St Brandon Blog: 8 – 19 September 2019
St Brandon Blog: 8 – 19 September 2019
Our opening week of the 2019/2020 St Brandon’s season welcomed a small group of guests to this remote and pristine environment as two of the original group unfortunately had to cancel at the last minute (they were sorely missed). After a quick tackle setup ensuring all our guest’s gear was in good order for the next morning, we settled in for the night with an overwhelming feeling of excitement for the start of the season.
The Bonefishing lived up to our expectations with a couple great fish coming to hand, the biggest fish reaching the 7.5lb mark which was hooked and landed by Alex. Our guests experienced what makes St Brandon’s so special with various walk and stalk scenarios playing out; from Bonefish accessing the flats in water so shallow that their whole backs were exposed, to large schools of fish in deeper water. We all appreciated the tremendous show and experience these fish provided us during the week.
The abundance of Indo-Pacific Permit that this atoll hosts is of special proportions and often delivers an opportunity to cast to trophy fish on any given day. From skinny water tailing fish on the flats and storm ridges to schools of fish cruising along lagoon edges and islands, the numbers often encountered is mind blowing. This week we managed to craft a couple great opportunities which resulted in hook-ups; however, we were dealt with some bad luck at inopportune moments which resulted in these notoriously difficult fish evading our eager hands. The sight of exposed golden sickles gives even the most experienced of anglers a few sleepless nights, these fish are certainly the holy grail of saltwater fly fishing.
The various Trevally species of St Brandon’s were encountered in decent numbers which resulted in Igor managing to land a good Bluefin and Greenspot Trevally. Unfortunately, the brutish large GTs that frequent St Brandon’s flats managed get the better of us as well and although we weren’t able to get any to hand we had shots at some real monsters. Encouraging still was the numbers seen and we hope to get a few to hand in the coming weeks.
All in all, we as a guide group and our guests enjoyed what was a fun week of fishing. Considering the challenging weather we were dealt we still managed to land a couple memorable fish and make special memories on some of the most beautiful flats on the planet.
Till next week,
The FlyCastaway St Brandon’s Guide team
Our guests were treated to phenomenal Bonefishing during the week with loads of larger fish landed. Some days the average size of the fish landed was as big as 6.5lbs. Many fish in the 7-8lbs range were caught with Tristan landing 2 large 8lbers this week. Terry, who was completing his third back-to-back week with us landed a solid 9.5lb Bone. Charles also landed a 9.5lb Bone but he landed an even larger fish when he hooked and landed a 10.5lb fish on the first morning of the week! An absolute monster of a fish and a fine way to end the season on the Bonefishing front.
We experienced excellent Trevally fishing on the last week of the season which is no surprise as we have encountered big numbers of Golden, Bluefin and Giant Trevally around the atoll this season. We were able to hook a couple Goldens this week with the standout fish caught by Jarod, who landed a strong 10lb Golden on the first morning of the trip. The Bluefin Trevally fishing picked up this week too with shots at many larger specimens. Charles landed a solid 72cm fish while Jarod kept his good fortune going and landed a 77cm Bluefin that was found while it was riding the back of 2 large Nurse sharks along with a bunch of other Bluefin and GTs.
Our GT fishing this week turned out to be fantastic with just about everyone in the group getting quality shots at these apex predators. 4 were landed in total for the week, 2 by Tristan with the aforementioned 90cm fish that led to his Grand Slam and a few days later he landed an even larger fish of 92cm; to land 2 GTs on St Brandons and pull off a Grand Slam is no mean feat! Well done Triston. Justin also got stuck into the atoll’s large GTs and managed to land 2 large fish in as many days. First, he landed a 110cm fish that was giving a school of Bones a seriously hard time and the next day he went one better and landed a 111cm fish that was caught while it was holding in the current just below a coral ridge.
We were treated to incredible Bonefishing this past week on St Brandons with our guests enjoying a wide range of different Bonefishing scenarios; large single fish in skinny water right through to big schools of fish in slightly deeper water. Of the larger fish that we were able to land this week, John landed Bones of 7, 7.5 and 8lbs during his stay on the atoll with us. Ed and Terry both landed 8lb Bones while Sidney came up trumps and landed the biggest of the week, an 8.5lb fish that ate the fly before an even bigger one could get to it! In total our group managed to land 331 Bonefish between 6 anglers with a solid 5lb average which is an impressive feat and once again shows that St Brandon is a premier Bonefishing destinatioin.
There were loads of shots at the Indo-Pacific Permit that call the atoll home. As usual we were able to hook a few but we were only able to land one this week. Robyn, the only successful angler managed to land her first ever Indo-Pacific Permit. Her 7lb fish was seen tailing on one of our more famous Permit flats and after she made a pinpoint cast with her self-tied fly, everyone involved knew the fish was going to eat. The fish took off at speed and after a couple nervy moments threading the fish through a coral garden the fish was netted! A couple quick photos were taken of the fish and then it was released to fight another day, well done Robyn!
