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Desroches Island - On the Fly January & Febuary News

What truly distinguishes Desroches Island as one of the most outstanding fishing destinations in the world is the combination of luxurious island accommodation alongside the opportunity to fish three different atolls. It's an incredible place to fish and an even better place to take your girlfriend, wife or family, knowing that they will have plenty to do while enjoying the luxury that Desroches Island has to offer. It’s the perfect place to take your kids for their first fishing experience.  

The months of January and February have seen some fantastic fly fishing moments, with numerous Permit being hooked, fought, lost, landed and released. The bonefishing at St Joseph’s continues to impress all who venture out there. Every angler that has had the privilege of walking the pristine and unspoiled edges of St Joseph’s cannot help but be mesmerized by its true beauty, which is reflected off its snow white sand flats. The abundance of marine life that surrounds these islands, flats and coral edge, echoes how unspoilt this atoll really is. It truly is one of the most beautiful gems in the Seychelles and what makes the area even more attractive to our seasoned anglers is the healthy population of game fish. Not only have our anglers had the opportunity to target numerous tailing Permit and Bonefish, but there have also been some smaller Trevally species around. Poivre Atoll continues to hold large numbers of Permit and on average it’s not uncommon for an angler to have twenty to thirty casting opportunities at different tailing Permit during a fishing session.

Desroches Island - Bluewater January & February News

The seasonal north-western weather has continued, which brings warm and calm sea conditions. At times we have had 10 consecutive days of glassy weather with fish literally boiling while they feed on the fishing grounds. The diversity of species available is astounding as anglers have had the opportunity to target Giant trevally, Yellowspot trevally, Bluefin trevally, Yellowfin tuna, Dogtooth tuna, wahoo, barracuda, snapper, grouper, amberjack, sailfish and even the odd Black and Blue marlin. To put it mildly it has been chaos at Desroches, St Joseph’s and Poivre over the last few months. The waters have been alive with birds like Sooty Terns, Shearwaters, Frigate’s and Boobies, all getting in on the action as they feed on the remains of baitfish, which have been missed by the Yellowfin tuna feeding in the area. The morning arrivals at Poivre and St Joseph’s have been met by shoals of aggressively feeding Yellowfin tuna as they launch themselves out of the water whilst chasing flying fish. The most exciting fishing has to be catching these huge Yellowfin on poppers as they explode into the air while feeding on anything in sight. There have been some memorable catches like the Barrow families 240lbs Black marlin, which was successfully release to fight another day. 

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Alphonse Fishing News 23 February – 2 March 2013

This past week has once again seen some superb catches at both St Francois and Alphonse. The early part of this week produced some trophy catches both on the flats and offshore. Alex Quatre guided his guests Hugh Armstrong and Dimitry Kolovorotny to a fabulous “Triggerfish Trio”, consisting of two Giants and a single Yellow Margin. Doug Hart landed a magnificent 105cm GT while being guided by Serge Samson and In accordance to our length to weight estimation charts, this fish weighed in at  a healthy 55lbs. Once again the flavour of the week was the NYAP popper fly, which was developed by guide James Christmas. The uniqueness of this fly is that its simple to tie, really easy to cast and the disturbance it creates when stripped drives predators crazy.

The weeks bonefishing was extremely good, which long time return guests Bill Nevins and Dwight Minton took full advantage of when fishing with Wayne Hasleau. “We fished almost all day on the “Traffic Flats” and by the end of the day our tally was approximately 90 Bonefish landed and the biggest measuring 24inches. We used a variety of bonefish flies during the day and found that the fish were most attracted to small orange and tan “Christmas Island Specials” and chartreuse and white “Pillow Talks”. Our superb bonefish fishery continues to flourish and a large number of really small bonefish in the 7 to 8 inch class have been observed of late, which is great news for the future. The average size of our bonefish is on the increase which is also great news. There are always piles of 5 to 6lb fish for anglers to cast to on any given day,” Enthused Wayne Hasleau.

