Providence Blog: 6-13 December 2022

We welcomed a full group of 12 anglers comprising of familiar and new faces onboard to the Maya’s Dugong for the 8^thand final week of our end of year stint on Providence. Our team was frothing at the bit to end the season on a high and that’s exactly what we did…

The first day of the fishing week saw loads of action out on the flats as our guests enjoyed favorable weather conditions. Our group landed a total of 9 GTs with Peter, Mike, and Dale all managing to land a single fish each while James, Alex, and Ross went one better with 2 GTs each for the day. We encountered good numbers of bumphead parrotfish on the flats and after some skillful casting Kevin and Paul both managed to hook and land their first ever bumpies on the fly. The conditions we experienced were ideal for the atoll’s resident milkfish providing fantastic opportunities for these powerful creatures. Ross, the man of the moment managed hook 1 and after a long tussle the fish broke the leader right at the net. Although disappointing, he had done 99% of the work on his part. Still a special day for Ross, being 14 years of age, and experiencing his first GT catch and almost landing a milkfish on his first ever saltwater fly fishing experience.

The second day of the week saw much of the same conditions as the first. With moderate winds and bright sunlight for most of the day our guests all enjoyed a productive day on the flats. There were once again loads of shots for the infamous Giant Trevally with a total of 8 fish landed for the day with the largest being a 103cm fish landed by Alex, one of 2 fish for him. Paul also landed 2 for the day with his boat partners Peter and Kevin also getting stuck in with 3 and 1 respectively. We bumped into the bumpies consistently throughout the day and after some stealthy stalking and an accurate cast James found himself connected to an absolute monster. Following a long tussle James’ beast was landed, measuring and impressive 108cm!

Day 3 brought with it exceptionally flat conditions with very little wind and more bright sunlight. We enjoyed yet more productive flats fishing for GTs with our group tallying 6 for the day. The catches were split equally amongst Mike, James, Nico, Peter, Kevin, and Ross. Ross however, enjoyed a moment of Providence magic as his GT measured a massive 106cm! Some of the group encountered tailing bumpies on the flats, Charles converted his shot landing his very first bumpie on the fly. Another impressive catch was the large napoleon wrasse landed on the flats by Peter, the fish was seen feeding on the flats and after an intense fight and some wrangling through coral heads the fish came to hand. The action continued into the early evening with large schools of milkfish seen feeding energetically in certain areas of the atoll. This provided Schalk with the opportunity of finally land his nemesis. Well done, Schalk!

Day 4 saw a complete change in the conditions with heavily overcast skies and strong wind. We still managed to complete several impressive catches by the with a total of 8 GTs landed for the day. Ross, Paul, Mike, and Alex all landed a GT each while Charles and James went one better with 2 apiece. The milkfish were up in good numbers once again. This time it was both Paul and Kevin’s turn to get taste milky success as they each managed to hook and land 1 of these very highly prized fish.

The fifth day saw the overcast conditions disappear with the guests experiencing calm winds and great light throughout the day. It turned out to be an incredibly productive day on the GT front as there were large packs of GTs encountered hunting and cruising over the flats of Providence. The fishing was action packed with no less than 19 fish landed for the day. Peter and Mike each managed to land a fish with Peter’s fish just shy of a meter. James, Alex, and Charles however experienced something very few people get to see as they found large packs of GTs bow waving across their flat while feeding off the back of stingrays. They enjoyed a phenomenal session landing 3, 6 and 8 GTs respectively with many more fish seen, hooked, and lost. A great day of flats fishing shared between good friends.

Providence left the best for last as the 6^th day of the week produced a fanstastic day of flats fishing for GTs. Our guests landed a total of 36 GTs between them with Nico, Ross, and Dale each landing one fish each to round off a very successful week for them out here. Mike and Schalk both went out with some unfinished business and managed to land 2 and 3 GTs respectively. The day however would be extra special for Paul, Peter, and Kevin who landed an incredible 28 GTs between them for the day. Paul landed 8, while Peter landed 9. Kevin ended his week in the best possible fashion as he landed 11 GTs on the last day of the week.

It has been a great pleasure to explore Providence with all of those who joined us this season. Despite the tricky we conditions we experienced for periods of this season we still had a blast. A special thanks to all of those who joined us during our Oct – Dec 2022 Providence fly fishing season. We can’t wait to share it with you all again in the near future.

Our catch tally for the week was: