Day three turned out to be a bit of a difficult day, because we couldn’t find fish. Tommy typically guides on Alphonse and was serving as a substitute guide on Cosmoledo. We ended up fishing Cemetery Point, an area Tommy had never guided previously. We covered a large amount of coastline before the tide started producing fish on the flats, and we did get to see Cosmoledo’s cemetery, though we didn’t go ashore. We could see crosses marking gravesites even though those graves were from the 1700s, so the archivist and historian in me was at least occupied while we waited for the fish. Cody eventually went ashore to take photos and film, especially the turtle tracks from their previous night's nesting.
Cemetery Point lies in the background
Green Turtles and Hawksbill Sea Turtles nest on Cosmoledo
Finally, some sharks started to appear, and I have always wanted to catch a Lemon Shark, a Nurse Shark, or a Black Tip Shark, as long as they were about a meter or less.I casted to several, but none were in a feeding mode, just more cruising the flats than anything.While Cody was wanting to take some shoreline videos of us on the flats, a GT came inshore off the surf.He promptly headed back out, but signs of life started to appear.Since we were not wading or walking, I sat down to take my boots off, because my feet were hot.Tommy called out that there was a Jeet, get ready to cast.I stood back up on the casting platform—right in the middle of my fly line.I casted, stripped, and hooked a Jeet, who promptly made a run before I could completely remove my foot from the line.I did use my foot to strip set the hook tightly in the Jeet's scissors, but Tommy hears my hopping on the casting platform.Turning to see that my foot is wrapped, he helped me untangle myself and keep the fish on my line.Fortunately, I was only wrapped once, and this Jeet didn’t feel like running too fast. Cody was much farther down the shoreline, so he had a bit of a walk, but he made it back and took some nice photos and videos.Jeets grunt like little piglest, so that was fun to hear.
After we let him go, we decided to stay in the water. Cody saw another Jeet coming in on the tide, so he grabbed his 12# rod, and began casting. Cody casted his fly about 75 feet, and that GT pounced on his tan, 8/0 Brush Fly. While Cody’s fighting his fish, I saw some nice Bonefish cruising the flat coming towards Cody’s Jeet, so I cast to them. We did a pretty good job keeping the fish disentangled from one another, in spite of their long runs, and we produced a nice Cosmo FishOn! Double! I had hoped our splashing fish would attract a small shark or two, but no such luck. After releasing, we continued covering the flats until the dropping tide demanded we move off or get stranded. We headed into the lagoon, where a lesson in patience would be required.
Chalk it up to being tired or thinking about it being the last day on Cosmo or thinking ahead to Alphonse or thinking about slamming a third day in a row, my casting fell apart, and I couldn’t strip well, get the rod to load, hit a target, or spot fish. I just sat down for a while to gather my thoughts. We came across nice Milkfish schools on the flats, but they weren’t feeding. Then, we saw nothing but white sandy flats and no fish, not even mullet. Cody tired of standing. We got out and walked over the shallowest areas, because the water was too skinny. We weren’t seeing fish, and we later learned, the Jeets had stacked up in the lagoon near the Lonestar, because Randy and David landed 32!
David Adams and Randy Cupp with two of their 32 landed Jeets
When targeting Cosmo’s GTs, especially on the flats, mudding rays typically have GTs in tow.It is an interesting relationship to observe, and I like rays.Tommy was very good pointing out the different species of rays, the length of their tails, which species had stingers, which did not.We spotted several Thornback Rays, which have thorns or spines along their back and tail, but Tommy let us know that Jeets don’t follow these rays.I became proficient at identifying these rays. Cody let me up on the casting platform as we headed off, trying to go some where that might have fish.Tommy was cruising to a ledge drop off, when he stops the boat immediately still on the flat, and yells, “Backcast, quickly, NOW!”I backcasted, never seeing exactly where I was to place my fly, when Cody and Tommy are yelling, “STRIP!STRIP!STRIP!STRIP!”Suddenly, my line goes tight, and the fish heads back towards the sand flat, thankfully, and not to the coral ledge. After a good fight, we get this Geet landed—incident-free, I might add—and we decided to measure him.Spot on the nose, I caught an 80 cm GT that was cruising on the back of a Thronback Ray using a back cast to a fish I never saw while trying to maintain my balance to keep from flying off the bow due to the sudden stop.Definitely a memorable fish.
Eventually, it was time to return to Lonestar, which was being prepped for an eight hour, nighttime sail due west to Assumption Island, from where we would fly out back east to Alphonse the next day. Cosmo, you taught me much, and I will miss you!
If Astove was the steep learning curve, Cosmoledo proved to be a viable testing ground. Arriving on Cosmoledo meant boarding the Lonestar live-aboard catamaran and traveling northwesterly overnight for four hours from Astove.When dawn arrived, Jude captained us into Cosmoledo’s lagoon, where we ate breakfast, met our guides, and prepared for three days of incredible flats fly fishing.
Lonestar approaching Astove's leeward shore
Cody showed off our first two days on Cosmoledo by slamming the fish species.Fishing a flats area known as Southwest required us to fish overhangs similar to fishing for Bass under ledges along the Colorado River, except that Cosmoledo meant we were sight casting to fish.Our guide, Tommy Hradecky, spotted a Giant Trevally hugging tight under the rocky shoreline.Cody casted and hooked up with a small but aggressive Giant Trevally. Strip setting nicely, Cody played that fish well, keeping that Jeet from hiding in the craggy, coral shoreline. I also tried my hand at fishing the coastline, but the dropping tide pushed the GTs to other areas.
We moved off to other flats areas, and I got to cast to some GTs, but regrettably many turned off my moving fly.With the exception of the one time I watched my retrieve, which caused me to miss the strip, which stopped the fly, which made the GT turn off, we couldn’t figure out why they were turning off as quickly as they turned on.Jeets just weren’t going to be on my menu, the first day.
Heading to a nice turtlegrass area, Cody caught his first Moustache Trigger. It was fun watching that fish tail, then flop over, and go nose down on Cody’s shrimp-pattern fly. It took several of those teeth nip-nip-nips before the Trigger inhaled, but once he did, it was MoustacheOn!
After lunch, we headed out to the surf to cast to feeding Milkfish and tease up some GTs from the deeper waters. Cody casted to several schools of Milks, but they just weren’t taking the fly. Teasing Jeets is definitely a team effort between Guide and Fly Caster. I worked on timing and targeting, and even though I didn’t manage to catch a Jeet, I did catch a beautiful Bluefin Trevally. I LOVE Bluefins, even though they aren’t quite the fighters that GTs are, they are still a fun species to target and catch.
Time was drawing near to end our first day, and we decided that we wanted Cody to have a good opportunity for getting a Flats Slam, so Tommy headed off to search for Bonefish. Unlike Alphonse, where the Bonefish are plentiful, Cosmo’s Bones are not present in large numbers, but once found, their sizes are larger than Alphonse. Tommy boated us on a nice flat with a good pushing tide. We waited about ten minutes, and three Bones came cruising down the sand flat. Casting beautifully, Cody waited for the Bones to near, and then with three nice strips, it was BonefishOn! and a Flats Slam! It was nice to shake the frustration of Astove’s fishing, to see fish, avoid surf trekking, and watch Cody species slam.
Joining Tailwaters on another trip to the Seychelles, Cody and I chose to fish the Astove/Cosmoledo/Alphonse itinerary, new to Tailwaters' customers in 2017. We flew from Mahe to Alphonse, where some passengers disembarked and our plane refueled before continuing southwesterly to Astove. The Alphonse Fishing Company constructed Astove's new lodge on the existing foundation of the home belonging to a family who once inhabited the island in the early part of the 19th century. We enjoyed outstanding hospitality from the staff and chefs, and the guides set to work helping us rig our rods, because two-and-a-half days of fishing would come and go quickly.
My first cast of the whole trip was to a Giant Trevally, aka Jeet or GT. While guide Dave Marshall explained many aspects of GT fishing, I still failed to completely grasp what it meant to fish for GTs. Failing to keep the fly moving, I missed my only opportunity at an Astove GT. We fished the lagoon, blind-casted in the channel, walked the surf, where a few opportunities arose to cast to Bluefin Trevally, my favorite Trevally species, and attempted some dredging. However, I was utterly unprepared to fish the surf, as I had no experience punching a 12# cast into the wind. We caught nice Bonefish and other species, Tomato and Honeycomb Groupers, and had Triggerfish chase and then turn off our flies.
Astove demands that anglers be in good shape physically, to hike the island's perimeters searching for Permit and GTs, as well as superior casting shape to fish the surf well. It is a beautiful island full of Giant Tortoises, many different bird species, and a rich and varied history, even if limestone pools attract and hold pesky mosquitoes, whose bites are minimal.
Cody and I
were celebrating the graduation of one of the Fab 5 with a trip to Hawai'i, so
we set aside one day to fly fish. We booked a guided trip with Captain
Rick Lee out of Bonefish Hawaii. We fished the east coast of Oahu at Kāneʽohe
Bay between the Chinaman’s Hat and Kualoa Point, Oahu. At the day’s start, we fished the morning
after a full moon, so we were fishing a low, incoming Spring Tide. Spotting Bones was difficult, since we fished
over reefs instead of sandbars, but the winds were calm, clouds were minimal,
temperatures excellent, and conditions were perfectly ideal.
Cody fished
first, and not long after rigging up, Cody casted to Bonefish.Shrimp patterns were the fly of the day.About 15 minutes in to fishing, Rick spotted
a group of four Golden Trevally, and Cody casted about 35 feet.Retrieving so that the shrimp fly jumped and
fell, it was FishOn!Cody hooked into
one of the Goldens in no time and off that Trevally ran.The Trevally’s first run simulated that of a
Bonefish’s first run; however, the Trevally did not make subsequent
Bonefish-esque runs.It did however make
short, deep runs, putting a good bend in Cody’s rod.I had a blast watching Cody add to his
species list!
Afterwards,
it was my turn to fish, and being all of 5’2”, spotting Bones over the reef was
next to impossible. I just was not tall
enough to get a good angle, so I listened to Rick and casted as close to where
he was calling. I got in a good cast and
had three followers. BAM! a nice
Bonefish picked it up and ran—all 100’ of line and about 150’ of backing zinged off my reel quickly. Rick said it was a good 10 pounder. I reeled in most of the backing, when BAM!
run #2 occurred, which was harder than the first run. Having reeled to just where the fly line was
coming in through the tip guide, the line snapped and landed at my feet. That Bone cut the leader on a reef, leaving
me about 3’. Oh well, it was fun while
it lasted.
Cody casted
next, but as the tide was incoming, retrieves became a little more difficult,
because the boat began to bump off the Bones.
What was a nice tight line, quickly became slack and retrieving produced
no fly movement with the skiff bearing in on the schools and singles.
Frustrated, Cody let me fish, and while I
never saw any fish to which I casted, I put the fly where Rick was telling me,
and it paid off. I landed a nice 6.5
pounder, whose turquoise-tipped fins, I never tire of seeing.
Cody fished
next, and with the rising tides, the Bones were moving away lest they fall to
their predators, which we saw no sharks.
Bored, Cody casted his line, and ended up hooking another species first,
a Trumpetfish. Due to its elongated
mouth, the fly was taken out through its gills instead of its mouth. Until Cody caught it, I had never seen
one.
We ate
anchored at Coconut Island, and watched the Navy boys practice touch-n-gos at
The Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay.
High tide blew out the fishing for the rest of the day, as we never saw
another Bonefish even though we moved over the sandbar flats. The low
Spring tides were definitely the productive waters for the day.
Having not fished since retiring, this was a good way to break-in to
retirement fishing!
