St Brandon Blog: 17 – 27 Sept 2024
Anticipation was high as we headed into our third week of the season, and our guests were already on the atoll eager and ready to start their second week. Tides wise we were moving into neaps which would allow us more time wading the submerged flats and in a more relaxed fashion.
Our guests enjoyed some exciting fishing during their week out on the atol, although the bonefishing sessions we experienced remained a little tougher than we are accustomed to. This was not due to a lack in numbers as everyone had plenty of targets to cast at, but the fish just seemed off for some reason…especially in skinny water. We found some big schools however and managed to get into them during the course of the week. Our largest fish netted was 7lbs, although we did see some really big bones during the 7 days. These big fish are for the most part really smart, most often requiring long and accurate casts along with a little luck.
The Permit numbers we witnessed once again impressed, all the guests having great shots at them. As is their way, Permit are however never easy to convince and despite many refusals and near misses, three fish did make it to the net before the week came to a close. There were some nail biting moments included in these sessions, with fish following the fly for long periods and just not committing….aaaagghhhh! Mark and guide Jarryd however landed a true trophy in the first ten minutes of his last day out on the flat, the fish weighing in at an impressive 16lbs. Congratulations on an exceptional fish Mark!!!!!
The Trevally fishing was somewhat interesting over the last few days. The Bluefin Trevally were few and far between compared with the week before, however the GTs had well and truly come out to play. We encountered a fair number of GT`s during the week, both around the islands as well as the flats, with most, if not all of our guests having opportunities at these ultimate predators. By the end of the week we had managed to hook 5 x GTs and land 4. Congratulations to Scott and Brian on the biggest of the bunch, both 98cm brutes….just falling short of the magical metre mark. All in all though, we had some great shots and saw some really big fish smashing bait which is always thrilling and a great experience to be a part of out on the water.
To summarise the week, we thoroughly enjoyed the time spent on the flats, as well as the camaraderie around the dinner table with our new friends. At times we had to push through some challenging weather conditions, but our anglers still managed to land some cracking fish. Thank you to all our guests for the great time on and off the water. We really hope we get to fish together again in the near future.
The St Brandon Guide team
Our catch tally for the week
- Bonefish – 105
- Permit – 3
- GTs – 4
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!
The mornings provided some good bonefishing, with a couple of very nice fish caught. We unfortunately didn’t get any double-digit fish during the week but we got some double-ups on fish which is always fun.
The trevally tides were in full swing with many bluefin around keeping those rods bending and smiles all around. We managed to land one GT this week, with angler David hooking into a fish of 101cm which was landed after an intense 20 minute battle. Congrats Dave on an epic fish!
We enjoyed very good fishing for the different trevally species that call St Brandon home. The sand spits fished particularly well, with loads of sightings of large Bluefin and GTs smashing bait along their shorelines. Eugene found himself in the thick of the action here too, landing the one and only GT for the week, an incredibly strong fish that measured 100cm.