There are a good number of permit on the flats and although we have had a few hook ups unfortunately none were landed. Milkfish have been scarce on the latest catch reports due to the windy weather conditions, which has made it impossible to target them offshore. The flats are however still full of really large specimens that are targetable.  Even after a considerable amount of experimental fly patterns and some landed fish, we still haven’t cracked the “on flats milkfish code.” The team will continue to experiment with flies and techniques and are confident that a breakthrough will come sometime soon.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

The week of Feb. 23-March 1, 2013

Weather Conditions: Sunny and pleasant most of the week, with a cold front arriving on Fri.

Air Temp: Highs in the mid-80s during the week; cooler on Fri.

Water Temp: 77-82 degrees

Wind: 5-10 MPH from the ESE, switching to 5-15 MPH from the NW on Fri.

Tides: High tide in morning with low becoming later in afternoon throughout the week

Moon Phase: Full moon on Tue., Feb. 26.

We had a nice group here this week, with some very experienced fishermen and a few new saltwater anglers mixed in.  Fishing was steady, but the bonefish were reported to be a bit fickle at lower tides.  We did, however, experience a Double Grand Slam!  A cold front brought clouds early on Fri. morning and provided limited sight fishing opportunity during the anglers’ last day.

Return guest Matt T. of Oregon fished solo all week with guide Dubs.  He exclusively targeted permit and landed four during the week.  He also hooked and lost a couple of other fish over the course of the week and reported seeing numerous schools of permit daily.

First-timer Matt M. of Fla. and returning guest, Paul B. from Tex., combined diving and fishing during their trip while their partners, Jill and Jeanine, enjoyed our Atoll Adventure. Matt is an experienced trout angler and caught his first bonefish with guide John on his initial day of saltwater fishing.  The majority of Paul’s fishing was spent pursuing bonefish, but he also spent some time hunting for a willing permit.

Friends Dave S. from Tex. and Roger F. from Fla. primarily targeted bonefish. They fish together annually and have made multiple trips together.  Fishing with guide Daniel, they landed a good number of bonefish and Dave had a brief encounter with a permit, but the fly failed to find a home.

Carl, Don, Doug L., Al L., Steve C., and Rodgers D. from Colo., the State of Wash., Md., and far-off Australia are experienced anglers who have travelled the world over. They take an annual trip and chose Turneffe Flats this year.  They had mixed fishing over the course of the week primarily targeting bonefish and permit.  On Thur. Steve had the highlight of the week, with a  Double Grand Slam (bonefish, permit and tarpon twice!) fishing with Michael.  The group also landed several other species including multiple barracuda and a king mackerel.  Rodgers took one afternoon off from fishing to refresh his dive skills in our Discover Scuba course.

Rock and Whitney O., from Tex. and Hawaii respectively, came looking for bonefish.  The father and daughter team started the week slowly, but progressed each day with regards to hooking and landing fish.  Rock fished hard each day, while Whitney took in some of the other Turneffe activities including Atoll Adventuring and diving.  Rock had a great shot at two tailing permit, feeding side-by-side, on Thur. afternoon while wading one of the ocean-side flats.

Fran and John E., of Alaska enjoyed fishing with veteran guide Pops.  John is an experienced angler and former Alaskan fishing lodge owner.  They had some very good bonefishing and John also hooked and fought a large permit one afternoon until the hook pulled loose.  He was amazed at the strength of the permit.  John iced his week with a nice pre-breakfast bonefish off the beach in front of his cabin.  He hopes to bring a group of friends next fall.

Tom T. and return guest, Brian F. from Seattle, partnered to fish with Dion while Tom’s wife, Lynn, went on an Atoll Adventure. Tom and Brian spent the vast majority of the time bonefishing and split their time between fishing from the skiff and wading.  Brian landed a large barracuda towards the end of the week. 

There are two very special magazine articles out about Turneffe Flats, the Turneffe Atoll Trust and our conservation work.  Be sure to look at the April/May Fly Fisherman Magazine article by Ross Purnell and the Fly Fishing in Salt Waters Magazine piece by John Frazier.  If either of those stories doesn’t get you prepped to come fish with us, you need to check your pulse. 