Cody and I returned to the Seychelles for the best Bonefishing on the planet. Again, travelling on a Tailwaters hosted angling trip, Cody and I, along with 10 other fly fishers and Matt adding to his photography portfolio, journeyed from Dallas to Houston to Dubai to Seychelles islands of Mahe and then Alphonse. This was Cody's third trip to Alphonse Island and my second. The 14-hour flight from Houston to Dubai went relatively smoothly. Staying in the Millennium Hotel was a nice respite between plane flights.
Being south of the equator, Alphonse's spring is just beginning, and we endured rainfall daily throughout the week. The first day's rainfall and winds were so high, that we were island bound for the day, because the Tam Tam could not cross the channel. The Bonefish were skittish and hookups challenged most everyone at the beginning of the day, but by mid-morning, all anglers were hearing their reels zing with those oh so wonderful Bonefish runs. I even added to my species list with one of the Triggerfish Trifecta--a rather large Picasso Triggerfish.
With the sun shining and rain abating, Brandon took us out to the reef after lunch. Cody cast to some skittish Yellowfin Margin Triggerfish, but with no luck. We scoured the horizons for Triggers, Geets, and other reef fish, but the barometric pressure's inconsistency turned the fishing off. We returned to Alphonse, and Cody caught a nice Bonefish to end the day.
Monday found us riding Tam Tam south across the channel past Bijoutier to St. Francois Lagoon. Scoty took us Bonefishing on the "Gravy Train" flat, and we had a field day. I wanted a Permit, and we saw one tailing just across the channel flat, but that was it for the morning. Cody hooked up with many nice Bonefish, including a 4-pounder. In 2009, I used my 8# rod, but on this trip, I designated my 7# for the Bonefish. The fights were longer, but I was working on a game plan, so I had to dedicate rods for certain species and leave them rigged that way. After lunch, we searched for Bluefin Trevallys, Permits, Triggerfish, and Giant Trevallys. The last 30 minutes of the day, we located feeding Milkfish, which feed very similarly to Catfish eating food off the surface. Since Milkfish only eat algae they skim off the top, it was important to cast the fly in their feeding area. Their mouths when feeding, are about the diameter of a Styrofoam cup. Cody cast to within two inches of a feeding Milkfish, but it rejected his fly.
Tuesday, Wayne and Alex took us bonefishing again, but I told Alex I only wanted to catch the big fish, since I was targeting Bluefin Trevally for an IGFA world record. Alex worked on spotting the "big" ones, and I conserved my energy. It was great fun watching Cody hook up with a 6.25# Bonefish, and we had a very nice doubles Bonefish. Wayne took us to a reef, where I hooked a gorgeous Blue-Spangled Emperor fish, and had Honeycomb Groupers steal my flies away from very big Bonefish. I cast to some Triggerfish, but the fly line spooked them. Permits were still evasive. At lunch, I couldn't resist the schooling Blue-Spangled Emperors and Parrotfish, so off I waded and eventually hooked up with a fish (but it broke off before I could identify it); then, I stumbled upon a Triggerfish who had his fly stolen by a Tomato Grouper. Before leaving the area, we saw Geets from afar feeding on the Mullet. The afternoon was spent targeting those Bluefin Trevallys for the record, when we literally stumbled upon a "sunbathing" Geet. Cody cast to the fish, but it nonchalantly moved off its reef to the coral beds below. I was exhausted and beginning to feel the record was beyond my grasp.
Wednesday was spent with James targeting big fish. First thing in the morning was a nice Permit feeding off a Stingray's mudding trail. I cast to it three times, but the Permit only fed to the right of the trail before it became curious enough to check us out, and then swim away with fright upon seeing us. Cody cast to a Geet, stripped in his line, but it wound around his reel and fighting butt. The Geet's wake from chasing Cody's fly was huge, but Cody stopped stripping due to the line chaos. James wanted Cody to keep stripping the fly and told Cody the next time his line became entangled to continue stripping until Cody hooked-up with the fish. After the hook-up, Cody would probably have to jump forward off the boat's bow, and while jumping, that would give Cody the time he needed to untangle his line and fight the beast. It was all I could do to keep from laughing, because the scenario is quite plausible, but it just sounded hysterical to think of all that multi-tasking. We hit some reefs looking for the Bluefins, but we didn't find any.
