Fly Fishing Blog by Alphonse Fishing Co™

COSMOLEDO FISHING NEWS | SEASON ROUND UP

Discover the incredible angling adventures in the pristine waters of Cosmoledo Atoll. From thrilling permit catches to remarkable GT triumphs, each week creates its own memorable fishing moments.

This week, our anglers on Cosmoledo Atoll enjoyed the best of both worlds with the tide cycle. The beginning of the week started very neap orientated and transitioned to extreme new moon spring tides during the last three days. This meant that the first half of the week was spent inside the lagoon poling around the flats, and the second half of the week, some boats went into the surf.

Daniel Factor’s first day of the week will be one he will remember for the rest of his life!
While fishing in the early morning in Wizard Bay, Daniel and his guide managed to find a fish of a lifetime; after hooking the fish and an hour-long battle, Daniel was able to land a 75 cm Indo-Pacific permit on 12 lbs leader and his very own Alphlexo crab. A moment we are sure he will never forget.

All of the guests managed to tick off a couple of GTs on the flats in a variety of different scenarios. Once the tide was full, which made flats fishing a bit tricky, the boats headed offshore to target a few deep-dwelling species on the dredge. Saddleback grouper, bohar snapper, African marble grouper, swallowtail grouper, white blotch grouper, yellow lip emperor, GTs, bluefin trevally, and even a wahoo, which evaded a photo opportunity by escaping the guide’s hands while holding the fish in the water.

Matthew Rich had an excellent week throughout. He caught his very first bonefish on Cosmoledo and went on to catch one of our elusive parrot fish in the surf zone on the southern side of the atoll. He also managed to rack up a large variety of new saltwater species for himself, including a black triggerfish and an orange line triggerfish.

Maria Heyns had the best day of her saltwater fishing career when she was lucky enough to get a grand slam on the last day of her week on Cosmoledo. This included four of the five main target species. She managed to land a 47 cm Indo-Pacific permit, a 55 cm moustache triggerfish, a 65 cm bonefish, and a GT to finish it all off. Congratulations to Maria on her phenomenal achievement!

WEEK 3: 07 – 14 DEC 23 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 8 ANGLERS: 44   

Another phenomenal week on Cosmoledo Atoll showcased our coveted big five.

The Atoll showed off true variety and a multitude of the big five caught, this week. The weather in the beginning of the week was a bit tricky with low lying cloud cover and high winds but the weather towards the end of the week was absolutely stunning with barely any wind. The week started off with three days of really large spring tides with low tides in the early afternoon which slowly tapered off into the neap tides at the end of the week.

Gareth George had a phenomenal week! He was fortunate enough to bag a large permit on the eastern side of the atoll on the second day. Measuring in at a whopping 67 cm’s on 12 lbs leader material. He also managed to tick off a 115cm GT and a flats slam the following day with a 47 cm yellowmargin, a bonefish and a GT. Congratulations to Gareth on an outstanding week on Cosmoledo!

Rhuan Human managed his new personal best GT measuring in at 98 cm, just shy of the 100 cm mark. He also caught some great bonefish up at Menai on the western side of the atoll. Rhuan caught himself a beautiful moustache trigger in the surf on the first day of the week in a pothole close to north island. Congratulations to Rhuan for hitting your personal best!

Overall the trigger fishing this last week was some of the best we have had all season, with four out of five anglers able to capture themselves a trigger for the week. The GT fishing warmed up towards the end of the week and the bonefishing was exceptional considering how elusive they can be on Cosmoledo.

WEEK 4: 14-21  DEC 23 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 7 ANGLERS: 52

This week on Cosmoledo was spent in hot tropical weather with little to no wind for the entire week and excellent visibility on the flats.

The tides started perfectly, with the neap tides moving into full moon spring tides by the end of the week. As usual, the start of the week was spent poling the lagoon for our five main target species. Towards the end of the week, fish were caught in the surf zone over the low tide and the pushing tide as fish moved back onto the flats.

Jack Kurschat managed to land himself a flats slam on the last day of the week, which included a moustache triggerfish in the surf, a bonefish on the western edge of the Atoll and a GT in the late afternoon on the eastern side of the Atoll. Congratulations to Jack on his flats slam and the many other great fish caught throughout the week!

Marcus Kurschat was able to catch his first moustache triggerfish, and his brother Micheal managed a multitude of GTs during his week’s stay on Cosmoledo.

David Keens was lucky enough to catch himself a large female saddleback grouper whilst on the outside of the Atoll, deep on a heavy sinking line.

Chris Griffith caught himself a massive barracuda and a large number of GTs for the week.

WEEK 5: 21 – 28  DEC 23 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 8 ANGLERS: 52

Cosmoledo showed her true colours this week with some incredible GT fishing. The new week started off with some intense spring tides, big drops, and pushes. Fish were found on both ends of the tide.

