Providence Blog: 2 – 9 April 2024
Welcome to the 5th week of the Providence blog. This week we welcomed a mixed group of anglers from the United States and South Africa, most of whom, regulars to the Providence fly fishing experience.
The first day of the fishing week was warm with little wind. Due to the tiny tidal range and calm conditions, we experienced warm water throughout the atoll. Despite the tricky conditions we still managed to get a few good catches to hand. Rick, 1 of our few newcomers managed to open his GT account early in the day when he intercepted a GT that was following a shark. Peter W struck gold when a large school of tailing GTs crossed his path, a quick cast into the shoal resulted in a beautiful 96cm GT landed. He later added to his tally with a smaller fish that he convinced to jump on a crab fly on his 9wt. On the tailing species front, Kevin and Carlos each managed to get colourful Triggerfish to hand while Taylor managed to pick up a Bonefish late in the day to close of the catch tally.
The second day was bright and with a slight breeze from the southeast. The day started particularly well for Taylor who managed to land her first ever GT early on when she spotted 2 fish cruising along the edge of a large sand flat. She later added to her tally in a similar fashion while her brother, Colby, wasn’t going to be outdone and landed his first and later another. Well done guys! Nico add his name to the score board with a powerful GT while Peter found himself in the action yet again, landing an energetic GT. It was however Kevin W’s Day, when he spotted 3 large fishing swimming along a turtle grass finger. His fly went down and 3 strips later he found himself attached to an turbocharged GT that pulled loads of backing off the reel. After some fancy boat work by his guide his fish was eventually landed. A trophy of 118cm! Awesome job, Kev! Jeremy, Carlos, and Scott chipped in on the tailing fish front with each of the landing large Yellow Margin Triggerfish.
The third day was warm, and so was a lot of the water in the atoll. Nico found himself in the action on the GT front again, he landed a fin perfect fish off a stingray. Father and son duo, Peter & Kev got it done, 3 and 2 GTs landed respectively while Colby closed off the GT tally with a single decent GT. Kevin landed yet another Triggerfish while Taylor found a Bonefish, which is miraculous considering the conditions. Great job, Taylor!
The fourth day saw a sudden change in the swell around the atoll with large waves breaking onto the outer banks of Providence. The highlight of the day was the exceptional fishing our group experienced for Group and Snapper with loads of large fish brought to hand. Noteworthy catches were Carlos’s 108cm and Kevin’s 95cm Napoleon Wrasse caught within minutes of each other. GTs were part of the returns too, with Carlos and Jeremy both landing GTs amongst the Group and Snapper chaos! Colby landed the only other GT for the day.
The fifth day saw a slight change
in weather conditions with rolling squalls and patchy light. Rick found himself in the right place, at the right time when he stumbled upon some 20 GTs on 3 large stingrays. After a couple of near misses, he eventually got 1 to stick, a proud moment, well done Rick. Carlos managed to complete a flats slam with a GT, Triggerfish, and Bumphead Parrotfish, congrats and well-deserved Carlos. Jeremy however had bigger fish to fry, literary, and landed a bus 116cm GT, way to go Jeremy! Nico chipped in with a GT that was found while it patrolled the edge of the beach and Gerhard managed to get 1 to hand too, encountered while holding in the current near a small depression.
The last day of the week saw us experience a mix of bright sunshine, cloud, and wind with flat calm moments thrown into the mix too – very strange for us on the weather front at the moment. Craig left it late, but got it done nonetheless early on the morning of the 6th day when he found a GT tailing on a stingray in very shallow water. His fly went down and the magic moment happened, he was connected to his first GT. A few nervy moments later his prize was in his hands, well done Craig. He later added another that encountered when a school of GTs arrived during lunch. 2 in 1 day, great work Craig! Jeremy also enjoyed good fishing landing 3 himself, the biggest 81cm. Carlos, Kevin, Peter, and Nico each landed a single GT to add to the tally. Colby landed a colour Triggerfish to put a full stop on the tailing fish species catch report for the week. Kev, left his best for last, while waiting in large surf a large GT happened to swim right at him. He made a fantastic cast and hooked yet another giant. This time, there was no boat to help him with the fight of the fish and he had to make due with a little luck and good gear… Both happened to be on his side this time. His fish, a beautiful 126cm GT was the perfect way to end a enjoyable weeks fishing! Great job, boys!
That brings us to the end of yet another week of fly fishing the pristine flats of Providence Atoll. This week was 1 of laughter, smiles, adventure, ups and downs. We thoroughly enjoyed it and hope to see all of those who joined us again in the near future!
Our catch tally for the 5th week of the season was as follows:
- GTs – 39 (3 of 100cm & biggest 126cm)
- Bumphead Parrotfish – 2
- Triggerfish – 8
- Bonefish – 3
- Napoleon Wrasse – 11 (108cm)
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Till next week,
The FlyCastaway Team
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 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 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 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:
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.