The Trevally action was full of ups and downs this week with our guests having a number of good shots at the atoll’s large GTs. John, Ed and Frans all hooked monster GTs but unfortunately, the fish got the better of us and managed to get loose one way or another. There were however a couple of large Greenspot Trevally landed this week which provided great fun on the 9wt for Sidney, who landed 2 Greenspots of 63cm and 67cm while Frans landed the biggest of the week with a lively 69cm fish.
The fourth week of the St Brandons season started with high winds, cloud cover and squalls. This made the conditions tough but kept the water cool for long periods of time and thus led to spectacular skinny water fishing to large bonefish. The weather did stabilize later in the week doing a full 180 degrees, it went flat calm without a cloud in the sky. There were large numbers of fish landed everyday and the average size for the week sat at a solid 6lbs. Of the larger bones landed 2 fish of 7lbs were landed by Robyn, 2 of 7.5lbs by Ian and Sean and a 8.5lb fish landed by Robyn. Finally, Ray, who experienced some of the best of what St Brandons has to offer landed 2x 8lb bones as well as 4 fish of 8.5lbs, well done Ray! A few bigger fish were hooked but unfortunately, the fish had the final say. The conditions are perfect at the moment for a double digit fish to be landed so we are looking forward to what the coming weeks have in store for us.
There were once again multiple shots at the tricky Indo-Pacific Permit that call St Brandons home. With the variety of flats fishing scenarios on offer our guests enjoyed the challenge of fishing to these beautiful fish. There were a few hooked during the week but only one was landed. Ian caught his first ever Indo-Pacific Permit on the last day of the trip after persisting the whole week. Well done Ian, the hard work paid off!
The Trevally fishing proved to be tough this week, that said there were still multiple shots at large GTs and Bluefin. We are seeing good numbers of these fish around currently so the chance of one of our guests catching a fish of a lifetime is certainly on our minds while we wade the flats. Other than the larger Trevally species that call St Brandon Atoll home a couple of the less aggressive species were landed. Terry hooked and landed a respectable Yellowdot Trevally that was tailing on one of our famous Bonefish flats while Sean added to the species list with his first Golden Trevally of his fishing career.
Our third week of the St Brandon April – May 2019 season began with heavy wind for the first couple days. This happened to compliment the fishing as loads of cold water was pushed onto the flats. The weather improved substantially as the week progressed and thus made the fishing conditions ideal with morning low tides providing our guests with shots at large Bones in super skinny water. A solid 5 – 6lbs average was enjoyed during the week with impressive numbers of fish landed in total. Charlie and Brandon both landed 7.5lb Bones while Christian, Johnny, Charlie, Mike and Brandon all managed to land impressive 8lb Bones during the course of their week on the flats.
Day 3 – We encountered good numbers of GTs patrolling the flats, these fish were found to be following sharks or on the back of stingrays. Dominic enjoyed good fishing and managed to land 2 while George also managed to get a GT to hand. Dominic then chipped in with a strong Yellow Margin Triggerfish to add to his day’s exploits. Tim, after travelling to the Seychelles previously and not having the best of luck with the Bumphead Parrotfish, managed to get one to the net, well done a beautiful fish Tim! The highlight of the day however was the amazing Bonefishing our guests were lucky enough to experience. Both Stephane and Bertrand were able to land fish over the 10lb mark, well done guys!
Due to the strong winds we couldn’t use our boats for 3 of 6 fishing days this week. Although this was certainly a difficult situation for us as well as our guests, we still managed to make the most of the situation by fishing around the north island of the atoll on foot. In total we managed to land 12 of the 19 GTs hooked this week with 2 of these fish measuring a 100cm plus! The largest was landed by angler Derrick, a monster fish that stretched the measuring tape to 107cm. It should be mentioned that 6 of our guests managed to land their first ever GTs on fly which is impressive considering the less than ideal conditions we were dealt with.
Day 1 – We started our week heading towards full moon spring tides, with clear skies and little wind. The GTs were around in decent numbers today and our guests managed to get some great fish to hand with Terry and Brian opening the week with solid GTs measuring 97cm each. Alejandro enjoyed a cracking opening day and landed 3 GTs, a Yellow Margin Triggerfish and a Bonefish; completing a flats Slam! David added to the GT tally by landing 2 decent GTs. The Triggers were seen tailing away on the shallow flats of the atoll. Patrick and Rob both managed to take full advantage of the favorable conditions and landed a Moustache Triggerfish each while Chris also tailed an awesome Yellow Margin Triggerfish.