After lunch, we hiked a 1/4 mile to the surf and searched for Bluefin Trevallys, Lemon Sharks, and Triggerfish. Only one pair of Bluefin Trevallys appeared, but the 10# rod's line was entangled, so there was no casting to them. I did spend the majority of my afternoon casting to Triggerfish, 15 of them to be exact. Four of the Triggers had the fly stolen from them by three Honeycomb Groupers and one Bonefish. I did hook-up with a Triggerfish and ran like a mad women possessed on the reefs following the fish to avoid hang-ups on the coral. Now, running on the rocky, uneven surface is difficult enough, but I was supposed to run with my fly rod above my head all the while reeling in my fly line. I became entangled on a coral, but James, all 6'4" of him, ran ahead and created enough slack in my line so we could get it unwrapped from the coral. I continued following the Triggerfish, steadily reeling in, but it made a 90 degree turn, and the angle we were now located from one another caused me to pull the hook from its mouth, instead of creating a solid hookset. Thus, it was Triggerfish Off! At the end of the day, the Milkfish were in a feeding frenzy, so I cast into them hoping for a hookup while they were inhaling their algae, but no such luck. Cody caught all various and sundry of reef fish, including a Picasso Triggerfish, a Goatfish, Bonefish, Honeycomb Grouper, Tomato Grouper, and the most wildly colorful Surge Wrasse. The return hike was not too bad, but I was glad to reach the Tam Tam for some R&R.
Devan guided us on Thursday, and due to the high tide, we boated and beached on St. Francois Lagoon. Devan knew an area where Bluefin Trevallys conglomerated abundantly. We were all working hard to set the IGFA record, so the morning was dedicated to the Bluefins. The sun shone resplendently, so we fished for them until noon, and then headed to Helmut Knoll and the channel east of Bijoutier for lunch and dredging.
We switched to sinking lines, big, bright flies, and got our retrieving arms ready to strip. What a blast! Cody caught a 13.5 pound Dogtooth Tuna, a species first, that put a huge bend in his 12# rod--amazing. He caught a 7.5 pound Bluefin Trevally that was breathtakingly gorgeous. Cody caught a Bonita, brought it to the surface, but it ran again, and three Giant Trevallys chased after the Bonita. Cody declared that it's ass was his. When the Bonita came to surface, it had its tail, but we could see a piece of its side was missing. Devan told Cody to free spool the line, and Cody tried to catch one of those three Geets using the Bonita, but they'd had enough. When Cody brought the Bonita in to the boat, he discovered that its tail actually belonged to the Geets! I caught a Russell Snapper and to my absolute delight, a Moontail Sea Bass. Talk about brilliant colors--truest red body, a crescent-shaped moon tail tinged with sunshine yellow, and a myriad of yellow-ringed pale lavender spots all over its body--beautiful! Dredging is truly like selecting a grab bag and receiving a great prize. We never knew what fish species we hooked until it was near the surface, and then it was to a round of oohs and ahhs, with Devan explaining what we had caught. The blues, greens, and water clarity allowed us to see fish, but until we had it netted, it was a great guessing game. Dredging was hard work, but it yielded some great species and a whole lotta fun!
Friday was our last day to fish, and Devan knew that I really wanted that IGFA record, so he paired us with Andrew Mayo. We again spent the morning fishing for the Bluefin Trevally on St. Francois Lagoon, and just as the tide was receding past the point of no return, I hooked a fish that could set the record. We followed all the IGFA requirements, and then began fishing for something other than a record.
