I'm not even sure how to begin to describe my recent trip to Alphonse Atoll, which is one of the popular fly fishing destinations of the Seychelles islands. It sure as hell didn't suck. Quite the opposite!
Fly Fishing Bucket List
Seychelles is one of those saltwater fly fishing destinations that's on just about every fly fisher's bucket list. And if it's not on one's list they either live under a boulder or... Well, they must live under a boulder. To many, a trip of this caliber may seem simply out of reach. Well, I'm not here to tell you to just do it because you only LIVE once, but coming from someone who came from a low-income family and is currently a fly fishing guide for a living... It can be within reach and I did it! It was a trip of a lifetime and I'm already planning on going back. What a trip it was!
Hosted Trip To Seychelles
Let's start from the beginning... I found out about a trip to Alphonse through Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co. with the one and only Meredith McCord as the host. Alphonse Fishing Company allows 12 anglers maximum per week and surprisingly there was an opening! Of course my blood starts pumping and I'm getting excited. Seemingly in a mad rush, I'm contacting Meredith and Tailwaters to get me in that spot! Obviously the only mad rush needed was just to make sure I got the spot before someone else. Everything else was smooth and easy with the help of Tailwaters and Meredith. They have these trips planned almost perfectly and are with you every step of the way in the preparation process all the way through until you get back home with a huge grin on your face from your epic adventure.
^ Screenshot from Google Maps ^
New Orleans - Houston - Dubai - Mahe - Alphonse
My trip began with a flight from New Orleans to Houston, a speedy Uber in Houston (long story), and a flight from Houston to Dubai! Once in Dubai, we met up with some of the other anglers traveling from the US and a couple of Meredith's friends that live in Dubai for a late dinner and to see a little of the city, including the Burj Khalifa, which I believe is still the tallest building in the world. I have some crappy cell phone photos, but they do it no justice and don't even show the entire building. We also watched a number of the fountain shows outside the building as we ate dinner and visited. A quick walk through a massive shopping mall packed with thousands of people at 11PM and we were back in a taxi to the airport for my third leg of the trip, from Dubai to Mahe, Seychelles.
We get to Mahe around 6AM and head to the Eden Bleu Hotel for a little rest and relaxation and to meet up with the rest of the anglers. This place was beautiful! I don't have many photos because sometimes it's best to just leave the camera behind and enjoy what's around you in real time with no interruptions.
After a day and night on Eden Island the whole crew checks out and we load up onto a MUCH smaller plane headed to Alphonse. About 1 hour later we were in a completely different looking paradise and being greeted by the staff of Alphonse Island Lodge. Each of us were given a delicious fresh coconut drink to enjoy before getting settled into our individual chalet or beach bungalo. The accommodations were very comfortable and welcoming.
After we got settled in it was time meet the guide staff at the fishing center just a 5 minute bicycle ride from the chalet and get rigged up for the following 6 days of epicness!
We are all rigged and ready, so time to have dinner, a few drinks, and get some shut-eye. The dinner was absolutely incredible each night and the service we received throughout our stay was simply the best I've ever had. If there's a such thing as a 10-star rating, that's what Alphonse Island Resort and Alphonse Fishing Company would have. Like I mentioned before, I don't have many photos to show my experience as I was simply enjoying it!
World-Class Saltwater Fly Fishing - GT, Triggerfish, Permit, Milkfish, Bonefish, and More!
Alright, now we're getting to the nitty gritty, the main reason we all decided to make this journey, the thing that gets our hearts pumping, the stalking, the hunting, the stealthy approaches, the rush, the excitement...
Day 1:
There wasn't much sleep the first night going into day 1 of fishing. For obvious reasons... jet-lag and way too excited to get on the water. Everyone gets up a takes a short bike ride to the dinning area where we are greeted by Alison, one of the sweetest women with the sweetest voice I've met. "Good morning, Brandon", I hear in her wonderful accent followed by "What can I get you, my love?" I tell you what... That sweet woman was constantly doing something and seemed to run the show and take care of ALL the guests. I can't imagine what all there is to be seen behind the scenes. Without her, I don't think the resort would be quite the same. Of course I don't want to take anything away from the other amazing women and men that helped make our stay simply incredible.
