Farquhar Blog: 3 – 10 Dec 2014
A group of friends from Yellow Dog Fly Fishing, hosted by Jeff Currier along with three South African friends joined the FlyCastaway guide team for our last week on Farquhar until Feb 2015. With picture perfect weather and very little wind we were slightly concerned about the presence of some warm water, but everyone had high hopes and were itching to get started.
Apart from our major target species that Farquhar has to offer, these conditions generally add Milkfish to the equation. The warm water and slick surfaces allowing for the surface feeding activity we all dream about. Needless to say, the fish were there on day one, mouths open as the scoured the current lanes. Although most of the guys got a chance to fish for these ocean powerhouses, it’s never a done deal. Richard did however manage to hook a good fish, but sadly after a series of truly memorable jumps the hook pulled free. What can you say but tough one Richard…these things happen!
Next on our agenda were Farquhar’s infamous Bumphead Parrots. Having been fairly scarce by Farquhar standards over the past few weeks, the tide had turned and they were scattered around the atoll in really good numbers. As usual the sight of their huge purple and blue tails really gets the guys frothing at mouth and everyone made a conceptive effort to tangle with the mighty Bumpy. Six of the ten anglers (Terry, Tom, Mark, Ivan, Jeff, Garth) cashed in by landing fish, Garth and Jeff landing two each. Despite countless others being hooked, 8 fish landed during a week is really great going. Bumpy box ticked!
With the exceptionally low tides for the week we experienced some Triggerfish fishing as well. Brightly coloured tails would pop up frequently around the low tides and despite being fairly skittish in the ankle deep water made for some cracking fishing. Terry, Garth and Jeff showed us some classy casting and managed to entice and hang onto some nice Giant Triggers who had been tricked by their crab patterns. What made two of these fish even more special was that fact they completed Terry and Garth’s Farquhar Slams, with a GT and a Bonefish coming to hand in the same day. Congrats guys!
The high water periods allowed us to show the guys a bucket load of the other weird and wonderful species Farquhar has to offer. “Bommie Bashing” the countless coral outcrops and structure resulted in the anglers all adding new species to their catch lists. Bohar Snappers, Grouper, Bluefin Trevally, Napoleon Wrasse and countless others hug these small ecosystems and despite the fishing being particularly hard on the tackle it is awesome fun, even if it means we need to swim down and try a pull a fish out of its hole.
The GT’s too were still around in decent numbers, with most of the anglers capitalizing on the opportunities they were presented with. Brad topped the score board landing five GT’s, followed by Garth and Armand both of whom ended with four a piece. Terry landed three and Tom, Ivan, Rich and Bill each landed one. Two of the fish landed were over the one meter mark, Brad landing one of 104 cm and Ivan’s 108 cm being the largest. Congrats guys! In total we landed 20 GT’s for the week which considering the warm water around was a solid effort from all involved.
Despite some warm water being around, a good amount of fish were seen and caught which resulted in us ending our Sept – Dec 2015 season on Farquhar on a positive note. A great bunch of guys, some great weather and some truly memorable fish not a bad way to spend a few days by any means. We would like to thank each of this group and every angler who fished Farquhar this season for their support; we look forward to seeing you all in the not too distant future.
Until next season…cheers for now!
The Farquhar guide team