96cm fish which was photographed in a suit an tie will not be easily forgotten. Rian got his prize fish with a GT of 92cm and when Brett added his 94cm specimen to the tally it was clear to all that Farquhar remains one of the finest saltwater fisheries on the planet.
As much as the GT fishing remains a huge attraction for all, it was obvious from the guys feedback that it’s the variety of species and scenarios which one of finds them in which really made their trip special. The Bones were plentiful and provided great sport with the lighter rods, Triggers too were present although never easy to land. Matt did however land a gorgeous Picasso and Francois a nice Moustache. Other notables included one Bumpie, a 138cm Dogtooth Tuna, some truly big Grouper, some Napoleon Wrasse, a small Permit (despite some bigger ones being cast to and pricked), Bohar Snapper, big Bluefin Trevally, a Black Tip Shark, Barracuda and last but not least a very large Yellowspot Trevally which was caught on the flat by Pat. A truly special fish as the adult specimens are normally only found offshore.
This week on Farquhar we welcome a group of 10 guests from the U.S to the atoll for the 7th and final week of the the season. After a short flight from Mahe our guests were greeted by the Guide team and guest house staff and then shown to their accommodation. After settling in we got straight into it with a safety briefing and a tackle setup to ensure everyone was ready for a solid weeks fishing. This week on Farquhar we are into full moon spring tides making the tidal range huge. The large volumes of water being brought onto and off the atoll ensures loads of cool water brought in from the ocean. With mid-morning low tides in the beginning of the week moving to midday lows gave our guests a chance to fish the drop as well as the push. High water in the afternoon gave our guests options to sample the rich diversity of species this atoll has to offer through targeting coral heads as well as looking for GTs by walking an island or sand spit, the chance to go dredging or sail fishing was also an option and proved to be worth it as on the last day 2 GTs were caught during a blue water session.
This week the GTs were around all over the atoll with twenty eight being hooked and ten successfully coming to hand. The bumpies were also seen in solid numbers and our guests had opportunities to target these fish as they tailed in large pods with 12 bumpies hooked and but sadly none landed. It was a fantastic week for triggers as our guests got to see these beautiful fish tailing all over the atoll and made the most of it with 9 hooked and 5 landed. The bones were back on the flats and happy this week as the weather improved from last week and more cold water was brought onto the flats as all of our guests landed bones and some solid fish were landed around 65-70cm.
With the afternoon high water our guests drifted over coral heads and got to tussle with many reef dwelling fish as the species count for the week was really good. Father and son Jonathan and Thomas had a great week, which saw father Tom hook a massive GT on Day 1 only to lose it at the end of the fight as the fish cut him off. Thomas managed to land a Moustache triggerfish on the 4th day and son Jonathan managed to convert his shots landing 2 fish with the biggest being 104cm. Another Father and son pairing Stephan and Benjamin had a good week as they both hooked numerous GTs with son Benjamin loosing 3 in 1 day. First time salt water fly fishing John had a start to remember as he landed a 108cm GT on the first day of the week and went on to land another one. Erik was unlucky with the GTs this week, hooking a few but none coming to hand, but he enjoyed some great bone fishing with a few solid grouper and snapper species. Doug got his GT on the 3rd day landing a fin perfect fish. Terrel hooked 5 GTs before landing his 1st on fly! Fishing buddies Donald and Bill had a fantastic week which saw Bill achieving a Trigger slam on the first day of the week – a Moustache triggerfish, a nice GT and a bonefish to top it off. It got even better for him as after losing 3 GTs in a day himself and Donald managed to double up on a pair of GTs in the deep blue during the final afternoon session. Donald had a great week as he also got a trigger slam – a yellow margin triggerfish, a nice GT and a bone. He also managed to cap off his week with another GT and a moustache triggerfish!
All our guests hooked Geets and got to experience their power and speed, there were bones caught by all as well as some solid Bluefin Trevally, grouper and snapper making the week a great one. The guest house and food were complimented by our guests as they are talking about returning to the island in the not too distant future.
This week on Farquhar we welcomed a group of 10 guests from the UK for our 6th week of the 2018 season. After a short fight from Mahe our guests touched down on the atoll. This week we are into full neap tides meaning minimal tidal fluctuations between low and high, ensuring large volumes of water on the atoll throughout the day. With an early morning push and a late afternoon low our guests got to enjoy the entire drop throughout the week. The weather was tricky during the first part of the week as our guests were greeted by dark and windy conditions with a north easterly changing to north westerly blowing 40 knots at times but as the week progressed the weather improved and with it, so did the fishing.
This group of guests are already looking at dates and planning a trip back to this incredible fishery as all of our guests hooked numerous GTs and got to experience the power and agility of these incredibly strong fish as well as the Bones, Triggers, Bumpies and all the other species that Farquhar has to offer. The guests were highly impressed with the guest house and accommodation as well as the food making the week a resounding success.
