Fly Fishing Blog by Alphonse Fishing Co™

ASTOVE ATOLL FLY FISHING REPORT | 27 JAN – 03 FEB 2025 

Astove atoll kicked off the 2025 season with the RepYourWater crew, excitement levels were at an all time high and everyone, including the guides who were buzzing to get out on the water for the very first week of the season. We started off the week with pleasant weather conditions, beautiful clear skies, accompanied by a gentle breeze which laid the foundation for favourable sight fishing over the course of the first three days. We were presented with a spring tide cycle for an incredible wading experience in the surf zone, it also opened up the doors to explore the Astove lagoon teeming with bone fish and entices species such as permit and giant trevally who enter the system during the period of these big tidal movements. The fishing turned out to be great with all the anglers ticking off an array of bucket list species despite the weather turning the last three days with a weather system bringing strong winds, rain and some lightning.

Anglers Garrison and Corrine from RepYourWater had an incredible week with Garrison bagging GT’s almost every day out on the flats and completing a slam on day three which consisted of catching five giant trevally with the biggest being 75 cm, three permit caught in the surf zone, biggest being 45 cm and a bone fish to complete an amazing day fishing. Corrine got off to a tough start losing a beautiful yellow margin trigger fish, commonly referred to out here as the unicorn of the flats, after the fish severed the hook in half moments before Astove head guide Enrico could get the fish in the net. Set on not letting these chain of events get her down, Corrine went on to land her first ever indo-pacific permit and tussling a good giant trevally on the last day of her trip. Congratulations to Garrison and Corrine, catching some truly memorable fish!

After angler Christopher Luke caught a couple of giant trevally on the flats during the week he was keen to explore deeper water around the outside of the atoll. Dredging rods set up and ready to go, Christopher headed out in search of grouper, snapper and the elusive dogtooth tuna. The morning started off chaotic, but productive catching and losing some GTs in the early hours of the session. Christophers main aim was to try and haul up some giant bottom reef dwellers. Fingers taped up for war, he headed for 30 – 40 meter pinnacle on the eastern side of the Astove atoll where on the second drop we went tight with a dinosaur. After a back and forth tussle and seeing the fly line touching the top two guides of the rod for the first time again, it was convincing to know that this fish had not yet found the rugged coral garden on the floor. Holding the fish in a brief moment of no give or take the drag starting sounding off another run, as the fish proceeded on another big run the drag system on Christophers reel ceased and the spool parted ways with the reel casing as the backing over winded into cluster commonly known to anglers as a crows nest. Well done Christopher on catching some memorable giant trevally!

Apart from catching some beautiful giant trevally specimens over the course of the week, angler Kurt Kruger was an absolute character both on and off the water providing ample entertainment and dedication to getting out there with a positive attitude, even on the tough days. Kurt, coming from a hunting background understood that things are not always going to go your way. Kurt managed to land a beautiful permit on the very first day in the Astove lagoon and proceeded to get humbled by the fishery on day two and three with no fish to show. Determined to change his luck, Kurt went out on day four catching a 70 cm giant trevally and completed a slam on day five with another indo-pacific permit, trevally and some big bone fish in the surf zone. Congratulations Kurt with some amazing catches!

Female angler Amanda Willshire charged into this week completing a total of two slams during her stay with the first slam consisting of a permit, moustache trigger, bone fish and the second slam later on in the week with a giant trevally, permit and 46 cm moustache trigger fish. Amanda’s winning streak was far from over, managing to land more GTs as the week progressed with the biggest fish of the week measuring in at 85 cm. Great angling and well done Amanda!

Mark Casper had an incredible week and just seemed to have all the fish magic in his back pocket landing three permit the very first day he landed on Astove. Mark then went on to landing one permit every day for the first three days out on the flats which just seemed too good to be true, Mark managed to complete the slam on one of those days setting the bar high for the rest of the week, but Mark decided he was not done there when he completed a super slam consisting of a permit, giant trevally, moustache trigger and bone fish during the early hours of the day fishing. Mark’s main aim on this trip was to break his previous personal best giant trevally  in the Seychelles which he did by catching a beautiful 80 cm giant trevally in the surf zone. Congratulations and well done on these amazing achievements Mark!

The very last day of fishing all the anglers vouched that everyone has to catch a giant trevally which ended the week on a very high note with every angler catching a GT on the day, totalling nine fish on the last day. We look forward to getting out there for week two of fishing Astove with our new group of guests, making more lifetime memories filled with wondrous fish tales!

Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing

EXPLORE OUR FLY FISHING SPECIES

Fly fishing tips, facts, flies, tides, rods & more

• Bonefish
• Indo-Pacific permit
• Triggerfish
• Yellowfin tuna
• Milkfish
• Bluefin trevally
• Barracuda
• Giant trevally
• Wahoo

EXPLORE OUR SALTWATER FLY FISHING DESTINATIONS

• Alphonse Atoll
• Astove Atoll
• Cosmoledo Atoll
• Farquhar Atoll
• Providence Atoll
• Amirante Islands