Fly Fishing Blog by Alphonse Fishing Co™

ALPHONSE ISLAND FLY FISHING REPORT | 15 FEB – 22 FEB

It was once again another incredible week of fishing on St Francois Atoll, with the fishery showing off its diversity and natural beauty. The weather was typical of this time of year, mostly very hot with gentle winds and every now and again a small weather system bringing some brief rain. Neap tides ensured plenty of water on the flats and slow pushes and drops made for some excellent fishing.

Our Yellow-Margin triggers have had some real fire in their bellies this season, and once again we had a week where for some reason the bigger ones could not resist the flies cast by our anglers. These fish will drive a lot of anglers mad with how spooky they can be, but even after the slightest bit of interest from one, you will generally find yourself captivated by their antics and continue to go after them until you successfully land one. A big congratulations to Margot Miller who got the job done on two of these specimens, the biggest one being an epic 52cm. The 52cm length seemed to be the ceiling this week, with Robert Harlow and Jeff Miller also landing a massive Yellow-Margin each of this length – those are some serious triggers! Well done to Karen Amero, Alistair Crawford and Shannon Stapp who also claimed a yellow-margin trigger this week.

The milkfish have been a regular feature on our catch reports for the past months, but it was a bit of a slower milk fishing week this time around. Nevertheless we had some anglers who put in the time targeting milks, which were found in smaller groups this week, and they had a blast going after these powerful fish. Well done to Matt Fox who brought to net the biggest milk of the week of 88cm, this on the way to claiming a deserved flats slam consisting of the milkfish, a 79cm GT and a number of bonefish. Angler Alex Siems also ticked off the milkfish on the way to claiming a flats slam which also included a GT and some bonefish. Some very impressive fishing from the both of you, very well done!

The GT’s were again present on the flats and just beyond the surf zone, with a number of these aggressive predators caught on poppers this week. Angler Margot Miller was convincingly the most successful on the GT’s this week, she managed to land four of the thirteen landed this week, with the biggest being a stocky 70cm fish. Angler Charles Berry took the honours for the biggest GT of the week, coming in at a very nice 85cm. Well done to Alistair Crawford who got two for the week and to Rob Harlow, John Ravenberg, Jeff Miller and Matt Fox who also caught geets during their stay.

Angler Josh Stapp came to our flats with only one fish on his mind, the famous Indo-Pacific Permit. The name speaks for itself, and the task at hand is never a simple one. With determination and skill, Josh fished to a number of these gorgeous fish for few days without any success, and unfortunately lost one on his first day. On his third day it all came together beautifully on the Tam Tam flats. His guide spotted a few good fish in the area and they began fishing at the closest one, a big one too. Josh made a precise cast and stripped his fly. Heart rates surged when the fish aggressively charged and inhaled the fly. It was landed after a nervy fight and measured an incredible 67cm, our joint biggest Permit of the season! Congratulations on your world class Permit Josh!

Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing

EXPLORE OUR FLY FISHING SPECIES

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• Bonefish
• Indo-Pacific permit
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