Our guests arrived mid-morning after a short flight from Mahe. After being greeted by the guides and guest house staff they were then shown to their accommodations which was followed by a safety briefing and a tackle setup to ensure everyone was ready for a solid week of fishing. This week on the Atoll we are into full spring tides with huge tidal ranges ensuring large volumes of water brought onto and off the atoll. A steady South-Easterly wind blew through the week. The GT fishing was really good with 33 fish hooked and 24 fish landed, 5 of which were over the 100cm mark.
Father and son Arthur and Christopher, who were new to salt water fly fishing got to tangle with the Geets, Arthur opening his account in style with a first ever GT on fly of 105cm! Christopher hooked a few GTs throughout the week but unluckily never managed to land any. His persistence paid off when he landed a solid Bumpy on the last day. Brothers John and Anthony had a good week with John landing two GTs, the biggest being 103cm. Anthony managed to bag a 71cm GT to go along with solid numbers of Bones and reef dwelling species. Bob landed his personal best GT on fly, a 104cm fish to go with another GT of 84cm. Christopher landed the biggest recorded Bluefin Trevally on fly on Farquhar, a massive 88cm fish. He managed to get a grand slam with a Moustache Triggerfish, a Bumpy and a Bonefish as well as a GT to cap it all off. Kevin managed to land two GTs in the week with his biggest being 82cm, while Nicole landed the only Permit for the week, a 52cm fish, well done Nicole! Regular guest to Farquhar Marko had a fantastic week landing 7 Geets ranging from 70 – 101cm. Marko managed a Trevally slam consisting of a GT, a Bluefin and a Yellow Spotted Trevally on his last day of fishing. He also landed a Moustache Triggerfish. David had a week to remember landing 8 Geets during his stay ranging from 82 – 106cm. David also landed two massive Golden Trevally on his first day of fishing, the biggest being 77cm. He scored a Moustache Triggerfish, a Bonefish and a GT to finish the slam and celebrate his birthday in style.
This was a great week with our guests enjoying some incredible fishing. All of our guests caught good numbers of Bones and other species. There were solid numbers of GTs seen all over the atoll with every one of our guests hooking more than one GT. The Bumpies were seen in large pods around their feeding grounds. We saw loads of tailing Triggers with a few coming to hand.
After arriving on the island, our guests were shown to their accommodation and then we got straight down to business with a safety briefing and tackle setup. The guests were then free to fish for the afternoon on the North Island. Nicholas made the most of it landing a tank 110cm GT which set the tone for the week. Great job Nicholas!
Our guests during the rest of their time on the atoll enjoyed loads of opportunities at GTs with 37 fish hooked, of which 24 were landed. Whitney and Sarah really got stuck in, Whitney landing 4 Geets for the week (77cm, 83cm, 85cm and a 98cm specimen on the final day) and wife Sarah landing 2 small GTs along with a solid 72cm fish.
Wayne landed the biggest Bumpy of the week with a fish 105cm, as well as a really pretty 80cm GT. Dean managed 2 fish of 72cm and 83cm respectively while Jeff had to wait until the last day to land his first GT. He also had the incredible fortune of landing 3 Napoleon Wrasse on one day, the fish measuring 55cm, 57cm and 62cm fish.
Jean-Christophe and friend Francios had a solid week racking up the numbers of species including some great Bonefishing. Francois also landed 3 GT’s, 70, 75, 75cm. After starting his week off with that impressive 110 cm fish, Nicholas went on to land 3 more GT’s (78cm, 80cm and 81cm) and lose 2 fish to snapped fly lines. He also landed a really solid 64cm Bonefish.
Peter had a great week landing 5 GT’s, including fish of 75cm, 80cm, 81cm as well a tank 114cm fish on the last day in the surf. Andre too was on top form this week, landing the only Trigger for the week (a Moustache Trigger of 52cm) as well as a solid Bumpy of 93cm. He also got stuck into the GTs, hooking up with numerous fish and successfully landing fish of 72cm, 82cm, 85cm and the biggest fish of the week which stretched the tape at 118cm. It was a fin perfect GT caught during a surf walk on the final day. Well done Andre!
Our guests got solid numbers of Bones this week as well and over the high water periods we enjoyed some great species bashing. The Bumpies were around in the early parts of the week but as the low tide depths increased, conditions became less optimal for Bumpies and Triggers. All in all, it was however a great week to be a part of and we would like to thank all our guests for coming out to fish this incredible fishery with us!
This week we experienced a full moon spring tide which brought about large tidal fluctuations. With mid-morning low tides to start the week and a midday low tide to end the week our guests were able to fish a full drop and a full push, giving them ample opportunities on the flats. On top of this we enjoyed stable weather, moderate southerly winds and cool water throughout the week which provided ideal conditions. Our guests really capitalised with 35 GT’s being hooked, 23 of them being landed and photographed. Well done everyone!
There were loads of Triggers on the flats as well, our guests hooking 17 and landing 7. The Bumpies also provided some great sport play but like the GTs and Triggers not all hooked fish resulting in a fish being landed. Two of these very special were however brought to hand an provided great excitement to angler and guide alike.