The first two to three days of the week proved to have good GT fishing in the surf, and the guides took advantage with good numbers on boats that put in the effort fishing the surf. As the week progressed and the tides made the surf inaccessible to the anglers, boats focused on fishing the lagoon, which only improved the fishing. The weather was in our favour with glassy flat days, no wind and full sun most of the week, enabling incredible sight fishing and great weather to pole the boats around. The last two days were slightly windier, but the guys and girls still returned with good numbers.

Paula Shearer had a phenomenal first week on Cosmoledo by managing to rack up her GT numbers after catching her first giant trevally on day one! Paula also managed two flats slams during her week, consisting of bonefish, giant trevally, and two different species of triggerfish. A moustache triggerfish and a cracking 55 cm yellowmargin. A very sort-after fish species indeed and an incredible specimen at that! Congratulations to Paula for a phenomenal performance this week.

Alister Haszlak, a fairly new saltwater angler, and his boat partner Jonathan Taylor, a long-term returning guest, both managed their very first Cosmoledo giant trevally and a multitude of others over the duration of the week. Alister also bagged himself a great bonefish from the Atoll, which was also a first for him.

Chris Griffith joined us for two weeks of this season, and after having a great first week with good numbers, Chris set his focus on some of the other wonderful fish species that Cosmoledo has to offer. He spent one of this days in the surf on the western side of the atoll and landed himself two beautiful moustache triggerfish. He saved the best for last by catching his personal best and fish of a lifetime, giant trevally of 101 cm, on the last day in the last hour of the day. Congratulations to Chris!

Aaron and Logan Hitchins came out to spend their first week on Cosmoledo and managed to absolutely crush it! Logan was able to catch herself a great yellowmargin triggerfish of 51 cms, and Aaron managed a nice moustache. Not only triggers featured as they both walked away from their amazing week with a great number of GTs on their scorecards. Congratulations to Aaron and Logan for their incredible fishing!

WEEK 6: 28 – 04 JAN 24 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 10 ANGLERS: 87

Week 7 on Cosmoledo started with neap tides. As the week progressed, it moved into January’s new moon spring tides. The weather was glamorous at the beginning of the week, with barely any cloud cover and virtually no wind, which slowly progressed into strong winds, low-lying cloud cover, and rain at the end of the week.

David Mangum had a good week focusing on some of the other species that Cosmoledo Atoll has to offer. He ended up having a flats slam under his belt consisting of a milkfish, a giant trevally, and a bonefish. He was also fortunate enough to bag himself a nice-sized moustache triggerfish in the surf, measuring in at 47 cm. Congratulations David!

Hall Dillion managed to add giant trevally to his species list on the first day of fishing and managed to rack up his numbers to 17 fish over his time here on Cosmoledo.

Chris Blevins and Brian Locke also landed their very first giant trevally and went on to catch a couple more each before they left.

All the guests also managed to catch a couple of really nice bones over the week, bringing up our bonefish numbers to almost double our usual average of bonefish.

With the GTs and bonefish catches, it made for an exciting and rewarding week!

WEEK 7: 04 – 11 JAN 24 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 11 ANGLERS: 92

This week on Cosmoledo started with spring tides, transitioning into neap tides by the end of the week. The first couple of days, the boats were able to go to the surf, and the back end of the week was spent within the lagoon.

The weather conditions at the beginning of the week were not ideal; wind, cloud cover, and rain seemed to be on the horizon for the first two to three days. However, the latter half of the week gave us good wind conditions and some reasonable bright light. This allowed for some good fishing at the end of the week.

Kasja Larsson managed to check off her second permit ever, one of Cosmoledo’s larger specimens, breaking the measuring tape at a phenomenal 69 cm on a 12-pound tippet on the sand flats of Menai. She later landed a 53 cm yellowmargin on the southwest pancake flats. Congratulations to Kasja on these two exceptional fish!

Maddy Koo was able to land herself a flats slam, which consisted of a bonefish, a giant trevally, and a beautiful milkfish to top it all off. Congratulations to Maddy on her flats slam!

Scott Hardeman was able to catch his very first giant trevally here on Cosmoledo, a phenomenal first, measuring in at 89 cm on the very first day of the week! He then moved on to catch a couple more fish while staying with us.

WEEK 8: 11 – 18 JAN 24 GT CATCH TALLY FROM 10 ANGLERS: 44

As the weeks unfolded, Cosmoledo Atoll showcased its diverse and rich marine life, providing anglers with not only thrilling challenges but also moments of triumph and accomplishment. Congratulations to all the anglers who visited us and participated in making each week an extraordinary chapter in the captivating fly fishing adventures of Cosmoledo Atoll.

Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing on Cosmoledo Atoll

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