Providence Blog: 23 – 30 April 2024
Welcome to our final fishing report for our Mar-Apr 2024 Providence fly fishing season. This week saw us welcome a mixed group of anglers from New Zealand and America. Along with Jim and Watts who were lucky enough to be beginning the second of their 2 week stay with us.
Our first day on the flats proved to be tricky due to dark clouds, severe wind, and torrential rain. The shorts we were afforded for the GTs were often last minute as the fish snuck up on us out of the dark light and unfortunately resulted in a blank day for our group. Nevertheless, we made the most of the time we had on the water and went to town on the various Grouper and Snapper found throughout the atoll’s coral gardens. A tough day for the atoll’s iconic species but still a fun one on the species front.
The second day saw us enjoy a marked improvement on the weather front with mild wind and decent sunlight for most of the day. Ben got things underway on the flats early on, and although this was his first-ever saltwater fly fishing experience, he managed to hook and land his first Bumphead Parrotfish. A fantastic achievement, well done, Ben! Jim found himself in the action, converting a feisty GT that was found while it swam alongside a stingray. Natalie and Sergey happened upon a rich vein of life in another area of the atoll and managed to land 2 & 1 GTs respectively. Great job, everyone!
The third day treated us to patches of decent sunlight and the odd cloud burst. We encountered several large GTs during our time on the flats but unfortunately, these fish didn’t come to hand. Jim, again in the action, this time fooling a decent GT as it bow waked along a turtle grass flat. Gene, top rod on day 3, had an exciting scenario unfold while waiting in ambush during the early stages of the incoming tide… A school of roughly 15 GTs swimming high and jet black in colour slowly drifted into his position. His fly went down and all hell broke loose when the school recognised his fly as food. After a massive explosion of mud and water, he was tight and following a long battle, he eventually landed a powerful 90cm GT! A little later in the day, Gene found himself in the action again, this time pinning a lively GT off a stingray.
The fourth day had us in the doldrums on the weather front with heavy rain and exceptionally dark clouds for the whole day. Despite this, the atoll was still beautiful and we could not help but feel like real trophy GT might pop up in front of us at any moment… And this is exactly what happened, we crossed paths with several giants but sadly, we were unable to convert these opportunities. Ben was the only angler on this day to taste success on the GT front, and a sweet moment of success it was indeed, his first ever Giant Trevally on the flats. Great work, Ben, we’re sure you’ll remember this for years to come!
The fifth day delivered the kind of action that we’re used to seeing on the flats of Providence. With schools of tailing GTs as well as large single fish encountered during all hours of the day. Mike enjoyed a stellar day on the flats landing 3 GTs himself. The largest of these an impressive 101cm was fooled into eating his fly as a large school of 30 or so GTs tore past him on the falling tide. This powerful fish took loads of backing and gave an exceptional account for itself before it was eventually landed. Josh and his brother, Jack, enjoyed a special moment together, landing a decent GT each. Natalie, while fishing for Bumpies, noticed an imposter in the middle of the school. A quick change of rods, s1 cast and a few strips resulted in success, this time a trophy GT of 106cm! A great catch and another moment of magic from our favourite flats in Seychelles. On the tailing species front, Jim landed the only Bonefish for the day.
The sixth and final day of our fly fishing season saw the weather take a turn for the worse, with an incredible amount of rain. These blankets of water fell on us for hours at a time and made things tricky, to say the least. We weren’t deterred though and with our spirits still high we persisted and the catches came in droves. Brothers, Josh and Ben, enjoyed a flurry of action with fish tailing and bow waking all over their flat. They eventually managed to land 2 each. The team fishing team of Watts, Jim, and Mike enjoyed action for most of the day and eventually managed to end with returns of 2, 2, & 1 respectively. Gene finished his trip with us in style by bringing 2 GTs to hand while his boat partner John enjoyed a moment that we all dream of experiencing ourselves… While waiting on the end of a lagoon, a large GT happened upon his position and with a quick cast and a couple of strips he managed to hook and eventually land a GT of 116cm! A fantastic catch to close off our season on Providence for the first half of 2024. Great Job, John!
All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed fishing with this group and although the weather gods were certainly not on our side, we managed to come away with some very respectable catches. On that note, our catch tally for the 8th week of our season was:
- GTs – 25 (3 of 100cm and biggest 116cm)
- Bumphead Parrotfish – 1
- Bonefish – 6
- Total tally of Grouper & Snapper – 211
We’d like to thank everyone who joined us this season, the memories we made and the laughs we shared made it special.
Till next season,
The FlyCastaway Guide Team
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!
This week saw our guests enjoy the fly fishing experience St Brandon’s is most famous for; skinny water bonefishing. With cool water and loads of hungry bones around, our guests got stuck into the action from the moment their boots hit the white sand. Typical encounters included fishing for the bonefish while they tailed and worked their way up the gradual taper of the flats with the morning’s pushing tide. With productive fishing sessions enjoyed by everyone, we managed to rack up a very respectable catch tally for the week. As for the big fish, our standout catch on this front went to Trent when he hooked into a silver missile that not only ran him into the backing several times but also tipped the scales at 10 lbs! Great job, Trent!
Permit fishing is a cruel pursuit and although we had our shots, were only able to get 3 of these elusive creatures to hand for the week. Justin was the only fisherman this week who could convince the fish to pounce on a fly and he landed all 3 himself, 1 of which was a genuine trophy, weighing in at 15,5 lb! He managed to pick up this beauty while it followed a large stingray near a storm ridge. A very special catch late in the day. Well done Justin!
We experienced decent action on the trevally front as well, with favourable conditions in the way of good light and loads of baitfish found around the landmasses. This set us up nicely and we enjoyed several shots at large Giant Trevally. 1 of our anglers enjoyed all the spoils here, landing 2 beautiful fish, 1 of which stretched the measuring tape all the way to 105cm.