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

In the series of short films that have been made about Ponoi during the 2012 season, an interview was done with Barret, a thrird year guide who was in charge of the scientific programme at the time. It can be watched here. It has some interesting facts and figues about the work done on the river and the tagging programme which remains the largest of its kind for Atlantic salmon.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Alphonse Fishing News 16 – 23 February 2013

Completing the 17th week of the season, to start another with a bunch of fresh and eager anglers is a boosting experience for any guide team. It’s even better when the guests have a combination of over 50 trips to Alphonse over past years. Some guest arriving to complete their 8th trip, with expectations of repeating the wonderful experiences they have had on all their previous visits. What a real treat full of familiar faces, past memories and a wealth of St François flats fishing knowledge. The guides were energised as they reminisced their past great catches in preparation for week 18’s first trip to St François.
 
Day one started with a session of traditional “bonefish bashing” as the teams straitened out the casts in preparation for the amazing diversity that both Alphonse and St François have to offer. As the days progressed one of our Scottish anglers, Brian Mclean had a fantastic session outside the reef while guided by Scott Keller. Bryan landed a truly magnificent 50lbs Giant Trevally after a long tussle, some trophy Bluefin Trevally, a Honey Comb Grouper, a large Jobfish and numerous Bohar Snapper, all in one session. His fishing partner Tom Abraham also got into the thick of things landing some equally big Bluefin Trevally and a really large Jobfish .

The week did see some adverse weather due to a depression situated in the Mozambique channel, which soon moved South bringing back the blue Seychelles skies and with it some feeding milkfish. John Green landed a 35lbs specimen, in difficult terrain whilst being guided by Serge Samson.  The aerobatic fight could be seen from across the channel as the milky dragged the skiff and anglers though all the various bommie infested areas in a bid for freedom. With great skill the team managed to avoid a cut leader, which had happened to a few other unlucky anglers during the week and landed the magnificent trophy of a specimen. John went on further to finish his week off in spectacular fashion by also landing a superb Giant triggerfish whilst being guided by Alex Khat. Once again Alphonse and St François produced a memorable experience for all guests.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Kau Tapen Lodge’s Fishing Report

8^th Week: from 16^th to 22^nd of February:

We had a good week at Kau Tapen lodge for our 8^th week despite some difficult conditions. Once again the weather was not stable as it has been almost all season making the fishing sometime very challenging! Though we got some very good session with some very nice fish, and they are now coming up in larger number.

We had for our 8^th week a lot of returning guests who have been coming at Kau Tapen lodge since more than 18 years! They are part of history! As Dick and Chuck and 2 of their friends Doug and Peter, Tim and Karen, all of them from U.S.A. and Christopher and Allison from U.K. We had also Hervé and Martine from France who have been here in the past and came for their second time. As new guests, we had Alasdair and Richard from New Zealand who are use to fish for trout in their home river but who came to the Rio Grande to get their biggest trout ever!

As always it was a great group to be around and the atmosphere was great. We had some great fishing stories both on the river and at the bar. This group of returning guests knows so many people that have fished the Rio Grande through the year and they know also the people who have some pools named after them. It’s always great to know this history and chat with them.

Our French and New Zealand guests enjoyed their company too and got along very well. Dick told us many joke and funny stories of what happened to them during their weeks at Kau Tapen lodge with plenty of memories.

Fishing wise we had to adapt ourselves once again to the conditions that were constantly changing from no wind and warm weather, to very strong windy days as well as cold weather making the water temperature dropped to 5°C! Once again our guides have faced this situation in the past and know the answer and the tricks to catch the Rio Grande sea trout no matter the water temperature, or high, the activity of the fish and luckily our guests managed to do their part and got rewarded.  The fishing has been up and down and I won’t say that it was easy to catch them and we had to be at the right place at the right time to get the best of the sea run browns! We had some very good session as well as some tougher ones but that’s the way fishing is and we won’t like it if it will be easy.

