Fly Fishing Blog by Alphonse Fishing Co™

ALPHONSE ISLAND FLY FISHING REPORT | 18 JAN-25 JAN

The second last week of January was a week with some slightly challenging weather, as sight fishing was made very challenging and anglers were forced to make the most of weather windows when the light and wind played ball. As is always the case, even when the conditions are tough, we still had some awesome fish caught which was enough to put smiles on the faces of all our guests by the end of the week.

The neap tides provide chances to fish all the usual species on St Francois, but it brings some fairly unique opportunities to fish for triggerfish which seem to really enjoy these tidal conditions and show up in higher numbers than usual. The one man who was set on targeting these fish, and made as many opportunities count in the conditions, was angler David Mangum. On his first day he caught a GT, not too long after the geet a nice moustache trigger was spotted, and David didn’t falter in making a perfect shot. Once the trigger noticed the fly moving, it too did not falter but angrily assaulting the crab before swallowing it and taking off. David put a heap of pressure on the fish as his guide charged after it to land it before it found any sanctuary in a coral hole. The fish was a chunk, measuring in at 50 cm. A few bonefish later, David had the flats slam in the bag.

A couple of days later David was once again on the triggerfish hunt, he easily ticked off two smaller triggers, one yellow-margin and one moustache trigger, but he was determined to lock horns with one of the bigger models seen hanging around. Before long a yellow-margin was seen tailing happily, oblivious to David’s presence. After making a good cast, the fish began following the fly with intention to devour. After a few snaps at the fly it picked ip up and David set the hook, sending the trigger on a massive run, and David’s guide too set off in hot pursuit which proved to be rather futile as the trigger ran into the deepwater at serious pace. After a hard fight it was pulled back onto the flat and landed, and David was stoked to see how massive the fish was. It measured an epic 55 cm, a true giant yellow-margin. Later that day David added a milkfish to his catch list for the day turning it from an already great day into an epic one, congratulations on your great catches David!

Angler Jason McHargue also found some great success on the flats, particularly with regard to the giant trevally. His second day on the flats started with a move along the Eastern Grass-line of St Francois, where his guide spotted a dark GT sitting above a small patch of turtle grass. Jason’s fly landed behind the GT and he began stripping. The GT sensed something was happening, turned, and then rapidly charged the fly before producing an incredible surface eat which had Jason howling with excitement. The fish was very strong and punched well above its weight class in the fight. The fish was landed and stayed in its beautiful black coloration which made for some amazing photos. After verifying the 83 cm length the chunky specimen was released to make another angler’s day in the future. A few hours later Jason was drifting in some deep water, casting a big fly in search of the big bite. Towards the end of the first drift a fish exploded on the fly just a few meters away from the boat, giving all on board a massive fright. Another tense battle ensued as Jason fought to keep the fish away from the corals in the area. Jason landed this one too, and narrowly bettered his earlier GT, this one measuring in at 86 cm which would remain the biggest GT of the week. Jason would round up his week with two more smaller GTs and he also managed tick off a major bucket list catch, a sailfish on fly. Congratulations on your great week of fishing Jason!

Angler Karsten Kruhl came to Alphonse for the first time this week, and tied up a whole bunch of his own flies in anticipation of the trip. Karsten certainly tied some great GT flies, and managed to land three good specimens during his week. Karsten also took the honours for the biggest bonefish of the week, a tanker of 65 cm which was also taken on his own fly. Congratulations on your fishing achievements Karsten. Congratulations to Nout Kwint who managed to catch two GTs in one session and also landed our biggest milkfish of the week coming in at 94 cm! A big well done to Doug on his 77 cm GT and to Bob who managed to land his first ever milkfish of 91 cm!

We look forward to another week of fishing with new and pumped up guests, we’re hoping for some better weather and some epic fishing stories to tell. Stay tuned for our next report!

Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing

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