Once we finish our incredible breakfast we head to the fishing center to meet with the guides at 7AM and get loaded onto the mothership to then head to St. François Atoll where the skiff are kept. The big mothership was having some issues so to be safe, they loaded us on another boat until they could repair the normal mothership in the next few days.
We get into the St. François lagoon, anchor the mothership, and the guides retrieve their skiffs. One by one, each guide would motor his skiff up to the mothership and their anglers for the day would get on and get to the fishing grounds right after a safety briefing.
This day, I fished with angler Tom Collins and guide Stuart Webb. Our first stop was on one of the coral fingers in the middle of the lagoon. Stu knew that this would be a great place to start with the tide that morning. This is where I saw yellow margin triggerfish and mustache triggerfish for the first time. Such strange looking yet beautiful fish. They could be found slowly cruising the coral and grassy bottom and often tailing as they feed. What a sight to see! Soon after having a big smile on my face knowing that I am targeting one of the coolest shallow water fish in the ocean my smile turned into a slightly disappointed smirk. Those tricky little bastards defeated me on day 1. Tom was able to connect with a really nice yellow margin though, but ending up coming unbuttoned. Tom also had a shot at a really nice giant trevally (GT) cruising the edge of the finger. Unfortunately for Stu, the big 8/0 hook found Stu's face instead. Stu was a little upset, but like any great guide, he handled it well. We'll blame it on the stiff wind. There are definitely things the angler must keep in mind even while focusing on the fish in order for it all to work out and for everyone to be safe, but these things happen.
After a couple hours of triggerfish and GT defeat, we set out for bonefish, possibly permit, GTs, and milkfish. We got out of the skiff and waded a beautiful sand flat. We had schools of bonefish to play with and we stuck a few, caught some small bluefin trevally, and then we see a stingray working the flat. Stu says, "Bru, there's a permit on that ray. It's a BIG one!" Sure enough there was a huge indo-pacific permit hanging out ready to eat what the ray stirs up off the bottom. I was so nervous that my casting was almost embarrassing. Despite my nerves, I was able to get many casts in the zone and had the permit follow my fly a few different times, but it just wouldn't eat. I slowly worked that permit for about 40 minutes when finally we decided to pull out and leave it be. Permit will be permit...
There were tons of milkfish cruising the flat, but it was quickly apparent that catching a milkfish on the flat would be an incredible feat. We proceeded to target bonefish and boy did we get into our fair share. I believe Tom and I both caught over 20 bonefish each that afternoon and Tom had a few stolen by a lemon shark and possibly a GT over the edge of the drop-off.
Day 2:
Day 2 began just like day 1, but with more knowledge and experience. This day I fished with angler Webster Ray and guide David Marshall. Dave took us back to the fingers as that was the right place to be at that tide. Immediately, we are on the triggerfish and immediately being defeated by them. Things just weren't quite working out for us targeting these tricky creatures. So much fun targeting them though!
As we were wading the finger, Dave and Webster along one edge and me along the other about 30 yards away, Dave yells out "GT GT!" and hands Webster his GT rod. Webster QUICKLY abandons the triggerfish rod and strips out the line on his GT rod. It was a group of 6-10 GTs cruising the edge of the finger. It all happens so fast and you better get your fly out in front of the fish in a matter of seconds or your opportunity is gone. Webster makes his cast, but it landed behind the front 3 or 4 fish, which were MONSTERS. "STRIP! STRIP! STRIP!", yells Dave. Stripping the fly as fast as he possibly could, Webster comes tight to a 70cm GT and is in for a ride! While all this is going on I'm running as fast as I can over to the action and getting my GT rod ready. I spot the group cruising the edge still and make a long cast as I'm panting and trying to catch my breath. There are no resting periods when GT fishing. It's run and gun, then fighting with everything you've got once hooked up. My cast lands behind the front 2 fish which were MUCH larger than the rest. "STRIP! STRIP! STRIP!", yells Dave. The third or fourth fish charges my big black fly and I strip-set the hook like a mad man. DOUBLED UP ON GTs!!! Now I'm in for a FIGHT! A dirty fight! They try to get down deep along the edge of the coral, which would break the leader or fly line. You have to keep your rod high and get as close to the edge as possible. 100-130 lb-test leader and your drag maxed out and the fish is still pulling line. After a number of close calls and even having a shark come check us out Dave was able to get ahold of the leader and then the fish. WHAT A FIGHT! Dave landed Webster's fish just before mine and we were able to bring them up onto the finger for photos. I've caught tarpon well over 100lbs and jack crevalle over 30lbs (the American GT as I like to call them), but this 90cm 40+lb GT was the hardest fighting fish I've ever landed. Very similar fight to a jack crevalle, but GTs can get to even more monstrous sizes.
