I was super excited to fish with my friends Steve Fitzsimons and Therese Rappazini today. Steve has done several of my hosted trips over the years ranging from the Amazon to Farquhar and both he and Therese were with me pike fishing in Alaska last September. BUT, they were also stranded with me in Mahe for the dreadful cyclone that canceled our 2019 trip. Today was extremely satisfying to finally be fishing together on Providence Atoll.
All days start here with me working on my blog at 4:30 AM on the upper deck of the Mayas Dugong. Steve arrives up top around 5:30 then we enjoy coffee and the sunrise. We follow that up with 7 AM breakfast and then the group hits the water. Today Steve, Therese and I fished with Tim.
The wind was cranking and we had storms on the horizon. The weather was about where we left off last night. Tim reminded us to bring the raingear and we in fact put it on for the first boat ride to the flats. Due to the big waves we didn’t go far and stalked the flat off Providence Island in the north.
As usual I hopped from the boat and went the opposite direction of Tim, Therese and Steve. I love to explore and hunt fish on my own. Within minutes I was on a big bonefish. As I positioned myself I spotted another. Then another. It was incredible. They were traveling individually and in pairs in every direction and they were huge. I watched Steve land the first in the distance.
I stuck and landed three of these tank sized bonefish. But during my bonefish pursuit I was distracted by trevally action, only it wasn’t a full on blitz like you see with giant trevally and bluefin trevally. These fish were rambunctiously feeding on bottom – perhaps hunting crabs and shrimp. I managed to get in range with my crab fly and hooked on to this beautiful yellow dot trevally (also known as the island trevally). We often catch these at St. Brandon’s.
We hammered on the bonefish for another hour or so. It was incredible fishing. Often times anglers get too focused on the trevally fishing in the Seychelles because they have bonefishing near home – such as Belize or Mexico. But I can assure you from plenty of experience – these bonefish average much larger sizes and are worth your effort!
By lunch time we were socked in with clouds. There was a lingering threat of rain but it never fell. We were anchored and eating and watching. That’s when I spotted a decent GT ambush us. I expected Steve or Therese to pounce being their rod was ready but neither moved. It was Tim who flew from the boat and made the cast. Let’s just say, he’s a pro and he hooked and landed the GT and it was probably close to 100cm!
The sunshine returned shortly after lunch but an increase in wind came with. It was a steady 20 mph. Tim towed the boat while Therese and Steve walked close on GT alert. There were a few opportunities and Steve launched some excellent casts but to no avail.
I stumbled into a few chunky yellowmargin triggerfish. Let me tell you, these fish aren’t easy to catch. Unless their tail is sticking out of the water when feeding on bottom, they are nearly impossible to see. Spotting them takes tons of practice. But finally, after many years of pursuing them and catching a few, I’m getting it down. I hooked three and landed two of these amazing flats gamefish.
Well, what can you say? It was another absolutely amazing day of fly fishing Providence Atoll in the Seychelles. And everyone earned their success. The clouds and wind played havoc with fish finding, boat handling and of course casting. But fish were caught. Here’s another great bonefish catch by Allan Grosshart.
To see more photos from this incredible Yellow Dog Trip be sure to visit my Instagram page – @jeffcurrier65
Jeff,
Man that was one great day of fishing!
Tad
The good ones are adding up. This has been an unbelievable trip!