Another week of the season was about to commence and when your guest list shows, two South Africans, one from the UK, TWO Italians and one German, you know things are going to be interesting. Their expectations were met soon enough, with a GT over a meter being hooked and fought, unfortunately, the hooked popped out for no apparent reason and was remembered as the one that got away. Later, another angler experienced the same harsh fate that often resides with GT fishing, he hooked a fish
that took off at such a rate, wrapping the fly line around his fingers and parting the 150lb leader almost breaking one of his fingers leaving a grown man with a bruised ego second to none.
We decided to head slightly north to fish a large section of flats that we knew held a lot of Triggerfish. The area that we had planned to sail to had really high wind readings and the mother boat had to drop back for safety reasons.
Another section of coastline looked like a treasure chest to prospect for fish; we stumbled on some really good flats fishing there and provided the anglers with some great excitement landing and losing fish all over.Overall it was a satisfying day for everyone; the anglers had gained a new perspective for the sheer amount of Triggerfish on the flats, though it can be a different story getting fish connected to your line. This is the daily equation that we guides and anglers need to work out as Triggerfish behavior can change daily from area to area that you are fishing.
During the week we had to face another challenge, one of the guests had unknowingly brought a virus onto the boat, this caused one of the guides to go man down for two days unable to guide. These are just one of the unseen challenges that guides can face on location and during a trip, with bodies already tired from a full season of guiding, it is almost a given that guides pick up the flu from clients. This can sometimes impact the number of guest per guide, guests need to be understanding and allow the guides that are still strong to guide to the best of their abilities and provide the
best experience possible. Fortunately, the group that was present understood and allowed fishing to go on undisturbed.
We could also not account for the wind to rear its ugly head, we had to sail south in the open sea, due to the fact that we could get stranded too far up north to make it back for guests to leave. We fished a section of a large island; this produced some great fish for the guys on the day although it proved to be tricky in certain patches as with all fishing. We landed a good number of Triggerfish on this day, which also gave us probably the largest Titan Triggerfish of the season.
This particular fish ate the fly right at the rod tip, which proceeded to run deep into the backing twice, this lead to an amazing end to an already impressive day on the flats and reef edge, where the anglers were provided with exciting fishing and a great aesthetic view walking the edges of the island.
Next we decided to fish the pinnacles once more as well as the flat nearby. We also had to face another challenge in the morning, with one of the guides fully recovered, another guide had fallen ill which put us on the back foot once again. The day worked out, due to some on the spot planning. The flats were decided to be utilized; once we got there the scenes were soul-warming. The place was teeming with fish and we managed to get guys into a first-time Triggerfish, this is what you have to do in situations that test you. You have to keep on going and keep looking for that next break and celebrate the successes because that’s what makes it rewarding when things do happen and this is often what makes for a memorable trip.
With the wind still expected to be high, we decided to fish a section of the island that would give us cover for most of the day. The morning session, which held large numbers of aggressive fish, gave one of the guests, Paulo, a chance to catch his first Trigger on the fly which was a cause for celebration.
Many fish were seen and hooked on the day, with 6 fish been landed during the outing, it was a successful day out. The GT’s were seen cruising the flats at around mid-morning and the shots were there, with the crystal clear water and no tidal fluctuations, they are very aware of our presence and it is highly important that you get a fly to them before they have become aware of you. This still proved to be the best Trigger fishing day of the week, and the willing nature of the fish to feed made for a fun day as many shots could be taken and hair raising moments could be had. The last day of the trip had two things dawn on us early on, one was that two guides were seriously ill and could not guide and the other was that one of the anglers had hooked many triggers during the trip, but was still to land one before the day was over. So with the guiding divided and plans made, Triggerfish were to be on the cards for the day. It proved to be an interesting day, where one had to plan on the spot and change plans accordingly to allow for good fishing to be had.One of the anglers fell terribly ill and had to return early on to the Scuba Libre, with the rest of us pushing on; we managed to have an awesome day out on the flats. The angler got his Triggerfish in the end; we had caught a good amount of Triggerfish during the day as well as seeing three good-sized Permit, that we, unfortunately, didn’t get a shot at.
On trips like these, you can never foresee what might happen; this week practically everyone fell ill on the boat in such a confined space. This made it difficult for everyone to be at their 100 percent for the fishing, all credit must go out the clients for persevering and being so understanding of the situation. That’s what you have to do on trips of this nature is, buckle down and catch fish, it’s that simple.
Until next time, Tourette Fishing, Senior guide, Brent.