While we are catching our breath, Dave fetches the skiff and gets us on board to continue fishing the finger by boat. Maybe 15 minutes later we see a good size ray on the finger and a BIG black GT right on its back. I make a perfect cast and strip as quickly as I can. That fish charged like it hadn't eaten in days and there was no tomorrow. Solid hook set and the fish takes off. HERE WE GO AGAIN! Unfortunately, my reel decided it had enough and the drag seized up. SNAP, goes the 130 lb-test leader! So disappointing, yet so cool!
^ Hand feeding bonefish while eating lunch. This specific spot and bonefish are off-limits to anglers. ^
We ended up spending the remainder of the day on a sand flat catching more bonefish than one can imagine. Some of which were really nice sized fish. For the most part I just started watching all the fish and enjoying the scenery. Hoping a permit or GT would show up. A milkfish would cruise through every now and then and of course I'd try to make a shot at them. They'd give me the middle fin just about every time... Until one didn't. I see a huge milkfish making its way toward me in its signature "S" motion. I decided to make a long cast landing it about 30' in front of the fish and waiting until the fish was almost on it before striping. The fish was almost there when I began a VERY slowly strip. It then simply picked up my fly from the bottom and I set the hook. That's when all hell broke loose. I was using an 8wt with 16lb leader... A bonefish rig! I wasn't prepared for a fish like this! As soon as I set the hook, the fish took off directly away from me in the direction it had come. I immediately start yelling "MILKFISH MILKFISH MILKFISH! I GOT A MILKFISH!" I had ventured off a bit and Dave was with Webster at least 60yrds away from me and at least 100yrds away from the skiff. He starts running for the skiff so he could pick me up and chase after the fish, but knew there was a very slim chance this is going to work with the fish taking off like it was. In a matter of seconds I could see the spool through my backing! This huge milkfish almost had me spooled before Dave could even run 20yrds when all of the sudden the line went limp. I thought maybe it had turned and was swimming at me so I turned and ran as fast as I could while reeling as fast as I could. To my disappointment, the fish had broken the 16lb leader. What a rush and what a way to end the day. On the bright side of things, everyone would've been late waiting on me to get that fish in as it was hooked up just minutes before we had to head back for the mothership.
Day 3:
Day 3 started with me waking up in the middle of the night with a massively swollen bottom lip. It seems as though I had an allergic reaction to something, but no clue what it was. A quick treatment by the nurse before breakfast and I was sucking up the pain and loss of sleep in order to get on the fish.
This day I fished with angler Meredith McCord and guide Dave Marshall again. We had our share of shots at yellow margin and mustache triggerfish and I was finally able to hook up with a really nice yellow margin. It takes off like a speeding bullet and my line gets wrapped around my reel as I'm attempting to clear it. SNAP! I have been defeated once again by the triggerfish. I almost felt like I had a curse put on me. Giving up wasn't an option though!
We decided to go look for milkfish way back in what was the most beautiful lagoon I had ever seen (no photos :-/). What we found was incredible. A number of milkfish actively feeding on vegetation on the flat! I thought triggerfish were tough to catch.... Not like milkfish on the flat. Wow, they can cause some high frustration! Absolutely beautiful to watch though and the scenery we were in just put me in a place I'll never forget. I even "pricked" one of the milkfish. I set the hook a little early as it ate my fly and didn't get a good hook set, and the fish bolts with a slightly sore lip. Meredith and I ended up catching quite a few small bluefin trevally, bonefish, and a few small barracudas before heading back in.
