Farquhar Blog: 2-9 Nov 2018

Farquhar Blog: 2-9 November 2018

This week on Farquhar we welcomed back our great group of friends from Austria hosted by Stefan and Alex Haider of AOS Fly Fishing. This week started with morning neap tides which progressed to midday springs towards the end of the six days of fishing. The weather was perfect for 4 of the 6 days with clear skies, lots of sunlight and a light breeze which kept us from getting too hot on the flats. The wind picked up the tempo for the last couple of days and made the opportunities a little more challenging. The fish were out and about and plentiful this week, with the GTs being present in good numbers on the flats.

The duo of Marko and Thomas started their week off with 3 GTs landed, one of which was an incredible fish of 128cm! The fish was landed by Marko, it was spotted with another fish of a similar size late into a slow pushing tide; Marko made a great cast, started to retrieve the fly but lost his footing while standing on the boat. He jumped out the boat, somehow managed to land on his feet and hooked the fish. The fish tore off at a rate of knots towards a large group of coral bommies, fortunately with some quick thinking by Matthieu his guide they managed to free the line from the coral and eventually after a long fight the fish was landed! Thomas landed numerous GTs this week, some big bones and a jumbo-sized Golden Trevally.

First timers to the Seychelles and Farquhar Atoll Christian and Helmut were treated to some fantastic fishing with numerous Bonefish landed. Christian managed to land his first GT on fly with a very respectable fish of 98cm. He also managed to hook and land a large Barracuda, a Golden Trevally, Bluefin Trevally, Sailfish as well as a massive Indian Mirror fish which is a very rare and special catch.

Also first timers to the flats of Farquhar were couple Sophie and Stefan. They started their week in style with a GT hooked and landed with Stefan’s very first cast of the trip! Stefan had a good week landing 2 GTs, lots of bonefish, countless groupers – of which one a giant Goliath Grouper and a couple of very decent Bluefin Trevally. Sophie managed to hook and land (amongst others!) two very special fish; a large bonefish of 68cm and on the last afternoon of the trip she managed a monster GT measuring out at 114cm, what a way to end her trip and land her first ever GT on fly.

Alex and Stefan both managed to bag some incredible groupers, Boha Snappers, Napoleon Wrasse as well as a couple GTs a piece. In total we hooked 40 GTs as a group and land 27. We saw a good number of larger fish on the flats which is a positive sign for the weeks to come. The Triggerfishing was tough this week, sadly none of the 4 we did hook coming to hand. The Bumphead Parrots also proved difficult, but we still managed to land two of the five hooked – one a piece for Alex and Micheal; this was Michael’s first Bumphead on fly which made it extra special.

The Bluewater fishing was great and we managed to hook 5 Sailfish, landing 2, one for Waltraud and one for Christian. A couple Yellowfish Tuna were about which made us all very grateful at dinner time! The Grouper fishing this week was something to take note of as not only did we catch good numbers of fish we also caught exceptionally large Groupers, Boha Snappers and Napoleon Wrasse.

This was really a great week with special fish caught every day. We look forward to seeing our friends from AOS Fly Fishing again next year. Till next week, tight lines.

The Farquhar Guide Team

Farquhar Blog: 26 Oct – 2 Nov 2018

Farquhar Blog: 26 Oct – 2 November 2018

Our week with a group mostly made up of return visitors to Farquhar started with a mid-day spring tide. This allowed us to fish the full drop and pushing tide for the first couple days of the week moving to neaps into neap tides as the week developed. The weather was somewhat challenging for the first few days of the week but cleared up nicely with us enjoying a good 4 days of great weather conditions.

The GT fishing was fantastic this week, 20 of the 39 hooked fish being landed. Matvey landed our largest for the week, his 99cm part of a truly special moment with good friend and fishing partner Alexander. Alfredo opened his GT account with a stunning 90cm GT on the first morning of the week. This was Alfredo’s first ever GT on Fly and he managed to land another later in the week. David in particular fished well and had a cracking week, landing 9 GTs of varying sizes. Superb fishing!

