The opening week of the April – May 2019 St Brandon season kicked off with our guests experiencing warmer than normal conditions. Nevertheless, they managed to land some impressive fish during the opening week.
The bonefishing proved to be tricky in the beginning of the week due to the warmer, calmer conditions. As the week continued the bonefishing really picked up with good numbers landed and a solid average of 5lbs. Despite the warmer than normal conditions, a fair number of bigger fish were landed by Mike, Mike V and Riaan who all managed to get big 7lb Bones to the net. Mike V landed the Bonefish of the week with a cracking 8lb fish that was caught while it tailed in skinny water on a sand flat.
We had multiple shots at the atoll’s famous Indo-Pacific Permit this week. A few moments of frustration and heartache were experienced as we hooked and lost 3 Permit. Despite the lows of losing these Permit, the atoll provided us with more opportunities and we ended the week with 4 Permit landed. Douglas landed his first Indo on the fly this week when he hooked a Permit that was feeding on the back of a stingray. Gavin also landed his first Indo-Pacific Permit this week on the last day of the trip, his 5lb fish was found tailing on a coral ridge in the surf when the fish saw his crab it moved without hesitation and quickly tailed on the fly. Mike landed a beautiful 8lb fish on one of our famous Permit Spots whilst Riaan landed the biggest Permit of the week, it was also his first ever Permit landed on fly. His fin perfect 9lb fish was spotted cruising along a marl ridge and with an accurate back cast he made it happen! Well done guys, they are special fish and we’re glad we could be there to see you all catch your first Indo-Pacific Permit.
The warmer conditions meant that there were loads of Trevally encountered around the atoll this week. With numerous shots at large Bluefin Trevally, the notable catches were the two solid Bluefin caught by Mike and Riaan. The atolls large Giant Trevally were out in force this week with multiple fish seen everyday. We had a number of great opportunities to catch these brutes with 3 hooked for the week, however we only managed to land 1. Gavin hooked and landed a massive 124cm fish that was found part of a school of over 25. He made a great cast ahead of the school and with 6 strips the fish raced over and inhaled the fly. After a 20 minute fight the fish was brought to hand and after a quick photo session it was safely released. The GTs on St Brandon are very large and elusive creatures and will test even the most skilled anglers. Well done on your fish of a lifetime Gavin, it’s a memory that will stay with you forever.
That wraps up the first week of 2019 on St Brandon. We’re looking forward to seeing what the rest of the season has in store for us.