Day 4:
I once again woke up to a massively swollen bottom lip. This time with even more pain. Oh well, had to man-up and fish! Starting our rotation again, I fished with angler Tom and guide Alec Gerbec. Again, we hit the fingers. There were a few triggers around and we had some shots, but they were really spooky. I casted to a nice yellow margin when all of the sudden Alec spots a nice permit that had snuck up behind us and got within about 15ft of the skiff. Of course I have to try, but it's almost useless as the fish reacts us about the same time we see it. Well, to my surprise, there was a nice bonefish not far from it and I was able to get it to eat. After a fun fight we landed it and estimated it to be about 6lbs. The bonefish you find on the fingers are typically larger than most the bonefish you find on the sand flats.
With the tide changing, Alec took us to the surf. This was quite a change in scenery and was a really cool area to fish. We got out and waded in ankle to knee deep water with big waves crashing on the edge not far from us. We found SO many triggerfish and big tailing bonefish. I fed a few triggers, but for whatever reason, I just couldn't connect with them. They liked to crush my fly without actually getting the hook in their mouth. haha. They win yet another day. Even though I was focused on triggerfish and had very little interest in the bonefish, I just couldn't help it when I saw some big bones tailing away in shallow water. A good presentation resulted in another 6+lb bonefish. I didn't have a camera with me and Alec was off in the distance with Tom so I decided to not stress the fish any more and released it without a photo.
The tide started coming in quick and Alec knew we needed to get out of the surf. He took us to a small island which had a large sand flat behind it and a deep drop off on the other side. Tons of bait were collected in the area near the drop off so I stayed around there looking for GTs and Tom and Alec went to the flat in search of bonefish. Many bonefish landed later Alec points out a permit that snuck up. Tom made a great presentation and ended up landing this really nice permit. I didn't see or hear any of this go down as we were quite a ways from each other. Alec starts yelling, for me to come over there. I'm thinking he's spotted GTs so I basically dive off the skiff, which was anchored, and start to run over. He's running toward me and yells out again "No, I need your camera. Tom got a permit!". I drop my rod and immediately jump in and swim back to the boat, grab the dry bag with my camera, swim back to the island, and run across to where Tom and Alec are waiting with the permit in the net, making sure to keep it in the water. We snapped a few photos and had a number of high-fives and congratulations. What a great way to end Day 4!
After a little discussion with Keith, who runs Alphonse Fishing Co., we narrowed my swollen lip down to possibly something in the beer, which I had only drank on night 3 and 4. I didn't drink the beer on night 5 and woke up without a swollen lip. At this point, though, it had blistered and was hurting quite a bit. I can only assume it was something in the beer and possibly a combination of sun exposure. Silly me didn't apply much sun protection the first couple days. Nobody else had any bad reactions and that beer has been around a long time so I guess it just comes down to me being weird...
Day 5:
^ About 3/4 of the rods we brought on the big mothership. ^
I fished with Meredith again, but with guides Kyle Simpson & Alec Gerbec this time. We headed to the fingers for triggers and GTs. Kyle and Meredith took one edge of the finger and Alec and I took the other. I had quite a few shots at triggers, but just couldn't quite get it done. Meredith hooked up with a nice one and being the dirty fighters they are it found a hole in the coral and went in deep. Kyle is in the hole attempting to pull the fish out when he sees it come back out... of a different hole! Apparently it was a tunnel. Needless to say, the leader was broken and the fish took off. Triggerfish really are exciting to target. Despite the difficulty, they were my favorite. Meredith had a shot at some GTs, but they wouldn't show any interest for some reason. Even some of the most aggressive fish have their days...
Today was the day for the group shore lunch. This is where the main staff from the lodge comes out on the mothership and sets up on an island to cook and serve us lunch. By far, the best shore lunch I've ever had. As we all were having lunch on the beach and visiting we even saw a couple of big GTs cruising by. One of the anglers tried to get a shot on them, but they were just out of range and moving too quick. Now that we've settled down from that and stuffed ourselves with amazing food we get back in the skiffs and head out to look for permit on the sand flats.
At this point, sight fishing was very difficult because we had high wind and a heavy cloud cover. Mother nature wasn't going to make it easy for us... As if permit fishing is easy already. HA! Well, Meredith did end up getting a shot at a nice permit on a mudding ray. Just couldn't get it to eat the fly.
