Fly Fishing Blog by Alphonse Fishing Co™

FARQUHAR ATOLL FLY FISHING REPORT |  02 APR – 09 APR

Nearing the end of the season, a group of ten keen anglers from Ukraine, Argentina, the UK and the US joined together on their quests for trophy fish and broken records. Day one kicked off the week in style with a few anglers coming away with some epic catches. Edgard and Christian both ended up with a GT each to open up the tally for the group. Alex opened up his trip with a bucket-list fish in the form of his first ever bumpy. To round off the diversity factor as well as the trophy factor for the day, Lizardo caught himself a 50 cm + yellow margin triggerfish.

Day two was one for the books with even more amazing catches. On guide Bailey’s boat, Carlos’  mission for the week was to target permit on the white sand beaches of the lagoon. After a few close calls on day one, and many shots in the morning of day two, Carlos eventually had a shot at the right fish. One of the many permit turned off towards the fly and sipped it in softly. Carlos being a well experience permit angler set the fish with equal amounts of finesse, urgency and caution. After several minutes the duo had the fish in the net and ready for some epic photos. Taking things up a notch was guide Chase. On his boat Hernandez landed himself the first moustache trigger of the week, while Patricio landed a trophy bonefish of 61 cm and a solid bumpy in the surf on foot.

Taking it even further, guide Cullan had Christian on his boat for the day. The plan was initially to target permit, but the duo was soon interrupted by a pack of golden trevally and GTs travelling together and mudding on turtlegrass patches. After missing a GT on the setup, Christian switched to the bumpy setup and had a go at the goldens that seemed to still be about. One cast and a long slow strip got the attention of one of the bigger specimens and Christian soon had his 80 cm golden trevally in hand for the grip and grin. Christian also managed to land a bumpie on the lower tide, ticking the box he wanted to tick having not caught one before. Before the day was up, Cullan was driving between spots at full speed and suddenly noticed a massive schoal of GTs on the surface in the middle of the lagoon. He stepped on the gas and set up a drift from upwind of the group. One cast was all it took for a fish to eat the fly, Christian didn’t come tight on the first fish that ate, but a few more strips and he came tight with his trophy GT. After a short tussle the 100 cm GT was in the net and rounded off a spectacular day.

Day three and Lizardo managed to tick off his first GT for the week. Christian was at it again and landed himself a moustache triggerfish this time, furthering his already stellar species count for the week. On day four Alex managed to join the GT club with his first one for the week. On day five the fishing picked up a bit again with Lizardo also landing a golden trevally. His one ate a redfish shrimp pattern. On the same boat with guide Casey, Edgard landed himself a solid bumpy. Alex, having caught his first GT for the week the day before, opened up the flood gates and landed another two on day five.

Day six and the final day of the week saw the anglers pushing it to land the fish they wanted before the trip was up. Christian added another moustache triggerfish to his tally for the week. Kevin teamed up with guide Yousuf for the day. Having been sick for most of the week and unable to fish for some of the trip, Kevin tried his hand at bumpy fishing while he still had the chance. He made it count and managed to hook into a solid one. After several nail biting moments and some expert netting by Yousuf, the massive 112 cm bumpy was landed and was Kevin’s first. Alex went out with guide Chad in search of a trophy metre plus GT. After just a short while of GT fishing the pair found a decent fish and armed with his beast fly, Alex laid out a cast near the fish, which was sitting deep in the water column. As soon as the fly landed the fish turned and engulfed the fly. After several minutes fighting the fish around corals and breaking the rod in the process, Alex landed his GT, albeit not the mystical metre plus it was still his new personal best at 95 cm and a solid fish. On guide Cullan’s boat the fishing in the morning was next level. Hernan landed himself a bumpy in amongst some trigger, golden trevally and GT action. Carlos capitalised on the other action around them and managed to land his first ever moustache triggerfish and a GT.

Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing

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