In terms of numbers it has been a slower week but as said, there is so slow, good and excellent week and that the way a season goes. We used from full floating line with tiny nymphs to heavy tips and flies to face the situation and this week they were no real better fly than another. We just had to adapt the fishing with the condition. Delicate presentation and fast stripping with small nymph to fishing deep, big and slow in very cold weather and water.

We manage to catch some very nice sea trout last week with a nice 22 pounder fish from Hervé, from France, the biggest fish of the season as well as some 20 pounders, 18, and so on.

The weeks are each time very different and in way also similar as we didn’t have one single week with a steady weather, so each week we had to find a way to fish and the right rigging which is very entertaining for both guests and guides. Rubber legs have been very efficient in “normal February condition” and chartreuse leeches in cold water temperature, as well as the sunray who really helps when the fish are sometimes a big moody!

All of our guests got the chance to have a big sea trout and most of them got a real beauty. The large fish are now more present in both the Rio Grande and Menendez. We fished the Menendez this week as well and got some good fish and nice action.

Let see how will be next week and for sure we will catch some very large trout, face some different fishing condition and also will have great companies, good laughs, and our guests will delight to be with us at Kau Tapen Lodge the best sea trout river in the world, no matter what are the conditions and how the weather is!

Your biggest sea trout and the world record is swimming in our water, so come and try your chance. We will be here to welcome you and help you to have an experience of a lifetime!

Thanks to our guides and our guest for their hard work. I am looking forward to seeing you,

Best regards,

Jean Baptiste Vidal, Fishing Manager, Kau Tapen Lodge

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Alphonse Fishing News 9 – 16 February 2013

The cloud and rain didn’t dampen the spirits of our angling team as they went about their normal fishing routine with vigor and ended up with some amazing catches this week. Although our milkfish have been scarce in our recent catch returns they are still around in good numbers, both whilst feeding on the flats and out at sea. The tricky weather however did play a role in our ability to target these magnificent creatures while they create “Milkshake”, feeding lines out at sea. The anglers that persevered through the tricky offshore conditions were rewarded with some rare and memorable species such as Tropical Amberjack, Black Trevally and a number of fabulous Grouper, which including two Coral Trout, one of which was approximately 90lbs. There were some really nice Doggies around as Alex Siems tucked into a supercharged 85lbs trophy which he landed after an exciting fight.  

The saying goes without fail, “bad weather brings big bones”, as the overcast conditions keeps the water on the flats cooler, which allows the bonefish population to feed for much longer periods.  Even with the elements against them the team managed to land 631 Bonefish as well as a number of other great flats species such as Triggerfish, Emperors and Snappers.  The Bluefin Trevally also seemed to enjoy the cooler water, which allowed for the successful catch and release of 83 fine specimens. This population has finally returned to normality after a number of years when they were quite scarce. Mixed in with the adults there are also large numbers of juveniles and sub-adults, which form “rat packs” while roaming the flats and drop-offs. They are great sport when casting a 9 or 10 weight outfit with a small clouser minnows or a fast stripped crab pattern.

Sadly it was time to say good bye to our friends as the weather turned for the best and the sunny flat calm seas returned. All in all another great weeks fly fishing at the paradise destinations of both Alphonse and St François lagoons.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Kau Tapen Lodge’s Fishing report :

7^th Week: from 9th to 16^th of February:

We had a good week at Kau Tapen lodge for our 7^th week. Our group of guests fished in many different conditions and I will say once again as the weather is not stable and we fished warm water with NO wind, cold water with wind, and perfect water with nice wind! Despite those “strange” and challenging conditions we did great. We got this week our biggest Rio Grande sea trout, a beautiful 28 pounder who caught Heinz M. from Switzerland and our biggest Menendez fish, a great 22 pounder on a single handed rod caught by Jacques from France.

We had for our 7^th week a group of 7 peoples from Willy’s group, from Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Willy has been bringing groups since a long time and it’s always a pleasure to host his nice people. We had also two guests from France, two guests from U.K. and one guests from the U.S. as well as one from Germany who comes on his own.