We ended the day casting and stripping huge poppers in the deep water lagoon until our arms felt like they were going to fall off. Often, some of the largest GTs are caught by enticing them to the surface in the deep water using poppers such as the 8/0 NYAP or the 10/0 Reaper! They didn't want to come play so we regrouped and got ready for the final day.
Day 6 - Final Day of the 2015/2016 season:
Day 6 will go down as one of my most memorable days of fishing ever. I had basically drank my sorrows away the night before and was feeling it that morning. I fished with Webster again and had guides Kyle Simpson and Wes Rapson. They took Webster and I to the surf first thing in the morning. Well, the tide was so low, they took us to what seemed like a mile from the surf where we anchored the skiff and walked from there. And by walk I mean a high speed powerwalk. They call it the death march.... I was not prepared for that and my head was pounding! Of course Kyle could only laugh and make comments about my drinking the night before. He knew what went down because he was there and was probably to blame for some of it. haha. Fun times!
We finally made it to the surf and was greeted with tailing triggerfish. The cloud cover made it difficult to see them when they weren't tailing, but we turned on our hawk-eye vision and focused hard despite the head pounding. "Trigger tailing at 2 o'clock, bru. 100ft or so. Let's make our way down and get a better shot on him"... "Ok you got him there at 12 o'clock?" Kyle then proceeded to coach me through the process. Long story short, I screwed up yet another opportunity with a triggerfish. It was around this point where I came to the realization that I was having a tough time being the client and not the guide. I hadn't fished with anyone in so long that was more in tune with their fishery than I and was there to help me. They knew what to do, how to do it, and when to do it and they had been engraving it into my head all week. At some point, it comes down to the angler "feeling it". Instincts have to take over at some point in various situations. Kyle and I talked about it briefly and he completely agreed that what I was experiencing all week could be a real thing. The next solid opportunity we had at a trigger, Kyle made sure I had the fish spotted and mentioned what the tide and waves were doing. I needed to take the tide and waves coming in from the surf into account to make the right presentation. Everything looked good and it all made sense to me. That's when my instincts began to kick in and everything changed. Everything worked out perfectly and I set the hook on a monster mustache triggerfish! He immediately took off toward the surf looking for a hole to get into. Knowing what the fish was doing and what could happen in a matter of seconds, Kyle was running hot on its tail. I've never seen this method of landing a fishing and it's tough to describe. haha Nothing short of simply exhilarating. The fish finds a hole, but right as it's going in Kyle was able to pin it. Just as he is picking it up out of the hole the fly falls out of it's mouth, but he's got a good grip on it. Lots of cheers and huge grins for the both of us as we finally got it done on a huge mustache triggerfish. Kyle seemed just as excited as I was.
After taking some photos and releasing the fish we checked the fly for damage and sure enough, the fish had literally smashed the hook closed. Their jaws and teeth are so strong that they often smash or completely cut through a steel hook. We then made a new leader and tied on a fresh fly. It wasn't but maybe 15 minutely later and I had trigger #2 on, but broke off. While we were tying on a new fly, we noticed Webster casting at a trigger and hooked up. Wes was running hot on its tail and literally dove head-first at the fish as it was entering a hole in the coral. He yells out "I think I've got him in this hole!" Sure enough a few seconds later Wes had the fish out of the hole and in the net along with some bloody scrapes down his arms. Apparently, Wes is known for his diving technique and his fellow guides call him Superman. The things these guys do to make sure their angler's fish is landed....
A few minutes later it all came together again and I had trigger #3 on and landed it, which was another large mustache triggerfish. After some photos, it was time for Kyle to retrieve the skiff before the tide got too high. Kyle left me to get the skiff and I made sure not to venture away from Wes and Webster as the tide was coming in QUICK! What do you know, trigger #4 presented me with an opportunity and I capitalized on it. This one was much smaller than the others, but you know what... It's still a triggerfish! If I remember correctly, the guys said the most triggers ever landed in a single day by a client was 5. What a morning this was with me landing 3 triggers as well as Webster landing one too. Spirits were very high!
