FARQUHAR ATOLL FLY FISHING REPORT | 26 FEB – 05 MAR
Ten ecstatic guests found themselves at Farquhar’s guest house on the edge of the lagoon with anticipation levels soaring. The weather forecast looked promising and the fishing in previous weeks had been stellar, setting a positive precedent for the week.
Day one immediately broke the expectations of many with some incredible catches brought to hand throughout the day. Marcia started her trip off by landing her first ever bonefish and she ended up landing several before the day was done. Nils also landed a bonefish, but a trophy specimen measuring 62 cm. Neil kicked off his week with a trophy fish as well. His fish coming in the form of a 53 cm yellow margin triggerfish that ate the fly right on the shoreline of a sandy beach. John had a memorable day with guide Bailey, landing a GT, a yellow margin triggerfish and his own trophy moustache triggerfish measuring 56 cm! One boat stood out on the day and that was none other than guide Casey’s boat. Bruce hit the ground running by hooking a large bumpy on the first go around. With some serious running and coral dodging from Casey as well as great angling skills from Bruce, the prehistoric dinosaur of a fish was landed. On the same boat, Justin ticked many of the boxes on offer and managed to complete the weeks’ first flats slam, landing a GT and a moustache triggerfish on a surf walk and later landing a bonefish before heading home.
Day two and Bruce was also ticking some boxes, managing to land a moustache triggerfish. Guide Chase took Nils and Brandon on a surf walk given the ideal tides for it and before the walk was over, both men had landed a bump each to make it one a piece. The angler of the day was Marcia, who teamed up with guide Casey for a surf walk of their own. Marcia managed to hook and land two GTs in the surf. One off the back of a stingray and one free swimming fish. She also landed several bonefish and one of trophy size measuring 61 cm.
Day three was slow as it appeared that there were bait balls just offshore and the GTs seemed to remain far offshore most of the day. Despite this, Justin still managed to land a GT in the lagoon. Day four, however, was the complete opposite and the fishing had picked right back up again. Ivan, Neil, Bruce and Brandon managed to all land a GT each. Teamed up with guide Yousuf, Justin had himself another epic day on the flats, again coming away with a flats slam. This time he mixed it up and replaced his triggerfish in his previous slam with a decent permit. Nils was the angler of the day for day four, with what he described as the best day of fishing he’s ever had. Nils, paired with guide Chad, started the morning with two small GTs at the first spot. The pair then went to the second spot for the day, walking the surf in search of triggers and GTs. Nils managed to land a small moustache triggerfish not too long into the session and not long after the pair noticed that stingrays were pushing up onto the flats all around them. As the tide was high enough for the stingrays to get up onto the turtlegrass, no sooner were the GTs pushing up with them, backs out of the water. Nils ended up landing another five GTs, making it seven for the day. To end the day off he landed one bonefish before heading home and in doing so, completed his flats slam.
Day five was another for the books as the team awoke to glassy flat conditions and milkfish feeding everywhere on the surface. Milkfish are not commonly caught on Farquhar as the opportunities tend to be fleeting, but the day offered up some of the best opportunities seen in a long time. Ivan seized them and managed to eventually hook a milkfish. He fought the fish for an antagonising half an hour or so and managed to land the freight train. A 99 cm specimen and the first on Farquhar in several seasons. On the same boat and with guide Yousuf, Oleg tried his hand at deep water triggerfish. After losing one or two and having many close calls, he eventually went tight on a trophy fish. A 50 cm yellow margin! Marcia, John, Nils and Brandon all landed a GT each to keep the GT tally going up. Bruce managed to catch several bonefish, including one trophy that measured in at 60 cm.
Paired with guide Chad, Justin also went out in search of GTs. After a slow morning, the GT sightings started to increase significantly as the tide was dropping. Chad spotted a large GT swimming solo on the surface in a very lethargic manner, bouncing around slowly between coral heads. Justin waited for the go ahead to lay out a cast at the fish. The fish didn’t see the fly until it was almost back at the boat and then slowly turned away back to its coral head. Justin had another go at the fish as it didn’t seem to spook. Leaving the fly to slowly sink while waiting for the fish to come over, another large fish appeared from under the coral and slowly came up towards the fly. One long and slow strip and the fish t-boned the fly with an aggressive eat. The fish wrapped the fly line around one coral, but with some boat action the crisis was averted and the fly line freed. After several minutes Justin had the 111 cm fish at the boat and ready for some photos in the middle of the lagoon.
The final day of fishing was upon the team and the good fishing did not let up. Oleg, Neil and Justin all managed to land another GT each to end their weeks. Marcia got her hands on yet another trophy bonefish at 63 cm. Brandon and Bruce both added to the moustache triggerfish tally for the week with one each. Paired with guide Chad, John went out in style for his last day and managed to get a flats slam of his own, with a GT, a moustache triggerfish and a bonefish. Farquhar might not have shown off its potential for quantity in terms of GTs as it often does, but showed off in diversity and quality as it always does.
Tight lines, Blue Safari Fly Fishing
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