The weather and the light were not to our advantage. The storms blew in around lunch time, and since we were near Tam Tam, we made a run for her to have lunch in a dry setting. Devan, Alex, and Robert and Ian (father and son from Johannesburg, South Africa), Scoty, Jared, and Will all had the same idea, so we ate a nice lunch and waited for the bad weather to abate. Eventually, the rains stopped, but the cloud cover remained. Andrew asked if I wanted to try to set another IGFA record, which I did, so we targeted some more Bluefin Trevallys. The winds were too high for us to dredge Helmut Knoll, so we stayed near the coral reefs around Bijoutier. Cody did catch a few Peacock Groupers, Russell Snappers, and a small Moontail Sea Bass. I caught a couple of Russell Snappers, but I was just worn out from stripping so hard all week long, so I mainly enjoyed watching Cody fish. Even though the conditions were unfavorable, Friday was a great day! Andrew worked really hard to help me catch a record fish, and we caught some beautiful species, which Cody and I dubbed "Aquarium" fishing.
We slept late, Saturday morning, packed our bags, hung around the lounge, walked the beach, fished, and relaxed, while waiting for our Beechcraft to take us to the island of Mahe. We took group photos, boarded the plane for an hour-and-a-half flight northeast, bid goodbye to Robert and Ian, stored our luggage, and went to Eden Island for a long supper at Bravo! Our bill for 13 people was a little over $1,000.00! We were all shell-shocked at the mugging we were getting. Our iced tea bill alone was $40.00. At 21:00, we divied everything, paid our bill, caught our taxis back to the airport, checked in, and waited for our 23:50 flight to Dubai. The airport was stuffy and crowded, mainly because the flight to Heathrow was delayed for over an hour. Fortunately, the flights to Qatar, Frankfurt, and Dubai were on time, and off we flew.
We landed in Dubai around 5:00 and were able to clear customs and security by 5:30. I showered, changed clothes, and we walked around the airport looking for the Dunkin Donuts booth that was there last time. Dunkin Donuts is no longer present, but we found a tribe of Africans sleeping in the floor, a Cinnabon store, a Marble Slab Creamery, and a place to rest before catching our 9:30 flight to Houston. We boarded at 9:00, and I fell asleep rather quickly. While sleeping, we taxied, then waited 35 minutes on the tarmac before taking off; thus, we were behind schedule with trade winds not in our favor.
After a 16 1/2 hour flight, we eventually arrived in Houston at Bush Intercontinental at 17:45; however, we had missed our Houston to Dallas flight--the last Continental flight of the evening. So, as we were clearing Customs, we were dialing Southwest Airlines and booking flights from Houston Hobby Airport to Dallas Love Field, where our cars were located. Customs was easy to clear; locating our bags was a chore, but we did find them. David arranged for three taxis to take us 35 minutes, a $75.00 cab fare, south. We waited in line 45 minutes, but checked our free-flying bags and headed to our Gate. At 20:05, we loaded the very full plane for home, where we landed 55 minutes later. Bag retrieval was a little slow, but we found our bags, trekked to our car, and headed to Whataburger on Mockingbird @ Lemmon. Oh, that was a great #7 with real Iced Tea! We arrived home to our bed at 23:00. As Judy Garland sang John Howard Payne's infamous words, "There's no place like home," I was truly believing it at that moment.
Yes, the trip is a veritable beating; yes, we fly eight planes round trip; yes, we have to pack everything we need but keep the "need" to 33 pounds; yes, the food is absolutely outstanding, and yes! I would do it all again! (However, I might not fly non-stop to Dubai anymore. No plane is comfortable after 16 hours; no plane!)
7° 04’ 55.87” South, 52° 45’ 00.49” East: Heaven on Earth—in techie terms and times.
The story could end here, because each of us can easily picture their version of Heaven on Earth. With the utterance of that phrase ensues an unspoken, omniscient understanding—a picture of paradise, ambience included, easily within our imaginations.
Well, maybe the story should not end here, because fly fishers envision paradise better than others, and to not tell a story of paradise would be devious, a quality not associated with fly fishers. Being true to the sport I love so dearly, I will try to do justice to Paradise, may she graciously forgive my shortcomings. Weather, airline inefficiency, airport poor customer service—all tried to cheat me out of seven glorious days in Fly Fisher Heaven. Their weak and vain attempts could not keep me from Alphonse Island and St. François Lagoon, Seychelles, Indian Ocean—more specifically, Bonefish Bliss.
Being given a guided trip to the Seychelles with Tailwaters Fly Fishing Co., this fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants, no-list-making Girl prepared for this trip-of-a-lifetime! Reading and rereading David Leake’s wonderful travel guide with sincere reverence, I bought travel books; I increased my repetitions and learned yoga with WiiFit; I tied flies; Norm, Cody, Brother Mike, and Jason helped me build a 10wt. rod (that endeavor was worth the trip alone!); I researched and bought fly lines; I learned how not to pack like a girl (all were limited to 33lbs of luggage, total—a goal I met perfectly), and—I made a list (people who know me, passed out when they heard this)!
Gluttonous or greedy, I am one who wants to catch an enormous amount of fish; size is irrelevant. Having never been bonefishing, I was näive to “the fight.” Now, I am no longer näive and have included “the fight” amongst my gluttony. (Just in case you aren’t familiar with the species, a bonefish peels line off the reel and makes the drag sing in high-C! It fights like no other species!) Fishing with Christmas Island Specials, fluorescent orange-legged Gotchas, Big Dale’s Bonefish Fly, and Crazy Charlies, Cody and I collectively caught 153 bonefish for the week, and that’s not counting the “specialty” fish. St. Francois turned on her majesty, splendor, and beauty, and like a child, her personality differed each day. Due to the remnants of a cyclone swirling off Madagascar, our first day of fishing occurred under cloudy skies and cool breezes. What a rough day to learn to “read” bonefish; however, Wayne, our guide with exorbitant amounts of patience, taught me how to see a bonefish, tweek and jerk the fly to get their attention, effectively slipstrike, and play the fish. Being true to the species, yes, I kissed my first bonefish, and no, Cody wasn’t jealous; he was snapping photos. Wayne’s lessons stayed with me throughout the week, and James, Scott, Serge, and Mathieu guided us on to plenty of bonefish daily.
Day two dawned differently. Where the water and sky were cool shades of gray the day before, day two shone brilliant blue—shades of dark blue with hues of teal green. Over an hour-and-a-half, Cody moved about 100 feet and landed 19 bonefish. I struggled to learn effective back-casting but managed to catch three sizeable bonefish. As different as the day appeared, so was the fishing. Cody decided he wanted a Giant Trevally, (GTs or Geets, as they are reverently called by those in-the-know). Having heard “The Boys’” tales of this fish, it was not a fight I wanted. Cody did not catch any Geets this day or any other, but the fish he did catch delighted and amazed us—Bonito, “Ancient Trout,” Black tip Grouper, and a fish James had never before seen—a true smorgasbord of beauty.
Trying not to be “girlie,” I decided I was not going to provide the oohhh/aaahhhh soundtrack for this day. However, in every good fishing story there is “the one that got away,” and so it was on day 3, a myriad of pale skies, water in blues and greens, and pristine white flats, I aaawwwed for my one that got away.
Scott put us on a flat that oozed bonefish. Every other hook-up ended up being a prayer for the “long-distance release,” because as that fish was being played, an even bigger bonefish or a school of bonefish swam by just teasing us. Tides receding as they do eventually caused this flat to go dry, figuratively and literally, so on to a new flat, which produce as many fish as the first. We had neighbors, though, three beautiful, circling Lemon Sharks. Did you know Lemon Sharks like to eat bonefish? They really do.
Scott wanted us to catch larger bonefish, so he taught me how to make my fly invisible to the smaller fish and tantalizing to the bigger ones, and did I ever hook a big one. It saw those twitching orange legs and inhaled it; then, that bonefish took off, zinging out all my line and 150 yards of my backing on that pretty purple Nautilus reel (an exceptional Christmas gift, I must say). I worked hard to keep slack out of my line, and with 30 yards left until the leader was in reach, Zing 2, and out went that line and 150 yards of backing. That bonefish began to tire and the Lemon Sharks began to circle and Cody began to shoo away those sharks. Scott told me to back-up and watched to ensure I would not step on any sting-rays gliding behind us. Cody shooed and fished; I reeled and walked and reeled, and just about the time I had 15 yards of line left to the leader, that fished zinged out line again, going 125 yards into the backing. Those Lemon Sharks recognized that Cody is a good guy, and they knew he meant them no harm. I cranked that purple reel in triple time. The Lemon Sharks swam 10 feet, circled nearer, swam another 10 feet; I reeled; Cody splashed, and that Lemon Shark circled 8 feet, splashed, and ate my bonefish! Scott and I both aaawwwed. I really would have liked to have seen the one that got away; I really would.