Throughout the first 5 days there had been 3 permit landed. The average amount of permit landed in a season at Alphonse is only about 15, however; the guides have finally cracked the permit code and the 3 permit landed so far this week brought the current total for the 2015/16 season to 59 permit! That's an insane number of permit! Well, there had been a lot of chatter and excitement going into day 6 that we could possibly land permit number 60! It was a huge deal and when the tide got right for it, every guide set out to land number 60. It wasn't a competition though. Of course each guide and angler wanted number 60 to be theirs, but the whole team was anxiously hoping to hear the call out on the radio that number 60 had been landed.
We immediately left the surf and headed for the permit flats. Heavy cloud cover made it difficult to see, but we were able to see the mud lines caused by rays and knew that our best chance to find permit in these conditions would be on the backs of rays. We bounced around from ray to ray looking for the silver and gold of the indo-pacific permit. Luckily for me, I already had my permit rod rigged up and Webster needed to rig his up; therefore, I was on the bow first. Probably the 8th ray or so that we came to had not only 1, but 2 permit on it! Wes being the eyes on the poling platform and Kyle maneuvering the skiff by hand and foot, they set me up perfectly and I made a quick shot in the zone. "Strrriiiiiip... Strrriiiip..." Then I see one of the permit come out of the mud cloud, I feel it pick up my fly, and I set the hook. 'Umm... I've got him... I got him!', I said in a shocked voice. Everyone is on edge and Kyle wades out to try to land it as quickly as possible. The fish didn't give up easily and put up a fight. Once it was in the net is when it hit us... WE GOT NUMBER 60!!! We are yelling, dancing, splashing around, basically acting like little kids or someone that just won the lottery. We struck GOLD! They make the call out on the radio that number 60 was in the net and everyone joined in the excitement with cheers of congratulations.
We take a bunch of quick photos, release the fish, do our best to calm our nerves and then continue the search... for number 61. Sure enough about 20 minutes later with Webster on the bow, Kyle on the poling platform, and Wes in the water maneuvering the skiff, we find another ray with a permit on it! At this point the winds had kicked up, the tide had come in quite a bit, and the waves got larger, making it difficult to make the right cast and presentation without spooking the fish. Somehow, Webster makes a great cast and presentation and the line comes tight. Holy cow, could it be number 61! ...."I've got the ray", says Webster... You could hear our hearts breaking. The fly had snagged the ray. What are the odds?!
Now the water on this flat is getting deep and difficult to fish in and knowing that I needed to catch either a bonefish or GT in order to have accomplished an Alphonse Grand Slam we head to an area known to hold bonefish, have GTs cruising by, as well as monster barracuda. A school of bonefish were working the shoreline so I get out of the skiff and wade within casting distance as the others search for GTs. BONEFISH ON, I yelled out. I got it to my hands and knew I had accomplished something special that day.
On top of this, Meredith landed the largest GT of the season which measured in at a whopping 124cm! Estimated around 85lbs! You'll have to get the whole story from her, but check out photos of this beast in my album here.
WHAT. A. DAY!
Final Night - Celebration Time!
It was obvious that the entire guide crew and lodge staff was super pumped about what had gone down this week and especially what had gone down this final day of the season! Everyone was there for dinner and celebration at the bar. Many of which kept it going into the early morning hours.
The guide staff did their annual end-of-season celebration by getting together in a circle and giving out "penalties" and rewards in the form of shots. LOTS of shots. They had a lot of stories to share from the past 7 months and there wasn't a frown in the whole place. Many smiling from the incredible week and many smiling because they get to go home and rest. They get to go see their family. They also now get to become the angler instead of the guide, just as I did this week.
^ St. François Atoll at low tide. Notice the "fingers" in the middle. Also, from the light color on the left side to the surf (just under the wing) is the "death march". The small island on the right of the photo is where we had shore lunch on day 5. ^
Alphonse Fishing Company Final Week Summary
Here is an awesome summary put together by Alphonse Fishing Company of this final week of the 2015/16 season. This includes more info. on various angler & guide staff accomplishments and a tribute to the late Rick McCord, Meredith McCord's father. This summary can be found on their facebook page along with more photos from the week. Obviously there's a lot more to this trip than what happened with me and what all I've mentioned here.
"The final week of the 2015/16 season has arrived. First of all from the whole Alphonse fishing co. team we would like to extend our utmost appreciation and thanks to all our guests that have visited the island over the course of the last few months. Without you guys it would not have been possible to do what we do out here. This season has continuously thrown up surprises and great stories. This week proved to be no different. With a great group of guests and a pumped up team of guides, the roles were set and rods were rigged. There was fishing to be done.
The South East monsoon season is on its way and this week we saw the beginning of the prevailing off-season wind. A steady 12 to 18 knot wind throughout the week kept the water nice and cool and the fish hungry. Kicking off the week with a cold slow moving neap tide only meant that the spring tides later on in the week were going to bring big water movement at the perfect temperature.
The triggerfish fishing was very good, for some reason or other the fish seemed to be very hungry, as the variation in tides started getting greater we were able to spend more and more time out in the surf targeting triggers. Our triggerfish tamers for the week were Scott Recknor, Chris Jackson, Meredith McCord, Brandon Keck, Webster Ray, David Dragoo, Adam Deierling and Seth Koschak. Between them we managed 17 triggerfish, five yellow-margin’s and 12 moustache’s. A special mention must go to Brandon Keck who landed 3 triggerfish on the final day of the season.
Not only was the trigger fishing phenomenal but the GT’s also made an impressive appearance throughout the entire week. Scott Recknor managed to land a gorgeous 80cm fish off the edge of a finger flat. Doug Dragoo also got his own fish of 70cm. Brandon and Webster went on to double up in ankle deep water with Webster being handed a fish of 70cm and Brandon a fish of 90cm. The second double up of the week happened on the final day of our 2015/2016 season. This is a day that will be remembered by all involved.! Meredith McCord and Tom Collins jr. got introduced to a massive group of GT’s and lemon shark destroying bonefish on the white sand. Naturally a double hook up was in order and at the end of the ordeal Tom landed a very respectable 90cm fish. Meredith end of an almighty battle landing a Giant Trevally that measured a fork length all of 124cm. An incredible fish hooked with the leader in the rod tip on beautiful white sand. This is why fishermen come to places like this.
Sadly Rick McCord passed away a few months ago after a long and hard fought battle. A true gentleman, an amazing friend to all who met him and a fantastic fly fisherman. He loved the Seychelles, spending many weeks with us on the flats at variety of our destinations. To make the day even more special Meredith sprinkled her fathers ashes in the St Francois, a place he loved and place that will keep him his memory alive.
An amazing final day of the season with the biggest GT landed and six triggerfish caught ended with the 60th Indo-Pacific permit of the Alphonse Island season. Yes that’s right, coming into this week the team were only four fish shy of the 60 mark. Tom helped us edge one closer to reaching that goal, Meredith did her part as well by landing a gorgeous big permit. Chris Jackson also got his fly in the right place and left us going into the last day of the season with one fish to go. The baton was passed to Brandon and in the last hour he made the shot that counted and got the job done. Netting permit number 60 at 14:57 on the 6th of May our last guiding day of the season, making this the most memorable season Alphonse Island has ever seen.
The 2015/16 season has been absolutely incredible, which will recapped in our season finally news.
Until next season starts on 1st Oct 16, tight lines from the Alphonse fishing co. team."
Seychelles - Future Trips
I can't begin to describe what an incredible place this is and how incredible the entire staff is making our stay perfect. If you are interested in going to Seychelles in 2017 or want to start planning for 2018 email me and let's start planning a trip of a lifetime! The 2017 hosted trip dates are set and spots are available! The dates are for trips to Cosmoledo, Astove, or Alphonse, and even combinations of two or more destinations. (All of these trips are through Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co.)
There's so much about this trip that I have left out of this post and it's still pretty long. If you've made it this far, interested, and want to hear more feel free to give me call or email me. Also, check out my photo album for more photos!
Back Home - Louisiana Marsh!
I'm back home in Louisiana and hitting the marsh. The fishing is on fire and we have moved into our summer patterns! Visiting other fisheries and a world-class fishery like the Seychelles helps me realize how incredible my fishery here in Louisiana really is as well. There's no place like it and the fishery is simply incredible! The good news for everyone in the states and even those outside the US is that it's VERY doable compared to many other destination world-class fisheries. I urge you to get down here and experience it for yourself!