We had both returning guests and new guests and it was a really nice group, having fun, laughing and enjoying themselves at the lodge and on the river!

This last week was very different from our previous weeks as we started with 3 days without wind at all! Very unusual as after 6 seasons on the river for me, I never seen that before!

It was challenging as you had to cast nicely to present the fly without making too much splash and noise if you wanted to catch fish. Obviously, the fish were a bit spooky and tough to catch as the water temperature was very high too. We started the week with 14 to 17°C and the fish were not really on the mood even if they were more active at dusk. We fished with small tiny flies and long leader, and some small salmon flies. He showed us that not only rubber legs and small nymphs interested the Rio Grande’s fish! We will try some more salmon fly for the future as it’s very important to present to the fish something different, that they haven’t seen!

Then the water turned cold and dropped to 8°C on Friday as we had a cold front coming and the fish had to adapt themselves to this big change.

We had to fish very differently from one day to the other to face this situation and switch from a full floating line or floating with intermediate tip to very fast sink tip and bigger flies.

The rubber legs worked well as well as some tube flies and Sunray.

Both our guides and guests did a great job by being patient and trying hard to catch the fish willing to take and we had great success by changing the rigging to find what was working the best. Sunray and leeches worked well at dusk and provided some good fish.

The biggest fish has been landing by Heinz M. who have the 2013 record for the lodge so far with this beautiful 28 pounder cock fish caught on a small rubber legs! His friend Marko had a fish on as well in the same time and landed himself a nice 15 pounder! Well done guys!

As I said in my last report the Menendez can offer great fishing and big fish and it proved it this last week. It has been productive as well as we went there with some guests that wanted to try the experience to catch a fish of a lifetime on a single handed rod and it worked out very well for Jacques, one of our French guest who landed with our guide Fabian a beautiful 22 pounder fish on a small EMB fly on a 8 weight rod. The fish took him a lot of line and he had to chase it! Jacques couldn’t believe it as he knew they were some big guys out there but for his first time at Kau Tapen and his first time on the Menendez, he was so happy! That same day Patrick and Chatt got some good fish too, as some 14 pounders!

We are now half way through the season and every day more fish are in the river. We are looking forward to having you to enjoy a great time with our staff and guides. The 2013 season has been great and we are very pleased for our guests who really delighted their experience. We will have new returning guests next season as most of our new 2013 guests already planed to come back!

Looking forward to seeing you,

Best regards,

By Jean Baptiste Vidal

Fishing Manager

Kau Tapen Lodge

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

We have enjoyed an exceptionally glorious winter so far in Abaco, with consistently warm and beautiful weather. January guests took advantage of the benign conditions to notch up record catches for the month.

As we now head into the main busy season, there are very few openings between now and mid-May. But we do still have a few rooms available in the first week of March and over Easter between March 27^th and April 1^st.

There are then some gaps in late May and early June. From mid-June on, our special offer package is available. This offer will remain applicable through to a mid-July closedown.

Reservations are now also building for next autumn/fall, notably from mid-October to mid-December, a period that has witnessed consistently excellent fishing over the past four seasons.

Special Offers

JUNE/JULY SPECIAL – BARGAIN BREAK WITH BRILLIANT BONEFISHING

We are happy to repeat a special summer offer….

Enjoy a glorious beach holiday with a full week of fabulous food, lovely rooms and three half days of bonefishing, which leaves plenty of time for other stuff.

All for just $2,595 per fisher or $1,995 per non-fishing companion.

The Bahamas in June/July are beautiful. And the fishing can be outstanding. It is a great opportunity to sample the wonderful Delphi Club at its best.

Details

The offer is open from June 16th to July 15th 2013, subject to availability. The prices include room, all meals, hotel taxes and, where appropriate, guided bonefishing. Prices are based on shared rooms and shared guides/skiffs. Not included: drinks, airport transfers and discretionary gratuities.

