Providence Blog: 12 – 19 Nov 2019

Providence Blog: 12-19 Nov 2019

We welcomed a new group of guests aboard the Mayas Dugong for our third week of fishing for the 2019-2020 season. Our new visitors, all of whom first timers to Seychelles brought with them a sense of excitement and a welcome break from the strong south easterly winds we had experienced for the first two weeks of this season.

Day 1 dawned bright and clear with a slight south east breeze to greet us as we set out to the eastern regions of the atoll. A great day of fishing ensued with 5 GTs landed, congratulations goes to Mark, Gannon, Will and Frank for landing their first GTs and a special mention for Herb, who landed his first GT which went on to break the magical meter mark.

Day 2 saw a continuation of the calmer conditions and with a spring low tide mid-morning the boats set out to explore the flats. A total of 13 GTs were landed with Herb, Gannon, Frank, Will, Mark, William, Kyle and Wes adding to the total for the week. The fish of the day belonged to Steve, who while stationed up on a massive coral head presented his fly to a group of monster fish. After enticing the eat, the hooked fish blasted off through a massive coral garden and after a lengthy fight the fish eventually came to hand; not only was this fish Steve’s first GT on fly, it also stretched measuring tape to an impressive length of 118cm and was certainly a fish of a life time! On the Bluewater front we were treated to several opportunities at the atoll’s ever ready Sailfish. Wes and Gannon both managed to convert their shots at these acrobatic speedsters landing a Sailfish each, well done guys!

Day 3 brought with it the same favorable weather conditions. A total of 11 GTs were landed for the day with Will, Gannon, Mike, Seth, Frank, Wes, Steve, Zach and William all adding to the tally. The GT of the day however, belonged to Mike who landed his first of the trip which turned out to be a beautiful fish measuring a whopping 112cm, well done Mike! With the prevailing calm conditions, the Milkfish presented themselves and after a hard fight Gannon landed the first Milkfish of the week. The Bluewater fishing continued in fantastic fashion with both Kyle and Wes managing to land a Sailfish each.

A move to the north was made on the fourth morning with the tides moving towards afternoon lows. A total of 8 GTs were landed for the day with Gannon, Wes, Mark, William, Will and Frank who all adding to the tally. 3 special fish were caught; Will and Frank landed twin fish of 115cm each while Gannon went one better and managed to the land the fish of the day which pulled the measuring tape to 127cm! Well done Gannon. With the smaller tides we began to encounter Triggerfish frequently on the flats which resulted in Herb landing a Moustache Triggerfish and Kyle fooling a beautiful Yellow Margin Triggerfish, well done guys. The Milkfish were around in good numbers and Mark went on to land the second Milkfish of the week.

Day 5 dawned bright and clear once again and the boats set out for the north eastern side of the atoll. A total of 13 GTs were landed for the day with Zach, Will, Mike, Kyle, Wes, Herb, Mark and William adding to the tally. The atoll continued to produce monster size fish with two fish over a meter landed; Kyle managed a fish of 102cm while Zach came in with the fish of the day measuring 122cm, well done Zach! The atoll produced unrivalled fishing for the resident reef species with numerous snappers, emperors, groupers and trevallies landed.

Day 6 and the last day of the trip saw an increase in the intensity of the south easterly. It turned out to be the best day for GTs as 19 fish were landed; split between Zach, Gannon, Steve, Mark, William and Seth. The fish of the day however, went to Mark who ended his week with us in style and landed a 114cm fish, well done Mark. The Triggerfish were still present which Steve and William both took full advantage of and went on to land a fish each bringing our weeks tally to 4. An action-packed last day to end a memorable week on the flats of Providence Atoll.

Our catch tally for the week was: