Before I get too far along, a reader, Ping Shen, has identified my day one mystery fish as the black-eye emperor (Lethrinus enigmaticus). I passed Ping’s thoughts to a couple other friends that know their fish and dug deep myself. I’m quite sure he’s correct. Thanks Ping! That was not an easy one to figure out and I’m very happy to say this is a new species for my list. That’s two this week.
Today I fished with a friend who never misses any of my Yellow Dog hosted trips, Jeff Smith. Jeff has literally been on every one of my adventures the last six years including the brutal cyclone trip of 2019. Our guide was native South African Chad Dustan.
We began our morning with a 20 minute boat ride to a GT flat. Jeff took the bow while I took it all in. Farquhar is one of the most beautiful places on earth and sometimes you need to lean back and try to absorb where you are and how lucky you are. It was our first cloudy morning and hotter than heck. And unfortunately, once again there was virtually no needed wind meaning the flats are a bit stagnant and warmer than fish prefer.
As Jeff fished I watched a massive tiger shark hunting. He was far from us but so big you could see him. Tigers specialize in eating hawksbill sea turtles that are thick on the flats. Their jaw strength easily breaks through the shell of these turtles which is a bit scary. Tigers are the one shark we worry about meeting face to face when wading waist deep. At the same time a large stingray entered casting range. We don’t fish for stingrays but often times they attract hitchhikers. This one had a small GT on its back. Jeff made a textbook cast with an immediate strip the second his fly hit. The rascal bolted for the fly but put the breaks on when he was inches away and spooked. Tricky weather conditions lead to funny fish behavior.
The irritating fish conduct never ended this morning. We went triggerfishing for a couple hours. Very near to where I caught a couple day 1 and day 2. Today however, not a single triggerfish would have anything to do with us. These are very peculiar fish obviously affected by weather, barometric pressure and you name it. When they aren’t eating – good luck. It was frustrating not only for Jeff and I but Chad was scratching his head as well.
There was one opportunity for a great fish that we can’t deny we screwed up. There were a few Napoleon wrasse mulling around. It’s funny because we haven’t seen many this week and this morning we saw three. All three looking like they were hungry and hunting. They are sneaky though and it’s no easy chore to fool them or land a cast near for that matter. Nevertheless Jeff had a perfect shot but when he let his fly go, he didn’t have enough line out. One chance and done. That fish swam right by our boat and laughed at us before vanishing in the coral.
The next spot involved wading on the shores of a sand island. I’ve fished here before and in fact in 2014 landed my first ever saddleback grouper. Its stunning and today there were fish around. First there were tailing triggers. It didn’t take Jeff and I long to scare every one away. Luckily there were also bonefish. A huge school. The dark spot in the left of the picture are hundreds of them.
We gave the bones a workout. It was nice to get a few tugs after the challenging morning. A lot of anglers overlook bonefishing when in the Seychelles. Heck, a lot of flats anglers overlook them altogether. The older I get the more I love them. They require the hunt, a quality cast but are cooperative and amazing fighters.
When we returned to our anchored boat there was some action off a deep trough, reachable from the beach. I ripped my crab through a few times and landed a bigeye trevally and the smallspotted dart. By no means the glamor species but on days like today you enjoy whoever wants to engage.
After lunch and a couple of beers, it was apparent our friends of the flats weren’t having it today. Chad suggested casting to coral heads. Such action could result in a passing GT and lots of other fun things. To our surprise, even the corals were quiet. Nothing like the action I experienced yesterday with Michael. This being said however, a few of the groupers came to play. I got two whitespotted grouper and two of these lovely African marbled grouper. This guy really blends in with my shirt!
Despite having to work hard, there were some memorable catches today. First, I mentioned the three sightings of Napoleon wrasses from our boat, well, Napoleon’s were active everywhere and Mike Lodge made the precise cast needed and landed a fantastic fish. Yes, Napoleons get much bigger but a fish like this while wading the flats is and amazing accomplishment.
Steve Rose managed a fish of a lifetime. Many naïve anglers claim the only way to catch the bumphead parrotfish is by snagging one. Not true. I’ve landed three legitimately here at Farquhar over the years and today Steve put our first of the week on the board. Outstanding!
This evening we indulged a bit. It was time. Its typically about the fourth night on these trips. Everyone reaches their groove. Most have caught at least one memorable fish. Its really fun. I’m fortunate to host a truly epic group of fun and experienced travelers and anglers that can loosen up even when overall we’ve had challenging fishing.
While we shared tales of the flats, I worked on more Farquhar employee treats. I always pack my sharpies and look forward to drawing all kinds of fun fish. Tonight I decorated another Yeti. Coincidentally, Hazel, who bends over backwards all week to make us comfortable, requested a Napoleon.
As usual, dinner was to die for. Our chef makes tasty meals every night. He was actually our chef on Cosmoledo back in 2021. You don’t go hungry here. Back at it in the morning!
Be sure to keep tabs on my IG at @jeffcurrier65