Providence Blog: 26 March – 2 April 2024
The midway point of our Providence March – April 2024 fly fishing season saw us welcome a mix of familiar faces from South Africa and US with the addition of a handful of newcomers. Excited to see what the atoll had in store for us, we went to work reading everyone’s gear and headed to our anchorage for the week.
The first day of the fishing week dawned dark, with heavy rain and strong winds out of the west. With limited visibility and buckets of rain falling continuously throughout the day our team had to improvise and spend time on the few white sand patches available. Despite the torrid conditions we made the most of the day with most of the group enjoying phenomenal fishing for grouper, snapper and Bluefin Trevally. As for the iconic species… Dave, Paul, Doug, Ben, and Ian all landed a single GT each while Bruce managed to get 2 to hand. Derek got stuck into the bonefish, landing 4 with the biggest estimated to be in the region of 9 lbs. These were fantastic returns considering the trying conditions we endured. Well done, gentlemen!
The second day began with much improved weather… Sunshine, and almost no wind, then by mid-day we were pelted with rain and powerful winds out of the southwest. This massive squall made fishing almost impossible for the duration of the afternoon. Paul, Wayne, and Mark pulled off the impossible bringing a GT each to hand. Thrown into the mix were a few groupers, snapper and Bluefin Trevally split amongst the group. All in all, a tough day on the flats.
The halfway point of the week saw improvement on the weather front, as well as the fishing. With decent light, and more fish on the move our group made the most of their opportunities with Doug managing to land 2 GTs… Wayne, David, and Mark all got stuck into the action too with a 1 GT each. It was however Graham’s Day, when he crossed paths with a genuine trophy GT that was encountered while it patrolled along a lagoon edge. His cast went in and before he could get through his third strip, he was tight to 114cm of pure power. After a long battle he eventually got his beauty to hand, an impressive fish. Great going Graham! Dean later closed off the catch report with a respectable GT of 96 cm.
The fourth day brought with it more action on the flats. The flats team of Wayne, Graham, and Dean enjoyed several opportunities in front of skinny water GTs with the team managing to boat 5 GTs for the day. Well done guys! Derek, however, was the standout angler for the day and landed 4 GTs and 1 Yellow Margin Triggerfish… Excellent returns for a day out saltwater fly fishing! Ben managed to land his first Triggerfish on the fly, a large Yellow Margin. Great going Ben, well done. Add to the impressive action for the iconic species were phenomenal catches of grouper, snapper, and Bluefin Trevally which kept our anglers entertained for most of the day.
The fifth day dawned bright and calm with no cloud cover to speak of. The picture-perfect conditions reminded us of the beauty of the place. Ben went tight early on landing a hefty 87 cm GT while his boat partner, Dereck went 1 better landing a fin-perfect 100cm GT just a few moments later. He wasn’t done there and landed a strong 94 cm fish in the dying moments of the day. Mark, Doug, Jo, and Bruce each landed a single GT while Paul tasted epic success while walking along a finger flat. He saw 2 large fish swimming along the edge of the flat and quickly chased them down, sent out a long cast, and went tight into something massive… After an epic tussle he eventually landed a beautiful 104cm GT. Paul’s PB, a special and well-deserved moment! Dean found himself in the hive of pufferfish and managed to land 4 which must be some kind of record. He also managed to land a 2 beautiful Triggerfish. His boat partners, Wayne, and Graham each landed 2 Triggers bringing the boats total tally for the session to 6 Triggers landed. A very special session, well done boys!
The last day of the fishing week saw us dealt with warm water throughout the atoll. This had a negative effect of the fishing. Jo and Ian landed a GT each while Doug caught his first Triggerfish of the trip. Wayne landed 2 GTs and a Bonefish, while his boat partners Paul, and Dean landed a couple bones each as well.
That brings us to the end of the 4th week on fishing Providence Atoll. We enjoyed improved fishing from the previous week and we all felt rejuvenated with the prospects of the weeks to come. A special thank you to everyone who joined us this week, we hope to see you all again sometime soon.
Our catch tally for the week was:
- GTs – 38 (3 of 100cm)
- Bonefish – 8 (Biggest 8lbs)
- Triggerfish – 9
- Total tally of other species landed – 168
Till next week,
The FlyCastaway Guide Team
The first day of the fishing week was 1 of education. A new marine environment, with new species resulted in us having to spend a few hours couching and tweaking technique before we could get into the action proper. Pat managed to get his first Yellow Margin Triggerfish while Bob, convinced not 1 but 2 Yellow Margin Triggers to his fly as well as a feisty GT. What a way to start, Bob, well done! Evert, meanwhile, got stuck into the Bonefish landing his biggest ever of 9 lbs. and a little while later, he added a colourful Yellow Margin Triggerfish. Dick closed off the catch report with a single Bone. 
The third day brought with it tricky conditions in the way of dark cloud and little wind. The diminished visibility on the flats really made the fishing tough and only a single GT was caught for the day. Evert, the man of the moment caught a brute 93cm fish that was spotted sitting in ambush position in a small drainage channel. Evert made a great cast and before he could get through his first strip the GT rushed forward and engulfed his fly. Following an epic battle and with a bit of luck going his way, the fish was eventually landed! Great job, Evert! 