Day 3 – The challenging weather conditions continued with dark skies, rain and strong winds. Despite this, we were all still excited to get onto the water and see what the atoll had in store for us. The fish were around in good numbers with Pete getting a solid GT, hitting the mark at 96cm, it had been holding in a big lagoon drainage, when the fish saw the fly it did not hesitate to eat his baitfish pattern. Warwick also landed a great fish today breaking the metre mark with a 102cm specimen, well done! Mike had been waiting in anticipation for a big fish to cross his path, while wading a flat in the southern part of the atoll he noticed a decent fish slowly cruising by, with a well presented cast he got the fish’s attention. The fish slowly changed direction and moved toward the fly only to charge at the last second and eventually eat the fly at the rod tip. The fish then proceeded to make a long run towards the ocean side, after a good tussle he managed to tail the fish on the coral head he hooked it from, well done on a great fish measuring 107cm, his second GT for the day. David enjoyed a solid day by landing both a GT and a Yellow Margin Triggerfish. Rob, Terry, Andre and Brian also got stuck into solid GTs for the day. The Triggers were also around in good numbers hugging the edges of the lagoon, tailing happily. Alejandro and Chris did a great job with both landing a Yellow Margin and Moustache Triggerfish.
Day 4 – We had reached the middle of our full moon spring tides, with us still experiencing bad weather. Determined as always we were still able to get some great fish to hand. Some of those catches included Mike’s 2 GTs, the biggest being 98cm. David also did a great job by getting 2 to hand while Pete, Brian and Rob also tailed GTs for the day. After losing a couple earlier in the week, Chris was rewarded with a great birthday present, his first GT on fly! Pete made the most of day 4 and landed 2 Yellow Margin Triggerfish while David added another Yellow Margin Triggerfish to his name for the week. To top it all off, Brian did a great job by hooking and landing a Milkfish in some seriously bad sea conditions.
Day 5 – The weather continued to deteriorate with strong winds and buckets of rain, this all made things difficult from a sight fishing perspective. We did not let this dampen our spirits and still had a great day with Andre, Warwick and Jarod capitalizing on a school of fish dropping off the flats by tripling up with each of them managing to land their fish. Warwick got the biggest out of the bunch with a fin perfect GT measuring 107cm, Andre was not too far behind with a fish of 101cm while Jarod also came close to the metre mark with an awesome fish of 96cm, what an amazing experience, great job guys! Warwick then added another GT to his tally hitting the mark at 90cm while Peter also tailed a GT for the day. The action didn’t end with the GT fishing with our guests adding several Emperors, Snappers and Grouper to the species list. Patrick and Jarod also caught their first Milkfish today after some epic battles in big seas they eventually got their fish to the net, great job guys.
Day 6 – We woke up to the worst weather we have experienced this week with huge swells, heavy rain and strong winds which delayed our fishing until around midday. We eventually got a little break in the weather and quickly shot out to the flats to catch the pushing tide. Alejandro and Brian got to experience some classic GT fishing with fish tailing hard on the back of stingrays and pushing bow wakes in super skinny water. Alejandro landed 4 GTs while Brian, Pete, David and Mike each managed to get a GT to hand before the weather closed in on us.
We experienced impressive Bonefishing this week from a numbers perspective, loads of fish were landed with the average being 5lbs. Several larger fish were landed with a few giants getting the better of us! The notable Bonefish catches were completed by Landis, Nate and Dave who all caught large 8lb fish, however the largest of the week was landed by Joe and Mike who both managed to get solid 8.5lb fish to hand. This is a wonderful and promising sign for the weeks to come as we started to see good numbers of larger fish on the flats.
The warmer conditions meant that several large Giant Trevally were encountered on the flats this week. Some of our guests had great shots at GTs, however these fish showed us why they can be so tough to land with only one GT hooked and sadly lost when it ran through a coral garden, resulting in a broken fly line! The big Bluefin Trevally where seen in large numbers this week, especially along the eastern coral edge of the atoll. We managed to get 3 of these beautiful fish to hand with Joe continuing his impressive streak by landing a fish of 65cm and another beast of a fish measuring 78cm!
Our guests were treated to a number of shots at GTs this week with just about everyone landing one. Of the 24 fish hooked we only managed to get 10 to hand with the fish of the week caught by angler Aubrey. This absolute behemoth was landed during an offshore session and pulled the measuring tape all the way to 128cm! A true giant and the largest of the season so far
The Bumpies this week proved to be difficult to come by, that said, we were still able to land a decent fish of 90cm, hooked and landed by angler Giles. While wet wading the flats we encountered tailing Triggerfish on a number of occasions and by the end of the week our tally totaled 4 hooked and 2 landed, A mustache Triggerfish each for angler Aubrey and Chris. Farquhar again provided our guests with some decent Bonefishing which resulted in several quality fish landed throughout the duration of the week.
The bluewater fishing this week was excellent with angler Louis and Sophie landing a Sailfish each. This was followed by a couple of impressive Yellowfin tuna and Wahoo which added to the action in the deep blue for our guests. The reef species were active and ready to pick off anything that ventured near the numerous coral heads in the atoll’s many lagoons. Loads of large Grouper were caught, however none were bigger than Stephen’s 85cm African Marbled Coral Grouper. 2 large Napoleon Wrasse were landed by Chris and Aubrey, the largest being 80cm while several lively Bluefin Trevally were also landed during the course of the week.