The Bumpies also provided good chances throughout the week, in the end we landed 4 of the 7 we had hooked. David landed his first and second Bumphead Parrotfish on fly on the same day and when he managed to land a GT as well as a Bonefish before the day was done he had completed our Bumpy Slam. Congrats! Matvey and Andrey also managed to hook and land their first Bumphead Parrotfish on the fly. Well done guys! The Triggers were busy on the flats this week, our managing to hook 7 but only a beautiful Yellow Margin caught by Alexander and a strong Titan landed by Gennadii. Gennadii’s fish was part of our second Slam for the week, the other two species on the day including a Bonefish and GT. Great job!

We also experienced some terrific Bonefishing this week, all the guests landing solid numbers before the week came to a close. Our offshore fishery continued to fire. Two Sailies, multiple Tuna, some Rainbow Runner and a 115cm Dogtooth Tuna landed by David capped off a really enjoyable week highlighting Farquhar’s terrific species possibilities.  It was a great week with a great group of people and we look forward to welcoming them back to Farquhar soon.

Until next time

The Farquhar Guide Team

Farquhar Blog: 12 – 19 Oct 2018

Farquhar Blog: 12-19 October 2018

We welcomed a very excited bunch of guests onto the atoll on the 12^thof Oct, most of whom were pretty new to fly fishing. We were subsequently super excited to show them what Farquhar had to offer. From a tidal point of view we were on a full neaps, with the mid-morning high tides allowing our guests the opportunity to fish the last bit of the pushing tide and the entire dropping tide.

These tides typically produce better fishing for the tailing species such as Bumpies and so it was when in the end we hooked ten of the gentle green giants. Sadly only one was landed but the thrill of casting at those enormous flagging tails will certainly not be forgotten in a hurry by the group. The GT fishing was unfortunately tough this week as we only managed to hook five, landing three of these normally aggressive predators. Some solid Bonefishing and Trigger fishing also provided good sport but it was Farquhar’s offshore fishing which really made an impact this week. Forty two Sailfish were raised, sixteen were hooked and five were landed. On top of this ten Dogtooth Tuna, four Yellowfin Tuna and two Wahoo provided some adrenaline filled moments in the deep blue. Having an offshore fishery capable of producing that level of fishing is testament to how diverse this atoll really is.

Four friends who were completely new to fly fishing had a great week on Farquhar, Nick landed two beautiful Sailfish (200cm and 207cm) as well as a tank 185cm Wahoo and a 85cmGt. Gert enjoyed a solid week landing a Dogtooth Tuna, some big Bluefin Trevally in excess of 70cm and loads of species. Johan got stuck into a Dogtooth Tuna of 110cm and a Yellowfin Tuna of 110cm, whilst Henk hooked and fought multiple Sailfish and landed a great different number of flats and reef species. Father and son who were also new to fly fishing had a special week as father Kelvin landed a 220cm Sailfish on his birthday whilst his son Shaun landed a tank Dogtooth Tuna of 136cm as well as a 82cm GT.

Jonathan landed a 70cm GT and although he had very little fortune in landing them, he showed great skill by hooking 6 Bumpies during the second week with us. His partner for the week Pierre had a pretty good week, landing a Bumpy, a Golden Trevally of 78cm as well as a Sailly of 195cm amongst some other flats and reef species. Brothers Louis and Stefan had some great offshore success, Louis landing a Sailfish of 203cm, a Dogtooth Tuna, two meter long Yellowfin Tuna and to top it off a beautiful Wahoo of 110cm.

We would like to thank all our guests for a really enjoyable week and really hope to see them back on Farquhar in the future.

The Farquhar Guide Team

Farquhar: 5-12 Oct 2018

Farquhar Blog: 5-12 October 2018

Our second week of the season brought with it clear skies and a fairly strong south easterly. Added to this we had some really nice tides, our guests enjoying the prime periods of the dropping and pushing tides.

The Bonefishing was solid through the week, all our guests enjoying some great sport on the light rod including some bigger Bones of between 65 – 78cm. Things were a bit tougher on the Bumpy front, we only managed to hook one of the gentle green giants but thankfully we did land it. The species fishing however continued to impress with some really large Grouper, Bohar Snapper, Bluefin Trevally as well as a Napoleon Wrasse being successfully landed. GT wise we had a solid week hooking 18 fish and landing 11, but it was the Triggerfishing which really left its mark when all 7 of the fish we hooked were actually landed. This is an incredible feat as this species is notoriously difficult to keep attached to. Things offshore seem to be picking up and although we didn’t land any we did hooks two Sails.