Day 5 was an absolute scorcher. No wind and incredible heat made fishing conditions difficult to say the least. Despite this we soldiered on and managed a handful of decent catches with both Bob and Mike managing to fool a GT each. Dennis added a splash of colour to the day’s catch report with the only Triggerfish brought to hand for the day. Though we experienced difficult fishing the seascapes we were treated too were exceptional… As has been said many times before, a day’s fishing sure does beat a day in the office! 
All in all, the third week our season proved to be exceptionally challenging on the fishing front. A mix of hot water and difficult weather conditions culminated to produce the perfect storm so to speak… Nevertheless, we still thoroughly enjoyed exploring our favourite Seychelles fishery with our new friends and hope that they get a better set of circumstances the next time they visit us out here. As for our catch tally, we landed the following fish for the week:
Ominous cloud banks and showers on the eastern horizon set the tone, weather wise, for the entire week. The first day nevertheless delivered exciting fly fishing for several of Providence’s iconic species… The GTs were out in full force, and we managed to land 11 for the day with the standout catch going to Joern when he was visited by a lunch time GT that wasted no time in grabbing a bit of lunch itself, charging the fly twice before eventually smashing the little brush fly. Joern’s beauty measured an impressive 102 cm, and was a wonderful way to get things going. Brummy, Steve, and James also enjoyed some hardcore action landing 6 between themselves when a large school of GTs were found with several sharks. Piers chipped in with a colourful Triggerfish and Peter M finally, after several years of fishing Providence, managed to land his first Bumphead Parrotfish, great job and well-deserved Peter! 
Day 3 and the weather took a turn for the worse. With little light and no wind, visibility on the flats was especially limited. Despite this we managed to catch a couple fish. Piers, Steve, James, and Peter M all landed a couple GTs. Fred, managed to land a feisty Triggerfish as well as a large Bumphead Parrotfish. Peter O added a GT and Triggerfish to the tally while his son, Jack, chipped in with a colourful Triggerfish to bring an exciting close to the day. 
The fifth day of the week delivered scratchy fishing with little returns. Peter M landed 2 GTs, Joern a single fish, while Peter O got stuck into the action on the Triggerfish front, this time landing a beautiful Yellow Margin. It was however Peter Mcleod’s day. As he waited on the edge of the atoll on the slack tide, he noticed a slight disturbance and the caught sight of the tip of a fin protruding just above the surface of the water. He quickly sent out a prospecting cast and before he could get through the third strip of his retrieve there was a massive explosion on his fly and he was tight. With line ripping off his reel in a blur and by the size of the wake caused by the fish as it tried with desperate determination to reach the open ocean everyone knew it was a giant. After a long battle the fish was eventually landed and pulled the measuring tape all the way to 113cm. A beautiful fish, and a deserved catch for Mr. Mcleod. Well done to everyone involved! 
The final day of the fishing week saw the weather continue in the same manor that had abused us for the entire week. The dark conditions and subsequent cool water on the flats however delivered incredible Bonefish fishing for the team of Peter Mcleod, Peter O, and Jack. The trio landed 23 large Bones between them for the day with the largest going to Jack when landed a massive 29-inch fish which put it in the region of 10 lbs.! A great catch for the young man! James, also landed a real beast of Bone, which was close to the 10 lb. mark while Gerry, Piers, and Joren landed the only GTs for the day. Piers, as you probably guessed it, landed another Triggerfish, this time an absolute bus of a Yellow Margin to close off the fishing for the week. 
Large schools of Bones were found in deeper water which provided consistent action, along with a few opportunities some really big fish. No less than two double digit fish came out, one fish just breaking the 10lbs mark and the other 10.5lbs. Really impressive fish! Congrats Allisandro!
Our Permit continued to present themselves and opportunities at some incredible sight fishing throughout the week. No less than 6 fish were hooked, but thanks to some incredible ill fortune all 6 opportunities slipped away.
On the Trevally front, we had one mightily impressive encounter, when during the course of day a shoal of about 20 GTs was spotted swimming with some Nurse sharks. Giles put in a great shot and went tight, eventually landing a 96cm Indian Ocean prize. Great fish Giles…congrats!
The cold water along with some welcomed low water brought the Bones back onto the flats. Good numbers of fish in the 8lbs range, along with a couple over 9lbs including angler Derrick’s 9,5lbs trophy provided some really exciting fishing. 
The permit were however very elusive this week, with only one being landed by Ryan.
The bonefish schooled up this week which made it a bit tougher to find them in skinny water and on the flats. We did however still manage to land some good fish, with Peter landing a beautiful fish of 9lbs. Well done Peter!
The trevally were still around in good numbers …most notably the Bluefin. Mike however managed to spot a school of GTs during one session and despite hooking up, it was the smaller fish measuring 85cm which got his fly first…oh what could have been!
