Great fishing! Total fish landed for the week was 136 fish, of which 43 were over 15 pounds and 3 sea-trout over 20 pounds. The average weight of fish landed was 12 pounds.
It was a very nice group of people and very good fisherman. Top rod of the week was David with 31 fish to the net, his biggest 19 pounds.
Jim and Gordon landed the biggest two fish for the week at 22 pounds each.
The Alphonse festive season began with the run up to Christmas, a packed house at the hotel and a full complement of anglers out on the flats. The entire extended family was together, big ‘flats lunches’, mega snorkels and beach rugby. This is what makes the festive season on Alphonse as special as it is. As well as all the activities out on the water the atmosphere at the bar and restaurant was something to savour with groups of people from all over the world around a table sharing stories and telling tall tales of the fishing that day.
An Alphonse sunrise is one of the most spectacular sightings behold as the sun rises above an endless horizon, split by a white haze of surf, sand and blue ocean. The weather was mostly stable and the tides immense with some of the lowest drops this year. To the extent that some coral heads that the most seasoned guides had never seen before made an appearance. The inner flats dried up completely at times which meant that the teams mostly headed off to the surf to enjoy the cool pushing tides that made the fishing exceptional.
This week saw Arno Mathee from The Guides Company host a full group of experienced flats fly fisherman from South Africans. The week started off with slower neap tides and although there was minimal water movement the lagoon mouth produced some great sight fishing opportunities to GT’s feeding on rays.
The Astove team were thrilled to welcome some of our more regular fishing friends. A formidable team full of good spirits and great fun, to say the least!
The last week of the 2016 at Cosmoledo could not have gone any better with fat calm seas and cloudless sky to start of the week. It was smooth sailing for the group consisting of father and son team Toby and Gannon Roth hosted by Arno Matthee, David Hirsch, Bill Roberts, Josh Hutchins of Aussie Fly Fisher and Jarred Zissu of Fly Lords.
Seeing St Francois atoll for the first time usually makes a profound impression on all of our guests. As you enter the lagoon a vast array of sand and seagrass flats open up before you each one as enticing as the other. The unparalleled beauty of this atoll is almost as memorable as the actual fishing.
After two weeks of less than favorable conditions, the weather finally began to subside, giving the team ample opportunity to concentrate their efforts on targeting the sand and finger flats, which are often highly productive during a neap cycle. With a decrease in water movement, less wind and some very excited guests. The stage was set for another great week’s fishing inside St François’s lagoon.