As for the Bones, solid numbers came to hand including a few large specimens. The species fishing during the high water periods plan with some large Grouper, Bohar Snapper and Green Jobfish coming to hand. All in all we enjoyed an excellent week on Farquhar, with loads of fish seen throughout the week. There were large pods of tailing Bumpies, GTS on stingrays and surfing in on waves, good numbers of tailing Triggers and plenty of Bones.
This exciting session did however set the tone for the week and with all our guests being first time visitors to Farquhar we knew they were in for a treat. Petro managed to land a GT of 105cm and another of 77cm. He also had fun catching large numbers of Bones, a Picasso Trigger and some impressive grouper and snapper species.
His good friend Daniele racked up good numbers of Bones throughout the week. He also got to tussle with a few GTs (some winning the battle) but he did end up with two solid fish, an a 87cm and 78cm. He also landed a decent Moustache Trigger of 51cm and on the final day he got a decent Napoleon Wrasse who shattered his rod into 7 pieces…good news being he still landed the fish.
As the week progressed the wind remained low and direction constant which meant there was an inevitable build-up of warm water. Drifting over likely spots gave us opportunities to cover water and find fish ….and find fish we did. Most of the of the GTs landed this week were spotted swimming on sting rays and sharks. There were some free swimming targets though, Bill’s 78cm and 82cm GTs both sighted cruising on their own. On top of these great fish, Bill got to sample the huge variety of species on the atoll as he landed numerous different species including a huge 80cm Boha Snapper. His good friend Charlie also got stuck into some Farquhar specials including an 80cm GT, some good Bones and a host of other species.
There were really high numbers of Bones around on the atoll this week, including some big singles and doubles. Kay and Sharon got stuck into the big bones recording catches of 66 and 67cm bones respectively, Luigi also getting in on the action with a solid 57cm Bonefish. Kay had a great weak and demonstrated some great fishing skills as she landed two GT’s for the week, including a 95cm fish which was spotted on top of a ray. Sharon landed some truly special fish as well, including a 50cm Permit as well as 91cm ,77cm & 70cm GT’s.
Always a pleasant surprise, good numbers of Golden Trevally were seen on the atoll during the week. Although a few of them came unstuck, Sharon stuck hers good and landed a 60cm fish that couldn’t resist a crab pattern. Michele and Matteo experienced a great session for them in particular, between them landing some beautiful specimens including fish of 81cm, 80cm and 71cm. Michele had really fished well, on top of the Golden she got, she landed four GT’s for the week (82cm,72cm,68cm and a 67cm) as well as the only recorded Indian Mirror Trevally on fly.
Amongst a bunch of other species, Matteo landed a solid 82cm GT which had been spotted cruising the surf, whilst Sandro had an impressive week landing good numbers of Bones, three GTs (the biggest 93cm), a really nice Bluefin and a memorable Napoleon wrasse. All in all, a superb week of fishing on Farquhar with a diverse range of species landed and some impressive catches.
John racked up the slams, recording a Bumpie slam on the third day, this special feat comprising of a 90cm Bumpie, an 82cm GT and a nice sized Bonefish. John continued the good fishing with a 90cm GT the following day and a Trigger Slam the next. These included a 50cm Moustache Trigger, an 85cm GT, a Bonefish and numerous other species. Tom got to tussle with some solid GTs this week and managed to land four fish, all between 75-86 cm. Chad also got into the GT action with five fish ranging 70-90cm. He also managed to land 48cm & 58cm Moustache Triggers, an 82cm GT and a solid Bonefish on the final day. Erik later showed great perseverance and after a lost Bumpie he held his nerve and converted a shot at what proved to be a 77cm GT that was seen cruising with a shark over a white sandy flat.
With the wind making casting very tricky over the first few days some shots did Andy showed the group how it’s done landing his first GT for the week towards the back end of the trip and then another on the final day, the fish measuring 75cm & 85cm. Dave also got in on the action landing a solid Geet of 84cm to go along with all the Bones and species he had racked up through the week. Michael unfortunately lost a large GT of 90cm which he had hooked his 8wt. Randy put in some serious casting time with the 12wt this week. Despite some near misses he kept at it and the atoll rewarded his persistence with a solid GT of 86cm. David also hooked a GT on his 9wt and fought the fish for a while before it cut him off. He did however manage to get two solid Napoleon wrasse on the 9wt, with fish of 52cm and 60cm respectively, rounding off his trip with two very special fish. Marilyn got well and truly stuck into some big Bones during the week with her biggest measuring an impressive 69cm. Congrats!
On top of the GT’s, some really good Bones were caught by every one of our guests despite the tough windy conditions. The species count too was solid, good numbers of Triggers and Bumpies encountered throughout the week although we did lose more than our fair share. There were a few Permit and Milkfish around as well but we’ll need to wait until next week capillaries on one or two of them, unfortunately only the bluewater fishing not really providing any opportunities due to the very rough conditions offshore. All in all the week was a huge success, our guests getting loads of shots and some really positive numbers coming to hand.