Well known South African angler and owner of Mavungana Fly Fishing Jonathan Boulton who was hosting group of guests on the week landed a solid 82cm GT, a 52cm Moustache Trigger as well a tank 78cm Bonefish on the notables front. Brothers Warren and Craig had a great week fishing together, Warren landing two GT’s as well as a Dogtooth Tuna of 120cm to go along with numerous double ups on Bones and Bluefin with Craig who landed a few sizable Bluefin himself.

Boat partners for the week Craig and Gregory had a good one, Gregory landing a Bumpy of 90cm, as well as a Moustache Trigger of 60cm and a small GT. Craig landed a tank 82cm African Marble Grouper amongst some other nice fish. Casper went on to land large numbers of species as was his target for the trip, whilst Neil got GT’s of 72cm & 84cm GT, as well a 103cm Barracuda. Christian who had come all the way from Argentina to target the mighty GT enjoyed some great success landing fish of 60cm,86cm and 88cm. Well done! He too hooked a Sailfish but unfortunately after a long fight the hooks pulled.

Mike had a solid week on Farquhar landing GT’s of 73cm and 76c, as well as a 52cm Moustache Trigger. His boat partner Stephen flew in from the U.S to try and add to the impressive list of species he had caught on a particular fly he invented called “The Bouncer”. With Farquhar  offering an incredible array of species it came as no surprise when he added 21 new species to “The Bouncer” by the end of the trip. He also landed Moustache Triggers of 40cm and 58cm, as well as a Yellow Margin Trigger of 52cm. Congrats Steve!

All in all, it was a pretty solid week with a really great bunch of guys who we would like to thank for joining us.

Until next week.

The Farquhar Guide Team

Farquhar Blog: 27 Sept – 5 Oct 2018

Farquhar Blog: 27 September – 5 October 2018

We enjoyed some truly great fishing on our first week of the Sept – Dec 2018 Farquhar season with a really fun but hard fishing group of South African anglers. Coming off a full moon spring tide we had large fluctuations in water level and with the strong SE wind still present early season there was plenty of cold blue water for us to explore. It made casting tricky at times but the guys never let it get to them and they were rewarded with some incredible variety as well as some great GT action.

The GTs were around in good numbers and by the end of the week we had landed 33 of these incredible predators including three fish over a meter. Patrick landed six for the week, two of which were over a meter (a 101 & 102cm). François had a few stellar days and capitalised with nine fish between 70 – 96cm. Tom also had a great week landing four, his biggest a 94cm beauty. Andrew too had a special trip landing our biggest fish of 104cm fish as well as two more impressive geets. Brent landed five fish between 75 – 96cm, whilst Duncan’s 96cm fish which was photographed in a suit an tie will not be easily forgotten. Rian got his prize fish with a GT of 92cm and when Brett added his 94cm specimen to the tally it was clear to all that Farquhar remains one of the finest saltwater fisheries on the planet.

As much as the GT fishing remains a huge attraction for all, it was obvious from the guys feedback that it’s the variety of species and scenarios which one of finds them in which really made their trip special. The Bones were plentiful and provided great sport with the lighter rods, Triggers too were present although never easy to land. Matt did however land a gorgeous Picasso and Francois a nice Moustache. Other notables included one Bumpie, a 138cm Dogtooth Tuna, some truly big Grouper, some Napoleon Wrasse, a small Permit (despite some bigger ones being cast to and pricked), Bohar Snapper, big Bluefin Trevally, a Black Tip Shark, Barracuda and last but not least a very large Yellowspot Trevally which was caught on the flat by Pat. A truly special fish as the adult specimens are normally only found offshore.

The newly built lodge continues to impress, with all of the guests very complimentary of the comfort levels and service they experienced. So in the end it was a tired but really satisfied bunch of anglers who boarded the plane heading back to Mahe on the 5^th of Oct. Thank you to all of them for a great week, we hope to see you all again someday in the future!

Until next week

The Farquhar Guide Team