After lunch, we spent the remainder of the day fishing from the reef, catching Peacock Hind Grouper, Thumbprint Snapper, Blue-Speckled Emperor, and then, the Giant Trevally appeared. Being too far away from the leviathan, Cody hollered at Scott and I. I simply handed my 10# rod to Scott, who waded through shoulder-high water, and tried chasing that Geet down. Scott said if he hooked up, the tip might break, but I told him, that I built that rod and Norm could rebuild it if necessary. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see that 10# tip bent with a Geet, but it was fun to watch a grown man act like a child.
Serge taught us to see bonefish in turtlegrass, and for a man who could spot big bonefish 300 yards away, lessons were learned on day 4. Roy Washburn and Jim Cochran desired to catch Milkfish. My guilt ran high that day, because Milkfish abounded. For those who don’t me, I am all of 5’2”, and because there were so many Milkfish, they spooked at my domineering stature, and when the Milkfish spooked they frightened and chased the bonefish away. Serge would not allow us to catch just any bonefish either; it had to be one of size, so he kept telling me that my blue shirt and tall stature, seriously now, scared the Milkfish, so I had to spend a good part of the morning hiding in the water from the fish so I could cast to and catch them. Definitely a first for me to tower supreme to frighten. Tides were incoming, so channels began to deepen, and as a result, a Trigger fish, which had Cody Bell’s name written all over it, appeared. Listening to Serge and casting precisely, Cody striped that crab to the Trigger’s delight and ended up with a beautiful bragging right.
I guess I took my earlier lesson to make myself invisible too seriously. Casting perfectly for a nearby Trigger, he became interested in my crab. As I retrieved, I noticed a white moray eel coming at me about 100 feet away. No problem, I wasn’t bothering him; however, that snake-like creature continued to approach at me, with mouth open, and realizing that catching a trigger would be electrifying, at 10 feet, I gracelessly side-stepped that eel and waved good-bye to Trigger. Alack and alas.
Matthieu guided us on our last fishing day and the flats turned out their most resplendent colors—what a way to end the trip! Matthieu is about 6’2,” so I had to work hard to keep up with his pace as we chased Permit who swam parallel to us on the opposite side of the channel (we fit!). Those tailfins create adrenalin rushes that boggle the mind, not to mention, it is the fish of my dreams, numero uno on my species list. Suffering poor back-casting skills, facing a headwind, and having to cast 60 feet across the channel found my rod-tip straight; nevertheless, we hunted them, and when they thwarted me, the barracudas, Lemon shark, and pufferfish offered thrilling entertainment. Making the “one last cast” before the tide completely receded, found me landing my biggest bonefish of the trip. Matthieu’s excitement was catching. The fish’s runs were numerous and deep into the backing (but not quite like Wednesday’s fish), and Cody Bell, cameraman, was a 150 yards away catching bonefish in his own flats niche. Needless to say, for 10 minutes I walked that 23 inch, 7lb. “pet” bonefish across the flats towards Cody, so I could have my photo taken. Exhilarating!
Throughout the years, fly fishing stories, whether read or heard, entertain me delightfully so. A photograph of a fly fisher’s catch creates a vivid tale in my mind’s eye, so real, I feel the tug and hear the reel’s drag, and I have often wondered how does this happen time and again? I believe the Seychelles taught me the answer. Rather simply stated, Fly fishers don’t fish; fly fishers live in paradise, if only for a brief time. And as we flew off into the sunset, “What a wonderful world, ohhh yeahhh!”