Facilties/Activities available include a freshwater pool, sea kayaks, snorkelling, beachcombing, bird watching, scuba lessons*, reef diving*, boat charters*, island cruises*, big game fishing*, massage*, eco/nature tours* and seeing all the sights of lovely Abaco and its charming outer islands. [* Extra charges may apply]

Average temperatures: July, High 87F/30C, Low 75F/24C. Note that although the hurricane season theoretically begins on June 1, hurricanes outside Aug/Sep/Oct are almost unheard of. But trip cancellation insurance is recommended.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk

Kau Tapen Lodge’s Fishing Report

6^th Week: from 1^st to 8^th of February:

We had another very good week at Kau Tapen. Our group of guests fished in many different conditions, with windy days, calm days, clear and cold water and sometimes coloured. They learn a lot, and will come back home as better fisherman and for some of our guests with the memory of their biggest sea trout ever!

We had for our 6th week a group of 7 peoples from Norway brought by Mark T., a returning guest from U.S.A., one from Sweden and one from Australia. Matt Harris joined the group, a photographer well renown from U.K., writer for “Trout and Salmon magazine”.

Another great group for this week which enjoyed the great world class service, food and lodging and fishery of our lodge, soon celebrating his 30 years of existence on the Rio Grande!!

We had a very varied week for this 5^th week of the Season millesime!

We started with quite hot weather, then rain, then cold. However, the fish where present and active for most part of the week and we had experienced many situations. From fishing deep with leeches in coloured water, due to wind or rain, fish on the top with Sunray Shadow and having great action, with hard takes, boil and splashes to swing nymphs!

More and more big fish are entering in the river with some fish over 20 and a good amount of fish over 15! Our sea run brown are still fighting harder than ever for some reasons!! And our guests delight so much their furious runs and acrobatics jumps! So as our guide team!

The biggest fish has been landing by Didrik who have been “in fire” this week! He had a terrific week and not only him,and will never forget it! He will soon be back, with some of his friendly Norwegians friends!

Matt did a great job catching a very good number of fish every day, and he got 7 fish on his best day! I am sure we will soon be able to see his great picture of his trip. I will try to give you the link.

The water temperature was between 7 to 14°C which was nice for fishing. We had once again to adapt ourselves a lot due to those varied conditions which were also very interesting fishing wise!

We fished with full floating line with an intermediate on nice days and small flies (nymphs, rubber legs, green machine) to a super fast sinking tip when the water was cold, or coloured due to the rain and extremely strong wind we had on Monday (up to 100 km/H!!)

The sunray shadow has worked very well and was probably the fly that caught the most fish this past week. Once again the fly is very interesting and entertaining to fish with as the takes with intermediate or slow sink are visual! You can see the boil or the take itself one the surface! We lost a lot of fish on this fly but it worth it as we had more action than with any other fly! Rubber legs worked well as usual and leeches too.

We fished this year more and more the Menendez river which holds the same type of sea run browns than the Rio Grande. They are the same species and the same trout. Some just decided to lay their eggs in some of the best spawning ground for sea trout either in the Rio Grande or the Menendez! The Menendez is the biggest and main tributary of the Rio Grande and a great small river to fish. Paradise of single hande rod fisherman, you can catch some fish up to 25 pounds and more! We went there a couple of time upon request of guests, as it’s part of our water and I always encourage people to go, but mainly and unfortunately used as an option. We had some nice success and caught some good fish. It is a challenging fishing as it is more technical, but a real river and a great opportunity to catch a fish of a lifetime on a single handed 7 to 9 weight rods! We suggest you to give a try, even if most of our guests come to fish the Rio Grande, the Menendez is pure jewellery and all of our guests that have fished it once, always ask us to organize them at least one full session of their week on the Menendez! You should try it to!

Looking forward to seeing you,

By Jean Baptiste Vidal

Fishing Manager

Kau Tapen lodge.

For further information please contact Tarquin Millington-Drake on 0845 299 6212 Ext 1 or at tmd@frontierstrvl.co.uk